Daddy God

Deuteronomy 12:18
He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.

Nothing is insignificant in God’s word.  Every word spoken points to Jesus Christ and His finished work in one way or another.  Sometimes it takes a little digging and some help from the Holy Spirit to discover it, but it’s there!  The truth is that the Holy Spirit enjoys helping us find Jesus in the word.  In fact, it’s His job (John 15:26 But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.)

If there is one thing that God is adamant about taking care of, it’s fatherless orphans and widows.  He actually says in James that “true religion” is taking care of the fatherless and the widows (James 1:27).  He says this to show that He is true religion.  True religion isn’t a set of beliefs and rituals; it’s salvation by grace.  It’s taking care of those who don’t have a father or a husband.  True religion is becoming the father and becoming the husband to the lost and lonely; it’s what only God can do.

Without God in our lives, we were like orphans: fatherless and without hope.  Without Christ we were like widows with no one to take care of us.  But Christ has become our kinsman redeemer; He has become our Husband and we are His bride.  Because of our marriage to Him, through grace, we have been adopted into the family of God.  We have been given the freedom to cry out to God, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)

God has administered justice for us, that is to say, for our benefit.  It was for our benefit that Christ went to the cross.  It was at the cross that Christ bore the punishment for our sins; He took the burden and bore the sentence of death on our behalf.  Justice was administered to Jesus for us.  

When we were strangers to God, not knowing Him or His ways, He became a friend to us.  He suffered on our behalf and took us into His family.  It is because of Jesus that we have the freedom to call God Almighty “Daddy.”

Christ is the bread of life.  He is food for the mind, body, and soul.  When He went to the cross, He gave Himself for us.  He became all that we need.  He has been made for us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30).  All that Christ is and was has been freely given to us by grace through the cross.

He has become our food.  Not only that, He has given us clothing.  Christ has given us His righteousness as clothing.  He took our sin and wore it to His cross.  In exchange, He gave us His robe of righteousness so that our Father, God, can look at us and see a fully restored, fully redeemed, fully righteous son or daughter.  
God loves the fatherless and the widows.  He wants to be their Father and Husband.  While we were strangers to Him, or estranged from Him, He came to be our Savior (Romans 5:8).  He has taken us into His kingdom and freely given us food (Jesus Christ) and clothing (righteousness).  

That’s “Daddy God."  

Finished works

Deuteronomy 7:22
And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

“I can do it!”  How many times have you heard those words?  As a parent, I can honestly say that I’ve heard those very words hundreds of times.  This is our nature: to try and to try and to try.  

We love the feeling that we get when we’re able to accomplish a given task.  Whether it’s climbing that big tree in the front yard, riding the bike around the block, or landing that job you’ve desired for years, when it happens you’re filled with pride.  Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that feeling.  When you work hard for something and you invest time and energy into succeeding, you earn the right to feel happy and successful when all goes according to your plan.  

This go-getter, conqueror attitude holds true for everything in your life, except when it comes to your ability to maintain God’s holy standard.  When you’re trying out of your own power and strength to defeat sin in your life and live according to what God’s statutes dictate, your efforts are futile.  This is why we have Jesus; this is why we need a Savior!

If you parallel the Old Testament story of Israel, God’s chosen people, to our spiritual New Testament lives, you’ll see some amazing things.  There is a direct relationship between the enemies of Israel (Pharaoh, the Egyptians, the nations who possessed the Promised Land, etc.) and our enemy: the Devil, his angels, and sin.  Once you can make the connection and place yourself in the story, spiritually, you’ll begin to see God’s plan unfold for you.

Here in Deuteronomy Moses is reminding the nation of Israel of God’s laws, His requirements, His judgements, His statutes, and His promises.  Moses is telling the people what is going to happen and what their role is going to be when they enter the Promised Land.  He is providing them with the hope they’ll need to succeed when they enter.

Israel’s work was crossing the Jordan river and possessing the land.  God’s work was driving out the nations before them.  How does this apply to our lives today?  When we put this in perspective, we can see that there is a time for us to work and a time for us to allow God to work.  All too often we get these times mixed up.  Sometimes it’s unintentional; sometimes it’s because we’re too proud.  But, like Israel, our work is simply to possess what God has promised us: health, prosperity, joy, peace, happiness through Jesus Christ.  God’s work is to drive out our enemies from before us!

We get caught up in the idea that once you enter the “promised land” by becoming a Christian, the real work of acting like one begins.  We seem to think that it’s completely our responsibility to drive off sin in our lives; we think it’s our job to chase off the enemy.  But the Bible makes it very clear that our job is to possess the land; God’s job is to drive out the enemy.  

Looking to and remaining fixed on Christ’s perfect work at the cross is all we need to “do” in order to possess the promises of God.  God’s work is to “little by little” drive out our enemies.  What is it that is possessing the land of happiness that God has given to you?  Name it and know that God is driving it out!  Alcoholism, pornography, anger, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and fear are all enemies.  They are defeated; they were defeated for you at the cross.  If these things are possessing your land, trust that it’s not up to you to remove them; it’s up to God to drive them out, defeated.

Our nature wants to fight.  But when we choose to fight our enemies we are choosing to push God aside.  We are saying to God, “I can do this.  You can help, but I can do it!”  God doesn’t want to help you; God wants to save you.  This is where allowing grace to take over gives you perfect rest.  When you let go of your “7 principles of healing x, y, and/or z” and allow Christ’s finished work at the cross to take effect, you’ll see your enemies be driven away.  Little by little, through the grace of God, your problems, those sins that haunt you, will vanish away.  

You’ll possess the promise while God continually causes His grace to flow in your life.  Without end, He will drive your enemies from you.  That sin that controlled you, that held dominion over you, is defeated.  It’s not because you fought the good fight, but because Christ won the whole war.

Curses! Blessings!

Numbers 24:2 
And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. 

