Bible Study: I am Loved and Accepted Completely in Christ Part 2

Hi Everyone

This is the second instalment of the "I am Loved and Accepted Completely in Christ" chapter of the "Who I Am In Jesus Christ" Bible Study.

Do have a listen to the audio so that the notes make a bit more sense.

Do share this around as you are blessed.

Blessings!

Chris

God Loved Me First!

Jesus loves me this I know - for the Bible tells me so.  This is a simple line from a Sunday School song that if we really meditated on a little more, has such great depths of significance.  Jesus loves each of us independently and that love we know, not because we feel it first, but because it was said in the Bible.  

We need to know the love of this God whom we serve.  It is important to know the way He loved us, the ways He loves us, to catch a glimpse of the magnitude of His love for us.  This will guide the way we relate with Him.  How we see Him will determine how far we go in life.

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (NKJV)

If we fail to see the glory of God in us when we face the mirror of the Word, we won’t go from glory to glory and will not be transformed.  The one who is transformed the most is the one who sees the glory the most.  If at every time we look into the Word, we see through the eyes of condemnation, we see rules, we see laws, we won’t go far.  We need to behold glory, light, love.  When we see that He loves us so much, it will transform us from glory to glory.

All Who Don't Qualify, Qualify

Romans 5:6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NKJV)

Think of the WORST “sinner” you can.  God sent Christ with him in mind, to save the unlovely.

He Has Always Loved Us

From the very beginning, we were His creations.  He has always loved us.

• The Old Testament was the story of how He laid the plans for the rescue of Man.
• The Gospels show the plan unfolding.
• The rest of the New Testament testifies of the effects of the successful mission. 

God did not change His mind when Christ was crucified.  It was not that He was angry with Man until Jesus appeased Him.  He loved us even in the Old Testament.  We see in the book of Psalms how the words “lovingkindess”/”kindness”/”mercy” (same word in Hebrew) appeared 127 times!  The phrase “tender mercy” which has connotations to compassion like in the womb of a mother appears 9 times.

Psalm 136, probably written by David, gives us a glimpse of what he thought of God’s goodness:

Psalm 136: 

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. 

2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. 

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. 

4 to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. 

5 who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. 

6 who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. 

7 who made the great lights— His love endures forever. 

8 the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. 

9 the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever. 

10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever. 

11 and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever. 

12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever. 

13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever. 

14 and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever. 

15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever. 

16 to him who led his people through the desert, His love endures forever. 

17 who struck down great kings, His love endures forever. 

18 and killed mighty kings— His love endures forever. 

19 Sihon king of the Amorites His love endures forever. 

20 and Og king of Bashan— His love endures forever. 

21 and gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever. 

22 an inheritance to his servant Israel; His love endures forever. 

23 to the One who remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever. 

24 and freed us from our enemies, His love endures forever. 

25 and who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever. 

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever. (NIV)

Yes, David was convinced of God’s enduring, unfailing love for him and the people he led as king.

The big difference moving into the New Testament is that what Jesus did satisfied the requirement to allow a Holy God to commune with sinful man.  Jesus paid the price that needed to be paid.  God had the means, to make Him who knew no sin to be sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.

Like children in an orphanage, the Father who wanted to adopt us loved us all the while but was unable to have a relationship with us until the adoption process was done.  Jesus’ work on the cross was that process and now we enjoy sweet fellowship with Him.

We were made from “cockroaches to humans”, from flesh to Spirit and can now have relationship with Father God.  We were made alive in the realm that He exists in, the realm of the Spirit.

1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (NKJV)

Like cockroaches trying to figure out humans!

1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (NKJV)

John 17:23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. (NKJV)

God loved Jesus from the beginning.  His love for Jesus did not change suddenly somewhere along the way.  It was the same from Day 1.  It’s the same for us – He loved us from the beginning too, just like He loved Jesus!

The World is saved when they see clearly that God loves. If we don't realize the glory of God, His immense goodness toward us, if we don't know, don't find out, don't believe, don't get infected by the vast richness of His love to us, the World won't know that God loves us just as He loves Jesus. 

Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (NKJV)

We are saved by faith, not by feeling.  There may not be any feelings, but when we learn to walk according to what the Word says, we walk by faith, not by sight.  I know His love by faith.  I receive it by believing.  Once I taste, I will see that He IS good.  Not that I don’t have feelings, but I choose which feelings to accept.  Feelings driven by my 5 senses are of the flesh.  The flesh profits nothing (John 6:63).  Feelings need to follow faith – our emotions are NOT our masters.

If God loved us while we were still sinners, how much more now that we are His children?  The adoption was completed and we have sweet relationship.  When we decide that He is worthy of our submission to Him, great things happen in our lives.

Romans 8:28a And we know that all things work together for good…

If we don’t know God’s goodness enough, that we don’t love Him and aren't doing things the way He planned for us, we might not be the ones who can lay claim to this promise.

Romans 8:28b …to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (NKJV)

The key is realizing that His way of doing things is better.  Going by the Spirit, what the Word says, is much better than going according to how we feel and this is submitting to God:

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (NKJV)

1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (NKJV)

He Loves Us Now and Forever

Like a young man wooing a lady, God is coming to us today in the finished work of Christ, the Gospel, the Word of Grace.  With a diamond engagement ring, He is on one knee with us, inviting us to accept His love.

Those among us who have accepted, we now are the ambassadors bringing that message to the world – the Gospel of Grace, the good news of His love.

2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. (NKJV)

The Take Away

God has always loved us from the beginning - we are His creation, the only ones ever made in His image

The Bible is the love story of the plan unfolding

The Old Testament up to the Gospels is the story of the Rescue Plan unfolding

The New Testament is what He has bought for us through the success of this plan

He has accomplished many great things that we need to receive by grace

We receive these by faith, not feeling

Bible Study: A View of God

Hi Everyone

Here's our latest Bible Study notes and the link to the audio.  

To get the most of the notes, I always suggest you listen to the audio also!

Blessings!

Chris


We are Who/What We Worship

You are who or what you worship.  We were all made to worship and we will worship something.

Jesus said

Matthew 12:34b For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (NKJV)

The thing you worship is what you spend your time thinking of the most.  It is what you will come out of your mouth eventually.  There are many things that capture men’s minds:

• Money, power comfort, fear, intellect, addictions, 
• The list goes on.  Bottom line is in one word: Self.

Why We Think the Way We Do

We do what we think because we gravitate to that which gives us what we think are the best returns, the most “utils”.  If the utils are this side of Heaven, we will live for the things here.  Many people live their lives on earth like they are going to live forever.  This is the furthest thing from the truth.  We need to see for ourselves that life here is short and miserable at best compared to Heaven.

In the 21^st century, we must be especially careful – in the past, life WAS short and miserable to the better part.  However, they had more time to ponder about the things of the eternal.  They had more time to be “religious” as it were.  Today, life can seem nearly comfortable enough to live forever, if we don’t know the glory of God!

If the constant, pervasive thoughts in our minds are about anything in this world, we are asking for trouble:

Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (NKJV)

Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NKJV)

2 Corinthians 4:18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (NKJV)

Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (NKJV)

So Hard to Think the Right Way?

It starts with a perception issue.  The devil has been working hard over the last 2000 years to market the bad stuff.  Today, things that are good in scriptures are bad in the world.  Holiness is mocked, but evil is glorified.

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (NKJV)

We need to be VERY careful to call good good, and see evil for what it is, else we will be sent in circles.  That’s what the devil wants, to choke the effectiveness, to blunt the goodness of the Gospel, so that the absolutely good becomes pedestrian, that we become numb, almost insulated from God’s goodness.

If we call evil good and good evil, woe unto us!

A Man After God’s Heart

It is all down to our perception of who God is and what He is like to us.  David sought after God’s heart:

Acts 13:22 And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ (NKJV)

And because of his intimacy, he had a very good perception of God, an understanding of His nature and thus did the will of the Lord.

If we don’t actively seek God for ourselves, starting with the Word of God, the Bible, we won’t know His true nature and we will depend only on other things to know God – experience, hearsay, some preaching hear and there.  We won’t be able to discern for ourselves and won’t walk in victory.

