I have a question for you. If someone approached you in a mall and said, “I’d like to become a Christian. Can you please tell me how to do that?”, how would you respond? Would you say, “Oh, well you have to start coming to church for a while first. Do you walk in love towards your family? How often do you pray? We gotta get you tithing and fasting also. Do you have any sin in your life?” If the person didn’t immediately walk away the next logical question is, “OK, how long do I have to do all that stuff before God saves me?” Then you might say, “Oh it depends on the Lord. At some point in all your activity, He’ll look down and see your sincere heart and save you in his time in his own way. You just get busy being faithful. And after some careful evaluation, He’ll decide when and if to save you.” Now, I hope NO ONE would actually say that. The bible tells us that it is by grace that we are saved through faith and not works (Eph. 2:8-9). That means you cannot save yourself through good works. You have to receive it as a gift.
Let me ask a different question. If someone asked you, “How do I walk in God’s prosperity and abundance for my life”, how would you respond? Let me tell you some of the responses I’ve gotten in the past before I learned the truth. “Are you a tither, Erna? You have to sow your seed too. Are you being diligent on your job, because you know the diligent hand shall bear rule. God can’t bless unfaithfulness. Do you serve at your church? How are your finances now? Are you a good steward over what God has already given you? How often do you eat out? Is there any rebellion in your life?” The list goes on and on. The bible says that we are to walk this Christian life in the same way we received Jesus (Col. 2:6). And we received Jesus by believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths (Rom. 10:10) The word “saved” in Ephesians 2:8-9 means deliverance from whatever you need delivering from. It includes being born-again, healing, protection, prosperity, wisdom, and much more. So you could say that by grace are you prospered through faith and not of works lest any man should boast. What happens to a person who tries to receive salvation by works? Not only do they not receive it but they ware themselves out trying to get it. The same is true of financial prosperity, healing, etc. That is profound.
Grace is something that God does for you independent of you prior to you. It cannot be earned or “sinned away”. Prosperity is apart of every Christian’s inheritance. Well, what does an heir have to do to have an inheritance? Be born. That’s it. After that, they just have to find out about the inheritance and their right to partake of it. Then, they just somehow communicate what they want and it’s done.
There is a lot of worldly thinking in the body of Christ as it pertains to finances. With the exception of tithing, our system of increase looks just like the world. That ought not be. If an unbeliever can work two jobs for ten years, squeeze every penny to pay off their debt, and climb the ladder to succeed, there ought to be a much better and quicker plan for the believer. We’ve watered down God’s abundance with ideas like “intelligent debt” and “you have to give God something to bless”. If we will simply humble ourselves and admit that after years of tithing and sowing we still have plenty of room left to receive, God will gently teach us and escort us into the land of milk and honey. The blessing makes rich, beloved (Prov. 10:22). It’s God’s power that increases you, and not your own (Deut. 8:17-18). The idea that your provision comes from the work of your own hand originated in the curse of Adam after the fall.
It’s taken me two very long and painful years to learn these things. God had to separate me from everything I know and had been taught so I could focus on scriptures only. And the reason it took that long is because I was ignoring what I thought was a very foolish instruction from God. Now, I know He was just breaking my dependency on self. He was helping me trade my abundance for His. One day God asked me a random question (not audibly). He said, “What would happen if Christians really believed that I was their Source?” I said, “Well Lord, there would probably be a mass exodus from the job market. There would be some people who would slack off. But mostly we’d either start working the job we really wanted or we’d go to school to prepare for our dream job.” Silence. I was too dense to realize He was talking to me about my situation.
Later, He started revealing His idea of work. Our work is our purpose, our assignment, the reason we were created, and the thing we’ll be judged for. Unfortunately, the concept of purpose has been reduced to a nice-to-do instead of a need-to-do. Our prosperity comes from our covenant. Our work is the impact God wants to make on the world around us through our gifts, talents, and desires. There is no cause and effect relationship between work and your personal provison as seen in the garden of Eden. Both are fruit on the same tree rooted in the gospl of grace. That still amazes me given what I’ve always thought. If satan can keep us in the work-to-eat mentality we won’t ever obey what God has put on our hearts and step out to do what we were created to do.