Balaam and Balak had an interesting relationship. Balak knew that Balaam had a unique ability: he could curse or bless a people and it would come to pass. Balak, being an enemy of Israel, wanted Balaam to curse Israel. So Balak sent for Balaam to be brought to him where he would request that Balaam curse Israel. 

Balak and Balaam met on three different occasions. The first time they met Balak brought Balaam up to an area where he could see how far the people of Israel had spread out. Balak wanted Balaam to see the extent of the people’s encroachment into his land and then have him curse them (Numbers 22:41).

Balaam had Balak build seven altars, offer sacrifices, and wait to hear what God would have to say. Balaam went off to meet with the Lord and God spoke to him concerning what he should say to Balak. Balaam, being a man of integrity and a servant of God, would only tell Balak what God said; he would only bless or curse according to God’s command.

When Balaam returned Balak he spoke the words that God had given him. Unfortunately for Balak, they were not the words he wanted to hear. Balak wanted a curse, but God wanted to bless His people and that’s exactly what He did. Balaam pronounced a blessing of bounty over the nation of Israel.

This same scenario happened two more times. The second time Balak brought Balaam to a different place. He brought him out to a place where he couldn’t see all of the people; he could only see the outer reaches of the nation. From there Balaam pronounced a blessing of strength and victory over the nation of Israel.

First, a blessing of prosperity: a blessing of growth. Second, a blessing of strength: a promise of victory over the enemy. I can only begin to imagine how upset Balak must have been. Imagine having expected a curse on your enemy only to hear them blessed! But Balak wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Instead of recognizing that God loved Israel, he requested a third time for Balaam to pronounce a curse on the people.

This third and final time Balak brought Balaam up to a place where they were able to see the nation of Israel camped according to their tribes (Numbers 24:2); he saw the entire nation according to the God-ordained layout given in Numbers 1-3. This was where Balaam saw the nation of Israel the same way that God sees the nation of Israel. He saw them laid out to the north, south, east, and west with the Tabernacle in the center of it all. Balaam saw the cross!

After Balaam sees Israel as God sees Israel, through the cross, he pronounces the greatest blessing yet.

Friends, it is because of the cross, and only because of the cross, that God is able to bless us at all. Our blessings flow from the grace that was extended by the blood of Jesus Christ at the cross. Prosperity, abundance, victory, strength, and every good thing are found in the blessings of the cross. It is by His blood, His work, His provision, and His proclamation that we have these blessings.

Enjoy what God has given to you. He’s blessed you exceedingly abundantly with His grace. He’s restored you through His sacrifice, made you whole through His brokenness, and lifted you up with His righteousness. Look at the cross and see the blessings of God made a reality in your life!

Saved by the Bell

Exodus 28:34
a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around.

Before you read the Bible there is really only one question that you need to ask the Holy Spirit: where is Jesus?  It’s not about learning how to be a good person.  The Bible is not a book of helpful hints to the perfect marriage.  It’s not a cleverly penned instruction manual for parenthood that incorporates biographies and historical events just to give it credibility.  It’s not a how-to lesson plan for life.  The Bible from Genesis to Revelation is the written Word of God and it’s all about Jesus.

John liked to refer to Jesus as “The Word”.  He penned things like, “The Word became flesh...” and “In the beginning was the Word...”  Nothing in the Bible is coincidence; nothing is written without reason.  John called Jesus the Word so that we who do not see His physical, flesh and blood manifestation, can look to the book, the Bible, and see Him there.  

Jesus knew the importance of this understanding and so He demonstrated for us how to “use” the Bible for instruction in righteousness, that is, His righteousness.  On the road to Emmaus Jesus appeared to a couple leaving Jerusalem but He didn’t look like Himself.  While Jesus walked seven miles with this couple, He spoke to them about who He was and is.  He started with the beginning and went through the Law and the prophets and He told them all of the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:27).  (Note here that Christ did not tell them anything concerning themselves; He only spoke of Himself.)  Christ gave a demonstration immediately after His death and resurrection for our benefit on how to “use” the Bible.

Back to Exodus and our question: where is Jesus in this?  When you ask this question, don’t be alarmed when you get the answer.  God is faithful to show you Himself in His Word.

These pomegranates are made of blue, purple, and red thread.  Each one of these colors has a specific meaning.  Blue speaks of divinity.  Purple indicates royalty.  Red is the color of man’s blood; it points to humanity. (The name Adam actually means “red man” or “man of the red earth”.)  Each of these pomegranates speaks of Christ’s fullness as God, as man, and as King.  But they are lacking the one thing that every other part of the High Priest’s garments had.  They are lacking the gold, which speaks of righteousness.

I didn’t see it until the other day; I didn’t put it all together until I asked, and then God showed me.  The pomegranates are a picture of Christ on the cross.  It was there that He died: fully man, fully God, always the King.  It was on the cross that Christ gave up His righteousness and took on our unrighteousness (sin) in its place (2 Corinthians 5:21).  This is why the gold isn’t found in the pomegranates.

And this brings us to the bells.  The bells were made of gold.  The righteousness, signified by the gold, was made into chimes that would ring as the High Priest moved.  The Bible says that the ringing of the bells would keep the priest from dying when he went in and came out of a meeting with God (Exodus 28:35).

Friends, when Christ went to the cross He sacrificed His righteousness for us.  He held onto all of His divinity, all of His royalty, and all of His humanity, but He let His righteousness go.  Today it is His righteousness that sounds off to God when we are approaching and when we are leaving.  It is His righteousness that keeps us from dying.

I bet you’ll never hear a bell the same again.  Everything in the Bible points to the fullness of Christ and the work that He did for us on the cross.  It’s never about how-to.  If anything, the question could be “How come?”  But the truth is it’s all about Jesus.  Know Jesus, not rules.

Beginning to end

Ecclesiastes 3:11
He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.

