Future Sins Are Already Forgiven

“It can’t be true that my future sins are already forgiven!” This was the protest I heard one day after somebody heard me teach that all of our sins are forgiven. I read her the passage from Colossians 2:13-14. Then I asked her these questions, which I encourage you to answer as you read them.

1. How many of your sins did God know about before you were born? (All of them.)
2. How many of them did He record on your certificate of debt mentioned in the passage in Colossians referenced above? (All of them.)
3. How many of your sins did Jesus pay for on the cross? (All of them.)
4. How many of them were future at that time? (All of them.)
5. How many sins was He referring to when He said, “If is finished”? (All of them.)
6. At the time you were saved, how many of your sins did God forgive?

If you didn’t answer number six by saying, “All of them,” I encourage you to ask yourself if you’re being intellectually honest. Would it make sense that God would see and note all of our sins; that Jesus Christ would bear all of them upon Himself; that He would declare from the cross that payment had been made for all of them and then, after all that, God would only forgive you for some of your sins — namely the ones you had committed up to the point in time at which you were saved? Don’t make the mistake of trying to put God in the “time box.” He won’t fit. He has forgiven you for every sin you will ever commit, past, present and future. The verse clearly says that He has “forgiven us all our transgressions,” not just our past ones.

For many years I believed that in order to stay in a state of forgiveness before God, it was necessary that I ask Him to forgive me for each sin which I committed. This kind of faulty theology raises some serious questions. What happens if I don’t ask Him to forgive me for a specific sin? Does it remain unforgiven until the day I die? What happens then, when I go into eternity with an unforgiven sin? Nobody can go into heaven with unforgiven sin (Imagine being eternally separated from God for calling somebody an idiot in another car on the interstate and forgetting to ask God for forgiveness.).

On the other side of the issue, consider this question: Is there anything that you know is the right thing to do that you aren’t doing? James said, “Therefore, to the one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, it is sin” (James 4:17). Do you see the dilemma? If all our sins aren’t forgiven, then we had better make sure we are living a perfect life because not only do we have to deal with sins which occur when we do wrong things, but we also have to be worried about the right things we haven’t done. This would be enough to give the Christian a nervous breakdown!

"Then, are you saying that since His grace has covered our sin, we can go out and do anything we want?" I hope somebody is asking that because, if so, it shows I've made grace clear here. You're not the first one to ask that question. Read Romans 6:1-4 to see how Paul answered the question when it was asked of him.

Where Does God Live?

I heard about two college students whose football team was about to get a goat as their new school mascot. There was much discussion among the students about where the goat would stay. One of the boys said to the other, “Why don’t we let the goat stay in our dorm room?”
“What about the smell?” the other asked.
“The goat will get used to the smell,” the first responded.

Goats may get used to living in filth, but God won’t live in any place that is unclean. Where does God live today?

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are."

In the Old Testament, God lived in the Holy Place. It was such a sacred place that no one was allowed inside except the High Priest, who only went in one time each year on the Day of Atonement. In order to enter the Holy Place, the Priest was instructed to conform to meticulously detailed instruction about how he was to approach the residence of a Holy God (See Leviticus 16). He was required to submit to a purification process and put on sacred garments before entering the place where God lived. If an unauthorized or unclean person entered God’s residence, immediate death was the result.

The New Testament reveals that God has moved from where He used to live. He doesn’t live in the old neighborhood anymore. He has built a new house where He now lives. That house is the Christian (See 1 Peter 2:5). He has taken up permanent residence inside the believer. In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul states indisputably that the Christian is holy by boldly asserting three basic facts: (1)You are the temple of God. (2) The temple of God is holy. (3) You are holy. To deny the truth of the believer’s holiness in Christ is to totally reject this passage of Scripture.

Do you believe the Bible? The Bible makes clear that it isn’t necessary to pray for God to give the Christian holiness. The person you were in Adam was unholy, but we learned in chapter four that man is dead. We have been given a new life in Christ and with it came the blessing of holiness. “For if by the transgression of the one (Adam), death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). Righteousness is a gift! You can know you are holy right now because the Bible says so (See 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 4:24; Romans 5:19).

Spiritual Hunger

Once we have encountered the love of our Father up close and personal, we become addicted for life. We just can’t get enough of Him. It’s as Jesus reveals Himself to us that we find ourselves hungering to know Him more intimately and to love Him more earnestly. Speaking from his own experience, St. Augustine said, “You flashed, You shone; and You chased away my blindness. You became fragrant; and I inhaled and sighed for You. I tasted, and now hunger and thirst for You. You touched me; and I burned for Your embrace.”

Spiritual hunger is the result of encountering Christ in our lives. That hunger then becomes the bridge by which we gain a heightened awareness of Him with us in our circumstances. Spiritual hunger will cause us to move through life with our spiritual antenna up, looking for signals of His presence nearby. Ask the Lord to reach into your life like He did with Augustine. Then patiently wait for Him to flash, to shine, and to chase away your own blindness to His presence. He will come to you and do just that.

Remember that cultivating a spiritual hunger isn’t something you do. It’s a sovereign work of God that He does because He wants to constantly enjoy intimate moments with you. It’s important that you don’t turn this into a legalistic effort to try to accomplish something spiritually productive for yourself. Modern ministry often suggests that there are things we must do in order to experience the fullness of Christ in our lives, but the Bible teaches to the contrary.

God promises in Scripture, “I will pour water on him that is thirsty” (Isaiah 44:3). We aren’t the reason for any good aspect of our walk with Christ. We are simply the recipients of every good thing that He does in our lives. “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10) promises the Lord. Are you hungry? Then open your mouth…wide.

Remember, nobody ever came to Jesus hungry and went away that way. Jesus once asked, “What man will give a rock to his hungry son who asks for bread? Would he give him a snake if the son asked for an egg?” Then the Lord promised, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him” (Matthew 7:11)? You can be sure that in your search for intimacy with Christ, you won’t be disappointed. He can’t resist a person who is spiritually hungry. Are you hungry for the food of intimacy with Him? He will satisfy it!

Who Is Saint Nickolas?

Saint Nickolas is the most popular name for Nickolas of Myra,a third century Bishop who had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for today's version of the Christmas St. Nick. He lived in what is modern day Turkey.

He became Bishop of Myra in the fourth century, and there are many stories of his love for God and for his neighbor.

The best-known story involves a man with three unmarried daughters, and not enough money to provide them with suitable dowries. This meant that they could not marry, and were likely to end up as prostitutes. Nicholas walked by the man's house on three successive nights, and each time threw a bag of gold in through a window (or, when the story came to be told in colder climates, down the chimney). Thus, the daughters were saved from a life of shame, and all got married and lived happily ever after.

Because of this and similar stories, Nicholas became a symbol of anonymous gift-giving. Hence, if we give a gift to someone today without saying whom it is from, it can be called "a present from Saint Nicholas (or Santa Claus)." Some parents explain this to their children and invite the child to join them in wrapping a toy (either something purchased for that purpose, at least partly with the child's allowance, or else a toy that the child has outgrown but that is still serviceable) or an outgrown but not shabby item of the child's clothing, or a package of food, and then going along to donate it to a suitable shelter that will give it to someone who will welcome it. This gift is then called "a present from Santa," so that the child understands that this is another name for an anonymous gift given to someone whom we do not know, but whom we love anyway because God does.

Here's an interesting site that shows what the real Saint Nickolas probably looked like, based in an excavation of his bones and reconstruction based on skeletal remains:

http://www.imagefoundry.co.uk/index.php?page=2&cat=3&pid=12

I hope you and your family are having a great Christmas. I thought I'd post this information while I'm sitting here waiting for Christmas Dinner to be finished!

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

Some people are offended by Santa Claus. Others think the following is silly but I've always like it.In fact, I think a childlike attitude is a Godlike quality.


Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

How Do NT Commandments Fit With The Teaching of Grace?

