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Archive for November, 2011

Trust Gold or Trust God?

Posted in Money on November 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

24 “If I have put my trust in gold
   or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
   the fortune my hands had gained,
26 if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
   or the moon moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed
   and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,
   for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.  Job 31:24-28 NIV

Often times we find security in things other than God.  For instance, we may look at our job as our source of income and financial security.  We can’t imagine what we would do without our jobs or money.  This nightmare is becoming a reality for many people today.  So many people are looking for security in other places instead of God.  When the stock market was booming many were putting all their retirement money into stocks in hopes they would be a millionaire by the time they retired.  But the stock market crashed, and many lost all their retirement, some even lost their homes and other assets.

We can’t overlook that God is our provider, and put our faith and trust in Him.  We can’t always trust in our jobs to keep us employed or others to take care of us.  We can’t trust in temporal things but we are to trust in eternal things.  We must trust Him, and put Him first in our lives.  To put everything else above God is unfaithfulness on our part.  We should not hold our wealth or the splendor of life over God.  God is jealous and He will not compete with anything or anyone.

And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. Matthew 22:37-38

 

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God is Forever Faithful

Posted in Uncategorized on November 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »

3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?  Romans 3:3

13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:13

God is forever faithful, continually showing His love and mercy toward us.  God’s faithfulness is not dependent upon our faithfulness.  Praise God!  Unfortunately, many Christians feel that God will only remain faithful to them if they remain faithful to Him.  We constantly fall short of the glory of God, but His love and faithfulness is unconditional.

When Israel was being led out of Egypt, they murmured and complained.  They built an idol and worshipped it.  However, God remained faithful and continued to lead Israel to the promise land.  Despite man’s denial of Jesus and rejection of Him, God still fulfilled His promise and sent Jesus to the cross.  God used the death and resurrection of His Son to deliver us from sin, making us blameless and righteous like Jesus.  We also have the promise of the Holy Spirit to seal us until the day of Jesus’ return.  These things are dependent upon God’s faithfulness and not ours.

God does not shift like the wind.  He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  God promises us new mercies every day.  When we repent of our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9).  We can be confident in trusting God with everything in our lives; He is faithful and will fulfill all of His promises, abounding in His love for us.

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Jesus Died for the Ungodly

Posted in Crucified, Grace, Jesus, Law, Love, Salvation, Sin, The Righteous on November 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. Romans 5:6-9

When man fell into sin we did what our evil hearts desired, we were enemies of God.  The Law showed us just how sinful and wicked we were.  Who would die for a wicked man?  When the wicked are punished and get what they deserve we rejoice.  We cry out for justice and rejoice when justice is served.  Yet Jesus came for the wicked, for us.  Jesus died for us sinners.  When we were still enemies of God, He sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins.  God chose to show mercy over judgment.

Jesus was sinless yet took on our sins and died.  God did this to demonstrate His love toward us.  We deserve to be judged for our sin, but God gave us His son.  He chose to show us mercy and grace through Jesus.

If you ever doubt God’s love for you take a look at Jesus and remember what He did for you.  He suffered for you.  He died for you, and He has called you to Himself.  Scarcely, will someone die for a righteous man, but Jesus died for the ungodly – us sinners.  Know that you are loved and God’s gift to you is His Son Jesus Christ.

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The Price of War

Posted in government, Love, Peace, Prayer, The Body, Unity on November 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in Me.” Jeremiah 49:11

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.  James 1:27

Today we celebrate Veteran’s Day in the USA.  It is a time that we honor our soldiers who have served this country and the many wars we have faced.  We know the high price of war is the lost of our soldiers lives; prisoners of wars; wounded soldiers; and broken families.  Unfortunately, the current wars that we have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan may have lingering effects for generations to come.

We have been fighting these two wars for 10 years now.  Even though the death toll has not been as high as previous wars; these two wars have taken a great toil on our soldiers, their families and our society.  Our soldiers have faced multiple deployments and we have seen a record number of women soldiers serving in these two wars.  Many children have been left behind and these children may be the greatest price we pay for these wars.  Children need their parents, if they are raised apart from their parents it has a lasting effect even into their adulthood.

I can’t even imagine a child that loses a parent to war.  Everyone knows the risk but we all hope that our soldiers return home safe and sound.  But the other tragedy facing children are the multiple deployments.  Imagine seeing your dad or mom going off to war; they return home to only be sent back again – leaving a child to face the separation again and again.  This can cause fear, anxiety, anger, and hatred to build in a child’s heart.  Where is their safety and who will care for them?

We may not know the impact of this until years from now even after the wars are completed.  Truthfully we are seeing more and more homes losing the fathers as they go off to fight in these wars.  There are also mothers being sent but the majority of those serving are men and many of them are fathers. 

We cannot ignore the impact that these wars have on our children.  They need our love and support.  As the bible tells us we are to care for the widows and orphans and we do not have to wait for our soldiers to die to take notice of the needs of the families that are left behind.

God has a special place in his heart for orphans and widows.  He has a heart for the fatherless and so should we.  I honor the men and women that have serve our country, but I pray that by God’s grace and wisdom that He can pave a way that these men and women are separated from their families as little as possible.

We may not have the resources or knowledge to prevent multiple deployments of soldiers but we can stand in the gap for those that are away and serving our country.  We can pray and we can care for their families.  We as a society can do this.  It is not only our government’s responsibility but it is also ours. 

