Give it to God then Guard Your Heart

When you talk to God, do you ask him to move Heaven and Earth to meet your need or do you ask for wisdom to be led to your solution? Faith is more internal than external, it’s about trusting God to shape you rather than shaping the world. Faith doesn’t necessarily move God, it’s your response to his love and influence in your heart. Faith is our response to what God has accomplished in Jesus.

God has made you great and precious promises so you would be a partaker of his divine nature What do you do if you aren’t seeing those promises in your life? Especially in the area where you’ve asked God for help?

Is God not responding? Or are you not hearing? (I preached a series called GOD IS NEVER SILENT, it may be helpful to listen to that series.)

I personally don’t look for explanations from God in life’s circumstances. God is not manipulating the world around me to teach me lessons. Jesus simply doesn’t present a version of God that is placing stumbling blocks in our way, hoping we’ll trip and stumble in his direction. God is more mature than that, he communicates with us in a healthy and consistent way. A way in which we can hear and apply for transformation.

Jesus has a few things to say about how God interacts with us…

John 14:17: Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him: but you know Him; for He dwells with you, and shall be in you

God lives in you.

John 14:26: But the Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you

He speaks to you. He’s a comforter that teaches you and helps you remember those teachings when you need them.

John 16:13 However when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide (show you the way) you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak. 14 He shall glorify Me: for He shall take what is mine, and shall show it unto you. 15 All things that the Father has are mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.

God, who lives in you and is helping you remember what he’s taught you, will show you how to apply those teachings in a way that’s consistent with your identity in Christ.

The word GUIDE means SHOW YOU THE WAY. God is a way maker!! We typically ask God to bring things to us but he’s trying to show you how to get to those things. Things like new jobs, ministry opportunities, the right spouse, a new church, the perfect pair of shoes, the widow that needs help, the right car, a way to fulfill your calling, etc…

God’s spirit in you will glorify Jesus. You know how gangster movies glorify violence, they make it attractive? God will make the way of Jesus attractive in your life. He’ll show you a godly way to meet your needs because Jesus has left you an inheritance and everything you need is in him.

God’s spirit will make the application of Jesus in your life appealing AND practical. The Holy Spirit will show you a way to live out the teachings of Jesus in a way that brings fulfillment for you and makes him look good through you.

BREAD NOT STONES

To make sure we understand how God will lead us, Jesus gives us insight into the kind of God our Father really is…

Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

God will lead you in a way consistent with his nature and character, that of a kind father that wants good things for his kids. So you don’t have to worry about God leading you into destruction and pain for some obscure purpose.

Persecution and suffering may come from the world as you stand up for your faith, but God will not give you cancer if you ask for healing, he will not take away your job if you ask for more money, he won’t take away your marriage if you ask for peace, he won’t give you a stone if you ask for bread.

GIVE IT TO GOD THEN GUARD YOUR HEART

Because God lives in you and he’s showing you how to live successfully by guiding you into truth, as a good father…you can engage in this process.

When the world gives you pain, failure, sickness and disappointment, give it to God THEN guard your heart. Because God isn’t giving you stones and snakes and he’ll lead you into truth, you can rest assured the pain, failure, sickness and disappointment isn’t from him. You can take what the world gives you and turn right around and give it to God.

You could take on the weight of that thing and tuck it away in your heart, or you can guard your heart by choosing NOT to let it define you or rob your peace. You’re going to need your peace to be able to follow God out of the thing the world just handed you.

What does it look like to be led into God’s truth? Great question!!! It looks like righteousness, peace and joy.

When “it” comes, you can rejoice that you are in right standing with God and allow peace to arise from his presence within you. In this peace GOD WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY!! ALWAYS!! GOD WILL ALWAYS SHOW YOU THE WAY!!

MEDITATE

If you need wisdom, ask, he’ll give it to you. In the environment of peace, aware of your identity in him, you WILL hear from him. It might seem like a simple idea, it may seem like your own thought, it may be a booming voice from Heaven (probably not), but he WILL speak.

Your job is to apply that wisdom and take action, no matter how small the prompting, take one step at a time. MOVE!! Go forward!

GIVE IT TO GOD THEN GUARD YOUR HEART

You Can End Fear In 2 Minutes

FEAR IS NOT FROM GOD!!

In no way, shape or form does God want you to be afraid of him or anything in life. Fear is a killer and he knows it. The message of Heaven is, FEAR NOT!! We see it from angels over and over, we see it from Jesus and we see that message from the Apostle Paul.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

— 2 Timothy 1:7

WHAT IS FEAR?

Fear is a human emotion that is triggered by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism that signals our bodies to respond to danger with a fight or flight response. Essentially, fear is an attempt to keep ourselves safe.

If you think about it, most of what you’re afraid of…NEVER HAPPENS. Let that sink in a moment…

You spend a significant amount of time imagining what you’ll do in response to a perceived threat or negative situation. But here’s the kicker, that thing doesn’t even happen most of the time, so all that time spent afraid is wasted.

Fear is actually damaging your health. If you live in constant fear, whether from physical dangers in your environment or a threat you perceive, you can become incapacitated and stuck in an unhealthy and destructive cycle.

Fear is only useful when it prepares you to react to actual danger. Once you sense a potential danger, your body releases hormones that:

1. Slow or shut down functions not needed for survival (such as our digestive system)

2. Sharpen functions that might help us survive (such as eyesight). Our heart rate increases, and blood flows to muscles so we can run faster.

Your body also increases the flow of hormones to an area of the brain known as the amygdala to help you focus on the presenting danger and store it in our memory. This can be good and bad. If the perceived threat is warranted, you want to be alert to avoid it. But if the threat is the result of worry or your imagination, that intense focus can be damaging. Sustained focus on a fearful situation trains your body to remember the fear. Eventually you will shut down.

We’re not just talking about being chased by a lion in the jungle, we’re talking about real life situations. Here are some common fears:

• Fear of the future

• Fear of losing your job

• Fear of sickness and disease

• Fear of your children being harmed

• Fear of death

• Fear of not fulfilling your call

• Fear of losing your salvation

Do any of those strike a chord with you? What would you say is your biggest fear?

How long you’re afraid of something has more to do with how you react to the situation that the situation itself.

THE PHYSICAL IMPACT OF SUSTAINED FEAR

Living under constant threat has serious health consequences. 

Physical health.  Fear weakens our immune system and can cause cardiovascular damage, gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome, and decreased fertility.  It can lead to accelerated aging and even premature death.

