In Christ

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as I look around today, I see so many facing challenges in their lives, whether it be with health, finances, family issues or ministry. I want to look at some promises today that will help you walk in victory whether facing the fiery furnace or a den of lions that seem to be ready to devour you at any minute.

 

Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”

 

This promise of overcoming circumstances and people that may come against us is based on two godly principals. First, as children of God, being more than a conqueror is our heritage. Because Christ overcame we will overcome also. He has defeated the powers of death, hell and the grave. We walk in His resurrection power. God does not promise to keep us from attack of the enemy, but the attack will not prosper because of who we are in Christ Jesus.

Secondly, God declares that our righteousness of from Him. We do not stand in our righteousness but in the righteousness of Christ. This promise is not based on our goodness or our ability, but on who Christ is and what He has accomplished for us. We often fail to overcome because we are so aware of our weaknesses and failures, and we lose sight of who we are in Christ. Romans 8:1-3 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

 

I like to illustrate the principle of Romans 8:1-3 by placing a hanky over my fist. My fist represents my sinful nature, and the hanky the righteousness of Christ. The accuser of the brethren, other people, and even we ourselves often focus on what is under the hanky, while all God only sees is the hanky. I then begin to stuff the hanky into my fist to illustrate that over time as we walk in the Spirit, the righteousness of Christ that covers us begins to fill our life as we are changed from glory to glory in the image of Christ. However during the transformation process we are constantly covered by and stand in the righteousness of Christ.

 

Christ is our salvation, our healer, our provider, and our deliverer. God loves you not because of who you are or what you have done, but because of who He is. He is love. Victory is His because He cannot fail. Defeat is not in His nature. He has peace in the midst of conflict and turmoil because He is the Prince of Peace. As a born again believer, you are in Christ and it is out of your relationship with Him that you overcome and walk in love, peace, and victory no matter what circumstances you face.

 

Whatever weapon has been formed against you today cannot prosper because the God of the universe declares over you “this is their heritage and their righteousness is of me.”

Let Your Light Shine

Matthew 5:13-16, talks about us being salt and light. It says if we lose our saltiness we are good for nothing. Salts purpose is to bring change to what it comes in contact with or impact that which it comes in contact with. There is much to be said about salt which I am not going to delve into here. Yet, God is saying that we should impact those around us for Christ. Then Jesus goes on and says that we must be a light. The world is in spiritual darkness, and we must be a light that leads them unto Christ. Yet, the verse that struck me the most when I read this passage is Matthew 6:16.

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

What the Lord showed me here is that our good deeds are to glorify the Father in heaven. There are many believers and non-believers doing good deeds. Yet the question we must ask ourselves, is God being glorified through there good? Are their good deeds showing Christ? Are they bringing people closer to God?

In other words, all good deeds are not equal. Often peoples motivations for the good deeds they do are not right. Often they do their good deeds that people may see them. They do the good deed to bring glory unto themselves. Also, here is not only speaking of good deeds in the sense of helping others, but also in the sense of living righteous lives. We can do all kinds of good deeds, but if don't live righteous lives, our good deeds will not bring God glory. Our goods deeds will be tarnished by our ungodly actions.

Fruit Consistent with Repentance

While John the Baptist was baptizing people the Pharisees and Sadducees came to him and this what he said to them in Matthew 3:8 - "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."

As a person who grew up in a Christian family and attended church faithfully as a child, we can not base our salvation on this. We can't base our salvation on another persons faith. As believers we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus the Christ. Yet, we must not rest in this fact and live like we want. We can't rest on what God has done in our lives in the past, but we need to daily live for Him. We need to daily seek his face and will. We need to live lives that are pleasing to God. We need to bear fruit.

John 15:1-5 says, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

God is seeking fruit bearers, not people who  do good works. There is a difference. A fruit bearer does not actually bear the fruit but the vine or tree is bearing the fruit. It comes out of their relationship with Jesus Christ. While one who does good works comes from the flesh. It comes from their own strength. God wants us to bear much fruit that comes from us abiding in him, and yielding to His Spirit.

The many good promises of God.

I love Psalms 34, it is so encouraging. It has so many good promises.

1) He answers and delivers us from our fears when we seek Him. v.4
2) Those who look to Him are radiant and their faces will never be ashamed. v.5
3) The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him. v.7
4) Happy is the man who takes refuge in Him. v.8
5) Those who fear Him lack nothing. v. 9,10
6) The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their cry for help. v.15,16
7) The Lord is near the brokenhearted. v.18
8) All who take refuge in Him will not be punished. v.22

Our God is truly good and great. He is worthy of our praise. We have many wonderful promises here. Yet, all of them come with a condition. We have to do our part to receive the promises. Our part is to seek Him, look to Him, fear Him, be righteous, be humble, and take refuge in Him.