A God Worthy of His Praise

Psalm 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 

How we see God will determine much of our response to Him. If we see God as an angry God, or if we see Him as the one responsible for the evil in our lives, if we see that everything was ordained by Him, good and evil, that nothing happens except if it is God’s will, then it will be hard to praise God continually, because we attribute evil in our lives that we don't understand to Him.  We will thus call evil good and good evil.

But if we see a God like David represents in this Psalm alone (let alone the rest of them) we will see a God who is for us, not against us, a God whose plans for us are good, not evil; plans that prosper us and give us a hope. 

2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. 

It is my will, my choice to boast in the Lord.  Humble people are people who are willing to have their thinking challenged by the Word, even if it means going against the way they see things.

Proud people don't want to hear of it. Proud people do it on their own, not willing to allow the Word of God to change the way they think.

A God Who Hears and Delivers

4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. 

“Seek God” we see repeated in scriptures. 

Matthew 6:31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (NKJV)

When we do that, He WILL deliver us – what we need to eat, drink, wear, use etc. SHALL be added.

5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. 

The more we behold the goodness of God, the more we become like Him!

This is the same principle we see throughout the Bible. Behold His love and His goodness and become full of Him.  This is like what it says in 2 Corinthians 3:18.

One of the things about being like Him is the LACK OF SHAME. The first thing Adam knew after the Fall was SHAME. In God there is no shame. He is my righteousness.

6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. 

Again we see a God who is good. When a poor man cries out (presumably referring to David), the Lord hears and the Lord saves.  The troubles came, but were not part of God’s “sovereign” will.  He is the one who hears and saves.  His angel even encamps around us, those who fear Him. Beyond that, His Spirit today dwells IN us.

How then will He not deliver us today? There are even promises in the New Testament of this, but how far will unbelief go to ensure that these do not come to pass in the lives of many of us Christians?  

This is what David saw in God, that He hears and delivers and this is why David worshipped Him and why David reigned in life.

A God Who IS Good

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! 

Taste requires you to put it into your mouth. You need to take God in on His Word - a certain intimate faith required, more than a cursory glance. Once it gets past the mouth, commitment is required!

Taste also means the God is right near you, waiting to feed you with His goodness. He is not far away and His heart yearns for you.

Yes, David beckons us: Come, come and taste. He is not evil. He is not the one bringing evil, catastrophe, calamity into your life to teach you lessons. How many more confirmations do we need before we believe that God is not the author of evil?  We who trust in Him are blessed!

A God Worthy of Reverence

9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. 10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. 

If we seek God, we will be satisfied, fully, to no lack.  There is NO want if we fear Him. We will not LACK anything good.

A God to Teach All About

11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  When we start to reverence God in awe, when we revere Him, we start to have wisdom.  A big part of revering Him is to revere His Word.

I will study the Word diligently and if He said something is so, I will believe it.  This is the fear of the Lord.  Only truths we know set us free (John 8:32).

12 Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. 

A big evil in our lives is when we speak contrary to the Word.  That is deceit because the Word is truth.

Do no evil, but do good because you serve a GOOD God.  Avoid strife, walking in peace.  There is a promise attached to this.

A God Who Looks Out for His Own

15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 

We ARE the Righteous.  This is the underpinning of our faith.  If we ever doubt this, the devil will eat our lunch.

Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. (NKJV)

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— (NKJV)

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NKJV)

His ears are open to us.

17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. 

Do the righteous have troubles?  YES! But it is the LORD who delivers, not the LORD who gives the troubles (John 16:33).  Our part is to cry out to the Lord.  We rejoice because we know He will deliver. (James 1:2).

Are we sometimes broken hearted? Yes, but the promise is that He will save those who have a contrite spirit, those who are poor in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. 

Will we have afflictions? Yes.  Jesus said so in John 16:33.  Will He deliver?  In the New Testament, it is past tense – He HAS overcome the world.

20 He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. 

This was a prophecy about Jesus, that though He was afflicted, literally none of His bones were broken.  Figuratively, it speaks of how we can be afflicted, but not crushed or destroyed. 