Memory.  Fear can impair formation of long-term memories and cause damage to certain parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus. This can make it even more difficult to regulate fear and can leave a person anxious most of the time. To someone in chronic fear, the world looks scary and their memories confirm that.

Brain processing and reactivity.  Fear can interrupt processes in our brains that allow us to regulate emotions, read non-verbal cues and other information presented to us, reflect before acting, and act ethically. This impacts our thinking and decision-making in negative ways, leaving us susceptible to intense emotions and impulsive reactions. All of these effects can leave us unable to act appropriately.

Mental health.  Other consequences of long-term fear include fatigue, clinical depression, and PSTD.

WATCH TO MY MESSAGE ON THIS TOPIC. AUDIO VERSION HERE.

THE GOOD NEWS

It’s pretty clear, fear is not just a negative emotion, it has an effect on your body that can make you physically sick and cause long-term emotional damage. The key is to choose a different response than fear to scary situations. How you react to any given situation is your choice. Yes, something may legitimately be a threat, but you don’t have to react in fear.

Emotions usually run their course in your body’s chemistry in about 2 minutes. The reason they stick around is you keep thinking in patterns that cause the same hormones and chemicals to be released. If you can focus on something else, you will actually begin to feel different in about 2 minutes. I recommend focusing on a promise from God, or try to remember that Christ in your is greater than anything you might face.

Even if you don’t reach the desired result, you still have life forever in Christ because he’s conquered death. That might seem like an extreme place to go with most of your fears, but going there tends to disarm whatever it is you’re facing.

You tend to make better choices when you’re not afraid. You tend to make great choices when you’re aware of God’s love for you and you feel empowered by His spirit.

STUDY ON FEAR AND HORMONES

I’ll use this as an example of how you can change your focus which will change your emotions which will determine what kind of choices you make. This interesting study that verifies your body chemistry follows your focus. This makes me think of something Paul said, we’re transformed by the renewing of our minds. There is now science that verifies that statement.

Have you ever heard of a Power Pose? Imagine Wonder Woman or Superman.

Here’s the study…

Amy Cuddy, a researcher at Harvard University, studies body language and its impact on hormones. Cuddy and her team have classified different body positions as “high power” or “low power” poses. In general, the high power poses are open and relaxed while the low power poses are closed and guarded.

Cuddy and her research team studied the impact of high power and low power poses by conducting a research study on 42 students. (Original article available here.)

Here's how the study went down…

• First, a saliva sample was taken from each subject and their testosterone and cortisol levels were measured.

• Second, the subject was asked to sit in either a high power pose or a low power pose for two minutes.

• Third, a second sample of saliva was taken from each subject and their testosterone and cortisol levels were measured again.

When the researchers looked at the results, they were stunned by the impact that body language had on the hormones within the body. High power poses increased testosterone by 20 percent and decreased cortisol levels by 25 percent.

Testosterone is a hormone that causes you to feel empowered and confident. Cortisol is released in your body during times of stress and anxiety.

The numbers and science don’t lie, how you use your body changes its chemistry which has an effect on the kinds of choices you make.

HOW TO APPLY THIS TO REAL LIFE

Whether you strike a power pose or not, the point is you can change how you’re feeling in about 2 minutes. When you change how you feel, the kinds of choices you make will change as well.

Think about it, what kinds of choices do you make when you’re afraid? What kinds of choices do you make when you’re aware of God’s love for you and are empowered by his spirit in you.

You can choose to position yourself to be influenced by God’s power in you!!

GOD DOESN’T WANT YOU TO BE AFRAID OF ANYTHING

Why am I talking about choices and fear? Because Paul joins them together when he’s encouraging Timothy to not be afraid to proclaim the Gospel. Here are a couple more translations of this passage…

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

— 2 Timothy 1:7 NIV

“ God didn’t give us a cowardly spirit but a spirit of power, love, and good judgment.”

— 2 Timothy 1:7 GWT

“Sound mind” is translated as “self-discipline” and “good judgment.” The idea is this, fear is not from God, because he loves you he empowers you to make good decisions. In this article I wanted to give you a deeper understanding of what happens in your physical body around your capacity to make choices. We tend to read scripture without the personal responsibility lens and miss the power of scripture. Don’t just read it, do it!

FINAL POINT

If you find yourself afraid of a situation, whether real or imagined, you can position yourself before God to be empowered and conquer the fear. He designed your body to respond to your focus. Choose one of his promises in Christ, remember that Jesus conquered death for you and allow your body to change its chemistry and serve you better.

You don’t have top be a victim of your feelings and body chemistry, you can change it!

Try this, every morning for the next 7 days, after you shower and before you head out the door, stand for 2 minutes in a power pose and think about God’s spirit in you. Breathe smoothly and deeply, don’t force your breath, and see what happens.

And try this too. When you feel overwhelmed or afraid, strike a power pose, breathe smoothly and deeply, become aware of God’s spirit in you and the fact that his spirit is leading you into life and blessing, give it 2 minutes, then make the decision you’re facing.

I’d love to hear how this works for you in the comments below.

Send Away the Effects of Sin Through Prayer

If you’re like me, the importance of prayer in your life comes and goes. That may be surprising coming from a pastor, but I’d rather be honest with you than act like Super-Christian.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m always communing with God in my heart but specific, directed prayer comes and goes. I’d like to give you some profound, mystical reason why I flow in and out of directed prayer but I think I just get busy and don’t take the time to pray in detail. However, there are times where I do feel the leading of the Lord to pray in the spirit, or with specific words, over a specific matter.

Recently I felt the Lord give me some instruction on prayer. It was more what to think than what to pray. What to think while praying, to be more specific. It started with something James said, “the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

The first thing I did was look up “availeth.” I moved on to look up all the words in James’ statement. Here’s what I found…

For context, let’s look at James’ whole section on prayer. Some have called James’ letter the New Testament book of Proverbs, because there are sections where he teaches in short topics.

James 5:13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. NIV

FERVENT PRAYER

My first observation is that effectual and fervent are two aspects of the same word, meaning effective. In some of our churches, the presence of the word “fervent” insinuates passionate, loud or emotional prayer. Some folks get a little out of hand with their fervency and displays of emotion, you’ve seen them . It’s not wrong to display strong emotion in prayer, as long as it’s not mistaken for spiritualism.

