Blinded Minds

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Paul wished for the entire world to both see and have the gospel of Jesus Christ, as had been revealed to him. He calls himself an “able minister of the New Testament” (2 Corinthians 3:6), and then “seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully” (2 Corinthians 4:1, 2). His chief concern regarding this message of the New Covenant was that it not be handled in a wrong manner, but that it was open and honest before all.

He knew that the glorious gospel was and is life-changing. He also knew that the only way to stop the light of the gospel from penetrating into every area of darkness was if the enemy went to work blinding men from receiving it. “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Corinthians 4:3), Paul says, knowing that the good news is so good that it can never be hid from a saint, only from the unsaved.

Paul goes a step further with his description, stating that it is not only hid from the lost but that “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (4:4). It is not their spiritual eyes that the enemy must blind, because they can’t really use them anyway, but it is their minds. A sinner can certainly use his or her mind to reason and theorize, so Paul identifies that Satan will attack this capability in the unbeliever to try and convince them against the good news of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever encountered someone who does not believe on Jesus and they give you a laundry list of reasons why they have no faith in God? They have intellectualized their unbelief and have left themselves no room for faith. In that instance, you are speaking to someone who has been blinded to the truth of the love of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s answer to this problem was to continue to shine the light. “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord” (4:5), is Paul’s way of saying that there is no need to argue of your own intellect; simply preach Jesus Christ. When you meet someone who is an unbeliever and who wishes only to argue about whether or not God exists or how many days it took Him to create the earth, your only counter is to shower them with the love of God. In the face of all of their disputations, simply give them more of His love. The good news of Jesus can be boiled down to one simple fact: God loves you. If this principle is repeated and reinforced, it is the only truth that can penetrate the darkness of unbelief.

Even believers benefit by frequent and repeated exposure to this light. Paul said that this light gives “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (4:6). We literally learn more of the glory of God as we see the face of Jesus day to day. Actually, we are changed into His very image as we learn more of His glory through the good news of Christ’s finished work (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Be changed into who He is by the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Go in peace!

His Goodness Will Hunt You Down

Psalms 23:6

The Psalmist is so confident that his Shepherd is good that he opens the final verse of the 23rd Psalm with “Surely goodness…” There is no doubt that goodness and mercy will come his way. When the sheep have the past experience of watching their shepherd protect them and bless them, they are confident that He will always do so.

It is important to note the word that the English uses in this verse, and how different that it is from the original Hebrew. David says that goodness and mercy “shall follow me all the days of my life”, but the word ‘follow’ is a bit misleading. The Hebrew word for ‘follow’ is ‘radaph’ which means, “To pursue, to run after, to chase” or literally, “to hunt you down”. It is first found in Genesis 14, when Abram finds that his nephew Lot has been kidnapped. Abram assembles his own army of 318 men and “pursued them unto Dan” (Genesis 14:14). The word ‘pursued’ is ‘radaph’.

Just as Abram hunted the kidnappers down and brought them to justice, the Holy Spirit is saying through the Psalmist that we can be assured that God’s goodness and mercy will hunt us down as well. This entire Psalm has been about the accompaniment of our Good Shepherd. If He leads, we follow. If we leave the path, He restores us. If we are hurt, He heals us. It even shows Him go with us into areas that He did not lead us. The finality is that as we follow the footprints of the Shepherd, His goodness and mercy follow close after us.

We do not have to look for the goodness and the mercy, for it will look for us. Many believers have become sidetracked and discouraged because they are always looking for goodness and blessings. They have actually turned Christianity into one big blessing, rather than the relationship that it is. Follow after blessings and you will always be on the chasing end. Follow after Jesus and the blessings will chase the Jesus that lives in you!

David found that dwelling in the house of the LORD for ever was the most blessed thing. He commented that he would rather be a “doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Psalms 84:10). It was for this cause that he wanted to build the temple, but God deferred that honor to his son Solomon. David was a New Covenant thinker living in an Old Covenant world. You and I are the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19), so we dwell in His house forever. This promise in Psalms 23:6 is ours everyday because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Follow your shepherd today and fully expect that He is going to do the same to you with good things in your life and mercy in your spirit.

Find the Right Mountain

Obadiah 1:15-17

Obadiah says that the “day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou has done, it shall be done unto thee” (1:15). For those who have not accepted Christ, this is a pretty frightening thought! The prophet proceeds to explain that as Israel had heard from God on his “holy mountain”, so the heathen will drink the same thing at this mountain that Israel did. What mountain is he talking about, and what drink will they drink?

The 17th verse answers our question partially, “But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance” (1:17). There is a contrast between two mountains. The first is God’s holy mountain where Israel drank at first. This can only be Mount Sinai, where Moses spoke with God and received the Ten Commandments and all of the written ordinances of the law. Israel drank of God’s wrath from this mountain on more than one occasion and all because they were disobedient to the law that came from the mount.

Mount Zion is never mentioned while Israel is wandering in the wilderness. Of course, that makes sense seeing as Mount Zion is in Jerusalem, and Israel has yet to arrive there, but for the time period that Israel was in while in the wilderness, there is only one significant mountain and that is Sinai, the birthplace of the law. All of Israel was judged there, by the pristine, perfect standards of God’s law.

The author of Hebrews describes two mountains: Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion (Hebrews 12:18-24). The first burned with fire, was black and dark and the voice that spoke from it could not be endured (vss. 18-20). The second is described as the city of the living God, with many angels, where the church lives with Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant (vss.22-24).

Mt. Sinai represents the law and all of its demands (Galatians 4:24). While telling man how to live, it provides no help in keeping those demands. It came so that sin would explode in man’s heart, showing him his need for a Savior (Romans 5:20; Galatians 3:24).

