How Do You See God?

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This is the question I have for you today.  How do you see God?  Some might see God as ruthless and mean casting judgment on everything that they do.  What is unfortunate is that most churches today have reinforced this picture of God by proclaiming from the pulpit that when some huge tragedy happens that God caused it to happen to change people of their evil and wicked ways.  Or to make it more personal when things aren’t going right in your own life, you get asked what did you do to grieve God and cause this to happen?  You can call it brain washing, deception, I call it being mislead.  

This misconception can rob you of the very heart of God.  Once you see God for who He truly is you will find a relationship that is so liberating that I can promise you, your life will never be the same.

Jesus said in the Gospel of John “To see me is to see the Father”.  If this is the case how then do you see Jesus?  Some see him as the little baby lying in a manger, some see him as a prophet, in answering the question that Jesus asked himself Peter said, “You are the Christ!”  The Bible also says that Jesus went about doing good… for God was with Him. John the Baptist in the Gospel of John sees Jesus this way;

John 1:29 (Amplified Bible)

The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Look! There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world!

If you could take everything that Jesus did and continues to do and put it all into one word that word would have to be “LOVE”.  “To see me is to see the Father”

God Is Love!

In 1 John 4:7-10 (The Message) we find God described this way;

7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

I would like to take the time to read 1 Corinthians 13, it is known as the love chapter in the New Testament and is taught many times with the concept of how we should love each other and though this is true because of God’s love in us, I want to take the time to read it and let it give you the description of God’s love for you.  Read it this way in verses 3-10 replace the word Love with God. 

1 Corinthians 13 (The Message)

The Way of Love

1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 

2 If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 

3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without (God) love. 

   Love (God) never gives up. 

   Love (God) cares more for others than for self. 

   Love (God) doesn't want what it doesn't have. 

   Love (God) doesn't strut, 

   (God) Doesn't have a swelled head, 

   (God) Doesn't force itself on others, 

   (God) Isn't always "me first," 

   (God) Doesn't fly off the handle, 

   (God) Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, 

   (God) Doesn't revel when others grovel, 

   (God) Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, 

   (God) Puts up with anything, 

   (God) Trusts God always, 

   (God) Always looks for the best, 

   (God) Never looks back, 

   But keeps going to the end.

8-10 Love (God) never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

11 When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

12 We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 

13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Does this change or help reinforce how you see God? I hope so!

In Ephesians 1:3-6 (The Message) God is described to be the God of Glory

3-6 How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

Love is who God is and once you are able to take hold of this your whole life will change.  Jesus says it this way in; 

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)

 28-30 "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

I will close with this, keep your eyes on Jesus, and believe that what He has is yours.  

Live your life knowing that God loves you and remember the words from Paul in:

1 Thessalonians 5:9- 11 (The Message)

 9-11 God didn't set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we're awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we're alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep on doing it.

Jesus said, “To see me is to see the Father”

God Loves You!

No Condemnation

Today I am going to talk about a subject that is so important and most of the time misunderstood.  The subject is no condemnation.  What does that mean to you?  Hopefully we can come to a clearer understanding as we go through this teaching.


What has brought this subject to be more real to me lately is when God got my attention about it to the extent that it felt like God walked up behind me and popped me in the head.  All I had done was make a statement under my breath about a pastor that said something that I did not agree with.  Sounds simple enough, but immediately the Holy Spirit said to me; “I do not condemn them, why do you?”  This was like a wake up call! 


A friend of mine made this statement; “My thought processes no longer facilitate condemnation, what a happy way to live...”  This makes so much since, but the question is; how do we get to that point? 


In John we are told a story that I would think everyone is familiar with, if you are not that is okay, I am reading in the 8th chapter starting in verse 3;


John 8:3-12 (KJV)
 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.


In verse 10, Jesus asked where are those thine accusers?  Who were the accusers Jesus was talking about?  I see three if not possibly four.  Right away most would say the scribes and Pharisees.  Today who would that be?  The first accuser that comes to my mind is satan.  So you might ask, so are you saying the scribes and Pharisees were of satan?  No, what I am saying is, that today if anyone, (believer and non-believer) condemns another they are being like a puppet on a string being used by satan to divide the brethren.  The tool being used here in this passage is the law that was given to Moses.  Unfortunately today this tool even though it has been fulfilled by what Jesus did for us is still being used today.  Even by those who say they believe in the Grace message.  I believe what God has revealed to me is that when it comes to Grace strive to be as gracious as He is in dealing in these matters.  Be like Christ, stoop down, take a deep breath, act like you don’t even hear the accusations, if you have to respond, give yourself a minute to think about what your response will be.  The second accuser that comes to mind is the woman.  Self condemnation to me is of the worst kind, it is a killer, it is the #1 cause for suicide and another tool used by satan to make you think that this is how others see you including God.  The third accuser is one I just touched on and that is thinking that God is an accuser, that because of all your failures and shortcomings you are afraid of God and feel unworthy.  Nothing could be any farther from the truth, but I can promise you satan will do his best to get you to believe it. 

