The Kingdom - 4

This week we continue looking at the kingdom.

To enter you must be born again and become a citizen of a kingdom that is not from or of this world. Take on His righteousness and be declared holy and in right standing with God.

Matt 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus just started His ministry - Matt 4. He was in the wilderness for 40 days and then tempted by the enemy. He went into the wilderness led by the Spirit and came out the wilderness endued with the power of the Holy Spirit. He starts preaching about the Kingdom of God and healing the sick. Great multitudes started following him - Matt 4:23-25.

He preached to the crowd but when his disciples came to him he taught them. This is what he says: Blessed are the poor in spirit for the Kingdom of God belongs to them. I have meditated on this scripture and what it can mean.

Most commentaries will tell you that the phrase "poor in spirit" simply means that people with a need or a lack can get their needs met by the Kingdom. Poor means poor right? Some commentaries will even say that the word can mean the "humble" and they will have the Kingdom available to them. As I was meditating on this, the Holy Spirit showed me something.

I believe that when we make man the focus, we can end up with the conclusion that it can mean poor, needy, lacking, insufficient, and without. The problem though is that Jesus is teaching about the Kingdom, not man. He starts with the Kingdom as his focus before he focuses on a man in the Beatitudes in the next few verses. Before we make it about ourselves lets at least start with the Kingdom.

At this point in time Jesus was newly filled with the Holy Spirit. None of them have ever received the Holy Spirit or seen someone who had the Holy Spirit living inside a man. In the history of Israel, they have seen what someone can do when the Spirit came on them and they were moved by the Spirit. I think about David when the Spirit came on him and he defeated Goliath. What about Samson that killed the Philistines after the Spirit came on him. Saul the first king of Israel prophesied all day while the Spirit of God was on him. Saul also had an evil spirit come over him when he threw his spear at David. They have seen the Spirit move in limited ability but now there was a man in front of them that had the Spirit without measure - John 3:33-34. Picture that.

This same Jesus is saying: Blessed are you if you are poor in Spirit. Does it make sense? Jesus starts off with a bang. Their whole life they have fallen short and have felt like a poor person, without and lacking something. They tried their best to keep the law and failed miserably at it. Is there anything better for us? YES THERE IS!

You don't have what you need, you feel poor in spirit, but the Kingdom is here. This is a qualifying statement, a clarion call from heaven to earth, an invitation to open your eyes and see what God is doing. "You don't have it but that did not disqualify you, it just qualified you." The kingdom is yours. This is why the Kingdom came. Men and women will live by the Spirit and be led by Him. Jesus' words are calling down the passages of time: I will not leave you as orphans but I will send you the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth and He will abide with you forever - John 14:16-18.

The Spirit comes when the Kingdom comes. The Kingdom starts with an invitation - COME - it is for you.

The Kingdom of God - 3

Luke 17:20-21 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God comes not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The Kingdom is within you. The statement Jesus is making, helps us understand that we are not to focus on something external but something that will influence us from the inside. The Kingdom is not a location but the acceptance of and obedience to God. It is His Lordship and rule coming to direct and guide us in a whole new way of living. 

From the very beginning man was tempted to do his own thing. Think about what the enemy tells Adam and Eve in the garden. "God knows that you will be like Him knowing good and evil." The enemy made it sound like God was holding something from them, that God was not honest in his request for them not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Remember that satan's fall was because he wanted to do his own thing. Autonomy from God should not be a problem right?  He decided by himself what was good and what was evil. He wanted autonomy from God and be a god. That is the very same thing satan offers to man, be autonomous, and decide for yourself about what is good and what is evil. Adam and Eve's sin was also wanting control over a part of their lives without God's guidance and support. They rejected God's guidance and accepted the enemy's guidance when they partook of the fruit. 

God told them not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Did God not want them to know the difference? The word "knowledge" in the original language comes from the root word "Yada" in Hebrew and has a few meanings. In general, it means to know something but it also means the ability and right to decide or determine. By sinning man denied God the right to be the one determining between good and evil. God knows all things so he retains the right to decide what is good and what is evil. 

The creator of a product decides what is good and what is bad for a product. The manufacturer of your phone will tell you not to drop it in the water. That would ruin your phone. If you decide that you want to see for yourself and drop your phone in the swimming pool, you will find out that the creator or manufacturer of that phone knew what he was talking about. God knew what he was talking about.

Why would God not give man the right to decide or determine? Man does not know everything. Man does not see everything. Man is not God. Man has limits and man can fail. With limited information, limited power, and limited ability, how can you trust a man to decide what is right? So God retains the right to say what is right and wrong. God knows what our decisions will produce, life or death.

Satan gives you a choice between good and evil, God gives man a different choice. You can choose between life and death. 

The option God gave them was to rather eat from the Tree of Life. In scripture we see God giving man the same option over and over again. When Israel left Egypt and before they entered the Promised Land, God gave them the blessings and the curses. He tells them how He will bless them if they obey His commandments but He also tells them what will happen if they disobey and the curses that will follow. Then He commands them with these words: 

Deut 30:19 I call on heaven and earth as witnesses today that I have offered you life or death, blessings or curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants will live. 

The Kingdom is in you. It is closer than you think. Jesus said the Kingdom is at hand. Don't live like God is a million miles away. He is as close as the breath in your lungs. The kingdom took up residency and we have become His property. The kingdom produces life.

The Kingdom of God - 2

Last week we looked at the Kingdom and the priority that the kingdom has. We also looked at the Righteousness that comes with the Kingdom of God. Ths righteousness is both positional as well as practical.

This week I want to look at what Jesus says about wineskins and how that relates to the Kingdom. 

Jesus said, “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed” (Luke 5:37). 

For many years we have had seasons of revival where God did some extraordinary things in the earth. Great men and women were used to usher in a time of refreshing and a visitation from God. Let me just say that even though these revivals were great, God has never intended to visit his people. God has always desired to stay with his people. The question begged to be asked: why then do we wait for another revival or why did the last revival not last?

I believe that the problem has never been the move of God. It has never been what God was doing, I believe the problem was that we never had the right wineskin for it to last. As soon as there is something great happening, people are fast to lay claim to it as if their denomination or way of doing things has caused it to happen. As if their wineskin or denomination was the reason God did something. 

Let me say a few things about the wineskins before we look at the wine. 

Wineskins in biblical times had to be properly prepared. If anything was lacking in preparing the wineskin, the container would not qualify to hold the wine. The risk was always that you could lose the wine. 

There is a preparation that must happen with us to be able to contain what the Kingdom offers. 