Since rules stimulate us to sin (Romans 7:5), what is the believer to do with the commandments of the New Testament? Didn’t Jesus say that if we love him, we will keep His commandments? (See John 14:15) He did indeed. Yet when grace rules one’s life, he will approach the commandments of the New Testament with a totally different attitude than the legalist. Legalism presents the commandments as divine ultimatums coming from a harsh Judge. When law rules a person, the tone of the words of Jesus are heard like this: “If you love me, you had better keep my commandments.” A grace walk causes the Christian to face the commandments with eager anticipation, not with fear and intimidation. This believer understands the words of Jesus when he said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” When we love Jesus, we will keep His commandments. Obedience is the natural response of the Christian who loves Jesus. We have already learned that without love, the only thing we have to offer is lifeless compliance. Love is the basis for our obedience, not laws.

John stressed the relationship between love and our obedience to God’s commandments when he said, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). It’s not a strain for a Christian who is walking in grace to obey the commandments of God. It is a pleasure to be obedient!

As I write this, I am in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where I will spend the whole week. Suppose I were to ask for your advice concerning my responsibilities to my wife when I return home. How would you respond if I asked you whether or not I must kiss my wife when she picks me up at the airport on Saturday? What would you think if I were to seriously ask you what I should do when she greets me at the airport? You would probably assume that, since I asked a question like that, something must be wrong with my relationship to my wife. In a healthy marriage, a man wouldn’t ask such a foolish question. The fact is that when I see Melanie on Saturday I will kiss her. I can assure you that it won’t be duty which motivates me. My love for my wife will animate my actions at that moment.

The commandments of the New Testament do have a place in a life of grace. They present a beautiful blueprint which illustrates what a lifestyle looks like when it is empowered with the divine expression of the life of Jesus. When grace rules, we approach the Bible saying, “Lord, show me in Your Word all the ways that Jesus can express His life through me.” Then when we come across commandments, we may exclaim with excitement, “Great! Here’s a way that Christ can express His life through my lifestyle!” So the commandments are not a burden, but instead are a great blessing.

Grace causes our motivation toward obedience to be love and desire. There was a time before we were saved when we had no inner desire to live a godly lifestyle. “ But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:6). In this newness of the Spirit, we remind ourselves that we died to the law and are no longer obligated to religious rules. Finally we are free to serve God because we want to, not because we have to do it. Legalists aren’t free to serve the Lord, they are obligated to do it.

“Ought to” is the ammunition for the legalist’s gun. It will kill your joy every time it hits you. Is your life built around rules? Are you fulfilled in life? Sin’s secret weapon is the power of the law, but our weapon against legalism is our love for Jesus Christ. While laws ultimately lead to certain failure, grace always produces the victory that only Christ can give.

(This article is an excerpt from my book Grace Rules. For more information on the book, click this link: Buy Grace Rules Here

God As The Divine Lover

He entered into the room, which was filled with noise and activity. There was music, laughter and talking. His eyes scanned the room, searching for that one whose very face caused his breath to quicken and his heart rate to increase. He loved her, yet it was more than that. He wanted her. He wanted her to be his, and not just tonight, but forever.

Then he saw her. Across the crowded room, she stood — as if she had been unknowingly waiting for him all her life. She was beautiful. No, not beautiful. She was stunning. “God, I must have her!” every fiber of his being resonated. “I want to spend my life with her. I want to love her and cherish her and hold her. I want to take care of her and spoil her.”

He walked across the room, never taking his eyes off her for even a moment. The room was filled with people, but his eyes were on her. As he approached her, his presence caught her attention and she looked upward into his penetrating eyes. This was the moment he had been waiting for, the time he had longed for as long as he could remember. Gently and lovingly he spoke: “Would you care to dance?”

The description I have given is a true story. The two did begin to dance that day and they have never stopped. He asked her to marry him and she said “yes.” His plan is to do exactly what he intended from the beginning — to share his life with her and to love her so much that she will never regret the day she met him.

Not only is the story true, but you actually know the people involved. The one He desired to have so much is you. The Person who wanted you so badly is Jesus Christ. One day He walked into the room of this world to find you. He was captivated by you and determined that He would make you His own. He knew in His heart that He must have you, that He wouldn’t live without you.

If you doubt my words about His love, read the following marriage proposal that He wrote you. These aren’t my words, but are His, copied here word for word exactly as He wrote them to you:

How beautiful you are my darling. How beautiful you are! There is no blemish in you! Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along. You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes. How delightful you are, My love, with all your charms.

This note to you is recorded in the Bible, in the Song of Solomon. (Song of Solomon 1:15; 2:13; 4:1,7,9; 7:6.) This book of the Bible is a love story about you and Jesus. Its words are sometimes so graphic, so intense, that throughout church history there have been those who have argued that it shouldn’t even be in the Bible. However, your Divine Lover has made sure it is there. The Song of Solomon is a love poem written for you. It’s eight stanzas call you beautiful no less than fifteen times!

Jesus is consumed with you. Speaking about you, He said, “Who is this . . . fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars (Song of Solomon 6:10)? You may not feel that way about yourself, but it makes no difference. What He says is an objective fact, whether you believe it or not. If you don’t believe it now, rest assured that you will believe it, because He is going to keep telling you how beautiful and precious you are to Him throughout all eternity. One day, either now or later, the reality of His words will transform you.

Do you remember the day that He asked you to dance? It was the day you believed the gospel. Maybe it was in church, or perhaps it was when a friend shared his faith with you. Maybe it was when you were all alone and heard the voice of the Holy Spirit. Do you remember what you experienced then, as He reached out to you? The bride in the Song of Solomon spoke for us all when she said, “My feelings were aroused for him” (5:4). That happened to us all when Jesus swept us off our feet and we trusted Him.

Don’t think it irreverent to view Christ in a romantic way. He is the One who calls us His bride. He is the One who wrote to us in terms of passion and romance. We simply respond to Him. “We love Him because He first love us” (1 John 4:19). We didn’t initiate or set the pace for this relationship. He did. We have simply responded to His irresistible charm, affirming by faith, “My beloved is mine and I am His” (Song of Solomon 2:16)! Like every new bride, our profession of faith in Him is nothing less than the thrilling realization that, “I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me” (7:10, emphasis added)!

I didn’t imagine the idea of the dance as a literary metaphor to describe your relationship to Him. That is how He described it. In Zephaniah 3:17, the Bible says, “He will exult over you with joy” (emphasis added). Strong’s Concordance defines the word “exult”(sometimes translated “rejoice”) in the following way: “To spin around under the influence of a violent emotion.”

One character quipped, “I grew up in a church where we were taught that premarital sex was wrong because it might lead to dancing, and now you tell me that the Lord dances over me??” It’s true, He does. The love of Jesus Christ for you is not just a “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” kind of love. It is a love filled with passion. It is a love that caused your Prince Charming to wield His sword (of the Spirit) and fight the dragon (the devil, see Revelation 12:9) for you!

His love for you is great! One might say that the love of Jesus for you could be X-rated, not because of impurity, but because of intensity. Does that idea make you feel uncomfortable? It shouldn’t, because He really does love you with an intensity beyond human comprehension. You are the pearl of great price for which He paid everything He owned in order to possess you. (See Matthew 13:45-46) Don’t be afraid of an intense love from Him. His love is intense, but His ways are gentle.

A Shot of Bourbon & An Outpouring of Grace

Okay, I'll admit it - Sometimes I do like to shock people. Thanks to my friend, Roger, for sending me this one :)

It was Christmas Eve and the biting cold had driven two well dressed men into the street side city bar. One man was the highly respected County Judge, the other the Bishop of the Local Diocese. As the two men pulled up their bar stools they looked through the plate glass bar front window and saw one of the local vagrants shuffling along. He was poorly dressed, obviously cold, dirty, thin and frail. “Poor soul”, the Bishop said, “he probably has no family and no place to go.” The Judge said, “You know its Christmas Eve, I’ll bet he’s like nothing better than a good shot of Bourbon.” After a long pause the Judge continued, “What do say Bishop, Why don’t we invite the old fool in and buy him a drink… after all it’s Christmas Eve.”

The wide eyed Bishop nodded his approval at the suggestion and stepping to the door called out to the homeless man, “Come in, …come in out of the cold we want to buy you a drink.” The astonishing offer stopped the old man dead in his tracks….”get out of the cold”;… someone wants to buy me a drink!?!. He moved through the open door with labored step and positioned himself standing at the end of the bar several stools away from the Judge and Bishop. He didn’t speak. He just stood, head down, waiting for the life giving shot of bourbon that would ease the pain for awhile.