Whipping yourself up into an emotional frenzy doesn’t make God want to answer your prayer more, it only makes you more excited about what you’re praying about. Some folks even get fired up when they pray, but don’t actually believe in their hearts what they’re praying.

It’s damaging to your heart to pray something with strong emotion but not really believe it. When you pray, but don’t actually have trust it will happen, you’re sending a subtle message to your heart that you really don’t believe what you’re saying. That opens up a whole can of issues. Too often, emotional experiences are mistaken for a true spiritual manifestation. The presence of endorphins has often been mistaken for the presence of God.

So pray passionately, but make sure you’re connected to God in your heart and you’re confident in His faithfulness as you pray.

TRANSLATIONS

Another observation about the second half of James 5:16 came after comparing translations, check these out.

• The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. NIV

• The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. NLT

• The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. ESV

• The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. Berean

• The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. NASB

• The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot. CEV

• The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect. GNT

• Prayers offered by those who have God's approval are effective. GWT

• The heartfelt supplication of a righteous man exerts a mighty influence. Weymouth

See more here: https://biblehub.com/james/5-16.htm

Like me, you’re probably used to comparing translations as you study the Bible, but I have to say, this is one of the most diverse translations I’ve run across. It’s interesting how so many people can translate a simple phrase in so many ways. I don’t think any of them are particularly right or wrong, I think they collectively paint a bigger picture.

The bigger picture is this, when righteous people pray, it’s powerful and effective. Which begs the question, who is righteous or what constitutes a righteous person?

We know that righteousness is by faith alone, and not of works. So anyone who has the righteousness of Christ can pray powerfully. Pretty simple. I might even add, the more you understand your identity in Christ, the more effectively you will pray, not because it’s more powerful but because you are more confident in God and will be more yielded to his corresponding influence.

RIGHTEOUS PERSON

Again, we know righteousness is given to us by God when we place our faith in Jesus. This particular word for righteous means “observing divine laws.”

What does that make you think of? There are two main ones I think of, love God and love people. So we could say, the prayer of a person who loves God and loves people is effective and powerful.

Do you want to pray effectively? Connect to God’s love for you and His love for others in you, then pray.

THEY WILL BE FORGIVEN

In the previous sentence James 5:15), James says that after a prayer is offered in faith, the LORD will heal the person and IF THEY HAVE SINNED, THEY WILL BE FORGIVEN.

Ok, let’s think this through. How are we forgiven? Through faith in the shed blood of Jesus, and that alone. We know that people aren’t forgiven because we’ve prayed for them. Any confusion is cleared up in the definition of forgiven.

Forgiven (aphiēmi) - leave, let go, sent away (the root word means “to separate")

To more accurately translate verse 15, we would say, when the righteous pray for people, their sins leave them. Or more specifically, the EFFECTS of their sins leave them.

Remember when Jesus gave his disciples the power to forgive sin? Given the accurate definition, he was actually giving them permission to send the effects of their sin away from them, only God can forgive sin.

This is what it looks like when Jesus sends away the effects of people’s sin…

Mark 1:29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

Her fever left her. When he prayed for her, the effects of sin and death left her. Sickness left her. This is the same concept as sins leaving us when we pray, otherwise known as forgiveness. When God forgives us, he sends our sins away INCLUDING the effects of those sins in our bodies. We may still have messes in our external lives to clean up, but in our mortal bodies, the death effect of sin is rendered ineffective.

The Apostle Paul wrote about this in his letter to the Romans.

Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

He goes on to discuss how it’s possible because Jesus is our sin offering and he adds instruction to be spiritually minded, for it is life and peace.

Jesus set this woman free from the law of sin and death. Sickness is the death effect of sin in our bodies. God doesn’t make us sick when we sin and the devil doesn’t gain the right/power to make us sick if we sin, death is just the fruit of sin.

STAY OUT OF SIN

Because Jesus condemned sin in his flesh, as the sin offering for the whole world, all who receive his spirit receive the effects of his victory. Death has no power over Jesus, the same is true for us. There is no sin in Jesus, there is no sin in our spirit, which is one with Jesus.

The obvious difference is that we still have physical bodies that can give into sin or more specifically, be out of harmony with God, which is what sin really is. But, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is giving life to our physical bodies.

The take away is that we can pray away the effects of sin, just like Jesus did.

Now…it’s not wise to continue in sin, thinking you can just pray away its effects afterward. When you stay in sin, it hardens your heart and begins to dull your senses to God’s influence in your life. A hardened heart has great difficulty allowing God’s spirit to be effectual. So…stay out of sin, it will rob your confidence in the righteousness that’s in you and hinder you from allowing his spirit to bring life to you.

GOD SEPARATED SIN

My last observation is found in the root word for forgive. The root word for forgiven means “to separate.” Remember when God promised that he removed our sins from us, as far as the east is from the west? He did that when he forgave us, which he did when Jesus came out of that grave and offered his blood in the Heavenly Holy of Holies.

It’s interesting how we have trouble merging doctrinal truth, like forgiveness, to poetic language, like “our sins being removed from us as far as the east is from the west.” Understanding the concept doctrinally and poetically make forgiveness come alive for us.

Through Christ’s shed blood, we’re forgiven and when we place our trust in Jesus as our righteousness, God separates us from our sin. Sin is no longer our root/nature. God no longer looks at us through the lens of sin or outward obedience, he looks at the new heart and sees an individual that is like him, righteous and holy. Because God removed your sin from you, there is nothing to be held against you. How will that change your prayer life?

His desire is that you experience the effects of your sin being removed from you, which is SOZO: complete salvation; healing, wholeness, soundness, deliverance, prosperity.

This is what we get to do for people, we get to help them be set free from the effects of their sin. We get to help them experience God’s forgiveness. As you pray for people, help them understand that they’re forgiven. Help them root their faith deeply in the effects of Christ’s blood rather than in their sin. Confidently and boldly pray for people, knowing your identity, setting them free from the law of sin and death!

Precious In His Sight

HOW TO END SELF-CONDEMNATION

Are you hard on yourself? That may be a good thing but it may be a bad thing. If you push yourself to be better in healthy ways, keep it up! But if you tend to compare yourself to others, or you feel like you’re not as far along in life as you’d like and you condemn yourself, stop it! I have good news for you! In this article, I’ll show you how to be free from self-judgment and condemnation.

