To say that God is jealous for me is hard to understand in this day and age. Jealousy is often confused with envy, to be envious speaks of wanting what belongs to another while jealousy is wanting to preserve what belongs or pertains to you. God never condemns jealousy but does condemn envy. God Himself is called a jealous God, "You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, ". Exodus 20:5 This jealous love comes from a kind and generous God who just saved His people from the Egyptians showing, not only His love but great might and sovereignty- a fancy word for being in absolute control. It's no wonder we sing... ♪ He is jealous for me. Love's like a hurricane. I am a tree, Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy. ♪ The picture of His love being like a hurricane is powerful. To think it comes and we have no say in whether we want it or not but one thing is for sure, we will never be the same after we've experienced it. Years ago I heard someone tell the story of the blade of grass and the mighty oak tree. Both knew the hurricane was coming. The mighty oak decided it would stand in its own strength and ended up broken, never to stand again while the blade of grass bowed to the will of the wind and after the storm stood once again. I am always reminded of this story when I hear the song, "How He Loves Us". What happens when we encounter the love of God will determine if we will stand again or fall and stay there 'till the end. The weight of His and mercy could be a reference to the very Spirit of God. Jesus said to a very religious man, "The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." This new life that every believer experiences is a gift from God according to His grace because Jesus gave up His own life in the place of every person who would receive forgiveness in light of this truth. This work is NOT a power that comes from God but rather the person of the Holy Spirit who is God. Do you think of God's precious sacrifice when you find yourself in a place where you have to make decision to please self or the God who so loved the world so much that He gave His Son to die in the place of sinners? Would you dwell on this today and see if the very love of God doesn't bow you low in order to stand you up once again. Have great day Loved Ones and may our great God bless you real good!
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Like a steady and strong moving train the last part of the song "Reckless" repeats... ♪ There's no shadow You won't light up Mountain You won't climb up Coming after me There's no wall You won't kick down Lie You won't tear down Coming after me ♪ Jesus, being God, is Himself the light of the world. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it." John 1:1-5 So wherever He goes, shadows must flee because He is there. These shadows are obviously not our own because if He were in front of us, our own bodies would cast a shadow. These shadows must be figurative, of someone or something else that stands between God and us. Jesus would light it up and it would flee. The mountain I think of when I sing this song is Calvary, which is the Latin word for scull and called Golgotha (the Aramaic word for scull) in three of four Gospels- Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22 and John 19:7 "They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha." There are many "mountains" that we would want Jesus to climb for us but on Golgotha He conquered sin, death and shame. All of which I'm sure none of us want to live with. To receive God's forgiveness in Christ is one thing, understanding that our debt has been paid and that we will never stand guilty before an almighty and holy God but how many of us still carry around the shame that Jesus bore on the Cross. Will you put your burden down today? Will you receive the truth that there is mountain He won't climb up coming after you? In our study on Tuesday nights we are deBUNKing lies that keep us from STANDing In Confidence. The song says... "There's no lie You won't tear down coming after me." What lies are in the way of you seeing the relentless love of God? My prayer is that you would be honest with yourself, ask questions that you need answers to and that you would find them in the Lord Jesus Christ. All things in due time. My desire is NOT to rush you but to remind you that there are real answers in the Word of God if you want them and I (as well as your other leaders) are available to you should you want to ask them. Have a great day Loved Ones and may our great God bless you real good! We sang this past Sunday, ♪ When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me You have been so, so good to me When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me You have been so, so kind to me ♪ There are so many things that bring us joy, from a kind word or act, a special gift even a gentle touch, all of these things and more give us a sense that we are loved, that someone cares about us. Almost never do we we receive this from our foes , which simply means enemies, yet it's the very thing thing that we receive from God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Most people would say, I am or was never God's enemy but God Himself says in His word that by our sinful thoughts, words and actions we are all His enemies before recognizing our sin and acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord. Paul writes it this way in the 5th chapter of the letter called Romans, "9 We have been made right with God by the blood sacrifice of Christ. So through Christ we will surely be saved from God’s anger. 