Law vs. Grace

It seems like the “free grace” vs “works of law” war is as old as Christianity itself. Jude wrote about “ungodly persons who pervert the grace of God(v4) into lawlessness, wantonness, immorality”. Here in our own United States, in Boston a great battle was fought about this very issue. In Boston during the 1640‘s the feud heated up so much that the courts stepped in and banned some people from the colony. There seem to be a misconception of grace and its application as well as an ignorance of the law and its purpose.

The question that begs to be answered is: Does the grace of God erase all law - Moses, moral or otherwise? Or does it enable us to obey a higher law, a law of love, light and honor?

It might be that the real problem is a general ignorance of the person and attributes of God. Understanding grace and law cannot happen aside from a true understanding of Theology – the study of God. Understanding the attributes of God helps us to comprehend His kingdom, His actions.

Understanding God’s relationship to time and space makes it easier to see prophecy, election, salvation, redemption and judgment. It is in the light of God’s eternity, His ever presence, that we can begin to fathom the effect of an event that happened almost 2000 years ago, in our timeline, on our existence.

Our real problem is not so much the comprehension of any doctrine but in our misconception of who and what God is.

A lack of the teaching and preaching of pure theology may account for this. During much of the first thirty nine books of the Bible we see these words: “That you may know…Me” by God. He acts over and over again to reveal Himself through His actions. And then Jesus says emphatically: “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” We seem to worship, or proclaim to worship someone whom we do not really know.

The controversy is not really about law and grace but about a relationship to and with a being that exists in a realm unlike our own. We are battling about doctrines we only half grasp and miss the greater duty of knowing God. In our pursuit of God we may find that we have been wrestling about the wrapping paper while ignoring the gift. We possibly have been debating the violin while being deaf to the symphony or arguing about the heat while being blind to the fire.

As we read the Bible; let us ask ourselves these questions:

What does this portion tells me about God?

How does it apply to my life in the here and now?

Obey Afraid

Judges 6

For 7 years, Israel (the people of God) are suffering under the hand, the rule, the abuse of Midian (strife) and their compadre, their ally Amalek ( dwellers in the valley, those from below, Esau’s descendants, the brother who did NOT value his gifts and sold it for a pot of soup.) Israel (the People of God) hides in caves and strongholds in the mountains. They seem to be powerless and all they can do is, hide. They lost some of their identity, suffering from a national inferiority complex.

Whenever the People of God sow seed, Strife and Valley Dwellers attack and destroy the crop. This left no nourishment for the People of God, wasted the land and impoverished the People of God.

AND THEY CRIED TO THE LORD.  

There was nothing they could do about the situation. They had not one ounce of courage left. Their oppression was so severe that they could not resist or throw off this yoke of slavery. But they cried out to the Lord.

Then the word of the Lord came by a prophet who said to them: The Lord says: I brought you out of Egypt (a type of sin ) from the house of bondage. I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians (house of bondage) and out of the hand of all those who oppressed you and gave you their land, their inheritance. And I (the Lord) said to you: I am the Lord your God; Fear not the gods of the Amorites ( the sayers: the biggest tribe in Canaan and often used to mean all of Canaan) in whose land you dwell.  BUT YOU HAVE NOT OBEYED MY VOICE.

Disobedience always has consequences. We often disobey God, neglect His word and His covenant and then are at a loss for why we are receiving the reward of our behavior. This answers the “WHY?”

Now THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CAME. A visitation, a Divine revelation happens. This Angel of the Lord shows up 58 times in scripture. It is always the result of Divine Intervention.  The first time was in Genesis 16:7. Some believe that this is the Old Testament form of Jesus Christ (pre-incarnate Christ)

The Angel of the Lord shows up under a tree, terebinth or turpentine tree at Ophrah ( meaning: fawn) of Joash (given by the Lord) the Abiezrite (My Father is help).  Joash ( given by the Lord) has a son Gideon (Hewer, cutter, chopper) who was hiding in a winepress to beat out a little grain. A winepress was usually dug into the ground and this made a perfect hiding place. He had to provide for his family in secret so that Strife could not steal their bread.

