Archive for February, 2011

How High Are The Heavens Above The Earth?

PSALM 103:11 NIV
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is
his love for those who fear him;

If you understood how much God loves you — your life would be
different.

Fear and worry would have no power over you any longer. Fear
has no torment for someone basking in the sunlight of Almighty
God’s love.

This passage in Psalm 103 attempts to picture the size or
extent of God’s love. It is not portrayed as simply big as the
highest mountain. No, no — far more. As high as the sky is
above the earth. That is the picture God wants you to see when
you think of how great His love is for YOU.

How do I know this? Just from what the Bible says. And from
what God did in and through Jesus Christ to redeem you. He paid
a mighty price for you — because His love for you is so great.

But, you may ask, “Why is my life going so poorly if God really
does love me so much?” That is a valid question, but not the
same one as whether God loves you. The quick answer is that God
has made provision for us — but most of us are not taking
advantage of the help He offers.

Put another way, we are not acting on God’s instructions –
whether out of ignorance or for some other reason. When you
don’t follow a proven recipe you cannot expect a good outcome.

God has no desire to condemn us for our failure, but instead
desires to invite us into His fellowship and His way of doing
things. It is through His Word that this will happen in our
lives. So, read the Bible to see how much God loves you, but
also remember that it is because of His great love for you that
He gave you the instructions found in the Bible. They are for
your benefit — not God’s benefit.

SAY THIS: God’s love for me is greater than I can see or
understand. His love caused Him to give me the Bible, so I
could know the truth and be set free.

Forgive Others As God Has Forgiven You

COLOSSIANS 3:13 NKJ
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if
anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave
you, so you also must do.

Forgiving others for deep hurts seems to be one of the hardest
things a human being can do. In fact — very few are successful
in forgiving.

Yet, in the Bible God commands us to forgive. Is God overly
demanding, or…?

God is smart. That is why He commands us to forgive. (Also
because He loves us and desires the best for us.) God knows how
terribly destructive it is for us to harbor unforgiveness. Not
forgiving someone can literally kill you.

Unforgiveness is a poison that eats away at your spiritual,
mental, and physical health and life.

Knowing that, God strictly tells us to forgive. But how can we?
We are just human, and we don’t feel like forgiving when
someone has wronged us severely.

(You may think it is impossible to forgive someone who hurt
you. With God it is possible. He never asks us to do something
we cannot do.)

The answer is in receiving God’s help, enabling you to forgive.
First, you must be “born again” spiritually by receiving Jesus
Christ as Lord. That means you receive new life in your inner
being, giving you a new nature — a nature of love instead of
selfishness.

Next, when you are wronged, you need to ask the Lord to help
you forgive the person who hurt you. Having done that, you must
make a firm decision to quit holding anything against that
person.

Forgiveness is not a feeling but a decision to quit holding
something against someone. When you forgive you must release
them and forget it.

You must forgive by faith, after asking God to help you.
Feelings always follow faith — not the other way around.

How can we humans forgive others just as God has forgiven us?
Having God’s help is necessary. Only His love in our hearts can
enable us.

You must forgive others — no matter what they have done. To
not forgive hurts you. You must forgive.

SAY THIS: With God’s help, I will forgive others as God has
forgiven me.

You Are God’s Garden

1 CORINTHIANS 3:9 LB
9 We are only God’s coworkers. You are God’s garden, not ours;
you are God’s building, not ours.

We discovered that God’s Word is a seed (Luke 8:11). Now we see
that the Bible says that we, as believers, are God’s garden –
the place where seed is planted.

The question for you to consider is: who determines the
harvest? God, or you?

(The harvest I speak of is the fruit, or result, of the Word of
God. The harvest of blessing that God’s Word produces in your
life.)

I suggest that the harvest is mainly controlled by the one who
determines what seed is planted. Would you agree?

If wheat seed is planted, it is unreasonable to expect a
harvest of corn. If only a few seeds are planted, it is
unreasonable to expect a large harvest. Wouldn’t you agree?

Yes, you are God’s field, but He allows you a lot of freedom to
choose what will be produced in your life. And the main way you
choose is by choosing what seed will be planted in your heart
and mind.

You can choose something other than God’s Word. You can also
choose different areas of God’s Word. Planting different
scriptures will produce different results in your life.

If all you ever plant are scriptures on the new birth, you
cannot expect to have a huge harvest of healing or financial
blessing in your life. The choice is yours.

SAY THIS: I am God’s garden. Lord, help me plant the seed of
your Word in me in abundance.

God’s Word Is Like A Seed

LUKE 8:11 NKJ
11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

A seed is powerful.

As a seed begins to grow, it will push up dirt, rocks, etc.
Whatever the obstacles are, God’s Word planted in your heart
will push them out of the way.

