Camels and Gnats

On December 1, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 23: 24

You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

The camel of which Jesus warns, is judgment. I know I am guilty in this. As we judge what is wrong in others or with other’s behaviors we commit an even bigger crime, that of judgment. There is grace from God for all mistakes, error and sin. However, you will find that judgment is one of the hardest attributes to be forgiven of. Why? It is because a judgmental heart does not know grace and mercy. Therefore, the person who is critical and judgmental does not have that well of God’s grace within themselves to draw upon, even for themselves. They are choking on a camel while criticizing another for their gnat sized fault. It turns out, therefore, that we are best able to experience forgiveness for all of our imperfections when we first extend the grace and forgiveness of God to others. Another way of understanding this is that we create an environment of grace when we extend forgiveness to others, which we then become the foremost benefactors of.

It seems the church is often the last one to the party in the sense that we, who purportedly love the God of love, are often the most critical and judgmental of all people. For once, I would like the Christian Church to be the leader in embracing all people with the profound love of God. Maybe then, we could also receive forgiveness for ourselves and abandon the embittered personalities that so many of us tend to show to the public. There is enough love in our God for the whole world, but it must come through us.

Ultimately, this is a message of healing and it is a selfish message. If we would heal ourselves, it must be through the outpouring of grace, mercy and fellowship that our Father has poured out on us. When we finally, embrace who we are in Christ, then we will finally forgive ourselves and at long last we will receive the warmth of God’s forgiveness into our very spirits. We will be healed. We will be whole and God will be able to move into our hearts and make His home there. We will be fulfilled and will overflow with joy. Our freedom, our healing and our ultimate joy are found in accepting others without judgment or criticism. So do yourself a favor, let grace and acceptance be your calling cards. Let love have her perfect way in your heart.

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The Throne Room

On June 29, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Hebrews 4: 16

Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

I do interactive journaling for www.bornofthespirit.today. I recently asked God about this verse and what He would like to reveal to me about it. Click on the link above to see what He said to me. As I pondered all that He said to me, I knew I wanted to use this same verse for a Word of the Day.

The Protestant Reformation was supposed to usher in a time of approachability to God. No longer do we need a priest to speak to God for us or to tell us what God says to us. This is not to minimize the operation of spiritual gifts; that is another topic entirely. This discussion focuses on the necessity of another human to facilitate the conversation between us and the Father. You can speak directly to Him and more importantly you can hear from Him yourself.

Before Christ, only the High Priest could go into the Holy of Holies where the presence of God resided. Even then, he could only enter at the appointed time and after the proper preparation. Jesus tore the dividing veil asunder, literally, and now each of us has an open invitation into the very presence of God. We have a pass which entitles us to enter into His throne room at any time of the day or night, weekdays and weekends. There is not one minute of one day when the doors of the throne room are closed to us. Don’t you find that amazing?

We all need more of God. We need Him morning, noon and night and this verse shows us that we have availability to Him. Whatever you are doing right now, pause and take a moment to see yourself walk through the giant doors, which equally gigantic angels hold open for you. See your Father on His throne, beaming with His smile of welcome. Go to Him. Enjoy His presence and return frequently.

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So Precious

On February 15, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 36: 5 – 12                God’s Word

O Lord, your mercy reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
your judgments like the deep ocean.
You save people and animals, O Lord.
Your mercy is so precious, O God,
that Adam’s descendants take refuge
in the shadow of your wings.
They are refreshed with the rich foods in your house,
and you make them drink from the river of your pleasure.
Indeed, the fountain of life is with you.
In your light we see light.
Continue to show your mercy to those who know you
and your righteousness to those whose motives are decent.
Do not let the feet of arrogant people step on me
or the hands of wicked people push me away.
Look at the troublemakers who have fallen.
They have been pushed down and are unable to stand up again.

I would rather you read this psalm again rather than words from me today. It is so beautiful. Which statement is your favorite? It is very hard to say, isn’t it? What about “Your mercy is so precious, O God” or “you make them drink from the river of your pleasure?” In these verses we see God’s heart towards us. He wants to bring us under his wings to protect and provide for us. He wants us to soak up His goodness and light. If you pause and quiet yourself down for a moment, can you feel His abundant love and compassion for you? Let Him whisper in your ear today.

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Enough is Enough

On April 14, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Titus 3: 4 – 5

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.

Brother this is the good news of the gospel. We were not saved on the basis of our deeds, our righteousness or our worthiness. God’s sweet mercy saved us. God sent His own Spirit to wash us clean. The Holy Spirit has regenerated and renewed you. What is so interesting about this is that he did this for you before you were ever born. That is why no amount of future sin can steal your salvation. Only you can give away your sanctification. Jesus has already paid for the sin that you commit tomorrow or next Tuesday. He has already paid for the sin of the person who is right now unborn, even unconceived. No one has to earn this salvation and no one could. We know that intellectually but we sometimes stumble over our day to day application of it.