The Angel of the Lord addresses him: “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of courage.” Courage seems to be high on the list of things that pleases God. Joshua 1:7 Gideon’s answer is to question and even doubt what was said: “If the Lord is with us, why is all this befallen us? Our Fathers told us about God’s mighty works.” And Gideon makes the conclusion that God has forsaken them and handed them over to Strife.

It seems like the Lord ignores Gideon’s response: “Go in this your might,  - maybe if we see ourselves as weak and wanting we are better tools, vehicles in the hand of God – you shall save the People of God from Strife and poverty. This is a call to a mission. This is the unction that comes and lies in your spirit, in your gut. This is what makes you go and do even though you are terrified.

HAVE I NOT SENT YOU?

Now Gideon steps up his questions to doubt and excuses: How can I do this?  This was the response of Moses, Joseph, Joshua, Mary, Ester, Debrah, Saul, David etc… It seems God always choose those who do not think they are something. It seems like it is always the ignorant and unlearned fishermen that are called. Gideon’s excuse: My clan is the poorest and I am the least in my house. Maybe that Is why he was outside hiding in the winepress, beating out grain, because he was expendable.

SURELY I WILL BE WITH YOU and you shall smite Strife.  God does not give us a mission and then turn to be a spectator. He is with us in the frey. He is ever present.

Gideon’s response: “ If I have found favor in Your sight… then show me that it is You who speaks to me. “ This is a big question. If we know and are sure that it is God speaking to us, we have no other excuses other than direct disobedience. When God speaks, what is our response?

Gideon makes an offering and it is consumed as a burnt sacrifice, A sweet savour unto God. This proves to Gideon that it is indeed the Angel of the Lord and He built an altar, a memorial to God naming it: Jehovah Shalom – The Lord our Peace (as opposed to the oppression of Midian/Strife) The application is obvious. There will always be some sacrifice, even if it is only time, food, money, opinion of people etc. Our God is the God of the answer. He is our peace instead of Strife. He is our freedom instead of bondage. He is our riches instead of poverty.

No encounter with God is without a command to go and “do”.

 The first order of duty was to pull down the idols and offer them to God. These idols were the gods of the Canaanites, the idols of the other nations around them, those who kept them in bondage and poverty.

Second, he had to build a place of worship to the Lord God in proper order. Here he had to make a burnt sacrifice. He had to restore the worship. He had to rectify the honor that was given to other gods.

Gideon obeyed afraid, but he did what he was told. He snuck out at night and completed his task. This caused the upheaval he expected. They came to kill him but his dad protected him. Yet a war broke out with their oppressors. We often want the small thing, the key thing to be the entire war. It does not work like that. Before the victory there is often an entire war. Yet, we should not shy away from this because God fight for and with us. Victory is a sure thing as long as we follow God.

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD clothed Gideon with Himself and possessed him. This is of great importance if we will see the victory. We have to be clothed, filled and overflowed by the Spirit of God. There is no room for our own human ideas and emotions. We have to be Holy Spirit controlled.

Victory is a sure thing because God is in it. Victory is a sure thing when we obey. Obey afraid if you must, but just obey

Petition

During the first month of 2013 there was, as with prior years, a flurry of ministries who invited everyone to fast and pray for the first 21 days, to set the tone for the year and dedicate the year to the Lord. Our prayer group do a “Daniel’s – fast” and in the past I have participated in it. This year while praying about my participation; -- I can only fast if God is giving me the grace, -- I heard the Holy Spirit say “No”.  I still felt a desire to set aside extra time to pray… As I was reading through the story of Daniel the words: “he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God,” jumped off the page at me. The Holy Spirit whispered: “What is there that you feel strong enough about, that you will petition Me about it, three times a day for 21 days?” 