What if you found out today that you were the illegitimate child of Bill Gates. How would that change your day? Weren’t you his child yesterday? What changed? You found out about it. Beloved, your Father is much richer than Bill Gates. But it’s only the truth you know that makes you free (John 8:32). All lack is just a knowledge problem. The first part of the truth we need is a revelation of the gospel of grace. I could go on for pages on that subject and how it’s transformed my life, but I’ll end with some tips to renew our minds. Grace is a subject that most people think they understand, but most don’t. It’s not like mercy. It’s the stuff that actually produces blessing in our lives (Rom 1:16-17). The best resources that I know of are listed below. I’ll tell you that an understanding of grace has to come by revelation from the Holy Spirit. I’ve noticed that it is hidden from those who already think they’re doing a good enough job. Those folks will wait until they get defeated enough to give anything a try. (Ask me how I know) We attach so many rules to receiving prosperity which is why we don’t see it very much. Again, what happens when we attach rules to being born-again? We frustrate the grace of God and don’t receive. Dependence on our labor will cut us off from grace. There will be no profit from being a Christian (Gal 5:2-4) God never intended for abundance to be such a struggle. We weren’t built to provide for ourselves. I hope God uses these thoughts to awaken in you a hunger for more. Be blessed!Some good grace resources:
http://www.dynamicministries.com/archiveseries1.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Destined-Reign-Effortless-Wholeness-Victorious/dp/1577949323/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229030356&sr=8-1
http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/1014
http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/1022
(And, yes, I realize that prosperity is more than finances but that is the focus of this note.)
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Jesus fulfilled the God's law on your behalf
Every sin demands a punishment of either death or a blood sacrifice. That is easy to see in the Old Testament with all the burnt offerings and bull or goat sacrifices. It would be unjust if the same rules didn’t apply in the New Testament. That would be similar to a well-respected, tenured judge of the court who has ruled fairly for 40 years. Then, one day his son is brought before him with armed robbery charges because he single-handedly stole thousands of dollars and shot 8 people in the process. All of a sudden the judge pardons his son based on a self-defense plea. That judge is not a just judge.
So, God’s children were in a bind and this is what he did. He looked ahead into eternity and calculated how many sins you would commit throughout your life. Then he computed exactly how much punishment would be required to pardon you. We’ll call that figure your sin-debt. After doing this, God did the same thing billions more times to represent every person who would ever live on the earth. When the total sin-debt for mankind was tabulated, God said, “I love my children so much and I want to be near them. But this sin-debt is standing between us, separating us.” So what did he do? He sent Jesus to pay it for us.
“But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:14-15, NLT)
Jesus paid our sin-debt and freed us from the curse that comes from disobeying the law. Our punishment was carried out upon his head as if he were the guilty party. In exchange, we get credit for his holy life which, according to the law, we are now qualified to be blessed. God planned it this way! (Ephesians 1:5) What must that say about his love for you? Isaiah 53:10 says that God was pleased when Jesus was bruised. That’s because he knew that through the suffering of Jesus, all of mankind would be restored into his family (like Adam and Eve before the fall).
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)
The only person to ever meet all of the law’s demands was Jesus. Why did he do this? So, you wouldn’t have to. He did it so you could be free of the curse that comes to everyone who disobeys the God in any way. (Romans 8:2) Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, your heavenly report card looks something like this:
Name: John Sample
Teacher: Holy Spirit, Comforter MD
Obedience ....................... A+
Law-Keeping ................... A+
Righteousness ................. A+
Holiness .......................... A+
Performance ................... A+
Comments: This person is spotless, unaccuseable, and blameless (Ephesians 1:4). There is no record whatsoever of any sin in this person’s account. They are now deemed righteous and worthy of fellowship and favor of God Almighty. Because they have fulfilled the entire law by being in Christ, they may freely partake of the blessings of obedience. They may enter his presence boldly because there are no impurities that would block fellowship with the Master.
So, it used to be you-sin-you-die. Now it’s you-sinned-Jesus-died-in-your-place. Guilt was passed to him while righteousness was passed to you. Now, your past, present, and even future sins have already been dealt with and paid for. Now you have a clean slate! (Hebrews 9:25-28; 10:10-12) And not just you, but every human being has this gift whether they take advantage of it or not. Wow! Now that’s good news!
In the next entry, we’ll discuss how intimacy with God and blessings are free gifts, not wages. Comments are always welcome.
