We’re Never Alone

Family Ministry, God Loves You

2 Kings 6:16So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.”

Have you ever felt like you were the only one or one of a few in your walk with Christ?  Sure we know that there are more than 2 billion Christians in the world, but some days when you are going thru life honestly, it  just seems like you’re alone.  The devil has specialized in isolating Christians over the years, whether it was in the Garden with Adam and Eve or in the asylum we set up in our own minds.  When he can get us alone we tend to focus on ourselves, our short comings and our faults rather than the awesome choice that Jesus made on the cross on our behalf.  About 3 and a half years ago my wife were introduced to Joseph Prince’s ministry and began to hear his teachings on God’s Loving Grace.  It has definitely changed the way receive from Jesus and walk in His love for us.  It was so simple and foundational that it was really difficult to accept at first, until the Lord began to show Himself in scripture like never before.

Rejuvenated by the Love of God and knowing how precious I am to Him, it became something I could not wait to share with everyone.  The issue I had was that it was not well received with those who I’d grown up with spiritually; it kind of made me feel isolated.  My wife and I really became the epitome of iron sharpening iron, encouraging each other in the Lord.  Even in that, it would often feel like you’re walking alone at times.

This past weekend I had an Elisha’s servant episode.  In this text Elisha’s servant that he and his master we isolated and surrounded by their enemy.  But what the servant did not realize was “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”  My oldest Son and I took a trip up to NJ to see Joseph Prince who was preaching in Newark, during his first preaching tour in America.  It was our first trip together, just the two of us.  I had a really great time, it was really cool and it reached a pinnacle for me when we found ourselves in the middle of praise and worship with well over 18 thousand other believers lifting up the name of Jesus Christ on one accord.  To see Jesus’ loving embrace caressing each one of us was tremendous.  I saw Jesus overflow my son’s heart with His joy, so much so that all he could do was cry.  He told me that he was so happy and he knew that Jesus loved him.  Are you kidding me???  It was as if Elisha was praying for me to have my eyes opened and that night I was reminded like Elisha’s servant “And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around ME.”

It Cannot Be Wiped Away

Family Ministry, Spiritual Food

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Have you ever cut yourself and did not know it?  Or, you’ve cut yourself but cannot see the cut because there is so much blood?  What do you do?  Wipe the blood away so that you can see the injury, the hurt, the thing causing the pain, then immediately apply some type of cleanser to keep the cut from getting infected.  Now I’m sure my wife, the Pediatrician, will school me later on the technical terms and techniques, but I hope that I got the gist of it.

I highlighted this verse in 1 John, because it says something that we have to believe to survive, the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.  Jesus does just the opposite to our spiritual cuts and injuries.  Our sin, causes hurt and pain, but Jesus’ blood is the balm in Gilead (Jer 8:22).  His blood not only covers our sin, but it cleanses us from all sin; but doesn’t stop there, His blood heals (Lk 4:18) and gives eternal life (Jn 6:54).

So what’s up with the title?  Well, we’ve been taught that God sees all of our sin, and He is upset with us when we sin.  He is not pleased with us until we repent from every individual sin.  In essence wiping away Jesus’ Blood.  I guess we wipe it away so God can see our sin, then after we repent the blood is then reapplied.  I know that it seems like a little thing, but we mix up God’s old covenant with His new one.  In His old covenant, we indeed would have to atone for every sin, working for our salvation by offering some type of sacrifice, even putting our hope in the High Priest so that he would sacrifice on our behalf.  Then on top of all that, the offering had to be accepted by God for our sin to be removed.  That is a heck of a lot that has to go right.  Jesus died so that we do not have to live like this anymore…..

I’m so glad that God declared in Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, there was fault with the first covenant or the Old Covenant or the Law, therefor He gave a new covenant.  Paul tells us that this old covenant, was the ministry of death (2 Cor 3:7).  Be mindful of what you are receiving and believing, you may be sippin’ on a little death, which slowly kills our Faith is Jesus’ Blood.

I will not say any more, I will let the bible tell you that Jesus’ Blood is more than enough, and it can NEVER be wiped away…….

Heb 8:8-13 Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 13 In that He says, “ . Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

It’s Our Presence……

God Loves You

Ps 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Have you heard these words before: “How can you go to God now after what you’ve done?”  “You will not hear Jesus if you sin!!” or even “You have to repent of all of your sin before you enter the Lord’s presence.”   Who do you think is the author of these quotes!!!