“What will you have Bishop?”, the old bartender asked. “Jack Daniels, neat, one finger”. (That’s bar tender language for one shot of bourbon in a glass with no ice. If you lay one finger horizontally across the bottom of the glass and pour to that level it will be about one shot of liquor.) Next the bar tender faced the Judge, “How about you, your honor. What will the judge have on Christmas Eve?” “You’re right, it is Christmas Eve, and I think I’ll treat myself. I’ll have two fingers of Woodford Reserve (very expensive) neat!”

The bar tender poured their drinks and then turned to vagrant. “What will you have?” The old man just shrugged his shoulders. This Bishop said, “Give him what I have” and the Judge said, “It’s Christmas, make it two fingers!”

The bar tender put the glass on the counter and reached for Blanton’s 1792 Bourbon, the finest bottle in the house. To the amazement of all he poured the glass full to the very top! “My God man! I said TWO FINGERS!!!” and the Bishop added, “…of Jack Daniels!!!” The bar tender smiled and held up two fingers horizontally against the glass and then moved his two fingers vertically showing them running from top to bottom of the glass. Two fingers straight down… a full glass.

Don’t worry gentlemen; this old man’s drink is on me. You bought what you thought you could afford or what you thought you deserved. I gave this broken man what he could never imagine.

The way I understand Christmas is that God so loved us that He gave His only Son as a gift to us. And then He poured out His life for us and His life into us!

Gentlemen that’s two fingers … straight down and it’s very expensive.

God As Our Friend

The French poet, Jacques Delille wrote, “Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends.” None of us decided into which family we would be born, but we do decide who we want to be our friends. Nobody wants to be best friends with every person he meets. However, there are certain people that come across our paths whom we decide we would like to know better. We make the effort to establish a relationship with them and, over a period of time, deep friendships develop.

My friend, Debbie shared an experience with me not long ago that I found to be amazing. She was a junior in high school during the time that Richard Nixon was President of the United States. In one of her classes, she had an assignment to write a report on the President’s wife, Pat Nixon. As she studied Mrs. Nixon’s life, Debbie gained a deep respect and appreciation for her.

One of the coincidental details of Mrs. Nixon’s life that Debbie learned was that they both had the same birthday. She decided to write the first lady and express her respect and appreciation for her. In her letter, she made her aware that they both shared the same birthday.

A short time later Debbie received a letter from Mrs. Nixon. Not a form letter, but a personal, hand written letter. Debbie decided to respond to Mrs. Nixon’s letter by writing her a second time. She did and again Mrs. Nixon responded with a personal letter. What followed was that the seventeen year old high school girl and the President’s wife became pen pals. Debbie and Mrs. Nixon wrote each other for several years.

In March of 1974, the Nixon’s were invited to the opening of The Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. The opening day also happened to coincide with Mrs. Nixon’s and Debbie’s birthday. To her delight and surprise, the now nineteen year old Debbie received a letter from Mrs. Nixon, inviting her to be her guest at The Grand Old Opry. Debbie went to Nashville, where she stood waiting with visiting dignitaries to meet President and Mrs. Nixon. One snobbish woman, looked this young nineteen year old girl up and down and arrogantly asked, “And why are you here?” Debbie simply answered, “I’m an invited guest of Mrs. Nixon.”

As Debbie told the story to me, she said, “I couldn’t believe it. There I was as the guest of the guest of honor.” Among all those who clamored to have a brief moment with Mrs. Nixon, nineteen year old Debbie Streeter was her guest and her friend.

It is an amazing facet of the gospel of grace that God has chosen you to be His friend. You aren’t God’s friend in the same sense that Mrs. Nixon and Debbie were friends. Their’s was a casual connection, but God’s connection to you is very personal and deeply intimate. His desire is that the friendship you two share be the closest relationship you will ever have to anybody.

One benefit of an intimate friend is that there is nothing that can’t be shared between them. True friendship doesn’t disconnect because of faults each may have. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them." One of the strengths of the modern Promise Keepers movement is the emphasis on the importance of men connecting with close friends with whom they can be completely vulnerable and transparent.

God is that kind of friend to you. Do you feel free to share the deepest and darkest aspects of your life with Him? You can, because is He completely accepting of you. Understanding and believing in God’s complete acceptance is a vital key in developing intimacy with him.

Five couples in our G.R.A.C.E. GROUP sat together one evening in my home. We had been singing choruses, laughing and talking, and sharing the snacks each had brought. As the time approached when we were going to pray together, one of the ladies in the group began to speak. Tears filled her eyes and her voice quivered as she said, “John (not his real name) and I need your prayers. We agreed before we arrived tonight that we would ask you to pray for us concerning a problem we have.” She then began to explain how she had committed adultery and had recently confessed her sin to her husband. Tears streamed down the cheeks of both of them. Those of us in the room began to cry too as Mary (not her real name) described what had happened and the impact it had on their relationship.

After she had finished talking, my wife, Melanie, spoke first. “Mary,” she said, “the first thing you need to know is that there is nothing you could ever tell us that would cause us to love you any less.” As Melanie spoke, I am sure that everybody in the room felt what I felt – the manifest presence of God. When she ministered loving acceptance to our friend, we were all aware of Jesus speaking through her at that moment. His gracious acceptance and gentle Spirit permeated the room.

We had John and Mary move their chairs to the center of the room, where we all gathered around them and, one by one, prayed for them. We then hugged them, held them and assured them of our love. The healing had begun.

Intimacy requires openness. You don’t have to put your best foot forward with God. He knows you, everything about you, and still loves you completely. There is nothing you could ever tell Him that would cause Him to love or accept you any less. “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is [His] faithfulness” (Lamentations 2:22-23, emphasis added)! You’ll never have another friend like God.

Understanding God’s total acceptance not only frees us from the prison of self condemnation, but also empowers us to love others who have sinned. We are able to give them the same compassionate tenderness of Jesus that we ourselves have received. Those who don't know they have received compassion can’t give it. For the one who has experienced the gentle acceptance of Jesus, it is natural thing to tenderly share it with others.

Lorraine Hansberry wrote Raisin In The Sun, the story of an Afro-American man who makes mistakes that shatter his family’s hopes and dreams. When he confesses to his family and asks for their forgiveness, his sister responds in hostile anger, calling him horrible names.

Her mother interrupts her display and says, “I thought I taught you to love him.” “Love him? There is nothing left to love,” the sister responds in anger. Then the mother answers:

“There is always something left to love. And if you ain’t learned that, you ain’t learned nothing. Have you cried for that boy today? I don’t mean for yourself and for the family ‘cause we lost the money. I mean for him; what he’s been through and what it done to him. Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most; when they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well, then, you ain’t through learning – because that ain’t the time at all. It’s when he’s at his lowest and can’t believe in hisself ‘cause the world done whipped him so. When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right child, measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is.

God has seen the hills and valleys of your life. He has seen you at your best and your worst, and yet still loves you unconditionally. He wants you to share yourself completely with Him, with complete confidence that He will not respond in criticism. The score card on your life was torn up at the cross and God has stopped keeping score on you. Your friendship with Him isn’t about how you behave. Ironically, the realization of that fact is the only thing that will cause your behavior to change. Friendship with God is about enjoying each other’s company. It is a union which will never end for all eternity. He wants you to tell Him everything and He will do the same.

Jesus said, “I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). As you walk with Him, He will reveal more and more to you about the Father until the day you see Him face to face. He is the “friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). Emily Dickinson once said, “My friends are my estate.” That is how Jesus feels toward you. You are His inheritance, a gift from God to Him.

(My postings for the last three days have been excerpts from my book A Divine Invitation. Click here for more information on the book: Divine Invitation

God As Our Mother

It was a difficult journey for me to begin to view God acting not only as my heavenly Father, but also as a Mother. I had a cultural hurdle to overcome. The very idea of God acting as a Mother evoked memories of my college days when I knew of those in liberal seminaries whose commitment to Feminist Theology was well known. Having been reared in a solidly conservative tradition, it caused me to cringe to think about God in a maternal way. I had heard about those who used feminine pronouns when speaking of God and I didn’t like it.

