There is a God and its not US!

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.   Romans 1:21

Over the past few weeks I’ve been writing about the dangers of pride. The ultimate act of pride is to remove God from your world view replacing Him with yourself.  Today we focus on two thoughts found here in Roman’s one “…did not Honor Him as God “ and “…(not) give thanks to Him.”  I want you to note that proper order is not just acknowledging God’s existence but rather it’s in Honoring Him as God.  

We find, in previous verses from Romans chapter one, man’s lack of honor to God is absolutely without excuse. We learn ~ “what can be known of God is plain BECAUSE God HAS shown them.”  We are all able to see His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature since they are clearly perceived in things that have been made - nature - animal kingdom - human life, etc.  The Bible tells us all are without excuse. Without excuse from what?  Without excuse to honor God as God and then give Him thanks.  From Jeremiah 2:5 we find the Lord asking “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?”  We all know that we eventually become what we follow. 

Worship is our agreement with who God is.  “Holy. Holy. Holy. Lord, God, Almighty, who was, and is and is to come.” To Honor God, as God, is to magnify, praise and acknowledge His attributes.   There is something very humbling about being able to acknowledge there is a God and it’s not us.  We do not have the ability to save ourselves.  We might like to think we are in control and have all power might and ability, but let us not be deceived, whose power is it that we are graciously allowed to use? Whose name is it that every knee bows to?  Holding this awareness keeps all pride at bay.  When we try to take the glory and honor to ourselves we begin a slippery slope.   It is His power, His might, and His dominion, forever and ever, Amen. 

Ecclesiastes instructs us that God has set eternity in the heart of man.  There is, in us all, a God given grace to intuitively know the Creator and His ways.   Paul, taking advantage of a people serving an unknown God, preached in Acts 17,… “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man nor is he served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He himself gives to all mankind, life and breath and everything. He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth determining period and boundaries for them that they should seek after him and find him; for it is in Him that we live and move and have our being.”

We are exhorted from Psalm 100 to enter His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.  We give thanks to Him and bless His name.  Paul wrote to the Thessalonians  “…in everything give thanks for this is the will of God…”.  Our ability to honor and thank God MUST be totally independent of any thoughts, feelings, emotions or immediate circumstances, good or bad. James wrote that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Light.  God is good and we have no good apart from Him.  It is the fruit of our lips giving thanks that is the sacrifice of praise God looks for in His children.  

We ascribe honor and give thanks to Him to remind our selves how great is our God.   Honor and thanks recalibrate the human soul and heart of man.  Because the people mentioned in Roman’s chapter one didn’t do these things “…their foolish hearts were darkened and they became (due process) futile in their thinking.” 

Without honor and thanks being given to God, man begins a progression into this place where he calls evil good and good evil.  This lack of honor and thanksgiving is the entrance into all the other unrighteous thoughts and acts, desires and pursuits listed in Romans 1:22-32.

Daily our worship begins with acknowledging who He is, that every good thing we have is BECAUSE of what HE has done. DAILY!   We honor HIM. DAILY!  In this place of honor we show a reverential fear  and understanding of Him.  We submit all that we are in this place of worship to the one whose mercy and lovingkindness provides us life and breath.  

Pay attention to who gets the glory and the thanks in your life.  Live aware that every good and perfect gift that comes to us, comes by the hand of God.  Let us remember all life and breath, all blessing, all goodness, all mercy, all help and deliverance, all love and care come ONLY because He is good and this daily remembrance keeps us calibrated to the heart and mind of God and absolutely free from the snare of any pride that would try to exalt itself above the knowledge God.   

The pride of Belshazzar

Now I Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven for all His works are true and His ways just and He is able to humble those who walk in pride. 

Daniel 4:37 

I want to show you another example of God resisting the proud.  God will always humble those who walk in pride until we acknowledge He alone is worthy of all praise, honor and glory.

 In the book of Daniel, chapter five, we read the story of Belshazzar ~

4They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.5Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. 6Then the king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together.  NASB

Belshazzar learns of Daniel who is then summoned to interpret the writing on the wall.  From verses eighteen through twenty of chapter five, Daniel rehearses the story of Nebuchadnezzars’ humiliation to Belshazzar. Verse twenty-two says something that always strikes my heart when it comes to family matters,

 “and you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart though you knew all this” but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven… …but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.”  

The Handwriting decreed the judgment of God and on that very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean King, was killed because he did not honor God. 

God always reveals himself for the purposes of life.  First Corinthian’s chapter ten and verse eleven exhorts us “…these things are written down for our instruction…” that we might not fall into the same temptations. Paul continued in verse twelve with “…let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” 

For us all, the pride of life is ever present and is insidious. Insidious is a word we don’t often hear but it pictures a force proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with very harmful effects. Insidious is a mid sixtenth century word meaning ‘cunning’, from insidiae ‘an ambush or trick’, from insidere ‘lie in wait for’, from in- ‘on’ + sedere ‘sit’.  Pride of life is only found in this world and is not from the Father. It is a strategy of Satan and it is insidious. Could it possibly be the ultimate lie because it exalts the knowledge of self sufficiency?

As we experience success, notoriety, and our influence in other’s lives increase, we should be keenly aware, at all times, that any entrance we have is only by the favour of God.  

I am continually reminded these days of 1 Cor. 4:7 For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? 

Living daily with the acknowledgement that we are nothing by ourselves and can do nothing apart from Him is humility and the only guard against pride taking root in our hearts.   

Let’s make sure, in all things and for all things, all glory, honor and praise goes to our Father. 

Humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar

28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. 

Daniel 4:28-33

My ESV bible calls this the humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar. I’ve been thinking about humility and pride lately and examining places in my own heart and mind where I am tempted to think higher of myself than I ought.

