A Chosen Generation!

1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

But you are a chosen generation! I have always been moved by this verse in 1 Peter. It is as if Peter looked through the portals of time and knew God’s people would need reminding of they are. So he does just that by saying, “But you are a chosen generation…” My next few posts will look into this verse in depth. I hope you join me as I share about them.

It is implied and validated in the remaining of this verse, that we are not chosen by just anyone, but by God. What would it feel like to be chosen by Bill Gates to be a recipient of some of his wealth? It would be amazing! What would it feel like to be chosen by Oprah to work on her staff? It would pretty exciting! Or what would it be like to be chosen to be in ministry with your favorite evangelist? For me, it would be it would be mind blowing. And yet, when we think of being chosen by God, it doesn’t provide us with the same level of excitement. And in truth, it shouldn’t! We should be even more excited, amazed, dazed, or our mind blown to understand what it means to be chosen by God!

As a people chosen by God, we have the benefit of His protection, His provision, access to inhabit His kingdom, and access to His throne. It also suggests that we, as God’s chosen , are to share in the blessings of God’s chosen people, the Israelites. This is echoed in Galatians by Paul when he states that we are blessed with faithful Abraham.

This being chosen also means that we are to share in the privileged status of Christ Jesus. Again, Galatians 3 states that we are heirs and joint heirs with Christ. And in the same chapter of Galatians, we are told that the blessing of Abraham comes upon us as a result of what Jesus accomplished on Calvary. And if that isn’t enough, John 1 states that those of us who have believed on Jesus and received Him were given the right to become children of God. Are you grasping the scope of being chosen yet?

Now, put chosen with generation and you get an even richer viewpoint of what Peter is stating. You are a chosen generation, or race. Just as God chose the Israelites to be His people, He has chosen you, us, who have been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus to be His. We belong to Him. We didn’t just choose Him, but He chose us to be His. We are as special to Him as the Jewish nation is to Him. Any reader of the Bible can see that He was fully engaged in the lives of the Israelites. As a matter of fact, He hasn’t stopped being involved in Israel’s protection and the blessing of the Jews. They are still a blessed people!

He provided them with deliverance from Egypt in a magnanimous way. Even unbelievers have heard of the parting of the Red Sea! Our spiritual deliverance pays eternal dividends and opens the pathway for earthly deliverances. The testimonies I could share! He provided them with His glory to guide them, and we are welcomed to experience His glory today! Anything that He did for Israel He can and will do for us on a greater scale because our covenant is built on the Blood of Jesus and not on bulls and goats.

It’s overwhelming to the natural mind the scope of being chosen by God, but it is true. The devil wants you to be afraid of embracing God, to believe He is out to get you, to keep things from you, to stifle your life, or is waiting to reject you when you sin; but nothing could be further from the truth!! God Himself has chosen you to be His out of the depth of His great love for you! His hands are stretched out still. Open your heart today and dare to believe that you, as a believer, belong to Him because you are chosen! Wonderful Jesus!!

Where Are All the Miracles?

Judges 6:13 – Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

If you haven’t read the account of Gideon in a while, or never, you may not remember that during the discourse between him and the Angel of the Lord that he asked this question, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about…?”

The thing is, people are still asking the same question today! They may not know that Gideon asked it of the Lord many centuries ago, but it is a question many have asked; if not verbally, than certainly in their hearts. I know that I asked it!

The Angel told Gideon that the Lord was with him, and Gideon responded, “if the Lord is with us?” I can imagine that the thought that the Lord was supposed to be with him was too much for him to take in at the time, so he included others in his question. He couldn’t believe that in his present circumstance that God was with him because the proof of God’s presence to Israel was always demonstrated through miracles. And since he was in hiding from the Midianites trying to scrape up enough wheat for food, he wasn’t buying it! No miracles, no God, no brainer!

People are so confused today about miracles. Does God perform miracles today like He did in the Old Testament and the New Testament? If so, where are they? This is a legitimate question that needs to be answered in the Body of Christ! After all, how can we say that we serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who sent His Son Jesus through a virgin, the very God whose name conjures up miracles in our mind, and yet we have never seen a miracle?

