Godly Performance

Jeremiah 1:12

You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.

I’ve been thinking about prayer a lot lately. I bet I am not alone in that. I stumbled over this scripture today and it got me to thinking again. The best kind of prayer is when we pray God’s words and this verse makes it evident why that is true. Can you even picture that for a moment? Imagine God watching the earth for someone to speak His Word so He can rush in to perform it. Amazing. However, it brings up for me as many questions as it answers. Now I find myself asking what words I should be praying over each situation I am facing. In fact, I have not been standing on a particular scripture for the Covid situation, but I have found one I think will be my touchstone. It is Exodus 23: 25, “But you shall serve the Lord your God and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst.” That is a promise from God. He told the Israelites if they would serve Him, they would be blessed and that He would remove sickness. Well, that is exactly what I want. Since He promised the Israelites to bless them and heal their land, then He promised me too because He is not one to show partiality (Deuteronomy 10: 17).

Whatever situation we are facing, instead of begging God to do something, we need to pick up our Bibles and find out what He has already promised. We, then, hold up that Word to Him and He performs it. He is watching for people to show up with His Word. This is not exactly the model of prayer most of us have been taught but it is what God’s Word says and that should carry some weight.

Find out what the Word says and then speak those Divine Words. That is how to pray.

Discrimination

Galatians 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Boy, do we need to get a revelation of this! This is what I call tough love, which usually amounts to being told what we do not want to hear.

Most of us do not want to hear what we need to hear. We will even shy away from the people who are best able to guide us. It is hard to face ourselves at times. Better to hide from the truth than face those uncomfortable revelations. Well, this verse is one of those revelatory mirrors which reflects a face most of us would rather avoid. Discrimination within our ranks.

The early church leaders had a job on their hands reconciling the Jewish believers and the gentiles who were flocking to the message and person of Jesus. The Jews had lots of rules they wanted the new converts to adhere to. They definitely thought of themselves as superior to the gentiles. After all, they were the children of Abraham and those gentiles had probably never even heard of Abraham.

In this new covenant, this new dispensation, all kinds of people are treated as the beloved of God. Each person is recognized as an heir to the promises. See that this includes women. It also includes slaves and Greeks. Frankly, it includes everyone. God is not one to show partiality (Deuteronomy 10: 17, Acts 10: 34). It is easy to read this passage as told to someone else. We can sit quietly by and watch them be rebuffed. However, let’s apply this to our world. What does it mean to us today?

We are all one in Christ. That means that Episcopalians and Methodists are meant to be brothers. Lutherans and Baptists are all one in Christ. And even Catholics. Yep. It is time we got off of our high horse and begin to love one another. Whose theology is perfect? Yours? Then why are we all called to continue learning and growing? The key words here are “in Christ.” That is where we are supposed to be. It is not a goal to be attained to be a good Baptist or a good Catholic. The goal is to be “in Christ” and to help others to be in Christ too. We are supposed to lead people into a relationship with Jesus. This is not a private club, as the Jews found out. And while we are about it. God still loves the Jews. Don’t think He doesn’t. He wants them to hear and embrace the good news about Jesus, who himself was a Jew.

God does not see all of these labels that we use to categorize people. He sees hearts. He doesn’t care what you call yourself or what others call you. He is attracted to all those who love Him with an honest, sincere heart. And just in case you wondered, I don’t care either. If you love Jesus, you are alright by me. That is this ministry’s official position, that we do not love according to labels. Your denominational affiliation is between you and God. I just want you in a church that teaches you the Word and supports you. I hope you are in a church which understands today’s scripture and is doing all it can to eradicate denominational prejudice. And for that matter, that includes every other type of discrimination. All people are welcome in the house of God and in this ministry. Come all who are weary and heavy laden. Jesus wants to wrap himself around you and give you his rest. Enter into his rest. Enter into his love, regardless of your label. Check your label at the door and just be free in Christ. God loves you! Those are the important words.