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Heirs
Yesterday as I was about to cook breakfast, I was thinking
about the scriptures in Romans 4:13-15… which states the following:
“For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.”
Now if anyone reads the pages for what it plainly states the meaning is simple. Those of us who believe in ad follow Christ we are “heirs of the world”, ot through the old testament law, but through faith in Jesus.
In-fact there are many scriptures in the Bible that talk of us being heirs of the world, another one is Romans 8:17:
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Right away let me calm your fears about the word used in the scripture above: “suffer”.
Immediately when most people read that word they cringe… Relax, the Greek word there is hypoménō which has the primary meaning of “to stay under”, or “to remain”.
What is actually meant here is that we should “suffer” by staying on this earth while we are ministering to others instead of simply escaping up to heaven immediately, which would be more desirable.
The scripture is not referring to terrible plagues and diseases to be heaped upon the believers in order to give us righteousness… No in-fact we can not under any circumstances earn God’s righteousness, the only way for us to have access to it is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is His gift that makes us righteous and His gift alone… By the same token He took all of our diseases, all of our sufferings onto Himself so that w today could be free of those curses, and it is a shame today that so few of us (even preachers) fail to believe in the Hearing and Blessings that Jesus paid such a high price to impart onto us.
Another group are those that claim that healing is no longer for today… really if that is the case then I would be dead at least five times by now, as God has healed me of several deadly diseases as my faith has taken hold and protected me from several potentially fatal accidents by His mercy. And I am not mentioning that to say that I am a super holy extra special person; No my friends, we all have access to the same blessings and mercies of God; if we would just simply have faith in Him!
I used to be one who rejected the teaching of supernatural healing, and it took me having to get laid flat on my back, three times, before I softened my hardened-heart and looked at the teachings with a truly open mind and a humble spirit… that maybe I didn’t know it all.
So this is what the Holy Spirit said to me Yesterday in the kitchen…
“when does an heir usually receive their inheritance?”
“When the owner dies.” I answered,
The Holy Spirit responded:
“The owner already died”.
Posted in Spiritual
Wait Upon the Lord
Some people have asked me why I don’t post on this blog every day. Well some times I do post each day, but mostly not. So today I will answer that question.
It is not that I don’t care, or that I am too busy to write (not always anyway). The simple fact of it is that, I only write something new when the Lord moves me to write. I have had numerous experiences and lessons learned that when I try to do anything of myself and with my own strength or abilities, that it ends up falling apart.
One of the very plain lessons taught by Jesus is found in John 15:5, where Jesus says the following:
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
My own experience has been that whenever I have tried to make things happen by myself without the direction and guidance of the Lord, it has caused me nothing but frustration and I have ultimately been crushed under the weight of it.
In times past, I have let people steamroll me into doing things that I really have not felt the blessing of the Lord to do… but I went ahead and did them because I felt that everyone else has wanted me to, and in the end it brought me nothing but regret; and I have had to apologize to people and the Lord also because of it later on.
The Lord makes it clear that He wants us to wait on Him, to wait for His guidance and directing voice.
Yes there are times when He also may want us to take a step in faith, but often times that step in faith is preceded by a time of prayer where we must wait for His answers.
We were never intended to lead ourselves or to be independent from His lead as our Shepherd. It is His job to lead us and our job to follow Him.
So the answer to the question of why I do not write here everyday is a simple one… I wait for His direction on what to write.
This does not mean that I do not spend time with Him everyday, and it does not mean that I am not continually studying His Word. We all should spend time everyday with the Lord and stay connected to Him. Not a day should go by where we don’t learn something new about our Lord.
Often times when the Lord teaches me a new thing, I take several days to meditate on it – to chew on it and pick it apart (as I have written about in the past) before I then feel it is the right time to share it with someone else.
And while I am very thankful that people are so anticipating of my new posts, please do not let this blog be your only source of scripture. I would encourage everyone to spend some personal time in the actual Bible and prayer time alone with God.
That is the best way to stay connected to Him.
Posted in Spiritual
Why?
In the wake of the September 11 Day of Remembrance, a question I keep hearing all around the world is why? Why did God allow the attacks to happen?
It’s an honest question and an understandable one. I of course have been thinking about it as well, and it all basically comes back to the answer that most people are probably tired of hearing now… free will.
Now I know that it may sound like a canned-response or some kind of a cop-out, but the truth is, for 9-11, as well as the reason for all evil in the world is sin and free will.
If there was no free will in the world, there would be no true choice to love. For there to truly be a choice to love there must be a choice not to love. Sadly some people choose the latter of the two options.
People filled with hate and confusion caused the attacks on the eleventh of September, not God; though unfortunately some people take their anger and frustration out on Him, rather than to seek His help and love.
There’s never anything good about loss of life, but today as I listen to the stories of the survivors and the family members of the victims of 9-11, their stories are truly inspiring and the hand of God can be seen holding them in the midst of the event.
The way that I see God in 9-11 is that even through an attack filled with hate, to listen to the survivors as they proclaim that they held on and persisted and persevered, by thinking not of themselves but their families, that is true love – that is the love of God, that surpasses and ignores self for the sake of another.
Jesus showed that love for us when He willingly bore our sins in our place. When he could’ve gave up but pressed-on through unimaginable suffering so that we would no have to.
The heroes of flight 93 showed that same love, as they sacrificed themselves to spare others from further suffering.
That is how I see God in September 11th, not as a mean God judging America; nor as an absentee God who just doesn’t care… but as a helpful loving God who through in the midst of man-made tragedy, walks with the victims, and strengthens us by showing His mercy and love and who allows us to ultimately emerge stronger and more prepared or the future.