The first thing that I see that we must prepare is a desire for the new. 

Luke 5:39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

We like comfort and we like the ability to know what is happening. Nobody likes to change. We love the old and the familiar. The saying goes familiarity breeds contempt, but familiarity breeds contentment as well. Always having what you had, creates a familiarity with the old, and the old have a tendency to stop challenging you. Familiarity has a tendency to wear away your edge and you become satisfied with a place that can stun your growth. Familiarity tends to undermine discernment and breeds judgmentalism from what you know and understand. I see it in the Bible when Jesus came, that they had a hard time stepping away from the familiar and accept the new. I see it today when God shows up and it doesn't look like what people are used to. 

The second thing we must do to sustain the Kingdom is to prepare a vessel that is holy. God will never sanction something that is the opposite of His character. Holiness is a work of the Spirit as well as a choice. He sanctifies us from within but we sanctify ourselves by setting ourselves apart from worldly things. Vessels can not contain anything that might spoil or influence the process of producing wine. In Jewish tradition, the wine that was considered to be kosher (Yayin) had to be prepared according to certain specifications. One of the requirements was that the wine should never touch anything that was influenced by leaven. Leven has the ability to influence. You add leaven to the dough and it influences the dough. God is looking for vessels that are free from the leaven that is not Kingdom.

Matt. 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. 

The Kingdom is a new wine. On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out, they said that the disciples are full of new wine - Acts 2:13.

The Kingdom has the ability to influence us just like leaven does to the dough. It is very subtle. How does it work? Jesus compares it to a sower that sows the seed. The farmer does not know how it grows but it does.

Mark 4:26-27 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth the fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  

Another way to see and understand this is by using wine as an example. If I drink one glass of wine, I have surrendered my body to the influence of the wine. I am still in control. When I drink a second glass of wine, the influence of the wine increases and my body begins to feel and submit to the influence of the wine. I might still think I am in control. I drink a third glass of wine and now my body is controlled by the wine. I know I am no longer in control. The Kingdom is like that. The more you partake of the Kingdom the more it will begin to influence and control you. 

As the influence of the kingdom increases in my life, my life changes. Living holy is now my natural choice because the influence of the Kingdom directs my choices. I don't want to sin. What was once a choice now becomes my lifestyle. As I surrender to the Kingdom, his life in me becomes more evident. 

Next week we will continue looking at the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God - 1

Matt 6:33 Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. 

When we talk about the Kingdom of God we establish that:

1. It has a King.

2. It has a territory.

3. It has laws.

4. It has subjects or citizens.

5. It has a purpose.

The thing that Jesus talked more about than anything else was the Kingdom of God. Jesus gives us the key to life when he tells us to first seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. The Kingdom of God has priority over all other kingdoms. When Jesus preached, he always made the Kingdom of God his priority. He taught it, lived it, and demonstrated it. 

To be able to enter my office you will need a key. If I just handed you a bunch of keys it will take you a while before you figure out which key lets you in. Jesus is helping us to identify the key to His domain. The name of the key is: "Priority."

In another verse about priorities, Jesus emphasizes this fact by saying: 

If you don't give up family, houses, land, and friends you are not worthy to be my disciple. Does Jesus hate family and friends? Absolutely not. He is emphasizing that the Kingdom takes priority. What does that look like? 

I view family and friends and everything I do through the Kingdom lens. If we make Him or his Kingdom the priority then he promises that we will not need anything. All these things that you need will be added unto you, including houses and land and family and friends - Mark 10:29-30.

The second thing that Jesus speaks through this verse is that it is not just that the Kingdom takes priority but that we must also seek his Righteousness. What does it mean to have His Righteousness and how do you get it?

To enter the Kingdom you must be born again. 

John 3:3;6 Unless you are born again you can not see the kingdom of God.....unless you are born again you can not enter the Kingdom of God.

I was born in South Africa. My birth made me a citizen of South Africa. Even though I was a citizen of that country by birth I had to learn the culture of South Africa and obey the laws of South Africa. We do things a certain way. Citizenship did not guarantee that I would be a great citizen. Citizenship offered me the opportunity to abide by the law of the country. I could still break the laws of the country and end up in jail. 

When we immigrated to America in 1999, we had to adhere to the laws of the new country to be able to become citizens. It took ten years before we became citizens in 2009. We were now naturalized, American citizens. We could no longer live by the culture we grew up with. We accepted the new citizenship but with it also the American culture. We benefit from being citizens but we also benefit when we obey the law.

The Kingdom is no different. By the born again experience we became citizens of heaven but we must also accept and learn the new culture of the Kingdom of God. The culture of the Kingdom is Righteousness which means: I claim citizenship but I also adhere to its lifestyle governed by its laws. Two ways I can violate that is by:

1. Accept citizenship but refuse the new culture or lifestyle (offender).

2. Refuse citizenship but wants the benefits of the culture (illegal alien).

You can not claim to be Kingdom and keep your old habits. You can not claim to qualify for the benefits if you are not in the Kingdom.

Jesus says: Seek first his Kingdom and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. 

What is your priority today? Are you seeking Him and His Kingdom first? Does your life show that you are a citizen of heaven? Have you found the key to an abundant life yet?

Next week we will continue talking about the Kingdom of God.

I have Hope - 5

Why is your story so important?

Hope is where faith starts. Hope is the generator that energizes your faith.

In Psalm 78 we read about the history of Israel. God commanded them to do certain things. Not just the Law but maybe something more important for the long run or their future. The Law focused on today. What must I do right now that keeps me from sinning against God. But how will we keep serving God and not forget what He wants?

In this Psalm God commands them to tell their children all the things that He did when He brought them out of Egypt. You remember the ten plaques and how God opened the Red Sea and gave them bread and water and let them daily with a Pillar of Fire and a Cloud. Why was God asking them to do it?

God established a testimony about Himself before He gave them the Law to observe. They knew what God could do before they knew what God wanted them to do. The word testimony simply means: DO IT AGAIN.

When we share our testimony we are saying, God, do it again. When others hear our testimony, they ask: God do it again. What God did for you might be what He needs to do for others.

Most important was the fact that when they told their children what God did for them, it was an opportunity for the children to have hope in God.

Psalm 78:3-5 Things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and he wonders that he has done.

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.

Let’s read a few more verses in this Psalm. Something happens that we must be aware of. One of the tribes, Ephraim did not do what God asked them to do. They did not tell their children about God and what He had done for them. 

Psalm 78:9-11 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.