I had to sit back and ponder this. There are many concerns, many people’s pain that lies on my heart. It took me ten days to sift through it all and come up with a short list.

As I started doing this, my God-mother mentioned “Petitioning God” to me in relating how a mutual friend took time out to petition God concerning her children. This underlined the word I received. 

Petition is NOT a casual word. It is right up there or rather down, deep down, with words like “burden”, “supplication”, “mourning”, “groaning”. It is an intense, focused request. It is a legal term. A term that says, this far we have come and we cannot go any further without the intervention of someone or something outside of ourselves; of a higher authority. Petition belongs to those who have such intense, motivation about something that they will stand in the cold, rain, snow, scorching sun or what else to gather signatures to change something. It is an appeal to a Higher Authority.

Petition often concerns desperate situations. I can think of people in the United States that petition to save a species from extinction. That made me think of Queen Ester and her petition to safe her people; or Zachariah, the old priest, that cried out to God for many years concerning the barrenness of his wife, Elizabeth. It is the cry of a people or person that has come to realize that I/we need help. It is Hannah crying for a son. It is Jeremiah asking for his life. (Jer 42:9) It is also Daniel opening his window toward Jerusalem and petitioning the Lord of heaven and earth about the state of the nation of Israel.

Daniel mourned for his people. The 9^th chapter records one of his prayers and the reason behind it and the first few verses of chapter 10 says that he was in mourning. When I read these chapters, I see a man with a burden for a people who do not deserve any mercy, yet he asked for it. He ask forgiveness, like Nehemiah does, for the sins of his people. (Dan9:17-19) “So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Can you feel his angst, his cry, his desperation? “If You, O Lord, do not help us, we have no other place to go!!”

Now I can re-iterate the Holy Spirit’s question: “What is there that you feel strong enough about, that you will petition Me about it, three times a day for 21 days?” 

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Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John;

Luke 2:37 (Anna) and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four . She never left the temple, serving night andday with fastings and prayers.

 Ephesians 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

Translated as prayer Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved., (Paul’s petition)

Heb 5:7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear; (speaking of Jesus)

James 5:17  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.;

1 John 5:15… And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

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Petition:

Dictionary Definition: pe·ti·tion[ pə tísh'n ]   

1.     demand for action with signatures: a written request signed by many people demanding a specific action from an authority or government

2.     appeal or request to higher authority: an appeal or request to a higher authority or being

3.     something requested: something requested or appealed for

4.     Petition can also be the title of a legal pleading that initiates a legal case.

 HEBR: sheh a la. =request, thing asked for, demand

a) request, petition

b) thing asked for

1 Sam 1; 1 Kings 2; Esther 5 and 7; Jer (32) 37, 42; Daniel 6;

GRK:  Deesis 1) need, indigence, want, privation, penury

2) a seeking, asking, entreating, entreaty to God or to man

The Inheritance of Daughters.

During the allotting of the land, dividing of the inheritance, that Moses had to do in the Promised Land; there arose a unique quandary. There was a man, from the tribe of Manasseh, named Zelophahad who had five daughters and no sons. He died in the wilderness. These five came to Moses about their father’s inheritance. They wanted to keep their Father’s name for posterity and did not want to lose his inheritance. Moses took the matter to the Lord. ( Numbers 27)

The girls received their father’s inheritance and that posed another problem: When they get married, their inheritance would go to their husband’s family and so the inheritance will be lost to the house of their father, his tribe and family. It was then decided that when a daughter has an inheritance that she can marry whomever she wants but only in her father’s tribe, in order to keep the inheritance where it belongs. (Numbers 36)

I found in the story of Zelophahad’s daughters an answer and a warning to the quandary of women called of God with an anointing, a gift to serve the Father in the Kingdom. It is a quandary because it is out of the norm. It is usually a male who receive the call to preach, to work in the kingdom, blazing trails and establish the Kingdom of God on the earth. The ladies are usually in a supportive role. Just as in the times of Moses the men were the ones who inherited and the women were part of his family, and secondary to the inheritance.