Jesus’ ministry was validated with miracles. John asked, are you the Messiah? Jesus said, check out all the miracles! (Luke 7:19) The miracle working power of God had to be in the life of the Messiah! And the Son of God would definitely have to operate in miracles, since the Father did!!

Before Jesus left the earth He gave what we call the Great Commission in Mark 16:15-18. And in this commission He stated that if we believed in His name, signs would follow us; and He named a few—they would cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will lay hands on the sick and the sick shall recover! People who believe God, see miracles. He fully expected His church to operate in miracles as He did. Remember He even said the Church would do greater works than He did! (John 14:12)

In Acts the disciples were threatened and told not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, but they prayed that God would stretch forth His hand to heal, and that signs and wonders (miracles) may be done through the Name of Jesus! They absolutely expected miracles to be with them!

But today, we have a problem with wondering if miracles are for the church. We argue about the validity of any miracle that we hear, calling it hype, fake news or anything else to discredit it. We would rather look for any explanation we can come up with than to believe that God would intervene on our behalf. But He does, and He will!

Gideon did see the miraculous, once he began to trust God. God told him that he would deliver Israel, and with 300 men that’s exactly what he did! As a matter of truth, God gave Him several miracles before that one. He was and is the God of miracles!

So where are all the miracles? Well, what are you believing? Do you believe that God doesn’t care enough about you and your circumstance to give you a miracle? Or do you believe that miracles are not for today? Or maybe your believe that miracles happen but only when God wants them to! Well, therein lies your problem! None of this junk will produce a miracle! Faith produces miracle!! Not a little faith (read my post on the mustard seed), but great faith moves the hand of God!

I have seen God move miraculously in my life. I’ll only share one. It’s at the forefront of my mind because of a song I heard this morning. The song my husband and I sang to each other on our wedding day! “Only God Could Love You More!”

As a young woman I watched many of my girlfriends get married. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. But when I began to pray for a husband, I asked God to give me a love story in the process. Well, one day, out of nowhere, He told me to join the Navy. I didn’t really have an interest in the military, but I obeyed. After I did, He told me that I would marry an officer.

I shared this with friends and one told me that it would never happen. But I want you to know that one day I was sitting in an airport in Sicily waiting for a flight to the States when he walked in and spotted me. A naval officer, single, saved, and handpicked by God was sent to say hello! And the rest, as we say, is history! A miraculous meeting, a call to a phone booth in a military barracks in Italy, and a date to meet in Florida ended with a wonderful love story, an amazing friendship and a godly marriage that demonstrates there is no area of our lives that is unimportant to Him! He’s just good like that! He gave me a miracle love story that I can’t tell in its entirety, but you can believe me when I say it was so!

I encourage you today to stop asking “where are the miracles” and start trusting Him to do the miraculous in your life! You don’t have to continue a humdrum life. Find out what the word says about your situation and what God has promised to do. If it is your finances that need a miracle, He has one for you! If it is your body, your relationship, your children, your job, or whatever, He cares and He can and will perform a miracle for you! Read Pastor Brannon Carnes miracle on my blog-“Tell Me Your Story” to get another witness to the miracle working power of God! It’s true! He’s true! Then share your miracle with me. I would love to hear it! Wonderful Jesus!!

Reconciled to Bring Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5:18 – Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

Reconciliation, according to the Vine’s, is what God accomplishes with His grace towards the sinner through the Blood of Jesus! To be reconciled means to be changed from an enemy of God to a friend. It also means to change our attitude and to accept the provision God made through the cross!

God, out of a heart of love, provided the only means by which we can be reconciled to Him, His Son Jesus. This plan of salvation, by which all of mankind can be saved, is and was His idea. He is always the one offering reconciliation to mankind through Jesus.

Sin was a major obstacle to reconciliation. After all, when Adam sinned, sin entered the world creating a great gulf between mankind and the God of the Universe. But even then, in His anger, His love prevailed causing Him to extend grace and mercy through Jesus. All barriers that were erected through sin were destroyed through Calvary. This is the message of the gospel, this is the message of reconciliation.

Reconciliation doesn’t involve God being reconciled to us, but us being reconciled to Him. We were His enemies by the mere fact that we weren’t His sons. He was never our enemy. Our attitudes need adjustment, He needs no adjustment. So reconciliation to God is a beautiful and humbling experience.

