God Expresses His Love Through Acts of Power

 In Philippians 3:10, the Apostle Paul says that He wants to “know Christ, and the power that flows out of His resurrection.” The phrase “to know” in our English Bibles, is translated from the Greek word ginosko. With this word, Paul is saying that he wants to enjoy the deepest level of intimacy possible with Christ. Paul does not just want to know about Jesus, but interact with Jesus in a loving relationship.  We know that the core of God’s nature is a selfless love that is poured out to everyone that will receive it. God loves to love and be loved–God is love.

But Paul says that he not only wants to know Christ, but also wants to know, be intimate and interact personally with, the power that comes from Christ in His resurrection (the Amplified Bible says here that he wants “in the very same way” that he knows Christ, to know the power of the resurrection).

It is an odd thing in modern Western Christian culture, that the two ideas of knowing Jesus, and knowing His power, have somehow become separated. Many Christians give themselves whole-heartedly to their salvation in terms of loving God, reading their Bibles, and following Christ in moral values, but want nothing to do with the Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible and empowers us to live a moral life. But in the early church, Christ, His love for people, and acts of power that manifest that love, all went hand in hand.

Had you told the woman with the issue of blood that she should just accept Jesus as her savior, but not bother Him for healing, I think she would have thought you were nuts. Do you think that the blind, the lame, the demon possessed people that Jesus healed understood that God loved them more prior to their being healed or after? God’s love for people is often manifested in some dramatic way that serves to cut through a person’s religious or secular, arguments against Him. God healing a sick person can do more to communicate His love, and drive both fear and shame out of their hearts, than anything else.

I read an article recently in which several foreign missionaries were being interviewed. Every one of them said that they had yet to see a person from a non-Christian culture accept Christ on the basis of western apologetics, (a reasoned argument for the truth of the Bible) but they had seen multitudes of people accept Christ after being healed or delivered from demonic activity. In other words, trying to convince them of our doctrine through logical arguments was a total failure until God showed up in power. Then they were ready to listen to the gospel message, which pointed them to a Christ that they already knew was real and alive.

They were all quick to say that they value the Bible highly, but Christianity is simply not just about doctrine, it is about knowing the Living God. Since we Christians were commissioned to reach the world as Christ’s witnesses, and since we were empowered with the Holy Spirit for the purpose of carrying out that mission, we should expect the power of God and the Word of God to work together just as they did in the Book of Acts.

Our role on earth is not just to carry a message about Christ, but to actually carry Christ. Spiritual growth is much more than simply learning more doctrine or experiencing greater self-control. It is the process whereby the Christian learns to steward the presence of God so that he can release Jesus to hurting people in everyday life. A growing awareness of the presence of God upon us, and a growing sensitivity to what He wants to do for people around us, should be the focus of our lives.

Holy Living

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no-one will see the Lord. See to it that no-one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Hebrews 12:14, 15)

If I were to ask you to make a list of your ten favorite Bible topics, ten things that you like to read about, study, or hear teaching on, would holiness be on that list? If it was, I think you would be in the minority among contemporary Christians. Holiness is simply not a popular subject with most believers today. I believe that there are two primary reasons for that. First, most believers have the mistaken idea that holiness is something that God is expecting of you, and that our lack of holiness makes us a continual disappointment to God, so we would rather just not think about it. Second, I think that people equate holiness with some specific outward look, or mannerisms, that they simply can’t relate to. Holiness does not always look like the SNL “Church Lady.”

Most people, if asked, would prefer to hear about the grace of God than holiness. A message on God’s grace usually reminds us that God is forgiving, He is on our side, He has provided something for us that enables us to have a great relationship with Him–and all of that is true. But what we fail to understand is that the grace of God and holiness are inseparable partners, not opposite sides of God’s personality.

The verses above show us that the Scripture prioritizes both the grace of God and holiness. These New Testament, this side of the cross, Christ centered, verses tell us that holiness is absolutely essential for anyone to ever see the Lord. That makes holiness a pretty significant concept! But in the next breath, the Holy Spirit reminds us not to miss the grace of God. Why? Because the grace of God, entering into relationship with the Father based on the free gift of salvation through Jesus, is what leads us to and produces, holiness in us. Holiness is not something God is requiring us to do, it is the expression of His nature through us as we live in relationship with Him by grace.