SELF-CONDEMNATION

Condemnation means: a damnatory sentence, punishment

Condemnation is rightfully expected if someone is guilty of something. In our court system, we go to trial, evidence is examined, a verdict is made, and if it’s a guilty verdict, the punishment is passed down from the judge. That punishment is the condemnation.

Regarding our standing before God, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. In modern terms, there is no punishment for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Jesus was punished in our place. As the word says, he took the penalty for the breaking of the law in himself, “he who knew no sin became sin so we could become righteous.”

Praise God!! Thank you Jesus!! Can I get an Amen!!

Now, it would be nice if your inner man knew that. Meaning, it would be nice if you would stop punishing yourself for your mistakes. Jesus has already taken the penalty for your sin, it’s time to let it go. In fact, as you keep beating yourself up for it, you’re actually reinforcing its power in your life. When you hold your sin against yourself, you’re empowering those destructive behaviors. Why? Because the strength of sin is the law.

By no means should you continue in sin that grace may abound. You should expect God’s grace to transform your desires and attitudes, but you can stop punishing yourself for your mistakes. God isn’t holding them against you, you shouldn’t either.

Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24

PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT

Do you feel precious in God’s sight? If you said yes, how about the deepest, darkest parts of you…do you feel precious to God in the hidden man of your heart?

1 Peter 3:3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-- 4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

The deepest parts of your being are precious to God, who you really are is valuable to God, no matter what!! In the secret places of your heart, God is not holding your failures against you. So let the deep places be beautiful, you are free to allow his value for you to shape the most base aspects of your being.

When you judge yourself, do you judge based on your actions or on Jesus’ actions on your behalf?

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit 1 Peter 3:18

THE WAY FORWARD

Here’s a good strategy to employ if you are hard on yourself. This is mind renewal instruction, designed to show you how to let go of the past and live in your new creation identity, that is now holy and righteous.

Ephesians 4:21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. NLT

Keep in mind that you put on the new man from within. You are not tasked with seeking righteousness and holiness outwardly through ritual or obedience, it’s who you are. You already own the apparel, the robe of righteousness is in the closet of your heart, reach in and put it on. Put it on in your mind and feel it drape over you in your actions, attitudes and choices…to the glory of God!

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

If your heart is condemning you, if you want to end the cycle of self-condemnation that drives the emotions of repetitive sin, here’s what you do. Read this passage, then I’ll comment.

1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

I’ll sum up this passage in light of our pursuit to end self-condemnation. If your heart is condemning you, it’s because you’re not loving God and people. The only way to love God is to first experience his love for you, daily. You know his love for you by being rooted in the fact the Jesus laid down his life for you. Meditating on the willing sacrifice of Jesus should be very moving in your heart. If it isn’t, I want to encourage you to take some time to meditate on Jesus’ choice to lay down his life for you.

Put yourself in a heart posture before him where you expect to be moved by his act of love toward you. You may not see the Heavens split open, see angels and hear the audible voice of God, but you may feel a deep sense of thankfulness for him. You may also see his value for you as you ponder the obedience of Jesus upon the cross on your behalf.

This passage tells us that if we are rooted in the fact that Jesus laid down his life for us, we will love God and people. Here’s the secret, it will also cause you to love you.

You can love you because God loves you! In the deepest places of your heart, in the areas you keep hidden away from everyone, in the hidden man of the heart, you are precious in God’s sight. It’s time to stop judging yourself, it’s time to stop punishing yourself, and allow the hidden man of your heart to be free!!

Are You Heart-Sick from Judging God?

Have you ever prayed and felt like nothing happened? Me too. Have you ever stood on a promise from God and the exact opposite happened? Me too. Maybe you were praying for provision, wisdom, the right job, a spouse or a loved one in a life threatening illness. And maybe that spouse never came, you never got the job or the loved one died. When then?

When seeking understanding for such circumstances we have to first understand who God is and what he wants for us. To understand who God is we can look to all the names he gave us, for himself, throughout scripture. Check out this article for a list of God’s names.

To understand what he wants for us, in light of these seemingly unanswered prayers, we can look in three places.

1. The Garden in Eden before the mankind gave into the force of sin

2. Heaven

3. The life of Jesus

From those three places we can conclude that God’s ultimate will for us is to live with him, in perfection, free from pain and suffering. That’s the quality of life in the the garden, that’s our eternal state of existence in Heaven and that’s how Jesus lived in his earthly life. By “God’s ultimate will” I mean that’s what he wants for us above all else.

3 John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

If God wanted us to live in pain, suffering, illness and loss forever we’d see it in Heaven, but we know those hardships will not be part of our lives in eternity.

Where it gets confusing is why we are experiencing those things now. Either God has written them into his script for humankind’s history or they’re the result of our choices and actions. Either God created us to suffer a while before we live forever with him in bliss or he gave us this place and we messed it up, only to be made perfect again by God in spite of our sin and death.

When bad things happen, and you wonder why God would allow them to happen, be careful. Of course, God’s history with Israel and how he protected them for generations reveal the just and wrathful characteristics of God, we do not set that aside, but we put it in it’s proper place. Read my previous article for more on that. I’m addressing our personal circumstances and God’s involvement in them.

If you have ever visited the impoverished slums of Africa or India, or watched a loved one whither away, suffering from cancer, you have surely wondered where God was in such suffering. In moments like that, we must go back to the big three, Eden, Heaven and Jesus. Those are the places where God gets what he wants. Those are the 3 areas where we see God directly involved in creating the condition he desires for humans.

That leaves us with the poor quality of life so many experience after Eden and until Heaven. What’s going on? It’s an oversimplification but the answer is sin. Sin is what happened. Mankind introduced sin and death resulted. Death will continue to manifest until it’s finally put under the feet of Jesus.

BUT! We must not attribute death, in any form, to God. Even the “God ordained” death we see in the Bible must be understood as his response to mankind. Had mankind not rebelled, God would not have arbitrarily related to mankind through judgement and punishment. It’s well deserved on our part.

Earlier I warned you to be careful when you ask why bad things happen. It’s not a bad question, but how you answer could lead you where you don’t want to go. When inject God into tragedy, pain, loss and suffering, we at risk of accusing him of injustice. We are at risk of accusing him of being unkind, we are putting him on trial for our circumstances, as if he’s designed our personal pain. The result is loss of hope.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

I think too many Jesus followers are heart-sick. The heart is where we believe (it’s with the heart we believe unto righteousness.) The heart affects everything we do, every issue of life flows from our hearts. God gives us a new heart when he say yes to Jesus. This new heart exists where soul meets spirit and it knows God’s voice. However, if we judge God, place blame on him for our pain and loss, we will actually harden our hearts to him. If we hold him accountable for our suffering we will distance ourselves from him and close ourselves off to his influence.

