So Much More

I have to say, Romans, chapter 5 has some of the most amazing truths in one portion of scripture.  Four times Paul uses the term "much more" in reference to a believer’s life after the cross…

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him - Verse 9

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many - Verse 15 

For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ) - Verse 17 

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: - Verse 20 

God has called you to so much more.  You serve a much more God.  Much more opportunity in life, much more forgiveness toward others, much more favor on your job, much more restoration in your family.  Much more than you ever had before.  Much more than you will ever need.  So much more.

You're a Germ Graveyard

Acts 28:5 “But he shook off the snake into the fire and suffered no harm”.

Hugging. It’s going to be great when people get back to hugging again. I don’t mean an “air hug” either. I mean a strong embrace. No more “elbow bumps” either. I’m looking forward to a hearty handshake. Romans 16:16 says to “greet one another with a holy kiss”. We are wired for relationship, we are not designed for social distancing. But what if, when all this is over, the fear of disease and viruses remains in the back of people’s minds? What then?

The answer is in Romans 8:2 which says that the law of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. In other words, your body is a “germ graveyard”. As soon as germs and viruses touch your body, they die, NOT YOU! Their tombstone reads RIP “They lived, I died!” - Psalm 118:17. Mark 16:18 says “they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover”. The only way to lay hands on someone is to touch them. That tells me that as a believer, if you lay hands on people in Jesus’ name, you have authority over germs, illnesses and disease.

Just like in Acts 28 when Paul was gathering sticks to throw on the fire and a venomous snake fastened on his hand. In verse 6 it says, “they [the natives] were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time they saw no harm come to him”. The same Spirit that lives in Paul lives in you. His body was a poison graveyard and so is yours. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. Jesus body was a germ graveyard and so is yours. Amen!

Stir it Up!

2 Timothy 1:6 “Wherefore I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God that is in you by the putting on of my hands”.

We used to have a coffee shop in our town called Stir it Up. I would order a big cup of hot cappuccino with a little cream on top, then give it a good stir. How awesome it tasted! In 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul talks about “the gift of God”, which is in every Spirit filled believer. The Greek word for gift is charisma, or our word for grace. Like Paul, I’m reminding you today of something so key to living a powerful life: this gift or grace on the inside of you needs to be stirred up. You need to regularly add fresh fuel to the fire.

Stir up the gift of grace on the inside of you. Don’t let it stay inactive or dormant. When you’re facing issues in life, stir up the grace of God and His promises that are hidden in your heart and speak out loud, “yes and amen”. The next verse goes on to say, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”. When stirred, grace reminds you of who you are. When stirred, grace reminds you what God has called you to do. When stirred, grace prompts you to action in agreement with His Word. So...stir it up!!

When We Rest, He Works

Psalm 121:1-5 “I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord…He who watches over you will not slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you”

One night as I was getting ready for bed, I had something pressing on my mind. Then I heard the Lord say to me, “Why don’t you go to sleep, I’ll handle it”. I had been pondering something that I had to do, and how it was going to be done, and… You know how it is, you’ve been there I’m sure. What was the Lord’s advice for me? “The best thing you can do right now is go to sleep”. That’s awesome. When we rest, He works. But here’s the twist, the opposite is true too. When we work, He rests. We get to choose.

It says in Psalm 121:1-5 that He watches over us in our sleep. He’s active and working on our behalf while we sleep. He’s taking care of things and ordering things in our favor. And when we wake up, we’re refreshed. By His goodness and grace, we have the supernatural wisdom we need, and the answers to our questions, and solutions to our problems. That’s amazing. All because we chose to rest and let Him work. Imagine that, God working things out to get the job done while we rest. I am totally okay with that. How about you?

No Vacancy

1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no man despise your youth”.

I remember our first vacation with my wife and family. For some reason, we decided that we would just drive to the beach, on July 4th weekend, and find a hotel when we got there. All we saw at each hotel was “No Vacancy”. We ended up going from one town to another and finally found a room.

In 1 Timothy 4, Paul the Apostle is writing to Timothy, a young pastor in Ephesus. Timothy was one of the youngest ministers in a whole city of pastors. Apparently there seemed to be an issue with their respect for Timothy as a fellow pastor due to his age.