Yet, God does call females with a Holy calling to do what traditionally has been done by males. And yes there has been, traditionally, an outcry by some who loves the letter of the law but not the author of it, against this. Still God does call women, young ladies into the ministry.   It is to those whom He has called that these 5 girls speak as an example. To those who have heard Him say: Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father's house; Then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.(Ps 45)  It is to her who have an ought in her heart, who knows that God has gripped her soul that this is of importance.

Your calling is a Holy calling and you are separate from your sisters who have not been such apprehended. You have an inheritance from the Father which will be lost if you do not claim it. You have a position in God’s Kingdom to fulfill, and a place on His wall to build and defend. You cannot go the normal, traditional way. You may want to have it both, but it cannot be. You cannot have the traditional house, picket fence and Golden Retriever. You have the call of God inside of you. THAT is your inheritance.

It is your duty to protect it. It is your responsibility to protect it. You cannot marry someone who does not share the same calling and anointing with which you have been gripped.  Well, you can but you will suffer loss. You will forever be in a position of having to choose your husband or God. You will either loose the marriage or your call: Both extremely painful.

The call of God is without repentance… meaning it is never withdrawn. It is not a job offer that you can refuse. It is not a scholarship that you can let go. It is not a marriage proposal that you can deny. It is a Divine claim upon your existence that changes the very fiber of your being. It is the seal of God upon your soul that has a cry of its own. It is the “burden” that the prophets of old spoke about. It is the fire that was in Jeremiah’s bones. And you and I are just nor big and strong enough to kill it. It will never leave you. It will be in your dreams, in your spirit until you heed the call and fulfill it. It is a Divine Inheritance that cannot ever be returned.

When we marry a man outside of our tribe, not necessary an unbeliever, someone who does not share a call of God similar to our own, we are un-equally yoked. That yoke will become a prison sentence that chafes and scar and be like a continues torture. The opposites will forever pull you apart into two directions and your life, your inheritance, will be lost. That which you were given, the gift of God will be lost, and the Kingdom of God will suffer.

If you find yourself as part of the called ones, when you know that an apprehension has happened in your life, listen carefully to the voice of the Holy Spirit. The decisions may bring many tears in this life, but the inheritance has a reward that will outshine it all.

The God who sees.

Genesis16:13 A slave girl runs away from her mistress into the desert right into the Angel of the Lord. She fled abuse into a revelation she never expected nor sought. She came face to face with Him who sees and hears everything. He tells her to name her son: Ishmael; meaning:”The Lord hears”. She has a revelation of the God from whom nothing is hidden. And even more, a God who when He sees and hears are not apathetic or aloof. No! This is a God who is intrinsically involved with His people.

In Exodus the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.” We do not serve a God who is far off. We do not serve a God who is un-aware of what is going on in our lives. God sees every affliction. He hears every prayer. He is not like others gods who cannot change anything. Our God hears our prayers and the Bible says if we know that He hears us then we can be assured that He will act on our behalf. For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry.

This should give us great cause for rejoicing even if our circumstances are not too bright. We can lift up our voices in faith because El Roi – “the God who sees us” – is not unaware of us and all that is included in our world. We have hope, we have a future because God sees and He hears. We can take a page from Hagar’s book and go back to our mistress and serve with a heart of hope knowing that God is also a righteous God who will bring the scales up even. We know that in His hand is justice and deliverance.

So, when we sigh under the heavy load. When we wake up in the morning and we feel like running from the day, we can take courage because our God sees and hears. We can whisper the prayer, we can cry out to Him. He hears, He sees and He will act on behalf of those who trust in Him. God will soon crush even satan under our feet because He sees and hears even the deepest crevices of every human heart.

Have faith! Have hope!



Pro 5:21

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He watches all his paths.

2Ch 16:9a

"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.

Job 31:4

"Does He not see my ways And number all my steps?

Job 34:21

"For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, And He sees all his steps.