The Burden of Unrepentance

When we sin it takes a toll on our lives. It especially takes a toll when we try to hide it or unrepentant.

Psalms 31:9-11 says, "Be gracious to me, Lord,because I am in distress; my eyes are worn out from angry sorrow—my whole being as well.
¹⁰ Indeed, my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning;
my strength has failed because of my sinfulness, and my bones waste away.
¹¹ I am ridiculed by all my adversaries and even by my neighbors.
I am dreaded by my acquaintances; those who see me in the street run from me. 
(Holman Christian Standard Bible)

 I like how the HCSB translates verse 10 because I feel it truly communicates what David is experiencing. He has sinned against God and it is affecting him emotionally and physically. I don't believe that he is only speaking figuratively here but it literally has taken a toll on him emotionally and physically.

If our hearts have not been hardened by sins deceitfulness, we will be in great distress and sorrow and it will have a negative affect on our whole being. Also, we see that  when it is discovered by others,  we lose our good reputation. It can even cause others to avoid us, and separate from us. Sin has a way of racking havoc on our relationship with others. Especially if others consider it a great sin or greater than other sins. The consequences are often even worse.

Sin will take a greater toll on us when we hide it. David talks how his hidden sin caused his bones to become brittle, and how he groaned all day long under the weight of it. His strength was drained.  (Psalms 32:4-5)

Yet, if we look at all of Psalms 32, we see when he confessed his sin that they were forgiven and cleansed. Then joy replaced his grief and sorrow.  Repentance releases God's joy and peace in our lives.

Joy of the Journey

Psalms 16:11

“You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Our journey to the heart of God is a life-long journey of discovering the greatness of the God whom we serve. It is not a journey of works but a journey of faith and obedience that constantly yields new doors of blessing and fulfillment. The journey of works is a hard road to walk, filled with hills and valleys of success and failure. When we are successful, we feel great; when we are doing poorly, we feel discouraged, frustrated, angry or depressed.  We measure the progress of our journey by comparing ourselves to others and where they are on their journey.

The journey to the heart of God is a life-long journey of discovering who God is in all of His love, greatness, and power. It is an ongoing revelation of His awesome character and nature. This journey is not void of works, but these works are an outgrowth of relationship and not a proof of value or source of identity and affirmation. Our fulfillment and contentment is solely found in our ongoing relationship with the Father through the Spirit.

Look at the focus of the Psalmist. It is totally on God. “You will show me that path of life.” The path of life cannot be found in a do-it-yourself manual of ten easy steps to success. The path of life is found from beginning to end in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that is cultivated on a daily basis in every aspect of life. The path of life is a discovery of Jesus in our marriage, family, and job. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) The path of life is found in Jesus Christ.

The Psalmist continues, “In Your presence is fullness of joy.” When you are in love with someone, it impacts every area of your life. It puts joy in your heart, a spring in your step, and a smile on your face. It has nothing to do with performance but radically improves your performance. It changes your perspective on everything. You respond to people and circumstances with optimism and joy. It is contagious! When you are in love with God, you will have a growing awareness of His presence and incorporate Him in every decision, everything you say and do. He becomes the center of your life.

The Psalmist concludes by saying, “At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  It is only in His presence that we have access to His right hand, which is filled with blessings and pleasure forevermore. However, blessing and pleasure is not the source of joy. His presence is our source of joy. Pleasures and blessings are simply an outgrowth of our relationship. When we truly get to know Him, the greatest pleasure is spending time with Him. Enjoy your journey with God.

The Generation of Self

As I was reading the Bible today, I was reading out of Proverbs 30. Verse 11-13 caught my attention.

There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.
There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,yet is not washed from its filth.
There is a generation—how haughty its eyes and pretentious its looks.

I think that this so true of our generation today. Especially in the more advanced countries of the world like the United States and Europe. The new generation in general does not have the same respect for their parents as the older generation. Often, children are arrogant towards their parents and even hostile.

The new generation in developed countries think they can do no wrong. Everyone can live as they please. Whatever makes them feel good, and doesn't hurt others (at least in their minds), it is fine. What God calls sin or evil, they see no wrong in it. This generation is quick to criticize and judge others, but doesn't accept criticism or corrections well. Each person is a man or woman unto himself.

Basically, those from developed nations have become haughty and pretentious. Pretentious according to the Bing dictionary is - self-important and affected: acting as though more important or special than is warranted, or appearing to have an unrealistically high self-image.

Sadly to say, we often find these attitudes in the church. Lord help us to guard against this and walk humbly before you.