I love the way Paul addressed him. Instead of writing to all the other pastors and saying, “I want you to respect my son in the faith, Timothy!”, he said, “Hey Timothy, don’t you allow them to get into your head”. He said, “You’re in control of how you respond to their actions”. He said, “LET no man despise your youth”. This signifies that Timothy had control over what he allowed to take up space in his thought life. He refused to LET them rent space in his mind.

Are there negative words that others have spoken trying to take up space in your mind? That’s your opportunity to allow God’s grace, his unmerited favor, to empower you. Don’t LET anyone or anything rent a room in your thoughts! Think about it, no one or nothing should have that kind of power in your thought life. Simply declare, no vacancy, all rooms are occupied by grace! Amen!

Do vs. Done

John 19:30 “When Jesus had received the sour wine He said, It is finished, and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

There’s a big difference between something that you need to do and something that is already done. At dinnertime the other day, I looked in our pantry and I saw a jar of spaghetti sauce, a box of pasta, and I saw the sausage in the refrigerator. And I said to myself, “should I make the pasta or order from a local restaurant”? Well, you guessed it, I ordered out…the food was already cooked…done. It’s so much easier when something is done, completed, finished.

That’s the difference the cross made. It took us from do, do, do to done, done, done. The promises of God are yes, and amen. You don’t have to DO anything, it’s already done. Your healing is already done. Your forgiveness is already done. Your victory is already DONE!

If you could just see life through DONE rather than DO, it would make a huge difference. It takes all the pressure off, it takes all the self-effort out, it gives you a confidence because you already know the outcome. Today, see whatever you’re dealing with as Done not Do. It’ll change everything. Stay blessed. You know why? It’s DONE!

Your Vital Necessity

1 Chronicles 22:19 – “Now set your mind and heart to seek (inquire of and require as your vital necessity) the Lord your God…”

One day I woke up with these two words “vital necessity“, and I asked myself what does this mean? To some people, me included, my morning cup of coffee is vital. Maybe you can’t do anything until you eat breakfast in the morning. For others, their morning walk is vital to get their day started.

In 1 Chronicles 22:19 it says, “Now set your mind and heart to seek (inquire and require as your vital necessity) the Lord your God”. The word vital means essential, indispensable, crucial, critical, high priority. The word necessity means fundamental, basic, necessary. This is truly relevant to the next part of the verse which says, “arise and build…”.

If you want to build your life, make seeking Jesus your vital necessity. How? Set your mind and heart to seek the Lord as the most vital and necessary part of your life. Set your thoughts and desires on Jesus. Not just occasionally, but set your mind and keep it set on Jesus. As you do, His grace will over supply every area of your life, and every demand, and every situation. Make HIM your vital necessity and watch as things in life become effortless. With or without your morning coffee!

Our Alarm System

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 ESV

I'm so glad God blessed us with built in "alarms". We have negative emotions that tell us that something is wrong with our thinking. We have symptoms when there is something wrong with our body. We even have godly spouses, friends and parents to show us things we are too stubborn to receive from God on our own!

But there's one more thing that may not be so obvious. It's a "condemnation meter". It looks like a fuel gauge on your dashboard, but it works in reverse. When the needle is on "Empty", that's good. According to Romans 8:1, God says there is NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. If you're born again, you have received the gift of NO condemnation.

When you give place to condemnation, the needle begins to move away from "E" and guilt and fear set in. If you give place to guilt and fear, the needle moves again and destructive habits set in. Condemnation is now at dangerous levels! The answer, resist all condemning thoughts, accusations and lies with the truth of God's Word. Warning! Resist ALL condemnation.

Recalibrate

Jeremiah 10:23 “Oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man to direct his own steps”

The word “recalibrate” has become quite familiar to all of us GPS users out there. Where would we be without them…literally? When we take a wrong turn, we rely on the GPS to recalibrate. If I didn’t have the GPS I’d have gotten lost so many times! I still remember the days when my dad would pull over and dig out the map from the glove compartment of our station wagon. Those days are long gone. Now we just wait for our GPS to figure out a way to get us back on track.