So, God’s children were in a bind and this is what he did. He looked ahead into eternity and calculated how many sins you would commit throughout your life. Then he computed exactly how much punishment would be required to pardon you. We’ll call that figure your sin-debt. After doing this, God did the same thing billions more times to represent every person who would ever live on the earth. When the total sin-debt for mankind was tabulated, God said, “I love my children so much and I want to be near them. But this sin-debt is standing between us, separating us.” So what did he do? He sent Jesus to pay it for us.
“But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:14-15, NLT)
Jesus paid our sin-debt and freed us from the curse that comes from disobeying the law. Our punishment was carried out upon his head as if he were the guilty party. In exchange, we get credit for his holy life which, according to the law, we are now qualified to be blessed. God planned it this way! (Ephesians 1:5) What must that say about his love for you? Isaiah 53:10 says that God was pleased when Jesus was bruised. That’s because he knew that through the suffering of Jesus, all of mankind would be restored into his family (like Adam and Eve before the fall).
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)
The only person to ever meet all of the law’s demands was Jesus. Why did he do this? So, you wouldn’t have to. He did it so you could be free of the curse that comes to everyone who disobeys the God in any way. (Romans 8:2) Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, your heavenly report card looks something like this:
Name: John Sample
Teacher: Holy Spirit, Comforter MD
Obedience ....................... A+
Law-Keeping ................... A+
Righteousness ................. A+
Holiness .......................... A+
Performance ................... A+
Comments: This person is spotless, unaccuseable, and blameless (Ephesians 1:4). There is no record whatsoever of any sin in this person’s account. They are now deemed righteous and worthy of fellowship and favor of God Almighty. Because they have fulfilled the entire law by being in Christ, they may freely partake of the blessings of obedience. They may enter his presence boldly because there are no impurities that would block fellowship with the Master.
So, it used to be you-sin-you-die. Now it’s you-sinned-Jesus-died-in-your-place. Guilt was passed to him while righteousness was passed to you. Now, your past, present, and even future sins have already been dealt with and paid for. Now you have a clean slate! (Hebrews 9:25-28; 10:10-12) And not just you, but every human being has this gift whether they take advantage of it or not. Wow! Now that’s good news!
In the next entry, we’ll discuss how intimacy with God and blessings are free gifts, not wages. Comments are always welcome.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
God's Standard
There is a very simple truth, a characteristic about God and man, that I believe is the foundation to intimacy with God and free access to everything he has for you. Unfortunately, it is also a truth that I don't think is understood by much of the body of Christ. It is this: God is a holy God and his required standard of living is perfection. That means perfect holiness, perfect righteousness, and perfect obedience. He can not have any fellowship with anything or anyone with imperfections. It also means that God’s love, fellowship, or goodies can only be acquired through flawlessness. In Deuteronomy 28, a Non-denominational favorite, God speaks through Moses saying this:
“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.” (v. 1-2)
If this is the prerequisite for blessing, then who qualifies? Notice it says all commandments. You know, in the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and English the word all means all. Not some, or as many as you can. It means ALL. There are many other scriptures that testify to the fact that God required and still requires absolute perfection (Deut 26:18, Deut 19:9, Josh 22:5). Scriptures like these can make a person feel less that worthy of God’s goodness.
In the Old Testament, God’s law pronounced a blessing on those who fully obeyed his commands and a curse on those who did anything less. Deuteronomy describes both conditions very well. Suffice it to say that the curse means everything that can go wrong does go wrong. While the blessing is when everything that can go right does go right. James 2:10 tells us that if we keep the entire law but miss it on one point, we are guilty of breaking the entire thing. God’s law is like a huge glass window. It doesn’t matter if you throw a pebble through it or run a truck through it. Once it cracks, the entire thing will shatter. Galatians 3:10b (NKJV) says:
“Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”
There’s that word “all” again. There’s just no getting around it. So it can be concluded:
100% PERFECTION = BLESSING and 99.99999% PERFECTION = CURSE
Doesn’t that just give you the warm fuzzies? I imagine not. Who wants to know that they fall short of what God requires? Who wants to come to the harsh realization that even on a “good” day, you fall miserably short of God’s standard. Isaiah 64:6 says that your ability to meet for God’s standard is like a filthy rag, or more specifically a used women’s cloth. Nice visual isn’t it. Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, not even one”. While at the surface these ideas can seem depressing, it is imperative that every person come to the end of self and understand how incapable they are of ever fulfilling all of God’s law.
1 John 4:16b (KJV) says:
“God is love.”