10 I mean that while we were God’s enemies, he made friends with us through his Son’s death. And the fact that we are now God’s friends makes it even more certain that he will save us through his Son’s life. 11 And not only will we be saved, but we also rejoice right now in what God has done for us through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of Jesus that we are now God’s friends." Are you rejoicing right now? What is keeping you from feeling like young Jacob Lugo in the picture above? Believing what He says and living in light of it is essential for the Child of God. God says He is now my friend because of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross on behalf of sinners. Let us live in this truth because it is so. Sheep cannot defend themselves and if that wasn't enough, the will wander then cannot get themselves back to the fold. Although the video above is a bit silly it's probably the only way to keep sheep from wandering. Sheep are mentioned 188 times in the Bible, both the Old and New testaments, refer to God's people like sheep and not just some of them. It says... "All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way" Isaiah 53:6a Jesus told the parable of the the Lost sheep in mixed company. He was with, what the Bible records as, tax collectors and sinners. Then some of the religious elite showed up only to complain that Jesus was with people like that. Jesus went on to tell them, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." Luke 15: 4-7 We sing of God's relentless love towards His own in the song "Reckless Love... ♪ Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99 I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God ♪ We could never earn or deserve that kind of love. This is why it is called grace. Some describe grace as God's riches at Christ's expense. The song writer must have had Jesus in mind when he wrote the latter portion because it is Jesus who gave Himself away. Jesus said, "No one takes my life away from me. I give my own life freely." John 10:18 It was this truth that changed the way I would see my Jesus forever over 20 years ago. I even remember where I was at, I was listening to Julie Lucaci teach my little Mikki with the 4 & 5 year olds. As a new believer this truth gave me a more profound and deeper love for Jesus. He was not a victim; He was in absolute control the whole time. He had confidence in who He was and why He was sent by the Father. This kind of love is overwhelming, never-ending and what the songwriter calls reckless. But remember Jesus said He was not a victim. The verse I quotes earlier (Isaiah 53:6) was recorded some 700 years before Jesus uttered the words in John 10. God had this planned even before He created everything we can see and even the things we can’t. Are you enduring something and feeling like a victim? Do you know that God wastes nothing in our life but rather promises that He causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and the called according to his promise? Romans 8:28 What an amazing God, what amazing grace! If your able, stop whatever it is your doing and listen to the song "Rescue". It's written from God's view point about His own. Have a great day Loved Ones and may our great God bless you real good! One of my favorites songs to sing with all of you guys is Reckless. There are many that enjoy this song and use it as part of their worship celebration service but many do not. I do respect their decision. They do it because, like I said yesterday, the word reckless in no way, shape or form describes God or His work although it would seem that way if we didn't have the Bible to tell us different. I maybe would have used the word relentless. Reckless would indicate that God does not know 1. What He is getting Himself into and 2. That what He did would not guarantee the result He desires. God does know all things and has the power to bring about any result He desires. This would seem clear in the very first word of song repeated twice in the first verse... ♪ Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me You have been so, so good to me ♪ ♪ Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me You have been so, so kind to me ♪ "Before" would indicate that God is the initiator. He did not wait for us but rather acted on our behalf even before we would or could make any move toward Him. Before I took a breath He breathed His life in me. God is Creator of all life. The song beautifully illustrates this in the beginning speaking of Adam. Adam, before he spoke a word God was singing over Him. The Bible tells us that God looked at all he had made and said it was very good. The song writer then says, "You are so, so good to me." Still thinking of Adam, the song says, "Before I took a breath You breathed Your life in me". Just think, Adam didn't ask to be made but God chose to bring Him into existence in order to have a relationship with him and made everything with him in mind. This why we sing, "You have been so, so kind to me. This kindness is the grace of God knowing that Adam would sin and that his sin would affect the entire world; everything and and everyone in it after him, God still went ahead and created Adam. He sang over him and breathed His life into him. How good God is towards His creation despite knowing all of our thoughts and future actions. Do you struggle to see that God is so, so good to you? God is good to you. His mercies are new every day to the