Then God handed over to us, the believers, the ministry of reconciliation. It is our responsibility to preach, teach, share, or sing this gospel message to the world, that God provided a way that mankind could be reconciled to Him. No longer do we have to be slaves to sin, burdened with the guilt of our past, separated from God, because reconciliation has been provided to all who accept it. No longer do we have to be an enemy to the Father, but we can have friendship, sonship, through His Blood!

People every where need the Lord. They need to know that God isn’t mad at them, waiting to catch them in sin to send them to a Christ-less eternity. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth!! He provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins, the perfect mediator for our trespasses. The perfect answer to the question: “What must I do to be saved?”

If you haven’t received reconciliation from God, through the Blood of Jesus and the forgiveness of your sin, allow me to be your reconciler. Choose Jesus today! Ask the Father to demonstrate His grace towards you as pour out your heart before Him in repentance. Then get up, dust the past off your person and become a reconciler; reconciling others to the Father! Wonderful Jesus!

The Comforted Becomes the Comforter!

2 Corinthians 1:3-4- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Trouble comes to us all! It’s sad, but it’s true. No one is exempt from the troubles of life. Black, White, Asian or Mexican; rich, poor, or middle class; old, young, or teen; it doesn’t matter. Trouble comes. And even worst, some of us experience our shares of trouble and enough to go around. How can we reconcile a loving God with all that we have to deal with? Some times it really can be a challenge, but getting the right perspective on the matter helps!

Paul says that God is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort! A lot of people see this only in times of grief, but God really is the Comforter. He’s there for the person who has been abandoned by a spouse or parent. He is there is for the person who has been abused in any manner. He is there to help through the painful loss of a loved one. And yes, He’s even there in the loss of our possessions. But we have to allow Him to be that comfort, and some times we have to open our eyes and realize He is there. There in the midst of the pain, the loss, the confusion. He didn’t cause it, He didn’t even allow it to happen, but it did! And He is waiting for you to allow Him to comfort you.

When my mother died, I was about 9 years old, and I clearly remember someone telling me that God took my mother because He needed her. Well, that sounded pretty cruel to me, because how could He need her more than I did? I didn’t get it! But I give Him praise that in-spite of the mixed messages I received that day and throughout my growing years, I have found Him to be a good God and a very loving Father. And I don’t believe for one second that He took her because He needed her. Actually, I don’t believe He took her. Disease took her! A lack of medical knowledge and treatment may have assisted it. But God did not!

Whatever the tribulation…

I heard Pastor Joel Osteen share how his mother was healed of cancer in the late 1980s and how once she was healed, she began going to the hospital to pray with others who was going through cancer treatment. She was able to speak to them in a way that said, “I have walked in your shoes. I know your pain, your heartaches, and your struggles and I am here for you!” Isn’t that beautiful to know that God can send us to be His hand extended to the broken, down trodden, abused, battered, sick, or neglected? That He can actually take our ashes and turn them into beauty? Yes, He can!

I have had three pregnancies, three children, and I have three adults. We have been blessed. Of the three pregnancies, two were difficult, life threatening deliveries. Two of our babies were fighting for their lives before they had a chance to live. I know the challenges that come with that. I know the fears, the sleepless nights, the tears, the guilt of what did I do to bring this on. I know! But God comforted me as only He could! And when I had a chance to reach out and comfort a young mother who was going through that I didn’t have to search for the words of comfort, because I knew what comforted me.

When one of my dearest friends died from cancer after I and so many others were believing for a miracle, my heart hurt in a way I couldn’t imagine. But God comforted me. When my brother died in his apartment and we didn’t discover it for a couple weeks, the shock and pain that hit me was almost unbearable. But God comforted me. And since those incidents, I have had to comfort others with the same and similar incidents. The comfort with which I was comforted was a vehicle of comfort to another.

Some things I haven’t experienced and I am not able to articulate the grace given by God to overcome them. I have never been divorced, but if you have been and you survived, then God has given you a powerful weapon to use to comfort someone else who might be facing a divorce. Maybe you’ve lost every thing because of drugs, alcoholism, or some other addiction, but God brought you out. Guess what, it wasn’t just for you, but it was so that you could also be there for someone else who may experience the same thing.

