GRACE TO LIVE, NOT TO CONTINUE SINNING

Grace to live, not to continue sinning. Many a believer has a mushy and wishy washy grace theology. Yet, one who reads the word of Jesus in Matthew 5 can not ignore the fact that Jesus expects His children to live righteous lives.
v. 17 - Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law........
v. 19 - Who ever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of God.
v. 20 - Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of God. (Don't be a hypocrite)
v. 48 - Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Righteous living must come from our heart, if not it is hypocritical.
v. 8 - Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see the kingdom of God.
It is not sufficient to say and do all the right things. You must accept Christ salvation and have a pure heart and clean thoughts.

SPIRITUAL FOOD JUNKY

A thought for the day - Are you a spiritual fast food junky?

You are hearing and reading other people's teaching, but not taking the time in your personal devotions to eat the meat and potatoes in the Bible.

Are you running by goblin up the morsels of God's truth (maybe untruth on social media), not knowing the difference because you haven't taken time to study God's Word?

We all know fast food is junk food and not healthy for us.

Know the Seasons

I Chronicles 12:32 - from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do ....

- God does not change, but he brings change to everything.
- The God of old bring forth new things.
- Know the seasons.

- Question to be asked.
1) What must never change?
2) What is negotiable?
3) What must change?

Seeking No Reward

Luke 17:7-10 is an illustration that is totally foreign to us in our society where we believe our service or work is to be rewarded and we are to be honored for this. When we aren't, we feel that we are wronged and often hold a grudge.

Luke 17:10 - "So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty."

Yet, Christ says, the attitude we are to have is one of responsibility, humility and not doing it be honored or rewarded. We do it because this is what our master Christ asks us to do. We are not to serve or work with the attitude of receiving from man or God. Yet, we do it out of love, obedience and duty, not expecting anything in return.

This does not mean that we should not reward or honor those who serve, but the one who is serving should not expect it.

Colossians 3:23 - "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,"

Your motive for serving or working will be revealed when you are not rewarded. Are you offended? Are you hurt? Do you quit? Do you work less? Are you not as faithful? Do you hold a grudge?

If you say yes to any of these, this shows that we weren't fully serving or working for the Lord. This is a hard word because it goes against our sinful nature and all that we have been taught.

Cling to the Word of God

Luke 1:37 - For no word from God will ever fail.”

Cling to the word God has given you, It will be accomplished in God's timing.

Titus 1:2-3 - "in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light ......... "

Before the beginning of time, God had promised salvation and eternal life which became a reality in Christ Jesus. From the fall of Adam to the work of Christ on the cross was approximately 7000 years.

We often begin doubting the promises of God if they are not fulfilled in 3 months to 3 years. As long as we are certain of God's promises, we must not allow time to bring in doubt.

Yet, what is great about God's promises is, that when we doubt or even forget God's promises, God often will often accomplish them anyway.

God want to do a new thing

Luke 5:39 - "And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”

Here Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees. Jesus here tells them a parable to show them that the old and new can not go together. Jesus was saying to them I have come to do a new thing, and establish a new covenant. Yet, you want to hold onto the old and not take hold of the new thing that I am doing.

How often in our lives when God wants to do a new thing, we want to cling to the old?

Isaiah 43:19 - "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."God

Esteemed by the World

Genesis 23:5-6 - "The Hittites replied to Abraham, ⁶ “Listen to us, lord. You are God’s chosen one among us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place. None of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead.” (HCSB)

Abraham was in a foreign land, the land of Canaan. He lived among the Hittites who were idol worshipers and served pagan God's. Yet, they held Abraham in high regard. The saw the hand of God on Abraham. Abraham stood out among the people as a righteous man and blessed by God. The considered it a privilege to have him among them. He was considered as one of the their princes.

How do people look at us in our work place, and in our community? Do they see the God in us and His mighty hand upon us? Are we held in high esteem?

Laboring in Vain

Psalms 127:1-2 - "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.

In vain you rise early and stay up late,toiling for food to eat—

for he grants sleep to those he loves.

So often we wear ourselves out for nothing. We do things God has not asked us to do. We take burdens that God has not asked us to carry. We strive in our own wisdom and strength. We work with all we have, but void of the power of the Holy Spirit. We come up with our own solutions to the problem we face, and not even consult God.

I know that we have done this many times. I remember when we went through financial troubles, months on end. We tried to solve them in our own strength by launching different business endeavors in Haiti that each fell flat on its face. Then we heard the Word of the Lord. God said, did I send you to Haiti to make money? You need to trust me. I will meet your every need. We then stopped striving in our endeavors. Guess what, we lack not good thing.

Steadfast Heart

Psalms 112:6-8 - "Surely the righteous will never be shaken;they will be remembered forever.They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes."

The righteous will never be shaken, and have no fear.

Why?

It is because of their steadfast hearts,

Why do they have steadfast hearts?

