Archive for January, 2011

God Has Already Forgiven You

2 CORINTHIANS 5:19 AMPLIFIED
19 It was God (personally present) in Christ, reconciling and
restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and
holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them];
and committing to us the message of reconciliation — of the
restoration to favor.

A popular idea is that God is really mad at people and can
hardly wait to punish them for their sins.

The truth is that God has already forgiven people. Now you must
accept His forgiveness to enjoy a restored relationship with
Him.

What a shame it is that people are estranged from God and go
without His help and blessing — simply because they think God
is against them and would have nothing to do with them.

1 JOHN 2:12 NKJ
12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are
forgiven you for His name’s sake.

No matter what you have done — God has already forgiven you!
More than forgiven — you are loved!

Forgiving you was God’s idea — you do not have to convince
Him. You must believe God forgave you and thank Him.

Jesus Christ already paid the price for all your sins — and
God is no longer holding any sin against you! You have been
forgiven.

SAY THIS: Thank You Father God for forgiving me! Thank You Jesus!

God Loves You

ROMANS 8:39 NLT
39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed,
nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from
the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You may find it difficult to believe — but it’s true — God
loves you. His love for you is not based on your appearance or
your performance — but on the fact that you are His creation
– His child.

Just as a good parent loves their children, so God loves His
children — and even more so. You will not be able to make God
stop loving you, no matter what you do or don’t do. You can
displease Him, you can disappoint Him, you can anger Him — but
you can’t make Him stop loving you.

What are the practical consequences of God loving you? First,
it means you can trust Him. No one who truly loves you will
mistreat you. Second, it means God is doing all He can to help
you and bless you.

“Then why am I not more blessed, if God wants to bless me?”
Because you must cooperate with God to receive His blessing.
That is why we need continuing instruction from the Bible — so
we can know how to receive all that God has for us.

The promise of Jesus is that if we continue in His Word it will
reveal the truth to us and make us free. That is the blessing
which God has provided for you through Christ because He loves
you: true freedom! Freedom from fear, freedom from confusion,
freedom from lack, freedom from sickness, freedom from strife,
freedom from sin.

SAY THIS: God loves me and desires the very best for me. That
is why He gave me His Word, so I could know the truth and be
free.

God Is Bigger Than Your Box

PSALM 78:41 KJV
41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy
One of Israel.

God is unlimited (but people can limit what God does for them).

True, God cannot deny Himself. That means He cannot act
contrary to who He is and what He has said. But beyond that God
has no limits that we know of.

The Bible tells us the people of Israel limited what God could
do for them. We should not make the same mistake.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-6 KJV
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same
Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same
God which worketh all in all.

God is very creative. From looking at His creation, you could
even guess that sameness might bore Him. Every fingerprint is
different. Every eyeball is different. Every ear is different.
No two leopards have the same spots.

Yet people think things like:

“God cannot work outside of our denomination.”

“Every church has to be just like ours.”

“God can only move in this one way.”

“God will only do this, if . . .”

But God is bigger than you realize!

God may have a million different ways to do something. Just
look at what He created. There is not just one type of bug. No,
there are millions. We know of nearly a million types of
beetles alone.

So don’t limit God in your thinking. He is God!

SAY THIS: I will not limit God. He is bigger than I can think.

Learn To Use Your Faith

MARK 11:23-24 NKJ
23 “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in
his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done,
he will have whatever he says.
24 “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you
pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

There is spiritual growth as well as physical growth. We don’t
start out strong and mature. The Bible, and all creation,
teaches gradual growth.

MARK 4:28 NLT
28 The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade
pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally
the grain ripens.

The Bible is full of great promises. We must receive them by
faith. Faith is not trying to believe, but knowing that you
believe. So, you must start using faith at the level you are
at. If you don’t have faith for a new car then believe for a
bicycle. Then believe God for a motorcycle. Keep using your
faith and feeding it on God’s Word and it will continue to
grow.

Eventually, you will get to where you can believe God for large
things as easily as you did for small things.

It requires feeding your faith on God’s Word as well as
exercising your faith to cause it to grow strong.

The mistake many make is trying to believe God for a jumbo jet
when they really don’t have enough faith for a bicycle. Yes,
the Word says that all things are possible, but only for those
who truly believe. Most people are just trying to believe and
hoping something will happen.

What if you have a need now, but don’t have enough faith to
cover it? Get someone else to agree with you, using their faith
on your behalf.

MATTHEW 18:19 NKJ
19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth
concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by
My Father in heaven.

But don’t expect to go through life depending entirely on
someone else’s faith. God will require you to eventually grow
up and use your own faith. So you might as well get started
now.

God knows our needs. The Bible is clear that God does not want
us to be in lack. Then why doesn’t God just meet our needs,
without us having to ask?

One answer is God wants us to grow in faith. Our faith can only
grow strong as we use it. So, every need is a faith
opportunity, and thus an opportunity for growth.

God wants us to be specific in our asking, so that when the
answer comes, we will know it was from God and came in response
to our faith in Him.

Don’t wait until you have a large crisis in life to start
learning to use your faith. Start now!

Don’t try to start praying for something big. Start small. Your
faith will grow as you use it.

SAY THIS: God will help me to learn to walk in faith.

The Witness Of The Spirit

ROMANS 8:16 NKJ
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of God,

God has a plan for guiding His children in all the questions of
life.

God’s primary method of leading us in matters the Bible does
not specifically address, (such as which job to take or which
person to marry), is the inner witness, which is a knowing
communicated by the Holy Spirit to our spirit. It is not a
voice, but an inner knowing.

ROMANS 2:15 NKJ
15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their
thoughts accusing or else excusing them)

Another term for the witness of the spirit is “peace.”

COLOSSIANS 3:15 AMPLIFIED
15  And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ
rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and
settling with finality all questions that arise ….

An umpire is responsible for making decisions. Our “umpire” is
the inner peace, or witness in our spirit.

1 JOHN 5:10 NKJ
10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in
himself….

One way Scripture describes the “inner witness” is “it seemed
good.”

This was the Scripture phrase God showed me as I sought Him
concerning how to be led by the Spirit. I realized that had
been the way I had determined which message God would have me
preach. I would pray and seek God until, on the inside of me,
it just seemed good to preach a particular message. I couldn’t
really explain it, but I knew it was how God was leading me in
what subjects to preach.

I saw in Scripture this was also the same “leading” Luke had to
write down the Gospel of Luke. And also how some important
decisions were made in the early days of the Church. They
described it as “it seemed good.”

LUKE 1:3 NKJ
3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding
of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly
account, most excellent Theophilus,

ACTS 15:25,28 NKJ
25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to
send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay
upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:

Obviously, an immature believer could easily use this as an
excuse for their behavior, saying it just “seemed good to
them.” But we are not talking about something seeming good to
your flesh or your mind, but to your innermost being, your
spirit where God dwells (if you are a believer in Jesus
Christ.)

And we must always remember that the Holy Spirit will never
lead us to do anything that is not in line with God’s written
Word, the Bible. So, being familiar with God’s Word is vital.

SAY THIS: God is helping me understand being guided by the
inner witness.