Mt. Zion represents the New Covenant and the grace of God. There is no fear in approaching it because Jesus lives there, and His blood is speaking great things about our redemption (Hebrews 12:23).

Obadiah’s prophecy shows us that man will ultimately be judged by the Law, because without Jesus, the only other mountain for him is Sinai. When someone rejects Christ, they are rejecting God’s offer of a New Covenant from Mt. Zion. Because of this, they are left only with Sinai and its demands.

As a believer, you should live and dwell and worship at Mt. Zion, where grace flows in abundance. Any attempts at keeping the law to achieve righteousness places you at the base of Sinai, where not even the great Moses could keep from quaking in fear (Hebrews 12:21).

Preachers must move their pulpits from the darkness of Sinai, where the law is preached with trembling and fear; and station themselves in the heaven of Mt. Zion, where the loveliness of Jesus is presented and the New Covenant is free for all by the precious blood of Jesus.
Go to the right mountain today!

Love One Another

2 John 1:5, 6

The commandment which was from the beginning is that we love each other. Jesus called it a commandment on which all of the law and prophets depended (Matthew 22:40). John says that we have heard it from the beginning and that we ought to walk in it (verse 6).

The command to love one another is part of the law of Christ, and it springs from a divine love, placed in the heart of a believer by the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5). The New Covenant saint has God’s desires and laws written into their heart and in their mind (Hebrews 10:16). If God is love, then the believer will love also (1 John 4:7).

The law of Christ is what James called, “the law of liberty” (James 1:25; 2:12). This law is from the inside out, while Moses’ law was from the outside in. While Christ’s finished work brings goodness out of the believer, Moses’ law tried to force goodness onto the believer, but it offered no helping hand. In other words, you could know the law and that knowledge would give you no assistance in keeping the law.

As it regards love, the law demanded it. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). This was a straight-forward command. There was no room for wiggle or interpretation. You must love others with the same passion and fervor that you love yourself. Of course the law does not tell you how to do that, so the adherent is left frustrated and condemned.

Christ’s law of liberty and love fulfills all other law (Romans 13:10). When one does love their neighbor as themselves, they have taken all other law and wrapped them into one. While the Old Covenant of law and works simply told you to love, the New Covenant of grace and goodness loves you first, empowering you to love others.

There is no limit to the amount of love that will spring out of the heart of the believer who knows that God loves them. Jesus faced Satan in the wilderness with the knowledge that He was God’s “beloved” Son. The “beloved” know that they are loved and they rest assured in it. Out of this knowledge, they love naturally, not by obligation, for no obligation can make you love. The believer loves because they can’t help it!

Do you have someone in your life, be it at work or your neighbor, who is making it difficult to love them? We all have encountered someone like this in our lives. Instead of focusing on loving them every day, placing yourself under the work of love, simply feed yourself on the knowledge that you are loved. As you become convinced of how much He loves you, you will automatically, though often slowly, begin to have a love for that unlovable person.

What do you have to lose? Know how loved that you are, and watch that love spill over.

Put it on Jesus’ Account

Philemon 1:10-18

Paul wrote his shortest epistle near the end of his first imprisonment in Rome. He was probably about 63 years old when he wrote this letter to his friend Philemon, a fellow laborer for the Lord and the owner of a servant named Onesimus. Onesimus had robbed Philemon and then fled to Rome, where he met Paul and became a believer of Christ. Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon with this epistle, which contains Paul’s request to Philemon that he accept Onesimus, not only as a servant, but as a “brother beloved” (1:16).

Paul places Philemon’s love for him front and center, asking Philemon to receive Onesimus as if he were receiving Paul himself (verse 17). In this letter, Paul is giving us a practical example of the substitutionary work of Christ, as he does no better in any other writing.

First, he lists Onesimus as one time “unprofitable”, but now “profitable to thee and to me” (verse 11). Without Christ we are entirely unprofitable to anything or anybody as it regards the eternal things, but with Christ we are profitable to everything and everybody that we encounter.

Second, he prompts Philemon to receive Onesimus as “mine own bowels” (verse 12). This phrase was used often in the Word as an analogy of love. The world in that time considered the deepest part of someone’s love or affection to come from their “bowels of compassion” (1 John 3:17). By asking Philemon to receive Onesimus by Paul’s “own bowels”, he is asking him to receive him as he would receive Paul’s love. God has shed his love abroad to us through the price that Jesus paid at Calvary (Romans 5:5). Everything that we receive from God, we receive it because of this compassion.

Finally, Paul requests that any damages done by Onesimus should be placed on Paul’s own account. Any financial set-backs that have been caused through the theft of this servant will be paid in full by the Apostle as soon as he arrives. Imagine how Philemon felt as he read these words. Here is a man writing to him from prison, promising to pay him in full for taking this man back into his service. Philemon could not help but pay heed to the request, because the effort being taken to bring Onesimus back into good graces was enormous.

In light of how great the price was that Jesus paid, how can we refuse Him? He has taken all of our wrongs, our failures, our problems and our pains and He has placed them on His account. He laid down His own life, suffering the pain of separation from His Father so that all of our debts could be paid. It is the ultimate insult for any person to believe that their works are needed in order to pay God back for all of His goodness.

Heed the Apostles words regarding working for righteousness:

“Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:4, 5)

The Believer Whom Jesus Loves

John 13:23

It is Valentine’s Day; a day when lovers share little sentiments of their affection with one another, often with cards, candy, flowers, stuffed animals or jewelry. The purpose is no doubt to generate money for these various products within our economy, but for those participating, it is all about sharing the love with someone special.

