In Jesus

On July 15, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 16: 33

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

We are looking at this question of whether Christians should be beaten and downtrodden or if God has provided us some form of relief. We saw in Psalm 9: 9 – 10 that God has provided us a fortress of protection which we can trust and into which we can escape the trouble of the world. Today’s verse is a New Testament version of Psalm 9: 9. It is even better though.

In Psalm 9 you would have to run into the protection of the Lord. That protection is still available today. However, today’s Word is from Jesus, and he tells us that we don’t have to fear the day of trouble because He has already defeated the enemy. He has already overcome the world for us. Jesus teaches us that we can have peace even when the world is full of tribulation. Jesus knew about Psalm 9. He knew that our Father had already provided us protection from a world full of tribulation, but Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. He is that law and beyond. Therefore, we still have all of the promises of the Old Testament plus we have a new covenant based on better promises and sealed in the blood of Jesus rather than the blood of sheep and goats. Because of the shed blood of the perfect lamb, the enemy has no more power over us. The blood has covered us, and Jesus defeated the enemy one time for all. So, Jesus tells us that although the world is full of tribulation, we should have no cause for fear because He has already defeated the prince of this world. Jesus has told us these things so that we may live in peace rather than fear or worry. He said, “Take courage.” I would also say, “Trust”. How much better a promise is this? Rather than having to wait inside our fortress while God fights our foe for us, we can simply stand realizing that Jesus has already defeated Him. You still have all the promises of the past plus you have the fulfillment of them in Jesus, the Christ. Jesus said in the world you have tribulation but in Him you have peace. Call me simple but I think I will choose to be in Him.

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Peace, Peace

On October 2, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 9: 6

For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us . . . and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Ephesians 2: 17

And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near.

One of the greatest commodities of Christianity is peace.  If you want a revelation, run a search on the word peace. Even if you run the search in the New Testament alone, you will see an amazing mosaic unfold before you.

Besides being the Prince of Peace, Jesus is also called the Lord of peace (2 Thessalonians 3: 16). Father is the God of peace (1 Thessalonians 5: 23). Paul opened many of his letters with the blessing of peace and grace. Peace, living in peace, being at peace with others and in life’s circumstances, is part of our heritage, our inheritance. When Jesus was about to leave the earth and return to heaven, he told his disciples that he was going to leave his peace here, for us. His peace, he said, is different from the peace we have known in the world (John 14: 27). What is different about it? To start, it is perfect. You are, therefore, entitled to his perfect peace.

Jesus warned us that the world has trouble in it and as long as we live in the world, we will be exposed to this trouble. Fear not, though, because he said that even in these times of trouble, we may have peace. In fact, the words he spoke, his teachings, were intended that we may have peace. “Take courage,” he said, because he has overcome the world and all it’s trouble (John 16: 33).

So, what is the point of all this? You know things happen which are unpleasant. Occasionally you must deal with unpleasant people as well. That is life on this planet, for now. However, you are not required to live in that unpleasantness. Your inheritance is peace. So, how do you go from unpeaceful situations and stress to living in the perfect peace of your Lord? Well, the answer is actually there in the question. Living in the Lord, is the answer, and the way to his perfect peace. I wish this came easily but for some, it does not.

Sometimes we must be uncomfortable enough to invest some time and energy. We don’t have to live in torment, but the way out is through. Jesus is the prince of peace, the Lord of peace. Time spent with him is the way of peace. To have the peace he left for us, we must seek him and his peace. I wish it fell out of the sky onto you, but it doesn’t. It is in Jesus and when you are in Jesus, then you will find you are in his peace too.

It is challenging for me to give an entire lesson of getting into that space with Jesus in this format, but if you feel challenged, please, feel free to contact me. Above all, don’t live in turmoil and torment when Jesus made a way for you.

Blessings, peace and grace to you!

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You Win

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

Romans 8: 28

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

I have been thinking about this verse lately. For those of you who have read the Word of the Day for a while, you know that I have written on it multiple times. I call this the Lemonade scripture by which I mean that God takes our lemons and turns them into lemonade. I want to revisit this verse today because we all need to remind ourselves that our Father is always looking after us and turning the sour lemons of life into sweet lemonade.

When Paul wrote that “all” things work out for our ultimate good, what do you think he had in mind? When we speak of all things it necessarily includes good things, mediocre things and bad things. Do you, though, think that Paul was thinking of the good things? No. He could just as easily have written that God causes the bad things in our lives to work out for our good. That is what he was really saying. He was thinking about the stumbling blocks, the “no’s” you get when you’re looking for a yes, and all the other things that don’t go as you would have liked.