Proverbs 16:5 tells us pride of heart is an abomination in the sight of God. Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes then comes shame.  Poverty and shame are promised to him that refuses correction.  If you read the story about Nebuchadnezzar, in its full  context, you learn God had warned him a full year in advance from this occurring.  This is the goodness and mercy of God. 

We are all familiar with the exhortation from James and Peter where God resists the proud but I am not sure we all understand how absolutely wicked and abominable this is in the sight of God. 

The fruit of pride is always seen in rebellion.  God considers all disobedience an act of rebellion. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as the sin of idolatry.   Pride exalts one’s will above Gods known expressed will.  We are shown the rebellion of Lucifier ~ I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God.  I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the North; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. 

None of these places where given to Him by the Father. Iniquity was found in him. Pride of heart led the rebellion.  Jesus said I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.  God threw him out of heaven and Lucifier became Satan. In the garden he worked to deceive Adam and Eve and they rebelled. The fruit of their rebellion cost man a cursed ground to toil and separation from Gods life and the garden He had created for them to flourish in.

Pride is an abomination to the Lord and from James and 1 Peter we find the word opposes to mean an active resistance.  It was a military word used to describe the battle array of an army that came to fight.  God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Our admonition from James and Peter is to Humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, with the promise, He will exalt you.  

Humility hears and obeys.  God instructs and we humble ourselves. Humility always agrees with God and submits to the instruction.    Submission is always willing.  Humility is always prepared to understand whatever God says is for our well being.  God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  Grace must be received by faith and we can’t even do that without first agreeing with God. 

Philippians instructs us to have this mindset, which is ours in Christ Jesus, in other words, in Christ Jesus we won’t have another mindset).  Jesus made himself of no reputation, became a servant and humbled himself by becoming obedient.  We can’t be humble if there is no obedience. Humility is seen in the act of obedience.  Pride is seen in rebellion.

Our scriptures regarding Nebuchadnzeer’s fall paints a story of true humiliation.  In his rejection of the word God gave him, and his refusal to repent, He declares His own power and His own majesty, setting himself up for one of the mightier falls recorded in scripture .

The lesson we all can learn is to beware of anything that would tempt us not to acknowledge every good and perfect gift coming to us from the Father in His goodness and mercy.     

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Selah.  

Filled with what Spirit?

Recently David and I had the privilege of attending the 25th world Pentecostal conference held in Calgary.  The conference theme was “Spirit Now” and saw thousands attending from seventy-four nations.  I was struck by one of the speakers questions: “ What spirit are you filled with?“

We understand man is not just a body, but also soul and spirit. We know we have a human Spirit.  We understand there is a spirit that works in this world and then there is the Spirit of God, called the Holy Spirit.  We know that we are born again of the spirit, which is the work of the Holy Spirit who regenerates our dead spiritual condition, making our human spirit alive unto God.  

Second Corinthians 4:4 tells us that the God of this world works to hold man in darkness and influences us, according to First John, through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.  First John goes on to tell us these three things are not from the Father but are from the world itself. 

The Father’s answer, to help us live on this earth and not be deceived and controlled by these three lusts, was the gift of His Holy Spirit.  The Father poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost for the empowerment of all disciples.  His command to his disciples before his ascension was to stay In Jerusalem until they were filled with the Holy Spirit. We see from the book of Acts, that the experience found in chapter 2:4 was not a one time encounter for them. 

Galatians, chapter 5 delineates exactly what it is to be filled with the spirit of the world versus the Holy Spirit. The fruit that the Holy Spirit brings forth in our life is there contrasted with the fruit of our flesh when filled with the spirit of the world. 

The Amplified Bible in Galatians 5:16 begins an exhortation for us Spirit filled believers to  “….walk and live habitually in the Holy Spirit (responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit) then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).  17.  For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit and the [desires of] the Spirit are opposed to the flesh…”.    Verses 19-20 tell us the practices of the flesh are obvious as is the fruit seen in a Spirit filled believer. The Fruit of the recreated human spirit, as filled with the Holy Spirit, are listed in verses twenty-two and twenty-three.  

Ephesians 5:18 teaches us from the Greek, to constantly be being filled with the Holy Spirit. It is a present imperative in the Greek and this construction commands what must happen again-and-again (repeatedly) throughout the scenes of life. The present imperative commands ongoing action; a regular, long-term way of doing something as an ongoing lifestyle.  The process-action must happen again-and-again over life’s multiple situations.

Thus ~ continuously be filled with the Spirit – a continuous (non-stop) privilege,  not merely a one-time experience.

“ If we live by the Holy Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit, we have our life in God let us go forward waking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit]. “  Gal. 5:25 Amplified.

Our dynamic and vital need today is to live a Christian life that is more than doctrinal belief systems. Pentecostals are spirit filled believers. That is a reality that displays a life filled, consumed, led, and directed by the person of Holy Spirit. Then, and only then, can we say we are truly believers filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Read your bible EVERY DAY

“But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget.” 

James 1:25 Contemporary English Version

• Amplifed ~ But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience)

• NLT ~ But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

I think you know by now what a stickler I am for daily Bible reading. Not reading it like a book, or just to get through a yearly plan, but reading until the Holy Spirit makes a scripture alive to you.  Every time we read the word, there should be according to 2 Timothy 3:16, these things touching our heart; we learn doctrine, correction, reproof or a proving (establishing what you really believe) and instruction in righteousness.  The words inside our bible are living and life giving.  

Jesus said apart from me you can do nothing. We try to live successful lives by knowing principles and concepts without abiding in Him.  We fail to seek daily bread to be nourished and strengthened and grow frustrated when these principles and concepts don’t seem to work.  Again, Jesus said apart from me you can do nothing. 

How important is the reading of our Bible every day?   I ask this of myself; how bad do I want to be free, whole, saved, delivered, healed, at peace and rest?  Jesus said “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. 