Recalibrate means to calibrate again, to get back on course again. If you’ve gotten off course, no worries, you have the Guide inside. The Holy Spirit will recalibrate within you. He will prompt you to make a simple course correction. Jeremiah 10:23 says “it’s not in any of us to direct our own steps. In life, we need to recalibrate many, many times. God is okay with that. That’s why He gave us the Holy Spirit to recalibrate us as soon as we begin to make a wrong turn. He guides us to make a small course correction, that’s all we need. The sooner we yield to Him, the less recalibration we need on the path ahead. If you’ve gotten off course, listen to the Holy Spirit and just recalibrate. You’ll get to your destination. Trust your “God Positional System”.

A Change of Diet in 2019

Joshua 5:12 “and the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of Canaan that year”.

After I returned from Winter Break at Charis Bible College a few weeks ago, I saw a friend of mine and they looked so different. I asked, “What are you doing that you look so different?” They explained about their special diet, listing their change of foods and eating habits.

Speaking of eating habits, can you imagine what it would have been like to eat the same food every day for 40 years? That’s what happened to the children of Israel, before they came into the promised land of Canaan. The manna in Canaan represents “just enough” provision for each day. This is survival. Thank God for His provision, but He wants better for His children.

When they entered the land of Canaan, they began to eat fruit. The fruit was already there. The fruit represents “more than enough”. That’s the difference between a miracle and the blessing. A miracle is for crisis. Thank God for miracles, but the blessing is for every day. It’s a way of believing. It’s believing in God’s commanded blessing on His children because of the cross of Christ. In 2019, choose God’s diet. Choose more than enough! Let’s eat!

Death, Taxes and the New England Patriots

Hebrews 13:5 Amplified “He (God) Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. (I will) not, (I will) not, (I will) not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let (you) down...(assuredly not)!”

Super Bowl Sunday, an American football tradition, is finally here. Get the Velveeta ready, hold your nose to your Zenith (they still make those?), and watch the New England Patriots take the Super Bowl field for the ninth time. Please repeat after me, “Tom Brady is getting old!” Yet at 41, he keeps getting better like a fine wine. Quoting the familiar phrase, “You can count on two things in life: death and taxes”, sports media has added a third…the New England Patriots.

In Hebrews 13:5, God says five times (the number of grace), “I will not, I will not, I will not…I will not, assuredly not leave you, fail you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support, or let you down”. Hallelujah! Do you get the picture? He will not ever, no never leave you nor forsake you. God is more of a sure thing, more unchanging than anything. So, stay secure in His Word, His nature and His love.

Get the chips and salsa ready, God loves you and so do we! Enjoy

Breaking Point by Natalie Fortunato

Mark 2:22 "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins." (New Living Translation)

Something happened to me in 2018 that changed my life forever...I came to my breaking point. I had been living by the Old Testament (all about what I do) and New Testament (all about what Jesus did) at the same time. I was putting old wine into new wineskins. I was constantly frustrated. Something had to give..."New wine calls for new wineskins".

Then it happened, I turned in my old wineskin of self-effort and sin consciousness for a new wineskin - the pure, unforced rhythms of God's goodness and grace. A life where the Word is more real than my senses. A life of faith in the finished work of the cross.

As you enter into 2019, consider these powerful words, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30 The Message). After all, “no one puts new wine into old wineskins”.

In His Presence are Presents

Did you know that every day is Christmas when you are in Christ? I love Christmastime! When I was a kid, my parents would pile the Christmas presents, it seemed like, all the way to the ceiling. We would be excited for weeks waiting for Christmas morning. Then the time would come to open up our presents, and then in a blink of an eye it was over. Opening them was so much fun, we would look around and wonder, are there any more? No, we had opened them all…until the stocking gifts after Sunday mass, ahhh!

Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is (present tense) your shepherd. A shepherd provides for his sheep, feeds them, and protects them, every day, all day. Because Jesus IS your Good Shepherd you don’t want for anything . You don’t lack wisdom, direction, provision - anything. In His presence are His presents, Hallelujah! Jesus IS with you, He is our Emmanuel, God with us. He is present with you providing presents. Now, right at this moment, just meditating on Jesus, faith is released out of your spirit, the faith of Jesus. Let your heart be encouraged with the reality that Jesus IS with you.