Most of the time, when we are going through we can only focus on ourselves and our problems. At least that is the way I am. And probably you, also. But once you recognize the blessing of grace given to you to walk victoriously through a thing, then God expects you to help someone else get their victory.

The world gets it! A son is killed by a drunken driver and a mom starts a movement MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers). A loved one is taken from this life via cancer, and pink ribbons and marches are started all over the world. A teen is shot in a high school and the parents go around the country sharing their grief and why we need more gun control and then reach out to parents who experience the same thing. They take their pains and heartaches and reach out to others with the same pain to make a difference in the lives of others who are experiencing what they went through. Some times we as Christians are the last to catch on.

Shame, guilt, pride and a host of other negative emotions keep us selfishly attached to our tribulations, when God says to us, “Let me show you how to get through this, and then go and show someone else how to be free.” Then the comforted can become the comforter.

You see, it’s not just enough to get a victory, we have to learn how to help others get their victories. Not to start an organization or a movement, but out of a sincere desire to see someone set free. So I ask you, what has God comforted you with? How has He worked things out for you? What situation, circumstance, or tribulation has He brought you through? Whatever, it is or was, He did it for your good and for the good of others! For freely you have received and freely He expects you to give. Wonderful Jesus!

The Immutable God!

Hebrews 13:8- “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

I have a friend and sister in Christ who loves to talk about our God as the “immutable God.” It thrills her to no end, so I thought tonight I would blog about the immutable God.

Immutable means “unchanging over time or unable to be changed”. That’s our text in a nutshell. Jesus has not changed and is unable to change. As He was, so is He and always will be. In Malachi, God said, “For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” In other words, the proof that He does not change is in the truth that Israel is still a nation of people. He’s so amazing!

Many feel that because we are in the new millennium that the gospel needs to change in order to reach the “millenniums” and the younger generation. The gospel will never change, because of the immutability of the One who the gospel proclaim. The methods may change, but the gospel can never change! Not ever!

We can’t afford to take this message of Jesus and make it palatable for this generation. There was a time when they took the Blood out of the gospel messages to make it less frightening for children. Then they took hell out of the gospel to make it more tolerable. And we can see how ineffective all of that was!

What should we take out of the gospel for this generation? The cross? The truth that the soul that sins shall die? Maybe we should remove the absolutes of the word? The truth that homosexuality truly is an abomination to the Lord our God? Or maybe we should remove the truth that we are a to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, set apart for the Master’s use!?

You see, since God is synonymous with His word, if we try and change any of what His word says to appeal to anyone, then we in fact are trying to change God. And He cannot change and will not adapt to any generation.

He truly is the same today as He has always been. He still saves the lost, they are precious to Him in every generation. He will run through a troop and leap over a wall to save them, but He won’t change for them.

He still loves the sinner, but He still hates the sin! Always has, and He always will. There’s no changing that or Him. None of us will escape the penalty of sin if we die in our sins. None of us, although He truly love us!

He cannot lie! It isn’t in His nature! He still says what He means and means what He says. You can trust Him just as surely as Moses could. You can trust Him just as surely as Abraham did! You can trust Him just as surely as Paul did for He cannot and will not mislead you into believing something that He will not do!!

This isn’t what I had in mind when I thought of this topic, but this is what has appeared on the blog! Rev. Schambach used to sing it like this, “I know God is God, and God don’t never change! I know God is God and He always will be God!” He hasn’t lost His power! He hasn’t lost His sovereignty, He hasn’t lost control over the devil, or the universe, and He hasn’t forgotten how to be God!

He still heals! He still delivers! He still sets the captive free! He still makes a way in the wilderness! He is still the Great I Am! He is still the Alpha and the Omega! He is still the Prince of Peace! He is still Almighty! He is still the only true God! There is still no one like Him! There is no other God besides Him!

He was sufficient for the children of Israel! He was sufficient to handle Pharaoh! He was sufficient to handle King Nebuchadnezzar! He was sufficient to handle the devil! He was sufficient to handle every single thing in the past and He is capable of handling every single thing in the present and that which is yet to come!