Solomon, the wisest man ever, only had a glimpse of God's amazing grace.  Solomon, though blessed beyond words in riches and honor, lacked one thing.  He didn't understand the fullness of God's love for him; He didn't fully understand his own writings (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.--Proverbs 9:10).

Solomon's writings took a turn toward despair when he wrote Ecclesiastes.  But even in this book filled with questions, questions that we all have from time to time, there are hidden images of Christ and His finished work.  There are secrets that point to the Hope we have today through the cross.

Solomon saw everything that God made as beautiful and he saw that eternal life is God's plan for all.  But Solomon didn't see Jesus.  He couldn't figure out the work that God had done from the beginning to the end.

We have that work; we have that revelation.  We live in the completed work of Jesus Christ.  The cross is God’s physical manifestation of the work He began at Genesis 1:1.   What Solomon didn't understand, and couldn't understand, because Christ had not yet come, is this: Jesus is, was, and will be.  He has done all that is required and He's done it all from the beginning of time until the end of time.  His work is perfect, complete, and everlasting.

Solomon wrote in despair how no man could know God's work.  But God, who causes all things to work for good (Romans 8:28), used Solomon's writing to hide a shadow of Jesus Christ.  

The book of John tells us that Christ was there in the beginning; He was with God and He was God.  Without Him nothing that was made would have been made.  He is the Light of the world, the Light of men, and darkness cannot comprehend Him.

Solomon was living in darkness; he had no knowledge of Jesus.  He, Solomon, had a taste of wisdom and his fill of riches, but he lacked understanding of who God really is.  He lacked the understanding of grace.  Solomon, for all his blessings, had nothing compared to what we have today: the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Enjoy what God has made; it is all beautiful.  He has set eternity in your heart and given you the means to live it out: Jesus.  Don't be discouraged; know who Jesus is.  Christ is the One who has completed the work.  Rest in His finished work.

Labor Day?

Hebrews 4:11 
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 

I always thought it was funny that we don’t work on Labor Day. Of all the days in the year, one would expect that we would work our hardest on the day named for working. But that just isn’t the case. Or is it? 

How much rest do we really get on Labor Day? Family parties, cookouts, and special events highlight our schedules. We take a day off from “work” only to add a huge to-do list of, well, work. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy a good cookout or party, but planning and executing one isn’t easy. In fact, it can be downright stressful and labor intensive. Not quite what we had in mind for a Labor Day-off!

This Labor Day is a strange event for us. We work to rest and our restful day is spent working at resting. Things just got confusing.

What’s the point? Is this really about the work that goes into putting on a Labor Day cookout? Certainly not. This is about our nature as people. We’re workers. It’s what gives us a sense of control, power, authority, and fulfillment. It can also be what fills us up with pride and distracts us from the finished work of Jesus Christ.

As Christians we are called to labor to enter the rest. But what is this rest? Well, it’s the understanding that Jesus has finished the work (John 19:30) and if He has finished the work, then there is no work for us to do. This is our “work” as believers: rest. And, truth be told, this is where we all struggle.

As mentioned before, it’s in our nature to “do” things. We like to have that sense of accomplishment; we like to feel like we did it. But God wants us to know that He did it. When God brought His people out of Egypt, there was nothing that they did. God hardened Pharaoh's heart, God gave them favor on the date of departure, God parted the sea, God rained down bread, God brought them meat; God did everything for them. But the people wanted to work. They wanted to do it for themselves. Enter The Law.

For close to three thousand years God allowed His people to make attempt after attempt to accomplish what He had already intended to simply give them. They struggled with rules and regulations and they broke every one. Finally, God took it upon Himself and sent Jesus to finish the work.

Jesus came to walk with mankind. He healed the sick, raised the dead, made the blind see, cast out the demons from their lives, and provided food for their bodies. Jesus lived a perfect life, fulfilled every last requirement of God’s holy law, took our cross, bore our sins, wore our stripes, and died our death. He embraced His nature, not that of a man, but that of God. He did everything that we were incapable of doing and He did it for us!

Today we have one thing on our to-do list: believe Jesus finished the work. This is the hardest thing to do because we all want to “do” for God. We want to serve, we want to sacrifice, we want to give, but God wants us to rest. (These things are good, but not necessities to gain God’s favor in any way.) He wants you, me, and the whole world population to know that Jesus has finished the work and is sitting down, resting. God wants us to rest in His work.

Know this today, whether you’re looking for a job, a child, a miracle healing, a new car, a friendly dog, or food for the day, God has already provided it for you. He’s made a way through Christ; He’s made Christ the Way.

This Labor Day, work at resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Sit down and allow God to bless you supernaturally in every area of your life. It’s not that you deserve the blessing, but Jesus does. You are in Christ; He worked to put you there. As He is so are you in this world. So sit, rest, be complete in Him. Have a blessed, loved, and highly favored Labor Day!

Sound off!

Numbers 10:9 
When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.

Everything in the Bible has its purpose. Colors, names, even precious metals have a special meanings; they are placed in the Bible to give us a greater revelation of Jesus Christ. God’s commandments, His laws, His festivals, and His feasts were all given to expose who we are: sinful; and who Jesus is, was, and is to come: perfect. Reading the Bible for spiritual growth hinges on this one fact: it’s all about Jesus!

In Numbers 10, God gives a command to Moses: make two silver trumpets. God then goes on to tell Moses how to make them, what to make them out of, who can use them, and how to use them. Make them out of hammered silver. They can only be used by the priests, the sons of Aaron. Use them to call the congregation together, to call just the leaders together, to announce a move, and to arm the troops for battle. Use them to announce your feasts and your gladness. Sound them over your sacrifices.

What’s the big deal with these trumpets? They are made out of hammered silver!

In the Bible, silver speaks of redemption (Numbers 18:16). It’s safe to say that these two trumpets being silver isn’t a coincidence, but rather the perfect planning of God to conceal something about Jesus in the old laws.

