Wonderful Jesus!

Tag: Grace

• Freely!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on May 3, 2021

  

   Romans 3:24- “[All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,” AMP

  

  The Bible has been compared to a love letter. Some say it is a love letter from God to His followers. I must admit that there are parts of the Bible that feel very much like words of love that strengthen my heart and causes me to long for my Savior. (And so then I have to stop what I am doing and spend time in worship or prayer, or both!) As such, then it is equally okay to compare the cross of Calvary to the price of that love. So great was the love of God for me and for you, the whole world over, that He placed Jesus on that cross and turned His back on Him.

  In the twenty first verse, of chapter three, Paul brings home a point that he has been trying to make with many of his previous statements. Righteousness cannot be earned, inherited, purchased, or worked at; it is given to us by He Who is Righteous. This righteousness, he continues to point out, is apart from the law, but is testified about in the Law and the Prophets. As a matter of truth, the only requirement, and it is non-negotiable, is found in the next verse of this chapter:

  “Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah). [And it is meant] for all who believe. For there is no distinction”

  Romans 3:22 AMP

  God loves the whole world! Paul says, God’s righteousness is available to all who believe on Jesus the Christ, or Jesus, the Anointed One. That’s the only distinction! We can lay hold to whatever biases we want to, and cling to every tradition, but God has chosen to release His righteousness to those who believe in His Son!

  For all did sin, and are come short of the glory of God —

  Romans 3:23 YLT

  In the Young’s Literal translation, it refers to the fact that all of us did sin. None of us, can make any claims to righteousness outside of Jesus, because we all sinned, and were sinners before coming to Him! As a result of being sinners, we all come short of the glory of God. I like the way the Passion Bible states it:

  “For we all have sinned and are in need of the glory of God!

  Romans 3:23 TPT

  I can understand what is being said, when it reads that we are in need of the glory! However you choose to understand this verse, the bottom line is that as sinners, we can’t experience the glory of God! Every effort falls short! Every righteous act of our own, falls short! Every resolution, just keep falling short! And it doesn’t matter who you are, there is no distinction! Sinners just keep falling short!

  But God, in His great love for us, made a way for us to tap into His glory and become righteous as He is, and that is through faith in Jesus!

  This is the part of the chapter that is most important about salvation:

  “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed”

  Romans 3:24-25 NKJV

  Paul has introduced several key aspects of salvation in these two verses: freely, justification, redemption, and propitiation.

  Let’s look first at freely. Freely comes from the Greek word, “dorean” and is translated “as a gift, or without a cause”. Paul was letting us know that God freely justifies us! We didn’t do anything to give Him a “cause” or a reason to justify us, it is His own gift to us! Just as grace is freely given to us! (Check out some of my blogs on grace!)

  Justification! Declared not guilty! God is a just God, and as such, He has to address the problem of sin. The righteous requirement of sin is death. Remember that God told Adam and Eve that when they ate from the forbidden tree, they would die! Death is still the payment for sin. Yet, His love caused Him to defer judgment of sin until His Son Jesus would come and die for us all! That’s deep! Once Jesus died, God declared all those who believe in Jesus, not guilty of the charges against them! Alvin Slaughter sang a song many years ago, “Mercy Refused”! Today, it is still a song I love to hear that reminds me of how powerful God’s love really is towards us!

  Redemption! This word denotes that the release is effected by the payment of a required price. Think of a slave auction! I don’t know a lot about sex trafficking, but there are times it is interwoven into a book I am reading. Sometimes, the hero just snatches the woman out of the hands of the trafficker, and other times, someone has to pay the ransom being asked, to have her returned. God, redeemed us off of the slave auction block of sin, and paid the ransom required to get us back, with the Blood of Jesus!

  Propitiation! A substitute sacrifice. That was Jesus on the cross! He didn’t sin, and therefore had no price of His own to pay! This plan was initiated by the Father, in heaven, before the foundation of the world. Jesus didn’t appease God, He pleased God, when He agreed to be the One who would die for our sins! No one else could do it, for God required the sacrifice to be holy, and none of us could fit that requirement.

  Each of these components, according to Paul, was absolutely necessary for us to be declared righteous before God. He could not overlook our sin, so He declared us free of sin, because of the Blood! The price for our freedom, for our redemption, was death! So He paid for it in the most precious way that He could, the Blood of Jesus! It was absolutely necessary for Jesus to die on that cross for our sins, in our place. He willing became our substitute. Without such, we could not experience the righteousness of God!

  I started out by mentioning that the word is a love letter from God to us! But it is so much more than a love letter! It is a covenant of love, written in the Blood of our Savior, and backed by the God of the Universe, our Father! If this isn’t a picture of the greatest love ever, I can’t imagine what is! Freely we have been justified, made completely free, by the Righteous Judge! Freely we have been redeemed! Freely He died in our place, a substitute, for us! Such amazing love! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Blood of Jesus, God, God’s Requirements, Jesus, righteousness, Salvation, Sin, Study of Romans | 4 Comments | Tagged Christianity, freely, God, Grace, Jesus, propitiation, redemption, sacrifice, Salvation, the Blood of Jesus, the righteousness of God

• The Center of It All!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on April 7, 2021

  

  Romans 1:2-4 “God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. The Good News is about His Son. In His earthly life He was born into King David’s family line, 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.” NLT

  

  I was in Science class today when I had a thought. As our students were learning about the importance of cells, and tissues, and organs I was thinking about Jesus. A fact that resonated with my spirit is that the nucleus is the control center of the cell and it regulates all the activities of the cell. So I looked it up and discovered that the nucleus also carries the genes where our hereditary information is contained. My thought was this: that sounds like Jesus! I got so excited! And isn’t it something that science can reveal the Father, just as Paul wrote in the beginning of his letter to the Romans?