It is truly joyful to boast of your love for someone. You can shower them with praise and affection, and that showing of love brings warmth to your heart. That is a sampling of what it feels like to pour the love of Christ into someone’s life. As wonderful as that is, many believers go every day without experiencing that wonderful feeling.

The reason that many believers rarely, if ever, share the love of Christ with anyone is not because they don’t think that the Lord loves people, or because they are being rebellious against the Great Commission, but rather is because they have little knowledge of how loved that they are. The knowledge of how much God loves you will give you the power to share love with other people.

The apostle John writes of “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, and then never names himself in this gospel. This disciple whom Jesus loved is identified as the author of the book (John 21:24), so we know that John is referring to himself. Jesus certainly doesn’t love John more than He loves any of the other disciples, but it is John who recognizes the love of Jesus for him. This knowledge finds John leaning on Jesus’ bosom at the Last Supper, resting close to the heart of the Savior. Those who know how loved that they are do not run off looking for opportunity to sin, but rather they rest close to the heartbeat of the one who loves them so much.

John refers to himself in this manner a number of times in this book. The other usages show us John in various situations, always learning something new, as those who know that they are loved are always growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

On this day set aside by the world as a day of love, let’s think not only of our love for our spouse or our boyfriend or girlfriend, and not only of our love for the Lord, but let’s think of His love for us. The Apostle of Love would write in his first epistle, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). John is telling us that true love is not how much we love the Lord, but rather how much the Lord loves us. We cannot even know how to love Him without this knowledge, for “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Perhaps no poet or writer has ever captured the perfect love of God in any of their work, but one songwriter came very close. The Sunday school tune, “Jesus Loves Me” has been sang by children the world over and there may be no truer theology regarding the love of Christ for us all. Maybe every Christian should sing its lines from time to time, and rest in His matchless love:

Jesus loves me this I know,
For the Bible tells me so,
Little ones to Him belong,
They are blessed for He is strong.
Yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me,
The Bible tells me so

(If you enjoyed this devotion, and would like more information on this topic, contact the ministry and request Pastor Paul’s sermon titled, “The Love Secret of the Apostle John” on CD. It is our gift to you!)

Purpose in Your Heart

Daniel 1:8-15

Daniel was a very young man when taken captive by the Babylonians. Some commentators think he may have been as young as 11. No matter the age, his understanding and ability had caused the king to place him, as well as his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in a position of favor. These young men were being groomed to be advisors to the king, a process that took three years (Daniel 1:5).

Daniel must have felt himself a leader of sorts over the others, as he spoke on behalf of the group, purposing in his heart that he and the other three would not eat the meat or drink the wine that was appointed to them by the king. His conviction no doubt stemmed from the fact that the meat and wine was also used in the worship of idols, and as children of God, they wanted no part in idol worship.

There was a great risk in taking the stand that Daniel did, for he challenged the eunuchs to feed him and his friends only “pulse”, which are vegetables; with water to drink. He stated that after 10 days, he and the others would be in better shape than those who ate the meat of the king. This would take a supernatural move in order to come to pass, but remember, Daniel had purposed it in his heart.

The Lord moved over the course of the next week and a half, making the 4 Hebrew children, “fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat” (Daniel 1:15). There were certainly no more nutrients in the food of these children, as the eunuch surely knew, so this health was a miracle from God, and the first in many instances where these young Hebrews would “refuse to bow”.

Purpose something in your heart today; whatever it is. We will do very little to effect this world or build the kingdom of God if the purpose does not make its way from our head to our heart. God is not looking for someone to eat only vegetables and drink only water; that isn’t the point. He is looking for someone to purpose in their heart to be used of God. He wants to pour His vitamins and minerals of the Spirit into every child of God who will yield, and prosper them with the goodness of heaven. We must place our hearts in His loving care, purposed to allow the Christ that is in us to bring His glory out through us.

Go today with the spirit of Daniel, unwilling to compromise your knowledge of His love and forgiveness for you. Let no one steal that glorious knowledge away from you, and be prepared for God to make your countenance fairer than all those around you!

Know That You Are God’s Beloved

Matthew 3:17-4:1

Satan’s attacks against your place as a member of God’s family, is not unique. He attacked Jesus in the same way in the wilderness. God had just spoken from heaven, with Jesus standing in the Jordan River, and the Spirit like a dove, descended on Him. The proclamation that God made was the stamp of approval on all of the years that Jesus had lived in quiet, and it was the ammunition that Jesus would need to face the wilderness, the world and the cross. The knowledge that He was the “beloved Son” would guard him against everything.

The enemy went after Jesus’ place as Son immediately, tempting Him to turn the stones to bread, “If thou be the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3). When that didn’t work, he tried it again, telling Jesus to cast himself off of the cliff so that angels would catch him, “If thou be the Son of God” (verse 6). Again, Jesus overcame.

Finally, Satan offers Jesus the kingdoms of the world, if Jesus will bow down and worship him. While Satan makes no overt reference to the son ship of Jesus here, he knows that no Son of the Creator of the universe will bow down to get what is rightfully His, so this is also an attack on the Son. As you know, Jesus does not bow.

While these are important temptations to study, it is even more important to emphasize not only what Satan said, but what he did not say. God said that Jesus was His, “beloved Son”. The word “beloved” shows us that Jesus was not only Son by rights but He was greatly blessed and highly favored of His Father. Satan drops “beloved” because he wants to take no chance in reminding Jesus that He is beloved. It may be left out of the conversation, but it is deep within Jesus’ heart.