Well, if that is true and God is who he says he is, then what would Love do in this situation? Here is all of mankind doomed to a life of sickness, poverty, insecurity, worry, bad relationships, demotions, danger, death, and every other horrible thing imaginable. These creatures were made in Love’s image. Will he just abandon them?!
Enter Jesus.
“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He even gave up His only begotten unique Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal, everlasting life.” (John 3:16 AMP)
To be continued...Comments are always welcome.
“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.” (v. 1-2)
If this is the prerequisite for blessing, then who qualifies? Notice it says all commandments. You know, in the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and English the word all means all. Not some, or as many as you can. It means ALL. There are many other scriptures that testify to the fact that God required and still requires absolute perfection (Deut 26:18, Deut 19:9, Josh 22:5). Scriptures like these can make a person feel less that worthy of God’s goodness.
In the Old Testament, God’s law pronounced a blessing on those who fully obeyed his commands and a curse on those who did anything less. Deuteronomy describes both conditions very well. Suffice it to say that the curse means everything that can go wrong does go wrong. While the blessing is when everything that can go right does go right. James 2:10 tells us that if we keep the entire law but miss it on one point, we are guilty of breaking the entire thing. God’s law is like a huge glass window. It doesn’t matter if you throw a pebble through it or run a truck through it. Once it cracks, the entire thing will shatter. Galatians 3:10b (NKJV) says:
“Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”
There’s that word “all” again. There’s just no getting around it. So it can be concluded:
100% PERFECTION = BLESSING and 99.99999% PERFECTION = CURSE
Doesn’t that just give you the warm fuzzies? I imagine not. Who wants to know that they fall short of what God requires? Who wants to come to the harsh realization that even on a “good” day, you fall miserably short of God’s standard. Isaiah 64:6 says that your ability to meet for God’s standard is like a filthy rag, or more specifically a used women’s cloth. Nice visual isn’t it. Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, not even one”. While at the surface these ideas can seem depressing, it is imperative that every person come to the end of self and understand how incapable they are of ever fulfilling all of God’s law.
1 John 4:16b (KJV) says:
“God is love.”
Well, if that is true and God is who he says he is, then what would Love do in this situation? Here is all of mankind doomed to a life of sickness, poverty, insecurity, worry, bad relationships, demotions, danger, death, and every other horrible thing imaginable. These creatures were made in Love’s image. Will he just abandon them?!
Enter Jesus.
“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He even gave up His only begotten unique Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal, everlasting life.” (John 3:16 AMP)
To be continued...Comments are always welcome.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Motivation is Everything - Part 2
Now, let's review some biblical examples to better understand this cycle of God loving us followed by us loving God. In Luke 4, Jesus calls Peter into full-time ministry. Before that, however, he tells Peter to launch out in the deep water and lower his nets for a catch of fish. After arguing with Jesus, Peter partially complies by lowering only one net. The result: a net-breaking, ship-sinking harvest of fish. Immediately following this miracle, Peter runs to the feet of Jesus and says, “Depart from me for I am a sinful man.” (v. 8) I ask you, which one came first? The super-abundant blessing of prosperity to a half-obedient sailor, or that sailor’s repentance? The blessing came first.
In Luke 19 Zacchaeus, a white-collar thief, climbs a high tree branch to get a good look at Jesus. Jesus spots him and says,” Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. For today I must abide at your house.” (v. 5) Gasp! You mean Jesus (and all his anointing) is going to fellowship with this sinner! Yes and when he did, Zacchaeus responded by saying, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” (v. 8) Which came first, Zacchaeus’ repentance, or Jesus blessing the undeserving man by bringing salvation to his house? Again, the blessing came first.
In John 1: 44-49, Phillip informs his friend Nathaniel that he has just met the Savior, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathaniel replies, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (v.46) Phillip took him to find out the answer to that question. Now, here comes Nathaniel approaching Jesus full of doubt and suspicious of His heritage. Did Jesus tell him, “Go and meditate the Word and don’t come back until you are in faith about who I am!” or “How dare you disrespect the land that birthed the Lamb of God! Repent!” No, he didn’t. Instead, when our sweet Savior saw Nathaniel coming he shouted:
“Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (v. 47)
Jesus affirmed Nathaniel, a doubting and disrespectful man, by honoring him for being of the esteemed nation of Israel and by complimenting his character! And to top it off, Jesus even gave him a word of knowledge about being under a fig tree. So, Jesus met Nathaniel’s bad attitude with kindness, reassurance, and a manifestation of one of the gifts of the Spirit. How did Nathaniel respond? “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.” (v. 49) So here we have another man who comes in contact with the unmerited goodness of God and repents.
