It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2

Archive for December, 2017

Faith Is a Perspective; Faith Is a Position That Is Rooted In Love

Many people see faith just as a tool to be used to get a desired result from God. That is an aspect, a side or part of faith but “The faith” is a way of thinking, a stance, a viewpoint that determines our outlook and belief in the love of God for us. Faith is a stance of unwavering belief on the principles, precepts and truth of God’s infallible word and His love.
Faith knows and understands we are the beloved of God and His love for us is so great that He sacrificed His best, which is His Son, to retrieve His highest and most valued creation, mankind. Faith believes in the love of God and recognizes that we were created in His image to show His love. So that we may replenish the earth with His love which, we display to others. Faith is not just a process or steps to take just to go to heaven when we die and yet still live a defeated life.

Faith is a view, an attitude and commitment that we are here for God’s glory and purpose; to show God’s love to a lost world so those who do not know Him will see the power of God’s love in us. To love others unconditionally we must die to self which, can only be done from a position of faith. To follow Jesus is to deny self, deny our rights to ourselves, to deny culture, race and even our comfort, so that we may take up the cross of love. There is no greater love than to lay down our life for another and this takes a position of faith in God that He will be with us no matter the situation.

John 12:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. NKJV

Our biggest challenge is not to fight the devil; he is a defeated foe, nor people who are against us. Our biggest challenge is to stay in love and fight the good fight of faith, when life hits us hard, when things do not seem fair or just. Our position of faith is to love. The just shall live by faith. Faith is the truth of who we are now that the Holy Spirit is living inside us and who God has called us to be.

Faith is a perspective, where we look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. It is Christ’s love in us that causes us to see and do things differently. If Jesus is the author, then He is the Creator and Source of our faith, our love. If Jesus is the finisher of our faith then He will see it accomplished, fulfilled to its completion and that is His job. Our job is to look to Jesus, by saying yes Lord as an act of my will, I say yes to your will. Then we look to Him to see Him as our example.

Hebrews12:2 Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. NKJV

We are to look to Jesus to see how He loved others and forgave His enemies. We look to Jesus to see how He laid down His life so that the world would see the love of God. When Jesus was reviled, He did not revile, love flowed from the One being crucified on the cross. We look to see how Jesus responded to hate, being treated unfairly and unjustly. Mercy and grace abounded in every situation and the love of God was displayed. God is love and we are created in His image, to be like Him on the earth. Love does not seek its own and take into account how many times we may have been wrong.

True believers are here to love. If we miss the transformation of becoming love, then we miss the whole reason why Jesus came, died and was raised from the dead. This fallen world system wants to make the gospel appear self-centered and self-focused while we live on earth. Jesus told us heaven has come and it is in us, we do not have to wait until we die to experience heaven, because heaven is the expression of love. The Holy Spirit has come to live in us that we will be changed from the inside out, to look like Christ, to show what heaven is like on earth. We are the body of Christ, the Anointed One and we are the expression of Christ’s life on earth.

If we let the world and the wrong which is done to us, dictate our response in life, then we have allowed our experience to become lord over us. The world will not know the way to Christ unless we show it in our lives, in our actions and in the love we have for others. If we are true believers, image bearers of God, then others will see His love in us, when we respond in love and not the ways of the world.

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

We should reconsider our perspective on faith as being the love of God in us. If we say we abide in Jesus we ought to walk as He walked and keep His words and the love of God will be perfected in us. We are told to love one another because love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. No matter what we face in life we are to never lose sight of who we are now that Jesus has come and He is Lord.

Remember the position of faith for the true believer is realizing who we are and who we have become now that Christ has come and He lives in us. The perspective of faith is for us to live in the light of truth of God’s love for us so we can show God’s love that is in us. Our faith, our perspective is in God’s love for us no matter what happens then we will display His love, His unconditional love to all mankind as an act of our will, we choose to love no matter the cost.

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How is Your Truth Defined, By Your Experience or By God’s Word?

The word of God speaks truth! It may be truth that we have not experienced or understand, but God’s word is truth. Truth is the reason Jesus said he came, “For this cause I was born and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth hears My voice.” John18:37 b

God Himself has spoken and given us His written word to guide us, teach us and to be an example to us and yet, we still allow life, family, culture and society to tell us who we are and how to live. When life does not go as we planned or when there is lack, sickness or chaos, many will ask, where is the love of God? Life experiences are teaching and shaping their minds and opinions and not the word of God. These are things that seem right to a person but only lead to destruction and disappointment and they are not His truths.

Jesus came to tell us the truth of who we are and to set us free from the mindset of a fallen world system, culture and society. In this worldly system there is division, hate and an evilness that is in conflict with the things of God. Some people want to blame God for the wrong and evil that is in the world but they have been trained by a world system that lies and distorts God’s truth. Jesus came to show us God’s way of life and truth, which will equip us to fight the good fight of faith! That fight is to believe the word of God and not the lies of this world. Our fight is not with evil men or with the devil, he is a defeated foe. Our fight of faith is to believe God, to bea His image of love and to come against every lie with His truth.

We will determine what truth we will live by as our choices and decisions reflect our beliefs. Life experiences, family, culture and society teach principles and precepts they want us to believe and live by. They want to speak louder than the truth of God’s word. This fallen world system wants to tell us how to live our lives, what is important and define our worth based on our race, culture and or finances.

Many may fall into that trap of assessing their worth, value and quality of life based on a lie that tells them they are failures and how bad and sinful they are. The true Gospel of Jesus tells us that we are valued, a pearl of great price, because of God’s love for us. He sent His Son Jesus to pay our debt that He may redeem us back unto Himself.

When we constantly think about how bad and sinful we are and that we will never live up to God’s righteousness, then we focus in on our sin and see ourselves as worthless. This is a lie from the world to get us to think we are bad. So as a man thinks, so is he in his mind. The trick of the enemy is to get us to think we are worthless and think bad of ourselves and thereby open us up to all types of negative suggestions, thoughts of failure and sin.

The truth of God’s word says we are made the righteousness of Jesus and thereby we can see ourselves as good. Though we may not be perfect at all times, we are good because we believe in the completed work of Christ, not our experiences. The world would label us according to the deeds and actions of our past but God has called us a new creation and the old things are passed away.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. KJV

Which truth will we live by? Truth as defined by our experiences and this fallen world’s opinions or will we let our life be defined by the love of God and the word of God? This western world culture wants to define God’s love and the Christian life without challenges, hardships and struggles. This is not what we see in God’s word. Most every servant of God or prophet had adversity, tribulation and persecution and yet they endured. Though we have the benefit of seeing their lives lived and completed with victory, they did not know the end of the story but their faith in the word of God and not their circumstances enabled them to live transformed lives. Even when they were disobedient, God used their failures to teach, train and transform them into His image and their created purpose.

When the chaos of life ensues, then we must choose to trust the truth of God’s word, the truth of Who He is. No matter the situation or the outcome as we see it, God’s word is true. God is working all things out for our good.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed, we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesu might be made manifest in our body. KJV

Consider the truth of God’s word when you enter into challenges and tribulations. Know that God is with us in every situation and He has a plan and a way for us to escape. Though we may be troubled on every side, perplexed and cast down but we will not be destroyed when we see every challenge met with God’s supply. All of life’s situations have provisions made by God. All those who believe and trust in God will allow their truth to be defined by the word of God and not be defined by their experiences.

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