There is a word I need every day that leads or keeps me in freedom. It’s the Holy Spirits job to bring to our remembrance and teach us what Jesus has said.  My part is to keep the word abiding in me. The Bible says we perish and go into captivity because we forget the word. We walk around many times wanting a word from God and yet the very one who has been given to help us, who reveals the word, is the very one we neglect.  It is as we look into this perfect law that the Holy Spirit breathes on this word making it alive to us. 

Galatians 5:13 tells us we were called to freedom.   Hebrews 2:14 tells us Jesus destroyed the power of Satan and has set free ALL who have lived a lifetime of bondage.   It was for freedom that Christ has set us free BUT every freedom provided by Jesus must be received and then MUST be kept.  We are told to do this by standing firm. His word will empower us to do this.  As we look intently at this perfect law of liberty and do what it says, we are blessed. 

What’s the problem with Divorce?

Bear with me while we unveil a rather lengthy thought from the Apostle Paul. Please remember these thoughts are not about our past; it is under the blood, but they are about how we live this day and the choices we make through it.  

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 

Ephesians1: 7-10

I want you to see from verse nine, it is the desire of God for us to know the mystery of His will which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness time. Paul wrote,  This is according to His purpose, which is, to unite all things in Him.  

If it’s the Fathers ultimate goal to have everything and everyone united as one, then we can begin to understand the problem with divorce from God’s perspective.  Divorce is simply a separation.  As my David says, divorce occurs in the heart before it ever shows up on a piece of paper or a closed door.  It is not easy to divorce someone naturally without first divorcing, some part of ourselves, from the Father.  

Jesus said divorce occurs only because of the hardness of heart. 

I know the church today is filled with men and women who have entered into legal separations and divorces, but these painful and life changing experiences can never supersede the heart and mind of God. There is a reason, beyond a mindless adherence to good behavior that caused the Lord, the essence of love Himself, to take the position of truth that He took: the destruction.  

God FULLY understands all aspects of divorce, the beginnings, the middle and the end.  He sees the pain, the rejection, the betrayal.  He nurses the wounded spirit and binds up the broken hearts. He works in the heart and soul of man to renew trust, validation, acceptance, placement, and love.  This doesn’t even begin to explain the damage done in the heart and mind of a child, or a wounded partner.  

In truth, all are damaged. After Pastoring for nearly 40 years, we have watched the pain that comes with divorce.  We’ve counseled couples, families, church members, and churches and the same root problem always exists ~ hurt and anger. And after all these years, we have not found one example of anyone escaping undamaged.  Our heart is to see, if at all possible, reconciliation.  Sometimes this is just not possible with what lies in the heart of man.  Today’s world is filled with violence and unfortunately it takes place in the home.  I’m not advocating for anyone to stay in a violent and abusive situation.  The bottom line is the peace we are called to live within our relationships.  I like to prevent the situation before it can occur by wise counsel and hearing ears.  Human love can be not only blind, but foolish as well.  

Malachi reminds us that God HATES divorce.  We are instructed to hate what God hates.  Why does God hate this?  The Bible says it covers ones garments with violence.  The admonition from Malachi 2:15 is to guard your spirit and not be faithless.  The issues flow from the heart.  Jesus said it was from the heart that evil occurs.   

Paul wrote that in the case of the unbelieving partner wanting to leave, the believer is to let them leave. God had called us to peace.  I’m not trying to be legalistic in any of this, simply biblical.  What God has joined together is not to be set apart by man.  How can two walk together unless they be agreed is not an admonition to separate but to find the place of agreement and unity.   Jesus’ final prayer on earth was that we would be one with the Father one with each other and by this display of love and unity all men would know we are His disciples.  He prays for us to become “perfectly one”.  Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us and I am confident this is an ongoing prayer of His in Heaven. 

Divorce from a spouse, a family member, a child, a life long relationship, wherever and whenever it occurs, absolutely works against God’s purpose of oneness.  Where God has set us and divinely connected us in His body, we are to remain and we remain as we stay vitally united to Him and with each other.  These relationships are to flow from the Head to our heart and renew our soulish realms.

I’m thankful that He is a God of mercy and there is grace that is available for all as we come to Him.  I’m thankful the blood of Jesus not only forgives and cleanses of all unrighteousness for me but it works in my spouse, family and other divine connections.

Let us be mindful; watchful, of every thought and feeling that would lead us to draw back and harbor offense.  Let us guard our mouths and not join with the accuser, throwing out words that sow strife and discord, but rather keep ourselves rooted and grounded in the love of God guarding the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  

As much as lies within us, let us live peacefully with all ~ believe the best of each other.  

What shall I say?

Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say?  Father save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.   

John 12:27

A crossroads is where you find yourself standing with the ability to take an alternate course.  A choice is required.  Do we choose to pursue a narrow way where the course before us is obscure and difficult or the wide, smooth and easy way?   What shall we say, “Father save me from this hour or glorify your name?”

I often think about the moments of crisis in Jesus‘s earthly ministry where it is so natural for man to desire avoidance. The Bible tells us Jesus was a man of sorrow acquainted with grief, betrayal and rejection and in it all, continually set his face to pursue his father’s purpose. 

Jesus said, Now my soul is troubled. At this crossroads that demands a choice, Jesus reminds us, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  We are encouraged to pray that we do not enter into temptation.  A natural man would not choose this narrow path, but a dead man could.  Jesus, tempted in all points yet without sin, shows us we too can walk this road in our hour but must first answer this same question.  What shall I say, “Father save me from this hour or glorify your name?”

In John chapter 12 we find the beginning of the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. He is preparing not only himself but the men to whom he has committed his life’s work. His hour, his crossroads stands before him. Facing the cross, understanding that a seed must die to bring forth life He chooses a narrow way that not only brought him life but provided the way for others. 