Psa 34:15

The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.

Pro 15:3

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.

Hbr 4:13

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

1Pe 3:12

"FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL."

1Cr 4:5

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God.

1Sa 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Disappointment.

There is no greater disappointment than what we are to ourselves. We look back at what we were and most of us are better than that. We look back at how we made choices and there are some regrets, but for the most part we are satisfied with the choices. If we are not, hopefully we are mature enough to realize that hindsight is perfect and had we had to do it all over again, we would have done the same things for the same reasons than we had.

When we look back at the expectations that we placed on ourselves.., when we re-visit the dreams we had for ourselves, we have to hang our heads in shame for the failure of ourselves. We have to admit we over-estimated our own strength, our own commitment, our own wisdom and our own temerity. We look at the person we had become and wonder if we will ever measure up to the person we thought we would be.

Maybe this greatest disappointment of all can account, not excuse but account, for a few of our behavioral problems. The first is the blame game. If we blame our mistakes, our failures on someone else or something else we can escape the shame we feel toward ourselves. We can hate someone or something else and play the “if-only” game within ourselves and never really face reality. Facing reality may mean that we will have to face the character flaws that kept us from attaining the heights we once hoped for.

We may take a page from the animal kingdom and stick our head in the sand like the ostrich and ask: “What flaw?” If we do not acknowledge it, it is not there. Or we could be like the chameleon: “We all have our issues” and blend into our environment of dysfunction and brokenness so that the spotlight will safely pass us by. Or we may be like the ant and blindly cover ourselves with all manner of activity so that we never have to stop and think about the things that keep us from really seeing and being what we were designed to be.

Or we may be a little more inventive and develop a theology, a doctrine that completely theorizes all negatives out. We may come up with some interpretation of scripture that ascribe all negatives, all conviction, all sin and all that we are not comfortable with as part of the old covenant, the Old Testament. We may make up a believe system that says we are okay just the way we are and there is no need for change. Or we may even create a god of our own choosing, our own design, one that we can be comfortable with.

It is fairly easy to design our own god, our own doctrine. It only takes a certain level of stubbornness, some charisma and a bit of Bible knowledge, not too much so that we actually will come under conviction, but just enough so that we can bend, butcher and twist scripture to say what we want it to say. And soon enough we believe our own creation to be the truth and all others to be the lie. We curl up in our comfortable, self-feathered nest with our self-content and never have to be disappointed or disturbed anymore.

 If only King David of old knew some of these tricks then he would never had to cry out:” I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.” Or maybe if Paul, the apostle, knew how to spin it, or blame it, he would never have had to declare: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”  If Jesus could only get the hang of always being positive He would not have to have the terrible words come from His lips: “My God, My God! Why have You forsaken me!”

Walk This Way

Gal 3:1-7,

2 Cor 7:1 Since these promises are ours, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit, and bring consecration to completeness in the fear of God.

We are the children of God if we believe and receive Jesus Christ. We also by faith perfect our walk, our conduct and behavior to match the inward reality. The best cup of coffee will be unappealing when it comes to us in a dirty, cracked cup. We believe and let the Holy Spirit work His will, His nature into our hearts. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil 1:6

Phil 2:13 God works in us both to do and will… Our will is freed. We allow ourselves to co-labor with God in order that we may look and act/behave more and more like our Father. We grow up into this. We embrace the lessons by faith, believing, receiving His nature, we let it grow into fullness within us. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Eph 3:20-21.

Each of us have a garden inside of us. Each of us are responsible for what grows and are allowed to flourish in our garden.  Our job is to “let” and “let not”. Romans 6 says that we are no longer slaves. We have been freed to make choices, to make righteous choices. 1 Peter 2:16 Act as free men, and [fn]do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.

People ask why God allows the evil in the world. He gave us the job of taking care of this world and we allow the evil to flourish. When good people are only concerned about their own little circle, their own comfort, their own ease, then evil flourishes. When we do not take responsibility for the world we were given, we have wickedness in charge. We have the job to yield to God and not to evil. Yet we yield to evil, we refuse to fight it. We choose the easy, lazy way. We choose the path of least resistance and reap a dust storm.