The first thing we must understand is what this verse does not mean. It does not say, nor does it mean, that God makes bad things happen to you. Only with this realization can we understand the promise which is embedded here. The promise is that God is with you, and He is going to turn around the junk the devil meant for harm so that it works out for your benefit.

I am intrigued that just a few verses later Paul ties this thought in, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (v. 35). These verses come together to show the comprehensive work of the Lord. It is the love of God which is working for you such that none of these “bad things” carry the day. Jesus said, “I’ve told you this so that my peace will be with you. In the world you’ll have trouble. But cheer up! I have overcome the world,” (John 16: 33 GW). It is Paul’s revelation of the love of Christ which drives this entire discussion. He understands the dynamic of Father, Son and us. All was done for us.

Paul concludes beginning in verse thirty-seven with, “in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (verses 37 – 39). He tells us that it is because of the love of God that we overcome those things which do not initially go in our favor. God’s love triumphs over the lemons turning even the most rotten things sweet for us. This conquering, which is our inheritance, is through Him who loves us. Nothing can separate us from God’s love and His love turns things around. In other words, You win, if you don’t give up!

I hope you are seeing this and see that you don’t have to eat lemons. You can, instead, drink lemonade. It is God’s love which sweetens the lemons and turns them into something favorable. The one last thing I would share is that the role you play in this overcoming victory is in calling those things that currently are not what they should be as though they already are (Romans 4: 17). Call that lemon, lemonade. When lemons happen, just call them out. Say, “This has to work to my good because God said so.” Then let go of the stress of it and look forward to it working out for you. Treat it as a seed and look for your harvest!

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Perfect Peace

On November 9, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 16: 33           Amplified Bible

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world, [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you].

You are not alone because Jesus is with you and because He is with you, you can have supreme confidence and assurance that the world has no power over you. Jesus has defeated the power of the world and taken away any and all power that it had over you. Jesus has overcome the power of the devil and His ability to harm you.

Jesus tells us that the world has trials, tribulation, etc. but that we are not to be discouraged by the problems of the world because he has already defeated them for us. We are not of the world (John 17: 14) so we don’t have to partake of the world’s trouble. We are of Jesus, so we partake in His perfect peace. He says, “Be of good cheer.” In other words, cheer up. “Don’t worry; be happy” like the song says.

Here is the long and short of it. The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10: 10). He is going to try to spread strife, destruction, anguish and every other sort of torment. But the thing is, we do not have to participate in all that. Jesus defeated Satan and all his schemes for us. The people in the world just have to fight through all of that the best way they can. You do not. One truly great thing about being a Christian is that all that junk has already been conquered for us. I am not saying that Satan won’t try to get at you, but you don’t have to succumb to his shenanigans. You really don’t even have to fight him because he is already a defeated foe. You do, however, need to start understanding your victory in Jesus so that you don’t allow the devil to deceive you into thinking that you are fair game for him. You have been purchased by the blood of Jesus and have the victory over every scheme of the devil and all the suffering of this world. So, the next time the devil tries to attack you or the distress of this world starts to get to you, remind yourself that you are not of this world and its problems but rather that Jesus has purchased you out of the world and given you victory over all of its problems. Reach out with your heart to the comfort of Jesus.

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Overcoming the World

On March 25, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Revelations 12:11

And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony.

There seems to be confusion over who fights and who wins the battles of life. What role does Jesus play? What role do we play? Has he not defeated the enemy? Fortunately, the Bible answers these challenging questions for us, as you will see.

Let’s answer it this way. You know of how Moses led the Israelite nation out of Egypt, the pursuit by Pharaoh’s army and ultimately Israel’s escape through the Red Sea. Let us look at some key language from that event. “Then the Lord said to Moses, . . . ‘Lift up your staff and reach out with your hand over the sea and divide it’. Then Moses reached out with his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided,” (Exodus 14: 15 – 16, 21). So, who parted the Red Sea? If you answered “both” you are right and that is what we need to understand. The answer to overcoming trouble is in our partnership with the Trinity.

Now look at John 16: 33, “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” Why should we be encouraged that Jesus overcame the world? He just said we would have trouble in the world. Jesus understood the partnership with the Father. It is the intertwined life which is the message of this ministry. In Jesus and through his victory, we too can be victorious. It isn’t automatic though. If it were, he wouldn’t have need to encourage us and he certainly would not have told us that in this world we were going to have trouble. He would have said, “All your problems will be taken care of because I am victorious.” He didn’t say that though, did he? He said, take heart because I have overcome, meaning that in his overcoming is our own. Because he overcame the world, we are now able to be overcomers too.