First Peter chapter 2 tells us Jesus has been set as an example for us to follow. It’s a very high standard. He tells his disciples in chapter 16 of John, “I have said all these things to keep you from falling away......I have said these things to you that when your hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

These words were sufficient to hold them steady in their hour.  His word remains sufficient to hold us and keep us from falling in our hour.  

Everyone one of us lives to face our own hour.  The question stands, What shall I say?  Save me from this hour or Father, glorify your name? 

Do I need to see to believe?

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John 20:30-31

We all have seasons where we are tested to see what we believe.  They don’t come at times we have been thinking, “O I have a test tomorrow, I better prepare for it”.  

The test occurs in the most mundane of circumstances.  Usually seen in the needs or wants of others that require some kind of sacrifice of time, money, effort, or energy on our part. You know, the things that say to us, “Die to the flesh.”  We are all selective about when, where and how we choose to die. The test is in our first response to the moment. 

It is in these very times of testing our hearts reveal truth and we see how our lives our measuring up to the image of Jesus.  In every test the Father measures our capacity for increase, spiritual as well as natural. 

I love the gospel of John simply because it reveals hearts values and motivations so clearly.  In this gospel, John reveals the Father’s Heart to Jesus, Jesus’ to the Father, the Father’s to us, Jesus’ to us, and ours to others. Our scripture today says all these things have been written that we might believe. Jesus showed us how to live so we could live like Him and that by believing, you might have life in his Name.

The Apostle John wrote in his first epistle, “…What we have seen, what we have heard, what we have touched and handled, we proclaim.”   All of this is for the purpose of us entering into the same fellowship.  “And we are writing these things so that your joy may be complete”. 

Jesus appeared to the disciples following his resurrection proving He was alive.  Acts said this was proven “by many infallible proofs” so that he could establish in their hearts and minds that everything he had said and done was truth.   They saw, they heard, and they believed.  

Thomas was the disciple who said, “I will never believe unless I see.” Jesus response,  don’t be unbelieving.  Do you believe just because you have seen me?  A good question to ask ourselves: Do I need to see to believe?  Jesus said, Blessed are those what have not seen and yet have believed.  

These are written that you may believe and that believing, you may have life in his Name.  

Jesus came to give us life.  He is the way, the truth and the life.  We seek to see Him in the word that is written and it is sufficient for us to believe.   We need no proof of external evidence but he that has eyes to see, can see the hand of God in the smallest of acts.  

The further removed I am from the entrance of the word into my life, the less abiding I’m doing and Jesus said apart from me you can do nothing.  His words wash my mind, refresh and strengthen my heart, heal the brokenness and assure me of my Fathers love.  Natural life’s events cannot give me this.  There are things that Jesus wants us to see and hear that we will never see or hear without attending to the word and believing what has been written.  

The word was made flesh.  The word dwelt among them.  They beheld His glory.  They saw, they heard, they touched, and handled.  They wrote, and these things are written that you might believe and that believing you may have life in his name. 

Believing Is Required

Let not your heart be troubled, You believe in God, believe also in Me. 

John 14:1. ESV

Moffats’ translation says, “Let not your heart be disquieted”.  I think we can all acknowledge the reality that when our hearts are troubled we need to come back to the place of assuring ourselves that it is impossible for God to lie.  His word is forever settled in Heaven and His word is true. 

Jesus is telling his disciples that the words He is speaking are the ones that are to bring them comfort and stability in the days ahead.  These are the sure words to hold them when the storm hits.  

As new believers, our foundation must be built upon the infallibility of God and His word. For all of us, without this absolute confidence in His word being true, our foundation for anything to be built in us and through us by God can be hindered and limited.  Thus, we have Christians who are chronic in their conditions, physically, mentally and soulishly.  What can we do?  Believe in God.  Believe in Jesus ~ the word.  Believing is the cure.  If we choose to believe, all things are possible to Him who believes.  He who comes to God must believe!  This is primary for all and requires daily attendance. 

Jesus was the word made flesh.  In the beginning was the Word.  Wisdom and the word are synonymous.  Jesus’ own testimony was that He was THE TRUTH.  In his prayer to the Father, Jesus declares, your word is truth.   From Revelation 3:14 we find his own testimony again ~ The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. He is the beginning and the end.  He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the First and the Last.  He is the one who starts all things by the power of His word and finishes it with that same word.  

When the Father declares His Word, He is sending forth Jesus to accomplish it.  Jesus is a finished work. Jesus has sat down on the right hand of the Father.  

All any of us need is the word from God.  Not simply something we can pick and choose from the bible, but The word that the Holy Spirit breathes on to make truth so very personal to us.  That is the sure word that goes forth out of His mouth that does not return void but accomplishes the very thing which HE sends it to do. 

Jesus is the beginning of all God’s creation.  In the beginning was the word.  This is a huge thought.  There can be no sure beginning of anything in our lives unless it is built from the word.  We see this very principal from Genesis.  In the beginning, God created — the Spirit was hovering and God said…. and it was.  Let not your heart be troubled.  Believe in God.  Believe in Me.  

Jesus is the Amen, the absolute agreement; the yes! to the word spoken from the Fathers mouth. He is the last word on the matter and we must rest in absolute confidence God has spoken.  He has sent His word.  It is working.   Let not your heart be troubled.  You believe in God.  Believe in Me. 

Begrudge God?

Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Do you begrudge my generosity? 

Matthew 20: 15

I want to build on last weeks thoughts regarding jealousy and envy using this parable about the Laborers in the Vineyard.  

Our scripture is the culmination of the parable regarding the master who hires workers for a day in his vineyard.  The Master is interested in reaping his crop.  He wants to get the job done so he's looking at all hours of the day for willing laborers.  