My perception was that their insistence on referring to God using the feminine pronoun wasn’t because they wanted to communicate another way to understand intimacy with Him, but rather because they were promoting an egalitarian approach to theology which served their own political agenda. If my understanding of their reasons was correct, I still wouldn’t agree with what they did because of why they did it.

However, I have come to see that God indeed does relate to His children in maternal ways just as He does paternally. In the Bible God clearly presents Himself relating to His children in a motherly role.

Consider God’s words in Isaiah 66:12-13:

“And you shall be nursed, you shall be carried on the hip, and
fondled on the knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so
will I comfort you.”

God promises that when His children need comfort, He will pick us up and hold us on His hip like a mother tends to her restless baby. He will put us on his knees play with us, gently love us, and talk to us until we are comforted.

In another verse comparing Himself to a mother, God says:

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion
on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not
forget you” (Isaiah 49:14-15).

“Will a new mother abandon her nursing child?” God asks. “It’s unlikely, but even if she would, I would never do that to you.” It’s not uncommon for fathers to walk out on the babies. Mothers seldom do and God never will.

The main characteristic of a mother with which God identifies Himself is that of being a comforter.  His gentleness soothes the hurting Christian. The Psalmist understood the motherly aspect of God when he said, “Surely I have composed and quieted my soul like a weaned child rests against his mother” (Psalm 131:2).

When I was a small child, there was a particular practice my mother did which would have an immediate effect on me. Maybe it would be after I had been hurt and was crying. Perhaps it would be at times when she was simply expressing affection to me. There were probably many different situations in which it might happen, but the experience was almost transcendent for the little boy I remember. It caused me to feel at rest in a way that few things in life have ever done.

My mother would gently stroke my hair. It was that simple. I don’t remember what she said at those times. I can’t even clearly describe the surrounding circumstances at any of the times she did it. I just remember her doing it – stroking my hair gently. What does stand out in my mind is how I felt in those moments. I felt love from my mother. I felt safe, accepted, comforted. Regardless of the circumstances, I felt like everything was going to be okay.

Maybe that habit is an inherent trait that comes with motherhood. I’ve seen Melanie do the same with our children and even noticed our daughter doing it to my grandchildren. It is a simple maternal expression of love that speaks volumes to a child.

Dads don’t typically comfort their children in that same way and even when they do, it doesn’t have the same effect as the loving comfort of a mother. When my children were very small and would get hurt, they have ran past me crying many times in an urgent rush for their mother. I understood. I was a kid once too. Sometimes, only a mother will do.

You may find that your concept of God is strengthened in a way that brings a deeper sense of intimacy into your relationship with Him if you begin to think of the maternal aspects of His affections toward you. Perhaps you are completely comfortable with approaching Him as a Mother. Maybe, however, you find the idea of God acting as a Mother to be uncomfortable due to the traditions in which you were reared.

Spiritual growth often requires that we choose to rise above the traditions which have influenced our lives. At times in our journey of grace, it is necessary to embrace what the Bible teaches and what the Holy Spirit shows us even though it may be uncomfortable initially. I’m not trying to cause a doctrinal shift in your mind about God as He relates to gender. In fact, God is a Spirit, and therefore without gender.

What I am trying to do is encourage you to do is allow the Holy Spirit to broaden your understanding of God’s role in your life so that you will know the benefit of motherly love in your relationship to Him. Intimacy between a mother and child is a particular kind of experience unlike any other love relationship we will ever know. If you want to fully understand God’s love for you, it is important to know His fatherly and motherly qualities. It takes both to fully reveal who He is to us.

Results of EEG and MRI

Thanks to those who have prayed about the health challenge I've faced lately. Thankfully, the EEG and MRI showed no abnormalities. So now the doctors will check for a B-12 deficiency or other lesser problems. I appreciate those who have expressed concern. For those who may be reading about this matter for the first time, the reason I posted anything about my health here is because word had gotten out that I had a serious health problem when, in actuality, doctors still aren't sure what the cause is. I am thankful it's not serious though. Thanks again for your prayers!

God As Our Father

Jesus referred to God as “Father” one hundred and eighty two times in the gospels, by far the most commonly used title of relationship by which God is identified in the New Testament. The word resonates with implications of loving protection and provision. Since the dawn of mankind, fatherhood has been associated as a position of loving strength and supply. One Bible dictionary defines a father as “the author or beginner of anything” and suggests that the word is “a title of respect for a chief, ruler, or elder.”

The word “father” is synonymous with the concept of loving strength. In the presence of their loving father, children feels safe. When a small child is threatened or feels afraid, the natural instinct of his heart is to cry out “Daddy!”

The thought of God being our heavenly Father is a source of comfort to many people. If you grew up in a home where your father loved you unconditionally, expressed affection and affirmation, and gave gentle guidance and encouragement for you to be your best in every situation, then you already have a healthy mental matrix upon which your concept of God as Father can be built. A child’s first impression of God generally develops around how he perceives his own earthly father. He will often carry that underlying concept of God with him throughout life.

However, not everybody grew up in a home where there was a loving father. One man said to me, “In your teaching today, you talked about understanding our heavenly Father’s love and acceptance for us, but that’s hard for me. My father was never anything other than harsh and judgmental toward me.” His point is well taken. Some people grew up with a father who with an overbearing, authoritarian attitude, one who demanded nothing less than perfection of his children. Rewards were few, but punishment for failing to meet his standards came quickly. Others grew up in a house with an absentee dad, whose lack of involvement communicated a lack of concern.

God may be like your father, but it is important to understand that God may be nothing like your earthly father. If you grew up in an environment which now causes the word “father” to provoke a negative response in your mind or emotions, it will be important to educate yourself on the Fatherhood of God. What kind of Father is God?

Phillip once said to Jesus, “Show us the Father and it will be enough for us.” His request implied that he wanted to know what kind of Person God is. “Let us see Him, “ he said. “Then we will know and be satisfied.” Jesus responded by saying to Phillip, “he who has seen me, has seen the Father” (John 14:9) If you want to know what kind of Father God is, look at Jesus. Consider how he related to those He loved.

✦ He loved them unconditionally. (See John 13:1)
✦ He was patient with their weaknesses. (See Matthew 8:25-26)
✦ He hurt when they hurt. (John 11:33-35)
✦ He equipped them to do anything He asked them to do. (Matthew 28:17-20)
✦ He promised to never leave or forsake them. (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5)

Do you get the picture of the kind of heavenly Father you have? Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Some people imagine God to be the harsh, judgmental Person in the Trinity and that Jesus is the “go-between” who calms God down on our behalf. However, the attitude of God is exactly the same as that of Jesus. He adores you and has committed Himself to you for all eternity.

If you struggle with seeing God as a loving Father, it may be helpful for you to read the gospels slowly, pausing and writing down every positive quality you see there about the kind of Father He really is. Nothing robs believers of joy like a faulty concept of God.

In chapter eight of my book, Grace Rules, I have written a chapter called “A Smiling God” which may help you develop a proper concept of God as it relates to how much He loves us. As long as one believes that God is critiquing his every move, he will never feel free to relax and enjoy life. When we come to understand, however, that God laughs with delight every time He looks at us, (See Zephaniah 3:17) we become like the little child, who cries out, “Daddy, watch this! Watch this!” Your Daddy (Abba) is watching you and He is thrilled with what He sees!

Bleeding Toes And Sufficient Grace

Several years ago I had taken a shower early one morning. I slid the shower door open to step out of the shower when somehow it suddenly jumped off its track. The door instantly fell right to the floor with its edge landing straight across the top of my big toe, like a guillotine. (I probably wouldn’t become a war hero in battle, if this experience is indicative of my potential.)

When the door hit my toe, I felt a mental jolt in my brain as if someone had just shot me in the head. I looked down at my toe and saw a deep gash, which was now pouring out blood. I jumped out of the shower into the bedroom on one foot and, knowing I was going to need stitches, called for Melanie to come.

I’m glad my wife already adored me because when she walked into the bedroom and saw a naked, soaking wet man with an anguished expression jumping up and down on one foot while holding the other with both hands – with blood gushing from between his fingers, it probably didn’t do anything to validate my masculinity to her. With Melanie’s help, we dried me off, put on my clothes and drove to the hospital emergency room where I received the stitches needed for my toe.

