Never Leave You!

This will be the last message for 2010 and I wanted to reach out to those who feel alone and constantly wonder if they have been forgotten.  Everyone has a story to tell.  For the majority even Christians feel, unloved, defeated, brokenhearted, helpless, or worse without hope.


I am here to tell you today that;


GOD LOVES YOU! 


HE SEES YOU! 


HE KNOWS! 


HE IS WITH YOU! 


HE IS YOUR REFUGE!  


HE IS YOUR PROVIDER! 


GOD MAKES A WAY WHERE THERE SEEMS TO BE NO WAY!


In Deuteronomy God declares he will never leave you nor forsake you…


Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)


The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”


I find these words to be more than just comforting, God goes before you to lead you, it excited me to know that every step I take God takes and He sees me as so much more than others see.  My friend you are the same way God sees you as so much more and takes delight in the things that you do!  In Hebrews we are reminded of these very same words;


Hebrews 13:5 (MWBE)


Don’t give money a prominent place in your thoughts; realize that what you already have is priceless! He has said that he will never quit on you or abandon you!  (Joshua 1:5) That is reason enough for total and continual contentment!


Whatever the situation or circumstance that you are going through, never forget that God loves you.  He will never leave you nor forsake you.  You might be saying; but you don’t know the things I have done.  I am here to tell you God does, you are forgiven and Jesus has paid your debt!  Take comfort in knowing that the Blood of Jesus covers the Mercy Seat and God sees your sins no more! 


In the Gospel of Matthew and also in John we find the words of Jesus saying,


Matthew 28:20 (NIV)


…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”


John 16:33 (Amplified)


I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]


God sees you as priceless!  He loves you so much that he sent his son Jesus to die for you.  Yes, when Jesus was on the cross his thoughts were of YOU!  In the Gospel of John God gives you the Spirit of Truth who lives in you and will be in you.  
   
John 14:16-20 (Amplified)


16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever-
17 The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, desolate, bereaved, forlorn, helpless]; I will come [back] to you.
19 Just a little while now, and the world will not see Me any more, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
20 At that time [when that day comes] you will know [for yourselves] that I am in My Father, and you [are] in Me, and I [am] in you.


Let the Father who loves you open your eyes so that you will see when things seem unbearable, 


He is with you.  


He will comfort you.  


He will Guide you.  


He will light up your sky!


You are Blessed!  God loves you!

Check The Fruit

I have been in many circles both business and religious where the term “check the fruit” has been used.  In business this meant to see what they had accomplished, how big was their network?  What organizations were they a part of.  Are they asked to speak at functions?  In Church it was more like what kind of witness are they, do they witness?   Do they give of their time, talents, and money?  How many followers or members do they have?  How often are they asked to teach or preach? 


Let’s take a moment and see what the Word of God says when it comes to fruit.  First let’s turn to Matthew 12:33, I am going to read it from two translations in hopes to bring more understanding.  Also I want to remind you that Jesus is speaking here as a Jew to the Jews under the old covenant.   


Matthew 12:33 (KJV)


Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.


In the Amplified Bible it is translated this way;


Matthew 12:33 (Amplified Bible)


Either make the tree sound (healthy and good), and its fruit sound (healthy and good), or make the tree rotten (diseased and bad), and its fruit rotten (diseased and bad); for the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit.


“For the tree is known by his fruit.”  We all know that an apple tree produces apples and pear tree produces pears.  We look at the fruit to identify what the tree is.  When it comes to the believer the fruit does not determine their salvation, it is an expression of Jesus who dwells in you.  Righteousness or right standing is a gift because of the finished work of Jesus. There is nothing more or less that we as believers can do to produce what Jesus has already done. The first fruit of the spirit is Love. Rest in God and everything else comes effortlessly. Fulfilling the great commission should be this way and not considered work. It is Christ in us that produce the fruit.  In Paul’s letter Galatians 5:22-23 is where you will find these expressions, again I am going to read from both the KJV and the Amplified translation.
  
Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)


 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.