A God in Whom Salvation is Sure

21 Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. 22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned. (NKJV)

Evil that the wicked persists in will destroy them.  This is sin and the curse.  Hating Christians is a curse.  As much as the Lord loves all, those who persecute the Christians bring judgment upon themselves!

The Lord will redeem the souls – we are the ones who triumph in life, never to be condemned.

God Loves Us, is For Us, Not Against Us

David realised this truth, that God is a good god, not the one responsible for the evil in his life, but the one who loves, rescues and saves him.  

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (NKJV)

How much more, now that Christ is in us.  He loves you as much as He loves Jesus.  When we realise this, we have reason to rejoice, to give praise, to worship Him.

Psalm 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

From this initimacy that David had was a reason to rejoice, to worship, to bless this God, one so good to him.

Go through the Psalms of David and see how David saw God.  Let that impact your view of God.

Bible Study: I am Loved and Accepted Completely in Christ Part 1

Hi Everyone

We are moving into Part 2 of the "Who I am In Jesus Christ" series:

I am Loved and Accepted Completely in Christ

This is Part 1, on God's Love, the Source.  You can listen to the audio by clicking this link.

I heartily encourage you to follow us as we go through this series (probably will run a year or two).  You can look through the archives or if you want all the messages sent to you at a go, do drop me a note.

Be blessed!

Chris

God’s Love – The Source 

I used to say that God’s love is the cure for all things, but I don’t say that anymore because it feels like I’m saying that oxygen is the cure for suffocation!

The absence of knowledge of God’s love, because of our failure to know or receive it, is the cause of every problem.  

We were made to thrive on His love, like feeding off good food, so His love is not like a medicinal cure or sorts.  It is the basis of all our lives.

Matthew 4:16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.” (NKJV)

God’s love is light, flooding into our lives, bringing life!

The Light of Life

Where the light is not present, darkness will reign, even in our lives.

The Light is His LOVE!

Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (NKJV)

If we don’t understand His love for us, we will be in darkness.

When the LIGHT of God's LOVE floods in, when we focus on Him, the LIGHT of the World, our whole body is FULL of light. Outside of this, there is darkness.

John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (NKJV)

John 12:46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. (NKJV)

Every problem in life, every darkness, goes back to an insecurity resulting from our failure to experience God’s love in that area.  The light has not been allowed in and darkness continues to reign.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (NKJV)

He Loves Us More…

…Than He Expect Us To

We declare this as the standard of love that we as Christians should conform to.  

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. (NKJV)

Why don’t we ever imagine more often that this is how God loves us?

• God is kind

• God does not envy

• God does not parade Himself

• God is not puffed up

• God does not behave rudely

• God does not seek His own

• God is not provoked

• God thinks no evil (“keeps no account of evil” the footnote says)

• God does not rejoice in iniquity

• God rejoices in truth

• God bears all things (“protects” in NIV)

• God believes all things (“always trusts” in NIV, “never loses faith” in NLT)

• God hopes all things

• God endures all things

• God never fails.

Here is love manifested:

Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (NKJV)

If He loves His enemy, why would we for any moment ever doubt His love, we who have been accepted as His children?

Luke 23:34a Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (NKJV)

We all talk about how God is Love, God loves us, God loves His church.  How often have we really stopped to meditate on this, take it personally?

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (NKJV)

Think of someone you love a lot.  How would you treat that person?  God treats you better than that.  We need to realise that.  He is FOR us not AGAINST us.

How Much Are You Loved Today?

This is the recount of Jesus visiting Simon the Pharisee, where the “sinful” lady came and cried at Jesus’ feet, anointing His feet with oil.

Luke 7:41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” (NKJV)

Which came first? Forgiveness or the woman’s love?

Who is forgiven little?  Was there ever one of us who only needed a small amount of God’s forgiveness?  For anyone of us to boast in our goodness is akin to a grasshopper comparing himself with an ant, claiming to be closer to the sun than the ant was. 

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (NKJV)

We all need forgiveness, for James says:

James 2:10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. (NKJV)

The more we realise that we are loved and forgiven, the more we love.  The more we understand that He is for us, not against us, the more we thrive.