Let me give you a hint, he is the Father of Lies (John 8:44), the Accuser of the Brethren (Revelation 12:10) or better known as the Devil.  It is yet another of his many tricks to keep us from tapping into the power that is inside of all of us.  If he can constantly remind us of our sin, we will focus on it and never look to Jesus, who died on the cross for the forgiveness of all of our (your & mine) sin; once and for all.    Don’t believe me?? Check out the Word……

  1. 1.      Gen 3:9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”  10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 
    Or
  2. 2.      Gen 4:9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”  He said,”I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.

Take a quick look; Adam and Eve sinned and they immediately knew they were naked, so look at God’s response…The Lord came looking for them.  What about Cain and Abel?  Right after Cain killed his brother, who showed up?  Our Lord, yep yours and mine.  Jesus never turns His back on us, He never leaves us or forsakes us (Heb 13:5).  Why!!!  He Loves us!! His love is amazing and He is always looking for us.  It is our presence that He is after, when we really love someone we enjoy spending time with them and Jesus loves spending time with us.  So much so that when we are in His presence He gives us “the path of life,” “fullness of joy” & “pleasures forevermore.”

Too often we let sin cause us to look everywhere but Jesus; look at what Adam and Cain focused on, Adam feared (I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself) and Cain lied (He said,”I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?)…When our focus is on our sin…we fear our King and lie to ourselves.  We neglect the Lord’s presence and miss out on His abundant joy and wondrous blessings, forgetting that we can never leave His presence.  What then are we left with…guilt, sorrow, broken hearts; we become captives of our own despair.  But we must look to Jesus the “Author and Finisher of our Faith (Heb 12:2);” after all He came to save us and redeem us….  Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

No More Holding Back

God Loves You, Spiritual Food

Ps 63:3 Because Your loving kindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.  4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.  5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. 

Today at church I heard a song that I absolutely love, it was only about the 3rd time that I’ve heard the song (which doesn’t mean that it is new, just new to me), but it had the same impact that it always seem to have….Surrender!!!  But today was something special; the words of the song are simple “I surrender all to you; everything I give to you; withholding nothing- withholding nothing.”  As I raised one of my hands and enjoyed the worship, I heard Jesus say so lovingly “You’re still holding back… when you lift up both hands in worship, you let go of everything you’re holding on to and reach for Me.”   When I lifted my other hand, the tears began to flow, not out of sadness or shame, but out of a wonderful since of peace and joy.  You cannot help but feel the love of the Jesus, when He assures you that He wants to take care of ALL, every single aspect of your life. 

Look at Psalm 63, when we lift up our hands we acknowledge the Lord’s love for us and demonstrate our faith is in His loving kindness towards us.  Our surrender causes us to want to praise and bless the Lord, then we are able to see the Lord satisfy all of our need and fill us with joy.  Give everything to the Jesus, the good and the bad, highs and lows; if it is a part of your life let Him have it and He will satisfy your every need and lovingly give you His abundant joy. 

These Three Words

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John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

                Yesterday I heard an old Stevie Wonder song that I’m sure everyone will remember, especially if you’ve seen the movie Jungle Fever.  In the song, Stevie reminds us of the desire we all have which is to be loved.  The song begins with a question: When was the last time that they heard you say….I Love You?  Have we told those the closest to us, that we love them??  Or do we spend more time telling them about their failures and shortcoming?  Jesus wants to give us a very important message from His Father.

God never wants us to ask the question “When was the last time that you’ve heard Him say that He loves you?”  So much so that over 2000 years ago, God sent His only Son Jesus to die on Calvary’s Cross and the ultimate display of Love for each one of us.  So today should never be a doubt about how much God loves us, and every time we hear a message or read the scripture we should be reminded of His love for us.  Remember the Cross, the ultimate sacrifice, the shed blood, the remission of sin, the restoration of the saints, the love, and the acceptance of His beloved.

These Three Words bring peace in chaos, healing in pain and shelter from every storm.  These Three Words have made our crooked ways strait and the lost become found.  These Three Words have made the unrighteous righteous and the sinner saved.  It was These Three Words that made you and me.  These Three Words….Father, Son, Spirit…want to tell us “I LOVE YOU.”   There is no greater love…

 

Enter God’s Presence With Boldness & Assurance

Family Ministry, God Loves You

I get so irritated with my two boys every now and then, for many reasonsJ, but specifically for this blog, when I call them after they have done something wrong.  You see my ever playful and happy go lucky oldest son becomes stoic and depressed, his movement is slow and speech is nearly silent.  My overtly loud, flamboyant, loving and often obnoxious younger son becomes miniscule, basically disappearing with the only the top of his head visible to me, as he looks directly to the ground in horror.  My response is often “Pick your head up!! You weren’t looking like this when you did it, so why are you looking like that now.”   And this often shifts their countenance from extreme guilt and embarrassment to all out fear.  WHY??

