Happy Tidings to All

On December 18, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 2: 10              KJV

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

What was the good news the angel delivered to the shepherds in their fields at night? “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (verse 11).

Every year at this time, I ruminate on this passage and almost every year I write on it for Christmas. Poetically, this is one of the times I enjoy the Old English version. I’ve read it in a number of versions this year and one of the words which these translations have in common is the word “all.” The angel told the shepherds that he brought them good news of great joy for all people. What an outlandish and blasphemous statement. The angel went on to proclaim the birth of the Messiah, the Jewish Messiah. How then could this be great news for all people? Do you think the Romans thought the angel brought good news of great joy? What did the angel know? Was it a prophetic statement?

Upon the departure of the angelic host, the shepherds immediately went into town and found the baby and worshipped him. Even when they returned to their fields, they continued to sing and shout their praise for the Messianic babe. At the same time, wise men from the east noticed the star which heralded baby Jesus’ birth. These “stargazers” began to follow the star. They were not Jews. They were people who watched the sky for divine encounter.

What didn’t happen is that the angel didn’t appear at the temple. He didn’t show up in the middle of a prayer service shining in the glory of the Lord. Instead, the angel appeared to humble shepherds who were probably filthy for sleeping out in the fields with their sheep. The star beckoned easterners. What I love about this is that it demonstrates the angels’ proclamation that the good news is for all people, even those me from the east; even a group of filthy shepherds.

The good news is that Jesus came so that none should perish (John 3: 16). From Jesus’ first introduction into the earth, his ministry was to all people. What an awesome, wonderful, yet controversial beginning. Of course, ownership of salvation became a huge debate in Paul’s ministry and that debate even survives to our day. I believe, however, that God the Father, made his message very clear in the beginning. If salvation was only to the Jews, Father could have had Mary and Joseph introduced at court. Jewish officials could have found them room at the inn or in one of their own homes, for that matter. God didn’t write the script that way, though, because He wanted each of us to know that the birth of the miracle baby was for each one of us individually, no matter how lowly any of us may feel.

As I look at the nativity scene in my living room, I wonder about that Christmas so many years ago. As the shepherds left the humble scene where the Christ child was born among the donkeys and cattle, they proclaimed the good news to everyone who would listen. People flocked to that shelter to see the miracle; Jews and Gentiles, men and women, the hungry, the tired, the marginalized and kings. There was no guard at the gate permitting only the privileged or the chosen. All were welcome and all still are.

Yet, to this day, there are some who wonder if they are acceptable to the Christ. They don’t know if they are welcome to enter in. There may be people you know who don’t know that Jesus came to all. Maybe this Christmas, the miracle can be reborn. Maybe we can flock to the manger and give our hearts and go out shouting and praising the God who sent us His son.

Blessed be your Christmas. Blessed be your spirit. Be blessed in all.

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Manger to Messiah

On December 11, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 4: 4         NLV

But when the right time came, God send his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.

Do you believe God is all powerful? Do you believe He has supernatural powers and can do things which supersede and confound physical law? If so, then why did He send his son to earth by way of a normal, human birth? Jesus already existed, did he not? “He was in the beginning with God,” (John 1: 2). So, why did God send him as a human person. In fact, many believe that Jesus visited the earth many times by simply manifesting in a physical form. So, why didn’t God send the Messiah to earth using His supernatural powers? Why didn’t Jesus simply manifest physically and begin his ministry?

The answer is in the verse as well as lurking in some of the questions. Jesus didn’t come to earth as a supernatural being. He didn’t come as the second person of the trinity. He came into the earth as we all do. He came as a human person subject to all the laws to which we are bound: spiritual laws, physical laws and legal pronouncements from both man and God. Because He was born of a woman, he was subject to the law of Moses even though in his position in heaven as the Son of God, he was far above it. This is one of the most fundamental aspects of the divine replacement miracle and redemption but also a profound and important concept. Jesus came to earth subject to the law so that he could ultimately free us from the law.

In thinking about Christmas, we think of the birth of the child, and it brings these questions to mind. It is amazing, is it not, that the Messiah should come in such humble means. The Apostle Paul, in this letter to the Galatians, and then eventually to us, demonstrates why it was so important for the Son of God to humble himself, as he did, and enter earth as each one of us did. From that first breath, he experienced life on the earth as we do. He was subject to gravity and hunger. He had to pay taxes and deal with family who didn’t respect him. He had all the challenges we do because he was born of a woman. He came as a human.

