Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…All through the last series of blogs written to Unbelievers, I was looking forward to writing this blog. God certainly takes some bum-raps, and the root of that problem stems from “speakers not knowing the truth”. So, let me be specific, as I was in the last series. When I am speaking of The Truth, I am not speaking of worldly teaching, or worldly philosophies, or new-age revelations. “The latest” does not necessarily mean “the greatest” when applied to truth.
The Truth I am referencing are the words found in that musty, dusty, old Holy Bible, commonly known as “The Word of God.” Those words alone don’t make that book The Truth, but the author of those words is definitely worthy of such an honor. “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets themselves or because they wanted to prophecy. It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God.” (2 Peter 2:20-21) Matthew 24:35 supports that statement: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but MY words will never pass away.” The same way that God is Alpha and Omega (the beginning and the end), so are His words timeless. They will never change; they will always be “The standard”, “The perfection”, The Truth!
That is a long, but necessary, prelude to the first sentence of my topic. So, here we go… Many times I have heard people say, “Why did God put this on me”, or “Where is God in my time of need”, or “Why is God punishing me”? My first thought is, “That’s probably not the question you should be asking.” I say that because we are no longer living under the Old Covenant. Under that covenant there were numerous examples of God’s wrath: the plagues on Egypt, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, God giving His jewel, Israel, over to Babylon to get its attention, the plague of snakes in the wilderness for disobedience, and David’s military defeat for counting his troops when instructed not to do so.
We must remember that the people living during that time were living under the Law. Therefore, being righteous in God’s eyes was measured by keeping the Law. Fortunately for us, that era came to an end when God implemented His plan for our salvation. The linchpin of that plan was providing a Savior to save us (Mankind) from ourselves.
NOW we are living under the New Covenant! Therefore, it’s no longer about our “works” that make us worthy and acceptable in His sight. No indeed! It’s about us accepting Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as payment for OUR sin debt. God’s plan is not only that we accept His Gift of Grace, but that we continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:3-4 explains that process as follows: “The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, His divine power (the Holy Spirit) gives us EVERYTHING we need for living a Godly life…And by that same mighty power He has given us ALL of His rich and wonderful promises! Wow! Just ponder that Truth for a few minutes. When that gets from your head to your heart, you are prepared for ANYTHING!
In the New Testament (ie: new Covenant), the rules have changed, in that there are no religious rules. Now it is not about where we worship or the rituals of worship, because the rules imposed by religious elite have been dismissed. Today our focus should be on the Ten Commands, because that was/is God’s standard, and it is the standard by which Mankind will be judged. Thankfully for us, Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements of the Law. Anyone who is in Christ has inherited His righteousness, and is not subject to punishment. Romans 8:1 makes that very clear: “There is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ.” Jesus took Our punishment on the cross. (But be aware, anyone who is not in Christ IS INDEED subject to punishment!)
Today it is about faith. As Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, “God is looking for those who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.” (John 4:24) So, what does that mean? Under the Old Covenant, we worked hard to be worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes. In other words, we worked to get. Under the New Covenant, it’s all about faith. Because we are in Christ, we already ARE worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes because we accepted His Gift of Grace. Now we “do” as our way of saying “Thank You, Jesus, for what YOU DID for me. Another way, a simpler way, of saying that is, “We used to do to get”; Now we’ve gotten, so we do.” It’s all about our motivation.
“Dear Brothers and Sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it come; let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for ANYTHING. God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. (James 1:2-4, 12) I would venture to say, that that is not the most popular Scripture in the Bible. Most of us would just as soon skip the testing part of our relationship with Jesus. But truth be told, it is all part of His plan, and a vital part of His plan. In fact, Jesus was very up-front with that message. He told His followers, “In this world you will have trouble, but fear not because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:34) And again in Matthew 16:24, He said, “If anyone wants to be My follower, let him deny himself, and pick up his cross daily and follow Me.”
Trials and tribulations are an important part of the Christian walk. When we are at life’s cross road, we have one of two choices. We can shake our fist at God and exclaim, “Why God? Why are you doing this to me?” This response is usually accompanied by fear, doubt, anger, frustration, disappointment, guilt or shame, and many times people turn their backs to Him and walk away. Or… we can choose to press into Him as our source of wisdom, courage and strength and stand on the truth of His Word. He prefers the latter. In fact, James 4:10 tells us, “When we come humbly before the Lord and admit our dependence on Him, He WILL lift us up and give us honor.”. That is a promise!
Remember also, that God gave us the gift of free will. Therefore, He allows us to make our choices, even if it means reaping the unintended consequences of whatever it is we sowed. Now add to this mix the genetic predispositions that we inherited from our earthly parents. As you can see, what may look like punishment from God is actually the result of our bad choices, coupled with our unique genetic predispositions. No doubt, He does allow things to happen in order for us to go through a time of testing and growth, but this is referred to as “discipline” (preparing for the future) rather than punishment (paying for past errors.)
Being in Christ is a process. In fact, it is a life-long process. It is all about transformation, meaning we are being changed, or transformed, from our worldly self into the person God created us to be. That happens as the Holy Spirit brings our soul (our mind, emotions, and will) and our flesh (the center of carnal desires) in line with God’s will. Roman’s 12:2 confirms that statement: “Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know how pleasing and perfect His will is for YOUR life.”
God has given us everything we need to qualify for eternal life, and for claiming victory in this fallen world. Jesus paid the price for our ticket to heaven; the Holy Spirit empowers us to be victorious against the world, our flesh, and the devil! How this plays out for us depends on the choices we make.
Under the New Covenant, God is about disciplining “His children” rather than punishing us. As I stated earlier in this blog, He does allow things to happen in our lives, (but not to punish us), so we can come face to face with our own insufficiency. Through this method, His desire is that we press into Him during our time of darkness, and invite Him into our lives. As Jesus said in Mathew 11:28-29: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and let me teach you. I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Just a reminder: God IS LOVE. He is the very essence of LOVE; He IS all that LOVE entails. Since He IS LOVE, nothing can emanate from Him other than love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, compassion, goodness, kindness, patience and self-control. On the flip side, when we are facing trials and tribulations, where does that darkness come from? Is it from God? NO! It’s contrary to His very nature. Trials and tribulations are rooted in fear, and produce doubt, anger, hatred, jealousy, guilt, shame, remorse, depression, anxiety, self-loathing and hopelessness. Where does all of that vitriol come from? Our enemy… the father of lies, satan! No doubt you’ve gotten a bad medical report, or perhaps it was financial ruin, or an affair exposed, or your spouse left you, or you lost a loved one. All of these happenings open the door for satan to fan these traumatic flames. Your choice is either to succumb to his tactics or to press into the love of God.. It’s YOUR choice!. But if you choose option 1, don’t blame God for satan’s heartless schemes.
Feel free to respond to this message, and please share it with other social media friends.
May God Bless You abundantly,
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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