Having Bible knowledge and understanding is great, however if the scriptures are not living and active in our lives, it is all in vain (Hebrews 4:12-13). The life application selections contain thoughts provoking, real life challenges that will prayerfully transform us to be more like Jesus in our spiritual journey. James 1:23-27 challenges us to not just merely listen or read the scriptures, it says “But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” Do not miss your blessings my friends!
For God does not change his mind about whom he chooses and blesses. As for you Gentiles, you disobeyed God in the past; but now you have received God's mercy because the Jews were disobedient. In the same way, because of the mercy that you have received, the Jews now disobey God, in order that they also may now receive God's mercy.
I love the change of season! My favorite seasons are Fall and Spring. My thoughts during those seasons are always the same. My God is fun! As much as I enjoy when seasons change, reading the scriptures above makes me so grateful that God's compassion and promises are not like the change of seasons. We often hear that the Israelites who are of Jewish religion were God's chosen people, often referred to as Jews. Reading Romans chapter 11, the Holy Spirit led me to a truth that I do not recall ever hearing a message about. God's first selection to represent him in this world. Think about the flood of Noah. Prior to the flood of Noah, God's intention was for all his creation to look to him and find their way home. As you all know, instead God in "Genesis 6:5-6 NLT, “-The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So, the LORD was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart." God resolved destroying mankind was his only option but saved Noah and his family who were from his original creation. Humankind prior to the flood were all considered Gentiles. The Gentiles- humankind broke God's heart and failed him which led to his second plan. God decided instead of working through the entire human race, He chose the nation of Israel to be his people with the hope of modeling what worshiping and honoring God above all things looks like to the world. They also failed God and broke his heart again. God resolved to another decision, he realized only he can rescue us from the chains and trap that Satan has over humankind. He allowed his Words to become flesh, Jesus (John chapter-1) and died for the whole world (John 3:16) while we were still in our sinful mess (Romans 5:6-8). Praise God that he does not change his mind about his love and promises to humanity. His goal is to save all his creations. When Jesus says in John 3:5-8, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of Spirit not the flesh, I believed God's goal is to bring us back to our spiritual form. God realized his attempts to work with us in the flesh has become a failure with both Gentiles, the entire humankind and Israel, as a chosen group. That is why I believe Paul in Galatians 3:26-29 reminded us "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." To God we are all under one redemption through Jesus Christ. To say you know God and denied Jesus who is fully man-flesh and God-divine (John 1:14) is a false Good News (Gospel). Jesus is the only door to God. John 10:7-9, "Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture." Let us rejoice and share the Good News that God through Jesus Christ is waiting to show everyone mercy, whomever answers his call!
But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.
God is a merciful and sovereign creator! Do you believe this statement to be true? Do you have moments where you look at the world around you or your life situation and doubt God's love and sovereignty? Often time, it is difficult to see God's love, mercy and sovereignty when we see the chaos that is happening every day. To understand God's deep love for us, we must spend time with every aspect of his nature. To help me stay humble under the mighty Hands of God, I have been studying his nature as a parent. Throughout the Bible I see a continuous theme about God’s desires to have an intimate relationship with his children. In God's desire to connect with us, he gives us choices. He longs to create a willing mutual relationship with us. As I studied the book of Joshua, the passage above is one of many examples in the Bible where God as a parent clearly sets expectation and warns about the consequences if people choose not to obey his instructions. His instructions through Joshua were simple. You follow the path that I laid before you, things will go well as I promised but if you choose to disobey you will die. I always appreciate God's honesty about the cost of following him. God's desire has always been for us to choose him as our Lord, Shepherd, and protector. In Mathew 7:21-23, Jesus taught a lesson that I believe is frequently ignored but I believe is so important in our walk with God. Jesus, in this passage saw the need to make a point that walking with God is not a matter of doing but relational. Relationship takes spending time with God and doing his will. Many of us in ministry do a lot of good things, but are you doing the will of God? When I say in ministry, I am not talking about earthly titles in a congregation because everyone who has said Jesus is Lord through surrendering your old self and born to a new life is in ministry (Romans 6:1-7). In my own personal Bible study in this area, I am learning that I must remain sober and constantly praying for God to ignite his spirit to use me as a vessel. I have learned that motives matter. What you choose to do or why you do things matter. Whatever you are doing in the name of the Lord, do you find yourself seeking or getting praises or is God getting all the praises for your success or service? God's desire is to bless you with goodness that is beyond what this world can provide. Let us choose the narrow path that leads to eternal goodness. Matthew 7:13-14 NIV “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Being a busy body in the name of Jesus does not mean relationship or being obedient to the will of God. Jesus addressed the church of Ephesus where the people were busy in the name of God, yet they were not connected with God (Revelation 2:1-10) Examine your ministry and ask yourself, why are you doing the things that you do?
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain and your vats will overflow with good wine.