How many stories do we read about God fighting for them. Almost every battle the Israelites’ fought, God was fighting for them. The fathers of Ephraim stopped telling their children the testimonies and when the day of battle came, they fled because they had no hope. 

Your story matters. It is your proof that God is real. It is your testimony of what God can do. When we share it with others, they get hope that God will do it for them as well. 

Psalm 34:10 Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. 

Isaiah 26: 3-4 Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord God you have an everlasting rock.

I have hope - 4

What does God do with my failures?

In Joshua chapter seven we read the story of Achan. Israel just defeated Jericho and God told them to burn everything and not take anything for themselves but bring any gold and silver and bronze to the treasury of God.. Achan disobeyed God and took a Babylonian Robe, Gold, and Silver. He hid it in his tent. Then when they went up to fight against Aia, only a small city, they got defeated in battle. Immediately they were discouraged and rebelled against Joshua. Joshua asked God and God revealed that somebody trespassed and took what they were not supposed to take. They had all the families line up and eventually, it came out that Achan was the one that did it. So this is what happened.

Josh 7:24-26 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.

So Joshua brought him and his family, everything he had and they stoned them. This is a horrible story about a whole family being destroyed because of one man's sin. We have all failed in something. We have all done something wrong and even worse is the fact that sometime innocent people suffered because of our choices. The name of the place it happened was called the Valley of Achor. Achor literally means trouble.

We all have caused trouble for ourselves and others. We all have places called “Achor” in our lives. Something so bad happened that we never want to visit it again. We don’t want to talk about it, mention it or be reminded of it. 

What does God do with those places in our lives? Here is the good news. We have hope because God is a God that specializes in redeeming people. He can even redeem mistakes. In the book of Hosea, God gives a promise. He speaks to Israel but I know God also wants to restore your disappointments. Hosea was the Prophet that called Israel back to God. His book is a book of hope for Israel. Here is what God wants to do for Israel.

Hos. 2:15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

God wants to change your places into places of Hope. What the enemy meant for bad, God wants to make a place of singing and joy. Remember when they left Egypt and they all sang because they have been delivered from slavery. God wants to set you free from the slavery that your valley of Achor had you in. He wants to bless you and set you free from guilt and shame. 

That must give you a lot of Hope.

I have Hope -3

Do you want to be hopeful??

We all have been in a place where we wanted to give up hope. It is the most human thing to come to a point of feeling you have nothing more left in the tank. 

How do we stay hopeful? There are so many stories in the Bible where God came through for his people. I am thinking about the man at the pool of Bethesda. 

John chapter five tells us his story. Here was a lame man, lying next to the pool where the Angel of God would come and stir the water, and the first person to get into the poll after the stirring, gets healed from whatever disease he had. Can you imagine seeing that? Any sickness healed. 

What is amazing about the story is the fact that there were lame, blind and paralyzed people. The obvious question we must ask ourselves is this: If God moved or stirred the water, how did the blind see it stirred? Wasn’t it unfair to them? How did the lame get into the pool first? They stood no chance to be healed because there were other people that had the mobility to get into the pool first. Isn’t that unfair? How do you stay hopeful when you chanced are slim to nothing?

Then Jesus shows up. He asks the lame man a question. “Do you want to be made whole?”

Can you understand why this man answers Jesus and says: “I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred, but before I go someone else steps in before me.” Everyone was there just for themselves. He must have felt hopeless, unseen and unimportant.

When Jesus shows up, things can and will change. This man’s life was about to change. He was there for 38 years. That is a long time to feel hopeless. No matter how long you have been in the place you are now, things can and will change.

Do you want to be made whole? What a question. That question is directed at you as well.

A lot of us have gotten so used to our misery that we are comfortable with it. We decided to feel frustrated. We decided to feel mad. I read a blog last night from a Racer and she is mad at God. Who made her mad? She decided to be mad.

Jesus asks this question because if you don’t want to change, maybe you should stay in your place a little longer until you get to the place where you say: I am tired of this, I am tired of feeling hopeless, there must be something better. 

For the person that wants to change there is always hope. 

What do you want today? Do you want to stay the same or do you want to change?

Psa. 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 

Psa. 147:11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

How will you respond to that question? Allow Jesus to challenge your comfortability with pain and hopelessness. He is the answer.

I have Hope - 2

Hope – what is it?

I have meditated on this word for the last few weeks. We all know the scripture that says:

Now faith is the things “hoped” for. Hope and faith are twisted together in a beautiful dance.

Faith and hope work together, yet they are two separate ideas. Hope gives power to faith. Faith is there because of hope. If you remove hope you affect your faith. Hope is where we start but faith is where we end.

Faith can be demonstrated by someone pushing a wheelbarrow on a tight rope across the Niagara Falls. Will you get in the wheelbarrow? Most people won’t but some will stand and watch and cheer the person on. That is not faith. That is believing in someone. You are a spectator watching while someone else is doing it. Faith is getting in the wheelbarrow. Faith is active. Now you are no longer a spectator but a participator. Faith works like that. Faith without works is dead. Are you watching or are you participating? Doing this is not having hope. You better have faith in the person pushing you across the great divide. But what is hope?

Hope is different. Hope can also be described in the same way. The only difference is this time we tie you to a safety rope, then get you to get into the wheelbarrow. Would you do it now that it is safer? That is what hope means in its original context. It means to have an expectation but also to be tied to something. Put on the safety harness and then get in. Now you have a backup plan. Should you fall then there is something that can keep you safe. Hope means to be tied to something.

If we see this we will understand why Peter says:

1 Pet 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

What Peter is saying is: Be able to tell anyone that asks you, why are you hopeful. Give them the reason why you still have hope. If we understand that hope means to be tied to something or someone, Peter is saying that we need to be able to tell people what we are tied too. Where do you anchor your hope? Remember that if you lose hope you lose faith. People that say that they feel hopeless, struggle with their faith.

There are a few things that I tie myself to that gives me hope.

1. His Word is true.

2. He will never leave me or forsake me.

3. My salvation is secure and complete.

4. His love is unconditional.

5. All my sins have been paid, past, present, and future.

6. He has prepared a place for me far above anything I can ask or think about.

7. He has given me eternal life in his son.

8. Nothing can separate me from his love.

9. He wants to bless me and conform me to the image of his son.

10. He is my king and soon he will return to come and unite us as his bride.

I have Hope

Heb 13:8 God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Currently, the whole world is feeling the frustration of things happening to them. We all are facing things we cannot control. These last two weeks I have talked with many people that feel frustrated because things seemed out of their control. We did not plan for a virus.