These two trumpets speak of Jesus’ finished work. They are used to call people together, to worship, to fight, and to celebrate. They are used for every occasion. But more than their use is their form. They are made of hammered silver. God is specific for a reason. It would have been easy for them to melt the silver down and pour it into a mold, but that wouldn’t work for God. No, these trumpets had to fully represent the finished work of Christ. They weren’t just used to make sound; their appearance was important.

You see, Jesus was hammered for our redemption. He was beaten, bruised, and literally hammered onto a cross. Why did God want these trumpets? So that we would know how to use Jesus’ finished work!

Just as the trumpets were used and sounded in all occasions, we are called to use Jesus, to sound off about His finished work in all occasions. When we gather as a congregation or in a small leadership meeting: sound the redemptive finished work of Jesus Christ. When we’re preparing to move: sound the redemptive finished work of Jesus Christ. When we’re having a party, a celebration, a worship occasion, or just a happy day: sound the redemptive finished work of Jesus Christ. When the enemy comes and you’re prepared for battle: SOUND THE REDEMPTIVE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS CHRIST, and you will be saved!

It’s not about our works or deeds; it’s never been about our works or deeds. It’s all about Jesus’ finished work. It’s about redemption, salvation, and the blessings of Abraham through the finished work of Jesus Christ. Simply put: it’s all about Jesus!

Final answer?

Philippians 4:8 
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 

What are these things? This is an important question to ask and fortunately for us, Paul gives the answer to it in the very next verse, “...the things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me...” That really doesn’t completely answer the question for us, though. In order to answer the question, in order to understand what these “things” are, we must look to Paul’s life and find out what he taught, gave, spoke, and demonstrated. 

First of all, Paul taught grace, and the grace he taught was a radical grace. He taught the grace of Jesus Christ in such a way that he was constantly being accused of authorizing sin. Paul taught that where sin abounds, grace is super-abounding (Romans 5:20). Paul taught that attempted justification and righteousness by the works of the law makes the work of Christ ineffectual in our lives (Galatians 5:4). Paul taught the forgiveness of sins and the over-abundance of God’s grace in the life of the believer.

Second, what did Paul give? Paul gave, through his teaching, the confident expectation of good and eternal salvation that every believer longs to hear about. Paul imparted hope to those who listened to his teaching. He gave the believer the confidence to stand upright in the finished work of Jesus Christ. He gave the believer the knowledge of who Jesus is and how great a Savior He really is. Paul gave hope.

Third, Paul spoke words of affirmation. Paul began all of his writings with words like, “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul spoke forth blessings and edification to the people.

Finally, Paul demonstrated the love of Christ to those he ministered to. Paul suffered at the hands of his adversaries, yet continued to proclaim the grace and forgiveness of His Lord, Jesus Christ. Paul went out of his way to bring the message of salvation to people who didn’t want to hear it, even when they hated him for it. Paul ministered the gospel of grace to everyone he encountered and continually proclaimed the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Though this may seem to be all about Paul, let me assure you it isn’t. The truth is that all that Paul did was about Christ. He taught Christ’s grace; he gave Christ’s hope; he spoke Christ’s blessings; he demonstrated Christ-like love. Paul was a minister of Jesus Christ to the people.

These “things” that Paul is telling the Philippian church to meditate on, the things that he’s telling us to meditate on, they’re not his works; they are the works of Jesus Christ. Whatever is good, praiseworthy, lovely and pure, just and noble, meditate on it. That “it” is Jesus Christ. He is praiseworthy. He is altogether lovely and pure. He is just and noble. Christ is good; meditate on Him. Focus your thoughts and the utterances of your mouth on Jesus Christ. It’s not a call to focus on your right doing or good works, but rather a reminder to focus on Jesus’ right doing and His finished work. If there’s one thing I’ve found in reading the Bible it’s this: the answer to the question is always Jesus!

Remember when...?

Exodus 20:2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

I’ve been reading Exodus and Leviticus lately. One thing that I’ve been noticing is that God continually reminds His people of what He’s done for them. God actually prefaced the Ten Commandments by proclaiming who He is and what He’d done for His people. So, I’m thinking this must be pretty important to God.

The first time the children of Israel are told to remember that God has brought them out of bondage by His strength and by His mighty hand is right after the first Passover. It was Moses who told the people to remember what God had just done for them and to keep His feast as a memorial (Exodus 13:3).

From this point on the people were continually reminded of what God did for them. When they complained about their situation, they were reminded by their leaders, Moses and Aaron, that God delivered them. The response to their whining was a reminder of who God is and how He saved them. Even more than just a verbal reminder would be a fresh physical revelation to the people of God’s unending favor for them. Water from rocks, bread from heaven, quail for meat: all of these things were reminders to the people of God’s great love for them. They were living under God’s covenant of grace by faith; they were living under a covenant that God had made with Abraham.

Something happened to the people: they forgot that it was God who did all of these things for them. And in Exodus 19 they made the biggest mistake of all time. The people boastfully told God that they were well able to do whatever He could tell them to do. They declared that they were well able to accomplish any task set before them by God (Exodus 19:3-8).

They said this to God right after Moses reminded them of what God had done for them. They replied to God in such a way as to imply that they were the ones who delivered themselves from Egypt.

God immediately changed His tone. He commanded the people to get away. He referred to Himself, and the mountain He was on, as holy. Death was the penalty for coming too close. God decided to give rules since the people were “well able” to do what He said, since they were “well able” to accomplish all that He had already done for them.

Right before God gave His commandments, His laws, and His regulations for how to live a right life, He declared once again what He had done for His people. From this point on, in His laws, God continually adds tag lines that declare Him to be God and declare His work and how He brought the people out of Egypt. 