We find that at the end of the day (a 12 hour shift) he starts with those he hired last and pays them the agreed wage.   The ones who were hired first, in line watching this, and having borne the "burden and heat of the day" expected to receive more.  "On receiving it [their pay] they grumbled at the master of the house".  I love the word study on "grumble".  From Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words it shows ~ an onomatopoeic word, representing the significance by the sound of the word, as in the word “murmur” itself.  

They were unhappy and complaining about the fairness of this all, which is where we get into trouble and are tempted to find fault with someone. Remember from last week’s study that jealousy and envy had to do with fear and insecurity in our own hearts.  The workers accusation landed on the Master, who replies, "I've done you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what belongs to you and go."  Jesus went on to say, the last will be first, and the first last.  He doesn’t think the first workers are hard done by for receiving what was agreed upon. This stands as a sure standard for us all in the last days.  Our wages will be paid according to our work agreement totally independent of anothers'.  

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Envy was defined as a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another, joined with a desire to possess the same advantage, or for the other to lack it. So we see displayed in this parable, the first workers holding an expectation that created a wrong judgment of the Master.  From this judgment, they accuse him of being unfair, which of course, we find the Master rebukes.   

Do we begrudge the generosity of the Lord when our expectations are unmet and others are blessed? 

The KJV asks, "Is your eye evil, because I am good?" 

• NLT, " Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?"

• NASB, "Or is your eye envious because I am generous?"

The right answer should be, “Of course not! “ The issue of heart that must be dealt with is our own fear and insecurity where we question God’s goodness to us, for any reason. 

The examples we find in the Bible are to show us, again and again, the heart of our Father and the goodness He brings into ALL lives.  Let us rejoice, always, over His goodness. Let us receive with thanksgiving what belongs to us and learn to be content with the good things He gives to us.   

The Green Eyed Monster

The anatomy of jealousy and envy ~  Luke 17:27-31

27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’”

28 “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.

29 But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never 1neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;

30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’”

31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.’”

First off I want to emphasis this thought seen in verse 31 in the phrase all that is mine is yours. Where we are able to rest in our heart and soul, knowing our place in our Heavenly Father is secure, we are well able to resist thoughts and feelings that come to tempt us to jealousy and envy.  Jealousy and envy are only and always displaced by love.  

Jealousy is defined, which I found very interesting, as thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possession.  It can either be suspicious or reactive.  These feelings emote anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness, disgust.   I think we can all say we’ve tased these.  

Envy is defined as a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage, or for the other to lack it.  

I found the association of fear and insecurity within the definition of jealousy so interesting and envy just doesn’t want another to be blessed.   We are well aware of the biblical instructions not to allow jealousy and envy to work in us, but personal insecurity gives access to these spiritual forces.  

Change can bring an unsettling to our sense of security, even in those times and areas we are confident in our obedience to the Father’s instruction.  Many of us find ourselves in a place of seasonal transition, but may I remind us all; God takes us from faith to faith, strength to strength and glory to glory.  We are ever increasing in the Kingdom of God, or at least we certainly have the potential to do so.  We can all sit down and feed on the tasty feelings of jealousy and envy and pity ourselves or we can stay rooted and grounded in the love of God and celebrate with the Father everyone’s every obedient act of service displayed.

John the Baptist knew his time and season; Jesus must increase, he must decrease, but at the moment of his imprisonment he is stumbling over his own perceived expectations.  From there, John sent and asked, “Are you the one or do we look for another?”  

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “What do you have that you have not received?” Who are you but a vessel God uses to do His will and purpose?  We are simply a part of a bigger picture and we must honor the individual parts that God honors.  If I do not value and honor the part, I cannot receive what God is saying and doing through that vessel.  So I’m not just rejecting the part (the member of His body) I am in fact rejecting Him.  

Jealous and Envy shut the door on our receptivity.  They are wiles and strategies the enemy uses to bring division, first in our hearts in our relationship with the Father and then with the members of His body.  Note in our verses today, how the son was offended with his Father and then refused to celebrate in the blessing of his brother.  Who really suffered in all this?  

Another’s blessing, exaltation, favour or honour, should show us the goodness of God and His love for us all.  What he does for one displays His character and nature and should encourage our hearts and strengthen the awareness in us, “All that is mine is yours”. 

Right Wisdom

Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Galatians 3:6 

I love word studies and while the primary understanding of righteousness is “right standing with God” I want you to consider with me another aspect of this word. 

At its root, this word righteous means right wise or we would say right wisdom.  Helps Word Studies defines the word as:

1343 dikaiosýnē (from 1349 /díkē, "a judicial verdict") – properly, judicial approval (the verdict of approval); in the NT, the approval of God ("divine approval").

1343 /dikaiosýnē ("divine approval") is the regular NT term used for righteousness ("God's judicial approval"). 1343 /dikaiosýnē ("the approval of God") refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is approved in His eyes.

The Amplified bible uses the phrase conformity to the thought and will of God and  His way of doing and being right.  So for righteousness to be displayed in our daily lives, we must start from the premise that God holds right wisdom and is always right.  Then, since God is always right, for us to express righteousness we must choose to agree with Him.  We choose to add yes and Amen to whatever He says AND this must be totally independent of what we see, feel or think!

If righteousness is what is approved in His eyes, what is deemed right by the Lord, then we too, like Jesus, must live daily from a place that first considers what is right in the sight of our Heavenly Father.  The word of God was breathed out by God and is profitable for the training in righteousness, 2 Tim. 3:16. This is the place we begin to live vitally.  We read our bibles, the life in the word is quickened to our hearts and we add our agreement to what God has said.  Our agreement is seen as we hold right thoughts, right words, and right actions.  These three equate to a right standing.  Because we know to do good, and we do it, we are able to stand before the Father without any sense of guilt or condemnation (unrighteousness).  We are not self-righteous because we do not set the standard of right for our lives, God does.  

Jesus said our righteousness must exceed that of the pharisees and Sadducees.  Collectively, these men challenged, questioned, and rejected everything Jesus did and said.  They had no place of agreement with God.