1 John 2:8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (NKJV)

It is not the one who loves his brother who abides in the light, but rather, we can tell who is not abiding in the light of Jesus’ love – he is the one who does not love his brother.  The light is shining.  When we walk in it, we will love our brother.  The more we realise His love, we will love.

He Loved Us First

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NKJV)

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (NKJV)

This is the good news.  This is the Gospel.  This is GRACE.  His goodness given to us at no cost to us, but at all cost to Him.

Touched by Grace

This is the Grace we all talk so much about – that God dearly, dearly loves His creation, each one of us, personally, deeply, forever. 

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (NKJV)

The Gospel is really all about God’s grace to Man.  His goodness in sending His Son to save and restore us when we were beyond hope on our own, all at His expense.  This is what Jesus meant when He said “It is finished” on the cross.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, (NKJV)

Paul rebuked the Galatians who had strayed into thinking that keeping the law could help them in coming to God.  He did not mince his words – if it is not about the grace of Christ, it is a different gospel.  If it is not about Grace, it is NOT the gospel.  

Grace is extreme.  If the grace we have encountered does not amaze us, it is not grace, hence the song “Amazing Grace”.

All You Have to Do

Receive His abundance of grace and the righteousness He brings.

Romans 5:17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) (NKJV)

Yes, it is what it says – we CAN reject the abundance of grace.  It is not about how good you feel you have been.  We only have to 

1. Show up

2. Receive it

Like a young girl in love, our lives should be so enamored with His love, that it influences every corner of our lives, where nothing can take us down.  It doesn't come by changing.  It comes by realizing, by believing.

To receive is believe.

You need to have the Word sown onto you everyday to know more and more of His love.  Each truth has to be received.  Like a house with many rooms, the light of the Word illuminates each room where we open the windows, pull back the drapes, to allow the light to come in.

Luke 8:15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. (NKJV)

With a NOBLE heart. KJV and a few versions use the word HONEST heart.  There are times when we are not honest in reading the Word.  We don’t want to believe what it says, because it seems so improbable.  Then there will be those who say that we should not set up our hope, only to be disappointed.  Did not Heb 11:1 say that faith is the substance of things hoped for?  If we don’t hope, we will have no basis for faith!

As we get into the Word, truths we know, truths that we receive and allow to become a part of us will set us free : John 8:32.

To the degree that we understand this love is the degree that we are filled with Him. 

Ephesians 3:19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (NKJV)

If our lives seem mediocre today, it’s probably because we have an image of a God who loves us in a mediocre manner.  As we start to catch deeper glimpses of His goodness:

Daniel 11:32b the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. (NKJV)

We as Christians simply cannot be mediocre, for we are loved too much.

We Only Reflect His Love

2 Corinthians 5:13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. (NKJV)

As we realise His goodness to us, we cannot but start to live for Him, not for ourselves.  This is when we start to die to ourselves.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (NKJV)

We’ve been called out into His marvellous light.  We are no longer in darkness – unlike the world, we can choose to be in the light, to walk in it.

Receive His Love

He loves, loves, loves, loves, loves you.  You need to be convinced about that.  In every area of your life, He wants to take care of you.  Let Him into every area of your life.  Know His love manifested in His Word for you.  The areas you don’t know His love for, the parts that you doubt His love for you in will continue in darkness.

Acts 26:14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ (NKJV)

Don’t abide in darkness anymore.  Don’t allow any room in the house of your heart to be closed to the light.  Open it and let the light flood into every area and fill it with His love.