righteous and unrighteous. He gives us air to breath and causes the sun to shine on all of us. It is what theologians call the common grace of God. Although life may not be all that we think it should be, it is the life that He has given and is sustaining each and every day. He is so, so good to us. Even when Adam sinned and was hiding it was God who went after him and covered him with the life of an animal. So God does with all those who believe in Him, not with the life of an animal but with the very life of Son. He is so, so good to those who believe this. Maybe you don't believe just yet but I am praying that each of you would come to know the love of God in Christ. Even so, anyone like Adam, can know that He is so, so good to them. Although I may not agree with everything the songwriter says I do appreciate his humility and fervor. Make some time today to listen to the video and comment below. We will talk more about this glorious truth throughout the week. For now, have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! The reality is that Jesus is the center of the believer's salvation. The song my call it grace, others call it love but we should always remember that grace and love are wrapped up in a person and His name is Jesus. The song says... ♪ It's the hope for our tomorrows The rock on which we stand It's a strong and mighty fortress Even hell can't stand against ♪ But Jesus is our hope, the rock, a strong and mighty fortress that hell can not stand against. Colossians 1:27 tells us, "God decided to let his people know just how rich and glorious that truth is. That secret truth, which is for all people, is that Christ lives in you, his people. He is our hope for glory. " David proclaimed in Psalm 18:2, "The Lord is my Rock, my fortress, my place of safety. He is my God, the Rock I run to for protection. He is my shield; by His power I am saved. He is my hiding place high in the hills." Jesus Himself said, "...I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." Matthew 16:18b
As the Body, the Bride, the Church, we have certain promises and privileges that we need to be reminded of so that we will not lose heart when our bodies and minds become weak or discouraged. We are not those that call it foolish and impossible we call it what it is, we call it grace. Have a great day Loved Ones and may our great God bless you real good! One of my favorite words of the song "Call It Grace" is breathing. It reminds me that God's salvation in Christ is His ongoing work. He not only saves us from the penalty of sin but IS saving us from the power of sin and will one day save us forever from the presence of sin. He didn't just breathe new life into us by His Spirit but is breathing new life. If you remember, on Sunday, I mentioned that this is one part of the song that I strongly disagree on a biblical basis. It flat out contradicts what God has declared in Scripture (the Bible). The song says... ♪ It's the breath that's breathing new life Into what we thought was dead It's the favor that takes orphans Placing crowns upon their heads ♪ But the Bible says, "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins." Ephesians 2:1 This spiritual death meant that we were unable, unwilling and actually separated from God because of our sin. Even the nicest person in the world is lost or as the Bible puts it dead. You only need to ask them if the would be willing to agree with God that they are lost sinners in need of God's Son, the Savior and you'll see the inside come out. Those who are spiritually dead CANNOT move towards God, it's simply not in them. As Paul says to the Church in Corinth, "People who do not have God’s Spirit do not accept the things that come from his Spirit. They think these things are foolish. They cannot understand them, because they can only be understood with the Spirit’s help." 1 Corinthians 2:1 Those who believe must understand that they have been given a grace that empowers them, gives them to ability and desire to move toward God. Like Paul goes on to say in Ephesians, "4 But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)" This may baffle or even anger some people because they would say, how then is God fair. The reality is God is not fair but He is always perfectly just. If God were fair He would either save everyone or everyone would be condemned for eternity. God is good, merciful and has given grace to those who find themselves on the right side of the Cross. God has indeed taken orphans and placed crowns on their heads. One of the ways Mrs Dalia and I like to wind down is watching an episode of Monk. Monk, in case you haven't watched the show, is about a brilliant detective who has some excessive compulsive issues and a great deal of phobias. In one episode he was framed for murder and after being arrested escaped during transport in order to solve his own case. Having planned it beforehand the police captain, a very dear friend of his, had to shoot him in front of other police officers and friends in order for him to believe that he was dead. While the plan worked Monks co-workers and friends looked down of the captain because of what he did. At one point he was thrown out of a fellow friends house because of it. I will never forget the look on his face. He knew he was innocent but was treated as if guilty. As I watched the episode I couldn't help but think of Jesus. He was absolutely innocent yet for the sake of sinners He died on a cross between two thieves. This was scandalous in the eyes of all who saw it but the reality was it was the grace of God poured out. According to vocabulary.com the adjective scandalous can refer to something morally offensive, or even illegal, although it's used often simply to mean "shocking". This is why the band Unspoken wrote in their song... ♪ It's nothing less than scandalous This love that took our place Just call it what it is Call it grace ♪