He is the immutable God. Incapable of changing over time, and incapable of being changed! This generation, my generation, your generation and our children’s generation all have to humble themselves before the One who doesn’t change. Each and every one of us have to line up to Him and His way, not Him to us! He has nothing to prove and nothing to lose! Stop fooling yourself or allowing the devil to tell you that this generation needs something different than we needed. Sin is sin! Salvation is salvation! Holiness is holiness! God is God! Always has been and always will be! Wonderful Jesus!!

Weights and Besetting Sin

Hebrews 12:1 – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Have you ever stopped to wonder what sin the writer of Hebrew is referring to? I have! And since I have, I’d like to share that with you!

Let’s remember for a moment what precedes this verse, Hebrews 11. I believe every one calls this chapter the faith chapter. It begins with verse one, where faith is described. Now faith is…and continues throughout the rest of the chapter reminding us of the mighty victories that faith brought into the lives of different ones. By faith Abel did this, and Abraham did that, and Sarah did this, and so forth and so on.

Then we come to our verse in chapter 12. Let me remind you that they didn’t write in chapter and verse when scripture was written. Chapters and verses were later added to help us to easily identify different passages in the Bible. So this verse is not a different thought, but a continuation of a thought.

As a matter of fact, it is easy to see that the writer of Hebrews is still addressing the subject of faith, for his first word in this chapter is therefore. Therefore, what? Therefore means “for that reason” or “consequently” and Kenneth Copeland is known for saying, “When you see the word “therefore”, see what it is there for! The writer is saying, “for this reason, because so many have won victories through faith, you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. People whose very lives are a testament to the fact that faith works. That what Jesus said to us, “If you can believe, all things are possible” is a true statement! That what the writer said earlier, that faith pleases the heart of God is where we need to be.

Therefore lay aside every weight!!! Lay aside every single thing that hinders you and keep you from obtaining what you ask for in faith! Lay it aside. Weights can be drugs, pornography, homosexuality, divorce, lying, grief, people…those things that cause us to feel as if God isn’t real, the word doesn’t work, or there is no hope for us. Those things that make us feel as if we will never be free, we will never have the victory, we will never experience the kingdom, we will never amount to anything! Those are weights, and it is time to lay them aside!

So now you might be asking, aren’t these are sins? Yes they are, but they are not the besetting sin. You see, this besetting sin is singular. Meaning everyone can have this same sin to entangle them, beset them. And if you haven’t guessed it yet, I will now reveal it. The besetting sin is the sin of unbelief! Let me show you how I figure that to be.

As I already mentioned, Hebrews 11 is all about those who conquered “weights” with their faith. Isn’t the death of a loved one a weight? If you don’t think so, try losing someone dear to you, you’ll recognize how hard it can be to get up the next day or to carry on. Or how about the desire for a baby and you can’t seem to have one? It’s a weight. What about being strung out with an addiction? It’s a weight for the individual and the family of the individual. What gives power to these weights? Unbelief! These weights are so burdensome they have us questioning the word, questioning our salvation, questioning our faith, questioning God. And in many cases, abandoning them.

And if that doesn’t convince you that unbelief is the besetting sin, then look at verse 2: “Looking unto Jesus, the author and developer of our faith!” Well, why am I looking to Him? Because of His role in our life of faith! Don’t shout me down!! Something that is besetting is something that is persistent in threatening us or causing us trouble. Unbelief does an outstanding job at threatening our life of faith. As a matter of fact, unbelief short circuits faith every single time!! So we are encouraged to lay unbelief aside. We absolutely must lay it aside if we want to have life more abundantly in the kingdom!

Over and over in the gospel Jesus was grieved over unbelief. He is hindered, even as the Almighty, by unbelief. Unbelief constant threatens our walk with the Lord. Unbelief constantly threatens every promise, and is a constant threat to the abundant life promised us.

Once we lay aside the weights and the besetting sin, we are on our way to the abundant life. Then we can run this race that is set before us, and we can run it with endurance. We can go the distance! Because faith fuels our life with hope, with joy, with peace, with confidence, with excitement…

Let’s recap: weights are those things that make you feel like you are never going to overcome in this life and unbelief is the thing that keeps those weights hanging around. Throw away your unbelief and your weights today and look to Jesus, the developer of your faith. He’ll help you to believe you can live free of it all! Wonderful Jesus!