What’s the point of all of this? God wants us to continually focus on what He’s done and is doing for us. God loves to take care of His family. It’s when we think that we’re able to do it on our own that bad things begin to happen. God’s greatest desire is for us to focus on Him, His grace, His work, and allow Him to provide for us, protect us, and save us. This is God’s nature.

Today we have Jesus and His finished work on the cross to focus on. It was on the cross that He suffered for our redemption. It was on the cross that He freed us from the burden of living into a law that God knew we could never obey. It is Christ that God wants us to focus on, not our abilities (or perceived abilities) to be good people and do the right thing.

Christ fully met the requirements of the law. It is by His perfection that we’re released from the curse and given the ability to be called sons and daughters of God. It is by His blood we are forgiven, by His stripes we are healed, and by His grace that we are abundantly supplied for every good work (both spiritually and physically).

Our job now is this: remind ourselves and remind each other every chance we get of what Jesus has done to deliver us. Our job now is to rest in His finished work and enjoy the favor that we have in Christ.

Man's way vs. God's way

Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

In a world full of rules and regulations, how does a person determine which way is the best way?  Which set of rules is the best set of rules to follow?  Which set of rules will give me life; which set of rules leads to certain death?

Christian religion will have you believe that following God’s laws will give you life and that a failure to follow His laws will lead to death.  If this is true, God’s purpose for giving the law would have had to have been to justify mankind.  But that’s not correct; that’s not why He gave the law.  The Bible is clear: the law was given so that sin would increase (Romans 5:20); it was given to show mankind their need for a Savior (Galatians 3:24).

Laws, whether God’s or man’s, are always open to interpretation.  God’s laws have been interpreted over the years a number of different ways.  Christian churches have been arguing against each other about the interpretation of God’s laws for years.  One church says the Bible says, “X” while another denomination says the Bible says, “Y”.  Either one could be right or wrong.  Which one do you follow?

I’m not saying that God’s laws are wrong in any way, shape, or form.  I’m not saying that they are invalid in any way.  I’m not saying that they don’t give us some pretty firm guidelines for living.  What I am saying is that laws are not the way that leads to life.  In fact, they lead to death.  Reading the Bible will show you this fact.  Anyone who violates any one of God’s laws is guilty of them all and the penalty is always death.

What seems right to man, following rules to be justified and knowing how to determine good and evil, is a way to certain death.  You can trace this Proverb all the way back to the fall of Adam in the garden.  What seemed right to him and Eve was actually a way to certain death.

Knowledge of good and evil brings about death.  But this is man’s way.  If we can know what is right we’ll be able to tell others how to live right.  To quote Dr. Phil, “How’s that working out for ya?”

No, the truth is that the law, our way, is the way to certain death.  But God’s Way, that is, Jesus Christ, is the Way to abundant life.  Looking to Jesus isn’t man’s way, it’s God’s way.  When God judges you today, He looks to Jesus for your righteousness.  He looks to Jesus for your redemption.  He looks to Jesus for your salvation.  

Man’s way is to know good and evil; our way leads to death.  God’s way is to know Jesus; only His way leads to life.  Let’s not take the way that seems right; let’s take the way that is right.  Let’s take the Way, the Truth, and the Life; let’s take Jesus!

Spiritual warfare

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Often times when we speak of or hear teaching about spiritual warfare, it’s with the mindset that we are to bring our thoughts and actions under control. Rather than putting the control in Christ’s hands, we are taught to take control; we are taught to make our thoughts obey what the Bible says.

While the intentions are good, the outcome is always the same: failure. God didn’t give us rules and regulations so that we could obey them and fight spiritual battles through our obedience. God gave us rules and regulations to show us exactly the opposite; He gave us those things to show us that we are in desperate need of a Savior to fight our battles for us. 

Pride, arrogance, and boastful self-reliance are what got us the list, the big ten; it’s what got us the Law. When we read the Bible, or are taught passages from the Bible that are geared around our obedience, our abilities, and our self-control, we’re not going to be able to stand strong in spiritual battles. We’ll fail because we’re relying on our obedience; we’re relying on our ability to obey.

The scripture has been read accurately but interpreted inaccurately. Instead of focusing our thoughts on Christ’s obedience, we’ve been taught to focus on Adam’s disobedience! This is counterproductive and it gives the Devil a foothold.

Paul instructed the Corinthian church to bring their thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ. He wasn’t telling them to focus on their obedience; he was telling the church to focus on Christ’s obedience. When your thoughts are captivated by the perfection of Jesus’ obedience and His perfect fulfillment of all of God’s Laws, the Devil has no ground from which to fight. He is unable to attack you based on your obedience because you’re resting in Christ’s obedience.

When you have a bad thought (and you will) bring it into the captivity of Christ’s obedience, not Adam’s disobedience. Remind yourself that Christ did not have that thought, and you are justified, forgiven, saved, and blessed by His thoughts, not yours. You are not judged based on the thoughts in your mind. Instead, you are judged based on the thoughts in your Saviors mind. All of His thoughts are “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” (Exodus 28:36). Rest in the confidence of Christ’s obedience and stand victorious in every spiritual battle!

Abundance of the heart?

Luke 6:45
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Have you ever said something negative?  Have you ever said a “bad” word?  My guess is that you have; I know I have.  But were those things spoken out of your heart or were they spoken out of your anger or your frustration?

We all get caught up in the heat of the moment.  It’s when things are spiraling out of control that we find ourselves saying the worst things.  When work is busy and everyone wants or needs something from you RIGHT NOW, that’s when we typically blow it and lose our cool.  

Maybe that’s not you.  Maybe you’re the person who keeps a level head at work and then comes home only to explode at your son because he left a Lego on the floor.  Or maybe you hold back all day and then let the verbal flood out on your spouse.

Whichever you are, know this: these moments of explosive, verbal diarrhea are not from the abundance of your heart.  They are from the overstimulation of your mind and they are a human reaction to stress.  You’re normal!