I met with a girl a few weeks ago. She struggles with anger. When I ask her “Why?” the reason she said she struggled, was that she can’t control things and that makes her angry and her emotions are out of control. She really believed that she is responsible for making all things work well. Last time I checked, it said God makes all things work together for the good of those that love Him.

One day my world seemed normal, and the next day it is turned upside down. I was going to do this and I planned that and now nothing seems to be the same. We all struggle with change!

The enemy wants to use any situation as a door to sow hopelessness and anger. He wants you to feel like everything is bad and only getting worse.

Now is the time to be vigilant and know the enemy's schemes.

2 Cor 2:11 Lest satan takes advantage of us because we are not ignorant of his devices.

The lie the enemy tells us is this: If I feel in control, things are going to be fine.

Is it okay if I cannot control my circumstances?

The reality is that we have never been able to control our circumstances. We can plan and we can execute a few things but none of us know what tomorrow holds. You have been living your whole life with that premise and you were totally fine. You went to bed last night and set the alarm, not knowing if you will wake up. That is Hope. What is happening today is no different. Plans can change, experiences can change but it should not make you feel fearful all of a sudden.

What does the world think Hope is? The dictionary defines Hope as:

• a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

• a feeling of trust.

• want something to happen or be the case.

Can you see that they are looking at the wrong thing? Their hope is in something that can change any moment.

Biblical definition is:

• Hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised and hope’s strength is in His faithfulness.

This is much better. Hope in God.

Psa. 42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

What does the Bible teach us about “Hope?”

The first thing I see is this promise.

Matt. 6:25-33  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

What do I Hope for? 

1. God knows our needs.

2. He is more than able to supply what we need.

3. Stay focused on God, not your need.

Don’t allow the enemy to change your priority. God first then everything else.

Separated unto God - 7

Last week we looked at the first thing that can change our perspective on how we see ourselves. We are talking about being separate but we are in trouble if we see ourselves separate from the world but we still see ourselves from a worldly perspective.

The Blood of Jesus makes it possible because it deals with my sin. When I start to see myself from or through the Blood of Jesus I begin to see myself the way the Father sees me. I am so glad that my sin is not his spectacles. He doesn’t see me the way the enemy sees me.

The next thing that will help you to stay separate from the world is The Word. Just so you would understand how much the Word of God means, look at this scripture.

Psa. 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

Psa. 119:89 Forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

God considers His Word above His Name. He will never break his Word, contradict His Word or allow His Word to fail. You can bet everything you have on this scripture.

Isaiah 55:9-11 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

It is one thing to be separate but what do you fill your mind with while you are walking separate from the world.

We see so many Racers coming home after an eleven-month journey and then they fall right back into old habits. How does that even happen? We must get the Word of God in our hearts and our minds. That way we will guarantee that we can do this and stay separated.

The Psalmist asks a great question. How do we stay pure and holy before God?

Psalm 119:9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to Your Word.

The Prophet says this about the Word of God.

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.

Jesus says this about the Word.

Matt 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Matt 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

The Blood is God’s way to purify us but His Word is what we use to stay pure. 

How do we apply the Word of God to our lives? Here are seven things you can do that will help you. Every time Jesus was tempted, He responded with: “It is written.”

Here is a summary from Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Eagle Mountain International Church, 1997

• Discover what the Word says regarding your situation. Whether you are standing for physical healing, emotional well-being, a loved one’s salvation, financial provision, professional blessing or something else, you can find scriptures to stand on.

• Begin praying those scriptures over your situation. For example, if you are praying for a family member’s salvation, begin praying that the Lord will send laborers across his path (Matthew 9:38). The key is to find out what the Word has to say and then pray that over your situation.

• Begin praising God for His promises. If you are fighting depression, begin thanking God that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). If you are fighting a chronic illness, begin thanking God that “He was beaten so [you] could be whole. He was whipped so [you] could be healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

• Let the Word be your litmus test for every action you take. Colossians 3:23 says to “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” Look objectively at your life and ask yourself if the choices you make reflect Jesus. If not, change your choices. God will never bless sin; therefore, commit to getting sin out of your life so that your life can reflect God’s truth.

• Obey the Word by walking in love and forgiveness. There is power in the act of forgiveness. Just look at Jesus’ instructions: “When you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too” (Mark 11:25). God wants you to come to Him with a pure heart, one that is free of anger, bitterness, and resentment.

Separated unto God - 6

Last week we closed our thought on separation and how our process gets skewed because we see things from our perspective. I will be very honest with you. I don’t trust my own perspective most of the time. I need my perspective to be redeemed.

This week we continue looking at the things that can help us see ourselves from His perspective and not from our fallen senses. See yourself through His Blood and His Word. We will look at the Blood this week.

Until you see yourself from His perspective, your process is compromised. Your view is skewed. The way we see has been influenced by our belief, upbringing environment and culture. God is the only one that has the proper perspective. How can you change what you see? 

One way to see yourself with a different perspective is to understand what the Blood of Jesus did.

Nobody speaks about the blood anymore. Back in the days, we sang: “There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb.” Another well-known Hymnal was: ‘Are you washed, in the Blood, in the soul-cleansing Blood of the Lamb. Are your garments spotless are they white as snow, are you washed in the Blood of the Lamb.”

The Blood of Jesus does many things. Do you know what it can and will do? We all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God – Rom 3:23. If you are a sinner, you can only view yourself from a sinner's perspective. How is that working for you?

The Blood provided a New Covenant for us. In this New Covenant God no longer imputes our sins to us. He put it all on Jesus and now sees you and me through the perspective of ‘It is finished.” Do you comprehend the fullness and the benefit of the Blood?

1 Cor. 11:25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

1. The first thing the blood does is it redeems you from your fallen state. We all need redemption. Someone asked me this past week why I believe Jesus is the only way? Great question. He is the only one that paid for my transgression. Buddha or Mohammad never did. Why do you want to believe in someone or something that cannot deal with your sin issue but can only ask you to work it out for yourself?

His Blood redeems us. Redemption means that the price was paid. The requirement for your release from sin was met. 

Eph. 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

Rev. 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation

1 Pet. 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

2. The second thing the Blood does is cleanse you from your sin. That has not changed and never will. The enemy fears the Blood of Jesus because of what it does. By His Blood, your sins have been completely removed, forgotten and washed away. Through His Blood, we are cleansed.

Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins with His own Blood.