The very thing we need, God’s influence in our lives, will become the very thing we resist, because we have falsely accused him of the pain and loss in our lives. I’ll say this because I know someone is thinking about suffering, the only God endorsed suffering is any persecution you may experience as a result of proclaiming the Gospel, but pain and loss through tragedy are not in his will for you.

So What Do We Do?

Remember his name, remember Heaven awaits and remember Jesus is with/in you. To remember his name is to remember his character, the attributes of his name. Set your mind on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. Make the kind of life you have in Heaven alive in your heart in the midst of your temporary circumstance. Acknowledge God in the deepest parts of your heart where pain may reside and allow his spirit to kindle joy, joy like there is in Heaven. Joy like the issue is truly temporary and has no power over you. Rejoice that you have peace with God. Reach for the peace of Heaven within and allow that to override any temporal emotion. Acknowledge God and he WILL direct your paths.

Does God Punish Sin Now?

It's interesting we still have the same issues in Christianity today that Paul faced. You tell people they're free from the judgment of their sin in Christ and they’ll ask, "does that mean people can just sin and get away with it?" Well, certain people ask that. Those same kinds of people asked the Apostle Paul that on a regular basis.

He always answered NO!

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Romans 6:15-18

I think the confusion comes in for some due to the lack of understanding the difference between mercy and grace. Mercy is when you’re not punished for something you’re guilty of. Grace is an actual power in your heart from God. Mercy looks at your guilt and says, “I choose not to treat you in accordance with your guilt.” Grace says, “you don’t have to give in anymore.”

Mercy is what you need after you sin, grace is what you need before you sin. God has mercy on you after you sin but he supplies grace to you so you don’t have to give in to sin.

Mercy is what we have all received as a result of Jesus being judged and punished for our sin. Grace is now available to live in because we have been forgiven in the sacrifice of Christ.

So when one preaches the freedom from punishment of judgment and is then accused of telling people sin is no big deal, the accuser simply doesn’t understand the nature of sacrifice and atonement.

Consider this passage before we discuss atonement.

1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

It’s a curious way to give instruction, “don’t sin, but if you do...”

That almost sounds like a license to sin, doesn’t it? Or maybe is just feels a bit dangerous to tell people that. After all, if we free people from God’s punishment of their sin, they’ll just keep sinning, right? Well, that’s what the person that doesn’t understand atonement and transformation thinks.

Just like the Yom Kippur sacrifice was for the entire nation of Israel, so is Christ, but for the whole world. So what does atoning sacrifice mean?

What Is Atonement?

In 1 John, some translations say “atoning sacrifice” and some say “propitiation.” They both describe the sacrifice. Atonement simply means exchange. Propitiation means to satisfy wrath/anger. Because God was angry toward mankind’s sin, he provided a substitution. Instead of judging our sins in us, he judged and punished them in Jesus.

Most Jesus followers agree to this idea, but many will argue over the application. Most Christians will say, oh yes, Jesus was judged for my sin. But if you say God is no longer judging people’s sin because they were judged in Jesus, many will say, “now wait a minute, are you saying people can just sin and get away with it.”

That tells me that people believe Jesus was our atoning sacrifice but they don’t fully understand what that means. It means this; God is not judging sin because he judged it in Jesus, for the WHOLE WORLD!!!

Because people will ask, No, that doesn’t mean everyone is saved, born again or going to Heaven, people still need to place their trust in that sacrifice to participate in the exchange of death for eternal life.

What Does the Bible Say About Atonement?

John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

1 Corinthians 5:7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Hebrews 2:9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Hebrews 7:27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

Romans 5:9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

How Do We Apply Atonement Today?

This is a major problem in the body of Christ, we understand information but don’t know how to function within it. The good news should be this;

You’re a sinner, you deserve to be punished for you sins and you’re not good enough to gain eternal life. God knows that so he became a human to destroy the power of sin and death over all humans, as Christ, for all humans.

Christ lived a perfect life, which qualified him to be the perfect sacrifice, for all humans. On the cross, all the wrath of God toward mankind was poured into Jesus, he literally became sin, he was cursed for all of mankind’s sins. He paid for all sin on the cross, for all humans.

Then, he passed into the grave to destroy the ultimate effects of sin, which is death. So he paid for sin then he broke the power of it’s effects.

As a human, Jesus went into death’s domain, and broke it’s power. His faith was stronger than death. Because he’s the perfect sacrifice, you can place your faith in him, then his judgement and punishment are effective for you. In him you will never be punished for your sin, he already was, and in him you’ll never taste death. Your temporary body will die but you go to God, not the grave.

Until you leave your body, you live in this life with God, forgiven in Christ. Even if you sin!!! Because of the nature of the sacrifice of Christ and how it effects the believer. The believer is made new and is forever forgiven because the sacrifice already accomplished everything regarding our sin.

It’s unfair but it’s the truth. It’s scandalous but it’s what God did in Christ. Will people misuse and abuse the freedom they have in Christ? Of course they will, but only those who don’t know the transforming power of grace.

If you’re worried that people will still sin if you tell them they’re free from the judgment of that sin, you don’t understand sacrifice and you aren’t confident in grace.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 3:21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in h Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, i through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Conclusion

God is not repaying / judging / punishing / taking vengeance upon sin with wrecked cars, broken bones, financial hardship, hurricanes, tsunamis or cancer.

God tried, judged and punished each and every sin in Jesus on the cross. IT IS FINISHED. Any wrath the people will experience in the final judgment is for unbelief, not for sin. Meaning this, at the Resurrection, when we’re all before Jesus, believers transition into our eternal reward and unbelievers are cast into the Lake of Fire. The distinction is based on whether you’ve placed your faith in Christ, not on sin.

If you hear that and then wonder if that's implying that people can sin and not experience consequences, it's time to understand the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ better.

If you hear someone say there's freedom from the judgment of sin in Christ and your mind goes toward people getting away with sin, I have to wonder what's in your heart. Are you struggling with sin? Is the only thing that keeps you out of sin the fear of the wrath of God?

I have good news for you, there's a thing called grace that you can live in. Grace isn't God sweeping your sin under the rug, it's an actual power that transforms your heart so you no longer desire sin.