Don’t’!  I am here to tell you it is a lie! God is not accusing you, satan is!  In Romans we read;


Romans 8:1 (KJV)
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.


This is such a liberating verse but the problem that I have found among believers is that they grab hold of the personal concept of the verse and leave out the fact that it also pertains to the way they should deal with others as well.  The word condemnation is defined, the act of condemning, the state of being condemned.  The word condemn means, to judge. I want you to hear this if you do not hear anything else that I am saying God is not mad at you. God does not judge you. Because of the finished work of Jesus, God does not believe what satan says about you. God loves you!


To bring this to a close let’s turn to;


Isaiah 54:8-10 (KJV)
 8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
 9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
 10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.


What Isaiah is talking about here is Jesus and the covenant that God made with him on our account.  He said just like the covenant that I made with Noah that I will not flood the earth again and then gave us a rainbow to remember what was said.  Here God makes covenant with Jesus and says “My favor is on thee, I will no more be angry, or judge thee, I will always love you, this covenant of peace cannot be taken away.”  Because of this covenant God made with Jesus for those who believe in him there is no condemnation!  As God gave the rainbow as a sign of remembrance, the blood of Jesus is a sign to all that believes and because of the Blood there is no condemnation.  


Jesus says, to all of us today, “Neither do I condemn thee.” 


God loves You!

I Cry Grace, grace!

The message today brings us first to the Gospel of John 14:12-13 and I am reading from the Amplified translation.  Jesus is speaking with the disciples and says;


I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father. And I will do [I Myself will grant] whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son. 


“If anyone steadfastly believes in Me”, the word steadfastly is an adjective that means fixed, unchanging, constant or unswerving; Jesus never said you have to believe in yourself he said believe in Me! 


There is a passage in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus has just come down from the mountain of transfiguration and this how it reads;


Reading Matthew 17: 14-20 KJV:


14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
 15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
 16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
 17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
 18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.


How many times have you looked at this, or was even taught, “You have to have faith and speak to your mountain and it shall be removed, for nothing is impossible.”  Romans 12:3 tells us that God has dealt every man a measure of faith. This tells me faith is not the problem. Now let’s take a minute and look at verse 20 breaking it down starting at the end not the beginning.  It says nothing shall be impossible unto you, when will nothing be impossible to you? Once the mountain has been removed, what is this mountain Jesus is talking about that has to be removed?  The mountain of unbelief! 


I know nobody here has never done this but in the past because of what I was being taught I would speak to my mountains of debt, sickness, bills and everything or anything else you can think of and saying remove hence to yonder place, just to beat myself up thinking that I did not have enough faith.  The whole time not realizing that if I wanted nothing to be impossible for me all I really had to do was speak to the mountain of unbelief!  Sounds good to me, how about you?  The next question that comes to mind then would be what are we supposed to say to this mountain?


Let’s look in the Old Testament book of Zechariah, I will give everybody a minute to find it.  To make it easy start at the end of the Old Testament and turn back about 5 or 6 pages and you will find it.  In reading the Old Testament I am always looking to how it reflects, relates, or points to Jesus and I praise God for the revelation I got when lead to this scripture.  Everybody found it?  Looking at chapter 4 starting with verse 6, I know everyone here can probably recite or has heard the last part but let’s read the whole verse;


Zechariah 4:6 


Then he answered and spake unto me, saying; This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.


To let you know what this is talking about; Zechariah the prophet has been awaked from his sleep and an angel was talking to him telling him what to say to Zerubbabel. The Israelites had been taken captive into Babylon and are slowly being set free returning to Jerusalem. Even though they had tried they were unable to get any headway when it came to rebuilding the temple.  Zerubbabel is the governor of Judah and has been put in charge of overseeing the rebuilding of the temple. Zerubbabel is a compound Hebrew name that when broken down Zerub means to dry-up and babel means confusion so his name actually means to dry up – confusion.  Are you ready to dry up some confusion?  Let’s read on in verse 7:


Zechariah 4:7


Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.  


