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Righteousness

Ivey Rorie 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.

Keep the Faith

Ivey Rorie On April 9, 2021 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Genesis 21: 4

Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

One of the observations that stood out to me in writing this week’s devotionals, was the faith and patience of the people we know as our Biblical ancestors. In yesterday’s passage from Genesis 12 we learned that Abraham was seventy-five years old when the Lord told him He was going to make a great nation of him and bless him. Then He told Abraham to pack up and go to Canaan. Twenty-five years later, God gave Abraham and Sarah the child of promise. How hard was it for them to stay in faith for twenty-five years awaiting a son when Sarah was barren anyway and they were already old? Moses waited forty years for his ministry to come to fruition.

In the book of Jeremiah, God told us that He has a good plan for us. Yea! But here is the rub, sometimes there is a gap between the revelation of the plan and its fulfillment. I wish it wasn’t so, but it sometimes is. When God gives us a vision or His plan for us, we expect the world to shake right now. When it doesn’t, there are two likely repercussions. The first if obvious – we lose our faith. We stop believing God spoke to us. Maybe we were deceived. Maybe we made it up with our own minds. That is dangerous thinking and leads to failure. We stop believing in God’s plan and make up reasons why it has not come to pass.

The other likely outcome when we do not see God’s plan unfolding right away is that we begin to help God. Abraham, Sarah and Moses all fell into that trap. They attempted to fulfill God’s plan through their own strength. This always leads to trouble. When we try to do God’s part through our own wisdom and strength, we end up with an Ishmael.

The good news is that although each of these Biblical heroes faltered, they hung in there with God and believed Him. Ultimately, they all changed the course of human history. You don’t have to be perfect. Just stick with it. Find out God’s good plan and then stay in faith praying that goal into being. Keep on praying and seeking God until you receive the promise. It may take longer than you think, but don’t give up on God because He most certainly is not giving up on you.

Pack Your Bags

Ivey Rorie On April 8, 2021 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Genesis 12: 1, 4 – 5

“Go from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you.”

So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the people which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan.

We are still talking about getting in the game which is a metaphor for seeking God’s beautiful plan for our lives and following it. Yesterday we saw that Abraham’s (Abram) Father, Terah, began well but stopped short of God’s plan for him. It could well be that Terah was to be the Father of many nations. He headed towards Canaan but stopped in Haran. Unfortunately for Terah, the blessing was in Canaan, not Haran. He missed his boat.

In today’s passage we witness God telling Abram to pack up his family and belongings and head to Canaan. The difference between Abram and his father, Terah, is that Abram followed through.

This is actually the beginning of the blessing. Look at verses 2 and 3, “And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” It is through Abram’s execution of God’s plan that we enjoy the blessing today. All families of the earth are blessed because Abraham packed his bags and followed God’s plan for his life.

God was looking for someone to covenant with so that He could get the blessing to humanity and Abraham volunteered through obedience. Abraham is called the Father of Faith, and I don’t deny that, but it was obedience that made Abram into Abraham and brought the blessing to you and to me. It was obedience through which the covenant was able to be implemented.

Abraham understood that God had a good plan for him and he believed that God would make that promise into a fact. He believed God and followed the plan. Because of that he became the father of nations. Because he followed through on God’s plan, the entire world is blessed. I just want to remind you of Jeremiah 29: 11 to let you think about how God thinks about us and operates with us, “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Amen!

Benched

Ivey Rorie On April 7, 2021 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Genesis 11: 31

Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.

Yesterday’s Word of the Day encouraged us to get in the game because God has a good plan for us. I thought I would show you how this could take form by looking at the experiences of some Biblical figures.

Some people choose to bench themselves. That is a horrifying thought to me but is exactly what Terah did. Terah was the Father of Abraham, who, at this time, was known as Abram. Terah packed up his herds and flocks, gathered his family and set off for Canaan. Now we know Canaan as the promised land. What made Terah pack up and head to Canaan? What caused him to stop short of the goal?

While it is only speculation, I believe Terah had a word from the Lord telling him to go to Canaan. He started out well enough, but something happened. He got comfortable. When he got to Haran and set up his tents, he found the area pleasing, so he stopped. He was on his way to the promised land but stopped and put down his tent pegs when he found a pleasing spot. He settled for less than God’s best. God was taking him to the promised land, but he never made it there because he quit. He settled for what he could see in the present moment instead of relying on God’s promise.

God had a better plan for Terah than Terah ever got to live out because he put himself on the bench in the game of life. He chose to avoid the work of travelling on and to avoid the inevitable risk that comes with living in faith. He chose what he could see over what God promised. It’s kind of tragic.