  Paul introduced himself to the saints in Rome, a congregation he hadn’t fellowshipped with, but one he had heard all about. As Paul traveled and evangelized the Greek provinces he often ran into other believers, and this is how he heard of the church in Rome. When he wrote:

   First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world,

  Romans 1:8 NKJV

  it was because of all the people he had met who originated from that church, or had passed through that church. Those things caused his heart to desire to go to Rome that he might part some spiritual gift to them, that they may be established, and for mutual encouragement (verse 12).

  It is believed that Andronicus and Junias were from the congregation in Rome, and since Paul sends them a greeting, they are in Rome at the time of his writing. Priscilla and Aquila were also from Rome, and had been amongst the Jews who were expelled from Rome before they met Paul (Acts 18:2). At this writing, they had a church in their house (16:5). Other people to whom Paul sent greetings at the end of his letter were believed to be people he had met during his evangelistic efforts who had either moved to Rome or had returned to Rome. It is easy to surmise that this church, made of Jews and later Gentiles, impressed Paul, because of the testimony of these individuals, that he wanted to fellowship with them for himself!

  After he introduces himself, he then speaks of Jesus. However, it is believed that his characterization of Jesus is intentional and with purpose and that’s why he doesn’t use His name until the end of his description. Let’s look closer at what Paul said about Jesus and why.

  Paul first mentions that Jesus is fully man. He speaks of Jesus’ heritage which would definitely be important to the Jews, and would be a strong testament of His messiahship. He was from the seed of David, and as such, was in the lineage of royalty. Also, as He walked on this earth, He did so in the capacity of a human being, which would later bear witness to man being able to live free from the bondage of sin — a topic he later discusses.

  Then he speaks of Jesus being the Son of God. A truth that surely they already knew as believers, but a truth he wanted them to know that he also preached and agreed with. Instead of focusing on how Jesus was born, although that is a powerful truth, he focused on how He was raised from the dead. This was proof to Paul that Jesus was who He said that He was, more than anything else. Remember that he met the resurrected Jesus and his life was forever changed! As a matter of fact, encountering that Jesus, changed all of the disciples, and it truly is the crux of the gospel message!

  We’ve just celebrated Resurrection Sunday because the resurrection of the Lord is the most important part of the gospel. I like what John Lake said about the resurrection:

  “The reason for the resurrection is that the kingdom of Christ is not to be in heaven entirely. It is to be in this world. And the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is to rule in this world. Consequently, while we live in this world we will need a body like our Lord’s—capable of existence here, and capable of existence over there.”

  ― John G. Lake, Spiritual Hunger, The God-men and Other Sermons

  Have you ever really given that any thought? Currently, in our new created state, we are capable of living in this earthly realm, as we are seated in heavenly places in Christ! And when we pray or give Him praise, we are able to transcend this earthly realm and move in the heavenlies. This relationship is truly supernatural!

  Paul mentions that it is through Jesus that we receive grace and our calling. As an apostle, he acknowledges that the role he has in the kingdom of God is because of the grace extended to him by Jesus. He didn’t do anything to earn it, and neither can we, but it was extended to him. And all of this that he has mentioned in his introduction, the seed of David, the Son of God, the resurrection from the dead, and grace is in Jesus our Lord!

  Now, back to my thought this morning. Just as the nucleus is the center of the cell, Jesus is the nucleus, or center of the gospel. As such, He is the control center not only for the church, but every believer. Paul wrote that He was made to be the head over the church, His body! As we walk in this new life, Jesus regulates our activities as our hearts and minds are transformed by His word. His Spirit on the inside of us, is available to assist us when we yield to Him. In the book of Roman, Paul goes into details about how this is possible. And lastly, in Jesus, is our DNA. All that we are, all that we can ever hope to be, is because of Him living on the inside of us. Jesus, the Christ! (See my blog or listen to my podcast on the DNA of God).

  I’m not really a scientific individual and may not have really touched the essence of this truth, but I saw it just as clearly as I see the page in front of me. This verse:

  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

  Romans 1:20 NKJV

  spoke to me like never before. This has been radiating in my heart all day long, and I just had to share it. What a powerful testament of the plan of God. As the nucleus is the center of life and function for the cell, so is Jesus to the gospel, our salvation! Then, of course, I kept hearing the song, “Jesus, You’re the Center of My Joy”. It’s been that kind of day!

  I googled what happens to the cell if the nucleus is removed from it? I found this truth on several sites:

  If the nucleus is removed from the cell then the cell will not be able to function properly, it will not be able to grow. … Gradually, the cell may die.

  https://www.jagranjosh.com

  Look at that spiritual truth!!! Remove Jesus, remove life! Dead churches have removed Him as supreme, preeminent, Lord of all! And then they looked up and realized that they had died a slow death! And if we were to remove Him from our lives, we would be the walking dead. This is why the sinner is not considered alive until they are born again and given life. They are without their spiritual nucleus, Jesus! He is truly the Center of it all! As we move into the letter that Paul wrote to the believers in Rome, Paul wants us to truly understand this truth. No Jesus, no life! Know Jesus, know life! Yes, I’ve used it before, but it bears repeating! I’m so excited about this study! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Christianity, Jesus, Study of Romans | 0 Comments | Tagged cells, Christianity, early church, gospel message, Grace, Jesus, new life, nucleus, Paul, resurrection, Romans, Rome, spiritual life

• Getting It Right!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on March 3, 2021

  Psalm 51:10-11 – Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. NKJV

  

  getting-it-right_.mp3

  Tonight I want to blog about the prayer of repentance. The Webster’s 1868 edition defines the word repentance, in the following manner:

  Real penitence; sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an offense and dishonor to God, a violation of his holy law, and the basest ingratitude towards a Being of infinite benevolence. This is called evangelical repentance and is accompanied and followed by amendment of life.