At the time my toe was cut, everything else in life lost its significance to me. I didn’t care about conflicts in the Middle East, famine in Africa, or even the spiritual condition of our own country. Only one thing mattered to me at that moment. You might say that, right then, my whole life was a big toe. My only consuming thought was, “I need a doctor now.” I didn’t want to bleed to death and have to tell the martyrs in heaven that I got there because of a toe cut by a shower door. I’ve never read about anybody being laughed out of heaven and I didn’t want to be the first.

Seriously, I find humor now in thinking back on this incident, but it wasn’t funny at the time. My pain served one purpose with extreme efficiency – it caused me to want to see the doctor. That is the way in which real suffering works in the lives of Christians. Suffering causes the believer to become consumed with the desire to experience Jesus Christ! It makes us want to see Him, to hear His voice, to feel His touch in our circumstances. This strand in the cord of eternal truth about suffering will sustain the Christian who clings to it. Our pain points us toward Jesus Christ!

Suffering brings the indwelling life of Christ into our lives in a manifest way, enabling us to sense Him, by faith to see Him in ways that are seldom experienced in calmer days. When I cut my toe, I became oblivious to everything except my immediate need and my desire for the one who could meet that need.

So it is in our grace walk. God uses the severe problems of life to bring our focus to bear on Jesus. For the believer’s thoughts to turn to Christ in our suffering is as natural as my thoughts turning toward the doctor when I had my accident. Suffering has a way of immediately distancing us from the superfluous, incidental matters of life which distract us from Jesus Christ. When a believer hurts, deep from within, at the very core of his being, is the heartfelt cry, “Abba! Daddy!” (See Romans 8:15)

When Abba’s babies hurt, He is intensively involved. Sometimes our pain is so great that it cannot be clearly delineated in words. At other times, we just don’t have the energy. People that aren’t feeling well often want assistance, but at times when a person is critically ill, they often want to be left alone despite the fact that they may need intensive care. When we cry out to Abba, he hears. Know this: Whatever you are facing today - your Father is with you and cares about your pain. He will guide you through it, one step at a time. Just trust Him.

Unholy Hyperactivity

One time I found myself lost in the woods alone. It was late at night and a friend and I were going fishing. We had left the car parked on the side of the road and had gone through the woods down to the water’s edge where our boat was tied. The plan was that we would load the boat with the supplies we had brought from the car, then he would take the boat across the lake to a bridge on the other side where I would drive the car, park it and meet him there.

I pushed the boat off, moving it away from the shoreline and turned to go back through the woods to my car. However, as I began to make my way back, it didn’t take long until I became disoriented. The night shadows and muted colors caused every path to look the same. After walking for thirty minutes on a course that I knew should have only taken ten if it were the right one, I began to realize that chances were good that I was lost.

I was a little nervous at first, but told myself that I would eventually come upon the road and the car. An hour later, I knew I was in trouble when I found myself off the path and fighting my way through thick undergrowth, filled with night sounds I didn’t recognize. I had absolutely no idea which direction I needed to head anymore. Instinctively I began to walk faster . . . and faster . . . and faster. After awhile I realized that increasing my speed wasn’t accomplishing anything except to make me tired.

I sat down to rest for a moment, telling myself that I needed to calm down and think this situation through more carefully. As I sat there, I glanced up toward the sky. Above me I saw my answer. It was a power line. I reasoned that the line had to lead somewhere and that I would simply follow it until it led me back to civilization.

That is exactly what I did and my plan worked. After a long walk, the line led me back to a side road, which I then followed to the highway and to my car. It was a scary experience, which to this day has kept me out of the woods alone at night.

It blasphemes one of the most sacred tenets of some evangelicals to suggest that perhaps they need to do less in their lifestyles, not more. Grace is already susceptible enough to the recurring charges of passivity without people being told that they may need less activity in their lives. The “Just Do It Dogma” held by many contemporary Christians ranks right up there with the deity of Christ in terms of importance to them.

The fact remains, however, that religious hyperactivity is a tick that slowly sucks the lifeblood out of our intimacy with God. God didn’t invite you to be His maid, but His bride. Do we serve? Of course, but it always is to be the natural expression of our love for Him. Otherwise, it becomes a barrier to genuine intimacy.

Well meaning Christians often find themselves in a place which can be compared to the man adrift at sea in a life raft. Because he is dying of thirst, he begins to drink the sea water around him. The salt water causes him to become more thirsty and his thirst causes him to drink more sea water. This vicious cycle will ultimately bring death.

Thus is the fate of the Christian who believes that doing more is the remedy for his thirst. Sometimes the answer to our deepest need is met when we understand that the best way to advance may be to retreat, remembering that God’s ways are not our ways. Blase Pascal said, “The sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.” It isn’t frenzy, but faith that facilitates intimacy.

A Personal Situation

After hearing that his obituary had been posted in the New York Times, Mark Twain wrote: "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Lately, to a lesser degree, I've faced a similar situation that has caused me to decide to post this blog. Calls have come in to my office inquiring about my "serious disease" and emails have been sent asking about my "collapse while teaching a conference," so it seemed to me that the best way to help dispel mistaken information is to go ahead and post here the facts about a health situation I'm facing right now.

First, let me thank those who have contacted me or my office to inquire about the situation. I know that everything that has been told or asked comes from loving concern on behalf of those involved and I am appreciative and touched by that concern. Having said that, here's what actually happened and where I am in the process right now.

About four weeks ago I was coming out of a store when I suddenly began to feel extremely fatigued and very lightheaded. It was intense enough that I thought I was about to pass out so I sat down on the sidewalk. Melanie was in the car across the parking lot but didn't see me. After a few moments, I got up and moved on to the car. Before I reached the car I felt the same sensation and had to sit down again. I was close enough to call out to Melanie and she rushed to me, helped me up and took me to the Emergency Room. I was fatigued and disoriented.

At the ER, they ruled out anything that was immediately life-threatening and released me. I saw my regular doctor a few days later and he referred me to a neurologist. I saw him a few days afterward and he wrote orders for an EEG and an MRI on my brain. That will take place this Monday (the 14th) and hopefully will reveal the cause for these episodes. I say "these episodes" because I've experienced similar incidents numerous times since the first time.

Thanks to those who have asked about me. At this point, there is no reason for me to think it's anything serious. I've told Melanie that my brain has grown so much in the past few years that it's having trouble fitting inside my skull. For some reason, she's not buying that explanation :) Seriously, I'm not worried but of course do want to know what the cause is and what needs to be done to remedy it.

Thanks for your prayers. I wouldn't normally put something like this in a blog, but thought that considering how well-meaning, but misinformed information has been circulating, it would be best to go ahead and set the record straight by sharing with you what is going on. I'll let you know how things unfold through this blog.

Are We Literally Righteous Or Positionally Righteous?

For years I couldn’t reconcile what I saw taught in the Bible. I read verses that clearly say we are righteous (Romans 5:17, Ephesians 4:24, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, etc.), but struggled with my own inconsistent behavior. So I took this aspect of truth to be only a positional truth. My argument went like this: “We aren’t literally righteous. God only sees us that way. Our position is one of righteousness, but our condition is that we are unrighteous.”

Let’s dissect that argument for a moment. We’ll get rid of the glaring error first — the idea that God only sees us as righteous. Exactly what could this mean? Would one suggest that God sees something that isn’t really there? It reminds me of the arrogant professor who saw the unlearned custodian reading his Bible and sneered, “Do you believe that book as it is?” Without hesitation, the custodian replied, “Do you believe it as it ain’t?” That’s a good question for this matter. Does God see something as it is or as it ain’t?

When we consider the argument that the righteousness of the Christian is positional, but not literal we must be intellectually honest. Romans 5:19 corrects the error of believing that we are only positionally righteous.

For as through the one man’s disobedience, the many were made sinners,even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

This verse very simply presents the truth of our present righteousness in Christ. Paul reminds us that in Adam we were made to be sinners. In the same way, he says, we are now made righteous in Christ. According to principles of biblical hermeneutics, we must be consistent in interpreting scripture. If the last half of this verse means that we are only positionally righteous in Christ, then the first part of the verse must be interpreted to say that we were only positionally sinners in Adam. Were we literally a sinner in Adam or was it only positional? If we were literally sinners then, we are literally righteous now.

