A Basic Reminder

Any self effort or striving to obtain approval, acceptance, significance or love from God is worthless. For the crucifixion and resurrection restored our relationship with God in the here and now (no, the point was not going to heaven, that is merely a bonus) and the righteousness we have is that of Christ Himself - a gift and not of our own efforts - and there is no improving upon that. Thru Christ, we are accepted by God, not in spite of our flaws but with them and our significance is wrapped up in the knowledge that we are passionately and unconditionally loved by God. There is nothing - NOTHING - that we can do to make God love us more, nor anything we can do to make Him love us less. For God's love is not like the love of man - it does not shift or change - for it depends on who He is not who we are.

 

I know this is "pretty basic" but we all need a reminder now and then.

Beloved - Updates from social media

Three related updates from the last two days from my social media page
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"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most" ~ Heb 4:16

As believers we know we can come 'boldly' into His presence to seek whatever we need at the time. But, as people we tend to think that we must ask for the barest minimum and/or do something in order to earn the right to ask for more. This is far from the truth and comes not from the Spirit's voice but comes out of our own flawed, insecure brokenness. For if we must "do" to receive, those would be wages not grace - something given solely to an employee, not a dearly loved child. For yes, you may be a servant of the Most High but you are, first and foremost, His child and His love for you is without equal.
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"How we view ourselves at any given moment may have very little to do with who we really are" ~ Gerald May

I find a great truth in this quote for I know that in my own life I have felt as though I have had my sh*t together and was all that one moment, and literally a minute later, felt as though I was the worst of the worst, and this without doing anything other than responding to thoughts in my head. This is one of the reasons why our identity and worth must come from something other than how we feel at the time, the choices we make or what we do - it must be based in something solid and unchanging. For the believer, this something is the fact that we are loved by God, and that, not "in spite" of our flaws and failings, but with them, just as we are with all our curves and rough edges
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You may say (or think), "I am a better Christian than so and so", or "I am not as good a Christian as whomever" - neither statement is true - you are merely either Christian or not. God neither shows favoritism nor compares one of His children to another. People, on the other hand, do this far too often. But know this: no matter where you are - or think you are - in your walk or faith, God loves you every bit as much as He loves me, your pastor and even the Apostles from the pages of the Bible. He does not think less of you but, He does not think more of you either. We all stand equal - as dearly loved children - before Him.

Missed Memo

A (redundant) question regarding "Name and Claim" / "Prosperity" preaching:  did the Apostles "miss the memo"?

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” ~ 2 Cor 12:8-9

"Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." ~ 1 Tim 5:23

"To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless." ~ 1 Cor 4:11

At its' core, the name and claim/prosperity "gospel" is a self-centered view of Christianity, as well as God, which teaches the humanistic view that He exists for the health, wealth, well being and happiness of man.  The "claiming" that this teaches is more akin to neo-pagan practices than that of the Bible - that one can change reality by merely thinking, or speaking it, into being. Let that sink in for a minute.

While it is true that we are loved by God, He never promises us an easy life. If anything we are told that we will see trouble in this life (John 16:33) but we're also told that we will never be left to face it alone either (Matthew 28:20).  He does say we are to give our anxiety and worries to Him (1 Peter 5:7) and that He will provide for us daily (Matt 6:11) but our trust is to be in Him each day and not in our stockpiles or surplusses (Exo 16:19-20). After all, a slight change in the stock market can put a millionaire in a homeless shelter very quickly.

There are people in the grave - the grave - who "named and claimed" themselves free of cancer right until the end and surely one cannot argue they had no faith since they held to it even as they felt their life leaving them. Does God still heal? Yes, but not because somehow we can force Him into action. He heals when He heals for numerous reasons, some of which we understand, some of which we do not but, then again, we're not God either (Isaiah 55:9).  Does God allow some people to have more than others? Yes, He does, but again since am not God cannot tell you who or why or anything of the like but I do know that He does say we're not supposed to hoard it for ourselves (Luke 12:16-21) so that we can "live the good life" - we cannot take it with us after all.

This life and world is far from perfect - something 2020 has been more than willing to show us thus far - and if you believe that you can name and claim your way into a paradise here and now, you are in for a rather unpleasant surprise.  God does love you - wildly so - but He does not exist for us, we exist for Him. After all, we are called His children, not his equal and certainly not His master.