When you are facing your challenges, Psalm 16:11 says, “In His presence is fullness of joy”. Fullness here means completeness, wholeness, abundance. John 1:16 says “of His fullness we have all received grace for grace”. That’s grace replacing the grace that was there before it! In His presence you release this fullness. In His presence there are presents! Enjoy Christ in Christmas. Enjoy family. Enjoy!

No More Law School

Galatians 4:24 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ”.

I commend the students who, after four years of college, go on to law school. I mean, four years of studying, taking exam after exam, studying some more, and late nights is a lot of work. Yet they are determined go back and do it again at a whole nutha’ level!

So, now let’s talk about a different kind of “law school”. One of my favorite books in the Bible is Galatians. In this book the apostle Paul addresses Christians who welcome the good news of Jesus Christ when Paul is present, but after he leaves their city, others come right behind him and mix the good news of grace with the Jewish law, and they welcome that too.

Paul was strong in combating this mixture. He said in Galatians 3:1, “O foolish Galatians who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth”. He explains to them in Galatians 4:24 that, yes, the law has a purpose, it was “our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ”. Then goes on to say in verse 25, “but after that faith is come we are no longer under a schoolmaster”. In other words, we are no longer under the law, we are no longer in “law school”.

A schoolmaster here means a servant to care for children until they become a mature son.As Christians, we are no longer servants but sons.We are not under the law but under grace.You can’t be under both law and grace.He exhorts us to beware of leaven, “a little leaven leaves the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9).Beware of mixture that focuses on what you must do and not putting the focus on what Jesus has done.No more law school folks.School’s out!Enjoy your endless grace summer!

Bad News Sold as Good News

Matthew 6:15 “If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins”

This is not good news. This is bad news that is intended to make us shake in our boots. It links God’s forgiveness to our own. It’s not grace, it is law. It’s something you must give to get. Why did the Lord preach law? Because some people will never value the gift of grace until the law has been allowed to do its condemning work. Some need to hear the bad news before they will appreciate the good news.

Romans 10:4, says “Now Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to all who trust in Him”. Maybe you’ve heard that God won’t forgive you if you have unforgiveness in your heart. Under the law that Jesus preached that was true. But the law keeping covenant was FULFILLED at the cross! In Acts 26:1, after the cross, He said forgiveness is a gift to be received! At the cross verbs became nouns! It is finished, you are forgiven. Now that’s the good news!

The Accepting Church

Romans 15:7 NIV - “Accept one another, as Christ accepted you”.

Divine acceptance will change the world! But before it does, it must first change the church. The problem with a “mixed” grace message (mixing grace with the law or a works based message) is that it makes the children of God fearful of their Heavenly Father. It paints a frown on the face of love. Can you imagine God the Father frowning at Jesus? Of course not. Neither is He frowning at you.

In the old covenant they prayed for the day when the Lord would make His face shine upon them, be gracious to them, and give them peace. The awesome news is, we are living in that day, right now. He is looking you in the face and beaming with a galaxy sized smile. You are the apple of His eye. He rejoices over you with singing. When we get a hold of this, it will transform us into the “accepting church”.

Freedom is found in the Fathers acceptance, when you know that you are your Daddy’s delight. When you know that He loves you and accepts you, unconditionally. You are accepted in the Beloved. People who know that they are accepted, are more apt to accept others. Be free! “Accept one another, as Christ accepted you”.

The Grace Invitation

Revelation 3:5 “I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels."

Before the foundation of the world, every person’s name was written in the Book of Life. On the cross, Jesus carefully counted the sin of all mankind to Himself, once and for all. Therefore, God is not counting sin against us. Instead, God is extending an invitation to all mankind to receive the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross on their behalf. To receive Him as their Savior and forgiveness for their sin.

What is your name? Did Jesus die on the cross for your sin? Yes. Then your name is written in the Book of Life. What about the names of your relatives? Did Jesus die on the cross for their sin? Yes. Even though they may not be born again yet? Absolutely. Then their names are also written in the Book of Life. If unsaved people got their name written in the Book of Life when they got born again, then Jesus would need to die on the cross all over again for them.