Galatians 5:22-23 (Amplified Bible)


22 But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,
23 Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].


What you see here is God, “If you see me you see the Father”, it is nothing you have to strive for, since Christ is in you and you in Him the fruits are there all along, like a gift waiting to be opened and enjoyed.  The finished work of Jesus fulfilled his words in Matthew.  The tree of Life bears good fruit!  In total contrast to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree of life bears fruit effortlessly consistent with the life of our original design!


I will close with this, without the flow of Grace, fruit will not grow.  A person can be born again and because of wrong teaching the fruit does not manifest.  This can be explained even more in Ephesians reading from the Mirror Word translation.      


Ephesians 2:8-10 (MWBE)


8 Your salvation was a grace thing from start to finish, you had no hand in it; because it is all God's gift to you, because He believes in you.
9 If this could be accomplished through any action of yours then there would be ground for boasting, (but you did not even invent faith. It was His faith in you that made you believe in Him.)
10 We are engineered by His design, He manufactured us in Christ. (Greek, poeima, we are His poem, God finds inspired expression of Christ in us.) We are fully fit to do good. We are equipped to give attractive evidence of His likeness in us in everything we do.


Live life knowing that because of God’s Mercy and His faith in you to believe and receive the gift of righteousness that Grace and truth abounds and the fruit will manifest.  As you rest in Him it is effortless because of the expression of who He is in you.  You are good.  You are equipped to give evidence of His likeness in you.  Effortlessly…


You are Blessed… God Loves You!

The Promised Land!

What does the Promised Land mean to you?  


When I think back of the things that I have been taught and even expressed in my life, the first thing that comes to mind is the Israelites while they were in the wilderness God was with them always a cloud by day a pillar of fire by night.  God took care of them, clothed and feed them and then as they crossed over into the promised land it appeared that God was gone now they had to work.  


I remember the analogy of God has brought you out of Egypt and all your hardships and now with all of his provision you have been in the wilderness and you are on your way to crossing over into the promised land and that is where the work starts!  Now I don’t know about you but why would I want to go to a place that it appeared that God had left me and on top of that it was up to me and works to accomplish everything?  I think I would be looking at the people and saying let’s take a vote, who wants to stay?  


I am so thankful that God showed me the truth in that the Promised Land is God’s Rest!


You may ask, why do you say this or what makes you think that?  I found this answer in a lot of different ways, and to me it simply just makes since.  I did find Hebrews gives this answer more validity.  Now remember that when reading the Bible it is good to ask, who was this written to?  So of course Hebrews was written to the Jew and they had an understanding of the Old Covenant and its teachings.


Let’s turn now to Hebrews chapter 4 starting with the 4th verse;


Hebrews 4:4-11 (MWBE)


4 Scripture records the seventh day as being introduced for the prophetic celebration of God’s perfect work. What God saw satisfied his scrutiny.  (Behold, it is very good... and God rested from all his work. Gen.1:31, 2:2; God saw more than His perfect image in Adam, He also saw the Lamb and His perfect work of redemption! Rev.13:8)
5 In Psalm 95 the same seventh day metaphor is reiterated: "O, that they would enter my rest!"
6 It is clear then that the there is still an opportunity to enter into that rest which Israel failed to access because of their unbelief, even though they were the first to hear the good news of God’s intention to restore mankind to the same Sabbath that Adam and Israel had lost.
7 So, now again many years later, he points specifically to an extended opportunity when he announces in David's prophecy, "Today when hearing my voice, do not do so with a calloused heart. Be faith sensitive."
8 If Joshua, who led the new generation of Israel out of the wilderness  (where their parents perished through unbelief), had succeeded in leading them into the final Rest that God intended, David would not so many years later have referred to yet another day  (that still remains as an open invitation to mankind to enter into their rest: the living blueprint of their design. This confirms that the history of Israel was a mere shadow and prophetic type of that Promise that was yet to be fulfilled.)
9 The conclusion is clear: the original rest is still in place for God’s people.  (The people of this planet are the property of God, Ps.24:1)
10 God’s rest celebrates His finished work; whoever enters into God’s rest immediately abandons his own efforts to complement what God has already perfected.  (The language of the law is “do”; the language of grace is “done.”)
11 Let us therefore be prompt to understand and fully appropriate that rest and not fall again into the same trap that snared Israel in unbelief.