We can through faith combat evil/sin/wickedness in our own personal lives; in our family, in our neighborhood. We have the authority from God, as kings and priests to say “NO” to wickedness and evil but “YES” to righteousness, goodness and godliness.  We are NO LONGER slaves. We have been freed. We have choices. Ro 6:14 says that sin/evil shall no longer have dominion over us. Eph 4:14-16 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Being under grace does not mean that you park your blessed assurance in a rocking chair or hammock and hang a sign that reads: “Don’t bother me. I’ve arrived.” Because of this grace we have received we persuade others. What do we persuade them of? What is our message? That the emancipation proclamation has been made! You and I have been freed from sin. Receive your freedom and take the responsibility to live like those who are free. You are redeemed in Jesus Christ. You are Kings and Priests. You are citizens of God’s Eternal Kingdom! Now live like it. Eph 2:10 says that we are God’s handiwork/ His workmanship recreated in Christ Jesus, that we may do the good works which God has purposed for us.

This does not mean that we earn salvation by works. It means that because we are free to serve God, free to be His ambassadors, free to be His kings and priests, we do those things that bring Him glory and honor. We are His temple, His habitation, His body, His bride, His people, His army and we are to be busy doing His work. Col1:10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;, Eph 3:10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places..

Jesus, at the age of 12, told his mother and Joseph. “I need to be about my father’s business”. How about you?

The Issue of Sin

As some of you know, my niece and her un-born son died in April. Her husband and my sister, her mother, took the death certificate and her identity document clearly stamped “DECEASED” to all the places that she had business dealings with to close the accounts. Three months later, when I was visiting  my sister, one of the banks was still haunting the widower. This time they insisted on proof of residence and proof of her income for the past three months. He could no longer deal with it and called my sister to deal with it. This is what she said: “I am going to take a picture of her grave. Then I will take the picture and one of the funeral bulletins to them. That is her address now. They can see how much they can get from her.”

If you then be raised with Christ… If you are in Christ Jesus... then let the dead things stay dead. Before the resurrection comes death. It is a great revelation that when Jesus Christ died, I died. There is a giving up of the old to embrace the new. When something attempts to arise the same old emotions, the same old thinking that made you re-act and led to sin, say to it that you are dead. Deal with life as if you are dead to it but alive to God. That is what Romans 6 means when it says: “that our old man was crucified with [Him], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Do not yield yourself to all those old things anymore. Colossians 2 speaks of our funeral, our death to the basic principles of this life. We are dead not only to sin, but also to the law, to the principles that gives self/flesh power; the things that make up rules, regulations, principles, laws to live by. These things, says Paul, are just shadows. These practices are just shadow-worship. We have to lay aside all the things that is not of God, does not give God glory and complicate our relationship with Him.

Paul in the first letter to the Corinthians: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” Notice the past tense..."were" It is in our B.C.  - "Before Christ" When we are nagged, pursued by the old habits, the old patterns of behavior, when there is a voice coming at all hours of night and day to respond in the same old, dirty rotten ways: Take the picture and say to those old places and old faces that you are buried with Christ. Say that you are dead, that it is no longer you that live, but Christ that lives in and through you.




This is not done in our own strength but by the power, the ability of the Holy Spirit. Walk in the Holy Spirit, talk in the Holy Spirit, live in the Holy Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts, the temptation, of the flesh, old self in sin. (Gal 5:16) The Psalmist wrote: “Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I should not sin against You.” Jesus said that if we dwell, if we abide in Him and His word in us then we may ask what we will and it will be done to us. John 15 speaks of an abiding in the Vine, where Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. Make the relationship with God, the Father, through Jesus Christ in the power/ability of the Holy Spirit, the most important thing. You will be able to hang up on the call, to send the picture and say “I am dead”.