Matt. 26:28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Col. 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

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

3. Thirdly the Blood of Jesus justifies us. To be justified means that all records against you have been removed. You have been tried, but you have been acquitted of any and all wrongdoing that you were accused of. All punishment and wrath against you have been removed. Satan is the accuser of the brethren but all accusations against you have been settled and paid for by His Blood.

Rom. 5:9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Rom. 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

1 Cor. 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Titus 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

4. The fourth thing the Blood does for us gives you peace. This peace is not the peace the world offers. This peace is a person. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. No more condemnation and guilt. You are free from shame and feeling like you are not good enough. Peace is the total destruction of chaos. Chaos is what the enemy's kingdom is about. In the midst of what is going on in the world, you can have peace. 

Col 1:20 And by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 

Rom. 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Rom. 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

1 Cor. 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Heb. 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant

5. The fifth thing the Blood of Jesus does is it cleanses your conscience. Your conscience is your Spirit man that speaks to you. Under the leading of the Holy Spirit, you can stop the tendency to sin and start living in a way that pleases God. This is not to earn your salvation but it is a life made possible by and through the shed Blood of Jesus. We all need our conscience cleansed.

Heb. 9:12,14 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

1Tim. 3:9 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

Heb. 10:22 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.

1Pet. 3:16  Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

6. The sixth thing the Blood of Jesus does is that the blood sanctifies you. Sanctification is the act or process of becoming or being holy. His Blood makes us holy. God is Holy. The Blood makes it possible for us to fellowship with a Holy God. 

1 Pet. 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

1 Pet. 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Heb. 10:19  Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus

Eph. 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

7. The seventh thing that the Blood of Jesus does is makes you more than an overcomer. No longer subject to the desires of the flesh or the old nature, you can now live and overcome temptation. You are not called to just barely make it. You are called to live a life that demonstrates the victory that Jesus bought for you on Calvary. The cross was not a place of defeat but a place of total victory.

Rev. 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.

8. The last thing His Blood does is it gives life. Life eternal! Eternal life is to know the Father, not just go to heaven. His blood made it possible for us to know God. 

John 17:3 This is eternal life, that they might know the Father and the one whom He has sent.

John 6:53-56 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

His Blood:

1. Redeems us.

2. Cleanses us from sin.

3. Justifies us.

4. It gives you peace.

5. Cleanse your conscience.

6. Sanctifies you.

7. It makes you an overcomer.

8. It gives you life. 

His Blood separated us and repurposed us for the Kingdom. With all these benefits, why do we want to discard the power of the Blood? His Blood is precious. Why does the enemy hate His Blood? He must understand the power of all that His Blood did for us. 

Separated unto God - 5

Be separate!

This week we look at this from another perspective. Why do we need to be separate from the worldly things?

One of the things that separation produces is a process. It takes time to separate things and work through the process of what will bring life or what will produce death in your life. One thing that will compromise your process is the way you see yourself.

2 Cor 5:17 If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. Behold old things have passed away, all things have become new.

When God created man and woman, God did not see man from man's perspective. God saw them from His perspective and that was and is the foundation for their created purpose. Adam was to see himself from God’s perspective and live as an overcomer that was called to rule, reign, subdue and fill the earth. Man’s senses were attuned to God and the spirit world. God walked with them and communed with them. Man was God conscience and not sin conscience. Interacting with the Spirit world was normal. That was why they could be tempted by the enemy.

Adam was a spirit being having an earthly experience. Then sin entered through the temptation and the fall of man. Something changed. From that day on man would be sin conscious and his view would change. Man will see himself from the fall and his senses would become his reality. Being in the image of God, now man will be ruled by his imagination. He will view himself and others through his senses. From this day forward man will struggle with the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life – 1 John 2:16.

We all still have stuff in our hearts that affects the way we see ourselves and others. Until you see different you will compromise your process. When your heart is not cleansed, everything you do and speak comes through the perversion of that heart.

Prov 23:7 As a man thinks in his heart so is he…..

So how does God deal with our problem? Jesus made it clear.

Matt. 7:1-5 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure, you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but does not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

God never shows you, people, until He has shown you yourself. We must establish a pattern of separation from the worldly things for ourselves before we can try to help other people. When you can’t see yourself from His perspective, how will you see other people? You must be God conscience about yourself first before you can have His mind for others. If you have not figured out what produces life in you, what will you produce in others? 

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

When you walk in the light with Jesus, it qualifies you to be in fellowship with others. Spirit transfers through association. Show me who you hang out with and I can show you what you will become. You are known by the friends you hang out with. 

Be separate. We are in the world but not of this world. Get your heart right with God. He needs you to show the world what He can do with a surrendered heart. 

Next week we will look at the two ways that help us to see ourselves from His perspective and not our own fallen senses.

Separated unto God - 4

Be ye separate!

This week I want to continue the thought on separation. We have looked at the reasons why it is important.

1. It helps us to define things.

2. It helps us to step out of confusion.

3. It helps us to process properly.

This week I want to look at: Separation can lead to a conviction.

John 16:8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin.

The Holy Spirit has the responsibility to convict people of sin. Conviction requires a response and that response is repentance. How will people repent if they don’t know what they need to repent off? Separation brings clarity and clarity works towards conviction. If you are still doing what you did before you got convicted, you might be trying to turn a page, but you have not been convicted. Real conviction leads to repentance or repentance is the proper response to conviction.

Where are we missing it? The reality is that the message most people hear today is tied to the benefit of God and not to the fear of God. The fear of God will bring about change in your life.

When you separate things you tend to see clearly. Conviction is birthed when clarity is gained. When people struggle to find clarity they struggle to step into conviction. What is right and what is wrong? They remain under confusion until clarity is reached. We play into the enemy's hand by staying confused. The enemy will offer them a compromise just so that they stay in confusion and not step into conviction. Compromise is the golden highway to staying in bondage.

In the old days, it sounded as if the preachers were only preaching against sin. There is not a lot of that preaching going on today. Were they doing that or were they separating things so we could find clarity that would lead us to conviction? In a day where the church has become a place where consumers are created instead of disciples, confusion reigns. People stay in their sin and are never convicted because we have stopped to bring clarity to what is sin and what is not. We have given in to the message of political correctness and in doing so we have bred confusion.

It breaks my heart when I hear superstars saying: “If you are a real Christian you would support abortion”. These are the people that speak to this generation and we are quiet?

Wrong is right and right is now wrong. It is time to take back the message and preach again that Jesus died for the sin of the world, not the comfort of the world.

Without conviction, you become a repeat offender. Until you are convicted, you will not change, you can not change. Why do we need clarity? So that true conviction can happen.