God counted Abraham righteous because He believed what God said was right. This accounting gave him right standing with God.  Abrahams faith is seen in his choice to agree with God.  Believing is agreeing with God.  God is right.  He is always right and to live in a state of righteousness, vitally, daily, we must agree with God. 

Reason

Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5

Amazing how leaning into your own understanding can be the first step out of trusting in the lord.  

I found myself the other day trying to reason through a set of circumstances and I realized the longer I considered how to resolve the situation the more anxious I became.  Then I heard the Holy Spirit remind me of Proverbs 3:5.  You think you are all good in the trusting but how do you argue with the Spirit of truth and yet not grieve him?

Trust means a firm reliance on the reliability, truth, strength and ability of someone or something. Firm reliance would be steady and unmovable.  When we lean to our own understanding, first of all it is not a leaning into His and secondly our own understanding moves us. 

We have two conditions of our heart that we must always be guarding.  First, the love we have for God and then the trust we have in Him.  If we stop to consider temptations, we see they come to challenge these core issues of our life.  With all our heart leaves no room for anything or anyone else. As a wife, it’s easy to throw all the responsibility on David and trust him to make all the right decisions, but there is no growth in that for me personally and trust in God is very personal.  David can not do that for me.  There is a God and it’s not David. 

It’s so easy these days, and we are encouraged in this world, to trust ourselves.  After all who else would take care of you like you. The deception lies in thinking there is power in our control.   We think we can guarantee a life that is relatively safe and secure without having to trust in another.  However, there is a God; He is called Lord God Almighty and for the believer we are to live in absolute dependency on Him.  Some trust in chariots, some in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. 

In all your ways acknowledge Him, every step, every decision. There is a way that seems right to man, but it’s end is the way to death.  The mind of man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps. 

In all your ways acknowledge Him.  How do we do this?  We start at knowing we need his help. He is Lord. God. Almighty.  What is missing in those names?  What lack could there possibly be to us when we acknowledge Him? Living with this awareness keeps us humble.  Apart from him we are nothing, we have nothing and can do nothing.  He is our life and reason for existence.  We are so tempted to judge God after our natural circumstance and ascribe to him a character and nature that is unjust. 

Acknowledge Him and He directs.  Every instrument in an orchestra looks to the director.  Watching and waiting for the instruction to not just play but how and when to play his notes. Shall we not live in subjection to our Father of our Spirits and live.  Can we not live with His abiding presence?  Is this not what we are truly called to?  

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding.  We refuse to engage in our human reasoning but set ourselves in our acknowledgement of who He is. It’s in this place we begin to hear His instructions and walk in paths of righteousness for His name sake. 

There is a better we can all choose. 

The Anatomy of Temptation ~

James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

Gal. 5:17 “ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 24 those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.”

Luke 22:44 “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly…’’

2 Cor 5:9 NIV “So we make it our goal to please him…”

A few thoughts to hold ~ All temptation is common to man. You will be tempted.  It’s NOT coming from God. Temptation is NOT sin.  

There is an anatomy to temptation which we find described in James chapter one. All temptation comes when we are lured - enticed by our OWN desires. KJV reads lusts.  The Greek renders it; a longing, (especially for what is forbidden). Thayers’ definition add craving and desire for things forbidden. These lusts, or cravings, or longings give entrance to the temptation.  

Notice the word ‘lured’ from James.  It’s the idea of appealing, something’s viewed as attractive.  It’s enticing and always attracts an appetite that can only be denied by being crucified. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passion and desires.   We live this out on a daily basis by and through the Spirit.  We live by the Spirit and we keep in step with the Spirit who is the only one that can enable us to overcome the flesh.  

Things are conceived before seen.  After conception you can begin to see “signs” of what is taking place. Once something is birthed, it’s visible to all. Fully grown it yields a life of its own.  

Negative thoughts held, unknown to others, left to be meditated on, produce the strongholds that reshape our thinking. David always says just because we think it, doesn’t mean it’s true.  Naturally, there are tell tale signs of pregnancy.  While we might not “see” a physical baby yet we have symptoms that tell us we are pregnant.  Even so spiritually, we find thoughts left unchecked work to reshape what we believe which begin to show up in our attitudes, words and actions. 

We are told to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and that means measure the thought against the word.  Ask the question, what does God think about this?  Am I in agreement with God here?  Does this activity or desire measure up to the character and nature of Jesus? 

Jesus tempted, in an agony, prays earnestly.  Even when our desire is to live to please the Lord, the willingness to engage in the battle to overcome the flesh is still pressed.  If our flesh and mind are stronger than the working of the Spirit within (the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak) we will find a way to follow the enticement. We will embrace it as we convince ourselves that this thought, action, this choice will not hurt us and birth sin.  This one act left unchallenged, unrepented from, works to grow up and destroy us…fully grown sin (one that controls and dominates thoughts and flesh) brings forth death.    

I suppose the only good thing about temptation is that it does reveal what is lurking to  lure us away.  Philippians tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  Once we are aware of the thing pulling at us - it’s just a matter of entering into the place of working with the Spirit and word to overcome the temptation. There are some things we will never overcome without practicing the same kind of prayerful engagement Jesus displayed.  I imagine Jesus’ temptation came with great torment, (an agony) assaulted with lies to doubt everything he knew and declared about who he was and his purpose and could only be overcome through his engagement with the Spirit. 

We aren’t just looking for a place of relief, we are looking for the place of total victory that enters into rest.  Temptations are common to life but if we will live a life of daily denial regarding our flesh, holding our minds to the word of God, our Spirit then readily engages with the Holy Spirit and we truly are able to walk in a place of freedom and rest and we could potentially say like Jesus, tempted, yes, but without sin. 

Let us all press into this high calling.

The Order of God

“Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.” 