There is great power in the believer knowing just how loved that they are. The church culture often chides Christians for not loving the Lord enough, saying “You should love the Lord more”, and they point to doing things to show that love. No one can love the Lord more by simply trying to. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord with “all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength…” (Mark 12:30). Honestly, do you love God that way? The truth is “No”, we do not love Him like this, at least not every moment of the day, but He DOES LOVE US that way. The Law tells us to do it, but doesn’t show us how. God’s grace shows us how:

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins…We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:10, 19).

Know that you are God’s beloved and you too will overcome the temptations of the enemy. Know that you are God’s beloved, and you will walk in His goodness and kindness. Know that you are God’s beloved my friend, and that He is well pleased, not because of you, but because of Jesus who has delivered you!

Don’t Boast of Your Love for Him

Mark 14:66-72

It is a dangerous thing to place your confidence in your love and affection for Christ. I have been in the church all of my life, and I have seen my fair share of people who testify with gusto about how much they plan on doing for the Lord and how much that they love Him, only to rarely ever see that person inside of a church again. Our love goes up and down like a roller-coaster. One day we are high on love and we speak flowery words about our Jesus. Other days, we hardly feel saved at all.

It is always better to rest confidently in the Savior’s love for us. In fact, we don’t even know what love is without a revelation of God’s love for us. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

The disciple Peter was well known for speaking up when he probably should have held his tongue. He was quick to say what he thought and he was never slow to action (see him walking on water or cutting off the soldier’s ear). On the eve of Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter spoke up during a meeting between Jesus and His disciples, proclaiming, “Although all shall be offended, yet will not I” (Mark 14:29). Who do you suppose the “all” that He is speaking of might be? Of course the “all” were the other disciples! Peter is saying, “You guys may forsake Jesus in His hour of need but I won’t. None of you love Him like I do”.

Jesus responded that Peter would deny the Lord three times before the rooster crowed twice. In other words, before that very night was over, Peter would have made a complete denial of His Lord. This caused Peter to answer “more vehemently” (Mark 14:31). Jesus’ statement to Peter was an insult to Peter’s acclaimed love and devotion to Jesus. Jesus knew better, knowing that Peter was incapable of taking the stand that he thought that his love had prepared him for. Our love for Jesus is never as powerful as Jesus’ love for us.

Where does this passionate outburst of religious fervor take Peter? We find him standing outside the hall where Jesus is being condemned, warming himself near a fire (Mark 14:66, 67). He is approached by a maid of the high priest who recognizes him as a follower, after Peter denies that he knows the Lord, another maid does the same thing. Finally, the crowd turns on him, shouting at him that he too was with Jesus. Peter curses and promises that he does not know Jesus. Suddenly the rooster crows for a second time and Peter’s heart breaks. His fervor and devotion were just not enough.

It is easy for us to boast of our love for the Lord, but it is a bit more difficult to boast of His love for us. The reason for this is that we boast when we feel up emotionally. Then, when things don’t go so well, it is easy to believe that part of the reason that things aren’t going well is that we have done something wrong and that God is trying to teach us a lesson. This causes us to believe that His love for us has conditions and that we should be careful about boasting about it too much. Rest assured in the knowledge that His love for you is constant and never fluctuates, even when you do.

Catch yourself boasting of how much you love the Lord. Don’t feel condemned, just change your mentality! Every time you find yourself dwelling on how much you love Him just flip it around and wonder with a sense of awe at how much He must be loving you. Revelation of that kind of love will have you warming your heart next to the flames of His love rather than warming your hands near the fire of your own affection.

A Higher Form of Love

Mark 12:28-34

How do we increase our love for the Lord? I think that we all want to love God more, but is it possible that we have confused our need to love Him more with our need to rest in His love for us? There is much teaching and preaching on how we should be more dedicated, devoted and consecrated, all of which speak of loving God more. But perhaps we should bring back the nursery class songs that we sang as children such as “Jesus Loves Me”. Kids have it right and we should follow suit: your love for Him pales in comparison to the beauty of His love for you!

The great apostle of love wrote, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Love is defined by God as Jesus Christ’s sacrificial work on the cross. The only way that we know how to love is because God has so clearly shown us what true love is: sacrificial and substitutionary. Our love for God will oftentimes lack in passion and fervor, but because of the price paid by Jesus, His love for us is always constant.

Jesus spoke of the kind of love that is demanded by the Law of Moses, in which we love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). This is the highest form of love, for the Law speaks only of things that are holy and just and good (Romans 7:12). While it may sound wonderful to love the Lord with this intensity, there is no power to be found in the command that will help you to fulfill it. Simply knowing that God expects your devoted love does not help you to love Him one ounce more than you already do (or do not).

If someone tells you that they demand that you love them, there is no amount of demanding or commanding that makes loving them any easier. In fact, with our finite ability to love, we are most likely turned away by such a demand and we would find it impossible to love that person at all. The Law sets the standard for how man is to love God, but gives him no motivation towards love; unless you count going to hell if you don’t love God as motivation to start!

Would you love someone who said, “Love me with everything you are, or I will punish you with everlasting fire forever!” We would flee as fast as we can from that kind of “love”, right? How can we expect people to live up to the “love” standard of the Law unless we offer a higher motivation?

God displayed His perfect love for us by putting all of our sins and transgressions into His Son Jesus. This act pleased the Lord, for by doing this to Jesus, He was under no obligation to do it to us (Isaiah 53:10). He then gave to us His righteousness so that when He sees us from heaven, He no longer sees our wrong-doings, but instead He sees a perfect picture of His resurrected Son. Showered with this kind of love and favor, our hearts never run away for fear, but instead run towards a God that would love us so much. Do you see how a picture of God’s true love and grace makes your heart lean towards Him instead of away?