  Since this definition fits my purpose, I will say that the prayer of repentance is used to express a sorrow over any sin we have committed that offends or dishonor God or His Word. This prayer can be, and probably is, prayed multiple times throughout our lives.

  Our key text, taken from Psalm 51, happens to be a part of a prayer of repentance that David prayed. David had an affair with Bathsheba. He tried to cover it up, but was unable to do so. First, Bathsheba got pregnant. Then he called her husband back from the battle and tried to get him to go home to her so that they could play the child off as Uriah’s. When that didn’t work, he had Uriah killed in battle. Not only that, God had to send Nathan, the prophet, to him because he hadn’t yet acknowledged his deed for the sin that it was. When David finally came to the place where he was willing to admit that he had sinned, his next step was to go to God and confess it and repent of it! David’s hesitancy to repent, actually paralyzed him in his relationship with God!

  Here’s another example of someone repenting in prayer:

  Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. Ezra 10:1 -NKJV

  In this verse, we see Ezra is before God, praying, confessing, and weeping. The prayer of repentance doesn’t always involve weeping, but most definitely can. I won’t say it is a criteria for sincerity because some people are really good at gut wrenching tears that produces nothing more than an emotional drain. However, it is a time of prayer where you can find yourself crying before the Lord.

  I know this is an Old Testament example, and we don’t live under the Old Testament, but it is applicable for tonight’s topic.

  What makes this such a relevant prayer is that we must use this type of prayer to become born again. I don’t know your experience, but I am pretty sure that when you accepted Jesus as Savior, prayer was involved. And I am fairly certain that repentance was involved.

  Here’s a New Testament example for us: the prodigal son. You have probably heard or read this account of the son on more than one occasion, but I will briefly retell it. The son asked his father for his inheritance, even though his father was still alive. The father gives it to him. Then the son leaves home and loses all of his money while partying hard. He finds himself in abject poverty, eating the same food as the pigs he was hired to feed. One day he realizes, if he is going to be a slave for someone it may as well be his father for his father treats his servants so much better. His attitude is one of repentance:

  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ Luke 15:18-19 – NKJV

  It was the son’s acknowledgment that he had blown it big time, that places this son in a position to receive grace and mercy from his father. Yes, his father forgave him and restored him, but there’s no doubt in my mind that things would have ended differently had he not confessed his sins before his father. This is a beautiful picture of how we are to come to the Father when we blow it. No justification, no pointing fingers, no excuses, just simple acknowledging that we did wrong and sincere repentance of the wrong.

  John wrote this:

  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 – NKJV

  This brings us back to our key verse. David asked God to create in him a new heart. When we pray a prayer of repentance, our greatest desire should be that God give us a new heart. If we are sinners in need of salvation, it is what He wants to do! If we are believers who need to “get it right” He wants to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In either case, forgiveness is waiting for us, we need only ask!

  David also asked that God would renew a steadfast spirit in him. What’s that? A spirit of stability, a spirit of being fixed on obedience to God, a yes to His will spirit! David had that type of spirit before, and he wanted it re-established in his life. So much so, it was more important to him than anything, because he didn’t want to lose the right to be in the presence of the Lord. He knew his sin had separated him from God, and he desperately wanted to see his relationship restored with God.

  David also asked God to not to remove His Holy Spirit from him. That’s deep for an Old Testament individual, and that makes it applicable to New Testament believers. When we sin, we need to get it right! Our heart should be as David’s heart was. God, whatever You do, don’t turn me away, and please don’t remove Your Spirit from my life! Why? Because more than anything, we should want to be right before God and to know that His Spirit is still present in our lives. And that’s why the prayer of repentance is so necessary to pray. Sin blocks our ability to connect with God, but confession of that sin and repentance of that sin gives us unlimited access to Him.

  As I stated in the beginning, we may need to pray this prayer on more than one occasion in our lives. But if we find that we are praying it daily, then we are in need of some different type of praying. I don’t believe necessarily in steps when dealing with God. You may need to pray for an hour about your situation, while someone else may need only a few minutes. Let His Spirit lead you during this time. However long you pray, pray until you know you’ve accomplished the task of truly repenting. And according to our definition, it must bring about a change in your behavior and your life! Wonderful Jesus!

  prayer-for-salvation-1.mp3

  Posted in God, Holy Spirit, Prayer, Repentance, Salvation | 2 Comments | Tagged Attitude, Believer, David, favor, God, Grace, Holy Spirit, obedience, parable, Prayer, Salvation, Sin, Sinner

• The Changeless Promise!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on January 25, 2021

  Galatians 3:18 – For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. NKJV

  

  the-changeless-promise_.mp3

  Most people have a childhood memory of pinky promises. Promises to be best friends forever. Promises to keep each other secrets no matter what. Promises to never date someone who your friend is interested. Promises and more promises. Yet, I can’t remember any of the promises or people I made pinky promises with. I just remember doing it.

  As humans, we can be a little sloppy with our words, making promises that we have no intentions of keeping. Or making promises we are incapable of keeping. We’ve all experienced the disappointments of broken promises. And we know all too well that the best promise from some people is no promise at all!

  I think that is why living together, without the benefit of marriage, may have come into place. It gives you that sense of, not making a forever promise, so you don’t have to worry about it when the other person leaves. I’m just guessing here, but that’s fear. Fear of being hurt, disappointed, abandoned, and no longer wanted or needed. I get it!

  The thing that has me blogging tonight is this: because our word can be so weak, and our promises even weaker, we have a tendency to think God is the same way. Thinking like this, is what causes us to live beneath our privilege in Christ; and weakens our ability to live to our fullest in Him!