Take a look at Titus 2:11-14:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Let me explain something right here; holiness has two components to it. Holiness first means to belong uniquely and exclusively to God. It means you are His unique and prized possession. I know that being someone’s “possession” can have a negative connotation in human terms, but think about it in terms of love.  We might use that kind of poetic terminology when we think of a young man that loves his bride so completely that “he must have her, possess her for himself” so that he can love her forever – romantic huh? Well, God loves you so much that He simply had to have you. He made a way for that to happen through the cross of Christ. When you accept Christ of your own free will, you become His – this is holiness, sanctification, separation from the world, the devil, and the flesh, and separation to God.

The second aspect of holiness has to do with God-like behavior, so yes, some behaviors are holy and others are not. But listen, behavioral holiness is not something you achieve by trying to clean up your act; it is the beauty of God’s nature expressed through your life. As we live in grace, live in the love that God has for us, get a revelation of the position of righteousness and acceptance that He has given us, His nature begins to be seen in our lives–that’s holiness.

I’ll give you one example, and then leave it for today. In teaching us about righteousness (which is a position of acceptance that every believer has been given by God) my pastor used to use this illustration. He said that when you understand what God has done for you, and see yourself as God sees you, it is as if you have put on a new, clean, bright white suit. He would make the point that when you see yourself wearing that clean white suit, you don’t crawl under the car in those clothes and begin to change the oil (he said “owe-l” because he is a Texan, nevertheless…). The point is, that when we know WHO we are in Christ, we start to live differently. We don’t have to try not to sin, it just isn’t in our nature to sin, so we progressively live a more holy life.

Now, my wife would argue that I have many times come home from work or church, not dressed in a white suit by any means, but dressed in my nicer clothes, only to crawl under the car and begin to drain the oil. But see, the reason I do that is because I know that I am so good, that I can get away with it without getting a spot of oil on my good clothes. I just want to get it draining, and then I can go in, change clothes, eat lunch, and come back out to finish the job. Seriously, I convince myself of this over and over, and invariably I get my good clothes dirty. It’s the same with Christians and sin. Why do we tell ourselves over and over that just this once we can hold a grudge? Or think we can watch that movie and the sex and violence won’t get into our hearts? Or we can hang out with this group, in this place, and it won’t leave any stain on our faith? Why do we think that?

We are God’s! We belong to Him. We live by grace and faith, and His Spirit lives in us. Our nature is His nature, and therefore it is unnatural for us to live in sin. It leaves a stain every time. It’s just not who we are. So plunge into grace, ponder how much God loves you, think about your position in Him, know that you are uniquely and wonderfully His, and let the beauty of His nature shine through your life–that is holiness.

No Fear!

(2 Timothy 1:7) For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

When I was in grade school, there was one particular kid that I was afraid of. He was the older brother of one of my best friends, and for several years I let him push me around. He was older than me by a few years, much bigger and stronger, and he had a nasty disposition–no excuses, just facts.

This was a family that my family knew for many years. They were ranchers that ran cattle and horses. Later on they moved closer to where we lived and opened up a stable. The dad’s primary love was horses, so it was a good fit. The horses that we had from time to time all came from them, and I spent a lot of time down at their place riding and working in the fields and stables. The other members of the family were tough individuals, but the oldest boy, Jody, just had a bit of a mean streak. He kept a lot of us younger kids intimidated at all times. You just never knew what to expect from him, so you tried to keep your distance. He seemed to get a perverse joy from hurting or embarrassing us. If we had something he wanted, he would try to take it, and we would end up in the dirt.

Jody was a bully. I don’t use that term in the modern sense. These days it seems that any time one kid says or does anything that an adult finds even slightly out of line, the term bully comes out, the counselors flood in, and much hand-wringing ensues. Don’t get me wrong, I am not condoning genuinely bad or dangerous behavior, but when I was growing up, we were taught that the only way to get a bully off your back was to stand up to him. Please understand, no one brought a 9mm to school in those days, and I know that many of you live in a very different world. In those days, two kids having it out on the playground after school was not all that unusual. In fact, I can remember a couple of the male teachers supervising a scuffle or two, just to be sure that it didn’t get out of hand, and that it was “a fair fight.” Can you imagine the litigation that would bring today? The lawyers are licking their chops!

Anyway, I can remember, like it was yesterday, the very day that the whole situation with Jody turned around. I think I was about 11 years old by then. I don’t remember exactly what we were doing, but Jody’s younger brother who was one of my best friends, their much younger brother Newton, Jody, and I, were all outside their house messing around at something. As I recall, we were all having a good time, I said something, and Jody decided to hit me. I don’t think I even deserved it that time, but I could be wrong. I was sitting on a swing; he came in very suddenly and punched me hard in the mouth knocking me down. This was the moment that I had feared for years. I had sort of grappled with him several times, but he was so much bigger that it never lasted very long and I always lost. But I will never forget that moment; it was the first time I had really gotten hit by a full fist right in the face. Two things happened at once; I hit the ground, and I realized that after all this time, after all the backing down, hiding, staying out of his way, getting hit really didn’t hurt that much.