Revelation 4:1 

I want to highlight two thoughts here ~ 

1.  What MUST take place (note ~  must) 

2. AFTER this ( note ~  after) 

If you’re like me, then there are things the Lord speaks that we somehow dismiss to the realm of “not really important” or perhaps, mañana.  I’m not sure how we get that thought, but I think the root of being quick to obey is to realize when God speaks it should be considered (unless otherwise instructed) a now word.   

We know intuitively that obeying every instruction of God is vital to possessing the abundant life He desires for us.

There are things that God has ordained sequentially, an order for the time and events He desires. With all these appointed times, the thought I had is “what must take place” before the “after this” can occur in our individual lives.  Most of the time we think we are waiting on God to move but I think wise men and women evaluate the areas of life that seem stuck and ask what is it that their “after this” hinges upon. 

Could it be God is simply waiting on us to be obedient and do what we have been told to do?  Some days I have to remind myself, if God said it, there is a way to achieve it.  It sets me to seek for wisdom, which can only come from Him….”come up here and I will show you”.  If any man lacks wisdom, let Him ask of God who gives to generously to all without reproach and IT WILL be given Him.  

Every day arrives with purposes already ordained and established by God. I think we are all living with the urgency to achieve them in these last days.  For His Will to be manifested on this earth as it is in heaven, is hinged on our personal obedience to delight to do His will. 

“What must take place after this” implies a sequence of events, and it begins with the command to “come up here”. 

Hope in God

“ Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. “

 Psalm 43:5. KJV

The first sentence of this verse in other translations reads:

• Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me?  NASB

• Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil?  CSV

• Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?  NLT

• Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset?  NET

And TPT adds  

• I will fully expect My Savior God to break through for me.

Hope does not disappoint because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost ~ Romans 5:5 

Hope does not disappoint because it is always attached to the love God has for us. Hope is secure as we are rooted and grounded in the love of God and hope is the anchor of the soul. 

As the God of hope, He is working to fill us with all joy and peace in believing so we can abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Think about it!  He is working and he is working now, to fill us.  Ephesians tells us as I am rooted and grounded in the love of God I am filled with the fullness of God.

The Psalmist reminds us that our hope is to be in God alone.  Hope is a simply confident expectation of the workings of God on our behalf. Philippians tells us He is at work right now on our behalf.  Every moment of every day our Father is at work, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure. 

I think about the only thing that can hinder this process is my own resistance.  If I yield and receive, then I am blessed. If I resist, I am only grieving the Holy Spirit and the grace that could be mine is in vain.   Sad, sad, sad, state to find ourselves in ESPECIALLY if we are discouraged dismayed, disillusioned, discontent — just DISSED over anything.  He is our saving strength and the one who strengthens our hearts so we are able to continue to stand stedfast and be unmoved by any natural circumstances.  

Why so downcast oh my soul put your hope in God!   He is the God of Hope! 

Be encouraged and strengthened today as your heart is set on Him, our Saviour God is working.  He is a rewarder of those who come to Him believing.  

Remember ~ He's Holy

Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Psalm 98:12 KJV

When we rejoice, we are purposeful about calling to mind the many benefits of our heavenly Father. This psalm specifically tells us to give thanks and remember His holiness. 

I think we all know holy as meaning sanctified or set apart, some equate it to clean living (clean living is the fruit borne of being holy) but I want to focus on the idea of holy being different.   God is holy because he is different.  He is not a man that He should lie.  His thoughts and ways are higher than ours. His love is never failing.  His mercy is new every day. He is just different from our limited human nature. 

I found an interesting word study on Holy from the Discovery Bible ‘Helps’ that follows;

From the Old Testament ~  24d (SN 6944) qodesh – properly, what stands apart – "differentness" (apartness), holiness; preeminently used of God's Essence which is inviolably holy; what is set apart, utterly distinct from "common" (profane).

The root supremely refers to God's eternal character which is "absolutely distinct" (other) – separating "the inviolability of the spheres of the sacred versus the profane"

From the New Testament ~ 40 hágios – properly, different ("unlike"), other ("otherness"), holy; in relation to believers, 40 (hágios) refers to "likeness of nature with the Lord," i.e. they are also "different from the world."

The fundamental meaning of 40 (hágios) is "different" so a temple in the 1st century was called hagios ("holy") – because different from other buildings (Wm. Barclay).  In the NT, 40/hágios ("holy") has the "technical" meaning "different from the world" because "like the Lord."

It is by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.  If we call evil as God does, then we place upon ourselves a demand to live out of righteousness and holiness.  Righteous because it is right and holy because it is different from the world. 

Peter wrote in his first epistle, “but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  As partakers of His divine nature we are called to be different, in the world - but not of it. 

Called to be different looks differently and holds different standards, different values, different character and always different from those seen in the world.  

I love the picture Jesus gives us of being and mixing with the world yet never becoming worldly.  He lived with his disciples He fellowshipped with his Father and He impacted the world with His life because He was different from them all.  They had never heard a word such as His.  They had never seen the works He had done or the way that He did them.

John Wesley is quoted as saying, "The first priority of my life is to be holy..”  

C. S. Lewis said, "Sainthood lies in the habit of referring the smallest actions to God.”

When we realize that God has a thought about everything and we consider His thoughts above ours, we find ourselves adapting to His ways of being and doing.  It is always different from our carnal nature but it is the only way to express His Holiness.  

AND we can do this because we have been given the HOLY Spirit who helps us in all our weaknesses.

Forgive....even as.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors….” Matthew 6:12

We look continually for God’s mercy when we personally mess up and saw last week how willing our Father is to freely and graciously give mercy to us.

Strongs’ Greek Definition for this word debt is defined as something owed, a due. Thayers’ Greek Definition is that which is justly or legally due, a debt.