They have steadfast hearts because they are righteous and trust in the Lord.

Two sources of fear is the fear of being found out, and the fear that comes from lack of trust in God.

Do you have a steadfast heart?

Beauty in Holiness

Today I was reflecting in my devotions on the holiness of God. It is this holiness that makes him beautiful.

Psalms 29:2 - "Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." (NKJV)

True beauty is not outward but inward. Yet, we spend so much time on the outward and neglect the inner beauty. True beauty is the holiness of God shining through us.

If you are wanting to attract others to you, they will be drawn to you by your holiness. Any who are attracted to you by your outward appearance alone, you don't want them. Then there will be those few who are repulsed by your holiness and you are better off without them.

Are people drawn to you because of your holiness? What kind of people are attracted to you?

QUENCHING THE WORK OF GOD

In Mark 5:1-20 - We find a story where Jesus delivers a man from demon possession and sends the evil spirits to go into a herd of pigs that results in all the pigs being drowned.

After the people of the area see this great power displayed, they ask Jesus to leave their area because they were fearful. I believe they were fearful on two levels. The first being that they couldn't comprehend the power and workings of Jesus. Secondly, they feared further loss. As result, instead of embracing the work of Jesus and rejoicing in the mans deliverance, they rejected it.

Many non-believers and believers do the same thing. When God (Holy Spirit) does something that doesn't fit into their theological belief (box), they quench the Holy Spirit or out right reject it as not being from God. Also, when it is uncomfortable to them or inconveniences them, they don't accept the work of the Lord. If it is going to disrupt their personal life or hinder them from accomplishing their personal objectives, they ignore the work of God or out right reject it.

We must be open to the work of God and embrace the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must not be fearful, quench or reject the work of the Lord when:
- we don't understand the work.
- it does not fit into our nice little belief box.
- it disrupts our life.

Choking The Word of God

In Mark 4:1-20, we find the parable of the sower who sows the Gospel message (Word of God) and the different responses and effects of the Word on the hearts and lives of those who hear it. Yet, I would like to focus only on one of the results which we find in verses 7,18-19.

v. 7 - "Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain."
v. 18-19 - " Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.


Let us first look at the worries of life. How can the worries of life choke the Word of God in our lives?
Worries will cause us to look at our problems which in turn will cause us to lose our focus on God. The end results are: less time in God's Word and meaningful prayer, our faith and hope in God is choked, our strength is sapped.

Secondly, let us look at the deceitfulness of wealth. The desire to have more money and things often distract us from spending time in church and our personal devotional life. Also, those who allow this to dominate them will often ignore certain truths in God's Word in order to obtain these things. Often they will put things above relationships. If your primary goal is the pursuit of things, it will lead to worry and have a negative impact our spiritual lives.

Thirdly, the desire for other things. I put this separate from deceitfulness of wealth because it encompasses more than this. It includes the desire to obtain status, position, honor and to be in control. The scripture says that He opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. If these things reign in our hearts it will choke the spiritual life out of us. It will cause us to compromise God's Word to obtain them. Also, it is a desire for ungodly and unhealthy relationships, which will stifle the Word of God in us and cause us to do things contrary to God's Word.

When we allow these things to wrap around our heart, it will choke Jesus, the Word of God in our lives. We will not bear much fruit or any fruit. These things stifle hope, faith and love which are the only things of lasting value.

Gifts without Presence

There is a different between gifts and God's presence. You can continue to use the gifts for a long time after the presence of the Lord has already left. Saul lost the presence after 2 years and continued serving as king for another 40 years. You can continue in the calling and ministry God gave you without His presence. You can even have good results, but in the end you will be judged by God.

We do not have to prove ourselves.

As I was reading the story of Christ's crucifixion in the gospel of Matthew, I was struck by the fact that the bystanders were mocking Christ's authority and asking Him to prove himself by coming down from the cross.

The Lord spoke to me that we do not have to prove ourselves when we are being obedient to God. We don't have to answer to others but God alone. It sure would have been tempting for Christ to show his power.

If Jesus had listened to their mocking and encouragement to rescue himself, he would of disobeyed His Father and we would not have been saved from our sin. Oh yes, if he had come off that cross many would have believed in Him and followed Him, but provision for our salvation would not have been made. It would have been a short won victory. It would have been a short term gain, but a long term lost.

Let us be careful not to be led by the crowd or choose the path of less resistance. Let us be careful to not let our pride cause us from being obedient to Him. There are many voices out their pulling at us, but there is only one voice that we are to listen to. The idea may look good in our eyes and/or in the eyes of others, but there is only one path. There is no short cuts with God. There is no plan two. We must stay the course.

No Godly Knoweldge - No Godly Power

Matthew 22:29 - " Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God."

Many people are in error because they do not know the Bible or the power of God. It is through faith in God's Word's that we can know the power of God. Yet, there are those who know Scripture but don't know the power of God because they have not yielded to the author of the Bible who is the Holy Spirit.

