Tuesday, May 26, 2009

What is Righteousness

What is righteousness? That question has baffled scholars and intellectuals for decades. Some men came up with many religious exercises so that they could become righteous according to their standards. Others clung to one verse in the Bible that they took out of context. People want to jump all over Romans 3:10 and say, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” But you have to understand this in context. In Romans 3:9 Paul is talking about Jews and Greeks that are under sin. After this passage, in Romans 3:19, he talks about these people being under the law. So then, those that are just under the law are not righteous. What we do see though, is a man who was under that law, was counted as righteous. James 2:23 says, “‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God.” So then, even though Abraham was under the law, he believed God, and because he believed God, God treated him like he was righteous, even though he wasn’t.

Now, to fully understand what this means, we need to define righteous. Righteousness is defined as without guilt or sin. We could also define it as right standing with God. So even though Abraham was under the law, and was not able to obtain this righteousness, because he believed God, God treated him like he was righteous.

The good news for us is that we have a NEW covenant established upon BETTER promises. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” So, Jesus never sinned, right? He never did anything to deserve that sin being laid upon Him. But he took that sin on Him, He became sin, so that we, who didn’t do anything to become righteous, could then become righteous. So, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, God is able to treat us as if we have never sinned. That is why the Bible tells us to come boldly to the throne of Grace that we might obtain mercy and find that grace to help us in the time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) You see, the only way we are able to come to that Throne is because in God’s eyes, the second we ask for forgiveness, it’s like we never sinned. It’s like we are back in the Garden of Eden, and we can have the same relationship with Almighty God that Adam had before the fall.

How awesome is that. To be able to just sit down, and talk with the Creator of the universe. God wants to bring each and every one of us into that relationship with Him. He wants to treat every one of us like we have never sinned. But He can’t, unless you let Him. If you have never said, God, I need You in my life. I want to go to heaven. I want to have a relationship with You, or maybe you have made that commitment, and have fallen away from it, but now you want to get back to that right standing with Him, just pray this prayer. Say, “God, I know that I have made mistakes. You said that we all have sinned, and fallen short of Your glory. I am sorry for the things I have done. I want to have a relationship with you. I want you to be my Father. I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to the earth. I believe He lived a life without sin, and then died. Three days later, He rose from the dead. Come into my heart Jesus. Make me a new creation. Thank you for washing my sin away, and bringing me into a relationship with you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer, you are in the family. I want to congratulate you on making the best decision you ever could have made. I am so happy that you want to know God, instead of knowing about Him. Now, to grow in this, there are a few things that must happen. Number 1, find a good church. If you live in the Hartford area, I know of a great one. Number 2, get a Bible, and spend time reading it every day. Number 3, talk to God. Talk to Jesus. But listen too. It may be a little hard at first, but the more you spend time with Him, the more you can hear His voice, and it becomes familiar to you. If you prayed this prayer tonight, I would love to hear from you. Either send me a message on Facebook, or leave a comment here. Let me know anything that I can do to help you grow closer with the Lord.

Love all of you guys. Be blessed, and rejoice, we are in right standing with the Father.

Friday, May 8, 2009

The David Principle

Tonight, I want to share with you a principle that I am just uncovering, but I believe that this principle is one of the most important to Christians today. Jesse Duplantis calls it, “The David Principle”. Call me biased, or whatever, but I like the name. So, the David Principle is something very simple, but it was what allowed David to live his whole life blessed, and prosper in everything that he did.

This principle is laid out for us in 2 Samuel 24:22-24. Now, some background here, David had sinned, and was going to buy an altar from Araunah the Jebusite, so he could make a sacrifice to God. Verse 22, “Now Araunah said to David, ‘Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.’ And Araunah said to the king, ‘May the LORD your God accept you.’”

Stop right there. Most of you are thinking that this is a pretty sweet deal for David. I know I did. Most Christians wouldn’t think twice of taking this and offering it to God. But look, David wasn’t like that. He responded immediately, meaning he didn’t have to think about what his response was going to be, because he had purposed this in his heart. Verse 24, “Then the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you FOR A PRICE; NOR WILL I OFFER BURNT OFFERINGS TO THE LORD MY GOD WITH THAT WHICH COSTS ME NOTHING.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” (Emphasis mine.)

So, you see, David makes it very clear what he thought. He said that he would not offer anything to God which costs him nothing. You see, that is where we miss it today. We are so busy, that we give God the extra. The leftovers. I’m talking everything here, not just money. That isn’t God’s way. Look at Jesus. You don’t think it cost God something to send His Son to the earth, watch Him live a sinless life, and then become sin on the cross, so that you and I could have eternal life? That was the most precious gift ever given. And look at the return He got on that gift. Sowing and reaping. God sowed Christ, and He reaped Christians.