Let's understand and preach the Gospel people, the world needs to hear the truth about God rather than the same old Pharisaical musings from people who don't fully understand the sacrifice of Christ and what grace actually does.

How to Forgive Others

There are two main sources of pain and suffering; loss and offense.

Loss is unfortunately part of this world. The world is not in the condition God created it to exist in and it’s not yet what it will be. One day God will restore all things and we’ll transition into what we know of as Heaven. Until then, we will all suffer some kinds of loss. We do have God’s promise of peace and provision in the midst of loss but it will come.

The other source of pain is offense. Offense comes when we attach significance to other’s actions. Offense is a tool of the enemy to keep us isolated but we’re also pretty good and being offended without the enemy’s help. Offense rests within the heart like a splinter. It’s a nagging pain that installs a filter. When we’re offended we look through it as a lens to the world. It skews every relationship and circumstance once the offense takes root in our heart.

BUT, the offense only has power in your life to the degree you attach significance to it. Like a splinter, it’s irritating and painful and will not heal until you get it out. But when you get the splinter out, the area can heal.

Here’s the simple process to remove an offense and allow that area of the heart to heal:

1. Acknowledge the incident or source of offense without judging the source

2. Affirm your identity in Christ in that area

3. Forgive the offender

4. Pray for the offender

Acknowledge the Source

Acknowledge that you’re hurting as a result of the offense. Often times we pretend to be strong or unaffected but if we’d be honest, our feelings may be hurt or even worse, our identity may have been affected by the offense. Let’s called your offender John. You most likely don’t know why John did what he did. The truth is, it wouldn’t even matter if you did know, the offense remains. Your choice to make is to release John from your judgement. You don’t have to frame up an opinion about John and relate to him from that opinion. You don’t have to get others to see John through your offense. You don’t have to live in John’s head when you think about the offense. You can admit what he did but you can also make a decision to not be affected by his actions. You do that by not identifying with the offense, it’s not yours, it’s his issue, it’s between him and God.

Affirm Identity

After you acknowledge the offense and you’re willing to move away from its effects, acknowledge who you are in Christ. This is where knowing God’s promises are helpful. You may need to create a list of identity passages and/or promises in the area of the offense.

That may look something like this…

I am the righteousness of God in Christ, I am God’s child and he meets all my needs according to his character. I am protected and provided for in him. Because I am in Christ, all of his promises are available to me. I do not have to hold on to this pain because Jesus took all of my pain and offense on the cross. Jesus took all the effects of my sin and any sin toward me in himself on the cross. I choose to release the effects of sin toward me. Jesus, you became this and paid for it, I let it go.

Let It Go

Forgiveness is easy when you know you’re forgiven but it’s hard when you're focused on yourself. Forgiveness can be as easy as acknowledging the depth of sin God has forgiven you of. But if there’s pain from an offense, you may not be as willing to let go of the pain. Forgiveness simply means “to send away” or “let it go.”

Here’s what you do; remember that Jesus died for you when you didn’t deserve it and become aware that Jesus did the same for John. Ask yourself, “do I believe Jesus forgave John?” Honestly ask yourself this question and listen to your own heart for the answer. This is the hinge, the last step, see and feel John as forgiven by Jesus.

This does not mean what they did was ok, it doesn’t mean they’re getting away with it, it means that you’re seeing their sin the same way as yours, forgiven in Jesus. See it until you feel it. See it until you’re happy for John that he’s forgiven in Jesus.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

— Ephesians 4:32

Pray for John

John lied to me and stole from me but I don’t know why. John would have done that to anyone, it doesn’t have anything to do with me. I don’t have to make an assessment of the kind of person John is but I do acknowledge what John did. If I have the chance I will tell John and give him the opportunity to apologize. But whether or not he apologizes and makes it right, I am choosing to not let this define me, I am choosing to not respond in anger and bitterness, I am choosing to feel about myself what God feels about me.

When I think about this event, I will remind myself that Jesus took my offenses, he took the punishment for my sin AND the punishment for John’s sin. I am forgiven in Jesus and John is forgiven in Jesus. I choose to let go of this offense and I choose to release how I feel about John and what he did to me. I choose to let Jesus be John’s Lord.

From here forward, when I feel pain from this offense, I will feel forgiven by God AND I will send away the emotions of judgement and unforgiveness toward John.

I choose to pray for John. Father, I thank you that you love John, I know that you sent Jesus into this earth to doe for John and John is forgiven in you. Because you have forgiven John, I forgive John. I thank you that you are leading John into life and truth and he knows who he is in you. (continue prayer if so led)

This is not a magical formula, this is simply a method that helps you release the need to judge and punish John because you remind yourself that Jesus was judged and punished for John’s offense. Vengeance is of the Lord and he took out his vengeance for John’s sin on Jesus. The more you understand what Jesus did for you and John, the more you can let go of the pain.

Discussion Questions

1. Is John’s sin worse than yours? The only answer is no.

2. Did Jesus forgive you? Did Jesus forgive John?

3. Who are you in Christ in the area of the offense/injustice?
   
   

9 Lessons from Jesus About Prayer

In Matthew 6, Jesus gives us several lessons about prayer. What to do, what not to do, the attitude we should have and how to prioritize. He also says prayer personal by describing God as our Father, that he values us and that he’ll provide for us because we’re valuable. After Jesus’ discourse on prayer, he concludes with a simple yet profound statement… “so don’t worry.” Here are 9 take away’s from Matthew 6.

1. It’s personal and intimate

2. God is your Father

3. Your Father already knows what you need

4. You’re already forgiven

5. Don’t be self-righteous

6. Put God first in your finances

7. You are valuable to God

8. God is a provider

9. So don’t worry

IT’S PERSONAL AND INTIMATE

But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret…

Jesus says to pray to God in private. The context is our personal prayer life. He wants you to spend intimate time with God. But it’s not about the time, or even the act itself, it’s about the heart of why you pray. Prayer is not a public display, it’s a personal and intimate interaction between you and your Father. It’s a conversation.

Prayer is not about saying the right words or staying in the prayer closet for a long period of time, it’s an honest and intimate bearing of your heart to your creator. He knows what’s in your heart and the more honest you are with him and yourself, the more receptive you will be to his influence.

