Don't Let COVID Steal Your Dreams
How much power have we given to COVID to keep us from doing the things we know God has called us to do? I don’t want to beat you up, I want to encourage you to consider moving forward. Don’t neglect your gift, use it to serve, and find a way to use it now.
“Use whatever gift you have received to serve.” This reminds me of Moses. God called him, and Moses tried to disqualify himself multiple times. When he started to become open to following God, he asked God how he was supposed to accomplish what God was asking him to do. God said, let’s start with what’s in your hands.
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
How much power have we given to COVID to keep us from doing the things we know God has called us to do? I don’t want to beat you up, I want to encourage you to consider moving forward. Don’t neglect your gift, use it to serve, and find a way to use it now.
“Use whatever gift you have received to serve.” This reminds me of Moses. God called him, and Moses tried to disqualify himself multiple times. When he started to become open to following God, he asked God how he was supposed to accomplish what God was asking him to do. God said, let’s start with what’s in your hands.
As you know, Moses had a shepherd’s staff in his hands, and God glorified himself through it. He wants to do the same through whatever is in your hands.
Many of you have passions, callings, and dreams that are on hold because of COVID-19. I have spoken with many people who seem to be waiting on following God until COVID blows over. I always ask them why they’re waiting on COVID. The answer usually has something to do with not knowing what is acceptable. Most people want to be respectful of others, but our response has rendered us ineffective for the Kingdom.
I understand not wanting to cross other people’s boundaries, but you can’t allow the way the world responds to this virus to keep you from following God’s calling on your life. Life goes on, your call remains, it may be time to consider how you can move forward. Don’t let COVID steal your dreams. Quit waiting to do those things you know God has called you to do.
I encourage you to watch the video above and follow along as I read through this passage from 1 Peter.
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
What a powerful and holy assignment we carry, we speak for God, and we do so in His power. God will give you the strength to do those things you want to do but don’t know how to do. That strength is His grace in your inner man. This weekend I begin a new series on God’s grace. I want to focus on how you can lean into His grace and increase the capacity of your heart to experience His supernatural strength in every aspect of your life.
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God Wants to Save People, Not Reject Them.
God wants to save people, He is not looking for a reason to reject people. He is not looking for a reason to reject you. He did everything He could to remove the things He had against you in the sacrifice of Christ, to make life with Him secure by faith rather than works.
BUT
He does seem to give us a warning in Hebrews. I’ll cut to the chase, the warning is; don’t reject Jesus and go back to Old Covenant sacrifices. Yes, that’s the “willful sin” the author of Hebrews warns about, rejecting Jesus and trusting in the blood of goats and bulls rather than Christ.
Now, you don’t have a temple to take your goat to, but you do have your dead works that you think make you clean again with God (more on this in the sermon). Jesus’ lifeblood cleanses you, and God’s circumcision of your old nature makes you new. That alone is your righteousness and your removal of sin.
God wants to save people, He is not looking for a reason to reject people. He is not looking for a reason to reject you. He did everything He could to remove the things He had against you in the sacrifice of Christ, to make life with Him secure by faith rather than works.
BUT
He does seem to give us a warning in Hebrews. I’ll cut to the chase, the warning is; don’t reject Jesus and go back to Old Covenant sacrifices. Yes, that’s the “willful sin” the author of Hebrews warns about, rejecting Jesus and trusting in the blood of goats and bulls rather than Christ.
Now, you don’t have a temple to take your goat to, but you do have your dead works that you think make you clean again with God (more on this in the sermon). Jesus’ lifeblood cleanses you, and God’s circumcision of your old nature makes you new. That alone is your righteousness and your removal of sin.
Can You Lose Your Salvation?
I recommend watching the sermon above for a much more detailed explanation, but the short answer is this; you didn’t earn your salvation through works, you can’t lose it through works. And it’s not your works that keep you saved. The lifeblood of Jesus and His finished work on the cross save you and keep you saved. Period, end of story.
But some passages need to be addressed, such as Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
What do we do with this passage? We put it in the proper context.
