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Showing posts from February, 2019

What it means to humble yourself before God and thus be exalted

1 Peter 5:6-7 tells us what this means: "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." See the TPT: " If you bow low in God’s awesome presence, He will eventually exalt you as you leave the timing in His hands. 7 Pour out all your worries and stress upon Him and leave them there, for He always tenderly cares for you." Believer, we humble ourselves before God by casting ALL our care upon Him; ALL - from that pimple on your face to your anxiety about paving the way for a great future for your kids. If it matters to you, it matters to Him.  No care is too big or too small for our heavenly Father in Christ to deal with for us, even the care of our fears, sins and addictions and living a godly life.  Sometimes, we forget that God wants us to cast ALL our care upon Him. In many places of worship, we are subtly taught that there are some cares that we sh

God's Grace: License and Power to "go and sin no more."

Believer, no amount of law-keeping or good works can make any righteous in God's sight. Isaiah 64:6 says of all the law-keeping and those "sacrifices and good deeds" that many wrongly think  makes God answer prayers: " We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight." But see how our heavenly Father sees we who believe in His Son Jesus Christ, all apart from keeping the Law or doing its works: " And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God." Romans 5:9. All of this and much more through the blood of Jesus and without us keeping the Law.  No human striving aka "a menstrual rag" is involved after we got saved. This is Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favou

See the Father's love for you!

" In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath]." 1 John 4:10. God Himself is Love. He gave up His own Son up to die for us. One death for our entire lifetime of sins. God so loved the world that He provided the Way for our entire lifetime of sins and their penalty to disappear. How?  Christ crucified and Christ raised from the dead is the LEGAL and RIGHTEOUS foundation on which every insult and every sin that we ever committed against our Maker have been made to disappear. This according to Romans 4:25- “ Who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous." See the TPT: “Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us righ

In Christ Jesus, we are forever righteous in God's sight, "...even though we are guilty of many sins." Romans 5:16.

Believers, Christ didn't think His Gospel would make believers go out and start committing sins anyhow. Why do we think that preaching the message of Christ will make churchgoers go on sinning sprees? By God's Grace, lets not deny ourselves the experience of God's saving Grace that saves us from our sins simply because it does not conform to human logic, " For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18. Believer, this is the Gospel of Christ: Romans 5:19 says - " For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous." The above verse shows us that Adam’s sin is what made his descendants sinners, not committing acts of sin as many preach. Being a carrier of this sinful nat

How does one "resist the devil"? By being steadfast in "the faith."

Believers, consider 1 Peter 5: "8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." For many of us, " Resist him, steadfast in the faith," has been interpreted as " do your best to not sin and obey the law in order to be right with God so that the devil won't catch you napping in sin and thus devour you." There's one huge problem with this interpretation:  " the law is not of faith." The way of faith is very different from the way of the law. Trying to obey the law in order to get into God's good books or escape His wrath is being faithless and puts one under the curse. See Galatians 3:12- "10 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not ob