Faith is a fight

Towards the end of Paul’s ministry, he wrote this:

1 Timothy 6:12 (NIV) Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

In the NLT it says “Hold tightly to the eternal life…” You might say “I received eternal life when I received Christ as my Savior” – and you are correct. John 10:10 in the Amplified describes this zoe life as “in abundance, to the full, till it overflows”. Have we actively laid hold on abundance and victory? Do we stake our spot in faith, or just drift along? Do we take full advantage of what has been given to us? Will we fight for it when challenged?

Kenneth Hagin wrote “A good fight is a fight that you win”. Many Christians are passive about their faith, and have attitudes like “If I don’t bother the devil, he won’t bother me”. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Instead, we wind up as “target practice” – we’re an easy mark for when the demons get tired of dealing with believers that stake their claim.

Look at Job. He lived such a good life that God bragged on him. The enemy asked permission to attack him because of his goodness – not because Job was messing up his evil plans. And God allowed it! Graham Cooke put it this way: “God will allow in his wisdom what He could easily prevent with his power” (I will develop this further another time). God believes that what He has put inside Job – and us – is able to make us victorious. Job came through his trials. We can too, with the right attitude of faith.

God made us more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). Have you decided to be one?

(See my Recent Reading page for some suggested material).

Doug

Passion and Compassion

Passion. Compassion. As I listened to Heidi Baker recently, I saw how those two words summed up the Great Commandment:

Luke 10:25-28 (NKJV) And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

What are you passionate about? Who or what drives your life? What thing(s) are your first priority? What do you spend your time doing?

How much do you love your neighbor? The instructor in Moses’ law responded “Who is my neighbor?” And Jesus gave the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-36). After Jesus described the (non)actions of the Priest and the Levite, and the compassion of the Samaritan, he said “Go and do likewise” (verse 37).

Jesus demonstrated his passion for His Father, and his compassion for mankind, in both His life and death.

Where is your passion and compassion?

Doug

The praise of men

This passage is talking about believers that were more interested in impressing man than God:

John 12:42-43 (NKJV) Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Other translations say “they loved the approval and the praise and the glory that comes from men” (Amplified) and “they preferred human praise to the glory of God” (NAB).

It’s human nature to want to please people, as they are tangible, they’re in our face every day, and we have to live with them. The reward is immediate – and so is the criticism when we fall short of what man expects of us. By comparison, we know God’s there, but we don’t get that same sense of tangibility, approval and reward from Him.

I was in meetings in Cleveland this past week with Georgian and Winnie Banov and Heidi Baker. Heidi’s two messages spoke to me. As I was listening Thursday morning, I thought of Ananias and Sapphira:

Acts 4:34-35, 5:1-2 (NLT) There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need…
But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.

Read Acts 5:1-11 for the rest of the story. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to impress people with their generosity. They were not required to give everything they had. God would have honored them more for their honesty.

They both died. Did God kill them? I don’t believe so. Exodus 33 shows that God’s goodness and glory are too much for man to see and live. My personal opinion is that they caught a glimpse of the goodness of God compared to their acts, and their hearts failed them.

Did they go to heaven? I believe so, if they had faith in Jesus Christ. They just went earlier than they planned, and instead of leaving a legacy for the kingdom, they leave a warning of the false value of trying to impress men.

Doug

Grace and Peace

Ephesians 1:2 (NLT) May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
2 Peter 1:2 (NKJV) Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

Grace and peace. This was a common greeting found in Paul’s and Peter’s letters to the churches. This greeting describes two great gifts given to the church, and one could write long papers about each of them.

Grace is generally translated as “unmerited favor”. Other definitions include “inclined to do favors for you”, “looks on you favorably”, kindness, friendship, forgiving mercy, or “gifts freely given by God” The other popular definition of grace is the acronym God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Grace is all about the giver, not the receiver.

Peace was written in Greek, but both Paul and Peter were fluent in Hebrew and were thinking like Jewish people. The Hebrew word shalom is much stronger than our word peace. It means peace, prosperity, wholeness, well-being, and success. Billye Brim once wrote that a noted Hebrew text book translated it “nothing missing, nothing broken”. Another translation I found recently is “freedom from fear”.

Grace and peace be unto YOU!

Doug

What did Jesus’ ministry consist of?