When you see God as loving you with this kind of intensity, you naturally love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. The highest form of love is found in God’s grace, in which you see the goodness of God and you fall in love.

While Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” when He bore our sins at the cross, we can now cry out in amazement, “Daddy, daddy, why are you so good to me!” See yourself as deeply loved today, and watch an uncontrollable love for God come pouring out of your heart and your life.

God is Love

1 John 4:10, 16-19

God is love! What a glorious statement; to know that God does not HAVE love, and He is not IN love, but He IS love. The very definition of His character is love, and everything that comes with love comes as a by-product of who God is. Anything and everything that we know or think we know about this blessed emotion, we know because God gave it to us, and taught it to us.

There are those in the church world who seem intent on making God out to be less than loving. They teach God as full of wrath and anger; ready to spew out judgment on America and all of its ills. They say that God is love, “but He is also holy”, as if the two are mutually exclusive. In their doctrine, there is very little room for a loving God because too much of that message and people might get the wrong idea about who God is.

Why are we so scared to declare that God is love? John was not afraid to say it; so much so that his title has become, “The Apostle of Love”. He knew how loved that he was, calling himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” some five times in the book that bears his name, and then stating, “God is love” in 1 John 4:16. If declaring God to be full of unconditional love is a dangerous message, then John must have been the number one enemy of the early church!

All that we understand about love, we learned from God and His perfect example of love. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). True love is not our perfect love toward God; for we do not have perfect love. Think about it; doesn’t your love for Him float up and down on a day-to-day basis? One moment you are passionately in love with Him, and the next moment your mind is a million miles away? Love cannot be defined by our actions and thoughts toward God, but by His actions and thoughts toward us. The perfect example of His love is then found in the cross, where He sacrificed His Son as the payment for our sins.

Paul told us that God showed His love to us, “in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The cross was God’s shining example of His love for humanity. By sacrificing Jesus on the cross, God was providing a way for all of humanity to be saved without having to be punished for their wrong-doings. He loves the human race so much that He couldn’t bear the thought of judging each one of us for sin. Instead, He put all of that punishment into His Son so that we could have life and peace. Wow, what a love!

When we accept His perfect love for us, all of the fear that we have toward God and judgment will begin to fade away. His perfect love, dwelling inside of us, casts out all fear and torment, giving the enemy no foothold in our life to torture us with doubt and confusion. The believer that knows how loved that they are lives free from fear and discouragement and they position themselves for great things in life. This knowledge will not lead us away from the Father, but ever closer toward Him, for “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Hallelujah.

When God Showed Off

Romans 5:8

Man has had knowledge of God from the beginning of time. Paul said, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…” (Romans 1:20). All one must do is look around and they will see the handiwork of God, knowing that He is real simply by the things that are made.

Though we know there is a God by the wonders of the universe, the beauty of nature and the rising of the sun, none of these marvels teach us about God’s love. Could God not have created all of these things for His own pleasure, us included, and have no love or concern for us whatsoever? Of course the possibility must exist that everything is what it is only for God’s joy, and He does nothing and has done nothing to intervene or interfere with mankind, because He just doesn’t care.

Before you cry “Blasphemy!”, can you find God’s love in the tide, or the moon, or the stars? The honest answer is “No”. No one can prove to another that God is love based upon creation, for creation is fallen, and thus it fades away. God needed a way to show man that he loved him unconditionally, and using the things of the natural would never work. God would need to do something supernatural to prove His love.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The word ‘commendeth’ is ‘sunestame’ in Greek and it means “to show or exhibit”. The cross of Christ was God showing off or exhibiting His love to sinful man. By living a perfect and spotless life, Jesus showed man what God looked like, but then gave up His life for sinful man, to show man what God loved like. Nothing else could prove with such power that God was passionate about man, but the sacrifice of His own Son would stand for time and eternity as the ultimate price being paid.

It would be one thing if Christ died for the godly and the moral; we might understand how He was trying to “help those that help themselves”. It is another thing altogether to think that Christ died for the ungodly and for sinners. Paul said, “To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). God’s awesome love made righteousness available to the ungodly, not through them cleaning up their life, but simply by faith. This is a love that is beyond words, for it discounts man’s ability to attain or achieve it and it rewards him anyway.

If you ever doubt God’s love for you, just remind yourself how much God loved Jesus and realize that He killed Him so that you would not have to die spiritually. If that isn’t love, then there is no love at all.

The Holy Spirit’s First Work

Romans 5:5

This verse marks the first usage of “Holy Spirit” or “Holy Ghost” in the entire book of Romans by the Apostle Paul. Until this point, he has proven man’s guilt by sin; shown God’s justice system of the cross; explained that righteousness comes only through faith; and elevated grace to its position of abundance. Now, with all of the foundational work done, Paul shows us the third member of the God-head for the first time.

What would you suppose the first work of the Holy Spirit might be in the believer? Some would say that He is here to bring power to the saint, so that they can cast out devils or perform miracles, and while those things are true and good, it is not what is mentioned as His first role. We know that it is first, for this is not only the first mention of the Holy Spirit in the entire book, but it follows Paul’s instructions on how we know that we have justification and grace:

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand” (Romans 5:1, 2).

Having shown us justification by faith and peace with God, Paul explains that our standing is in grace by faith. Now, we need something inside of us to assure us that we are everything that Paul just said that we are. That something is the Holy Spirit who is in us initially to show us that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts”. How is that love shed abroad? “By the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5).

Isn’t it fascinating to know that the primary reason that the Holy Spirit is in you is to reinforce how much the Father loves you? Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would be another Comforter, to walk with us and guide us. What better way to comfort than to remind us that we are deeply loved by our Daddy Father!