However, Revelation 3:5 speaks of names being blotted out from the Book of Life. What does that mean? Let me explain it this way. God has extended an invitation to all mankind to receive Jesus as their Savior the same as a couple would extend an invitation to someone for their wedding. They prepare a guest list then send out the invitations. With the invitation comes a request for a response, an RSVP. For those that accept the invitation their names remain on the list. For those who decline, their name is removed (blotted out).

God has written the name of every person in the Book of Life. He extends an invitation for salvation. For those that accept, even up to the very second before their death, their names remain written in the Book of Life. Sadly, for those who decline and leave this earth without having accepted Jesus, their names are blotted out. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says that it would please God if “all would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth”.

How does a person receive God’s invitation? Through us! We have the privilege of sharing with every person we meet that God has already accepted them, that God sent His only Son to die on the cross for them because of His intense love for them. We get to tell them that God has their name is written in the Book of Life, and an open invitation is waiting for them to accept Jesus as their Savior and spend eternity with Him. We get to extend the “Grace Invitation”.

Staying at the Comfort Inn

Isaiah 40:1 Amplified Bible “Comfort, Comfort my people says the Lord”

On my way to Charis Bible College this past August, I drove a full day then stayed my first night at the Comfort Inn. I mean, it wasn’t a five star hotel but it had all the necessities - nice room, pool, workout gym, and a nice hot breakfast. These were certainly a “comfort” to me! I like that word, comfort. It means an alleviation of pain, distress, worry. In Genesis 6:8 it says that “Noah found grace”. The name Noah means “comfort, rest, quietness”.

Putting this all together in Isaiah 40:1, he says “Comfort, Comfort”. That’s twice the comfort for…who? You and me! He has an open invitation for us to stay in the “comfort inn”, a place to receive rest, food, and provision for your journey! Declare that over the situations you are facing today, “Comfort Comfort!” Over your family, your church, your place of business, and everywhere you go. He’s the God of all comfort who comforts us in all of our trials! He gives restful increase. Make your reservation! It’s free!

A Grace Growth Spirt

2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever, Amen”. 

As children head back to school, they may notice certain classmates that grew several inches over the summer.  They experienced a “growth spirt”, they grew faster than others at an exponential rate. Interestingly, a lot of growth happens at night during sleep.  Secretions of human growth hormone peak throughout the night.  In fact, it is recommended that children ages 6-13 sleep at least 11 hours a night. 

REST CAUSES GROWTH!  The more we rest, the more we grow.  In what?  Grace.  And what else?  In 2 Peter 3:18 it mentions another important component to growing in grace…the knowledge of our Lord Jesus.  We grow in grace when we receive more knowledge.  Not just any knowledge, but knowledge of Jesus.  If you want more growth, study more about Jesus.   Jesus is full of grace and truth. Get ready though, when you grow in your knowledge of Jesus, you will experience a “grace growth spirt”!  Others will take notice that there’s something awesome happening in your life.  You’re standing taller, you’re more confident, and happier, and at peace and rest.  Grow!  Grow!  Grow! 

R&R

Isaiah 28:12 “To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not” 

The phrase “R&R” is an abbreviation for rest and recuperation.  It originated as a military term referring to the time members of the armed forces spend relaxing and resting away from the war or the battle. The military knows that for their forces to be effective and at their optimum, and to avoid burnout, they need R&R!  I love the dictionary definition of R&R, it’s awesome.  It means” relaxing when you’re not working”. 

So how does a believer enjoy this rest that verse 12 talks about?  You need to go back to verse 11 which describes one of, if not the most important, grace gifts, speaking in tongues.  “For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people”. This is so powerful. 

Many of you have been facing battles and you’re wondering “What should I do?”  Here’s what you should do…get some R&R, praying and singing in the Spirit.  Praying in your prayer language gives you rest and refreshing in the presence of your enemies.  Raise your hand if you could use some R&R!   If you feel tired and worn out, if you’re on edge with your emotions, or having trouble sleeping, get some R&R.  Are you irritable? Frustrated?  Anxious?  All of the above? Take five.  Take five minutes right now and pray in tongues. 

If you’ve never heard of speaking in tongues, or would like to know more about it, Pastor Joe has a free message for you called Speaking in Tongues.  It will truly help you understand and receive this powerful gift.  Receive this grace gift today and start enjoying an unlimited supply of R&R, anytime and anywhere.