Let’s keep going! In 2 Chronicles 1:7-12 the Lord appears to Solomon and basically says, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will grant it.” (v. 7) Wow! What a generous thing for God to do. Solomon asks for wisdom to rule the people, and God give him wisdom and abundant wealth (v. 11-12). The very next thing Solomon does is he begins to build a temple, a house for the Lord. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 describe the majesty of the temple that Solomon built.
Notice that God didn’t show up saying, “Solomon, build me a temple and I’ll bless you.” God knows that once we come in contact with his abundant goodness, the only physical, emotional, mental, spiritual response is repentance motivating us to bless the Lord back in some way. Isn’t that how relationships are supposed to work anyway? Neither party making demands of the other, each person simply wanting to be good to the other, and out of gratitude the other turns around to blesses them back without being prodded or manipulated. It’s a divine cycle of love that only God could have created.
In Genesis 6, God overwhelms the earth with a flood that killed every living creature except Noah, his family, and the animals he had aboard the ark. Just imagine, nearly a year at sea with no one but your family, nothing to eat other than what was packed, no running water, and no sanitary way to dispose of waste. Eww! The smell alone is enough to make you want to jump overboard!
After disembarking the ark for the first time, Noah builds an altar and sacrifices a burnt offering to the Lord. (8:20) Where do you think he got the animals for the offering? If every creature on the earth is dead, then he had to have gotten them from his own family zoo on the ark. Remember, the animals were loaded before the flood two by two. So, if Noah takes one for an offering, that meant instant extinction for several animals all in one day! What was Noah thinking?! I’ll tell you what he was thinking. He was thinking, “THANK YOU Lord for saving my family. Thank you for keeping us for nearly a year with no running water and only the food we brought! We could’ve starved to death, we could’ve hit a rock and sunk, we could’ve all been killed by waste poisoning! But, you rescued us time and time again! We could’ve killed each other, or you could’ve have chosen another family to spare! Thank you Lord! If you can do all this, I know you can provide many more animals to populate the earth!” Who knows what miracles Noah and his family saw God perform while on the ark. And out of gratitude he offers to the Lord from a very precious supply with no fear because he’d already seen God’s power. The love cycle continues by God promising never again to destroy the earth with a flood and instituting the principal of seedtime and harvest.
The last two examples are of Abraham, our father of faith. In Genesis 14, we see him giving the first recorded tithe. But what preceded this action? At the start of chapter 12 God promises to overflow him with blessing so he can bless others. He promises that all people would be blessed through his Seed. Later in the chapter, he gets a bunch of free stuff from Pharaoh after lying about Sarah being his sister! In chapter 13 Abraham had become “extremely rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (v. 2) and he and his nephew had amassed so much wealth that the land cannot sustain them. (v. 6) Clearly, God made good on his promises. In early chapter 14, God gave Abraham victory over four kings in battle. Afterwards, the high priest of the land came to him and pronounced a blessing. And then:
“And he gave him tithes of all.” (v. 20)
Abraham gave his tithe AFTER the high priest blessed him, not before. It is clear that Abraham gave his tithe out of gratitude. Look at what the Lord had done in his life! In fact, every time you read about Abraham building an altar to the Lord, he’s doing it right after the Lord blessed him or spoke to him. God held nothing back from him, so he held nothing back from God.
Also, Abraham instituted the rite of circumcision in chapter 17. In the New Testament, circumcision symbolizes obedience to God’s law. But, notice that God declared him righteous in 15:6. God said he was righteous, in right standing with God, holy, blameless, qualified for blessing BEFORE Abraham fulfilled any laws.
With God, the reason for your holiness or obedience is more important than the act itself. The famous love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 begins by saying:
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.” (v, 1-3, NLT)
So we see here that a wrong motive can nullify benefits your good works. James 4:3 says:
“You ask and receive not because you ask amiss.”
To ask amiss is to ask with the wrong motive. In more relatable terms, who wants a spouse that does and says nice things only because the Bible says they should? Well, our Father is the same way. He wants us to obey out of a thankful heart and because we love him. Again, your motive matters.