Allow Him to love you.  Accept this love that He has shed His blood for.  His Word is meant for your good and not for evil.  Don’t allow any area to stay in darkness.  Run boldly to the throne – find mercy and grace (Heb 4:16)

Gardening 101 – Lessons I Learnt Working My Yard

It’s spring again and it’s time to do up the garden. I’m not a yard-work kind of guy, but in 2 weekends of trying to undo 8 months of weeds I learnt two very precious lessons which I’d like to share:

Lesson 1 – Good Soil Doesn't "Just Happen”
We need good soil to grow fruit-bearing plants. Good soil does not "just happen”. I tell people that my yard is an experiment in proving Darwinian truths, because according to the theory, left long enough to itself, my yard should turn into a well-trimmed lawn free of weeds, beautiful planter boxes full of tulips adorning the sides and even some vegetable plants well-tended that I might eat from. Alas, this is furthest from the truth. I’d have been happy if nothing grew, but left on its own, soil will always sprout every imaginable weed in time. My yard is a jungle where even weeds are fighting for space! Like our lives, if we are not vigilant to tend, we will soon be swamped with much care and pursuit of the wrong things, things that have no eternal value. Our Lord put it this way:

Matthew 13:22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. (NKJV)


Curiously, these cares and deceitful richness do not choke many of the other things in the short run – they may not choke church-going, they may not choke serving in ministry, they may not even choke our outward "Christian" appearance. They go for the jugular instead, and choke THE WORD. And the end result is UNFRUITFULNESS.


There is no status quo when we live our lives without the right focus. We must always cast all our cares on Him, for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).


Good soil also does the following:

Luke 8:15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. (NKJV)


Hear the Word with a noble and good heart, keep it, then bear fruit with patience.

Lesson 2 – It's All in the Root System
In my limited gardening knowledge, I decided that the best course of action would be to turn over all the soil, exposing the roots of the weeds and everything else, to ready the soil for new grass seeds. I envisaged a yard of even, green turf I could relax on and enjoy by summer. Week One saw me with a spade turning over the soil. Yes, these weeds are history, I told myself.

Week Two – reality check. True, many of the larger, single-plant weeds did die, but on closer look, there were *many* tiny little weed-plants that were thriving on the clumps of soil I had upturned. None of these seemed significant on their own, but were obvious by their masses. One thing they had that the others did not have: An extensive root system. Immediately, I recall our Lord’s words again:


Matthew 13:20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. (NKJV)


The root system they had kept them alive, in spite of the soil being completely upturned. When persecution arises because of the Word, when we have to make hard decisions to believe what the Word says, we need to be rooted. Paul says this to the Ephesians:


Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (NKJV)


Yes, we need to be rooted and grounded IN LOVE, not our own love, but in HIS love for us. Indeed the more we know of His love, the more we are filled with all His fullness.  And you know one other thing about these seemingly-insignificant weeds that were thriving? They were INTERCONNECTED! It’s like Paul saying how we should be rooted in His love and comprehend WITH ALL THE SAINTS! It was a lot harder to uproot a seemingly small weed that was connected with deep roots to all the rest of the same kind of weed! There’s no super-saint in the church – we all need each other and we all need to be rooted in His love together.

Well, two lessons from two weekends of yard work. Even if the weeds continue to grow, I’m happy to have learnt this. Just so my two weekends don’t go to waste, do share this note with your friends!

Bible Study: Moving from Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday

Hi Everyone

Continuing on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, here are the notes and the link to the audio.

Pray it blesses you!

Chris

Good Friday – Our Sins were Paid For

On Good Friday – price of sin was paid

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (NKJV)

Galatians 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (NKJV)

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NKJV)

Righteousness of God = As right and as good as God, made in His image.  Not just forgiven, but made into His nature.  A new creation, no more a cockroach!  Not a cockroach trying to be human or worse, a human who thinks he is a cockroach and trying to be like a human!  A transformed being, a change of identity; not a changed life but an exchanged one.

If our Christian life stops here at forgiveness, we will be stuck in Good Friday only.  Yes, we will go to Heaven, but we will miss much of what God has planned between our salvation and our glorification at death or when Jesus returns! 

Resurrection Sunday – Grace

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (NKJV)

We’ve been justified, now we have access by FAITH into His GRACE and REJOICE in the hope of GLORY.  We have the GLORY of God in us and there is HOPE in manifesting this!

All sounds good, but for many Christians, quite honestly we are not much different from those outside.  Little wonder it holds precious little attraction.

After the Resurrection, We Have the Right to Victory

Resurrection, Pentecost and beyond – Jesus comes to live in us.

1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (NKJV)

How does this come to pass?  Why doesn't it seem to be that way for many of us?  When we understand this, we understand victorious living in Christ.

