Surrender Brings Freedom

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 

Notice that this scripture uses the past tense in referring to the redeemed as having been raised up with Jesus.  We needn't needn't wait for our earthly deaths to find the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus already did that for us.  We must now only die to ourselves and be born again to enter His kingdom.


 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,  and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.  But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,  and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—  a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. 

Once again the text uses the past tense is stating that we have "laid aside the old self and have put on a new self".  It is this "new self" that seeks righteousness and see then worldly things as insignificant and valueless. 


  So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;  bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.  Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. 

We now turn to a couple of things what fall to us and our faith.  "put on a heart of compassion" and "put on love"  are our responsibility.  We can only approach this responsibility by faith and allow the Holy Spirit to create the urge within us to be compassionate and loving.  

Finally, we are next instructed to get ourselves and our life-learned desires out of the way to make room for the "peace of God" and the "word of God" to infuse our hearts.  We will know when this happens because no circumstance, no problem, no challenge will ever effect our hearts that sing out to our God continually.

Surrender to know the fullness of His release of the captives!
 

Enough Church! Enough self-interest and pride.

Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone.   I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. ~ Ezekiel 36:22-23

 How has the great name of our God been profaned among the nations due to the powerless church of Jesus today?   When the world looks at a Christian today what does it see?  The answer to that question is too frustrating to even consider.  It is a long way away from God proving His holiness through our actions and demeanor!

I have yet to hear anyone call the church and Christians to repentance over profaning God's name.  You see, here is where we miss the boat on what God sees.  It isn't about you and me!  The whole message of good news is that what we do, what we have done, what we will ever do will never amount to anything of worth.  We are lost in our own self importance!

We have been redeemed to bring glory to our God and to remind the lost of God's holiness!  Our God keeps calling to us to wake up to our own self-induced pride and self-interest.

We haven't simply ignored Him; we have profaned His holy name!

A Wide and A Strong River

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

By God's  mercy He caused us to be born again!  Did we choose Him or did He choose us?  A discussion for anther time perhaps but today we look at the benefits.  What is the living hope that comes with this being born again?  God calls it an inheritance.  It is something that someone else earned that we receive!  The text says that it is imperishable, undefiled and will not fade away.  Unlike other inheritances we may receive in our lifetimes this one will never run out! Beyond the promise that it will not run out it is also guaranteed by heaven itself.

The last portion of this sentence is the primary point to discuss here.  The born again are "protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed".

God has caused our rebirth, has secured our inheritance, has guaranteed it and preserves and protects us to get from here to there.


Peter goes on:

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. 

"In this you greatly rejoice" Really?  It seems to me that the last thought that the general population would have about Christians is "rejoicing".

From the beginning of time God's people and even the angels in heaven have longed to see what we experience every day.  Unfortunately, most Christians today miss this entirely.  How could anyone understanding this great wealth given to us not rejoice?

  As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. 

God used the thousands, no the hundreds of thousands of people that we read about in what we now call the old testament. to display His magnificent grace to us.  They never saw the end of the story like we now see.  All of the laws, all of the sacrifices, all of the legal priesthood, all of the battles and the victories are all wrapped up and completed in Jesus!

Most Christians stand on the banks of the great river of grace that runs through eternity.  We see it clearly as it begins in our world within the Garden of Eden and flows powerfully through the events recorded in the old testament.  The river continues through the life of Jesus and through the beginning of the church.  We can also look into the future and see in the Book of Revelation it continuing flow.  

Heer we stand, the river flowing strong and wide and we stand thirsty and waiting on banks of the river!

Jump in!  It only takes a small step of faith.  He will do the rest!
 
(Scripture in from 1 Peter chapter 1) 

Missing Person?

When was the last time you heard a message on the Holy Spirit?  Jesus said, "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit will come upon you".  Where exactly is that power within the church or within Christians today?

The Holy Spirit is fully God, you know, and He chooses to dwell within believers in Jesus making them His temple!  With Him, he brings love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.  Our gauge fo the Holy Spirit's presence is not some mysterious power that flows though as as believers. It is, instead, the attending fruit that comes with His presence.  How are you doing on this list?  These are not options and its not multiple choice it is an all or nothing proposition.

So why is the Church reluctant to talk about Him?  Have we bought into another lie out of the depths of hell or are we just plain ignorant of this gift?

Invest some time in getting to know Him.  He has been calling you into relationship with Him have you heard His soft voice?

Hidden Faults and Presumptions

Psalm 19

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

 So begins David’s consideration of the grandeur of His God!  He continues to build a strong case for the wonder of a God who we will never understand; His law, His restoration, His encouragement, His enlightening, His righteousness.  Overwhelmed would not be to strong of a word to describe David’s attitude as he writes Psalm 19.