How are we to live as God would have us to live if we don't know and understand His Word? How can we have the power of God if we don't believe in the Bible and apply it to our lives?

Let us know longer live in ignorance and powerless. Let us decide this day a fresh and a new to know God's Word, act on His Word and yield to the Holy Spirit's power.

A Crumb from the Lord's Table

A crumb from the Lord's table is better than a feast at the worlds or devils table.

Matthew 15:27-28 - "“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment."

The context of this verse is that a woman came to Jesus with a demon possessed daughter to be healed by Jesus. Jesus wasn't interested in healing her being that she was a gentile. He states his mission was to go to the lost sheep of Israel. Yet, because of her persistence, wisdom, humility and faith, Christ heals her.

She asked only for a crumb of God's mercy and power. That little crumb that fell from the Lord's table broke the power of the devil and brought healing. Wow! A morsel of God's grace, mercy, love and power is more than all that the world or the devil can give us.

Teaching Out of Authority

Matthew 7:29 - "because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."

Jesus taught as one who had authority. Where did Jesus get this authority? How can we teach out of authority.

Jesus got his authority from the Father and the Holy Spirit. Our teaching has authority when we have a strong relationship with Christ. Our authority comes out of spending quality time with the Lord. Our authority comes as we allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us. 

Jesus got His authority from a life of obedience and righteousness. In the same way, we will teach with authority out of a godly life. The reason being is that we will be in favor with the Lord. The reason being is that we will have already taken the speck out of our own eye before removing what is another persons eye. Our authority will come from our credibility and life experience.  People will accept our teaching more readily when they see that we live what we teach. We are able to teach with greater authority when we can speak out of life experiences. 

The teachers of the law did not teach with authority because they did not have a true relationship with the Father. They did not teach under the power of the Holy Spirit. People heeded John the Baptist's preaching because he spoke under the power of God's Spirit. The teachers of the could not teach with authority because the were hypocrites. They could not teach from life experience. Although they were well versed in the law, they focused on the letter of the law instead of the Spirit of the law. They taught as philosophers, and focused on man made laws.

Finally you can only teach with authority when you are under Christ's authority and the authority has been given to you from God.

Until an Opportune Time

As I was reading the Scripture this morning a profound declaration stood out to me in Luke 1:13 - " When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time."

Left him at until an opportune time. The devil lost the fight with Jesus in the wilderness, but Satan was not about ready to give up or call it quits. He would go away and wait for a more opportune time. Satan is tenacious. This is why so many believers have fallen over the span of history.

I Peter 3:17 - " Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position."

I Peter 5:8 - " Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

We are in a battle as believers. We will have our victories and defeats, but we must continually be on our guard and persevere to the very end.

I Corinthians 16:13 - " Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong."

The battle is ours as we continually yield to the power of the Holy Spirit. We must never call it quits. We must never let down our guard.

Hebrews 10:36 - "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."

Leader experince fear and discouragment.

In my morning devotions two words hit me in 2 Corinthians 6:5-6 - fears within & downcast. Paul is talking about the trials he faced in Macedonia. Paul the great apostle, and in some peoples minds the greatest apostle was fearful and downcast. Wow! This is an encouragement to me to know that even great leaders can experience fear and discouragement. I am not alone. Sometimes as leaders we think we should never have these feelings and may be ashamed when we do, but be encouraged, it happens. He goes on to say that I was comforted and my joy was greater than ever. Hey! We as leaders need people to comfort us. Oh and by the way, if you are fearful and downcast today be encouraged there is greater joy that is coming.

Delayed Promise or Inheritance

Numbers 14:20-24 - "The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. ²¹ Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, ²² not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— ²³ not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. ²⁴ But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.<sup>"

In these verses we see God's actions towards a nation in disobedience and his actions towards individuals who lived obedient lives. A nation may be judged by God for their disobedience, but in the midst of judging them he shows his love and kindness to those who follow Him completely. 

Those whom rebelled against God had been promised to receive this wonderful land. Yet, because of their disobedience they didn't receive the promise, but Caleb and Joshua received the promise. The promises God has made to us can not be annulled by the majority. The inheritance God has promised us can not be lost due to the disobedience of others. The realization of God's promise to us is solely dependent on God's faithfulness and our faithfulness towards Him.

Yet, here we do see that God's promise to Joshua and Caleb were delayed (40 years) due to the disobedience of the nation of Israel. In the same way, the promises God has made to us can be delayed do to the disobedience of those around and God's judgment on them. Yet, ultimately God's promise to us will be fulfilled as we remain faithful to Him and take hold of it by faith. Therefore, if your promise has been delayed, do not be discouraged because it is on its way. 

I think it is wonderful to know that God's goodness towards us is not thwarted by the sin of others or God's judgement on them. God punished the people of Egypt, but in the midst of their judgement, God spared His people.</sup>