The promise for real repentance and conviction is still the same. You can be born again and become a new creation.

2 Cor 5:17 If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old thing has passed away, behold ALL things have become new.

Why would we compromise the message when there is so much freedom to be gained. There is still power in the Blood of Jesus to change a life. We use to sing the hymn:

"Are you washed in the blood,

 In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?

 Are your garments spotless are they white as snow?

 Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"

Come out and be ye separate!

Separated unto God - 3

This week we continue with the theme of "Separation."

We have been looking at separation and why it is an important theme in the economy of the Kingdom. We normally view separation in a negative sense but it is not always negative. Separation can be good as well. Like I previously stated, separation brings clarity that makes things easy to understand and define.

God separated heaven and earth, day and night, light and darkness, male and female, Israel and the nations, good and bad, life and death, wheat and tares, sin and righteousness, blessings and the curse and spirit and soul.

James speaks about the tongue in James 3:6-12 and clearly states that out of one mouth cannot come blessings and curses.

When God created, He created with ‘Original Intend.” Everything was to function by design to fulfill its purpose. God never creates without purpose. Sin is a distortion of a purpose. The enemy hates separation because separation allows purpose to be fulfilled. So what is the enemy's plan? Create confusion by blurring the lines. Today we see almost no distinction between the Church and the world.

God is not a God of confusion. The enemy, through confusion, can contaminate a message and a mission. Who could have dreamed that in our day we would have clergy that would be supporting lifestyles that are anti-biblical and anti-God? People confessing to being believers supporting abortion and alternative lifestyles. We had one half time show during the Super Bowl and half of Christians condemn it while the other half condone it. We are confused! How will we lead the world to Christ if we can’t be on the same page? What is the remedy against confusion?

2 Cor 6:17 Come out from amongst them and be ye separate says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you.

Separation requires a process. People avoid the process. The process happens when you work at it. The separation allows the process. In an age where people are spoon-fed and lazy, many have lost the art of process. What does it take to wrestle through the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life? The devil knows we are lazy. The enemy offered Jesus a shortcut. “Just bow down and worship me and you can have what you want.” Without going through the process you never learn what is good for you and what is bad for you. Things that come easily almost never teaches us something.

Not only does separation allow the process to happen but it also helps cleansing to happen. Our natural tendency, the flesh or the old man, gravitates towards living in the flesh instead of living in the spirit. Paul addresses this issue.

Gal. 5:16-17  But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Living by the Spirit is hard. You crucify the flesh and die daily as Paul said. If we don’t learn to do it, we stand the chance of struggling to live holy. You don’t take a bath in a mud pool. Again Paul helps us to understand this concept.

2Cor. 7:1  Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

This is not a Law to bring us into bondage but to lead us to redemption. If we don’t have the desire to be different, separate or distinguished, we have to re-examine our position. We are a Chosen Generation, a Peculiar People, a Royal Priesthood, a people called out by God that we might show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Let us take a stand to be separate from the world.

Separated unto God - 2

Last week we looked at separation. God always separates things. It brings clarity and distinction.

This week we continue looking at the importance of separation.

What is the danger in not separating things? If something is not definable, you end up with a mixture that only breeds confusion. God is not a God of confusion but a God of order.

When we fail to separate things, we open ourselves to deception. The inability to distinguish only breeds confusion that leads to deception. If you don’t know what is right and what is wrong, how do you know that what you think is even right. What if it is wrong? Separating right from wrong stops confusion and deception. Separating male from female stops confusion. Separating life from death stops confusion. Separating good from bad stops confusion. Nobody wants to be confused right?

The reality of life is this: Mixture will deceive people who in turn will compromise values just so that they don’t look confused. Are we easily confused?

I believe what we see currently, where people are confused about their identity, confused about their sexuality, are all results of us stopping separating right from wrong, life from death and light from darkness. When we compromised our values, instead of reaching the world, we confused them. We bring confusion because we compromise our believes.

Compromise is when you call anything something else than what it is. The ability to make a distinction, keeps you safe from being deceived. Calling sin a sickness doesn’t help. Calling wrong right, does not help.

Look at what Jesus says about the wheat and the tares. This is a parable that clearly states that we can grow both good and bad fruit. Our lives are like a field that receives seed. The kingdom is the good seed and the enemy is the one sowing bad seeds.

Matt. 13:25-27 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then comes the tares?

The results are only visible once the fruit shows up. While the plants are small, no one noticed the difference. It shows that we are not always able to distinguish immediately. That means that you can walk in deception for a season. Fruit takes time to manifest. We all are prone to deception that can lead to confusion. How much more do we need the ability to be able to distinguish things sooner. Separating things make it easier to distinguish. That is why God separates things. It makes it easier for us. 

Next week we will continue looking at separation.

Separated unto God - 1

For the New Year, I believe I have a Word of Encouragement for you. Over the next few weeks, we will look at 2 Cor 6:16-18

What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”  And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Clearly, we are commanded to be separate, not isolated. God believes in separation. Not from Him, but for clarity.

We are living in a world where clarity about life, faith, family, sexuality, and roles are diminishing fast. This is the enemy's tactics, muddy the water and confuse the people.

At PSL this week I challenged the Alumni Racers about living missionally. Jesus was our example, The Holy Spirit is our empowerment, we are the method or instrument God uses and the World changes because we disciple people. When we disciple people and we start looking or acting like them, we have not discipled, we were discipled by them. The Church was never destined to look like the world. We are in the world but we are different from the world.

What makes us different? The ability to separate things and bring clarity instead of confusion.

How do you distinguish between Light and Dark, Good or Bad, Life or Death, Right or Wrong?

There is only one way. You must separate the two. It is never both.

God made it clear from the beginning of the creation that separation will be evident – Gen 1. He spoke and light came forth and separated light and darkness. God separated the water and the land, He separated day and night. He separated Animal life from Human Life. There is a Spiritual Principle I see working from the beginning of creation: The Law of Distinction.

Why did God distinguish and separated things in creation? Without separation, it is hard or impossible to distinguish. By distinguishing something, you have the ability to call something what it actually is. The distinction gives definition and definition brings clarity.

Do you remember as a child how you use to color pictures in a coloring book? There were pictures with lines and you get to color and stay within the lines. Those lines were to define and separate the different parts of the picture. We have colored over the lines on too many issues and that has spoiled the beauty of what we were entrusted with. Little kids struggle to stay within the lines. Our immaturity has not helped us. As we grow in Christ we learn why the lines were there in the first place.

This New Year my prayer is that your life will be marked with separation. God wants to be a Father, but as a Father He expects us to represent him well. Next week we will continue looking at the importance of being separated unto God.