Let’s not settle for anything less than God’s best because God’s plan for us is bigger and better. Not only that, God does not want us to live a settle for existence. He has good plans for us to live in His best all the time. Keep asking Him for a refreshing of His plan and for him to lead you daily.

Believership

Ivey Rorie On April 29, 2020 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Romans 4: 3

For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

So here is my question, would Abraham have become the Father of Israel if He did not believe? He is also called the father of faith. Surely, he would not have won that title without outstanding, radical belief.

Question number two, what is the relevance for today? My answer is that I want to be like Abraham. Think of what God asked him to believe. He and his wife were already old. Sarah was infertile as a young woman. Then God went to them in their old age and said, a father of a multitude will I make you. What? Frankly, that had to sound ludicrous. Immediately the human mind goes to the worldly way of things because that is what we know. What made Abraham different?

Did you know that Abraham’s father, Terah, started out for Canaan? Terah, though, found a pleasing land and settled. That is a metaphor for life. Terah settled for less than God had for him. God was leading him to the land of promise, the land flowing with mild and honey but Terah found a pleasing land and put down stakes. It’s a frightening story. How many of us have done the same thing? How many times have I done that?

What made Abraham different? When God spoke to him, he packed up his belongings and left his family to follow God. What kind of fortitude does that require? So, here we are? What would you have done? What would I have done? I probably would have said, “That can’t be God speaking. That’s nuts!”

To the natural mind, God is nuts. That is how I can sometimes know it is God speaking to me rather than my own mind making up stuff. Some of the things he comes up with I would never in a million years think of. How do we grow to hear God’s voice so well that there is no doubt left in our minds and then how do we grow the intestinal fortitude to do what He says? Dad is telling me these days to spend more time in quite contemplation with Him. What is He telling you? Let’s grow together! You share with the class what you are learning, and we will all become believers by Abraham’s standard of measure.

This is an amazing time in history. What can we become during this time? How can we grow and improve? We finally have the time to dedicate to spiritual pursuits. Can we become like Abraham? I sure want to try.

Reply to this email or share a comment so that we can all grow together.

What are you Saying?

Ivey Rorie On April 3, 2020 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Romans 4: 17 God’s Word

Abraham believed when he stood in the presence of the God who gives life to dead people and calls into existence things that don’t even exist.

This is a good time to teach about Abraham. We will visit him next week as well. Today’s verse continues the thoughts of yesterday’s Word of the Day. And so, here is the question, “What are you saying?”

I love this version of the Bible and its rendition of this verse. Abraham is called the Father of faith because he believed even when the promise of God seemed ludicrous. One of the things that made it a bit easier to believe is that he stood in the presence of God. I find that the more time I spend in God’s presence, the easier it is for me to believe too. So, now I am thinking, “I just need to spend more time in God’s presence.” It’s true. When I slow myself down and mediate in him, my ability to hear Him is improved and understanding and faith increase. The hard part, at least for me, is in quieting everything about me: my physiology as well as psychology. Mind and body can be unruly partners, but I have decided that I am lord over my body and my mind, and they will behave. Further, the more I submit them to Jesus’ lordship, the more peace I enjoy physically and mentally. That’s phase one, getting quiet in God’s presence.

The next thing I need to model about God and Abraham is “calling those things.” What is this? Abraham took his cue from our Father. We not only model Abraham, but we can see what he learned from the Father. Therefore, we have two very good role models. What we see when we observe them is that they said what they wanted before the thing even existed. They actually called those things which were not into existence. This is where it gets sticky for some people, but it needn’t.

Some people say, “Well, I can’t call myself healed when I am sick. That isn’t true.” Here’s the thing, when you shift your gaze you find it is true. I wrote a piece about shifting the frame just a little. It is amazing what you will see when you move the frame. Make a frame with your hands and then narrow your focus to only that which is inside the frame. What do you see? Now shift the frame. What do you see now? If you’ve played the game with me, you will find a totally different picture within the frame. Now, here is the question, “Which one represents truth?”

Here’s another way to play this game. Do you have something you can use as a frame and fix it in place? If not, you have to do this with your brain. Fix the frame either literally or figuratively and take a picture of what you see with your internal eye. Now remember that picture. Do not move the frame, move yourself. Move your body. Now what do you see? Again, if you played along, the picture has changed although the subject neither moved nor changed. You changed your perspective. You changed your vantage point. Now, again, which picture represents the truth? Of course, truth has not actually changed, only our perspective and perception changed. This is the greater reality. This is (T)ruth with a capital T.