The Inexhaustible God!

Ephesians 3:20 – Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.

Inexhaustible means “incapable of being used up, of being wearied or worn out! That’s our God! He has an unlimited supply source of everything we stand in need of. And when I think of Him as the inexhaustible God, for some reason, I think of Abraham!

In the book of Genesis, Abraham is chosen by God to be the father of His people. But the problem is that Abraham and his wife Sarah are childless. God calls Abraham away from his family and all that is familiar to him and Abraham leaves. Yet every time God spoke to Abraham He talked of Abraham’s descendants, of the land Abraham would receive, of the blessings that would be his, but Abraham was still childless.

Then one day after God shared all that He had in mind for Abraham, Abraham stopped Him and asked, “What good are all your blessings if I don’t have a son to leave it to?” Isn’t that amazing that Abraham would stop God in the midst of His proclamation over him and point out that he didn’t have a son? I would think that he would just keep nodding his head in agreement with God. But no! He wanted to know what good was all this wealth and this land, and all these promises if there was no one to leave it to! But you know what? I think God was waiting for that question, for He already had an answer! Isaac! And although Abraham produced an Ishmael, God still produced His Isaac. And then He did the unthinkable for Abraham and gave Him many more sons and daughters. In the United States Abraham has over 5 million descendants who are alive and well. That’s abundance!!

How about when Abraham was told about Sodom and Gomorrah’s upcoming destruction. Abraham asked God if he would destroy the city if there were fifty righteous there. God said He wouldn’t! Then Abraham continued, asking about forty-five, then forty, then thirty, until he got to ten. You would think that God would have been tired of the conversation by the third or fourth time, but He didn’t get tired of Abraham, or his requests. He patiently answered him until Abraham was at peace that he had done all he could to save the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah. He wasn’t successful, but he had successfully tried to save them. And in the process, God wasn’t worn out or weary with him.

These accounts in Genesis are just a tip of the iceberg of the abundant faithfulness of our loving God to His people. When we consider how He dealt with them in “biblical” times, how can we even doubt the goodness that He has in store for us.

Paul wrote, “that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think!” Paul was in essence letting us know that we serve the God with no limit to His power; even if there is a limit to what we could think or ask for, God’s abundance, His supply, His power has no end!

Recently I heard someone say, in probably true humility, “God if you never do another thing for us, You’ve already been so good!” This is so true! Rather we acknowledge it or not, it is a genuine truth that He has been so good to us. But guess what, no matter how good He has been to you, to that individual, to me, He still has more good in store for us! He doesn’t give us a few blessings and say, “that’s enough for her, for him!” Not our God. As a matter of fact, “eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, all that He has planned for us” so we can be sure that there is so much more to come!

To the Romans Paul wrote that God had given us Jesus! Glory Hallelujah! And Paul wrote that if God did not withhold His Son from us, how will He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32) Not some things, not a few things, but all things. It sounds to me like He’s going out of His way to bless us and He’s not holding anything back! All of heaven, (can you imagine it), at our disposal? I know it’s hard for me to imagine, also. But it’s true! He’s really working for our good and there is so much proof to confirm that!

Does your heart sing praise for His goodness to you? It should! But it’s not over! He’s only just begun to pour out His blessings upon you. Look for it! It’s coming, because He is the inexhaustible God, and He is your God! You haven’t worn Him out with your requests. You can’t! He isn’t tired of you, and He never will be. A powerful love for you keeps Him in the thick of things with you. Learn to trust Him and His love for you and you will experience His abundance like never before. I know I am. Wonderful Jesus!

As a Further Matter!

Psalm 19:11 – Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.

For the past several posts I have been blogging from Psalm 19, writing about the different terms used to identify the word and what it does in our lives. Today, at least for the moment, I will conclude my blogs on this topic.

First of all, David started this verse with the word “moreover”. Moreover is used to convey the thought, “as a further matter, or besides”. David has been sharing with us in this psalm the purpose of the word of God. First he gives us a noun (testimonies), then he gives us an adjective (sure), and then he shares the action or verb pertaining to the noun (making wise); a pattern he uses six times to convey to us the importance, the blessings of the word. And now he revisits this theme by stating, “moreover”.