Apostasy was indicated by a single word; these added clauses describe the depth of the fall, whilst they explain the futility of all effort towards recovering the fallen. Both the writer and his readers knew well what was involved in "falling away" in such a case as this. To go back to Judaism implied an acceptance of all that Jews had said and done against the Son of God, a return to the bitter hate cherished by the falling nation against the Crucified, a repetition in spirit of all that Pharisees had done, and without the palliation of ignorance; for the highest evidence for Christianity--that of true and deep Christian experience--had been given to them. Again, the words used clearly describe a continuing state. Not the punishment for a past act, but the hopelessness of an existing state, is brought before us here. It is therefore of those who, with a distinct conviction of the divine mission of Jesus, have deliberately joined His foes, unite in denouncing Him as a "deceiver" (Matthew 27:63), rejoice in His shame, and thus "for themselves crucify a second time the Son of God," that the writer says, "It is impossible to renew them again unto repentance."
from Ellicott’s Commentary
The author of Hebrews is speaking to a persecuted church. Some of them were wary of the persecution and questioned the true identity of Jesus. Many of them chose to reject Jesus and resume animal sacrifice for the atoning of their sin. Imagine that you go to God will a dead goat and say, “this is my righteousness. I reject the blood of Jesus and choose to bring you the blood of this goat as my righteousness.” Doing that is like unjustly crucifying the Lord again.
That’s the warning in Hebrews 6 and 10. Continue trusting in Jesus rather than rejecting him and going back to Old Covenant sacrifices. It’s actually straightforward to understand, but some preachers love to scare people out of sin, so they misinterpret what’s being said.
Please watch the full sermon for much more on this topic.
We Are More Than Forgiven, We Are Co-Heirs with Christ.
Have you ever received an inheritance? Have you taken the time to draft a will for your children? The process requires great detail. You have to list every asset and decide who it goes to. You can place age stipulations or other guidelines if you so choose. Or you can simply pass down all that you have without restriction. God did this. Through inheritance, he gave you everything.
God handcrafted a will for you that is full of great and precious promises. In Christ, God predetermined what He would leave you in His last will and testament. His inheritance makes for a glorious afterlife, but it has benefits now too.
“Romans 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
The New Covenant is not a new set of rules to follow, it’s the last will and testament of God. It’s what He predetermined to leave His heirs upon death. Notice the inheritance language in this passage.
Hebrews 9:15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.
God’s Last Will and Testament
Have you ever received an inheritance? Have you taken the time to draft a will for your children? The process requires great detail. You have to list every asset and decide who it goes to. You can place age stipulations or other guidelines if you so choose. Or you can simply pass down all that you have without restriction. God did this. Through inheritance, he gave you everything.
God handcrafted a will for you that is full of great and precious promises. In Christ, God predetermined what He would leave you in His last will and testament. His inheritance makes for a glorious afterlife, but it has benefits now too.
Physical Healing
The simple answer is this, you inherited everything Christ inherited, as a co-heir. I have covered what we have in the New Covenant (God’s last will and testament) in my last 5 articles, so I won’t take the time to list all that Jesus accomplished for you again. This week I want to focus on two specific aspects of your inheritance.
1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.
You are more than forgiven, you have received great and precious promises from God, which includes healing.
Some say Peter is referring to spiritual or emotional healing, but Jesus paid for your sins in His physical body, not just in his spirit or emotions. He endured physical disease so you could have health. He endured the effects of sin in his body, so you could be free from the death of disease.
Jesus secured that promise for you and God gave it to you in his will. No if’s, and’s or but’s about it, God left you physical healing in His will.
Financial Prosperity
2 Corinthians 8: 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
God left you all of His wealth. It is His good pleasure to give you His kingdom. That has been His plan from the beginning, as evidenced in His promise to Abraham. God told Abraham that He would bless him and make him great. He promised that He would bless his offspring so they would be a blessing to all nations. Part of this blessing is incredible wealth.