GOD IS YOUR FATHER

Pray, then, in this way: “Our Father”…

Jesus frames our position before God as a personal relationship. This is the main reason the legalistic “Word Police” wanted to kill Jesus, he said God was his Father. The Pharisees and lawyers thought it was blasphemous to talk about God in the context of a personal relationship. Jesus refers to God as Father at least 9 times while teaching his disciples about prayer.

Where do you stand when you pray? Are you standing next to God, at his right hand, as a son? Are you praying about your issue with God or to God? The reality is, God is standing beside you looking at your problem. He’s not on the other side of your problem, waiting for you to say or do thing right thing to move.

Understanding your relationship with God, in Christ before you utter one word in prayer can eliminate a lot of the worrying we do in prayer.

GOD ALREADY KNOWS WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE YOU ASK

your Father knows what you need before you ask Him…

Jesus says this twice, God already knows what you need. Once when he addressed the words being said and again later when he’s addressing praying for your needs to be met. It’s easy for us to believe that God already knows what we need before we ask, but it’s more challenging to believe that he’s already provided a solution before we even ask.

Prayer is like lifting a veil. Prayer is when we look to God for clarity. Jesus says to approach God in relationship, he already knows what you need, and he’ll meet those needs because you are valuable to him. Maybe prayer is more about receiving wisdom, direction and clarity from him than it is telling God what we need and what he needs to do to give us what we want.

I promise you, no matter how great of a plan you develop for God to follow, his plans are much better than yours. The question is this, do you believe God wants to meet your needs and that he does it with good plans only. I’m reminded that James says the good things come from God.

YOU’RE ALREADY FORGIVEN

This one’s a bit more tricky to discern. Let’s look at two passages to understand the perspective we can use to understand Jesus teaching on forgiveness in the middle of his instruction on prayer.

JESUS in Matthew 6:15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

PAUL in Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

PAUL in Colossians 3:13 Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

Which is it, forgive people so God will forgive you OR because God has forgiven you, forgive others?

Does Paul contradict Jesus?

No!

The way forgiveness comes changed after the cross. Jesus is the sin offering for the whole world, he had not yet been offered when he was teaching. It’s not that Jesus was wrong, forgiveness in him was not yet available because he had not yet died. It’s really that simple. Because Jesus has died, we are already forgiven.

DON’T BE SELF-RIGHTEOUS

When Jesus teaches about fasting, the heart of the matter is self-righteousness. He’s saying, don't put on public display those things you’re “doing for God.” Testimonies are great but they can turn into personal glory. Any godly behavior you engage in should be done as service to the Lord rather than something you broadcast publicly for selfish reasons.

PUT GOD FIRST IN YOUR FINANCES

where your treasure is, there your heart will be…

One of the most precious take-aways from Matthew 6 is God’s heart toward us. He values us and doesn’t want us to worry. We don’t have to worry about our needs being met because he promises to meet those needs; specifically food, shelter and clothing. If we’re honest, those are things we pray about all the time. We also pray about direction, other people and life’s circumstances but even in most of those there’s a tie back to God’s promise to meet our basic needs.

Because God values us, and because he gives us a solution to have our needs met, we don’t have to worry about saving up a bunch of money or depending on money to meet all our needs. The deceitfulness of riches is one of the main culprits that keeps the word from bearing fruit in our heart. (Mark 4)

YOU ARE VALUABLE TO GOD

Are you not worth much more than they?

God directly ties your needs being met to his value for you. If you take Jesus at face value, he’s saying that you’re more valuable than flowers and birds to God, of course he’ll take care of you.

Often times we feel that God is distant and uninvolved, that he doesn’t care about our personal lives. But Jesus paints a much different picture of God. He portrays God as emotionally involved with you, aware of your needs and willing to provide for you.

This is a fundamental shift that needs to made in the hearts and minds of Jesus followers. God is not putting us through trials and tribulations to see if we’ll remain faithful. And then bless us based on our faithfulness. No! He’s a good Father, who cares for you, who loves and values you, and wants to take care of you.

GOD WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS

seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you…

When Jesus stepped into his public ministry, he taught people to repent for the kingdom was at hand. You don’t have to go looking for the kingdom, Jesus brought it to us. Also, you can not seek righteousness because it’s impossible for you to attain. Righteousness is by faith in Jesus.

So to seek righteousness and his kingdom are more of a mindset, it’s a call to repentance. We must shift our thinking, set our minds on things above. Jesus is not talking about your performance. No amount of effort can be good enough to qualify for your needs to be met. Since we have been translated into his kingdom and he’s given us the free gift of righteousness, we can rest in him and allow him to provide for us. In fact, as we’re aware of our place in his kingdom, in him and our right standing before him, everything we need will simple be added to us, much like an apple is added to an apple tree.

SO DON’T WORRY

who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

Worry is not prayer. Worry hinders the Word of God in your heart. Worry is the enemy of faith.

So don’t worry! Because God is your Father, and because he values you, and because he has good plans for you, you don’t have to worry. because God will provide for you. So here’s the question, did God really say that? Did he mean it? Will he really meet all your needs according to his riches in glory? That, I’ll leave for you to decide.

Why Didn't Jesus Stone Adulterers to Death?

Here’s the progression of thought I’m addressing in this article:

1. Leviticus 20:10 requires death for adultery.

2. Jesus defined adultery as lust in your heart toward another woman rather than actual act of adultery. He raised the standard of the law from actions, to the intention of the heart. See Matthew 5:27-30

3. When Jesus encountered an adulterers, he didn’t kill them. John 8:3-11 and John 4

4. Why?

We have more than one historical record of Jesus encountering adulterers, neither time does he kill them, even though the Law requires it, why? Does Jesus contradict himself? Do the teachings of Jesus not apply to us? Should we throw out what he says because we have a New Covenant?

It’s none of that. Jesus honored the standard of the Law yet treated people in the context of love and grace. Jesus is the Word of God in action. He is God in the flesh. He is the embodiment of the righteous standard of God. Yet when he encountered a sin that required death, he lifted off every ounce of guilt, removed condemnation, forgave the person and gave them another chance.

Why?

Because Jesus knew something, he knew what he was about to fulfill on their behalf. Something that would forever change the way God interacts with people. This new way honors the standard and wisdom of the Law but it allowed God to relate to people outside of the Law.

Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

RELATIONSHIP VS LAW

Jesus was treating people based on the new standard he came to enact. He would be cursed for them and redeemed them. Jesus didn’t curse, punish or condemn people for their sin because he knew that he would take all that for them, everyone, all humans, everywhere, for all sins.