Abraham was able to call himself the father of a multitude because he had a new perspective. It was one of faith and belief. He could close his eyes and see this truth. It is the most natural thing in the world to say what you see. We do that all day long. We assume that which we perceive with the natural eye is “true” although we know it’s not always so. Why, then, is it so challenging for us to believe that what we see with the eyes of our spirit is truth? In this, we have identified the real work of faith that Jesus spoke of. This is the “work” that he wants us to do. Once we see his truth, it becomes an easy thing to speak that reality.

One last thing before I let you go, and it is another question. Speaking both literally and figuratively, who is in control of the placement of the frame and the perspective of viewing? Who is the director of this film? If you answered Jesus, you are half right. Hopefully you also recognize that ultimately you are the director of the film. You have to set up the camera and shout “action.” Then you sit back while Jesus rolls out a movie for you. If you will keep your camera focused on him, he will show you are version of reality that you can sink your heart into and speak with confidence.

This leads back to the beginning. What are you saying? We must listen to what comes out of our mouths and police it, if need be. That isn’t all though. Phase two might be tuning our eyes and spirits to Jesus’ version of truth but ultimately we must transition to phase three which is intentionally calling those things into existence which do not currently exist in the natural realm. That is the point we want to get to. That is the meaning of this verse, but sometimes you have to fix your believer first. This is exactly, how your Father created the earth. He called things which didn’t exist into existence. Was he not speaking truth? He was speaking the truth He saw in His spirit and it had to come into existence. That is your charge. See what Jesus wants to show you and then speak it out in confidence. See your protective shield, see your healing. Say what Jesus says about you. Amen?

Sand and Stars

Ivey Rorie On February 25, 2020 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Romans 4: 17 Tree of Life Version

He is our father in the sight of God in whom he trusted, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence that which does not exist.

This verse speaks about Abraham and says that he is our Father in faith. He is our faith example. We learn from him as he learned from God. God had to teach Abraham how to stand in faith. It wasn’t an intrinsic trait, but God was the example to Abraham teaching him that he must speak the end from the beginning. He had to learn to emulate God in calling those things which aren’t as though they were, speaking the end result instead of the appearance of things.

This is actually a prayer model. God made Abraham a huge promise, but it took years to bring it to pass. So, God had to teach Abraham how to stand in faith. Part of that involved teaching him how to pray and how to speak. Let’s see how this unfolds.

First, you get a promise from God. That is one of the important uses of the Bible. It could also be a dream God has given you which is anchored in the Word. Then, get a picture of it. God took Abram out to look at the stars and told him his children would number as many as the stars. He also gave him the imagery of sand telling him his children would be as numerous as the grains of sand. Every time Abram thought about sand or looked at a night sky he was reminded of God’s promise. The most important bit was yet to come though.

God changed Abram’s name to Abraham. Abram means, “exalted father.” Abraham means, “father of many or father of a multitude.” Abram didn’t even have one child at the time, and both he and Sarah, his wife were well advanced in years. Besides that, she was barren. How was he to be the father of a multitude?

What Abraham did have, though, was a promise from God and to Abraham, that made all the difference. So, he had the promise, two images (the sand and the stars) which represented the fulfillment of that promise and now, he had a new name. Every time anyone called him, he heard, “Father of many.”

However, there was one thing remaining. His confession. First, we pray to receive God’s vision for us. That’s where the real asking takes place. Once we have the promise then we don’t have to ask and wonder anymore. We certainly don’t need to beg and plead. He has already said, “Yes.” Abraham had to learn to call those things into existence which didn’t exist. This is called standing in faith and it is the final component of prayer. This is where most of us miss our answer.

The message I wish to convey today is that this is part of the prayer model. We don’t need to keep on asking the father to do something for us once he has said okay. That part is done and it is time for us to stand like Father Abraham. This last part is crucial and as I said, I believe this is where most of us are losing our prayer answers. After you have an answer from God, it still takes faith to bring it in. He has already said, “Yes,” to healing you but what are you saying? He has already said, “Yes,” to prosperity but what are you saying? If you are still begging God to do something for you, you might be missing your answer to prayer. Pray to get His answer but then stand on that promise like Abraham did. Believe with all your might that what God has said is truth and is yours. Become stubborn and resolute. By his stripes, were you healed? Did God promise to prosper the work of your hand, or not?

This is the hard stuff but right here is where we can make a difference in our lives and the lives of our families. Find your promise. If you are having trouble finding a scripture to stand on, contact me. I will help you. Then, you’ve got to speak the end result. Forget the circumstances. Speak the result. Quit begging God and start thanking Him. Praise Him that He who promised is well able, and willing, to deliver. Call those things which are not until they are.

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