So what then, if this isn’t about those moments in time, is this verse speaking about?  Well, let’s find out. As Christians we want Christ in our hearts.  Christ is God, and, being God, He knows that we’re going to speak harsh words to each other from time to time.  He knows that we’re explosive in anger and that we speak from the emotion, not the heart in those cases. Moments of losing your cool don’t mean that Christ is no longer there.  It’s what you speak of on a regular basis, not out of stress and pressure, that shows what’s in your heart.  

Ask yourself this question: Do I speak of the finished work of Jesus Christ and His abundance of grace or do I speak of rules and regulations dictating how to be a better person?  This is the test to find out what is in your heart.

Christ wants to be the center of your normal thoughts and conversations.  He doesn’t want you talking about rules that dictate how to live; He doesn’t want you talking about work that still needs to be done.  No, Christ wants us talking about His finished work.  He wants us to speak, from the good treasure (Jesus) that’s in our hearts and tell the world of His glory, His grace, His forgiveness, His perfection, His righteousness, and His abundance of love!

Good to great!

Isaiah 55:9
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

As a father, I am constantly looking out for my son.  I want to be sure that nothing bad happens to him.  All of my desires are for his good.  I want to see him prosper in his relationships, in his studies, and in his health.  I want nothing but the best for my son.

Did you know that the same holds true for our heavenly Father?  Too often we put the blame on God for bad things that happen.  We have a mindset that, in His infinite wisdom, the hurt that we’re suffering, the loss that we’re experiencing, the depression that is dragging us down, is somehow God’s will for our lives.  We say that His ways are higher, His thoughts are higher, and then saddle him for the hurt that we suffer.  

We say prayers like, “Show me what you’re trying to teach me, LORD,” to mask our true opinion of God: that He’s purposefully hurting us to teach us something.  It’s times like these that we should stop and think, “Would I do this to my child?”  If the answer is yes, SEEK HELP!  I’m assuming that your answer would be no.  If you wouldn’t purposely cause hurt to your own child, why on earth would you think God would hurt you?

Jesus makes a connection to this when He’s teaching in Matthew 7.  Christ makes the point: if we’re evil and know what is good to give, how much more does God know!

The truth is God’s ways are higher, His thoughts are higher than ours.  So let’s take that to heart.  Our way is to work and attempt to prove ourselves to a holy God.  His way is to bear our burdens and justify us through His work, bearing our punishment in His own body, rather than laying it on upon us.  Our thoughts are “do-do-do” but God’s thoughts are “It’s already done!”

What’s your desire?  Are you looking for a healing in an area of your body?  God’s desire is for your body to be completely restored.  Are you hoping for a raise at work?  God’s designing a promotion or maybe even a new career with greater benefits than you could possibly hope for!  Are you thinking you’re not worth it or that life isn’t worth living?  God’s thinking of Jesus and how He has made you worth it and given you new life!

It’s by the blood of Christ and the suffering in His sacrifice that we’re able to have all of these things.  Whatever you think you want or desire, whatever way you think is best to get it, just remember this: God’s way is better and so is the result!  When you think “good”, He thinks “great”.  When you think “great”, He thinks “greater”.  God’s thoughts for you are better than your thoughts for yourself; His plan for you is far greater than what you planned.

Righteous robe!

Zechariah 3:4
Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”

Have you ever made a “to-do” list?  I know that I have.  First I stop and think about all of the things that need to be done.  Then I write them down.  After I write them down, I look them over and typically become overwhelmed by the amount of work that I’ve just given myself.  

As I go through my day I continually check things off of my list.  Vacuuming: done.  Mow the lawn: done.  Wash the dog: done.  And so it goes throughout the day: I work, I check off, I work, I check off.  Every once in awhile I’ll complete my list, but for the most part, I don’t get everything done. I nearly always run out of day before the list is complete.  So I get to go to bed with the knowledge that tomorrow’s list already has things on it, and tomorrow hasn’t even started yet!

All too often we put this list mentality into our Christian living.  We make a list of “to-do’s” for the day and we get to work on it, continually striving to achieve completeness by completing a list of tasks.  

I’m not sure what’s on your list, but maybe some of the following items appear there daily: stop swearing, no pornography, no drugs, no alcohol, love my wife, respect my husband, don’t exasperate my children, read my Bible, pray, confess, confess again, confess some more.  If this sounds like you, know that you’re not alone!  

Working on your list isn’t what makes you righteous or complete as far as God is concerned.  There is an enemy who wants you to believe that you’re never good enough, but God wants you to know that He’s made you good enough.  It’s not by your works or deeds, your successes or failures, but only by the grace offered through Jesus Christ.  

God wants you to know that, because of Jesus, He has removed your iniquity and replaced it with Christ’s righteousness.  There is nothing that you need to do, no list to try to accomplish, that will give you the peace that comes from knowing Jesus has already done it all for you!

Christ became our sin so that we could become His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).  God has ordered your sin and your unrighteousness to be removed because of the blood of Jesus Christ.  In return, He has given you His robe of righteousness, His blessings, His forgiveness, His completeness.  There is nothing for you to do but accept the gift and live in His grace!

Righteous judgments

Psalm 119:7
I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.

I think there is some confusion about God’s righteous judgements.  Some people believe that God’s righteous judgements will be eventually seen when He makes His triumphal return as Jesus Christ, King of kings.  Others see God’s righteous judgements as what happened to the world in the time of Noah or what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah.  

While these are righteous judgements made by God, they don’t give the learner (in this case you and me) a sense of uprightness or right standing with God.  In fact, I would say that they do the opposite.

When I hear about God’s destruction of two cities for their sin or His flooding of the entire earth because of sin, it doesn’t make me feel like praising Him.  It makes me afraid of God; I become fearful of what He could do to me because of my sin.  After all, He is holy and just and I am sinful by nature.  Regardless of how hard I try to be good and do the right thing, I still fail.