God does not need our wealth! He owns everything that we have. I see this passage as a test of trust and surrender with a promise that the reward of trusting God with everything is that we will have abundant blessings. As you read this passage, do not make the mistake of equating God's overflowing blessings with the definition of this earth blessing. Think of where you were in life before Christ rescued you. Or think about what your life could have been like if Christ did not rescue you and gave you a new purpose. Romans 5:6-8 reads, "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” You might say, can that passage also relate to earthly wealth? The answer is yes, absolutely! However, we live in a religious era that often deceives many people with the gospel of prosperity, which is a major misconception about God's blessings. We often treat God as we view our worldly invented idol, Santa Claus. If God's blessings were based on us being naughty or good, we would never receive any blessings because there is nothing good about us. The only one who is good is God! Jesus himself understood this fact during his ministry (Mark 10 17-18 & Mathew 19:17). Did you wake up this morning in your right mind, able to walk, breathe on your own, able to use your hands, feet, have a place to stay, etc.? Make a list of your blessings and see what you perceive as part of your routine, there is someone wishing they had a fraction of the gifts you take for granted. Jesus encouraged his disciples to not focus on storing things of this world as possessions but instead to store things that are heavenly bound (Mathew 6:19-21). As you give back a portion of your wealth, whatever wealth might be for you (time, money, talents...etc.) remember your barns are overflowing beyond the expectation of this earthly dwelling! A place ".... where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."
For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
Are you in a season in your life where you find yourself frustrated because life is not happening the way you had hoped and imagined? Every decision we make, big or small, represents a brick that we are adding to the structure of our lives. Our life’s journey is like building a house; therefore, the quality of our materials and our builder's skills and knowledge will determine the outcome of the final product. Who is your chief architect and builder? God is the builder of all things. Would you like to build your house under the guidance of a builder who sees the beginning and the end of your life? God is ready to partner with you in your life’s journey through Jesus Christ if you are willing. Our life structure has a builder whether you realize it or not. Your everyday decision is driven by a goal or ambition. Our life’s goals and ambitions are prone to reflect our sinful nature that is governed by Satan's standards or Spiritual guidance which is governed by God's standards. I recall a period in my life where every decision I made was built with the focus of proving people wrong about my ability to be successful. My traumatic experiences were shaping my life to reflect the flesh instead of the Holy Spirit. As a result, the bricks I was using to build my life were not spiritually healthy. If you look at my life during that period, my sinful bricks were not obvious to the naked eyes. However, my motive in life was driven by anger, bitterness, hunger for status, selfishness, etc. When I decided to allow Jesus to take complete control of the wheel of my life, I began to see the transformation. I had to be willing to let Jesus take over and renew me to God's purpose. My life is no longer guided by my feelings or what others have done to me. The joy, contentment, and freedom that I experience from surrendering my house to God is beyond any description that I can share. If God is not your builder, choose to surrender your life to him as your chief architect. The way we can evaluate if God is our builder, is to ask ourselves who do we go to when making any life decisions, big or small? Is God through the scriptures and prayers your first consultant or advisor?
Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
How can something so valuable to mankind be so worthless? What is wealth to you? The answer to this question will differ for everyone. This passage prompted me to ponder on the tragic fires that have been going on around the United States and most recently in Hawaii where many people lost their lives and possessions. Imagine where you are in life! What or who in your life do you consider valuable? Wealth does not always equal money or possessions. It could be something or someone that influences your life or things that you have an abundance of, such as money. The families in Maui woke up and found their lives suddenly changed. Although every one of those victims are grieving the loss of lives and things, their recovery through this traumatic experience will be different. Those whose assurance relies on their possessions, whether dead or alive during this tragedy, have lost it all. However, the people who had made Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior, although their journey in this world might be over, their righteousness will reward them deliverance from the final death. Those walking with the Lord who are alive, know that they may have lost their earthly possessions, but their confidence is in God as their provider, and He promised he will never forsake the righteous. There are several examples in the Bible that demonstrate the response from those who understand the value of God's grace in comparison to what this world offers. Jesus understood the value of righteousness and demonstrated how we, as his students must fight against the Devil’s schemes that lead us toward worthless wealth. When the father of deceiver, Satan (Mathew 4:1-11) attempted to offer Jesus what already belonged to God, Jesus confidently stood against the scheme because he knew who the maker and creator of all things is. Another example is Stephen; he was being stoned for his efforts to persuade the Jewish leaders to choose God over their position of wealth and power. The scripture says, “Stephen prayed Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and he asked the “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” (Acts 7:59-60). Zacheus in Luke 19:1-10 and James/John in Mathew 4:18-20 also grasp the significance of what it means to store up wealth that is valuable to withstand the wrath that life brings. There are many other examples of men and women who gave it all to choose God as their anchor during the storms of life. In contrast, read Mathew 19:16-23 and learn from a man who chose the wealth of this world over surrendering his will to God. Wraths will come. When they do come, who or what do you rely on to deliver you? Wealth of this world or Righteousness?
Not one of all the Lord's good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
Do you believe that you serve a faithful God? Do you believe in all his promises and live in expectation that they shall manifest as he says? As we read these questions, we can quickly respond, yes, I do? Take a moment to process these simple questions that I believe is one of the cornerstones of our Christian journey. Jesus says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Do you believe no matter where you are in your life that God is working everything out for your good (Romans 8:28)? The book of Joshua taught us that the nation of Israel was made of different tribes which we might call today different countries that are part of one continent or states that are part of one country. The Israelites went through many trials; most of them if not all their trials were invoked by their disobedience against God’s commands. Yet, despite their disobedience and consequences of their actions, God still fulfilled all the promises that he made to their ancestors many years prior. Is your soul steadfast in all circumstances that are happening in your life or the world around you? Let us live our lives knowing and believing our God will finish the good work that he has started (Philippians 1:6). Hebrews 12:1-3, reminds us "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