Our enemy would love to have us abandon our faith, and simply be bitter at God, but as we stay connected to Him, we will realize that He will strengthen us in our times of need.
“For I know thet houghts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will
hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
(Jeremiah 29:11-13)
Posted in Spiritual
Ask, Seek, Knock
Like many scriptures, Matthew 7:7-8 is a rather famous one that has been repeated and quoted many times by both followers and non-followers of Christ. It is also one which I have heard all throughout my life, but never really understood, and it states the following:
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
Now on the surface it seems quite simple, and it may indeed be simple to some of you, but speaking only for myself I can say, hat though I have heard this scripture plenty of times, I always misunderstood it as, ask and receive. Stop.
Of course some of you may say “well James, it does say to ask and receive”. Yes, asking is the first step, but it is the first step in a set of three-step instructions.
Jesus is telling us here one of the pears of faith. Think of it this way: I go up to my Father, and I ask him for candy, and He says sure son, go find the candy you want and I will buy it for you.”
Now I have completed step one, I have asked… now I am onto step two, seeking.
Now I look for a bunch of candy stores, and compile a list. Now I have completed step two, and am on to step three, knocking.
I go to each candy store and ask if they have the candy I want and how much it costs, and now my Father will buy it for me.
This of course is a simplistic worldly example of a spiritual principle. In more spiritual terms, what Jesus is trying to teach in the scripture verses above is that we first are to ask Him for what we want (in accordance with His will), then in faith that He shall work it out for us, we are to proceed with the plan, trusting in Him completely.
To use a real example from my own life: There was a computer game I really wanted as a child. I asked my parents for it, and they told me that I would get it for my birthday (which was still several months away). Yet even though the wait was long, I had complete trust that the game was already mine because it was promised me. In-fact I was so very certain of this fact that I researched all the strategy guides for the game, and talked about play-tactics and styles with friends as if the game was already at my house!
That, in its simplest form is an example of faith… the faith of a child, the kind of faith that the Lord loves the most.
All of the promises of God are most assuredly ours. He does not lie, and all of His promises are true. Our problem today is that we truly do not believe.
If we today were in the same situation that I was with my game, we would probably say “I will not waste my time researching these strategies because I might not really receive the game.”
Or…
”I’ll wait to see if I get the game first, and then research these things.”
We suffer from a severe lack of faith in our Lord today, and as a result we don’t see the things He promises us anymore.
We can’t have a real connection with our vine if we do not get to know Him or trust His words.
So today, let us start forming a real connection to Him; trusting in Him and watching as He comes through with what He has promised us.
Posted in Spiritual
Sweeping Floors
Knowing that my parents both have back-pain and injury, I often help out by cleaning their floors for them in addition to my own; sweeping he hard-tile and vacuuming the carpets. It’s sort of my way for repaying all the years I was an unruly child. Now obviously I’m not around all of the time, but most of the time I try to help out several times per week.
Lately I’ve noticed myself starting to become frustrated with the frequency at which I have had to do this… It ha seemed as though I vacuum one day, and the next day it looks like it hasn’t been vacuumed for a week!
I yank out the vacuum again in frustration, and then as clear as the daylight, I hear in my heart the Lord speaking to me: Son, what right do you have to be angry cleaning their floors each day, when I clean your sins every day as well?
Immediately the anger left me as I knew that He as completely correct. The Lord, who was under no obligation to save us, did a much greater work, and continues to cleanse us every day through the water of His word.
Cleaning the floors for my parents is a simple thing by comparison. Now do I wish that they perhaps would not dirty it quite so much? Of course I do; but by the same line of reasoning, I am sure that God wishes that I wouldn’t dirty myself with daily sins so much as well. Yet He is always faithful to cleanse me, and more-so He does it with grace and without complaining. The Bible states this plainly in Lamentations 3:22-23:
“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
So today I am making it a point to not be angry when I have to help others so often (really in general it’s what we are all called to do) but to remember how merciful the Lord is on me, and as an extension shine that mercy onto others.
Posted in Spiritual
Knowing vs. Knowing Of
There was a time when I thought that being a “good follower of Christ” meant memorizing scripture verbatim, or knowing every bit of Bible trivia and having instant recall of it.
And while it’s true that those things are important and useful in some cases (yes Bible trivia can be of some use), none of that ever got me any closer to the Lord, not really.
Why is that? I asked myself that question repeatedly for quite a while (some years) and after going through some battles where the enemy kept trying to convince me that the reason I wasn’t getting any closer to God is because He didn’t want anything to do with me – I finally came to an answer… It’s the difference between knowing and knowing of.
Let’s imagine for a moment that you are browsing one of the many personal ads or internet dating profiles out there. If you were to memorize the dating profile of someone you were interested in, you would know some things like their likes and dislikes, you would know some about their personality like what they find interesting, true.
Yet to you at that point it would still all be only intellectual head-knowledge. It’s only after spending real time with the person communicating with them and sharing between you that a real connection would be formed.
Much like in my past though, many people do not move beyond that first stage of just basically reading the profile of God in the Bible, and knowing Him only as words on a page without every really spending any time with Him.
They Know Of Him, but they do not Know Him!
The Lord desires to be known personally, by everyone, yet it is our duty to seek Him out. Deuteronomy 4:29-31 states the following:
“But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.”
Also Isaiah 55:6-7 adds the following, that it is both our duty and our urgent task to seek out a relationship with the Lord:
“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
There will eventually come a day when the Lord can no longer be found or known. So it is important that we seek Him while there is still time.
Reach out to the Lord today; grab His hand while He is still holding it out. Know the true peace and joy that comes from knowing Him and not simply knowing of Him.
Posted in Spiritual