Since we live in an age of entitlement, it should be pretty easy to see how we fall into the mindset that others owe us and are tempted to hold them in ‘debt’ especially when it is perceived as just and/or legal to do so.

We all have certain expectations about how others should give to us. We even have scriptural standards about righteous behavior towards one another. The error comes when we demand something that isn’t freely or willingly given and withhold what we should freely give.

The book of Romans says owe no one anything but to simply love them. Forgiveness can only flow from a heart of love. Unmet expectations could cause us to remove an open hearted love towards them.

We don’t judge this as He would. We excuse ourselves saying there is no un- forgiveness in our hearts but when scrutinized by the love of God, anything that is not freely for ‘giving’ to another would be un for giving, i.e. I don’t want to give them anything! It’s the withdrawing that’s dangerous.

Entitlement is a slippery slope. Parents feel like their children owe them. Spouses hold the same mindsets. Pastors to their people. Volunteers to the ones they help. We all expect accolades and thanks for the things we do, but how do we handle the lack of expected yet unfulfilled ‘dues’.

We come to the Father daily, looking for His goodness to fall upon us and His mercies to abound, yet without the heart to extend these qualities to others we are told that forgiveness cannot be ours.

Jesus said, “When you stand praying ,forgive, if you have you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive you your transgressions.”

The only way I know how to keep free of any of this is constant communion with the Father with the help from the Holy Spirit (bringing grace and reminding us to seek not our own). It’s always better to deal with heart issues than clean up words spoken.

Denying self is something our flesh will always resist.

Loving others is something the Holy Spirit is always at work perfecting.

Checed.......

“……who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies…” Psalm 103:4

From the following reference ~

Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Vol. 1, p. 142). Nashville, TN: T. Nelson.

` .

Checed (חֶסֶד, 2617), “loving-kindness; steadfast love; grace; mercy; faithfulness; goodness; devotion.” This word is used 240 times in the Old Testament, and is especially frequent in the Psalter. The term is one of the most important in the vocabulary of Old Testament theology and ethics.

The Septuagint nearly always renders checed with eleos (“mercy”), and that usage is reflected in the New Testament. Modern translations, in contrast, generally prefer renditions close to the word “grace.” kjv usually has “mercy,” although “loving-kindness” (following Coverdale), “favor,” and other translations also occur. rsv generally prefers “steadfast love.” niv often offers simply “love.”

In general, one may identify three basic meanings of the word, which always interact: “strength,” “steadfastness,” and “love.” Any understanding of the word that fails to suggest all three inevitably loses some of its richness. “Love” by itself easily becomes sentimentalized or universalized apart from the covenant. Yet “strength” or “steadfastness” suggests only the fulfillment of a legal or other obligation. Biblical usage frequently speaks of someone “doing,” “showing,” or “keeping” checed. The concrete content of the word is especially evident when it is used in the plural. God’s “mercies,” “kindnesses,” or “faithfulnesses” are His specific, concrete acts of redemption in fulfillment of His promise.

This Psalm rehearses the abounding, plenteous and everlasting goodness and mercies of God. When the Lord appeared to Moses and proclaimed His name, He revealed Himself as, “The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” As the God who is rich in mercy, with this abundant goodness and mercy being poured out upon us, how can we not freely give the same to others?

Ephesians tells us God “who is rich in mercy” loved and forgave us. When we understand the Fathers heart to sow mercy we won’t be so quick to form an opinion and hold our own judgments. We will freely give what we have freely received. We can be quick with our own judgments towards ourselves and others but this Psalm reminds us that He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust YET HE crowns us with this unfailing love and mercy. His desire is for mercy above judgment and Lamentations reminds us mercy is new every morning.

As we keep ourselves in the love of God, we are to look (on going, continuous action) for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, from this place of love we are not only receiving mercy but sowing this as He would.

How gracious it is to give what is not deserving, how wonderful to receive it.

Goodness and mercy, something we all need and something we all want.

Good Friday ~

“Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

1 John 3:8

NIV ~ The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

The Passion week gives me pause to reflect on Jesus’ commitment to walk out the will and purpose of His Father. His commitment challenges mine! The book of Hebrews tell’s us that He delights to do the will of the Father, so as I read through the events of His week in Jerusalem, I just keep asking: how did you do this? How did you keep moving forward into something so horrific; spirit, soul and body?

We know that it was simply the love of God that compelled Him, that is His love for the Father and His love for us, and I want to know this kind of love. Not just ‘know’ but hold it and live from a place of intentional love which disregards my own desires, thoughts, and feelings simply for another’s well being.

The Gospels tell us when His time came, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Today is Good Friday. It is the culmination of a series of events during the week that lead to his death. At the beginning of the week, he has been met with a jubilant welcoming into the city but it just goes down hill from there (my perspective). He has set his face to God’s purpose and it is being fulfilled in every step, every action and every conversation. He meets the religious opposition, the scheme with his very own disciple to kill him. Betrayal is at work in the midst of Him pouring his heart into them, giving them a new commandment ~ Love even as I have loved you.

His disciples sleep while He prays for strength to move forward. Peter denies him. He faces false accusations, a trial, the sentence, all leading him to this crucifixion. At any given point, I wonder which circumstance would cause us to quit?

He bore our sin in His own body on the tree ,that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by His stripes you were healed. For we were as sheep going astray; but now are returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.

A just and righteous man who never sinned, becoming sin Himself, so we could have a way to the Father and enter into the same fellowship They have that is rooted and grounded in love. John 17 is the last prayer we have recorded of Jesus’ on earth ~

“I pray for them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them, and you in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.”

Do we want to know and live from this place of that intense and purposed love? This place where we delight to do His will because we choose love even as I am loved. We know what the answer should be, but we find reality in the every day choices we make. If (and he does) the devil motivates through fear, greed, self will, then every purpose he designs can be overcome when we love not our lives….even unto death.

I want to know and live from this kind of love.