  I can give you example upon example of people not keeping their word. Children go to bed hurt at night because of the parent who didn’t come by to see them or pick them up like it was promised. Spouses cry themselves to sleep because of the other one, who walked away without looking back, although they promised a forever after. Bosses promise promotion that never happens, or raises that never seem to materialize. Companies makes promises with their products that we keep buying, even when we don’t get what they promised. Politicians who run campaigns on promises that they know are unrealistic, unattainable! Don’t you just get tired of it all! And so I get how difficult it may be to trust God at His word! God has this to say about Himself in the word:

  “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?Numbers 23:19 – NKJV

  We learn about Abraham in Genesis. Abraham was brought up in a polytheistic, multiple gods, culture. He didn’t know who the one true God was, but he must have been interested in Him. One day God called out to him and made him a promise:

  Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” -Genesis 12:1-3 – NKJV

  And yet, in Galatians, Paul is still referring to the promise that God made to Abraham. Not weeks later! Not centuries later! But millennials later! Paul reminds us of the promise God made to Abraham, that we are partakers of! Everything God promised to Abraham happened. Abraham not only became a great nation, but two nations. His name is known, even today, worldwide. Today, all the families of the earth is being blessed because of the promise made to Abraham.

  God was so serious about this promise to Abraham, that it was said:

  For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” Hebrews 6:13-14 – NKJV

  That’s a strong promise! A promise made to Abraham in Genesis 22:16, when Abraham did not withhold Isaac from God on the mount. It was then that God swore by Himself saying that He would surely bless Abraham!

  Our text for today, references the inheritance that was promised to Abraham. The Greek word “kleronomia” means the actual enjoyment of the benefits already promised under the will. That’s powerful all by itself!

  Most people understand the concept of a will. Someone dies and leaves us an inheritance. We all wish we were related to people who are really wealthy, so we can get just a slice of the pie! But the King of Glory, God of the Universe has decreed that we are heirs (kleronomos) with Abraham! And that doesn’t excite most people! Well, it should! I’m getting stirred as I write!

  If you follow Abraham’s life, everything wasn’t easy. As a matter of fact, he didn’t get to see all of what God had promised to him and his descendants while on earth. The reason being, the promise is still being fulfilled. Even though Abraham is no longer on the earth, God’s promise set things in motion for him and He hasn’t changed His mind about that promise. Because Abraham isn’t around to partake of it, his descendants get to enjoy the benefits of this changeless promise.

  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:29 – NKJV

  Let’s stop and think about the word promise. In the Greek it is “epangelia”. In the Vine’s dictionary we learn that:

  It frequently stands for the thing “promised,” and so signifies a gift graciously bestowed, not a pledge secured by negotiation…”

  Abraham’s only contribution to receiving this promise was to obey God’s command to leave and to go where he was led. As he did this, he demonstrated his willingness to place his trust in God. Then God blessed Abraham as he promised, and never stopped blessing him. God bestowed favor on Abraham. God bestowed riches on Abraham. God provided protection to Abraham. Every where Abraham turned, he was blessed or getting blessed. Even in his mess ups, they were turned around for his good. Because the blessing from God was upon his life!

  God’s promises to Abraham are just as available as they have always been, to the descendants of Abraham. Our part is the same as Abraham’s part was: we simply believe. We don’t have to negotiate with God, or even look for a better promise. Everything that God promised to Abraham is obtained through Christ! And those promises, called great and precious promises, better promises. are waiting for us today!

  Look at how faithful God was to His promise to Abraham. There was just no stopping that blessing from happening once it was set in motion by God’s decree. God has made some pretty amazing promises to us in His word. It’s up to us to decide if we can trust His word or not! I will trust God and His unchanging promise! What about you? Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Blessing of Abraham, God’s Blessings, inheritance, Jesus | 0 Comments | Tagged Abraham, blessings, Christ, Faith, faithfulness, favor, God, God’s word, Grace, heirs, inheritance, obedience, promise, trust in God, unchanging

• Celebration Time!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on January 22, 2021

  Luke 4:18-19 -“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” NKJV

  

  celebration-time_.mp3

  For me, it’ really been an interesting time looking at the ministry of Jesus through Luke 4, which is really an echo, or fulfillment, of Isaiah 61. Isaiah’s list is longer than the one Jesus read, so since Jesus stopped here, for now, so will I!

  Tonight’s blog is on the acceptable year of the Lord!

  The word acceptable, in the Greek, is “dektos”. According to the Vines, “dektos” “denote that most blessed time when salvation and free favors of God profusely abound”. This expression would have meant nothing to a Gentile in that day, but it held great significance for the Jews.

  Leviticus 25:10-12 -“And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.” NKJV

  The year of Jubilee was significant in that it provided three major benefits: personal liberty, restoration of property, and blessings.

  In the year of Jubilee, if you were a slave you would be set free. No matter how many years were left to your bondage, you would be free! If you had to sale your property, for whatever reason, it was restored to you in the year of Jubilee. And the harvesting of the land was halted, that everyone could enjoy the fruit of the land, representing blessings or favor to all.

  The only drawback to the year of Jubilee was that it came every 50 years. So if you were in year 45 or closer to the Jubilee, I am sure that you could look forward to it and the blessings it brought. If you were at year 2 to 5, after the year of Jubilee, you might have pleasant memories. But if you went into slavery, or lost your property 10 years after Jubilee, or the year after Jubilee, the road ahead would not be filled with hope! Jesus came and announced that in Him was the fulfillment of the year of Jubilee. No more waiting for Jubilee, because Jubilee had arrived and was looking at them! It’s celebration time! But in truth, they didn’t see it that way!

  First, and foremost, He came to liberate us from the bondage of sin.

  Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24

  His death, burial, and resurrection provided us with liberty from that bondage. He who knew no sin, became sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

  This reconciliation of man to God, restored us to our rightful place in God, giving us an inheritance with Jesus.

  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:29 – NKJV

  Once we were made righteous, we had access to all that was Jesus’, thus all that the Father had! Every promise, every blessing, and immeasurable favor, was opened up to us! This was the best news of all! Jubilee personified! For us! Let’s celebrate!

  Two things that stood out to me in this study: Jesus is our Great Physician. Physical healing, emotional healing, mental healing, social healing…if it has a name, Jesus heals us of it! And He is our Redeemer! Salvation, deliverance, protection, reconciliation is all wrapped up in Him. The entirety of the gospel message is really encapsulated in these two truths. It’s a theme repeated over and again throughout scriptures. However we find ourselves in life, we will need Him as our Physician or our Redeemer. And we will always find Him available.

  I’ve written some pretty long posts during this study, so I’ll be brief tonight. Schambach had a saying, while he was ministering on the earth: “You don’t have any trouble! All you need is faith in God!” For some reason this saying just came to me tonight. I will say it like this: When you have trouble, of any kind, reach out with your faith to God! Jesus has paved the way with the cross and has come to give us all of Him and all of the Father!

  Let us not be like the Pharisees! Let’s recognize the truth of Jesus’ words spoken so long ago and recorded for us to have! He has fulfilled the scripture that says He is our all in all! Let’s receive Him for the truth that He is and begin to celebrate Him like never before! And then, let’s just celebrate! Celebration time, come on! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in favor, Jesus, Luke 4:18, ministry of Jesus | 0 Comments | Tagged acceptable year, Believer, blessings, encouragement, Faith, freedom, God, Grace, Healing, Jesus, ministry, reconciliation, restoration, righteousness, Salvation, slavery, Year of Jubilee

• Grace That Grows!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 7, 2020

  2 Peter 3:18 – “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” NKJV

  

  grace-that-grows_.mp3 (Note: I changed the title after I recorded it!)

  I’ve shared several blogs on the grace of God. If you have kept up with them, you know that I have repeatedly spoken of grace as God’s unmerited favor that cannot be earned and is not deserved. This is all true! Today I want to bring up a very important point about grace, it grows!

  In 2 Peter 3, Peter addresses several tough issues: the delay of the end times, mockers, false teachers, and the return of the Lord. He concludes this chapter by telling the believers that to be forewarned about these issues is to forearmed. Sounds like great advice! The last thing he says is that we are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus! This verse captured my interest. So I asked myself, like an student of the word would, “If grace is given freely, because we can’t earn it, nor do we deserve it, how can we grow in it?

  It really goes back to what I have been trying to explain. Grace is powerful! The word of God talks about exceeding riches of grace and yet many believers only understand saving grace, the grace given to us to obtain salvation, and that reservations. Peter writes that we can grow in the grace of God. I believe that what he means is that we are to grow in understanding what grace is, how it operates in our lives, and experiencing it to its fullness. As we grow in grace we can’t help but grow in the knowledge of our God.

  I found an article, written by Bob Hoekstra, Grace for Knowing God. In the article he wrote:

  The more we know about the grace of God, the more we know about one of the great, great truths of our Lord God. He is a God of grace.

  Another word for grow is increase! God is a God of increase! Paul wrote a similar verse about growing in grace:

  2 Corinthians 8:7 -But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us— see that you abound in this grace also. NKJV

  In other words, we grow in everything, we should grow in grace! And in case abound needs explaining, the Merriam-Webster dictionary describes it in this manner:

  1 : to be present in large numbers or in great quantity…2 : to be copiously supplied —used with in or with…

  In our verse, abound is used with the word “in”, taking on the meaning that we are to be copiously supplied with grace. And copiously simply means “yielding something abundantly. This is such an important concept about grace. God wants us to get that His grace, His favor towards us is abundant grace! As we understand it and it expect it, we can experience it in greater abundance!

  Ephesians 1:7-8- In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, NKJV

  Even saving grace comes with abundance. Paul wrote that we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of His grace. Grace abundantly forgives, and our redemption came with abundance of grace. He continues in the next verse by saying that He made this grace to abound toward us! It was given in great quantity, copiously supplied! However, if we don’t understand the extent of God’s grace, endeavor to know more about it, we cannot grow in it.

  God’s grace is a sufficient grace for all that we need and all that we experience. But God’s grace is also clearly abundant. It takes care of whatever it is released in our lives to do, and to do so lavishly. We spend far too much of our lives and our times, living on pauper grace. Just enough to get by! We think of ourselves as “dirty ole dogs”, “wretched individuals” and “unworthy sinners” when He has poured out abundant grace to us! Grace that loving embrace us into His family!

  Think of it like this, if I may try to naturalize something so supernatural. You were homeless, living on the streets, eating out of trash cans, and didn’t know if you would see tomorrow. Suddenly Bill Gates passes by and is drawn to you, for no particular reason that you know of. He walks over to you, converses with you, and invites you to dinner with him. You’re hungry as all get out, but you won’t eat with him, so you just tell him if he’ll give you a few coins, you’ll find something to eat. He says, no way! I want to take you across the street to the Hilton where I am staying tonight. I will get you a room, so you can sleep, take a warm bath, and put on some new clothes that I will have sent to your room. Then we’ll go to eat and I’ll tell you the great plans I have to help you get reestablished in life. But you refuse his assistance, because you don’t want to cause others to look at him badly, or be seen as taking advantage of his kindness, or you don’t believe that he is doing it out of the joy of giving. Whatever! But you’ll take a few dollars, and tonight eat a little better, but nothing in your life has changed. Pauper grace!