God is not out of touch. He knows the types of things that truly spark gratitude and thankfulness in our hearts. While I love all these biblical examples, there is something far greater that God has already done for us. And if we are able to understand it, and acknowledge it, it will bring jaw-dropping victory. And trust me, God knows how to drop your jaw.
More later. Comments are always welcome…
In Luke 19 Zacchaeus, a white-collar thief, climbs a high tree branch to get a good look at Jesus. Jesus spots him and says,” Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. For today I must abide at your house.” (v. 5) Gasp! You mean Jesus (and all his anointing) is going to fellowship with this sinner! Yes and when he did, Zacchaeus responded by saying, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” (v. 8) Which came first, Zacchaeus’ repentance, or Jesus blessing the undeserving man by bringing salvation to his house? Again, the blessing came first.
In John 1: 44-49, Phillip informs his friend Nathaniel that he has just met the Savior, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathaniel replies, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (v.46) Phillip took him to find out the answer to that question. Now, here comes Nathaniel approaching Jesus full of doubt and suspicious of His heritage. Did Jesus tell him, “Go and meditate the Word and don’t come back until you are in faith about who I am!” or “How dare you disrespect the land that birthed the Lamb of God! Repent!” No, he didn’t. Instead, when our sweet Savior saw Nathaniel coming he shouted:
“Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (v. 47)
Jesus affirmed Nathaniel, a doubting and disrespectful man, by honoring him for being of the esteemed nation of Israel and by complimenting his character! And to top it off, Jesus even gave him a word of knowledge about being under a fig tree. So, Jesus met Nathaniel’s bad attitude with kindness, reassurance, and a manifestation of one of the gifts of the Spirit. How did Nathaniel respond? “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.” (v. 49) So here we have another man who comes in contact with the unmerited goodness of God and repents.
Let’s keep going! In 2 Chronicles 1:7-12 the Lord appears to Solomon and basically says, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will grant it.” (v. 7) Wow! What a generous thing for God to do. Solomon asks for wisdom to rule the people, and God give him wisdom and abundant wealth (v. 11-12). The very next thing Solomon does is he begins to build a temple, a house for the Lord. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 describe the majesty of the temple that Solomon built.
Notice that God didn’t show up saying, “Solomon, build me a temple and I’ll bless you.” God knows that once we come in contact with his abundant goodness, the only physical, emotional, mental, spiritual response is repentance motivating us to bless the Lord back in some way. Isn’t that how relationships are supposed to work anyway? Neither party making demands of the other, each person simply wanting to be good to the other, and out of gratitude the other turns around to blesses them back without being prodded or manipulated. It’s a divine cycle of love that only God could have created.
In Genesis 6, God overwhelms the earth with a flood that killed every living creature except Noah, his family, and the animals he had aboard the ark. Just imagine, nearly a year at sea with no one but your family, nothing to eat other than what was packed, no running water, and no sanitary way to dispose of waste. Eww! The smell alone is enough to make you want to jump overboard!
After disembarking the ark for the first time, Noah builds an altar and sacrifices a burnt offering to the Lord. (8:20) Where do you think he got the animals for the offering? If every creature on the earth is dead, then he had to have gotten them from his own family zoo on the ark. Remember, the animals were loaded before the flood two by two. So, if Noah takes one for an offering, that meant instant extinction for several animals all in one day! What was Noah thinking?! I’ll tell you what he was thinking. He was thinking, “THANK YOU Lord for saving my family. Thank you for keeping us for nearly a year with no running water and only the food we brought! We could’ve starved to death, we could’ve hit a rock and sunk, we could’ve all been killed by waste poisoning! But, you rescued us time and time again! We could’ve killed each other, or you could’ve have chosen another family to spare! Thank you Lord! If you can do all this, I know you can provide many more animals to populate the earth!” Who knows what miracles Noah and his family saw God perform while on the ark. And out of gratitude he offers to the Lord from a very precious supply with no fear because he’d already seen God’s power. The love cycle continues by God promising never again to destroy the earth with a flood and instituting the principal of seedtime and harvest.