People have to come to the realization that it is not what they can do to be like Jesus, it is not even asking the question, what would Jesus do?  It is participating in what Christ is in you.  Jesus is your Sabbath-Rest!  

In Psalms you can see it described this way:

Psalm 71:3 (KJV)

3 Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.

This is my interpretation of this verse; 

Jesus you are my Tabernacle, where I find Rest, your finished work is my Salvation, In Christ I dwell. 

God has always declared man's rest to be in him, and his love to be the only real happiness of the soul; and faith in his promises, through his Son, to be the only way of entering that rest. 


In closing I want to read this passage that I used in an earlier message.  I believe it relates to this one as well and bears repeating;


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."


So enter into the Promised Land that God has for you, enter into God’s Rest!


God loves you!

The Prince of Peace!

Yesterday I spent part of the day getting out the decorations so my home will soon be transformed and to add to it we had our first snow fall so in many ways you could definitely say it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Today’s message could be considered a Christmas message and though I celebrate Christ daily the birth of Jesus is a joyous occasion reminding us of the greatest gift of all. The message spoken by the angels at the time of his birth was of peace.


If you would, turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke chapter 2 starting with the 13th verse:


Luke 2:13-14 (KJV)


13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.


And on earth peace! When you think of this what comes to mind? 


At the time of creation God created man and placed him in the Garden of Eden.  A place that today would be described as the ultimate vacation get away full of peace and tranquility.  A place where in the cool of the day you can walk and talk with God and fellowship with Him the way is was meant to be.   For Adam the only thing that he had to do to stay was to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  We all know the story he did eat and was escorted out of the Garden.  His life of true peace was gone, sin and death reigned.  The world was now definitely not the way God meant it to be.


But God had a plan, aren’t you glad God had a plan?  Praise God, I am!


In Romans 5:19 (Amplified Bible) we read:


For just as by one man's disobedience (failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness) the many were constituted sinners, so by one Man's obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him).


What one man Adam gave away, another man Jesus will take back, a hero, a deliverer.


In Isaiah 9:6 Jesus is described this way:  


For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 


What does peace mean to you?  Some might say no more wars, others might say no more struggles, while others say being carefree.  You might even say I want this peace in my life, but how do I get it? In:


John 16:31-33 (Amplified Bible)


31 Jesus answered them, Do you now believe? [Do you believe it at last?]
32 But take notice, the hour is coming, and it has arrived, when you will all be dispersed and scattered, every man to his own home, leaving Me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
33 I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]


So what does that mean? To the unbeliever, I say believe.  Can it really be that simple?  Yes!  As a believer you could probably say that I know that the birth of Jesus was to bring peace back into the world.  I know that Jesus lived, died, resurrected and will return.  I know he did it all for me, but you need to understand I don’t have this peace you are talking about.  


Well brother, I know exactly what you are saying, I have been there, and I have the T-shirt to prove it!  The problem is most people when they read the above passage they agree with what they relate to, thinking about tribulation, trials, distress, and frustration and they miss it.  Jesus said, “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world!”  Today it could be said this way, “Be happy, I took care of it for you!”  Be confident in knowing that yes there will be storms raging all around you but know you can rest in knowing that Jesus has rebuked the storms and continually says “Peace be still!” 


As we move forward in this Christmas season, remember the reason for the season, the birth of love given out of love for everyone because of the love of the Father! Let us also remember the gift of peace that Jesus gave to each and everyone of us before he proclaimed, “It is finished”.   


John 14:27 (Amplified Bible)


Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]


Throughout His life before and after His resurrection Jesus constantly spoke of peace.  So today go in peace knowing that Jesus wants you to have a peaceful life and that He wants that peace to abundantly abound in your life.  Go and tell others of this peace that passes all understanding and let them know that Jesus is “The Prince of Peace”!


I close today with this passage found in;


Philippians 4:6-7 (Amplified Bible)


6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. 
7 And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.


Remember the reason for the season, Merry Christmas!


God loves you!