Whether or not we agree with the wars, the truth is our soldiers are fighting and we need to support them in any capacity we can.  The holidays are approaching and there are many families that will be without their dads and moms as they serve overseas to fight for our freedom.  Let’s see what we can do  to help these families cope and enjoy this holiday season.

As Christians let us continue to pray for peace and victory in these wars so we can bring our soldiers home and these children do not have to be orphaned any longer.  Let’s believe God for a supernatural act on behalf of our soldiers.

I pray God’s blessing, protection and grace to every soldier that serves this country.  I pray for unity in our nation as our military fights for our freedom and safety.  Theirs is a great sacrifice; but their children do not have to be the casualty of war.  The African parable says “it takes a village to raise a child’; so let’s help raise this generation of military children.  We all have a part, so let’s each do our part in raising up the next generation.

Happy Veteran’s Day to all our soldiers and their families, THANK YOU for all you do. God Bless our Veterans and God Bless the United States of America.

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Which is Easier: Forgiveness or Healing?

Posted in Healing, Jesus, Knowing God, Prayer, Salvation, Sin, The Father on November 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

2And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he got up and went home.  Matthew 9: 2-7

For the past several weeks I have been meditating on the following quote by John G. Lake:

“It does not take a bit more faith to be healed from your sickness than it does to be saved from your sins. The only difference is that in your own consciousness, you knew there was no place to get forgiveness except from God.”

When Jesus was on earth many witnessed Him heal the sick, but many did not understand the authority He had to forgive people of their sins.  So Jesus asked the question “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?  Jesus had the authority and power to do both.  Today as Christians we know because of Jesus that salvation is available to all mankind; we just have to believe.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  That same grace that saves us also heals us.

However, today many Christians do not view healing the way they do salvation.  We know that the only one that can save us is Jesus.  We cannot obtain salvation by another person or any work on our part.  We have faith in God that He will forgive us of our sins and make us righteous in His sight.  When it comes to healing we are not so sure because we view sickness and disease as a part of life.  Some may even believe that sickness and disease is used by God to strengthen our faith or test us.  This is not the case.

Sin, sickness and death do not reside in Heaven.  They are not a part of the nature of God.  Just like God does not use sin to tempt us or to test our faith; He will not use sickness and disease to “teach” us.  God is a life giver; salvation and healing are His nature.

Many who are sick will say God’s grace is sufficient.  They believe that God will see them through their ordeal.  If healing is God’s will, He will heal.  If it is not God’s will to heal, at least there is salvation the ultimate in healing. God’s grace is sufficient to heal us physically just as it is sufficient to save us from sin and death.  Too often we look for other means of healing besides turning to God the way we do for salvation and forgiveness.

Sickness and disease are precursors to death.  They are a part of death not life.  They are Satan’s tools, his curse.  Jesus said that Satan only comes to kill, steal and destroy; Jesus came so that we may have life (John 10:10).  Jesus died and rose again so that we might have life, a life in Him.  A life that is free from sin and sickness.  We have a right to divine healing as we have a right to salvation.

We should look at sickness and disease the way we look at sin.  It is not the will of God because God hates sin.  He hates sickness, disease and death.  We are no longer a part of the curse that resulted from the fall of Adam but we are part of the new life and freedom that is found in Jesus.  Jesus died and set us free from sin, sickness, and death.  Sickness and disease binds us, it prevents us from being free, just like sin.  So it is always God will to heal just as it is always His will to save.

We run to God for forgiveness when we sin.  We know that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins (1 john 1:9).  No one can forgive us like God.  However, when we are sick we pray for healing but we don’t have the same expectancy that we have with forgiveness.  Sometimes we doubt the willingness of God to heal, or we think He wants us to go “through the situation” before we experience divine healing.  We may also think that God wants us to fend for ourselves and find our own means and methods for healing.

I believed this for a long time.  When I was sick in 2009 I had tumors in my lungs and believed that God would see me through my chemotherapy treatment.  I was confident from the doctors’ report that the chemotherapy would work and God would never leave me nor forsake me.  I thought by going through this ordeal my faith would be stronger and I would be a much stronger person for having endured this fight.  To be honest I didn’t have faith for a supernatural healing, I believed God’s plan was for me endure this ordeal.  I read the reports and understood the statistics.  I had an 80% chance of survival and an 80% chance the chemotherapy would cure me. 

The chemotherapy made things worse.  I ended up in the hospital and the doctors couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting better.  They were very concerned that the chemotherapy drugs were actually doing more harm than good.  So they made the decision to stop the treatment and “wait and see” if I would get better.  It was in that moment I knew that only God could heal me 100%, the doctors tried but I needed a miracle and God answered my prayers.  God did not delay. The worse day in the hospital was the same day the doctors brought my report of healing.  My numbers had dropped dramatically and they were so relieved that the worse had not happened.  So they monitored me for another year and a half to ensure the tumors did not return.  Today I still walk in my total healing.

Divine healing is our inheritance.  It is the will of God to always heal.  As John G. Lake says it really doesn’t take more faith to believe in healing than it does for salvation.  We just have to know in our conscious that the only place we can go for divine healing is God.  God is concerned about our physical healing as much as He is concerned about our spiritual healing and renewal.

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.  Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.  The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. James 5: 14-16

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