Today’s verse wasn’t an accident. John wrote out the formula for overcoming problems. Victory is in the blood of the lamb and in the word of our testimony. Isn’t that what it says? This is so huge. There is no way to overstate the importance of these two elements. Jesus has already done his part but ours is constant. In every situation we must speak. In fact, our words cast the deciding ballot. Victory was purchased by the blood of the lamb. It must, however, be applied to our lives and situations and we do that with our words. We either speak the victory or confess defeat with our words. Am I sick, or healed? What does the Word say? Am I rich or poor? What does the Word say? What should I expect in my work and my relationships? Is the blessing operating in my life, or the curse?

The blood of the lamb has been cast. All that is left is the word of our testimony. If we do nothing with the victory Jesus purchased with his blood, then we will have no victory. If Moses didn’t raise his staff, that sea would never have parted. God wants to teach us this extremely valuable lesson. Victory is yours but only if you apply it to your life. What is the word of your testimony? Will it bring you what you desire? If not, what should you say which would be in line with victory? Maybe I should have titled today’s message “Blood and Guts” because it is going to take both to overcome the world. Now then, tell me, what are you saying?

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Help is Near

On April 30, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 34: 18

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

I was very surprised today to realize I had not sent this verse. I would have sworn I had. There is never a time when this verse is not appropriate because we all have need of Jesus’ saving grace daily, we have all suffered broken hearts and unfortunately, most of us have experienced at least one time in our lives when we have been crushed in our spirits. What I hear the most in this right now, though, is the high level of stress and anxiety people are enduring right now. People who were fortunate enough to retain their jobs are now doing the work of three people and they were probably over-taxed before the crisis. Health care workers, dear God, I cannot even imagine their stress load. Then there are the tons of people who are emotionally over stay home orders. They probably don’t even realize how stressed they are.

So here’s the deal, Jesus said he is the answer. No really! I don’t mean that in an esoteric way. The only value is if Jesus is the real and present answer. The reality is that he has promised to save us from everyday work and strain as much as the extreme stress situations. Salvation, you understand, is an everyday thing, and thank God for that. We often limit the idea of salvation to a saved from hell perspective but that is only one piece of Jesus’ victory. He whipped the devil so that we have everyday grace.

I am reminded of this verse, “I’ve told you this so that my peace will be with you. In the world you’ll have trouble. But cheer up! I have overcome the world,” (John 16: 33 GW). He was saying to us that because he has overcome the world, we too can experience that victory. His victory is ours. Crushed in spirit? Look up! The power and peace of Jesus is at hand to save you from the stress, worry and anxiety. His love and tenderness is on hand to assuage the pain and hardship. You go through nothing on your own. The secret is for us to learn to lean more heavily on his peace. There are some who only know God’s peace intellectually. “Yeah,” they say, “I know about the peace of Jesus.” That is so not what I am writing to you about. I want you to know the peace of Jesus in an experiential way where you would remove the word “about” from the previous sentence. Instead you might say, “Yes, and thank you Lord. I live in the tender mercies of the Lord. I relax in his peace and feel my heart comforted by his love and care.” The higher the stress load, the more peace and grace the Father has for you and the more you should bathe in it.

This is why the Lord is near, to care for you as a shepherd cares for the sheep. Can you imagine a shepherd who sits against a tree and calls out to the sheep, “I care for you,” but doesn’t stir when the wolf comes, nor never leads them to water or pasture? Don’t care about me, care for me. It is different and that is the Jesus difference. Now, let us make sure that we aren’t standing out in the pasture saying, “I know my shepherd cares about me,” but don’t follow him to water or run to him when the predator comes. Our faith and need connect in Jesus. Be filled with his lovingkindness and peace.

Have you ever seen the “Ask Ivey” section of our website? Click here and leave a question.

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Hope

On February 4, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 2: 26

Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will abide in hope.

It is a horrible thing to live without hope, and yet there are many people who are doing just that. But you don’t have to be without hope any longer. Jesus brought hope into the world. Now you can be free of dejection, depression and sorrow.

When Jesus went to the cross, died and rose again, he accomplished more than salvation for your eternal soul. He brought hope into a dying world. He became hope. He died that we might live. He told us in John 10: 10 that he came to give us abundant life. Jesus conquered hell and the grave that we might live in joy and victory, his victory, the victory that he won for us. When we couldn’t overcome, he overcame for us. When we were downtrodden, he arose, lifting us up with him.

You see there is no reason for you to be overcome with the anguish of this world any longer. Although we know that the world dishes out pain and suffering, Jesus said for us to take heart because he has overcome the world (John 16: 33). You do not have to despair any longer. Jesus has made a way for you to be comforted and enjoy the good fruit of his victory.

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