Look at Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. God wasn’t pleased with Cain’s offering, but he was with Abel’s. Now some people have preached it was because Cain didn’t bring an animal to be sacrificed, and I am going to tell you that it isn’t true. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel brought a more excellent sacrifice to God by faith. You see, Abel gave God something that cost him. He brought the firstborn of his flocks. Those were widely considered to be the best animals of the flocks. He brought God the first, and believed God for the rest. Cain, on the other hand, just brought some of his harvest in. He didn’t bring his first fruits, or his best offering, in faith, otherwise, God would have received it!

So then, the reason that this principle is so important to the body of Christ, is that this David Principle will allow us to walk out our God given destiny. The widow woman we see in Mark 12:41-44 is a perfect example of this. You see, she threw in all of what she had. You think that cost her something? I am willing to bet you this, (and I don’t have chapter and verse on this, but it very clearly follows biblical principles regarding prosperity), but I believe this woman became exceedingly wealthy. Why do I believe that? She followed the David Principle. What she gave cost her something. And it worked so well for David, that he was able to stockpile enough goods for Solomon to build the one of the most glorious, man-made objects created. That is, the Temple. God is not a respecter of persons, the Bible says. What He will do for someone else, He will do for you. She followed this principle, and gave something to God that most definitely cost her everything she had. There is no doubt in my mind that she was exceedingly rich after this.

So, as I close, let’s see how the David Principle is applicable in our lives today. Look at Philippians 4:15-19. To sum it up, Paul thanked the church at Philippi for sharing with him in giving and receiving, or becoming partnered to his ministry. Because of that, verse 19 stands out. It says, “And my God shall supply all you need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” So then, we see that by giving of ourselves, it causes God to liberally supply, the Amplified says, our every need, according to His riches in glory. You think it cost these people to send Paul aid once and again while he was in Thessalonica? Think of how slow news traveled back then. They must have sent him a whole bunch of money, over a long period of time, and it came back to them and blessed them.

So, we as believers need to purpose that we will follow the David Principle. Vow to God that you will never give Him something that costs you nothing. Follow this principle, and you will live outside of financial hardships. When crises come at you, like this “recession” everyone is afraid of, you just stand on the Word. You have a covenant. If you follow the David Principle, and refuse to give God something that cost you nothing, even if that is the easy thing to do, you will live above this recession. Case in point. A few weeks ago, I was believing God for more work. I was working one job, 20 hours a week, but I was faithful to the job, and with my money. I tithed, I gave. A week after that job ended, I was hired at CVS. Four days after that, Wal-Mart hired me. Home Depot wanted me too, but I had to go to school as well. Now, I am working more than could imagine, but I am not toiling!

So, what I am saying is this. Follow the David Principle. Give God your best, in everything. Give Him the first fruits of your time, money, etc. You do your part, and God will do His!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Redeemed From Toil!

The Bible tells us that, “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22) First of all, we must define what rich is. People want to put a number amount on it, and say, “Well, a million dollars is rich. People shouldn’t have that much.” Well, it isn’t enough if you’re two million dollars in debt. So then, we must define what rich is. Not according to our definitions, but according to God’s. The first thing to do when we define rich, is realize that “rich” isn’t a dirty four letter word. No, the word rich is a Bible word. It says that, “Abraham became exceedingly rich, in silver, livestock, and in gold.” Those are material things. Isaac was the same way. So was Job. Jesus tells us that He came so that we could have life abundantly. In the Amplified Bible, it actually defines the word abundant as, to the full, till it overflows. Jesus didn’t limit it to just spiritual abundance. No, He came that we might abound in every area of life. He wasn’t specifying, so don’t go adding words to the Bible to make it fit in your religious, Babylonian mindset, cause that way of thinking is wrong. So then, we are to abound in all of our life.

So, looking at the Bible, we see that God defines rich in many ways. There is financial riches, but if you are sick, you are still poor. If you have bad relationships, you are still poor. You can have money in the bank, and a sick body, and all you are is a sick, poor man who’s got some money. You can have money in the bank, a healed body, and bad relationships, and all you are is a healthy, poor man, with money in the bank and bad relationships. So, God wants us to be rich in all areas of life. You need to change what the word “Rich” means in your mind. You need to equate rich with whole. So, every time I say rich, you say whole. Every time I say whole, you say rich, until you see those two terms as synonymous.

So then, back to Proverbs. The tenth chapter, and twenty-second verse, in the Amplified Bible, we see something very interesting. “The blessing of the Lord--it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it].” Toiling does not increase the blessing. One translation reads he adds no sorrow, sweat, toil, or hard labor to it. That’s powerful right there. You see, you’re job is to be His vehicle on the earth, to bless others. You’re job is to follow the plan established by God in the Garden of Eden. That is, to dress and keep what the LORD has given you. (if you want some background on this, look at my blog on “The Blessing”) Now, not only is our job to take care of it, or dress and keep what He has given us, our job is to expand the Garden of Eden around us. Now, one of the things that we must overcome is this world’s mentality on how to survive in life. Their idea is that you have to beat your brains out, toiling, working by the sweat of your brow, trying to make ends meet without God. Let me help you understand something about toil.

It doesn’t work.