Some say that the verse teaches that we will be made righteous when we get to heaven. Does that mean that a person doesn’t become a sinner until he gets to hell? We were sinners for one simple reason — we were in Adam. Now are righteous because we have been placed into Christ.

Let’s don’t resist the truth! God says we are righteous because we are in Christ. It is a literal truth. That doesn’t mean we always act that way. How we act and who we are may not always coincide. Sometimes I act like a child even though I was born in 1954. Identity isn’t determined by our behavior, but by our birth. Occasionally my wife, Melanie, has even called me a big baby. But I know it’s not true! I have my birth certificate to prove it!

Sweet Tea - The Nectar of Heaven

Ingredients:
2 Family Size Tea Bags
1 Gallon Water
2 Cups White Sugar
Place the tea bags in a small simmering pan containing about two cups of water. Bring to a boil.
Steep for ten minutes then pour tea concentrate into gallon pitcher.
While liquid is still very hot, add two cups of sugar. Stir.
Fill gallon pitcher with water and stir.
Serve over ice.

On behalf of everybody who grew up in the southern United States, I proudly present to you the recipe for Sweet Tea. I have found as I travel that in many parts of the United States and especially abroad, people have been culturally deprived of this delight all of their lives. Try asking a waitress in Pittsburgh for sweet tea. She points at the sugar on the table and then looks at you like you must be blind or something. It’s sad, she just doesn’t get it. As I write these words, I am in Canada. In the spirit of good international relations, we won’t even talk about the tea in restaurants here. Have you ever watched a person drink Earl Grey tea over a few pieces of ice with no sugar? It’s not a pretty sight. And Mexico? The tea there brings to mind the age old question, “How can a loving God allow such suffering?” Since this is the beverage that will probably be served at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb, we would all be well advised to learn to enjoy it now! In Georgia, we think of it as the nectar of heaven.

Seriously, why have I shared the recipe for sweet tea with you? Well, putting aside the obvious culinary mission of mercy, it actually illustrates very clearly some truths about what happens in a person’s life when grace rules. God’s recipe for transforming us by His grace given in Christ has some striking similarities to the recipe at the top of this page.

The first step in making sweet tea is to turn up the heat so that the water will boil. The sugar and tea won’t permeate the water unless it is very hot. This is the same way that God works in a person when He is preparing to make something wonderful of his life. Have you ever noticed how much more receptive you are to God when the heat is turned up high in your life? When we are in hot water, we usually get in the receiving mode fast! If you have ever asked God to use your life, don’t be surprised when trouble comes. God may turn up the heat in our circumstances to prepare us to experience His life. The glory of having Jesus expressing His life through us requires that we pass through the fire. It’s not pleasant while it is happening, but when the process is complete the finished product is quite a treat!

The Apostle Peter said:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation (1 Peter 4:12-13).

The fire may be hot, but don’t despair in your troubles. God often orchestrates the events of our lives to bring us to the end of confidence in our own ability so that He may readily complete His recipe for godliness within us. “The revelation of His glory” that Peter mentions is not a reference to heaven, but to the discovery of the sweet truth of our union with Christ. However, it is impossible to make sweet tea without hot water.

Unlike iced tea, hot tea and sugar are totally compatible with each other. In fact, the sugar quickly dissolves when stirred into the hot tea. Once the sugar has dissolved into the water, the very nature of the liquid is changed. The tea and sugar can never be separated again. Their distinct elements have merged together in such a way that they are now one new entity. This isn’t the case with iced tea. It is impossible to get sugar to dissolve into tea once it has been served over ice. No matter how much you stir it, the two just won’t mix.

When God prepares to manifest the sweet presence of His Life within us, He uses heat to cause us to be compatible with Him permeating our being. He will often stir things in our lives when He turns up the heat. Then we don’t resist like we would when we are spiritually cold. Once he places His Life into us, our very nature is changed. Just as the sugar and tea have become one, we have been united with Him and can never again be separated from Him. 1Corinthians 6:17 says, “But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” There is no longer m life and Christ’s life. Jesus has come into us and changed our very nature so that one may say quite literally that Christ is my life.

I was teaching this truth in a Grace Walk Conference once and a man whose field of study was chemistry said, “It is a fact that tea has its own distinct chemical composition and sugar has its own unique chemical composition, but when you put the two together in the way you have described, a totally new chemical composition is created which is neither tea or sugar.” Do you know what it is called? Sweet tea!

The Bible says, Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Corinthians 5:17). When we received Christ, we gained a brand new identity. When have you ever heard someone refer to tea as “water with tea and sugar in it”? It’s nature has been changed, therefore it is identified by its new identity — sweet tea.

Once the sugar has been placed into the tea, the pitcher must be filled with water, then the tea is ready to be shared with others. Water is a type of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. The Bible says that the treasure of the life of Jesus is contained in the earthen vessels of our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:7) Yet we must be filled with the Holy Spirit if people are going to be attracted to Christ within us. (Ephesians 5:18) To be filled with the Holy Spirit means nothing less than Jesus Christ consuming our total being and expressing His life through us.

It is the Holy Spirit who dwells within our spirit. That same Spirit is the very spirit of Jesus. Since He has come to us, our nature is changed. We now possess the nature of God. By the death and resurrection of Jesus, God works in this world to create a new race of people who possess His nature. 2 Peter 1:4 says that through the Spirit of Christ we have “become partakers of the divine nature.” Our new nature is a holy nature.

I enjoy sweet tea, but I don’t like tea with sugar in it. Some may ask, “Isn’t it the same thing?” Not at all. When I’m traveling, I sometimes order iced tea and put sugar in it, but the tea never gets sweet enough for my taste. I sometimes have a glass of iced tea on the table with a half inch of sugar settled at the bottom of the glass. That is tea with sugar, but it’s not sweet tea. It is only when the sugar has dissolved in the tea that it receives a sweet nature.

Some Christians think in terms of Christ being in their life. However, when we were saved, Jesus didn’t simply come into our life. He has so filled our being that the Bible teaches that Christ is our life. The very essence of our being has been changed through this supernatural union with Him.

(This article is an excerpt from my book, Grace Rules.)

My First Date . . .

I've shared this story a thousand times, but assume many of my FB friends haven't heard it. It's about my first date, which turned out to be the girl I've been married to for over 36 years, pictured at 18 years old here.

I met my wife when I was sixteen years old. On the day of that date, I went to great effort to cause her to like me. As soon as I came home from school that Friday, I drove dad’s car around into the backyard. I filled a pail with Joy Dishwashing Detergent and went to work cleaning that car. I scrubbed it from top to bottom. I used tire black on the tires to make them shiny. I sprayed Armor All on the interior. I vacuumed the carpet. That car was clean.

About two hours before I was to pick her up, I began to get groomed and dressed. I showered and put on my navy blue pants, my light blue shirt and even wore a tie. I wanted Melanie to like me! I soaked myself in Jade East Cologne and drove to her house. I arrived early so I circled the block until time to pick her up. When I pulled into her drive way, I checked my hair, sprayed breath freshener in my mouth, sprinkled some more cologne on myself and on the side of the seat where she would be sitting. (I hoped it would get to her.) I walked up to the door and rang the door bell. When her mother came to the door she invited me in, telling me that Melanie wasn’t quite ready. “Oh, that’s okay,” I gushed. “I don’t mind waiting at all!”

After a while Melanie walked into the room. I stood up and told her how beautiful she looked. As we walked to the car, I rushed ahead to open the door for her. I wanted her to like me. After the movie we went to eat. “Order anything on the menu,” I said. “Do you want to get the large pizza with all the toppings? We can do that.” I really wanted this girl to like me. She did.

Three years later I married her. The months passed. After adjusting to being married, things changed. “You had better get in the car! I’m not going to be late for church again. I’ll leave you. I mean it!” Then to the restaurant — “You know, we could just go to the drive through at McDonalds. They’ll sell those Happy Meals to adults!” In those days, she opened the car door for herself. I reasoned that I had her love now, so there was no need in all that dating stuff anymore.