  Saints! Too often that is exactly how we treat God. I say, if God wants to do great things for us, then we should get with the program and let Him! Let Him buy me dinner, put me up in the hotel, give me a job, a car, and a house, too! Anything wants to do, and everything He wants to do, I am onboard! I am free from the drudgery of sin that I once lived in and I am more than ready to experience all that He wants to bestow upon me!! Maybe that’s why grace is on my mind!

  As I have been sheltering in place, I have had a lot of time to connect with God. I read the Bible of a loving, giving, abundant God, and I haven’t always expected abundance of grace in my life. Maybe you can say the same thing, and now you want to live differently! Well, it will start as we learn to grow in grace. As we open our eyes, our hearts, and our minds to His exceedingly abundant grace, I believe that we will begin to see it happen in our lives. I’m ready to grow in grace! How about you? Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in favor, God, Grace | 0 Comments | Tagged abound, abundance, favor, Forgiveness, God, Grace, grace of God, Paul, Peter, Salvation, Sin

• Grace Through Jesus!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 4, 2020

  Romans 3:24 – being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, NKJV

  

  grace-through-jesus_.mp3

  The topic of grace is an extensive topic. I know that I can’t exhaust it, nor can I completely cover it. But I do want to make the case for grace. It’s free, it’s precious, it’s abundant, and it’s available to every believer!

  My last blog was about grace coming through Jesus. Today, I want to tackle the truth of justification by grace through faith in Jesus. The Vine’s Dictionary explains justification in this manner:

  Justification has three distinct meanings, and seems best described comprehensively as “a concrete expression of righteousness;” it is a declaration that a person or thing is righteous…

  According to this verse, and the definition of justification, we can conclude that we are made righteous before God by His favor which He extended to us through Jesus! We were trapped in our sin with no hope of ever being set free, but God, through grace, and because of His love for us, made us righteous. In the Amplified Bible this scripture reads:

  and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus, Romans 3:24 – AMP

  It’s important to note that justification is an important reality to the believer. Each of us came to the Father burdened with sin. Some of us had so much guilt over what we had done, what we should have never done, and what we wish we could do differently. Yet, God’s grace is made available to us to even deal with the guilt of sin. That’s pretty powerful! Paul made this statement:

  Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 1:13-14 – NKJV

  Paul had much to be ashamed of, knowing that he persecuted believers, watched Stephen get stoned to death, and declared war on the believers. And here he is saying, he obtained mercy and exceedingly abundant grace in Christ. This is probably why he could write so poetically about grace because he understood the richness of what he received from God through grace. I know of no scriptures in the Bible, off hand, where Paul repeatedly said, “I’m so sorry for what I did! I can’t believe I was so blind and persecuted people who believed in Jesus!” He saw God’s grace for what it was, a lifeline, and he hung on tightly!

  Paul wrote to the church in Rome. He reminded them that they had been justified by faith, a faith that gave them access to the grace of God:

  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2 -NKJV

  Grace must be accessed. It’s freely given, but we must believe that it is available to us and we have access to it. When we trust Jesus for salvation, grace is activated. Not just grace to be saved, but grace to be made righteous, and much more! This is clearly seen in a familiar verse, that I will share from the Amplified Bible:

  For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. Ephesians 2:8-9 -AMP

  God’s remarkable compassion and favor is what draws us to Christ. It’s His undeserved, gracious gift of grace that brings us to a state or place of salvation. We can’t brag about it as something we have done, because it’s as a result of His favor towards mankind, and it is free! If we don’t gain any other understanding about grace, we must realize that God gives it to us even though we don’t deserve it.

  I’ve talked with people who just won’t except God’s grace. They feel so unworthy of His grace and mercy. They believe they can never be redeemed and there is no hope for them. But this is so wrong, and my heart aches for them. Too many people are living their lives in a state of unworthiness. News flash! At one time we were unworthy.

  Paul wrote in Ephesians 2, that we were just like everybody else was, at one time in our lives. We walked according to the world and the way things were done in the world. We were more concerned about fulfilling the desires of our flesh and our mind; and we were children of wrath and sons of disobedience. Paul went on to say that at one time we were without Christ, without hope, and without God. That’s a pretty miserable place to be!

  But God’s great loved prompted Him to pour out grace and mercy, instead of judgment and punishment. He not only wants to save people, but He also wants to free us of the guilt of sin, declare us righteous and free from the penalty of sin, and favor us with His glory! Embracing grace is the best thing that we can do for ourselves, and when we realize the greatness of it all, it will radically change our perspective and our relationship with God! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in favor, God, Grace, Jesus | 2 Comments | Tagged encouragemnt, Faith, favor of God, freedom, Grace, Jesus, justification, Paul, Salvation, Sin

• The Promise of Grace Fulfilled!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 2, 2020

  John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. NKJV

  

  the-promise-of-grace-fulfilled_.mp3

  I’ve been sharing about grace! It’s really been in my spirit and on my mind! In the Old Testament, God showed favor to Abraham and his descendants, His chosen people, through special attention and miraculous interventions. He elevated them, He did ridiculous and mouth opening feats before their very eyes, and caused many to have a fear and respect for His people, all because of His grace. In the New Testament, God demonstrates His Grace towards mankind, all of mankind, in the Person of Jesus Christ! Let’s get into our topic for today!

  The Logos Bible commentary defines grace in this manner:

  The unmerited favour of God, made known through Jesus Christ, and expressed supremely in the redemption and full forgiveness of sinners through faith in Jesus Christ. (Logos)

  This unmerited favor of God, through Jesus Christ, is God’s promise of grace fulfilled. If we take a look at our key verse, we see that Jesus Christ, the Word, made manifest in the flesh, came with grace and truth. He is the embodiment of God’s grace extended to all of mankind. The favor that God extended in the Old Testament, pales to the favor He extended in the person of Jesus! Many find themselves wishing they could “know” the God of the Old Testament in the same way that Abraham, Isaac, Moses, and Elisha did. However, the grace demonstrated to them in the Old Testament was only a glimpse of the grace to be poured out in the New Testament!