We need reminded that we are loved because the enemy constantly wishes for us to forget it. He spoke to Jesus in the wilderness, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matthew 4:3). Why didn’t he say, “If thou be the beloved Son of God”? That is what God had just said of Jesus to close the third chapter, but Satan leaves that powerful word “beloved” out. He never wants to remind you that you are loved, so the Holy Ghost has to!

Each day of your Christian walk, the Holy Spirit will spread the love of the Father into the further reaches of your heart. Do not be fooled by preaching that tells you that the Holy Spirit is searching the dark corners of your heart to find hidden sins and bring them to light. Jesus died to take away your sins, and His work is a finished work. The Holy Spirit does not come in and do the excess work that Jesus failed to do when you were first saved. That is sacrilege! Instead, the Holy Spirit is here to show you, one step at a time, just how much your Father cares for you.
You are greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved!

Much Forgiveness, Much Love

Luke 7:36-50

Some people take the message of God’s love and grace to task, arguing that telling people how much God has forgiven them and how much that He loves them will not empower them to live for God. This same argument also states that the only way to get people to love God more is to motivate them with Law and Hell. If you threaten them with eternal damnation, you will motivate them to live right; or so the argument goes. Jesus, quite frankly, disagreed.

Jesus entered Simon the Pharisee’s house to eat with him. Upon arrival, a woman of ill-repute from the city came into the house and began weeping over the feet of Jesus, anointing them with oil and drying them with her hair. Simon said nothing, but within himself he thought less of Jesus because He was allowing this to transpire. Jesus sensed Simon’s fury and asked him a simple question regarding forgiveness (Luke 7:41, 42).

Simon readily admitted that any man who was forgiven of much would have much love to give in return; even more so than the man who was forgiven little. Jesus then took that answer and compared Simon and the woman. Simon offered no water for Jesus’ feet, while the woman had not stopped washing them with her tears. Simon offered no welcome kiss to the Master, but the woman was kissing Jesus’ feet. Because of this, Jesus offers her absolution from her sins.

Jesus is not saying that the way to love Him more is to have more of your sins forgiven. If that were the case, then the only ones who could truly love the Lord would be those who lived the worst lives; committed the most sins; fell the farthest, and then had those sins forgiven. Christians that were raised in the church and had lived for Christ for many years would be incapable of loving Jesus as much as a new convert. This makes no sense, for Jesus told the woman that she was saved by her faith, not her works (Luke 7:50). What does Jesus mean then, by telling us that “to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little”? (Luke 7:47).

If a person has no realization as to how forgiven that they are because of the blood of Jesus, they will have very little love to show the Lord. They will have weak worship and a weak lifestyle, for they feel that they are unworthy of Him. When you realize the magnitude of your forgiveness, and the power of just how clean that you are in the eyes of God because of Jesus’ finished work, then you naturally love more than ever before.

The love that this woman shows is from the heart and not only from the head. A recognition in your mind of how loved that you are will cause you to walk in His love and forgiveness in your heart. When your heart realizes this love and forgiveness, good works will naturally flow from your life.

Telling someone to “Love God more!” will help no one to love Him at all. Explaining to the believer just how forgiven that they are will bring forth love and worship like the church has always dreamed of. Know that you are forgiven and you will fall in love with the forgiver!

Held Together By Christ's Love

2 Corinthians 5:14

On my first trip missions trip overseas, I was struck with the power of this verse, and used it in the first meeting that I had with a group of preachers in that country. No matter where we are from, or what our backgrounds are, it is the love of Jesus Christ that holds us together and makes us one big family. It is both the love that He has for us and the love that we have for Him that gives us a mutual interest.

“Constraineth” is “hold together” in Greek. There is a law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus that is at work in every believer (Romans 8:2). This law has made us free from living under sin and its partner, death. Acknowledging the love of Christ in us confirms in our heart that we are as dead to sin as Jesus is, which the rest of this verse brings out: “if one died for all, then were all dead” (2 Corinthians 5:14).

In a world of varying cultures and creeds, it seems almost fantasy that there could be one simple code that would bind these various entities together. The finished work of Jesus Christ is that one beautiful, simple thing that makes us who we are. There is something warming and encouraging about being in a foreign land, where you are thousands of miles from anyone else that you know, and hearing the name of your Jesus mentioned with worship and praise. The peace that He has given to you has also been given to others and it has a lasting effect on both your relationship with Him and your ability to show forth His love to others.

No one that does not know how loved that they are in the eyes of God can ever truly show forth His love to a lost and dying world. We do not have perfect love to give, neither are we capable of generating it. Even the love that we have for our children, which is as close to God’s love as we can naturally formulate, is imperfect in that it is effected by emotion. God’s love is a perfect love which knows no ups and downs and when we know that love, there is no room in our hearts for fear or for torment (1 John 4:18).

The further promise of the constraining love of Christ is that we are alive with Christ in His resurrection. We live this Christian life not after our own fleshly lusts and desires but we live it “unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15). Living our lives for Him means that we dwell on Him and His finished work, not on us and our unfinished work. Acknowledge that the old things are passed away and that all things are become new (5:17), and you will know that all things are of God (5:18), and that you have been reconciled to Him by the finished work of the cross. When we have this knowledge, we gladly accept the ministry of reconciliation.

I believe that those who do not rest in the love that the Father has for them can never fully embrace the ministry of reconciliation. Without a personal revelation of His love and forgiveness, you are always trying to impress Him and reconcile yourself to Him through your performance. The only way that you can reconcile yourself back to God is through His prescribed order and that is the cross of Jesus Christ.

May you go with God’s abundant grace and favor today, held together by the wonderful love of Jesus!