But right in the midst of his wonder he comes to this: “and then there is me”.

Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.

When the truth is known, it is no longer the outright sin that messes up our walk with our God it is the hidden faults and the presumptuous sins that trip us up.

The hidden faults are those that lie deep within our personalities.  We get tired, stressed, over-worked, under appreciated and those hidden faults begin to emerge.  Back biting, criticism, lust, self-adulation, fits of anger, depression and on and on are the things we have learned over time to keep under wraps. 

Presumptuous sins are so easy to slip into that we are, in the most part, totally unaware to them.  Jesus counseled us about “worrying about tomorrow”.  As I sit writing this today I am remembering the previous night as I contemplated not only “tomorrow” but far too many tomorrows to even remember. I didn’t intentionally seek to have all of the “what if’s” run through my mind particularly at the cost of needed sleep.

 

Presumptuous sins are not just about worrying things that will probably never happen anyway.  Other types of presumptuous sins are when we presume we know the intentions of others.  That person driving erratically, what do you presume, rudeness or stress or emergency?  The person who walked by you without saying anything, what do you presume?  Your spouse is abrupt of just plainly rude to you, what do you presume?

Can you see why David is brought so short by this issue? 

Contemplating the great goodness of our God and His grand design for our liberty and provision while knowing how quickly we sell out to these hidden faults and presumptuous sins.  They are enmeshed within our personalities and are difficult to weed out!  

It is simply impossible for us eradicate these things our of our lives.  David understands his great need for God’s help.  “Acquit me” of my faults and pull me back from my tendency to presume!

Liberty, including the joy and the peace that fills our thirsty souls is at stake.  Bring your faults and your presumptions to Him!

Two Laws!

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.  James 1:25

The perfect law; few things within God’s creation remain “perfect” due to mankind’s sin.  But the law of liberty is one of those things having been bought back from its demise by the blood of Jesus and His subsequent resurrection. 

The next word that we must understand is the word “abide”.  It is far more personal and just understanding a concept, or just giving a mental agreement to a thought.  It is parallel to how you occupy your home.  You abide or live there!  Such is the case with abiding in the perfect law.  We must totally immerse ourselves within the law of liberty for us to gain the real life that is “blessed in what we do”. 

 

God never intended for man to live independently from Him.  God’s intention was to stay close to man in order to protect and to bless him.  Read the first chapters of Genesis to discover God’s original design for His relationship with His creation.

Within the law of liberty, we see things differently.  We see people, we see events and circumstances and we see our own lives differently.  

There is one primary problem for the people of Jesus in today’s churches in understanding this concept.  It is always easier to teach the law of death than the law of liberty.

Let’s read what the Apostle Paul wrote the Roman church:

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8

Why is it that as soon as anyone approaches the topic of grace and liberty we hear words like: bible study, discipleship, accountability, daily devotions, financial stewardship and on and on and on?

There are many things that will eventually come forth as fruit from someone who chooses to abide in liberty.  One will never find the life of liberty attempting to orchestrate it by things and acts no matter how well intentioned.

Refuse to sell your birthright!  Too often the measly price that is offered is testimony to how little regard the church has for liberty.  Be different!

Joy and Peace in True Believing

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

Believing is a difficult subject to discuss and not only this scripture but the whole good news message is based upon believing.  

There is a short story that may help to display what the word “believe” really means.

 One day on the way home from work I drove past a home that was having a garage sale.  Display amongst all of the stuff was and old rickety chair. 

I bought the chair for a buck thinking that it would be a perfect picture story from my weekly Bible study.

I carried the chair to my study and placed it gently in the center of the group.  I then asked each member of the study to give me their opinions n the chair.  As the words “old”, “unique”, ugly” as well as many others were thrown out I wrote the list of words down.  After the discussion faded   I repeated the list of words and summed up the discussion.  I then turned their attention to the purpose for which the chair had been built.  “Do you think that the chair would hold you if you were to sit on it”? 

 

There, again, were various opinions on the question.  After a few minutes I turned to one of those who had stated his confidence in the chair’s structure.  “Will you take a walk over to the chair and sit on it now”?

See, we don’t really believe that the chair will hold us off of the floor if unless we are willing to sit on the chair.  All of the discussion and all of the theorizing didn’t change the fact that the chair was either sufficient or it was not.

The amplified Bible uses the following descriptors whenever the word faith or belief is used: “ trusts in, clings to, relies on”

It is this type of believing that the above scripture applies.

How do you know if you have that type of belief?  Let’s look again at the scripture.  Joy and peace are wrapped up with the believing.  One cannot separate the three.  Joy and peace always go with believing. 

It is within truly believing, including the deep joy and peace, that we begin to experience the real personal power of the Holy Spirit.  As this connection is made the world and the worldly powers arrayed against us begin to crumble!