The gospels give us insight into what Jesus’ ministry towards men consisted of:

Matthew 4:23-5:2 (NKJV) And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him–from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying (insert Sermon on the Mount here)

and

Matthew 9:35 (NIV) Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

and

Luke 5:17-18 (NIV) One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.

We know he got healed as well.

What did Jesus say for his disciples to do?

Matthew 10:7-8 (NKJV) And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

In the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-20) and the book of Acts, we see the same pattern:
- The church would preach the kingdom.
- The church would teach the disciples.
- The church would heal the sick and cast out demons.

We say we want a New Testament ministry for the world. There you have it.

Doug

God’s love for believers

Probably the best-loved verse in the Bible:

John 3:16-17 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

If God loves “the world” – the unbelievers, the non-Christians – then how much does He love us? Romans 8 says that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

There are quite a few believers out there that have the idea that when they sin, God stops loving them, or loves them less somehow. They think that when bad things happen to them, it’s God judging them for some failure. This is a very “old testament” (Before Christ) mindset, and comes from a “works” mentality – an attitude that we have to earn our salvation, or work for the grace that comes to us after salvation. There are people that are just not comfortable with the idea that salvation comes by and is maintained by grace through faith:

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

There is only one sacrifice for sin – the blood of Jesus Christ. Beating ourselves up over our failures is not atonement.

Recently I’d been asked to prophesy via e-mail over a person I don’t know. What I wrote fits well with what I’ve been thinking about writing for this post, so I’ll share a bit of it:

My Son told His disciples that I love them as much as I love Him [John 17:23]. I loved Peter, I loved Judas, I loved Thomas as much as I loved John. I did not love them because of weakness, but in spite of it, because my nature is love. My plans for you are intended to carry you forward in the midst of challenge, and to give you a future and a hope [Jeremiah 29:10-14].

That’s a good word!

Doug

Who am I, that I can…

This is part of Moses’ conversation with God at the burning bush:

Exodus 3:9-12 (NLT) Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”
But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”
God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”

Moses asked “How can I do this? Who am I?”

God responded “I will be with you”. At first, this sounds like God is dismissing Moses’ statement, but actually He’s saying “You are the person that I go with” – a great source of strength!

Jesus said the same thing in the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In both cases, they were given a mission, and told that The One sending them was going with them. In Hebrews 13:5-6, we find that God will never leave us, nor forsake us, followed immediately by a statement that God is our helper and we have no reason to fear.

So, whenever we go on a God-ordained project – whether a specific mission, or to fulfill some aspect of the purpose that God has for our life – we know that He goes with us. And not only that, He’s IN us.

Doug

Don’t settle for scraps

I was listening to Graham Cooke teach on “Living Your Destiny” and he made a statement that struck me: “Western churches live off the scraps from the Master’s table, when He’s trying to teach you how to feast from on top of it. We have a poverty mentality in the Western world.”

I thought a bit about it and realized how true it was. Here’s the passage he was referring to:

Mark 7:24-30 (NLT) Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret. Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit, and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.
Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, Jesus told her, First I should feed the children – my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.
She replied, That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.
Good answer! he said. Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter. And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

We so often approach God for the scraps, as if we’re Gentiles, aliens from the covenant of God. But who would be eating at the table with Jesus? Who is invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:9)? THE CHURCH! The Children of God (Romans 8), eating dinner with the family.

There’s a lot more I could write about covenant, but suffice to say that if you’ve received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, start eating at the table. Picture yourself saying “Pass me the healing, please?” or “May I have another serving of spiritual gifts?” Or imagine yourself going out and gathering others to come in for the meal…

Doug (on holiday today!)

God’s ambassadors

Back in May, I looked at the passage below from the viewpoint of reconciliation. Now we’ll look at it from the perspective of what we’ve become because of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We are His ambassadors – representatives of His Kingdom. What does this mean?

- The world we live in is not our home any more. We’re now here on assignment from the King.
- We can ask the King for resources to live in the world we’re in now.
- We can make requests on behalf of others, and introduce them to our King.
- The King will defend us.
- When our King wants to bless people outside of the Kingdom, He will typically do so through His ambassadors – us.
- When we speak and act, we should always do so with remembrance of Who we represent.

Doug