*NOTE*
It is not my intention to come off hateful, mocking or any other such thing with this post. It is merely cautionary in nature for it is so very easy to get led off the path and into a false doctrine which sounds good on the surface or appeals to our own selfish or self righteous natures. Even the Apostles warned of such things because they were present in the early church. And it does not matter if you sit in a pew or stand behind a pulpit, we are all capable of being deceived for we are all human. So please, be mindful of what you listen to; weigh it well and against scripture (remember in context) and the character of God

Social Media Postings Update

Most posts are done in social media these days but here are some of them:

Welcome to today! God wants you to know that He loves you, treasures you and likes you - yes, you! He does not want you focused on whether or not you deserve it, He simply wants you to let Him love you and to enjoy it, because frankly, He's over the moon for you.
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Christian, do you realize the moment of your salvation - the moment you came "home" - was not some cold, theological or intellectual event? That the moment - the moment - in time that you came, He ran to you with arms open and tears of joy streaming down His cheeks. He did not come running to condemn you or question you, He came running to you, wrapped His arms around and spun you like you were 5 up into the air, filled with this wildly passionate joy and happiness that His child - you - were finally home. No, this was no cold, sterile moment in time ... at least not for Him it wasn't...and if it was for you, I pray it is no longer so; for His love - for you, for me, for us - is overwhelming and quite far from sterile or merely intellectual.
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"And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” ~ Matt.3:17
"Jesus had done no miracles when the Father proclaimed that He was His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased! He hadn’t raised the dead or healed anyone or preached the Sermon on the Mount. He had done NOTHING! He simply was. And in that place, the Father loved Him fully just as He does you and me.…“You don’t need to earn anything. I don’t require your performance, just rest in this truth just as you are right now - you are loved".The truth of Love, a truth that cannot be earned because it is a free gift that already cost God everything to give." ~ AJ Jones, Finding Father
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Considering the 12 disciples would be those whom Jesus would spend the rest of His earthly life closest with, not to mention eventually entrust the Gospel to, whom they would be would constitute a fairly big decision. So, does He merely pick 12 at random or based on personal likes or dislikes? No, we see in Luke 6:12-13 that He spends the night in prayer before making His choices. If He did this, how much more important is it for us to do likewise before making final decisions on life matters of importance.
So whatever choice or decision lies before you, take time and seek the Lord first and foremost, for surely His input is of far more value than that of even our friends or gut instincts.
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As believers, as children of the living God, we never have to worry about what is waiting for us around the corner of life for we know that He is already there and He only ever has our best interests at heart. So, instead of allowing ourselves to focus on things which have not yet happened (or may not at all) - which only fills us with anxiety, worry, fear, etc - let us keep our hearts and minds focused on Him and let Him take care of the details. After all, what did worry ever do other than age you faster.
Matthew 6:33-34
Jeremiah 29:11
Colossians 3:2

We, the Prodigal Children

"If we feel hateful towards ourselves, we assume God feels hateful towards us. But we cannot assume that He feels about us the way we feel about ourselves—unless we love ourselves compassionately, intensely, and freely. It takes a profound conversion to accept that God is relentlessly tender and compassionate toward us just as we are—not in spite of our sins and faults, but with them. Though God does not condone or sanction evil, He does not withhold his love because there is evil in us." Brennan Manning ~ Abba's Child

And it really does seem that love ties everything together and that it is all interconnected: love, forgiveness, His heart, grace, mercy... everything

And in this, motive. The motivation to not sin is not to stay in good graces, it is not to avoid punishment or being cast aside or to earn something for noting worth having can be earned, only given and received. The motivation is with regards to self. For if we do that which we know we ought not to, is it not our view of self which changes? Does not our own heart feel heavy, does not guilt weigh us down or thoughts of "what if" plague our minds - shifting our view of ourselves to something very far removed from what God sees us as. Our motivation to not do wrong is with regards to our view of ourselves seen thru the lens of our own sin.

We must learn to truly forgive ourselves - not ignore things done or undone, nor justify them, but acknowledge those things, own them and actually truly forgive ourselves. Then we can actually accept how God sees us, receive the overwhelming love He has for us - for we shall have seen the depths of His grace first hand - and then share that love with the world around us. Not because we are told to do so, not because we must "or else", but because we ache to do so.

And it's Monday again

Not quite worthless...

https://youtu.be/cyb8OiuwjXM

Divine Hitman