In other words, besides all of what I have shared with you in regards to God’s word, there is still yet to be said. Or as a further matter, in case you have not yet been convinced, I have something I want to add. Besides all of what I have already told you about the word, I want you to know that the Lord’s servant is warned by His word.

The word not only warns us about sin and how to avoid it, but it warns us that we have a real adversary and how he operates and what his agenda is in this earth’s realm. The word warns us against the futility of living in the flesh. The word warns us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. The word warns us against false prophets and teachers. The word warns us against loving money. The word warns us of the pitfalls of life that we need to avoid. The word warns us of what a life spent without Jesus means for our eternity. And the list can go on.

But the psalmist also tells us that the same word, if we keep it, it has great rewards. I was just talking with a sister in the Lord and we were saying how grateful we are that we did it God’s way, in regards to marriage. Both of us have been married for over 30 years and we were rejoicing in the joys of having a blessed marriage and family. But we understood and know that it was because we kept the word of God and what it had to say about the sanctity of marriage, the way we were to raise our children, the way were to submit to our husbands and to respect him, the way we were to not go to bed in anger… Sometimes people say things to me like, “You are so lucky!” Well, I can assure you that luck has absolutely nothing to do with my life. But making the choice to live by the word of God and to honor Him has been the best decision I could’ve made.

The blessing of having a relationship with Jesus, the blessing of knowing that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, the blessing of going to bed at night with peace in my heart, the blessing of meeting old friends and having no guilt or shame, the blessing of seeing our children blessed, the blessing of knowing that my life is pleasing to the Father, etc. I give absolutely no credit to luck, and all the glory to the One whose Word I have chosen to keep. I’m not a perfect Christian. Far from it on some days. But I decided a long time ago to obey God’s word and adhere to His warnings.

I will close with this: I have seen and heard of men and women of God who didn’t end as well as they began. One day I asked the Lord about this and He said, “The devil is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he can devour, don’t be one he can devour.” And from that day to this I have endeavored to live life in such a way that I give no place to devil.

You see, some people want to live their lives in such a way that it is as if they are trying to see how close to the world they can get without being burnt, or without fully committing to the world. But what is needed is a greater commitment to see how close to Jesus we can get, how much of His word can we get, how much of His love can we embrace so that we will look more like Him! And to leave the world alone with all of it’s headaches.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s okay to have a head knowledge of the word, or even to be selective of the word you choose to obey. There is nothing in this world more precious than Him, than His word. He warns us in it, so that we can discover the blessings in it. I am really thankful for this psalm. I have memorized this passage and I meditate on it regularly. I want the word to have a greater place of honor in my life and when I see myself straying from it, I rush right back to it. What ever term you use, the word of the Lord, the judgments of the Lord, etc…just read it, value it, obey it and let it bless you! Wonderful Jesus!

The Children’s Bread- A Repost

I have to admit that I have a few posts that no one read. As I was preparing to write on the last part of Psalm 19 I thought about these posts and decided that maybe I should repost some of them since people are now reading the blog. So this is one from the archives I hope you will like!

“But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” -Matthew 15:26

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I have learned that Christians say a lot of things that they have no idea why they are saying it. As a matter of fact, when I was teaching the discipleship class at church, I would often ask people to explain sayings to me like: “saved by grace”, “sanctified”, or “the righteousness of God” to make sure we were all on the same page.

Recently I preached a message that referred to “the children’s bread” and thought it would be a good idea to explain what it means in case you have heard the phrase but have not understood it. The Bible does say that in all of our getting we are to get understanding.

In the above verse Jesus makes the comment that it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. The background to this verse is that a Gentile woman has come to Him for her daughter’s healing and He makes this statement to her implying that healing belongs to the “children”.

I heard a wonderful story  that illustrates this point: Pastor Bill Winston shared that he went to get some ribs. The lady ahead of him got her order, but as she was leaving she decided to check it to make sure that everything was present. When she looked inside she apparently didn’t see her bread, so she walked back to the counter and asked, “Does bread come with this?”