God has blessed you with great wealth, he made sure of it in his will to you, which Jesus secured in His death. You can choose to believe that God wants you rich in spirit, or rich in your relationships, as some people claim this passage is teaching. But God wants you financially rich too. Your father wants you to be so extravagantly blessed so you can be a blessing to all nations, thus fulfilling his original promise to Abraham.
I won’t take the time to cover why you haven’t received the health or financial blessing God left you in Christ, I’ll simply end by saying it’s yours now. Repent and believe the Gospel of Jesus. Change your mind and trust that there is nothing but GOOD NEWS for those who are citizens of Heaven and children of God through Christ.
How to Access Grace in Weakness - Understanding Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh
When the Apostle Paul asked God to take away his “thorn in the flesh,” God answered by saying, “my grace is what you need.” Was that a “no?” No! That was a solution. God’s grace is an inner power that causes us to overcome any and every situation we may face. God didn’t tell Paul, no, not right now, I need you to suffer a little while, he said Paul, if you’ll access my power within you you’ll have victory in this area. This is true for us as well, check out this message and article to discover how to access grace!
Did God say NO to Paul when he asked God to remove his thorn in the flesh?
When the Apostle Paul begged God to take away his “thorn in the flesh,” God answered by saying, “my grace is what you need, my power works best in weakness.” Was that a “no?” No! That was a solution.
2 Corinthians 12:8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
God speaks directly to Paul and associates GRACE with POWER. Grace is an inner power that causes us to overcome any and every situation we may face. GRACE is God’s divine influence in our hearts that causes us to be strong, patient, loving, joyful, wise, and so on.
God didn’t say, “no, not right now, I need you to suffer a little while.” He said, “Paul, if you’ll access my power within you, you’ll have victory in this area.”
That’s not a NO, that’s a SOLUTION!!! This is true for us as well!
LIVING IN THE POWER OF GRACE
By God’s definition, GRACE = POWER. How does that help us practically?
Let’s say you want to make more money. First and foremost, find out what God says about about money, He says, I give you the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:19). He says he makes one rich, and he adds no trouble with it (Proverbs 10:22). He defines himself as our Provider. And finally, Jesus associates God’s willingness to meet our needs with his value for us (Matthew 6). If he’s willing to die for us, I think he’s willing to meet our financial needs.
This doesn’t mean God owes you a Bugatti and a mansion, and it doesn’t mean you can be irresponsible with money, and God will bail you out with a check in the mail. It means God is faithful to His Word, and you allow Him to empower you (grace), you will experience His promises.
If you follow God’s instructions about money, in that you stay out of debt, you’re generous, and you don’t put it before Him, your heart will be sensitive to His influence (grace) regarding money and you will follow His leading.
This is true of any area of life. If you’ll renew your mind according to His Word, and believe it in your heart, you will follow His leading and experience His perspective of that area.
How Do I Access Grace?
Like Paul, you don’t need to beg God to show up and fix your problem, you need GRACE. you need to be sensitive to God’s influence in your heart to follow Him through life.
Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
Start by acknowledging that you are at peace with God, you are His righteous child, and you make yourself impressionable to be inspired by God to act on His supply of GRACE.
Practical Application
If you have an anger problem you’d like to work on, be honest with yourself about it, affirm that you are not the anger problem itself and that God’s grace can help you overcome it.
Take a moment to visualize yourself in a situation in which you get angry and see yourself handling it differently. Then, the next time you feel yourself getting angry, remove yourself, relax your body, acknowledge that God’s GRACE is in you, then LET IT EMPOWER YOU!!
How do you let it empower you? Try it, and you’ll find out.
I PROMISE you, if you turn to God in the heat of the moment, He will be present, and He will supply you with GRACE, but it’s your choice to yield to it and act accordingly.
This is applicable in all temptation, whether it be bad financial practices, anger, eating habits, pornography, laziness, lying, drugs, the list goes on.
TRY IT!! God’s GRACE is all you need, His power in you is the strength you need in your weakness!!