Now mom’s, you have to believe me here; this is a realization that every young man needs to have at some point in his life. It often comes in the same form it came to me, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. This is an important moment; the moment that you learn that what you have feared is nowhere near as debilitating as living under the fear itself.

It took just a second for me to realize that I would never be afraid of Jody again, and another second for me to launch off the ground and come back at him. I was going to take every minute that he had kept me down in all those years right out of his hide. I guess he could see it in my eyes, because he turned and ran as fast as he could and literally hid inside behind his mother. We were all scared of her, so I went back outside. Jody never ever bothered me again. I learned another lesson that day–bullies (real bullies, not kids that give another kid a dirty look) are cowards at heart.

Now, given our modern, fluffy, sensitive society, you may not like my story. But here is the point. The devil is nothing but a bully. He is a defeated enemy that has no right, no authority, and no power to steal from your life. But if you let him, he will push you around, keep you tied up in fear, and rob you blind at every turn.

Job discovered, after everything dear to him had been taken away, that the reason it happened was because he allowed fear into his life. He said, “The thing that I have so greatly feared, has come upon me (Job 3:25).” You see, it wasn’t God wreaking havoc in Job’s life, or the devil under God’s instructions. Job gave the devil access through fear. Fear attracts demonic activity like blood attracts sharks.

Don’t let it happen to you! When you find fear in any form, intimidation, worry, anxiety, sleepless nights, trying to creep into your life, pull out the name of Jesus and the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, and let the devil have it. The bible says that if we submit to God, and resist him, he will flee in stark terror from us. A bully is a bully. They are all the same. You can live your life with no fear!

Incline Your Ear

For the last several days, the phrase “incline your ear to the Lord” has been circulating in my heart and mind. The Scripture says a lot about inclining our ears and inclining our hearts to God. For example, Proverbs 2:1-5 says, “My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.” And, Proverbs 4:20 says, “My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.”

The term “incline” here means, to pay close attention to, to mark well, to regard, and to heed or obey. God is telling us to keep an ear tuned to Him at all times. He says that whenever we realize that He is saying something to us, we should pay close attention to it, find out what He is trying to communicate to us, and treat His words and instructions like something important and precious. We are encouraged to take a heart posture of readiness to move and obey, the instant that we hear the Lord speak.

Without getting off track from today’s point, let me say that we “hear God speak” in many ways. Many times we discern the voice of God as a sense of peace, or a lack of peace in our hearts about a situation, decision, or person in our lives. For example, if I notice that a specific member of our congregation keeps coming to mind, I will take time to pray for them, and many times contact them to see what is going on. I recognize in that instance that God may be trying to get my attention. Sometimes, a Scripture stands out to me, or I sense the Lord impressing a certain thought on my heart–this too is often the voice of the Holy Spirit. I am writing this article today, because this particular phrase from Scripture kept coming to mind, appearing in my reading, and coming up in some teachings that I was listening to. After a few days of that, being the brilliant light that I am, I figure out that God has a message for me, and for you as well, so I pay attention and follow up.

Sometimes we get frustrated with ourselves, or with God, because we just can’t figure out how to apply a verse like this in “real life.” Hopefully, by now, most of us have developed that habit of having a daily time in God’s Word and prayer. But when we leave that special time, how do we keep our ear inclined to the Lord? How do we live a busy life in a busy world, and still hear God?

It isn’t as hard as you might think. Actually, you probably do this all the time already. You probably have your ear inclined to something a lot of the time and you don’t even realize it. Here are a couple of examples:

I grew up driving air-cooled Volkswagen Beatles. That air-cooled engine ran REALLY hot by design, so you had to keep good oil in it, and you had to run it at some pretty high RPM’s by American standards, or you would blow it up. Driving those cars in the mountains of Colorado was an art, and I learned early to keep my ear tuned to that engine. Any new noise was noted, processed, and tracked down. During those years, I was also flying hang gliders. There is no airspeed indicator on a hang glider; instead you learn to sense your airspeed by the sound of the air going over the wing and the feel of the glider. Especially on launch and landing, it is essential that you do not stall, but keep the wing moving at a proper speed through the air. Again, you learned to keep an ear tuned to the machine while you were making important decisions and thinking about other things.