 
And then God makes another provision in 1 John 2:1-2 we read: “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” So when we do miss it, on the rare occasion that we do answer the call and go along with the voices from the past to the things we are declared dead to, run back to Jesus. Run back to Him and be washed, be cleansed, be made whole. The wages of sin is death. There will always be death, disease, suffering, trauma and brokenness where sin is. But we have an answer. God provided a way out. We can be free from the slavery of sin, self and satan through Jesus Christ and appropriating His finished work; His death, burial and resurrection; to our lives.

There is no cleaving before there is leaving. There is no resurrection without a preceding death. We cannot continue our walk with God in newness of life, while still holding on to the old, sinful ways. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never be! God forbid! What a ghastly thought!

Romans 1:1

Romans 1:1

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, separated unto the gospel of God…

1. Doulos (1401) 

What Paul is: a servant of Jesus Christ. This is what all disciples are supposed to be. We are all equal in this. We are all servants of Jesus Christ first and foremost. As a human He came to serve. Phil 2:7. He served His Father’s purpose and will, and serves humanity, is church, His disciples.(Luke13)HisHis church, His disciples. (Luke13)

We are to serve as slaves to one another in love. Gal 5:13. Ministry is correctly called “service”. Service to a King: It is similar to military service. All humans serve someone or something.

Phil 1:1, Eph 6:6, Gal 1:10, I Cor 7:22b, Col 4:12, James 1:1, 2 Pet 1:1

2. Called to be an Apostle.

No-one calls themselves. A calling is always received. A calling comes from somewhere, usually from a higher authority. In the days of compulsory military service, one was “called’ into duty.

God also calls people to serve. This is a calling: a call one can answer and obey or run from. It never goes away. Paul said that ought has been laid on him. A calling will nag you until you do it.

There is heavenly calling. We are all called to be reconcilers between God and men. We are called to be vessels of His light.  We are called to be saints, to show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness and into His glorious light.

Kalleo(2564) to call, to invite, to summons

Kletos(2822) called, invited.

Rom 1:7, Matt 20:16, Matt22:14, Rom 1:6-7 and Rom 8:28, Rom 11:29, I Cor 1:1-2 and 24-26, Jude 1, Rev 17:14, Eph 1:18, 4:4, Phil 3:14, 2Thess 1:11, 2 Tim 1:9, Heb 3:1, 2 peter 1:10

3. Separated, sanctified and set apart.

Aphartizo (873) “to mark of by bounds”, “to determine a limit”

This means that Paul was chosen, selected for a specific task. A chosen vessel: many are called, few are chosen. This cost at least a “yes” on our side. In military terms this is a special opp’s group. They are special to the task and chosen to a specific duty.

Psalms 4:3, Acts13:2, Gal 1:15, Acts 9:15, I Cor 4:9, I Cor 12:28 - 30, Romans 12.

Love as He loved...


Father’s day we sat down with a lovely brunch my husband cooked. We had the computer on to listen in, to a live stream of a church pastored by a dear friend. At some point he called the fathers forward and started to instruct them. Then he said something like this: “Jesus has a throne and just like Jesus has a throne, men you have a throne in your home. You are to rule in your homes.” He then continued about the responsibility to rule.

This has a stuck in my throat for about 24 hours now and I cannot get my head wrapped around it. There was a curse given to Eve that is "man shall rule over you" in Gen 3:16. This was a curse, just the same as that the man shall work and make a living by working hard enough to sweat. This curse of men domineering women has become one of the quiet strongholds in the Christian church. Even ministers that sometimes quote: “Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” will treat their wives as second class citizens or make snide remarks to their peers about the “ball-and-chain”. It seems like they want it both ways.

Kelley Varner was one of the few brave souls who addressed this in his book: “The Three Prejudices”
“Three great prejudices have infested the homes, churches, businesses, and cities of our society:

1.Gender (the wall between men and women).