What is Normal?

What is Normal?

What is your “Normal.” Is it a true statement when people say something like: “Business as usual.” What is business as usual? Is it a statement of proficiency or a statement of mediocrity? Is there a normal in the kingdom of God and if there is, what does it look like?

Let’s just all agree that normal in the kingdom does not look like what we have seen in our lifetime. It looks more like the way Jesus demonstrated it in his lifetime.

What is normal for most people today?

Normal is: “do not rock the boat.” Why do you want to be radical? Why do you have to be different and not just do what we expect you to do? We are comfortable with ticking the boxes. We are totally able to predict what Sunday is going to look like. Five songs, Offering, sermon and some time to pray. Then we all go home and do it over again next Sunday. Normal looks like we choose who we hang out with and when we get there and when we leave.

Normal is: “Safe Theology.” We can explain every reason why something happens or doesn’t happen. Safe theology is a god we created with our own understanding. Safe theology happens when we don’t understand God, then all of a sudden He is sovereign and we don’t have to step into being uncomfortable with not having the right answers. Safe theology means we are safe and we don’t give a flip about other people, they each have to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Safe theology means suffering for the kingdom is not included and we didn’t sign up for it.  

Normal is: I am in my own world. I don’t have to talk to you. I don’t have to share my faith because I separate my church life from my faith life. I drive up at home and shut the garage door behind me. Normal is we don’t talk with neighbors anymore. Normal is loving myself before I love someone else. Normal is, I am in it to win even if it cost you something. Normal is not being considerate and normal is not being contented with what we have.

What does “normal” in the kingdom look like? How did Jesus demonstrate the kingdom? Nothing in the kingdom is business as usual. The kingdom is proficient but not mediocre.

Kingdom Normal looks like love. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another. The Kingdom Normal starts with love. Kingdom Normal looks like laying your life down for others. Kingdom Normal looks like serving each other, being the first to take the lowest seat in the house and giving preference to the weak in faith. Kingdom Normal looks like forgiving others even when they don’t deserve it.

Kingdom Normal looks like feeding the poor, healing the sick and visiting the widows. Kingdom Normal looks like turning the cheek, walking the second mile and praying for your enemies. Kingdom Normal looks like sharing the Gospel, bringing heaven to earth and picking up your cross. Kingdom Normal looks like extravagant worship, standing in the gap and waiting on the Lord until you are endued with power from on high.

Kingdom Normal looks like prayer in a prison, being beaten for preaching the good news and dying on a cross. Kingdom Normal is loving your wife and children, submitting one to another and keeping the oil burning in your lamps. Kingdom Normal is setting the captives free, proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord and healing the brokenhearted. Kingdom Normal is extravagant love, abundant giving and fully surrendering your life to the one that paid for it.

Kingdom normal is walking on water, sleeping with lions and sleeping in a storm. Kingdom normal is getting through a fire, taking your stronghold and killing your giants. Kingdom normal is loving the children, not condemning the guilty and forgiving the robbers. Kingdom normal is opposing the religious, turning the tables over and making God’s house a place of prayer again.

Kingdom normal is what we all are called to do.

What is your normal? Is there enough evidence in your life to convict you as one of His disciples?

Tolerance!

Every day we get blasted from the media and people around us to be more tolerant. This gets dressed in different jackets like being “Politically Correct” or not being “Phobic.” Tolerance is defined by everyone depending on their agenda. Even in Church, it has crept in where we are more tolerant with people that believe or see the same as we do and about what people struggle with and it is dressed in the jacket of being “Seeker Friendly” or “Better Grace.” 

A few years ago everyone jumped on the wagon of WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). That didn’t last too long because the message in its essence was, not living more holy, but being tolerant of situations and people that are different from you. Let’s ask ourselves again: What would Jesus do?

When I study His life in scripture I see someone that accepts everyone as they are or where they are at. Jesus clearly states: If you are thirsty, come. A note to all of us, the Bible never says: come as you are. Even though we see people come as they are, the expectation is always that you will not stay as you are. His invitation is not for those that are perfect, but for those that are thirsty for something better. 

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

John 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Was Jesus tolerant of sin? Not at all. 

You can always come as you are but you will never leave as you are. 

Too many people have muddied the water between tolerance and acceptance. We are asked to accept people who are struggling, but then we are also expected to tolerate their issues. I want to make it clear that even though Jesus always accepted people, he never tolerated the very things that were destroying them. Look at the woman caught in adultery. What does Jesus say to her?

John 8:10-11 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Can you see that Jesus tells her to not sin anymore? He didn’t say: “Go home and you will be fine.”

We are to accept all people but we are not to tolerate the very things we know are destroying them. The kingdom of God does not tolerate anything that is not sanctioned by the Father. I know it sounds harsh but there is no compromise from God’s side when it comes to redeeming His creation. There are no gray areas where light and darkness mingle. The message is clear: Bring it to the light so that darkness can be exposed. 

A friend of mine penned a few words on what he sees as wrong with the message that is preached today. Read what he says and understand why tolerance is a lethal dosage from the enemy. I could not put it any better than this myself:

Beware the limited definition of redemption and atonement that covers what should be cleansed, ignores what should be revealed, and excuses what should be removed. Atonement is reconciliation, but the basis of this reconciliation isn't Divine blindness but redemptive light. If we walk in that noonday Sun of revealing, we have true koinonia with Father and the Blood of His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Beware the idea that the sin remains fully functional but Father is an Expert at ignoring what is destroying us and our destinies.

Jesus has no sympathy for anything that is standing between us and the fullness of our created destiny and fulfillment of our kingdom calling. He did what was necessary for Atonement so we could be everything we were created to be and do everything we are called to do.

Beware the concept of redemption that carries the same limitations as the old covenant: Animal blood is not able to cleanse and continual applications are needed. Beware the concept of "grace" that appears to say, "I'm a big mess but God loves me anyway. He sees me with rose-colored glasses."

No. He sees perfectly who and what you are and the passion He has for you is based upon who you were in His purpose before you were created. That passion is why He gave His Son, and the work of the Cross isn't about a band-aid or cover-up. Redemption is about transformation. - Dr. Don Lynch.

Let’s accept people where they are at but please do not excuse the things that are destroying them. We are not doing them a favor by ignoring what God paid to redeem. Love doesn’t mean we excuse ourselves from the responsibility to live radical. Jesus was not seeker-friendly, he was sinner friendly. He knew that as long as things stay in darkness, sin is empowered to destroy the very people walking in darkness. Here is why I believe God does not tolerate the things that destroy us.