  Grace and mercy can be confusing to some believers. Therefore, let me share the difference of the two, in case you need clarity. Mercy is what God extends to mankind, instead of what he deserves for what he did. We are as guilty as can be in regards to sin and its punishment, but instead of giving us what we deserve, He grants us mercy. Grace, however, is what God gives us, even though we did nothing to deserve it, and can do nothing to deserve it.

  I like the way William Barclay, a theologian during the 1900s, wrote about grace in his commentary on the book of John:

  It always has the idea of something completely undeserved. It always has the idea of something that we could never have earned or achieved for ourselves. The fact that God came to earth to live and to die for men and women is not something which humanity deserved; it is an act of pure love on the part of God. The word grace emphasizes at one and the same time our own helpless poverty and God’s limitless kindness.

  Paul, in Ephesians chapter 2, expresses a similar mindset when He writes about the great love that God has for us, even when we were still in our sins. A love that caused Him to extend grace to us, to give us what we did not deserve, because He loves us so much! A love that didn’t wait for us, but a love that drew us to Him. We love Him because He first loved us! 1 John 4:19

  The Greek word for grace is “charis” and it simply means favor. I like the way the Strong’s Dictionary defines grace:

  of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude):—acceptable, benefit, favour, gift

  John wrote that when Jesus came, He came full of grace and truth. He came full of divine influence, full of benefits, full of the reflection of God’s purpose and will in the lives of humanity. No other person was an acceptable means of delivering God’s grace to mankind, so He came Himself, in the embodiment of Jesus, to give us access to His riches: salvation, peace, love, joy, hope, prosperity, strength, deliverance, and wisdom to name a few.

  John uses an interesting phrase in verse 16 of the first chapter:

  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:16-17 -NKJV

  Grace for grace. I looked the phrase up and it is said to be a poetic phrase reflective of the Greek language and culture. Simply put it means grace that is never ending. I always thought it meant, grace to receive grace, but I like this rendering just as much: never ending grace, full of wonder, full of amazement, mind boggling grace. A poetic sense of sheer loveliness. That’s what God gave us in Jesus!

  It is also said, that this phrase is more accurately rendered: grace instead of grace. How is it possible to receive grace instead of grace? The implication here is that grace varies to meet our needs. The grace I need as a young mother, I don’t need as a mother of teens, I need a new grace! The grace I need when things are well is a different grace than the grace I need when there are challenges in my life. God’s grace is not fixed in place, but it rises triumphantly to deal with every situation! Either way you understand this or interpret this, it’s all good!

  This reminds me of the situation with Paul, when he asked the Lord to take away the thorn in the flesh. It was not sickness, for Paul said it was a messenger of Satan, buffeting him. In other words, he was under extreme attack, yet again, and he asked God to remove it. But God replied:

  “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

  This is a perfect example of grace for grace, or grace instead of grace, as it reads in this commentary. I’ll have to do some more study, but I like the idea rendered, nevertheless!

  Can I just add what I thought it meant? I think I will! Grace for grace to me meant that God gives us the grace to understand His grace, and to receive His grace! We can easily understand that grace is His undeserved and unearned gift for salvation, and somehow find it difficult to believe that He wants to favor us in this life. If we are honest, we can easily justify why God would grant favor to Jesse DuPlantiss, Andrew Wommack, Bill Winston, or even our pastor, thinking that they have earned the right for His favor. If this is how we are thinking, we have already forgotten what favor is: it is unearned or undeserved!

  I have already cut this blog down, so I will stop here! I am so excited about His grace! I’ll just have to continue with some of this next time! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in favor, God, Grace, Jesus | 0 Comments | Tagged blessings, favor, favor of God, Forgiveness, God’s riches, Grace, grace of God, Jesus, Paul, Salvation

• God’s Promise of Grace!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on October 30, 2020

  Leviticus 26:9 – ‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you. NKJV

  

  gods-promise-of-grace_.mp3

  In my previous post, I made mention of the grace of God being distributed to the children of Israel through His favor. Again, grace means to be favored by God or to be acceptable to Him. In the Old Testament, this definition is sufficient, but in the New Testament, we will look at a more complete definition that is encapsulated in the person of Jesus Christ!

  God’s favor to the children of Israel was displayed in Exodus through preferential treatment, when He would not allow the plagues upon the Israelites that were on the Egyptians. His favor was demonstrated in divine protection, again, when He passed over them, on the night of the Passover. His favor was seen when He told them to borrow gold and silver from the Egyptians, knowing full well that He would cancel their debt. And His favor was shown when He brought them out of 430 years of bondage to have a relationship with them in the land He had promised to Abraham.

  I would be remiss to have you to think that I believe that the precious grace of God is about us being loaded with material goods. It’s not far fetched to see that His grace will bring material prosperity in our lives, but as I have already said, it is so much more!

  Our key text is taken from Leviticus, and in this verse God states that He will look on the children of Israel favorably and make them fruitful, and cause them to multiply, and confirm His covenant with them. This promise was fulfilled naturally and spiritually for them, and He wants to do the same for us!

  As they journeyed in the wilderness, it was evident that He caused them to increase. Former slaves were now warriors, artisans, worshippers, leaders! They multiplied as a people, they multiplied in influence, and they multiplied in land. Over and over again He fulfilled that promise to them because of His abundant grace. He established covenants with them to let them see how very special they were to Him. He chose them and set His love and favor upon them. And He hasn’t changed!