The Baptism of the Spirit is Our Adoption Process
Most of us think of power when we think about the baptism of/in the spirit. We immediately think of praying in tongues and power to do miracles. While this is a byproduct of being baptized in the spirit there is another reason for the baptism. The main reason God immerses you in his spirit is to purify, cleanse and sanctify you so he can live in you and make you his eternal child. The baptism of the spirit is the adoption process we go through to be changed into righteous and eternal children of God.
Most of us think of power when we think about the baptism of/in the spirit. We immediately think of praying in tongues and power to do miracles. While this is a byproduct of being baptized in the spirit there is another reason for the baptism. The main reason God immerses you in his spirit is to purify, cleanse and sanctify you so he can live in you and make you his eternal child. The baptism of the spirit is the adoption process we go through to be changed into righteous and eternal children of God.
John the Baptist said "...after me comes one who is more powerful than I...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Fire is the Greek word "pyr" which means to purify. The idea is this, when you place your faith in the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ as your righteousness, God then does a work in you. God, by his spirit, cleanses (sanctifies) you, changes you into a new kind of being that is eternal and then joins himself to you to live through you. This is the process of becoming born again.
Being baptized in the spirit is not a separate event. Experiencing the gifts, fruits and power of the spirit may manifest through you at a later time than when you actually received the spirit but receiving the spirit is not a separate event.
You don't remain the same kind of being you were, you actually become something different, a new creation. This new creation has been fully changed in spirit by this immersion or baptism in God's spirit. That baptism also has some residual effects, God's power can now flow through you since you have been changed. That power manifests as the fruits of the spirit, it manifests as the gifts/graces of the spirit and it manifests as whatever God wants to do through you to bring glory to his name.
I want to show you a few passages that all describe the same process of adoption through God's spirit.
Colossians 2:11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Being buried with him in baptism is the baptism of the spirit.
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
You received this anointing that abides in you when you first believed and were born again.
Ephesians 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Being sealed with God's spirit is the baptism of the spirit, it's when you first believe and his spirit performs a circumcision of the old dead man of sin from you and gives you a new heart/nature. You are forever changed with a promise from God of eternal life. Not a chance at eternal life but a promise from God that you can now live forever with him in perfection.
I make these points to demystify the baptism of the spirit. It has been used to judge each other in the body of Christ rather than to affirm our unified identity as a family. Some people in the body believe they have the baptism but others don't because they don't pray in tongues. Some teach that it's demonic. Some that desire to pray in tongues and walk in miracles feel like they're missing something because it hasn't happened to them yet. It's time for the division to stop and the body of Christ to walk in its identity and in power to show the world the character and will of God.
I will discuss tongues as well as discuss the difference between being baptized in the spirit and being filled with the spirit in my next sermon and article.
Life Group Discussion
1. What did you get out of this message?
2. What does it mean to you to have been purified with God's fire/spirit?
3. How does this understanding change your view of being baptized in the spirit?
4. What does this do for your relationship with God and your identity as a child.
Walking In the Spirit is Natural
The spirit of God is like unlimited or infinitely high voltage power. If humans were exposed to his direct spirit/power, we would instantly die. His power must be stepped down for us to not die from his presence. Much of my teaching is based on the heart, in this illustration you can look at your heart as the transformer that steps down God's power. Jesus taught this in the parable of the sower. He basically says that you can experience as much of the kingdom as your transformer/heart will allow you to experience. I pray you increase the capacity of your transformer to allow more power to flow!
ELECTRICITY AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD
The mighty power lines that carry electricity at enormously high voltages from power plants to our homes can deliver up to 750,000 volts! But the appliances in your home only need 110 to 250 volts. If you tried to power a toaster or a TV from an electricity pylon, it would instantly explode! So we reduce high voltage electricity from power plants to our homes with a piece of equipment called a transformer. A transformer reduces or steps down the strength of the power so it can be useful rather than deadly.
The spirit of God is like unlimited or infinitely high voltage power. If humans were exposed to his direct spirit/power, we would instantly die. His power must be stepped down for us to not die from his presence. Much of my teaching is based on the heart, in this illustration you can look at your heart as the transformer that steps down God's power. Jesus taught this in the parable of the sower. He basically says that you can experience as much of the kingdom as your transformer/heart will allow you to experience. I pray you increase the capacity of your transformer to allow more power to flow!