In all of that, I became a listener. When I am going down the road, I may be having a conversation with someone, or listening to a podcast, or thinking about the route or my destination, but at the same time my ear is always inclined to the machine. If a new sound appears, I tend to hear it immediately.

Sometimes someone will drive up to where I am standing, or I will get in their car, and I will immediately notice an odd sound coming from the engine or transmission. A belt is squealing, a pulley is whining, a bearing or bushing is rumbling, the valves sound like an old Singer sewing machine because the car is 2 quarts low on oil, etc. I will usually, ask something like, “Wow! What is that?” Many times the startled driver looks at me with a blank expression and says. “What?” They haven’t had their ear inclined to their car at all, and they have not heard the noise. This noise, that is often warning them that something is about to break, has just become background noise to them–part of the clutter of life.

My Mom always had her ear inclined toward the kids. She could have the vacuum cleaner running and the TV on, and if we were fighting in a room on the other end of the house, she heard us. And, if it got too quiet, she would stop what she was doing and ask what we were up to. It was amazing!

So in our busy days, as we are going along, we can train ourselves to have a listening ear–an ear inclined to the Lord. We can be doing other things, but there is always a part of us that is attentive, watching, waiting for God to speak. I will say it again; this is a learned behavior! A Discipline. At first you will need to train yourself to listen for the nudges of the Spirit, but over time, it will become second-nature. This is much easier to do once you begin to treasure input from God. When you are convinced that He is only, and always, good, and that He has the best in store for you, it is easy to keep your ear inclined to the Lord.

Let me wrap this up with one final verse, Isaiah 55:3 says, “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you-- The sure mercies of David.” Isn’t that awesome?

As New Testament believers, we can couple this verse with John 10:10 and say, “When I incline my ear and come to Him, I will walk in an everlasting covenant with Him, experience His sure mercies, and receive life and life more abundantly from Him.” That’s just good stuff.

God Is Big - Really Big!

God is big–Really Big!

Two weeks ago, we started our first winter course at the RMCM School of Ministry. Each of these courses is designed to equip believers to carry the love, life, and power, of God out into their world. Our current course is called “Praying With Power.” We are talking about the kind of prayer that releases on earth what Jesus has already provided for us through the cross. We believe that God wants to bring His will to pass on earth in the form of miracles (setting people free from the destructive power of sin in all its forms) and in the form of His dreams and purposes for lives of people. You could say we are studying prayer that addresses our problems, and prayer that brings our dreams into fulfillment.

In order for us to pray with confidence, there are a few of things that we need to get straight in our thinking and believing. These principles must become more than just classroom ideas to us; they must become personal revelation from God.

One of those ideas is simply that God is good and He has a good plan for our lives–“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV.

Another important truth is that we are not praying to try to get God to do something new. The New Testament is filled with scriptures that tell us that through the work of Jesus on the cross, God has already made provision for every kind of problem that human beings can experience. God is already completely in favor of us receiving what He purchased for us with the blood of Jesus. He needs no convincing. But we do need to pray the kind of prayer that partners with God and releases that provision on earth. In many cases, the Lord leads us into prayers that incubate His plans and purposes here on earth, and then birth those purposes. The key here is that Christians pray out of a sense of fullness, a sense of confidence and excitement, about what God has already done in Christ, not a sense of lack driven by the needs that we have or see.

Finally, we pray knowing that God is MUCH bigger than our biggest problem and MUCH bigger than our biggest dream. Sometimes we get so consumed with our problems, or with the feeling that the dream in our heart is just too big, too outrageous, and too impossible. We must remember that God is infinite. Did you get that? Infinite! I read this statement the other day from an author named Mark Batterson, and it has stuck with me. He wrote, “To the infinite, all finites are the same size.” That means that to God, cancer and the common cold are the same size problem to solve. Needing a sandwich and needing a million dollars for your business are the same size. You get the idea. God is bigger than your biggest need and your biggest dream.

One final thought. So often, our doubt is not about God, but about ourselves, or about God’s view of us–His willingness toward us. To address that issue would require an article of its own, but let me say this: Just as God is bigger than our problems, His love, mercy, and grace toward us, is also bigger than our mistakes. He loves you; He has a great plan for you, and has wrought a great deliverance for you. Plunge into Him. Let Him reveal Himself and His plans to you. Think big, dream big, pray big, and live big!

God is big–Really Big!