A seed begins its growth in secret (underground).

The only way to tell if a seed is growing is to dig it up, or
wait for a plant to appear. If you dig up a seed, you may kill
it.

A seed takes time to produce.

No one expects a seed to produce a harvest the same day that
seed is planted.

Sometimes the Word of God seems to spring up and bear fruit
immediately. Yet, if we knew the details, we would understand
that the fruit of the Word grew in that person’s life over
time.

A seed is persistent.

A seed never gives up, but works day and night. Even when you
are sleeping, the seed you have planted is working to grow and
express itself in a fruitful harvest.

A seed is not affected by other seeds.

Whatever happens to other seeds does not make any difference to
a specific seed. Each seed sticks to its own task. One wheat
seed planted in a corn field will still produce wheat. Seed
does not become discouraged, or quit, even if other seeds die.

A seed will stop growing without nourishment.

Planting a seed is not enough to assure a harvest. Seed must be
protected and taken care of until harvest time. A seed which is
dug up, or not watered, will not produce.

More seeds planted produce a larger harvest.

2 CORINTHIANS 9:6 NKJ
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap
sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully.

Think on these truths about seeds. Allow the Holy Spirit to
help you apply them to the role of God’s Word in your life.

SAY THIS: God’s Word is the most important seed. I will
diligently plant it in my life, so God can be glorified in my
life.

Who Is Right?

Whose teaching should I listen to? It seems Christians differ
on many things, although all claim to believe the same Bible.

(On the main teaching that Jesus is mankind’s savior and we
need to follow Him, all Christian groups agree. But on many
subjects, there is not agreement.)

How can I know who to believe? Who is right?

Fortunately, God gave us His Word, the Bible, so we could know
the truth, and it gives some guidelines to help with this
question.

JOHN 8:31-32 NKJ
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you
abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free.”

So an important question is whether freedom is being produced
in the lives of the people who are following a teaching. If
not, it cannot be the accurate message of Jesus, which will
make people free. This does not mean everyone will instantly be
free, but over time, the fruit of the teaching should be
freedom.

In Matthew 7, Jesus taught that we can judge by whether “good
fruit” is being produced.

MATTHEW 7:16-17,20 NKJ
16 “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes
from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
17 “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree
bears bad fruit.
20 “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Galatians tells us what kind of fruit is produced by followers
of Jesus who live a spiritual life.

GALATIANS 5:22-23 NKJ
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Hebrews 13:7-8 also gives us some important guidelines of who
we should follow.

HEBREWS 13:7 NKJ
7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of
God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of
their conduct.

What has their teaching produced? Is it love, joy, peace,
gentleness, etc.? Does it result in setting people free from
bondage? Are broken people being healed and made whole? These
are questions we should ask when we “consider the outcome of
their conduct.”

But don’t expect followers of Truth to be loved and accepted by
everyone, although they should show love to others, even those
opposing them. Anyone truly following Jesus is usually
criticized, especially by religious people.

LUKE 6:26-27 NKJ
26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their
fathers to the false prophets.
27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to
those who hate you,

MATTHEW 10:25 NKJ
25 “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher,
and a servant like his master. If they have called the master
of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of
his household!

Is love, mercy, and compassion (like Jesus had) a mark of their
ministry? Or do they more closely resemble the Pharisees who
loved to focus on keeping a list of rules, instead of helping
people.

HEBREWS 13:8 NKJ
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Another key consideration is whether people think Jesus has
lost His power or compassion to help people today. Do they
believe Jesus still does the same miracles today as He did in
Bible days?

Avoid the teaching of any group that tells you the day of
miracles has passed and that God no longer does the same things
He did in Bible days. They are simply wrong. Jesus Christ is
the same today as He was yesterday!

People can be wrong, even good, well-meaning people who may
seem to know the Bible. Plenty of people have studied the Bible
their entire life and still don’t really understand it. The
Pharisees of Jesus’ day were the Bible experts, yet God walked
among them and they called Him the devil!

1 CORINTHIANS 12:12,27 NLT
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up
only one body. So it is with the body of Christ.
27 Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of
you is a separate and necessary part of it.

God does not make everyone the same, or direct us all to do the
same thing in the same way. So don’t reject or criticize others
just because they are different. God loves all His children, no
matter how ignorant, mis-informed, or immature they may be.
Because God loves them, we should also treat them all with love
and respect.

JOHN 13:35 NKJ
35 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you
have love for one another.”

Most importantly, Jesus told how we could know who were His
true disciples: they would be known by love. So, if the ones
you follow are known more for fighting than for sacrificial
love and giving, you need to pray about making a change.

SAY THIS: Jesus Christ is the One who is right, and He is Lord
of the Kingdom of Love!