One day our mortal bodies will be changed into the same kind of eternal body Jesus has and we will forevermore see and live within the unbridled, infinite power of God! Praise God!
Until then we have a limited experience with his power/spirit due to our mortal bodies. But again, our hearts are directly connected to the powerful spirit of God; not just with any old kind of connection, but from within. It's mind-boggling that think God has placed his life essence, his creative power, his glory, his holiness inside all believers. The reason we can interact with his spirit/power is because he's made us like him. In essence, the deepest eternal aspect of a believer is like God by nature. He even gave us promises so we can experience that nature.
2 Peter 1: 1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
WHAT IS SPIRIT?
"Spirit" is the life animating essence of any living thing. It can also be a reference to the general tone of an entity like "the spirit of America." Individual living things have a spirit, like the spirit of man or the spirit of God. And of course, God is A spirit. So with those points in place let's look a little deeper at "spirit."
First things first, it's important that you have the spirit of God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. Romans 8:9
Another important truth from Romans 8:9 is this; the way you know that you're in the spirit is if God's spirit is in you. You don't have to shapeshift and go into the spirit realm, you're already there if God's spirit is in you. His spirit actually animates the spirit realm, so you have the source of all life within you.
Have you ever felt that God was far away? Not true.
Have you ever wanted to walk deeper in the spirit? You already do.
Have you wanted to experience more of God's spirit? Now we're getting somewhere.
The fact is, you're already directly connected to the full glory and power of God. That's not just a doctrinal point or an interesting idea, it's true. So why don't we experience him more? Think about your relationships with your spouse or your friends, how do you become "closer" with them? It's the same with God, invest in the relationship, get to know him better and you'll experience him more.
HOW DO I INTERACT WITH GOD'S SPIRIT?
John 4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water (spirit of God) will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.
The short answer is; let it spring up within you and it will be unto you everlasting life. I use the word "yield" often to describe the way to let that water/spirit spring up. To yield is to slow down or stop and let someone go in front of you. Making it a practice to stop your natural reasonings and logic and let God's promises/logic/instruction go before you in your thinking is the key to drinking of this everlasting water.
The water will do what it's designed to do, nourish and give life. Acknowledge God and he'll direct your steps, yield to his power/spirit and you will experience life. You can't stop the sun from making the grass grow, let the spirit shine brightly within you by focusing your thoughts on him and watch miraculous things happen.
Speaking of miracles, watch this incredible testimony from my friend Jimmie.
Wow!! God can perform bypass surgery. Listen to my whole message above for more commentary on his miracle and why he was healed while others aren't.
WORSHIPING IN SPIRIT
Worshiping in spirit isn't when you have a vision, hear the audible voice of God and 27 people are miraculously healed...worshiping in spirit is when you are expressing gratitude to God and you are more convinced of his promises than you are of your problems. Worshiping in spirit isn't about a mystical experience, it's about your heart being more convinced of his truth than your temporary circumstances.
WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
Walking in the spirit is when you make choices inspired by God's promises. Everyday we have choices to make, we respond in anger, we make decisions based on fear and lack and we are pessimistic about our futures. Walking in spirit is to walk in the reality of who you are in Christ. Walking in the spirit starts with setting your mind on things above, where your citizenship truly is, then making choices accordingly.
It's perfectly natural for you to worship, walk in and experience the spirit of God because he has changed your nature to be spiritual. I pray that these concepts help you shift your thinking a bit and empower you to pursue relationship rather than power. I pray these truths bring you peace and a sense of completeness rather than promote an endless pursuit of mystical experience in God. And I pray that you are able to bring others into a meaningful encounter with the spirit of God who loves and saves all who believe.
Life Group Discussion
1. What did you get out of this message?
2. Was there anything that caused you to see your connection with God differently?
3. What are some ways that you will change about how you choose to "walk in the spirit?"