Needless to say, by the end of our first year of marriage, conflict was common. Over a period of months as I prayed about our marriage, God revealed some things to me. I came to understand that I wasn’t to serve my wife so that she would love me, but because it was a way to express my love for her. Soon I began to act differently toward her and our marriage changed. I’ve been opening the car door for her now for many years, not so that she will love me, but because I love her. I’m not obligated to serve her through considerate gestures now. I’m free to do those things because I can rest, secure in her love for me.

Do you know that you can relax and enjoy God’s love without trying to earn it? When we know how much God loves us, it frees us to serve Him out of gratitude and love for Him. God loves you whether you open the car door or not! Service is difficult if we are trying to earn His favor, but it becomes a pleasure when it is a natural expression of the intimate relationship we share with Him.

Energized By Grace

Nothing is more invigorating to the life of a believer than continuously experiencing the grace of God. Religion drains a person. A religious man is a driven man. Grace doesn’t drive us, but directs us in a way that we enjoy serving God from a heart filled with gratitude. One walking in grace becomes increasingly energized as he serves, not spiritually exhausted.

Although he may at times experience the normal fatigue of mind and body which is common to humanity, he discovers that inwardly he is constantly empowered by divine life. His “inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). He finds himself motivated from within to serve Jesus Christ with enthusiasm and consistency.“I don’t have to do anything because I’m under grace,” Becky said. She and her husband had disagreed many times about the responsibility of a Christian walking in grace. “I believe that there are certain things we need to do and grace has nothing to do with it, “ he argued. They had come to me to settle the question for them.

What would you tell them if they asked your opinion on the matter? Does a Christian have a duty to do certain things or is he free to sit down and do nothing for the rest of his life?It’s true that grace delivers the believer from the realm of religious duty. Becky wasn’t wrong in her assertion that Christians don’t have to do anything. However, during the course of my conversation with this couple, I sensed that neither of them clearly understood what it means to walk in grace. He did seek to impose his own religious expectations on her. There was no doubt about that. On the other hand, Becky didn’t appear to be on target in her perspective on the matter either. It sounded as if she had indeed become passive in many ways.

The good news of grace doesn’t stop by causing one to understand that he is free from the law. Genuine grace not only delivers us from something, but also delivers us to Someone. Grace opens our eyes to the union we share with Jesus Christ. It doesn’t give the believer an excuse to become lethargic and lazy. Instead it energizes him with the divine life of Jesus in such a way that he serves God with supernatural power. Grace is the divine enablement for one to powerfully express the life of Jesus Christ through his lifestyle.

Jesus was a man who was full of grace. (See John 1:14.) In three short years, His activity had impacted the whole known world because His actions were impregnated with divine power. This is hardly a description of a passive person. Concerning the lifestyle of those who follow Him, John said that “of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (John 1:16). God has poured the grace of Jesus Christ into us in a manner that causes us to be filled with grace. Our lives are piled high with grace on top of grace!Possessing the power of Jesus Christ, why would any Christian want to become passive?

One who suggests that the message of grace will produce passivity simply doesn’t understand what it means to walk in grace. One who has become passive hasn’t experienced its reality. A grace filled Christian usually won’t meet the expectations of the legalist, but he won’t become lazy in his Christian walk either. His lifestyle is a grace walk. Walking is always progressive, not passive.The Spirit of Jesus dwells within the believer.

An understanding of the implications of that truth will mobilize the believer. If the essence of Mozart suddenly came into you, what would you want to do? If the spirit of Picasso possessed you, would it make sense to never pick up a paint brush? If you were possessed by the life force of Mozart, nothing could keep you away from the piano. You would be thrilled by the awareness of the ability you possessed and would want to express it often. If the spirit of Picasso rested within you, a great desire to paint would continually motivate you toward the canvass. The knowledge of who was within you would be all the motivation you needed.

The good news of grace is that Jesus Christ is in you. What an awesome thought! You are privileged to live in a day that Old Testament saints couldn’t even imagine. They were thrilled when they met God on a mountain, in a burning bush, through a pillar of fire or a cloud of glory. These occasional encounters with Deity were often enough to change a man’s life forever. A fleeting glimpse of His glory and they were transformed.

If the glory of God were deposited in heaven, they were blessed to have pennies pitched their way.On the day that Jesus was crucified, the front door to the bank of heaven swung open wide and all the glory of God came pouring out all over those who received Him. The glory vault of heaven was opened and emptied out on those who believe! This concept was an unknown mystery in the Old Testament, but you belong to a chosen group “to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

If Old Testament saints could be motivated by a rare glimpse of God, what impact can the resident glory of God in the New Testament believer have on his life and the lives of those around him? When one knows who he is in Jesus Christ, he will be forever transformed. Once the revelation of the indwelling Christ becomes a reality to him it can never be unknown again. He will never get over the impact of seeing Jesus in him; of knowing that Christ is his very life. He will be forever energized by the glory of Christ within him."

(This article is an excerpt from my book, Grace Rules.)

When We Are In Deep Pain

When my son, David, was about three years old, he woke up one night crying in agony. Melanie and I rushed into his bedroom and could immediately tell that something was seriously wrong. We agreed that she would stay at home with the other children and I would take him to the hospital. When we arrived at the emergency room, the attending physician examined him. He turned to me and said, “I know your son’s problem. He has an intestinal blockage that must be cleared. Neither his bladder or bowels have emptied in a long time. For that reason, David is experiencing intense pain.” “What has to be done?”, I asked. “Two things,” the doctor answered. First, it will be necessary to catheterize him.” I shuddered at the thought. “Then, we must also administer a barium enema”, the doctor continued.

After assuring me that there were no other treatment options, I laid David down on the examining table. When the doctor began the procedure with the catheter, David started to come up off the table. “You’ll have to hold him down,” the doctor instructed. Leaning across the body of my three year old son, I placed my right arm over his left shoulder and my left arm over his right shoulder so that he couldn’t move. David began to cry, hysterically screaming, “Daddy, make him stop! Daddy, please! Make him stop! Make him stop!” Then there was that moment — sort of like suspended animation — one of those freeze frame moments that you never forget as long as you live. David stopped crying, looked deeply into my eyes, and with obvious terror and confusion asked, “Daddy, why won’t you make him stop?”

How do you explain a catheter to a three year old? How can his young mind understand a valid reason for such pain? I couldn’t answer because he couldn’t understand even if I did. I began to cry too. I laid myself down across him, and hugged him close to me and to the table. “It’s okay son. Daddy’s here with you. You must trust me, David. This is necessary. It’s for your good. I’ll hold you until it’s over.”

I can remember times in my own life when I have cried out to my heavenly Father, “Make it stop! Make it stop! Why won’t you make it stop?” Have you been there? Maybe you are at that place in life right now. Circumstances may not make sense. It may seem that God has abandoned you, but He hasn’t. He may be holding you on the table so that you can’t get up, but He is hugging you! He takes no pleasure in your pain, yet He loves you enough that if it takes pain to bring to you the place where He can accomplish His purpose for your good, He will allow it and keep you in it as long as necessary. Be assured that He won’t keep you on the table a minute longer than necessary. In the meantime, know He is hugging you and loves you dearly.

Why I'm Against Religion

Sometimes people are taken aback when they hear me say that I'm against religion. That's the last thing that they'd expect to hear a professing follower of Jesus Christ say, and even more true of a pastor. Why am I against religion? It really a simple answer. It's because of what it is and what it does to people.

Religion began in the garden of Eden when Eve believed the lie that there was something she could do to cause herself to become more like God. The serpent told her that if she ate from the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, she would become like God. There was one big problem with that lie. She was already like God. Her Creator had made her in His image.

But, believing the lie she ate the forbidden fruit and her husband soon followed suit. Because this was the first man, the physical AND spiritual DNA of all humanity was inside Adam. So we inherited two serious congenital problems from him. The first was a sin nature and the other was a built in affinity for religion.

People generally don't have a problem believing it's true that the sin issue began in the garden, but they find it hard to believe that religion is a result of the fall. However, it was. The second religious step Adam and Eve took was to make coverings for themselves with leaves so they wouldn't feel ashamed in front of God. Religion still causes feelings of shame and still motivates people to try to do something on their own to make themselves more presentable to God. All over the world today, religions of every kind are nothing less than man's attempt to make himself acceptable to a god he wrongly imagines is judging and looking down on Him.