2. Race ( the walls between blacks and whites[and all other skin colors})

3.Nation (the walls between Jews and Gentiles).

These walls can never be surmounted by human means. The people of God have fostered these ills through ignorance and apathy.”

And then Brother Varner said that in order to overcome these walls, these manmade strongholds, we need a revival of the love of God.

Now that is a new line of thought. A diversion from the old stale drumbeat of “submit, obey; submit, obey; submit, obey...”

And quoting brother Varner once more: “The only real, lasting cure for the unholy spirit of prejudice is the love of God.”

How come churches miss this? Where are the sermons on: How men can love their wives even as Christ love the church and gave His life for her? Not too easy of a topic now is it. It is so much easier to hold to the party line: she must first submit. Well gents, the church, we, were still enemies of Christ when He gave His life for us. Herein is love, not that we love Him, but that He first loved us and sent His Son to die in our place. 1 John 4:10
 It may make an interesting study: How Jesus loves His bride.

Note that the translators of the Bible often mistranslate the word “Anthropos = human, person” as “man”. Anthropology is the academic study of humanity. The word for “male” is “arren”. Unless the context denotes a male gender, the word should be translated person or people.
 Ex: Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'A Person shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one person, Adam, sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all people, because all sinned—

Titus 3:2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all people.

(Some of the newer translations have so translated this word. Ex: NLT, Common English, New Century, TNIV, Good News Translation, The Message)

Resist Sickness and Disease

Jesus died for the whole human – : spirit, soul and body. The fact that He is the last ultimate sin-sacrifice is readily accepted in Christian circles. By Him we have access to the Father, forgiveness of sin and redemption. Few Christians argue this and rightly so, for this is the essence of Christianity. Yet, Jesus also bled and died to free us from the harassment of the enemy. We also receive freedom from sickness, disease, demonic possession, lack and all kinds of dysfunction.

Jesus solved the sin issue at Calvary yet some born again, blood washed believers still struggle with sins. That fact does not make us adjust our doctrine of the finished work of the cross. Why does the fact that some get sick, never get better, even with prayer, and die; why would it make us invent the silly notion that sickness, disease and dysfunction is the will of God?

The scripture bears out that we are healed by His stripes, that when we are sick we pray, lay hands on the sick and they recover, that He is the Lord our Healer. Yet some argue that there is some spiritual benefit in sickness and dysfunction. This would be like saying a little sin will do you good.

The same blood that washed away your sins, is the same blood that was spilled for the healing of sickness, illness, disease. You would never, should never, embrace and accept sin, why embrace sickness?

It is as much a slap in Jesus’ face to suggest His work of redemption incomplete, than negate-ting the fact of healing and health by the same sacrifice. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Some may say that sickness, illness, disease and dysfunction are from God. Yet, didn’t Jesus say that a kingdom divided against itself will not stand?

If Jesus healed the sick, if Jesus gave us a mandate to lay hands on the sick in His name, if the scriptures clearly say that He is our Healer; then why do we embrace physical ailments as if it is our friend? Why don’t we resist and fight it like we do with other temptations? There is not much of a difference. We seem to be willing to speak about sickness more readily than sin and other temptations. Yet, Jesus paid for all of it equally and all comes from the same source. Sickness and sin are often interconnected and at times cause one another.

It is a total, complete redemption of a total, complete human. Nothing was and is excluded. When Jesus said: “It is finish”, it was indeed finished. We cannot add to it - generally agreed – and neither can we subtract from it.

Isn’t it time we receive the entire salvation? Isn’t it time we receive the total Savior, the one who redeemed body, soul- mind will and emotions – and spirit, by paying the complete price of redemption. He gave it all. How dare we pick and choose which part we would like to receive?

1John 3:8, James 5:14-15, Matt 8:16, Luke 10:9, Matt 10:8, Mark 16, Psalms 103:3, James 4:7, Psalms 147:3, Eph 6:13, 1 Peter 5:9, Matt 10:1, John 9:3 Luke 4:18