It was God’s kindness and His love for humanity that saved us. Some people who have already been saved run around trying to be worthy of that great and awesome gift. Stop! There is nothing any of us can do to merit all that the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have done for us. This is simply an expression of our guilty conscious. Why are we trying to earn what they have already given us for free? We should want to be a blessing to God’s kids because of the happiness which overflows as result of all God has done for us. None of that, however, will ever make us worthy of the great sacrifice God and Jesus made for us. So, we just need to get used to the idea that despite our unworthiness, our Father loves us and He sent His beloved to save us. That was enough for Him and should be enough for us.

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Abundant Grace

On January 12, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Timothy 1: 14                   (Amplified Version)

And the grace (unmerited favor and blessing) of our Lord actually flowed out superabundantly and beyond measure for me, accompanied by faith and love that are to be realized in Christ Jesus.

This passage was written by the Apostle Paul. He was recounting how he blasphemed the Lord and persecuted the church. Yet nonetheless, Christ, through grace, showed him mercy. How is it that the Lord was willing and able to show such kindness to this man even while he was torturing and murdering Christians? The mercy of the Lord and of our Father is beyond comprehension. Jesus poured out on Paul superabundant favor and blessing. It certainly was not because Paul earned it. It comes just from the Father’s deep love.

Paul, unlike so many modern Christians, was able to receive God’s abundance. Why? I believe the answer is two-fold. I think that one of the reasons Paul was able to receive God’s abundant, beyond measure grace is that he, first, completely knew that he was unworthy and undeserving. This freed him to just receive by grace. He did not try to earn God’s favor because he knew that he was way beyond that.

Secondly, I think that Paul was so humble and grateful that his heart was wide open before the Lord of grace. I deeply desire for the church to draw close to God just as Paul was intimate with him. We see the abundant love and grace that the Father has for us. Now if we can sincerely open ourselves to him the way Paul did, we might also walk in the kind of grace that was afforded Paul. Let us not wait for God to knock us off our donkeys though. Let us all, with blind faith, reach out to the source of all and invite him into the deepest part of our beings.

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Free Admission

On January 11, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Hebrews 4: 16

Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Do you know that you can enter God’s throne room? Do you realize that you are actually invited to do so? Father God has made access to him available to each one of us so that we may receive the help we need. Not only that, but we are also to enter boldly with confidence. He is our Father not a far off, removed deity. We can be like any child entering her Father’s office. Children just barge into their parent’s offices without waiting just as if it was their own office. In like manner, we are to go boldly to our Father’s office to talk with him and get whatever we need whenever we need it. There is no guard at the door and you do not have to make an appointment. He is waiting there for you even at this moment. Whenever you can free up your schedule, He is available. See yourself in your mind’s eye striding purposefully into throne room. Walk in as a privileged guest, not as a meek servant. Have your audience with the God of the universe, your Dad, and receive all that you need for this day.

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Bad Advice

On October 12, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Samuel 19: 5 – 6

Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who today have saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines, by loving those who hate you.”

Absalom was one of King David’s sons. Though David loved him Absalom plotted against David to take the throne of his father. He was successful in usurping his father so David fled from Jerusalem. Not satisfied though, and the recipient of bad advice, Absalom pursued David to kill him. Absalom was killed in the conflict and when news of his death was delivered to David, David wept bitterly. Some of David’s followers and specifically his general, Joab, were chagrined that David wept for their enemy. David was God’s friend though and the character of God had rubbed off on him. So, although Absalom had rebelled against him and plotted his overthrow, David still loved him.

In the margin of my Bible, next to this passage I have written, “See the advice of the world.” I was struck by how this Old Testament episode marks the problems we encounter today. The world tells us we should hate our enemies but David was a Kingdom man. He knew God and had learned to see through God’s eyes. David loved his son Absalom even though Absalom was not worthy of David’s love and devotion. That is how the Father of all treats us. Although we are unworthy, he loves us unquestioningly. In David’s grief he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you” (2 Samuel 18: 33). This is an exact representation of the Father’s love for us.

One thing I have discovered about the world’s advice is that it usually sounds good. It will always contradict with God’s view though. That is why, if we do not know the Father, we can easily be misled. Here is one rule, though, that we can always go by; that is the rule of love. If you are ever in doubt and one option is love then that is the way because God is love. His counsel will always bring you back to love. Every time! Where there is hate and anger you will not find God or His will. His way is grace and mercy. David understood this intrinsically and that is why he was called a friend of God.

Let this Old Testament event speak to your heart today. You have people who are against you and situations that are challenging but if you will seek the way of truth, life, grace, love, non-judgment and mercy you will find yourself the victor every time. This is God’s way. Don’t let the world view taint your perceptions. We are called to love those who hate us just as our father does.

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