A Father's Love

2 Samuel 18:33

There is a saying, “He has a face only a mother could love” that speaks volumes about a mother’s capacity to love. That capacity to love was placed in woman by our heavenly Father. His treatment toward us is a perfect picture of that love. When we see His concern for us, be it in the wilderness or in the Prodigal Son, we are seeing the perfect love that casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

King David had many children, but seemed to have a special place in his heart for Absalom. Perhaps this love stemmed from the fact that the biblical descriptions of Absalom remind us so much of David. His looks, his ability to sway the hearts of men, his warrior tendencies; all seem to speak of a boy that is his father’s child. Absalom grew into rebellion, and then led an army against his father’s palace in Jerusalem. Too concerned for the safety of his child to put up much of a fight, David fled Jerusalem, leaving the city behind to be taken by his son.

David carried a guilt complex with him following the entire incident with Bathsheba. Though forgiven of his sin with her, he was told that there would be some repercussions for his actions. David spent the next several years accepting his fate as being punishment from God; and he felt that Absalom was God’s literal hand at work. For David, fighting against Absalom would have been the equivalent of fighting against God, and he felt that any judgment meted out on him was just and deserved.

When Absalom was killed by Joab, David’s commanding general; David took the news hard and wept openly before all of Israel. His heart wrenching cry turned the day of victory into a day of mourning for the nation (2 Samuel 19:2). “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33) This cry went forth for a son who had done nothing to earn or elicit such a response. Absalom had caused unparalleled grief in his father’s life for several years, but none of that could take away that father’s undying love for the boy. The wording of David’s cry shows us a man, who has lost his composure; who is beyond caring what those around him might think. This is the cry of a broken heart.

Jesus was on His way into Jerusalem for what would prove to be His final journey before the cross when he saw a panoramic view of the city unfold over the cliff in front of Him. He cried out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13:34) Notice the pathos with which Jesus cries over the central city of Israel. This is the same city that David stood in and cried for the dead and undeserving Absalom. Jesus is just as wounded, just as hurt and just as longing for the Jews that will soon reject Him, as David was for the son that just had.

For the lost and dying world that goes about their business around us, let us remember that our Father cries in agony over them. Just as Jesus asked the Father to forgive those who killed Him at Calvary, Jesus still weeps over their souls even now. Only faith separates the sinner from the Savior, but many will not show that faith. May we weep anew today for the unsaved that we know, and be slower to count them out as a lost cause. If the Father loves you, which He does, don’t you think He loves them just as much?

That I May Know Him

Philippians 3:10

If there is any one that ever lived that could claim to know the character of the risen Christ, surely it was the Apostle Paul. Yet, when writing to the church at Philippi, he says, “That I may know him”, as if there is more for him to know. How telling is this? If Paul had more to learn of the glorious Savior, surely we have a world of knowledge awaiting us!

The context of Paul’s request is a recap of his life prior to meeting Jesus. He counts all previous knowledge and law keeping as “loss for Christ” (Phil. 3:7), and “dung” (Verse 8), willing to exchange them “for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”. The thirst for knowledge is a recurring theme in Paul’s writings as he challenges believers to come to a fuller understanding of whom that they are in Christ. Notice his insistence:

“And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.” (Romans 15:14)

“That in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge.” (1 Corinthians 1:5)

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” (1 Corinthians 15:34)

These are just a few examples of Paul appealing to the knowledge of the believer. His belief was that there was no greater knowledge to be found than that which brings Christ into fuller light in your heart and mind. There was and still is, always something more to learn about our Savior.

The fullness of knowledge is linked to the fullness of spirit. Paul goes on to say, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12). The daily increase in his knowledge of who Jesus was led him to an apprehension of what it meant to be complete in Christ. The more that he learned of Christ, the more that he felt complete or “perfect”.

Jesus told us to “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me” (Matthew 11:29). Daily resting in Christ, whose yoke is “easy” and whose “burden is light” (Matt. 11:30), causes us to “learn” who He is. The more we rest in His finished work, the more that our awareness of His love and compassion is for us.

As you go about your day, take every available moment to dwell on the Father’s love for you. As you allow grace to wash over your soul, you place yourself beneath the yoke of Christ which is easy and light. Every moment that you rest under that yoke, you come into a fuller knowledge of who Christ is, which leads you one step further to living a perfect lifestyle. I do not insinuate that you will never fail again, but the goal in Christianity is to let Christ live His life through us, and that will be a life free from the stain and the failure of sin.

Comprehend His Love For You

Ephesians 3:14-21

When I began to realize the Father’s unconditional, unmatched love for me, I found loving those around me very easy. In fact, when I comprehended His love for me, loving others became absolutely effortless. My prayer now, is that every believer will realize the Lord’s love for them. This knowledge teaches us how to love, for “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Paul shared a similar desire for the church at Ephesus, stating, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:14). What is the cause for Paul praying for Ephesus? We find out in the verses that follow, namely that they, “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18, 19). Paul is praying that they comprehend just how great that the love of Christ is toward them. What a prayer!

Satan fights the believer from gaining this particular knowledge as much as anything else that he does. When Jesus overcame the devil in the wilderness, He did it by every word that proceeded from the mouth of His Father, and the last words of His Father were, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Satan immediately questions whether or not Jesus is the Son of God, and he noticeably drops the word “beloved” (Matthew 4:3). He never wants you to remember how much the Father loves you, and the Father wants you to never forget it.

Christ’s love surpasses our ability to comprehend because it is higher, deeper, longer and wider than our ability to love. A revelation of His love for us expands our ability to love others, thus causing us to fulfill His command to love. The scripture further explains that when we know the love of Christ, we will “be filled with all the fullness of God” (3:19).