In order to free us from the bondage of the law, he too had to be subject to it. He didn’t come in his godly visage and superimpose his will. That is what we would expect. It represents the way we deal with problems. Jesus, though, gave himself to the problem. He didn’t use force to make us change. He didn’t come preaching damnation if we didn’t line up and obey him. He came preaching redemption and salvation none of which would be the result of our actions but rather because of an act of love that he would perform. He made himself subject to the law, even to the point of death so that we could be freed from the slavery of the law. If you are not astounded by this, I have not explained it well and hope that you will pray for God to show you beyond the words, what He intends to convey for it is the greatest of miracles, the most profound gift, and a philosophy that perhaps no great thinker has every truly comprehended.

Jesus changed the world without force, without self-aggrandizement, without recruitment, without a powerful office or position. It was the very fact that he was made subject to the law that we were able to become free of it. When Jesus was above the law, when he was living in the supernatural heavens of God, he humbled himself to be born into the earth like any other little child. He shattered the shackles of the law so that we might be free, but he did it by submitting himself to the law. He changed the world by being obedient and a servant. He observed the requirements of the law changing the system from within rather than from without.

Although Jesus was subject to all the laws of the physical and spiritual realms, he was not a slave to them. He listened to God, his father, and our God taught him to be the master of the laws. So, he was subject to them but not mastered by them. This is our legacy, but we do not understand our position in him. If we truly understood who Jesus is and that he lived in the earth as any other person, we would do as he did and we would be truly and magnificently free. We would walk on water and more.

We are severely limited in our thinking and in our faith. As you look towards Christmas Day and to the beautiful gift of love, remember that Jesus was just a baby. He was born of a woman. He had to grow up, just as we did. He didn’t always have things go his way; life wasn’t always easy. Yet, as he grew, he put on his mantle and walked into his role as the Messiah, the savior of the whole world. How did he get from the manger to Messiah? If you answer that question, answer it without making excuses like, “Oh, but he was the Son of God,” because now we know he was born human, answer it truthfully, intelligently and introspectively, you will have one of the greatest revelations of all time. You will transform your life and the lives of everyone around you. Merry Christmas!

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Made Alive

On December 4, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 6: 6 – 7

Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

This is a wonderful bit of good news this morning. You have been freed from sin that once hampered you and, furthermore, your old self has died having been crucified on the cross with Jesus himself. If there is some habit, sin or condition that has plagued you for years, understand that you are dead to it as soon as you acknowledge that the old man who, was you, died on that cross. You were raised up as a new creature in Christ Jesus at Jesus’ resurrection. You are a full partaker of the resurrection.

If you died, then sin can no longer hold you. It was in the old man and the old man is dead. The new creature who was raised in Christ is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Ok, does that mean that you never, ever sin or fall short of the mark? Not necessarily, but it does mean that you are no longer a slave to sin. Sin no longer owns you. You have been purchased with the precious blood of Jesus so that you are in the Kingdom of righteousness instead of the camp of the enemy. You are free from the bondage of sin, and it no longer has a hold on you. You just have to make sure that you no longer have a hold on it. Jesus has set you free, but you need to stand up and walk out of the prisoner of war camp. Don’t hang out there anymore. Your freedom has been purchased.

You have died to sin and are free of the torment that it brings. No matter what hold sin had on you, you are now dead to it. Don’t go to the grave and resurrect that which Jesus has freed you from. No matter what habit held you, know that Jesus took that to the cross with him so that you could participate in his resurrection as your new self; clean and washed in the blood of the lamb. Celebrate your new self today. You are a glorious new creature in Christ Jesus.

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Hang On

On November 27, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Hebrews 10: 23

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Why must we hold fast to our confession? Because sometimes it takes some time before our answer arrives just as was the case in Daniel chapter 10. First you must have hope. Then hope gives you reason to pray and develop a confession. Without hope, you won’t even pray. Why would you if there was no hope of answered prayer but we always have reason to hope because our God is faithful.