Did you see what that just said?  What are we supposed to say to the mountain? Grace, grace!  The opposite of might and power is Grace.


Does any of this look familiar?  Looking at this verse the same way we did the earlier verse in Matthew, starting with the end. Let’s read it this way; Crying Grace, grace unto it, bring the headstone that shouts, “It is Finished!” dry up the confusion and make plain the mountain of unbelief!  Or we can look at it this way; because of Jesus we have Grace, as believers we are his temple, the headstone is the law, 2 Corinthians 3:7 the ministration of death written on stones!   Whenever you find unbelief, dry up the confusion shouting the law has been fulfilled, then cry Grace, grace and watch the mountain of unbelief be made plain!  It is not by might nor by power but by the Holy Spirit working for you.  For the believer Grace makes everything effortless.  


I will close with this, Mark's version of the passage in Matthew 17:20 is found in Mark 9:23;


Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
  
Here Jesus tells us once more don’t worry, believe that I believe and all things are possible.  Know that God is concerned with every minor detail in your life.  Jesus said believe in me and you will be able to do all things he had done and more.  While on the cross Jesus took all the unbelief so you can have the opposite and believe.  Jesus came dried up the confusion, fulfilled the law, and cried out Grace, grace unto the world, rebuilding his temple in each one of us. Jesus said; “Believe in Me”!


I thank you Lord for showing us that when we cry Grace, grace pertaining to anything the mountain of unbelief will be removed and nothing shall be impossible!


As always leave here knowing that;


You are Blessed and God Loves You!

Child of THE KING!

It is my prayer today that ALL (believers and nonbelievers) will come to the realization that all power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing is ours because... Worthy is the Lamb! Sacrificed so that we could become Sons and Daughters of such a great inheritance... why?... because God Loves You!


We are going to start today in Genesis 1:26 & 27 


And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.


In the beginning God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.  Have you ever thought of why God made man that way?  To make as a resemblance of who He is?  Webster’s defines resemblance as the quality or state of resembling; especially: correspondence in appearance or superficial qualities: a point of likeness: similarity.  This does not just mean outer appearance.  Likeness means a copy.  God gave man dominion over everything… Adam’s intelligence was so high that he named every living creature.
God made man to have relationship with him.  He made man in such a way that he would always have something in common with him.  Don’t you like to associate with people who you have things in common with?  Even after the fall of Adam, when he broke the only law given… though shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and brought death into the world.  From that point on man knew good and he knew evil.  I find it amazing that God still longed to have relationship with His creation.  He loved him enough to first clothe him and at that moment put in to place a plan to redeem mankind for eternity. 


From the beginning of time God has never left man alone… it has been man that has rejected God.  But then after all that had happened God sent His Son to not just save the world but to bring mankind back into complete fellowship with Him.  There are times that I just sit in awe of what Jesus did and all that it truly means!  The other day I watched a movie the Prince of Persia.  It is based on a story of an orphaned boy who when the King saw him was moved and adopted him as a son.  This in turn gave him a complete inheritance of the kingdom.  Just think that today because of Jesus we all are adopted sons and daughters.  And the Kingdom inheritance of all power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing is ours because... Worthy is the Lamb!  Jesus says’s it this way in the book of John:


John 10:9-11 (Amplified Bible)


9 I am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live). He will come in and he will go out [freely], and will find pasture. 10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).  11 I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep.


Even after all that has happened God made a way where there seemed to be no way, mankind was created for relationship and for so long through the law that Jesus came to fulfill, mankind has been living as servants when God has always intended for man to live as Kings to take dominion and rule over the earth.  


I am going to close with this, eating of the fruit of the tree did not make Adam & Eve good or evil it gave them the knowledge of good and evil and it has been through what mankind has done with that knowledge to cause either good or evil to prevail.  Every man, woman, and child has this knowledge but because God loved us so much He sent his Son Jesus to redeem us from the curse of the law of sin and death.  The Bible tells us in Ephesians:


Ephesians 2:5-7 (Amplified Bible)


Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation). 6 And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One). 7 He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.


God wants relationship with you today, He doesn’t want you to jump through any hoops, stop what you are doing, clean up your mess.  God wants you the way you are, when he looks at you he sees Jesus, all your sins, past, present and future have been forgiven.  Come as you are, Jesus said “I am the Door, anyone who enters through me will be saved!”  God is waiting to welcome you into the Royal family, a child of THE KING!


God Loves You!