Also, wouldn’t it stand to reason that feeling good about God’s destruction in wrath of a city would make me prideful?  It would be as though I thought I was better than them.  I saw their punishment and I can praise God for His destruction of the wicked.  This doesn’t sound very Christ-like, so I’m going with the assumption that it’s wrong.

The truth is God’s ultimate righteous judgements were carried out and borne in the perfect body of Jesus Christ.  It was on His back that Christ bore our sicknesses and diseases, a curse for our inability to obey the Law.  It was on the cross that Christ bore the fullness of a Holy Father’s wrath as God turned His back on His Son and set His face on all mankind.

When you, me, or David learn about God’s righteous judgements, when we learn about His forever grace, we are given a reason to praise His name.  When we understand that Jesus bore the full wrath of God so that we won’t see any of His anger, and we come to the knowledge that God isn’t mad at us because He exhausted His anger in Jesus, we can feel uplifted.  When we understand that Christ has taken our sin and imparted to us His righteousness, we can rest assured that we are in a right standing with the Father.

It is because of Jesus that we’re able to praise God.  It was because David had an understanding of grace that he was able to praise God.  That’s something to sing about!

Love is...

1 John 4:8
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Weddings are a great time to hear scripture.  Sadly, in a lot of cases, weddings are the only time some people hear scripture.  That being the case, it’s crucial that the scripture read is used to impact the lives of the hearer for Christ.  But, in order to do that, the focus has to be turned away from the bride and groom and placed on who Christ is.

There’s a passage in 1 Corinthians about love.  This passage lists out all of the charistics of perfect love and it is most often read at weddings.  Love suffers long and is kind; it does not envy; love is not puffed up.  Love does not behave rudely, seek its own, is not provoked, and thinks no evil.  Love does not rejoice in sinfulness, but rejoices in truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.  Love never fails! (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

This passage is beautiful in describing love, but all too often, it’s used as a challenge to the newlyweds.  This is a list of what love is.  Now you have a list of what to expect from one another.  An challenge of this magnitude on the first day of married life may be the underlying cause to why the divorce rate in both the church and the world is the same: over 50%!  

These are unreasonable expectations!  Thinking that you could consistently meet such high marks as a husband or wife can only lead to guilt and disappointment when you don’t.  Shame and regret come from missing the mark.  And, as husband or wife, to expect your significant other to always meet these expectations is just as ridiculous.  If you can’t meet them, how is he or she going to meet them?

Unreasonable expectations that can’t be met by either party will only end in strife, guilt, shame, and fighting.  This is why it’s crucial to use scripture appropriately!  All of the attributes listed in 1 Corinthians would be great to bring into a marriage, but no person can ever do that.  

God is love; the Bible makes it clear.  When we discuss love’s attributes we’re actually talking about God.  Yes, possessing the characteristics listed in 1 Corinthians would be great, but attempting to achieve them through our own human effort is futile.  If love is all of those things (kind, patient, never failing), and God is love, and Christ is God, and we’re in Christ, then it is Christ who is loving the world from within us (Galatians 2:20).

This is what we need to realize: without Christ we cannot display the attributes of His perfect love to the world.  We can try to be all of those things, but we’ll continually fail.  Failure is the Devil’s hope for our love.  When we fail to meet the expectations of perfection we let our loved ones down.

But Christ’s desire is for His love to be in us.  His desire is for us to recognize that we can’t love perfectly like 1 Corinthians describes.  He wants us to rely on His love.  In so doing, He’ll enable us to love others.  It’s not by our effort; it’s not even our love.  It’s Christ’s perfect love!

Sanctification

Exodus 29:43
And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.

The world, and in a lot of cases, the church, wants you to believe that right doing brings about right living and thus makes you a righteous person.  The idea is that your actions speak to what’s in your heart.  Most of the time this is true, but there are certain instances where actions, though seemingly righteous, are just actions.  They aren’t actions done in a spirit of righteousness; they are actions done because that was the only thing that could be done.

A preacher I recently listened to presented this example: consider an ugly man.  I’m not talking about your everyday, not so good looking guy, but a hideous monster of a person.  This man, who has no chance of a woman ever desiring to be with him, not even for money, is forced by circumstances beyond his control to keep the law.  But in his heart his desire is to commit adultery with every woman he sees.  Is he righteous because of his seemingly righteous behavior?  Certainly not!

The truth is that righteousness is a state of being, not an act of doing.  Out of being righteous come righteous deeds, but doing righteous deeds doesn’t make you righteous.

When God met with the children of Israel it was in the tabernacle.  It was a tent in the desert.  The tent itself was made by the best craftsmen in the land.  It was filled with beautiful works made by the hands of man.  But it wasn’t made holy or sanctified by these things.  It was God Himself who sanctified (made holy) the tabernacle.  It was God’s holiness that brought glory to the works of man.  It was God’s holiness that made the temple a sacred place.

Under the New Covenant, under grace, we have become the temple of God.  It is in our own bodies that He meets with us, communes with us, and lives with us (1 Corinthians 6:19).  This fellowship between us and God is not because we have done anything to become righteous.  It’s not our works, our lifestyle, our giving, or our service that causes God to dwell in this temple.  It is only by the blood of Jesus Christ that we are able to be the tent of meeting.  It is only by His perfection and gift of righteousness that we can have our own bodies as a place to meet with God!  

Jesus is the Glory of God.  It is Christ who sanctifies us; it is Christ who makes us righteous.  Knowing that He has given us the gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17) empowers us to live an effortlessly righteous life based in, on, and around the finished work of Jesus Christ.  

Show me Jesus!

Exodus 25:30
And you shall set the showbread on the table before Me always.

Have you ever asked yourself, “What does God want from me?”  The list could be endless.  A lot of people will tell you that God wants your money or your family.  Others will tell you He wants your job or your status.  The idea is that God wants all that you have in order to know that you love Him.