When you pray, you have reason to expect God to answer that prayer. Yet the answer isn’t always on the doorstep the next morning. So, what shall we do? We enter our confession stage. We are to develop a confession (or profession of faith, if you will) which is consistent with our prayer and with the Word of God. For example, if my prayer was for healing an ankle sprain and my ankle still hurt the next morning, I would begin to confess my healing rather than confessing the pain. My confession might sound like, “My ankle is healed because 1 Peter says that by His stripes I was healed.” Then I am going to hold onto that confession until my ankle manifests its healing. I am not going to start speaking doubt and unbelief because I have faith that God, the one who promised, is faithful. The writer of Hebrews tells us to hold fast without wavering. So, we shouldn’t waffle back and forth. Since He who promised is faithful, we just hang onto our confession of faith until our answer arrives.

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Righteousness

On November 20, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 3: 6 – 7

In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

Righteousness is one of those ideas which confounds us. We often confuse it with holiness. We tend to think it has much to do with our behaviors. It turns out that righteousness is a measure of the condition of our hearts.

I have heard righteousness described as “rightness” with God. I find that a very practical definition. One might say, we stand in our “right” place with God or we are in right standing.    In this, we are drawing near to an understanding. Our right standing isn’t about what we’ve done “right” or, indeed, even the absence of having done something wrong. It is not a holiness measure. Paul shows us that right standing with God comes by faith.

In this passage Paul wrote that it was Abraham’s belief, not in God, but in what God said that marked him as righteous. Abraham believed God. That means he counted as truth the words from God. Likewise, Paul wrote, those who also believe God, believe His words and put their faith in Him are the children of Abraham and heirs to all the promises.

I wonder, sometimes, what draws people to be children of God. What causes us to give our lives to God. Purely from self-interest, the promises made to Abraham should motivate people to draw unto God. When we read the promises, do we believe God? Surely, most people desire to walk in the blessing, but do we truly believe that God will cause those things to happen for us?

It is precisely when we take God at His word that He counts us as righteous. I know this is backwards from the way we think. However, we would do well to wrap our minds around this ideal. Even the sin in our lives will not bar us from righteousness if we believe God. Now, that is a huge statement. It flies in the face of convention. However, it is also truth. Am I advocating nonchalance towards sin? Of course not. That is plain foolishness. We are to walk as Jesus walked. However, the walk begins with faith and belief. If we take care of the belief problem, the sin problem will sort itself out.

Ask yourself today whether, or not, you truly believe God and Christ, his son. Do you just believe in them, or do you believe them. See, believing IN God, really doesn’t say much. If you think about it, Satan believes in God. He is a usurper precisely because he believes in God. Yahweh is asking us to believe Him which equates to believing His Word. Challenge yourself to believe what you read in the Bible. May I say, if you are not reading His Word, it is improbable that you can believe it.

I have been sent to Christians rather than to the unsaved. My mission is to call Christians to higher ground, always higher and more enlightened in the things of God. In so doing, we become that family of believers that God desires.

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Higher Ground

On November 13, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 2: 3

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

My favorite word in this verse is “formerly.” I am glad that living in the flesh is in our past. None the less, this is something we all have to be vigilant about. It is also one of those things which is overcome in stages. So, perhaps we are learning to live in higher and higher revelations.

Much of the church reads a passage about “lusts” of the flesh and all they can think about is sexual lust. Sure, that qualifies, but it is the small part. Many people who have conquered sexual lust still have plenty of trouble with living to the flesh instead of to the Spirit. The easiest way to think about this is to first consider the tri-union nature of who you are. You are a spirit who has a soul and a body. As mature Christians we are trying to grow in the spiritual part of our being. We are dying to the body and soul. Consider your soul as your emotions, desires, thoughts and your will. Now when people think of lusts of the flesh some are really reading in here “lusts of the body.” That is not what the scriptures are about though. Your soul is part of your flesh too. When you sow to your flesh it may have very little to do with your body but it may have a great deal with your desires, your ego, your fantasies or even the injuries in your personality.

I’ve known people, and so have you, who needed to amass money just so they could feel good about themselves. Their energy, then, is spent serving that brokenness. God has already made us worthy in Christ Jesus. Once one receives that, the broken part of them can be healed. Then they can set goals about what they can do for the kingdom of God rather than what they need to do in order to feel good about themselves.