Jesus filtered his treatment of sinners he encountered through himself, who is the sacrifice for that sin. He alone had the authority to do so. He first showed us what it looked like so we would know how to live and minister in the truth of his redeeming sacrifice.

So, no, we don’t throw out or twist Jesus’ teachings to make them fit an agenda or to tickle people’s ears. We properly contextualize Jesus’ teachings and show just how merciful God through how Jesus treated people caught in the very act of something that deserves death. By the way, he’s still treating people this way.

Side note: We should still have civil law and a judicial system for the protection of society, but as far as our acceptance with God is concerned, he’s not looking at us through the lens of the Law. Sin isn’t ok, it’s just not the standard through which our relationship with him is based on.

This also applies to other teachings, like; God won’t forgive you if you don’t forgive others, sell everything you own to inherit the kingdom and be more righteous that the Pharisees. Jesus honors the Law in holding up that standard, but he displays God’s new legal system by forgiving and healing people trapped in sin.

If you truly grasp the gravity of Jesus’ display of grace and love, you gain a deeper appreciation for freedom. Freedom actually breeds more personal responsibility. Freedom requires more discipline. Freedom doesn’t blame anyone else for failure. Freedom embraces the position God has placed us in and responds with and overwhelming desire to walk in righteousness, peace and joy, displaying the holiness of the indwelling spirit of God.

Your task is this, help people understand how Jesus was cursed and died for their sin and God is not angry with them when they fail. God is not waiting for you to miss it so he can execute judgment. In fact, God is pursuing you to set you free from the guilt and condemnation of sin so you can live in the freedom he’s given you by grace through faith.

I want you to be so confident of your acceptance with God that you never again question if God will reject you for your failures. I want you to be so appreciative of what Christ did that you tell others about what he did, and how he can help them shed the guilt and shame.

The church has spent too much time heaping guilt and shame onto people rather than helped them take those loads off and see the mercy of God.

God is still relating to people the way Jesus did, setting us free from condemnation and giving us the grace to live free from the lure of sin. Tell somebody!

Our Perspective Often Undermines God's Goodness

The way you see it isn’t necessarily how it really is, it’s just how you see it.

Truer words could not have been spoken when it comes to understanding how God operates in our lives. Too many Jesus followers base their beliefs about God on their circumstances rather on who God says he is. Here’s the bottom line, Jesus is a crystal clear image of who God is. Why then do we exalt God’s adapting to mankind’s failure over the clear picture of God’s intentions toward mankind through Christ? I don’t know either.

Well, that’s not true, I really do know. It’s because well meaning people want to honor the “whole counsel of the word” and not leave out the parts about God killing the entire planet except one family, God telling Aaron to kill thousands of people, and of course Job, don’t forget about him when you’re developing your theology about God taking things away from people.

All those things happened, God did that. However, those actions were before the cross, when God was still holding sins against people and executing judgment real time. Except for Job, all the judgment displayed by God before the cross was in response to sin. Job eventually admitted he was wrong about God, but that’s for another time.

Now, under the New Covenant, Jesus is the sin offering for the entire world, past present and future. That doesn’t mean you can get away with sin, it means that God has already judged them in Jesus, never to be judged again.

PERSPECTIVE

When we read the Bible, we have to keep in mind that we’re on this side of the cross, under a new and better covenant, one based on faith rather than obedience. One that’s upheld by the faithfulness of Jesus rather than our own faithfulness. So when we read books in the Bible, like James, we have to put on our New Covenant filter.

Perspective is everything, here’s an example…

James 1:9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

This passage can be read from 2 different perspectives:

1. The rich man should rejoice and remain faithful when God puts him through a trial and he loses his wealth because he’ll gain a crown of life after the trial if he rejoices and remains faithful in the midst of the trial.

2. If you’re rich and lose everything, don’t worry about it because all that stuff is temporary. Remain faithful toward God because he’s going to lead you into life no matter what happens.

Do you see the difference? One attributes the trial to God, the other simply believes that no matter what, God will lead you into life because you love him.

By the way, did you catch the point about the crown? Who is the crown of life promised to? Those who love God. Interesting huh? It doesn’t say the crown of life is promised to those who pass the test or endure the trial.

Perspective…

Let me add a little more to the scenario. Back up a little bit to James 1:2-3.

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Then take a look at James 1:13

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

In verse 2 we’re instructed to count it all joy when we fall into temptations but verse 13 instructs us to never say they’re from God. In context, the example James chooses to give as the kind of temptation/trial he’s enduring is losing what you have. Of course James is writing to the early church who was facing all kinds of persecution and hardship so they would have understood his meaning from their current experiences, but the plain example he gives us is loss.

Side Note: The word for “temptation” in verse 2 is the same Greek word in verse 13, it means trial, experiment or test. Some translations translate the word as “trial” in verse 2. Because of this people have developed a doctrine that God won’t tempt you but he’ll initiate trials of hardship so you’ll learn patience. That can’t be true though because he clearly uses the same word in verse 13 and says “don’t say it’s from God.” The testing God does in inwardly, by his spirit, with his word to discipline, instruct and determine if you’re ready.

So you’re left with a choice between two perspectives, you can see trials one of two ways, either from God or not from God. One recognizes that they come, yet God will lead you to life through them, the other concludes the trial is from God for your benefit. Yes, you can certainly learn from trials/temptations, but I’m with James on this one, DON’T SAY THEY’RE FROM GOD!

Let’s read on in James…

James 1:16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

James goes out of his way to state that only the good things are from God, and that won’t change. This a literary device to expand on his previous point. He states how to see trials, then he goes even further to state that only good things come from God, he covers how to see both sides of the “trial” equation. Do you see it?

JAMES’ AUDIENCE

He’s writing to an early church that is relating to God in a whole new way, a way they’ve never known. They’re no longer the children of Israel wandering in the desert subject to God’s judgment for their performance.

James’ letter is a bold correction of their mindset. James is correcting their erroneous view of God and telling them to quit blaming God for their problems. It’s sad to me that James is often used to cause Christians to accept their hardships through attributing them to God when his intention is the EXACT OPPOSITE. James is setting the record straight, quit blaming your trials and loss on God, only the good things come from him!

Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Discussion Questions

1. Which perspective do you see"?

2. What are you blaming on God that he’s not actually doing in your life?

3. When you see that only good things come from God, how will that change how you see your circumstances?