Toil is a part of the curse that happened when Adam sold out and committed high treason against the Almighty God. We have been redeemed from that curse, according to Galatians 3:13-14. Praise God! We are free from toil! Hallelujah!

Now, that doesn’t mean you aren’t gonna have to work. You are gonna be working harder than you ever have before. However, you aren’t working for a living. You are working for a giving, to be a blessing to those around you, producing the Garden of Eden everywhere you go. You let the Blessing do it’s work, and you live by faith. You trust God to meet and supply all your needs. You aren’t trying to make ends meet, or trying to prosper yourself, you know God has that taken care of. That way, you can wake up ever day say, “Father, I love you. You are so amazing. Thank you for taking care of me, and blessing me beyond anything I could ever hope or dream. Now Father, here I am. Who am I to bless today? What business do you need me to do here on the earth? I live to do Your will, and be a blessing to others. I thank you for showing it to me. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.” That simple prayer, just thanking God blesses the Father so much. He loves when His kids just say, “Thank you.” Now, if you stay thankful, and ask what you are to do with what He has given you, and how you are to bless others, you are truly doing the Father’s work.

So then, we see that toil is under the curse. But, how does operating in this toil affect us? Let’s look at Luke 5. Now, some background for you. Jesus was preaching, and there were so many people, that He asked Simon (Peter) if He could get in the boat, and they launched out, and He preached. Now, He probably preached for a while, and Peter overheard it while he was most likely cleaning the nets. After He was done preaching, He told Peter to launch the boat and set down their nets, so they could receive a catch. You see, Peter sowed his boat, and God was giving Him a harvest of fish. Let’s pick up in verse 5. “But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing, nevertheless at Your word, I will let down the net.’” There are a few points I want you to see here. The first is that the word translated “Master” should actually have been translated “Rabbi”. As far as I know, it is translated that way throughout the rest of the Bible. Peter’s though was, “Preacher, we’ve been working all night, and now you want to go fishing? It’s the middle of the day.” You see, Jesus wasn’t his master yet, but Jesus was a rabbi. He only called Jesus “Rabbi” out of respect for the title. Peter was tired and wanted to go home. The second point is that he was toiling. That is, he was laboring hard, trying to meet his own needs without God. He should have been living in the Blessing, like a child of Abraham, but he wasn’t. That was why he toiled all night, and had caught nothing. The third point is the final phrase. “I will let down THE NET.” Notice that. One net. Now, if you take the religious glasses off, you will see this. Peter didn’t want to go fishing in the middle of the day. He wanted to go home, eat, and go to bed. So, when the preacher wanted to go fishing, and the preacher said to let down the NETS, plural, Peter said he would let down the NET, singular. That net was a rotten net. He had cleaned all the other ones, and this was the one that was all old, and beat up. He wouldn’t have to clean it after they used it, He could just throw it out.

So, they went out, and let down this rotten old net, and the net started to break. You see, that was a half hearted sacrifice to God. (My next post will deal with that. Never give something that costs you nothing.) People have taught for years that the net broke because there were so many fish. Really? Why didn’t their partner’s net break then? It had to have been a rotten, worn out, no good net. That’s why in verse 8, Peter falls to Jesus’ knees (he would have fallen to His feet, but they were probably knee deep in fish) and repented of what he had done. You see, Peter was thinking like many Christians do today. He gave a piece of trash as an offering, and he was toiling, trying to meet his needs without God. So then, we see that toil drives away our provision, but the Blessing draws it in to us. How else would they have caught all those fish in the middle of the day? Everyone knows that you don’t go fishing in the middle of the day and expect to catch anything. It must have been the Blessing, because Jesus did nothing outside of the Blessing. “I thought He never sinned?” Well, that is true, because He was walking in the Blessing, keeping the covenant.

So then, we have been redeemed from toil. We are redeemed from meeting our own needs without God. We are living in the Blessing, and that is God providing for us. My job is to believe Him, tithe and give, and bless other people. I am supposed to be the Jesus in my workplace, in my school, wherever I go, people should see that Blessing flowing out of me, creating the Garden of Eden. I don’t have to toil to make ends meet. I don’t live on “just enough”, I serve the God of more than enough. He is El Shaddai, not El Cheapo. El Shaddai means, the God of more than enough, and carries with it the idea that if what is needed is not there, God will create it for you.

So, I will try to close with this. Don’t toil. You are responsible to bring God His money, that is the tithe, and sow. You refuse to violate the Love Command, and you look for ways to be a blessing to people all day long. God will take care of your harvest. He says, “As long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest...will also remain.” So, your harvest is coming. A farmer doesn’t plant, and go out the next day, and get discouraged if he doesn’t see anything. No, he keeps watering, and taking care of the ground, and, then lets the seed spring up. Likewise, your heart is the ground. You water it by the word. You keep it weed free by refusing to violate the Love Command. You see, if you violate that command, and become offended, you choke out the seed that was being produce. Your harvest is coming, you just don’t have to toil to get it! You do your part, and let God do His!