Many of us serve our egos instead of our God. That is the hardest thing in the world to overcome. First, you’ve got to be really, really honest with yourself. And sometimes the truth is not comfortable. But once you see the truth, it is really liberating. Most of us cannot even see how we elevate our needs, our wants, our desires and our egos above God. It can be difficult, but I want to challenge us all to look closely at ourselves and ask why we do the things we do. Even our “good works” can be works of the flesh if we do them out of a sense obligation or for the attention we seek to receive.

Let’s go deeper with God. To do that we need to survey ourselves. As we do, He will lead us to deeper revelations. And while it may be painful for a moment, it is just that, a moment. The joy is everlasting and much greater than the moment of discomfort. Besides, if you hurt for a moment, He is the great healer. He can heal you of that problem forever instead of you continuing to struggle with it all your life.

This is a call to higher ground, to maturity, to greater real spirituality. It is your great calling unto Christ; to keep growing in the revelation of him, and to fulfilment.

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The God Version

On November 6, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 14: 20

On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I in you.

This is the great miracle, that Jesus lives in us. It is really quite amazing if you stop to think about it. Jesus brought a whole new way of thinking about our relationship with deity. He is the present God, God with us. And yet . . . we often think about God being off in heaven somewhere. We have this nebulous idea of God apart from us. God with us is, truthfully, God in us and that is a defining thought.

Who are you? Doesn’t that question take on new richness when you consider God in you? Wait, let me ask you this question, who is God? Now, get ready for a startling answer.

There is an amalgamation of you with God once you let God intertwine Himself in the fabric of your life, thoughts and dreams. No longer are you the simple you. You have become God with you. This is so important!

I told you this little story once. It’s about the day I rode my mountain bike through a lovely pine forest. The smell of pine was invigorating, the sound of pine needles crunching beneath my tires, mesmerizing. Above all, though, was the absolute beauty of that forest. It truly was remarkable so, I remarked to God about the loveliness of the entire scene. I, at once, felt silly for telling Him about this beautiful landscape as if He had never seen it before. He, after all, did make it. His response was startling though. He said, “Ivey, I’ve never seen it through your eyes before.” Wow! You see, in that limited way, He had never seen it before.

We are complex organisms. Our perceptions are colored by all the experiences of our lives. Even our thoughts are unique. That is why it is beneficial to have different folks in any planning committee. We see things differently, perceive things differently and will come with different thoughts. It always fascinates me how it isn’t a mere function of intelligence but also of all the tastes, flavors and experiences of life. People come up with ideas I would have never dreamed up even given hours, days and years of cognitive effort. All of this is going somewhere, and it is circling back around to God in you.

When you honor the intertwined you and give place to God to speak into your heart and thoughts, you become a God engine yourself. Your thoughts can be God inspired. The pictures in your mind go beyond what you would have imagined on your own. Here is a key bit. God can speak into you in ways that I may never be able to hear. He can paint on the canvas of your imagination in colors and shapes that others don’t see. Therefore, the thoughts you have, the truth you are able to share may be slightly nuanced from what someone else has perceived. That’s great! It’s not bad at all. When we combine our revelations, we see a much more complex and wonderful tapestry. How marvelous!

For this reason, I wish to encourage you. You should honor your thoughts as unique. The synergy that we should all seek is oneness with our Lord and Father. In that synergistic union, He will speak through your filters. He will see through your eyes. Had you been on that bike ride with me, you may have seen something different from what I saw. Maybe you would have noticed the crispness of the air or the way the light streamed through the pines. If your perception was different from mine, and it is almost a surety that it would have been, that does not make it wrong, or right. It is purely a celebration of God in you while my perception is an observation on God in me.

This Word of the Day is meant to encourage you to honor your thoughts, hopes, dreams and ambitions. Your thoughts are valuable when you are intertwined with the Holy One. God thoughts are light and life, but I want you to understand that none of us has a patent on those inspired thoughts. This is why God has more than one minister of His gospel. We each teach according to the light He has inspired within us. You too can have God thoughts.

Look for God, but don’t look to the sky. Look within. Let Him touch your thoughts. Your Father has much to show you and tell you. In your quiet time with Him, He will lead and inspire you. Be still and listen to that voice with you. God is speaking to you!

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