Well it is obvious “they are no good little twerps that need a good hard beating to get them back in line.”  Of course not I love them both tremendously, but I know that this is how they feel sometimes because my anger has gotten the best of me and I may have smacked them upside the head, snatched them up  or whatever other method that honestly was more than acceptable when I was growing up J.  Now why I say this in just, most of us know that there have been times where we’ve over reacted because we were upset.  And the very thought of coming into my presence reminds my kids of those previous reaction to their mistakes.  While my wife and I (much like all of you) have tried our very best to respond and correct our kids in a way that most reflects God’s response to us, we have often and will at times fall so very short.

Fast forward the years and look at how many of us respond to God today, so often when we have failed, sinned or done something that is just way outside of our character; we find ourselves in a similar position when entering the Lord’s presence.  We feel the same embarrassment, shame and honestly fear.  The truth is the enemy will put on his best voice imitation to tell us all of the negative we’ve done and why we should feel shame in hopes of keeping us from going into the Lord’s presence at all or at least making us feel like this while we’re there.  HOW????  Because we too often see God as our father treating us in a similar way that we do or have been treated by our fathers…..that could not be further from the truth.

The Truth Is:
Hebrews 10:15-18
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

The Holy Spirit reminds us that God was clear about why He sent Jesus.   Jesus’ shed blood was to introduce this new covenant that would relieve us from having to experience the above scenario when coming into the presence of God (or keeping you from entering His presence).  According to the Law “all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission (of sin),” Jesus’ blood allows God the ability to remember no more!!  We as parents don’t have that same ability (which is just one more thing that makes Jesus so precious).  There are so many times I wish I had that ability, because forgiveness would be so much easier.  While it is very difficult to comprehend with our finite minds, we can BY FAITH BELIEVE that God says “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”  You should not stop there, we also believe that “Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin”  Today there is remission, which Strong’s defines as release from bondage or imprisonment;  forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty.  Those were not my words but Jesus’.  Now that there is remission by the Blood of Jesus “there is no longer an offering for sin.”  There is no need for an offering because “It Is Finished!!!”  Once again Jesus’ words not mine.

Now nothing here exalts sin or advocates for sin, God hates sin (so do I) Sooooooooooo much, so much that He dealt with it forever on the Cross!!!.  And because Sin has been dealt with and forever destroyed, God will not remember them anymore….ON PURPOSE.  What is that purpose:
Hebrews 10:19-22
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let His word minister to you, there is a lot in this passage, let it free you from the bondage that you’ve often subjected yourselves to.  Jesus loves you so much; allow His word to transform you with Boldness and Assurance.

Do You See What God Sees??

Spiritual Food

PP 1 (Click on the link)

1 John 4:15-18 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.  17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
NKJV

See Who is Behind it!!

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Recently, my son and a bunch of kids on his track team were giving a hard time to a brother of one of their teammates who did not run with the team.  They really had no real reason to do it other than the fact that this kid was different than them.  It reminded me of a time when a good friend of mine confronted me about always making fun of him.  I was a little taken aback but I understood, it made him feel bad and here I was a friend but made him feel like he was not good enough.  It was not my intent, but God showed me later that I did it not to make him feel bad but ultimately to make myself look or feel better about myself.  I was amazed but then He showed me parts of my past where others had done the same to me I felt a lot like my friend did.  It was like déjà vu.

So check out the originator, we call him the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10) or Satan.  Satan has consistently tried to make us feel bad about ourselves, make us question what God has spoken to us and written about us in His Word.  An accuser according to scripture is one who makes an accusation before a judge.  I find that exceptional, the devil makes these accusations about us in the presence of The Judge, our Father (not touching that right now).  Revelations actually says of Satan “who accused them before our God day and night.”  That is what he spends the majority of his time doing accusing us.

Luke4:3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Check out Luke 4; “If You are the Son of God,” the question itself is an accusation, that Jesus is not really who he says He is.  This simple question could cause doubt in 3 areas, 1) His relationship with God (is God really your Father), 2) the power God has given Him (Can you use His power to change things) and 3) the purpose God had given Him (reconciling the world to God with a new covenant).  His method is exactly the same toward us, he wants us to question our Position, Power and Purpose.