We Need to Receive His Grace

He has (past tense) already given us all things pertaining to life and godliness:

2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, (NKJV)

Romans 5:17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) (NKJV)

We need to receive the abundance of grace – if we don’t, we won’t reign!  We must believe that these are true, even if our senses tell us otherwise.

Peter walked on water for a while before he began to sink.  If he had based his doctrine on his experience, he would have stopped believing in miracles, or conclude that these weren’t always the case.  No, this man continued to believe and went on to do mighty wonders for the Lord.

Truth Must Reign in Our Lives

We now have the right to live in Victory.  Everyone wants the victory, but the flesh gets in the way.  We must let go of the flesh as it is no longer part of our make up.

Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. (NKJV)

Spirit is truth – flesh is all about lies.  Knowing the truth sets us free - we become convinced enough to let go!

Love one another, love your enemy, give and it will be given, telling someone off, speaking your mind to defend yourself – every area we determine to be more like God requires us to die to our five senses, our human thinking, which scream for us to do just the opposite.  We must let go of these.  Any reason we give ourselves for being less than the image of God that we hold onto must die in the presence of the truth that speaks otherwise. (“That’s just the way I am/I was brought up that way/It’s because of my past/my spouse/my boss” any other excuse.)  We are new creations,  we must forget the past and press on to the future.  We must guard our hearts against what was told to us, against what we hold onto as true if it contradicts scriptures, against false thoughts perpetrated by any other sources.

Truths of His grace, His goodness, must replace our fleshly thinking.  It is a ratio – he must increase, I must decrease.  Without the Holy Spirit in us, letting go is not possible – it only opens us up to more demonic presence (Matt 12:45).

Flesh and living in the promises of God are on opposite ends.

The Word is Spirit (John 6:63) – we have to believe the Word AT THE EXPENSE of our flesh

The Old Has Gone

This is truly living a victorious life, dead to sin and flesh, alive to Christ. Old things have gone – sin nature is gone:

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (NKJV)

Romans 6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJV)

We have died to sins – the question now is whether we choose to believe this.

1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed. (NKJV)

Choosing Life by Dying

Every area that I die to myself in is another area I trust in God in His Word in.  Without His life in me, I cannot choose life.  The choice to die to myself is my right.  Any area I choose not to die in, the promises of God I won’t receive.  Dying is giving up our trust in the flesh and deciding to trust in the promises of God in His Word.

Matthew 10:39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (NKJV)

Matthew 16:25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (NKJV)

Gaining the whole world or appearing to gain the whole world - feeding the ego and feeling good for a while but losing out on true eternal life.

That’s why the Christian life sometimes seems so hard – we are like the cockroaches made into humans trying hard to succeed as a cockroach again! These are not compatible!

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (NKJV)

Take the Word and in every area of your life

• Know He loves you

• Have faith that what He says is true

• Let go of what your senses are telling you

If we don’t do this, our lives as Christians will be miserable. I am not telling you this from the position of having achieved, but like Paul:

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. (NKJV)

We must press in for everything that He died for.  That’s why we count it all joy, because trials force you to either stand on the Word or go by your own senses.

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (NKJV)

No trials, no need to choose, no need to die.  Each victory we win is another area we grow in.

Go After All He Rose to Give 

Everything that Jesus died to recover, we must hunger for.  We can be restored, transformed more and more into His image

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (NKJV)

Be hungry to go after it all, like Jacob.  If we don’t hunger, we don’t receive.

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (NKJV)

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. (NKJV)

Pure – single minded in your heart’s pursuit.

We grow from faith to faith.  Things don’t always happen according to what the Word says not because it is not true, but because we waver.  We must determine in our hearts that the Word says IS true.  Indeed we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. (Eph 1:3)

Ephesians 5:18 says to be filled with the spirit.  We can have the spirit but not be filled with Him.  We are filled when we know His love (Eph 3:19).  Yearn for things of the Spirit to manifest in your life.

Be hungry for what His love bought us.  If we really understand His love for us, we will be full of Him, in awe of what He is to us and willing to let go of all that is here.

Then we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.