The truth is God doesn’t want (or need) anything from you.  In fact, God has actually given you all that He has: Jesus Christ.  What God desires from you is your acknowledgement of Jesus and your continual focus on Him.

When God instructed Moses in how to build the Ark of the Covenant, the sanctuary, the lampstand, and the tables, He was very clear in one thing. God said, “You shall set the showbread on the table before Me always.” God’s showbread is Jesus Christ.  His desire is that you will always lay before Him Jesus Christ.

But what about my suffering with this disease or my need for a job? Doesn’t God have a plan for these things?  Yes, His plan is through Jesus!  It is only by laying Jesus’ finished work as your sacrifice continually before God that He is able to “fix” all the other problems in your life.  

God wants to continually see Jesus before Him.  He is the Showbread (John 6:35).  This is what makes prayer effective and gives us hope! When we pray, whether praying for healing, a job, a family member, or financial breakthrough, our prayer should always begin with Jesus: “Father God Jesus, Your Son, died for my sins, my healing, and my restoration.  He became sin so that I can be righteous.  Thank you for Christ.  Because of what He has done, I’m believing You for...”

Prayers like this show the heart of the petitioner.  They show a focus on the finished work of Jesus Christ and they continually lay His perfection, His life, before God.  It is because of Christ that we can hold to the promise of Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

So, what does God want?  He wants you to focus on Jesus.  He wants you to remind Him of Jesus and in so doing, He’ll give you the desires of your heart.  Heath, restored relationships, financial freedom, employment security, whatever the desire of your heart, through Jesus, it is yours!

Good and faithful!

Matthew 25:24
“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.”

We all want to hear Christ say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”  But what do we have to do in order to hear those words?  This is a question that all too often leads to a misunderstanding of living by the grace of God, and can actually cause a person to be put back under the rule of law.

Hearing those words from Jesus doesn’t hinge on you doing things for Him.  Instead, it hinges on you understanding what He has done for you.  Christ is pleased with your works when they come from your proper understanding of who He is and what He’s done.

There were three servants in this parable.  The first was given five talents (a sum of money).  The second was given two talents, and the third was given one talent.  Immediately after giving this money to his servants, the master departed.  He left no instructions as to what to do with the money.  He didn’t leave a to-do list.  He simply gave them their allotted sum, according to their abilities, and left.

When the master returned he went to each servant and asked what they had done with money he had given them.  The first servant used the five talents to earn five more.  He returned ten talents to his master.  The second servant used the two talents and was able to earn two more.  He returned four talents to his master.

Then came the third servant.  The third servant, who didn’t believe the same way about his master as the first two, had taken his talent and hidden it in the ground.  When the master required it back, he let slip his true opinion of his master by saying, “I knew you to be a hard man.”  The master was upset and took away what he had, giving it to the first servant, and he cast out the unprofitable servant.

The first two servants in this story, when asked by their master for the talents back responded by saying, “Lord, you delivered to me...”  They truly knew who their master was.  They knew that he loved them, trusted them, and provided for them.  Out of their love for him, they served and profited him much.  But the third servant answered, “Lord, I knew you to be a hard man.”  He didn’t love his master; he reviled him.  He had a negative opinion of him.  He didn’t understand who the master really was.  As a result he was afraid and served poorly.  He was cast out because he did not believe the truth about his master.

This parable isn’t about service.  Service to the Master (Jesus) is a result of knowing how much He loves you.  It’s not a way to gain His love.  This parable is about faith; it’s about who you believe God to be.  This is why the master never said, “Well done, thou good and frugal.”  Do you believe God to be a rewarder (Hebrews 11:6) or a tyrant?

If you want to hear those words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” then you have to first believe the right way about your Master.  God is not a tyrant; He is not a hard man.  God doesn’t want you living in fear of Him.  He wants you living a victorious and prosperous life, utilizing all that He has given you through Jesus Christ.  

Living sacrifice.

Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

If all of our deeds are as filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6), how can we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him?  The answer is not found in trying harder to be a better person; it’s found in the best Person, Christ.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in our doings and forget about what Jesus has done for us.  This is especially true when we read verses that seem to imply some form of “work” on our part to be a better person.  However, this continual striving to achieve some level of acceptance before God isn’t why Christ came.  He came to give us rest (Matthew 11:28).  The rest that we have in Christ includes rest from the striving to be a “good” person.

It is His work that has made us holy and acceptable.  It isn’t our doing and it will never be our doing.  So why did Paul pen this verse?  Some may say that the Spirit inspired this scripture to keep us grounded in reality, that it’s a spiritual “gut-check” scripture.  Are you being holy?  Is what you’re doing holy?  But I say otherwise.

This scripture is a reminder to the believer, not to work harder at being a better person, but to remember who we are in Christ.  The focus here isn’t you; it’s Jesus.  Paul isn’t arguing that we should become a bunch of self-examining, introspective obsessives.  On the contrary, he is saying that we should be Jesus-focused when we come to God.

This is why Paul starts by saying, “...by the mercies of God...”.  How do we present ourselves as holy and acceptable?  It is by the mercies of God, through the cross and the finished work of Jesus Christ.  The knowledge of who Jesus is and who He has made you in Him is what you are presenting to God.  It is Christ who lives within you (Galatians 2:20).  It is Christ who has made you holy and acceptable.

When you come before God you’re not presenting yourself as if you have something to offer; you’re presenting Christ who lives within you.  You’re coming to God and saying, “Father, because of Your Son, Jesus, I am able to come before you today.  It is by His grace and mercy that I am living, powerful, strong, healthy, and prosperous.  It is because of Him that I am holy and acceptable.”

When you come to God, presenting to Him Jesus in you, He is pleased.  In the process you’re renewing your mind in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, not being conformed to this world, but realizing that you’re transformed.  This will empower you to live out the perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).