 The dictionary defines tolerance as:

Noun - the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular, the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.

Tolerance is a choice: you choose to tolerate it. Tolerance is a compromising spirit that is willing to tolerate the very thing that it disagrees with. It chooses to compromise its values in the face of what it knows is best. It is a system of compromise that allows a new culture to be formed that will only lead to a place where truth is no longer tolerated. Its purpose is the destruction of truth, a way to rob redemption of its power. Tolerance has the power to shape the thinking of future generations into a mindless community. It is a hypocritical spirit that accuses everyone that sees things differently and allows no tolerance for others that sees things differently. It will mold the minds of people into approving sin as sickness, and no longer distinguish sin as the very thing that separated man and God. Little by little, it conquers the land and builds a disdain for the values that the Elders and wise wants to impart to the next generation. Tolerance is mind control and everyone that does it becomes puppets in the hands of the wrong master. 

The biggest enemy to love is not hate but tolerance. Tolerance can mask itself as love. It is a pseudo-love and can easily deceive people. Tolerance is a spirit of procrastination. It tolerates instead of helping to bring about a change. It is a compromising spirit that says “You are okay” when you clearly are not. 

What do you tolerate? What you tolerate you will eventually celebrate. Tolerance has that much power. The Kingdom is not about tolerance but about change. The kingdom is not democratic or political. That is why it is different than the systems of the world. His kingdom will fill all the earth. Sin will not be tolerated. All are still welcome!

A quote from Dr James Kennedy: Tolerance is the last virtue of a depraved society. When you have an immoral society that has blatantly, proudly, violated all of the commandments of God, there is one last virtue they insist upon, tolerance for their immorality.

Circumcision of your heart!

Last time we looked at the failure of the Old Covenant. It provided a way for them to approach God, but it never changed their hearts. The Law of God was only a rule on a stone tablet but not on their hearts.

What must change for people to be what God wants them to be? Jesus clearly states that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, all your soul and all your mind. If your heart is not changed then it will be difficult to love God in that way. Neither would you be able to love God with your soul and your mind either if your heart stays untouched.

Here is what God promises for the New Covenant through the Prophet Ezekiel.

Ezek 36:25-27 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

God will take out a heart of stone and put a heart of flesh in them and then put His Spirit in them to follow God. We know that the Holy Spirit is the promise of the New Covenant that Jesus gave us. Not only will they receive the Holy Spirit but you have to know what the Spirit will do in the New Covenant. 

Paul states that as new believers in Christ, we are a new creation, old things have passed away and all things have become new- 1 Cor 5:17. Not only are we created new but as the old body was crucified with Christ, we were circumcised in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  

Col. 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

The sign of the Old Covenant was the circumcision of the flesh and that made the Jews different as a nation. A natural sign and a natural nation. The sign of the New Covenant is the circumcision of the heart and everyone that believes can now be part of the Spiritual Israel. A Spiritual Sign and a Spiritual Nation. We are now the people of God.

Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Phil. 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worships God in the spirit, and rejoices in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

So we see that during the born again experience, The Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us, changes our heart from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh, and circumcises our hearts so that we are now identified as the children or the people of God. But is that all that the Spirit does?

Not only does he do all these things but more important is that He writes the laws of God on our hearts. Remember that what God wanted from the beginning was that they would have His Laws on their hearts. Look at what Paul writes to the Church in Corinthians:

2Cor. 3:1-3  Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

This is exactly what God promised Israel when He promised what He will do in the New Covenant when He spoke through the Prophet Jeremiah.

Jer. 31:31-34  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

What a glorious promise. The Holy Spirit writes His Laws on our hearts and now we become a letter that everyone can read. Jesus is the Word of God - John 1:1. What do you think the Holy Spirit writes on your heart? 

1. He writes the Law of God, meaning I now have an inner voice or witness that directs me daily. The Children of God are led by the Spirit of God. This is your Spirit Mind and voice or also what is known as your conviction. 

2. The Holy Spirit also teaches us all the things that Christ taught us – John 14:26. He will never teach you wrong or anything contrary to God’s Word.

3. The Holy Spirit will write and guide you in all Truth – John 16:13. He never speaks on His own but will always glorify Christ.

John said that Jesus is the Word. John also said that He is the “Voice” of one crying in the wilderness. Jesus is the Word, we are His voice. What He writes on your heart through the New Covenant is what we speak. We speak life and righteousness to a dying world. 

Do the Words of your mouth reflect what God has written on your heart through the Holy Spirit?

What does God do with your heart!

What does God do with your heart?

Last time we looked at the heart of man. The heart is the problem. Jesus defines the heart as the place that sin is birthed. He says that OUT of the HEART of man proceeds the evil things – Mark 7:20-23.

In Gen 6 we see the reason why God destroyed the earth with a flood.

Gen. 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

It is only fair to expect that when God saves someone He must do something with the heart of a man or a woman. We see that the failure of the Old Covenant was that they had the Law, but the Law was not on their hearts. Look at what God says to Moses in the book of Deuteronomy.

Deut. 6:1-6  “Now this is the commandment - the statutes and the rules - that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may belong. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

We see that God wanted them to have the Law on their hearts. They never did and they tried to live in a way to please God but their hearts were unchanged. Jesus reminds them of what the prophet Isaiah said to them hundreds of years earlier. 

Is. 29:13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men. 

They were giving God lip service. They had people teach them the Law but their hearts were never in it. Here is what Jesus says:

Mark 7:6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “This person honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 

The inability of the Old Covenant to change their hearts was obvious. It was not that the problem was with the Law of the Old Covenant, because the purpose of the Law was to point them to Christ. They just wanted to keep God at a distance and try to work it out for themselves. When God spoke to all of Israel in Exodus 19 and 20, they requested Moses to go and get close to God. 

Ex 20:19 Then they said to Moses: “You speak with us and we will hear: but let not God speak with us lest we die. 

I love the way that the writer of Hebrews writes about it. He talks about the Old Covenant and why it did not work. Then he also states what the New Covenant will be and why it will be different. He finds fault with them (not having the law on their hearts).

Two things are different in the New Covenant. 

1. He will write the Law on their hearts.

2. He will not remember their sins.

Heb. 8:8-10  For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

We see the difference in the New Covenant. This is what God wanted for them from the beginning. His Law on their hearts and His Law on our hearts. So how does God write His laws on our hearts? Something amazing happens when we get born again. 

Next time we will look at what the born again experience does with your heart.