Remember - it was religious people who harassed and ultimately crucified Jesus. Why? Because He refused to jump through their religious hoops. Jesus Christ isn't religious. Never has been, never will be.

The word "religion" comes from the old Latin word, religare, meaning "to bind up." It points people toward obligations they have toward a deity. So the essence of the word is that it puts people into bondage and causes them to feel condemnation for not measuring up.

The authentic message of the gospel of grace is largely absent in the religious climate of the church world today. The gospel of grace is the proclamation that our God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit have come down to this world, dealt with sin once and for all and have reconciled us back to God. Sin has been dealt with and has been forgiven! That is the truth of the gospel! Our privilege is to proclaim that reality to the world and encourage them to simply believe it so that the objective reality of the finished work of Christ becomes a subjective reality in their own experience.

Religion blinds people to the gospel by causing them to think there's something that God expects from them. There isn't! He has done everything that needed to be done. The only thing left for us is to say "thank you!" in faith and enjoy the eternal ride!

Christ Jesus didn't just set you free from sin. He set you free from religion too. You don't have to perform to score points with your Father. It's all good because of what He has done on your behalf. So, when you see religion - run from it, but be sure you run straight into the arms of your Father who loves and accepts you just the way you are at this very moment.

Resting In Christ

It is amazing how the default setting in contemporary Christian culture tends to oppose the concept of spiritual rest when that is exactly what Jesus promised to give those who follow Him. (See Matthew 11:28-30) This concept requires a new mind set for most people, especially in western culture. We live in a society where people go on vacation with their Blackberrys and laptops. To rest in Christ, trusting Him to express His life through us sounds lazy and negligent after having lived in the wilderness of rigorous religion for such a long time. Many mistakenly think of rest as some sort of passivity, which it is not. Resting simply means to trust Jesus Christ as our Life-Source, depending upon Him to empower our actions with His strength and direction.

For many years the concept of rest was so foreign to me that I couldn’t comprehend it. I didn’t know rest was a gift from God. I thought it was a sin. I sincerely believed that the only time we would find complete rest was when we died and went to heaven. There was a verse I used to read at funeral services to give comfort to bereaved families. I would share Hebrews 4:10 with them: “For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.”

When I shared this verse, I would tenderly point out that our beloved friend who had died “has now entered into God’s rest and ceased from his own labors.” I talked about how heaven is a place where there are no more struggles. It is a place where we simply rest in Christ and enjoy Him forever.

Entering into His rest and ceasing from our own works. It sounded like dying and going to heaven to me. Then one day I read the next verse in the passage — Hebrews 4:11 says, “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall down through following the example of disobedience.” What? Be diligent to enter that rest? Now I was in trouble. I had always taught that rest means dying. Now here I was being confronted with the verse that says to be diligent to enter that rest or else I would be disobedient to God. I knew I had better go back and reexamine that verse again and hope that my interpretation had been wrong or else I was in serious trouble! I didn’t know at the time that I had already died with Christ and was able to cease from my own works.

“I understand that salvation is a gift, but when we become a Christian we do have certain responsibilities in living the Christian life, don’t we?” somebody asked me. “We don’t just sit back and coast to heaven with no obligations in the meantime.” Her concern is common. Her statements reflect a belief that if we don’t take ownership of certain things that we must do for God, we may become passive and lazy.

What is the responsibility of the believer toward God? The disciples once asked Jesus about the works they were to do for God. “They said therefore to Him, ‘What shall we do that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:28-29). When asked what we are supposed to do in order to do the work of God, Jesus gave one work. Believe.

If we are to take the words of Jesus at face value, faith is the sole work of the Christian (and even that is a gift from Him — see Ephesians 2:8). That fact doesn’t mean that nothing else will be done, but that nothing else can be done unless it flows from the abiding relationship of faith in Him as our constant Life-Source (See John 15:5). The activity of our lifestyle comes from the overflow of our intimate union with Him. As we trust Him, we will discover the reality of the truth that “Faithful is He that calleth you who will also do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24, KJV)

Negative Faith

Some people have a negativity being broadcast inside them practically all the time. Sometimes it is a conscious broadcast. At others it is subconscious. This negativity causes them to look at a scenario and immediately see the negative aspects of it.
“Do you want to get well?” Jesus asks them. They don’t even hear the question. Like the man beside the pool of Bethesda, their response is immediately a negative, “why it won’t work for me” type of response.

They are prophets of doom to themselves. “I’ve always been this way. It’s just the way I am. That could never work because . . . My situation is different.” They have a thousand reasons why things won’t change for them. They will say they wish thing could change, but then prosecute their own case by reminding themselves of all the reasons why things never will.

They are masters of imagining potential scenarios and superimposing a negative outcome onto them. Their tendency is to play out a scene in their mind that hasn’t even happened yet. It is borrowing trouble when none even exists at the moment. It is appropriating negative faith that things will turn out in negative way.

This kind of negativity is a sour note that will deeply affect any of us who hear it if we don’t change stations. Here’s how it happens: As the discordant background “music” plays in our minds, it creates a certain mood within us. That mood influences the way we think about things. When you combine the way a person both thinks and feels, together these create a certain paradigm on life – a negative one.

This negative paradigm determines our expectations when we face any situation in life. That expectation is nothing less than a reflection of our faith. Jesus said, “According to your faith, so be it unto you.” It becomes clear, then, that some of us are going through life expressing great faith – negative faith! Then we wonder why things don’t seem to “go our way.” According to your faith be it unto you.

Why did Israel wander in the wilderness for forty years? It was because of their negative faith. The Bible says, “they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19). Too many people have blamed God, other people, or just their own “bad luck” for not reaching their destiny, when the truth is that the fault lies squarely on their own refusal to believe in God’s basic goodness and in His desire to guide them in fulfilling His will. Are you waiting for God to act? Has it occurred to you that God may be waiting for you?

Have you been short-circuiting your life by appropriating negative outcomes in the situations you face in life? Is there an underlying AM (awful mentality) station playing in the background inside your head all the time? Change stations.

Faithless thinking doesn’t really exist because there is no such thing as an absolute absence of belief. Put any of us in any situation and we will begin to draw conclusions about our circumstances based on what we see. We will evaluate our situation and mentally predict how things are going to unfold as times progresses. In other words, we will come to believe that we know what our future will hold.

Those beliefs become our faith system. Once it is established, it becomes very hard to think outside the walls of expectation we have built around ourselves. We box ourselves in by our limited thinking, which developed through a human assessment of the details of our lives at a given moment in time. Functioning now from a negative faith, we begin to look for evidence in our circumstances to validate that our initial analysis of the situation was right. “See, I knew it!” we affirm when visible evidence tends to support our negative perspective.

The trap tightens its grip on us as we affirm again and again that “this is just the way things are” and as we appropriate hopelessness that things can ever change. Our faith, negative faith, grows by leaps and bounds. Every day seems to take us further from hope that things will ever change.

I’ve heard people say that we shouldn’t put God in a box. “Let Him out of the box!” they’ll challenge others. It’s not God who is in the box. It’s us. God is too big and too powerful to let our puny negative faith box Him in. Let’s not flatter ourselves by thinking that we are squelching God. “Come out of your box and believe Me and I’ll do “great and mighty things like you can’t imagine,” says our Father of grace. (See Jeremiah 33:3) Begin to expect things to go your way because God is “for you.” Recognize that God’s grace equals guaranteed success. Approach life with an optimistic expectancy, based on the goodness of God.

God once told Abraham, “I will give you the land as far as you can see.” There is an interesting principle embedded in that statement that raises a question: What can you see? Do you see life never advancing, never expanding? Maybe the only thing that needs to change for you to move boldly into the fulfillment of your potential is a change of focus.

Will you lay hold on the hope of fulfilling the God given dreams of your heart? The Apostle Paul did. He wrote, triumphantly, “Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope (Ephesians 3:20, NLT)! “Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise (Hebrews 10:23, NLT).

-- This article is an excerpt from my book, Walking In The Will of God. For more information about the book, click this link: http://gracewalkresources.com/item.asp?cID=0&PID=555 The book is on sale this month.)