Now here’s the point that Jesus was making: Healing is a part of the benefit package of salvation. There are numerous scriptures where this truth is mentioned besides in Matthew: Psalm 103:1-3 and Isaiah 53:4-5 are my personal favorites. In other words, if you are a child of God, according John 1:12, then “bread” (your healing) comes with your salvation! It’s in there!!

Years passed before I understood that this was not just a phrase people pulled out of a passage and turned into a cliche, but a profound Bible truth! Healing belongs to those who are born of the Spirit of God, it is their right! It is your right, if you are a child of God! So don’t let the devil tell you differently, no matter whose voice he’s using to do so! Just tell him that Jesus decreed that “bread comes with that” and you want your bread!! Just like the lady in this story went and let it be known that she was expecting bread with her meal and so wanted it,  we have to understand that God is expecting us to be just as bold about getting our healing!

Just as you wouldn’t settle for part of what you pay for at a restaurant or grocery store, don’t settle for part of what Jesus paid for with His blood! Healing comes with your salvation, it’s the children’s bread! So the next time you read this verse or hear this saying, you can say, “I have a clearer understanding of what Jesus was talking about!” I know I do! Wonderful Jesus!!

 

 

 

 

 

More Precious Than Gold

Psalm 19:10 -More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

In this psalm, David has spoken highly of the word of God. He spoke of the word as the law of the Lord, as the testimonies of the Lord, as the statutes of the Lord, the commandments of the Lord, the fear of the Lord, and the judgments of the Lord! Have you noticed how often David refers to Lord? David understood the most important point of all about the Word; it belongs to the Lord! No matter what you call it, no matter what you say it provides or does, it is the Lord’s! And David was thrilled with that truth!

David said the word of the Lord, (and all the other synonyms for the word) was to be desired more than gold, and more than much fine gold. I looked up the value of fine gold. Gold is considered to be a precious metal. What makes it so precious is because it is beautiful and costly. It is also an element and a mineral. I read that it takes about a ton of ore to get one third of an ounce of gold. Fine gold is the purest form of gold with a current value of about $1500 per ounce. But David said the word is more precious than gold.

If any of us were to realize one day that in our backyard was a ore deposit of gold, we would do everything in our power to guard it and to mine it in order to obtain the wealth of that gold. Nothing would stop us, distract us, or keep us from mining every ounce of gold that we could get from that deposit. Why? Because of its great value and all that we could do with that gold. Yet David stated that the word of God is more precious than gold.

Gold is also precious because of its usefulness. It is used in art, in electronics, in dentistry and in medicine. It is used to find fingerprints on surfaces like plastic or leather. Much like the word is precious because it converts the soul, rejoices the heart, makes wise the simple, endures forever, etc! As the value of gold is increased because its versatility, so is God’s word.

David described it also as a lamp to his feet and a light to his path. He said the entrance of the word brings light. He said he hid the word in his heart that he might not sin against God. David also said that the word is life to those who find it and health to all their flesh. There is so much more to the word of God that we have yet to understand. Then John stated that the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. That in the very beginning of time was the word, and the word was God and the word was with God. These truths, in and of themselves, make the Word of God the most precious, the most valuable of all.

David also said that the word of God is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. Again, I went to Google because I wanted to know why David was comparing the word to honey and the honeycomb. The honey in a honeycomb is sweet, but the honeycomb is notably sweeter. There was much info on how the bees make honey and the honeycomb, but the thing that stood out to me is the strength of the honeycomb. It is the home of the larvae of the bees as well as the storage place of the honey. It is built instinctively with hexagons which allows for a lot of weight without using a heavy material. But the raw honey is by far sweeter in the comb than the stored honey. What was David saying? You will miss the best part of the Word of God if you jut focus on what seems to be restrictive about the word of God. The word is sweet, and it is strong enough to produce sweetness in your life.

I don’t know about you, but I have found myself wanting to spend more time reading and meditating on His Word. I have truly experienced the wonderful benefits of His Word and shouldn’t ever have need of a reminder, but I do! And I am grateful to received it. Take some time this week to show God that you understand the value of His Word and will make a point to live life, valuing Him and His Word. Wonderful Jesus!