The last two examples are of Abraham, our father of faith. In Genesis 14, we see him giving the first recorded tithe. But what preceded this action? At the start of chapter 12 God promises to overflow him with blessing so he can bless others. He promises that all people would be blessed through his Seed. Later in the chapter, he gets a bunch of free stuff from Pharaoh after lying about Sarah being his sister! In chapter 13 Abraham had become “extremely rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (v. 2) and he and his nephew had amassed so much wealth that the land cannot sustain them. (v. 6) Clearly, God made good on his promises. In early chapter 14, God gave Abraham victory over four kings in battle. Afterwards, the high priest of the land came to him and pronounced a blessing. And then:
“And he gave him tithes of all.” (v. 20)
Abraham gave his tithe AFTER the high priest blessed him, not before. It is clear that Abraham gave his tithe out of gratitude. Look at what the Lord had done in his life! In fact, every time you read about Abraham building an altar to the Lord, he’s doing it right after the Lord blessed him or spoke to him. God held nothing back from him, so he held nothing back from God.
Also, Abraham instituted the rite of circumcision in chapter 17. In the New Testament, circumcision symbolizes obedience to God’s law. But, notice that God declared him righteous in 15:6. God said he was righteous, in right standing with God, holy, blameless, qualified for blessing BEFORE Abraham fulfilled any laws.
With God, the reason for your holiness or obedience is more important than the act itself. The famous love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 begins by saying:
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.” (v, 1-3, NLT)
So we see here that a wrong motive can nullify benefits your good works. James 4:3 says:
“You ask and receive not because you ask amiss.”
To ask amiss is to ask with the wrong motive. In more relatable terms, who wants a spouse that does and says nice things only because the Bible says they should? Well, our Father is the same way. He wants us to obey out of a thankful heart and because we love him. Again, your motive matters.
God is not out of touch. He knows the types of things that truly spark gratitude and thankfulness in our hearts. While I love all these biblical examples, there is something far greater that God has already done for us. And if we are able to understand it, and acknowledge it, it will bring jaw-dropping victory. And trust me, God knows how to drop your jaw.
More later. Comments are always welcome…
Monday, April 28, 2008
Motivation is Everything - Part 1
God's a smart God. He knew when He created us that in order to get us to do what he likes, he'd have to somehow involve our desires. Have you discovered by now that the fear of punishment is a pretty ineffective motivator to live holy? I bet if you've been saved for any length of time, you've said to the Lord at least once, "Lord, turn your head, you don't wanna see this. I'll be right back." Well, I know I have. I've done that fully aware of the consequences. And even though I was convicted afterwards, I knew how eager He'd be to forgive me. According to the bible, true holiness comes from another, unexpected source altogether. Romans 2: 4 says:
"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" - NKJV
In other words, "Do you lightly esteem or take for granted God's abundant goodness? You do this because you don't understand its true power: it's the cure to your sin." God’s goodness comes first, then comes the repentance or change of heart leading to outward change. Phenomenal isn’t it?
1 John 4:19 says:
"We love him, because he first loved us." - KJV
In other words, we love God according to our knowledge and belief of his love for us. God loved the world so much that he gave his Son so we could experience an eternity of victory. But, not everyone loves Him back. Why is that? It's because they haven't "known and believed the love that God has toward them"(v. 14)
What is his love? What is his goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering? Is it just about being thankful for air in our lungs, or legs to walkon or a roof over our heads? And how do we make our belief in His goodness real enough to deal with our outward behavior? Well, that's why I created this blog, to explore these questions. I don't have a theological degree and don't pretend to have the corner on bible teaching. These are simply some things the Lord has shown me that have changed my life forever. I am in awestruck wonder of God's grace.
More soon. Comments are always welcome...
"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" - NKJV
In other words, "Do you lightly esteem or take for granted God's abundant goodness? You do this because you don't understand its true power: it's the cure to your sin." God’s goodness comes first, then comes the repentance or change of heart leading to outward change. Phenomenal isn’t it?
1 John 4:19 says:
"We love him, because he first loved us." - KJV
In other words, we love God according to our knowledge and belief of his love for us. God loved the world so much that he gave his Son so we could experience an eternity of victory. But, not everyone loves Him back. Why is that? It's because they haven't "known and believed the love that God has toward them"(v. 14)
What is his love? What is his goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering? Is it just about being thankful for air in our lungs, or legs to walkon or a roof over our heads? And how do we make our belief in His goodness real enough to deal with our outward behavior? Well, that's why I created this blog, to explore these questions. I don't have a theological degree and don't pretend to have the corner on bible teaching. These are simply some things the Lord has shown me that have changed my life forever. I am in awestruck wonder of God's grace.
More soon. Comments are always welcome...
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