Position: “If You are the Son of God” We are God’s Sons/Daughters, joint heirs with Christ.  We are not God’s enemies, as a matter of fact we are no longer His servants or even disciples, because of Christ’s sacrifice we became Sons/Daughters.  Our position has changed to that of royalty and Satan hates it, because he understands what being a Son/Daughter means…We are still learning, but starting to get it!!

Power:  ”command this stone” We have power!!!  Satan saw God’s power up close and knew that a Son of God would possess the same power.  Particularly in this case, he challenged Jesus to command (to speak or say) His situation.  He had not eaten in 40 days, a piece of bread would have tasted great but there was no bread around Jesus had the power to change His situation just by speaking to His situation.  We have the power to speak life over every situation we encounter and the ability to speak directly to the giver of life thru prayer.  So there is great power in us and Satan will do all he can to have us question it.

Purpose: this stone to become bread This was exactly why Jesus came to turn our stone into bread.  Stone and bread both represent God’s word in the Scripture.  Many times the term stone is a direct reference to the Law of Moses, or the old covenant which Israel lived under for many years.  The term bread is all over the bible as a symbol of God’s word, and in the New Testament as the word that became flesh in the form of Jesus Christ our sacrificial lamb.  Jesus’ purpose was to replace the Old Testament or the Law with a new Covenant, but it was time yet.  Jesus was given specific direction from God but Satan wanted to cause doubt about the timing.  Any question about our purpose can cause doubt and Satan will do want he can to get us off task.

Jesus always speaks life and never tears us down, even when correcting us it always comes in the form of life, so when you hear otherwise know that the accuser is behind it.

Staying Power

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Heb 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Today while looking at this scripture, I could not help but hear the Lord say look at that word endured.  Endured according to the dictionary means to suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently or to tolerate (someone or something).  That is exactly what Jesus did on the cross, He suffered the most painful, despicable, humiliating and disgusting act ever known to man and He did it patiently.  He also tolerated, the very people that He created, to treat Him like crap and He also tolerated sin, which He abhors, to be placed on Him at the cross.

I had always looked at the late night prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus’ toughest moment, having to make a choice to go to the cross.  As amazing as that display of Jesus’ love for each of us, what was even more amazing was His choice to remain on the cross and endure all He did.  What do I mean, weren’t they one and the same?  Well, remember what scripture has to say.  When Peter struck the ear of one of the High Priest’s servants, Jesus lovingly reminds us “…Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?…”  At any moment Jesus could have come down from that cross, crushed every Roman soldier and laughed in the face of each Pharisee & Sadducee.  Yet Jesus stayed on the cross and endured all for us.

Jesus knew what God wanted Him to do and He did it.  Many of us can relate to this, we know what God’s word says and we know what we should do because of that.  Jesus shows us something incredible, a power that we don’t often tap into; you see, even though He could have changed the situation on His own, He endured and trusted that God’s plan was much better for Him and all those He loved.  He had staying power, the ability to stay although His situation was as difficult as it could possibly be.

Often when we go through tough times in life, and rather than trust Jesus to change our circumstances, we step in and make things happen, because we want to ease the pain or stop the suffering.  The problem is when we step in to fix things we leave Jesus out.  Jesus knew that “the joy that was set before Him” was much better than the temporary situation of the cross.  After the cross, His name would be above all names; He would soon be sitting at the right hand of the throne of God and each of us would have the opportunity for eternal life.  Whatever we are going thru, remember this; Jesus knows what is best for you, trust Him to change things and He will.

Let Jesus Love You……

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1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

I wanted to share something I heard today.  I was watching the “Voice,” don’t laugh you know you watch it too.  Anyway, Ne-Yo lead of the show with a song I had never heard before called Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself).  I could not make out the words at first, but there came a point when I was able to put it together and I just said.  That’s Jesus…..

This is Jesus’ M.O. loving us even while we have no clue.  Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Jesus loves us so much and so good; it allows us to learn to love ourselves.  Jesus is saying something to us that goes beyond Ne-Yo’s clever lyrics.  When we let Jesus love us, He loves us until we learn to love ourselves; but then He keeps loving and never stops.

Be encouraged His love for you is so powerful, that it will give you strength during your weakest moments, forgiveness for all of your sin and Grace/Favor for your toughest challenge.   Be blessed!!!