  Jeremiah 32:40-41 – And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’ NKJV

  Again, God promised His favor on His people. He said that He would make an everlasting covenant with His people, and that He would not turn away from doing them good. This sounds like favor, and it sounds like God’s heart towards us. He even said that He would rejoice over His people to do them good. And if that’s not enough, He promises to plant them in the land with all of HIs heart and with all of His soul! This is some good stuff! It’s a totally different picture from the God that you probably heard about “who works in mysterious ways” or “who you never know what God will do” from religious people. For here, He promises to make an everlasting covenant of doing good to His people! And He did! That’s for another day!

  In Psalms, chapter 30, David said that God’s favor is for life! (V.5) Isn’t that amazing? God promises us His favor, to do good for us, and it’s for life! David also said that God will surround us with His favor!

  Psalm 5:11-12 – But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You. For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield. NKJV

  This all ties in together with my first blog about grace. When God speaks of grace, or when His people testify of that grace or favor, it’s always in abundance. There’s no slacking on His ability or His release of favor towards His people. He’s not stingy, nor is He withholding good things from us. Not when grace is His idea! God’s word says that His favor would surround us as a shield would surround us. That definitely sounds a lot like divine protection! I’ve seen it again and again!

  Looking at the concept of grace is eye opening. Many see grace as “carte blanche” to live life as they wish, and still be okay with God. It’s not so! Neither is it a ticket to wealth and fame and living life in self-indulgence! It’s God’s deepest desire to shower His favor on our lives, starting at the door of salvation and reaching throughout eternity. We can’t earn His grace! We don’t deserve His grace! It’s not given based on our merit! It’s given as a free gift! Maybe it’s time to move on to the gift of grace? More next time! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in favor, God, Grace | 4 Comments | Tagged blessings, carte blanche, children of Israel, favor, Grace, protection, provision, wealth

• When God Favors You!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on October 28, 2020

  Exodus 3:21 – “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed.” NKJV

  when-god-favors-you_.mp3

  We all know or have heard the account of the Exodus! Both Jews and Gentiles hold this event as an important event in their faith. However, it’s more than just a cute bible story, or a great miracle of deliverance! It’s also a powerful demonstration of what it looks like, when God favors you!

  God favored Abraham. The Bible doesn’t tell us a lot about him before God called him to go to a land that He would show to him, but we do see that God’s favor is immediately upon him. It didn’t matter where Abraham went, or what he did or didn’t do, the “chen” or grace of God was upon his life. This favor was extended to Isaac, and Jacob, and then to Joseph. All of their lives are wonderful pictures of the favor of God, but it’s their descendants that I want to focus on today.

  Joseph, Jacob’s son, was sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph went from slavery, to prison, because he was falsely accused of attacking Potiphar’s wife. He was put in prison, and while he was in prison, God favored Joseph:

  Genesis 39:21 – But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

  God caused everything Joseph did to prosper. He ran the prison, even though he was a prisoner. The prison guard didn’t check up on him or tell him what to do. All because God gave Him favor, or chen, which is grace!

  God’s favor didn’t stop there! He had bigger things in store for Joseph. Pharaoh sent two prisoners to the prison where Joseph was in charge. They both had a dream and Joseph shared the outcome of the dreams. Later, Pharaoh had a dream, and the cupbearer, who was restored to his position, remembered Joseph. Joseph was sent for and the next thing Joseph knew, he was no longer a prisoner, but he was second in command. That’s how favor looks! Suddenly, out of nowhere, you are favored by man, because God has favored you! It causes people to look at you and wonder, “how did that happen”?

  Years went by, and Joseph, still flourishing in the land of his captivity, gets the opportunity to once again be with his family. The favor of God, that was upon him, enabled him to extend favor to his family. They were given the best land in Goshen, and were well provided for until Joseph was no longer a memory in the minds of the Egyptians. Then the descendants of those who sent Joseph into slavery, became slaves themselves.

  Approximately 430 years later, God returns to show favor upon the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He sends Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go! And then he tells Moses:

  “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed.”

  Before the children of Israel are delivered from Egypt, we begin to see the favor of God upon them. There are ten plagues that God puts on the Egyptians. Four of the plagues, the children of Israel endured with the Egyptians, but when the fifth plague hit, God favored His people:

  Exodus 9:4 – And the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”’ ”

  The word favor isn’t mentioned, but the concept is still there. For the remainder of the plagues, God made a difference between what happened to the Egyptians, and what happened to His people. But He wasn’t finished yet!

  Remember, He said that He would cause the children of Israel to have favor with the Egyptians! He surely did it!

  Exodus 11:2-3 – Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.” And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

  By this time, they could have asked the Egyptians for anything, and they would have gotten it! Not only did God give them favor with the Egyptians, but He scared them to the point of no resistance! They left Egypt filthy rich! How do I know this? In the wilderness they gave Aaron gold to make a golden calf. When asked to provide for the tabernacle they gave so much to the building of the tabernacle that Moses had to tell them to stop giving. And they still had stuff left!

  I’m telling you true, the favor of God is not like the favor of man, although His favor can give you favor with man. His favor, His “chen”, His grace, knows no bounds! It’s excessive! It’s abundant! And when God favors you, you don’t need a tee shirt to announce it! It will be evident!

  Now’s the time to dare to believe that God’s abundance of grace is more than for salvation! It’s for living! He is such an amazing God, His grace can only be amazing! I don’t have to be jealous of the children of Israel or anyone else because God has given His grace to me! And you don’t have to be jealous of me, because His grace is extended to you! We just need to trust in that truth and dare to believe God wants to display His grace in our lives. It won’t look like it did for the Israelites, but you will still recognize it; because when God favors His people, others are left gawking!Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in favor, God, Grace | 5 Comments | Tagged Abraham, favor, God, Grace, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, prison, slavery, the Exodus

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