All that God is; His wisdom, His goodness, etc, will fill the believer that understands how loved that they are. This is why it is so beautiful that the Apostle John repeatedly refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved in the book of John. It does not mean that Jesus loved him more than anyone else, but that John recognized how loved that he was. God loves you know more or less than He loves anyone else, but you should recognize his love for you and you will walk in His benefits.

If you ask a sinner if they know that God loves them, many of them will respond, “Oh yeah, God loves everyone”. They are right, but with that limited comprehension of God’s love, they do not see how personal that His love is. God’s love must be aimed at them, or they cannot know its full benefits. It is like pointing a magnifying glass at a blade of grass. If you hold the beam of concentrated sunlight on the blade long enough, it will catch fire. The sun’s rays were shining on it before, but it was falling equally on all blades around it. Isolate the beam, burn the blade. Isolate the love of God to one sinner instead of for the whole world; you burn away the chaff of self-righteousness and doubt.

May you be able to comprehend the amount of God’s love for you today. That is my prayer for each of you as you go into this world. Accept that love and spread it to someone else.

The Master Always Cares

Mark 4:38

When the disciples found themselves in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, during a terrible storm, they became afraid for their lives. In this fear, they went to Jesus, who was asleep in the back of the boat, and woke him. Several of the disciples were professional fisherman, so why wake up the carpenter? What should they have done?

Perhaps it is more important to find out what they ask Jesus when they wake Him up. “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” is their questioning Him as to whether or not He even loves them. Not much has changed today in our lives. During many of the storms of this life, we find ourselves wondering if God cares about us, or if He is even watching. Satan preys upon us with the thought that God does not care if we make it or not, and he even tries to convince us that it is God who is putting us through the storm in the first place.

The greatest insult that the disciples could have given against Jesus was to question whether or not He even cared. Consider the fact that Jesus did not wake up because of the rocking boat or the raging winds or driving rain. Instead, it was the cries of His disciples that woke Him from His slumber. Jesus has already told them, “Let us pass over unto the other side”, so they should have the assurance that they will end up on the other side regardless of the weather conditions. Yet, the storm seems more real that the Savior’s protection, so they panic and wake the Master.

Jesus rebukes the storm, which lets us know that it was not from God; else Christ would be fighting against the will of His Father by sending the storm away. When He had accomplished this, He asks the disciples two important questions: “Why are you so fearful?” and “How is it that you have no faith?”

How can they be so afraid while Jesus is in the boat? The answer is the same for us today; we look at the storm instead of trusting in our Savior. While we try all that we know to make it through the trials of life, Jesus is teaching us to rest in the midst of the storm. While running the race for Jesus, we must learn to rest while we live for God. Rest is not merely a vacation, relaxing on a beach somewhere, but it is taking our ease in Jesus, relaxed in His finished work.

How can they have no faith with Jesus in the boat? Jesus’ question about their faith is not to condemn them, but to cause them to take spiritual inventory in their own lives to find out how much they trust Him. When we exhibit faith, we are showing forth an attitude of “taking” from God. With much faith, we take much, like the centurion who said, “Speak the word and my servant will be healed”. Jesus called this “great faith” (Matthew 8:5-10). With little faith, we take very little, which is what the disciples have in the boat.

When you face the storms of life, turn to your Savior. Why waste one more moment focusing on a storm that you cannot remove when you could be resting next to Jesus? Resting in Christ is not as easy as it sounds because the storm will seem overwhelming, so make it your goal for this day and every day. Paul called it labor to enter into rest (Hebrews 4:11) because it will take your focus, so place your faith in Him today, and know that the Master always cares for you.

Blinded Minds

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Paul wished for the entire world to both see and have the gospel of Jesus Christ, as had been revealed to him. He calls himself an “able minister of the New Testament” (2 Corinthians 3:6), and then “seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully” (2 Corinthians 4:1, 2). His chief concern regarding this message of the New Covenant was that it not be handled in a wrong manner, but that it was open and honest before all.

He knew that the glorious gospel was and is life-changing. He also knew that the only way to stop the light of the gospel from penetrating into every area of darkness was if the enemy went to work blinding men from receiving it. “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Corinthians 4:3), Paul says, knowing that the good news is so good that it can never be hid from a saint, only from the unsaved.

Paul goes a step further with his description, stating that it is not only hid from the lost but that “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (4:4). It is not their spiritual eyes that the enemy must blind, because they can’t really use them anyway, but it is their minds. A sinner can certainly use his or her mind to reason and theorize, so Paul identifies that Satan will attack this capability in the unbeliever to try and convince them against the good news of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever encountered someone who does not believe on Jesus and they give you a laundry list of reasons why they have no faith in God? They have intellectualized their unbelief and have left themselves no room for faith. In that instance, you are speaking to someone who has been blinded to the truth of the love of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s answer to this problem was to continue to shine the light. “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord” (4:5), is Paul’s way of saying that there is no need to argue of your own intellect; simply preach Jesus Christ. When you meet someone who is an unbeliever and who wishes only to argue about whether or not God exists or how many days it took Him to create the earth, your only counter is to shower them with the love of God. In the face of all of their disputations, simply give them more of His love. The good news of Jesus can be boiled down to one simple fact: God loves you. If this principle is repeated and reinforced, it is the only truth that can penetrate the darkness of unbelief.

Even believers benefit by frequent and repeated exposure to this light. Paul said that this light gives “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (4:6). We literally learn more of the glory of God as we see the face of Jesus day to day. Actually, we are changed into His very image as we learn more of His glory through the good news of Christ’s finished work (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Be changed into who He is by the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Go in peace!