Right thinking leads to right living which is why the letters in the New Testament take time, sometimes up to half the letter, to instruct us on right thinking before getting into right living. I mentioned Sunday that Paul, writing to the Church in Corinth (a city in Greece), that there is only 1 Cross but 3 ways people view the sacrificial death of Jesus on that Cross. The song (Call It Grace) says it this way... ♪ Some may call it foolish and impossible But for every heart it rescues it's a miracle ♪ In 1Corinthians 1: 22-24 we are told of these three ways of seeing the Cross, "For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." The Jews were waiting for the Savior but understood He would come in power and glory not in humility and to die on a cross like a common criminal. The Greek or Gentile were the philosophers of their day, they sought to find reason and it just wasn't reasonable that God would take on a human form and die in the place of sinners. Then we have that third group- "the Called". It is the called, from both the Jews and the Gentiles, that God would save people by calling them out from the dead. God has made it very clear that we were dead in our trespasses and sins but now made alive in Jesus. (Ephesians 2) 1Corinthians 1:30 tells us, "it is by [God's] doing that [the believer] is in Christ". What an amazing truth. Like most people, if not all, I believed that I was in Christ or became a believer because it was I that came to Him but the Bible makes it very clear that God makes the first move. He is the one goes after us. He calls us to Himself. 1Corinthians 2:14 then tells us why there is that difference, why some are being saved and others find the Cross a stumbling block (impossible) and foolish. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:14, "People who do not have God’s Spirit do not accept the things that come from his Spirit. They think these things are foolish. They cannot understand them, because they can only be understood with the Spirit’s help." Would do you say about the Cross? As a believer, have you received the truth that it is by God's doing that you are in Christ? Receive this truth and live knowing that our salvation is eternally secure because it depends on Jesus not anything we can do or have done. Maybe today you realize that you've seen the Cross as foolishness and maybe even impossible that God would be willing to save sinners like you and me. God is not waiting for you to do something he wants you to know that while we were still sinner Jesus died for sinners. If you believe that Jesus died on that Cross for your sin and He was raised from the grave 3 days later you can be saved. God tells us that with our heart we believe and are made right with Him and with our mouth we agree with Him that Jesus is Lord and are saved. Right thinking leads to right living but not before the very life of God becomes ours. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! What is it about holding someone's hand that bring comfort and a sense of security. A hand is the first thing that a child, teenager or adult goes for when they are nervous, scared or feeling insecure. It's could be the hand of a parent, spouse, loved one or friend but either way you immediately feel a sense of ease. Read how the band Unspoken refers to God Almighty's hand. ♪ It's the gentle hand that pulls you From the judgment of the crowd When you stand before them guilty And you've got no way out ♪ The same hand that will one day rule with an iron fist is gentle and pulls us from the judging crowd. God NEVER excuses sin but rather absorbs it into the once for all payment for sin that Jesus paid for at the Cross. I once heard someone say that everyone is insecure, some are shy because of it and others are more outgoing to mask it. It completely changed the way I saw people after that. I do believe we all have a desire to belong and genuinely want to be accepted by our peers and those we come in contact with. In Christ we find that gentle hand so that, as the writer of Hebrew says, "We have a great high priest who has gone to live with God in heaven. He is Jesus the Son of God. So let us continue to express our faith in him. Jesus, our high priest, is able to understand our weaknesses. When Jesus lived on earth, he was tempted in every way. He was tempted in the same ways we are tempted, but he never sinned. With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it." Hebrews 4:12-16 Do you feel lost or disconnected? Do you want to "feel free" as the verse above says? Let us lay our feeling at the foot of the Cross and pick up the confidence that comes from believing the truth that Jesus, not only died for sinners but also took upon Himself our shame and guilt as well. This is how we can come to Him boldly and with confidence to receive His kindness and mercy. There's an old song that illustrates the verse above so beautifully. Picture the nail scarred hand of Jesus taking you into the very presence of God. Take some time and listen to it when you get a chance. It's posted below. Have a great Loved Ones and God bless you real good! |
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