Author: Joshua Maynard

30 Days of Truth

Day 17 – choose christ or sin

Cain was angry and he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life and kill his brother.

God came to Cain, asked him why he was angry and reminded him that if he would do what was right, God would find him acceptable as well. God told Cain that sin was waiting for the opportunity to take hold of him, but that Cain was to be master over sin.

Here, Sin is referred to as “he”.

“Sin” has a name, and that name is Satan.

Just as God IS Love, Satan IS Sin.

Satan is the author of sin, and when a person commits sin, they are acting under the influence of Satan’s nature and spirit.

God wasn’t angry with Cain, and God wasn’t even upset that Cain was angry. God was concerned because Cain was close to allowing sin to take over.

The double-meaning of this scripture is not only to say that “sin” was waiting at the door for Cain, but that also a “sin-offering” was at the door for Cain.

Cain could have chosen to bring the proper sin-offering like his brother, and he could have had mastery over sin’s desire for him.

Jesus has crucified our sin in His flesh and has raised us up to be sinless in our born-again spirit.

We don’t have to try and master sin, Jesus dealt with sin once and for all and placed it under His feet.

That doesn’t mean that our actions can’t be sinfully inspired, it just means that sin has lost its power over us.

So why do Christians continue to act sinfully?

We have been slaves to a sinful nature, and deep in our soul, we don’t know any other way to be.

We have to allow God’s word to each of us to live according to Christ’s nature in us, and not according to old or new habits of sin and it’s desire for us.

Ultimately, God’s standard of love is to be our guideline for everything we do.

Unconditional love keeps no record of sin.

God keeps no record of our sins, but He graciously compels us and empowers us to live free of sin.

We CAN choose to let Christ live through us, or we can choose to live according to sin. Sin leads to death.

God wants us to choose Life and continue choosing Life every day in everything we say and do.

30 Days of Truth

Day 18 – unforgiveness

These and similar scriptures have been used by religion to teach that if we have any unforgiveness towards anyone, we aren’t forgiven by God for our own sins.

Yet most Christians that have been told that they have unforgiveness by others, don’t necessarily have unforgiveness.

An unwillingness to associate with those that have severely hurt us is not unforgiveness.

An unwillingness to trust someone again that has lost our trust is not unforgiveness.

Unforgiveness is when we should have compassion towards another person’s error or weakness, but instead have no compassion or understanding for them.

Did you know that when someone hurts you, they are showing weakness?

It takes energy to get angry or to hurt someone else, but the stronger person is the one who forgives.

God is the source of our strength!

He gives us the strength to forgive.

Because we have been forgiven, we should have forgiveness for others.

God has forgiven the sins of the entire world, and He is not counting then against us. This scripture was written before the New Covenant was established, and we have the Holy Spirit as our assurance of God’s love for us.

Does this assurance of salvation mean that we can have unforgiveness and get away with it?

Like any sin, we never truly get away with it.

There are consequences to every sin. Some of those consequences lead to physical death. Others lead to less-permanent consequences.

God has not promised to take away the consequences of our sins while we are on the Earth, but He does assure us that we are forgiven.

It is easy to talk about forgiveness until you are actually faced with having to forgive someone.

How do you know of you have forgiven them?

None of us “earned” God’s love or forgiveness.

Neither can anyone “earn” our forgiveness.

If you cannot have compassion for someone that has hurt you, then you have not completely forgiven them.

What kind of compassion?

The kind that longs for them to see who they can be in Christ.

The kind that longs for them to understand how righteous they can be in Christ.

The kind that wouldn’t wish anything bad to happen to them. (I’m not talking about man’s justice for broken laws. We all must bear the consequences of laws that we break.) Yet we shouldn’t want people to suffer, receive some greater punishment from God or for anything evil to come upon them, including death.

Did you expect me to say that we should want them to be repaid for what they’ve done?

That is not compassion, and unfortunately, that is what many Christians are taught.

According to God, all of us have fallen short of His grace.

Yet God’s love reached down and saw us in our sin and had compassion for us.

He had compassion for us when were at our worst, not at our best.

Forgiveness is not just a one-time choice. We must forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive….

Jesus said that we must forgive our brother even 70 times 7!

That is 490 times!

Are you keeping score of those who offend you? God isn’t.

God isn’t repaying people for hurting you with judgment, because Christ died for their sins!

When you won’t forgive someone, you should know that God isn’t on “your side”.

Unforgiveness hurts YOU more than anyone else.

Yet, unforgiveness can create a condition in your heart that causes you to respond to those around you in negative ways, even when they aren’t the person that you are upset with.

Unforgiveness can become a root from which “bitter waters” flow in our soul, poisoning us and all those around is that we interact with.

God wants “living waters” to flow from us to others.

Forgiveness is already finished in Christ, but for us, it is a choice we must make.

You might say, “I could never forgive that person for what they’ve done to me”.

You say that you “can’t forgive them”, but God already has forgiven them.

Saying that you “can’t” forgive someone is not true. You CAN forgive, but you choose not to.

Your unforgiveness doesn’t hurt them, and it doesn’t hurt God, but it causes damage in your own soul.

Sometimes, when we won’t forgive, we are not really angry with the other person at all. We are angry at God and ourselves.

We must be willing to forgive ourselves and also realize that God never needs to be forgiven, since He did not cause the issue.

God doesn’t command us to trust those that have proven themselves untrustworthy to us.

God DOES command us to love one another as He has loved us.

John 15:12 KJV

[12] This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Forgiveness isn’t easy.

It can take time, but don’t let it poison your soul into bitterness.

Choose to be stronger than those that have hurt you.

If it seems too difficult to forgive, ask God to give you the strength.

Let His love and His righteousness build in your heart and leave no room for unforgiveness.

30 Days of Truth

Day 19 – life not death

Jesus HEALED THEM ALL!

He has given us the same power that raised Him from the dead!

How can we say that God doesn’t heal?

How can we believe that God doesn’t want us well?

A popular song on the radio says, “What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise”

How can we believe this?

Is our God not better than Satan?

Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Jesus came that we might have life, and not just life, but ABUNDANT LIFE!

Jesus came to bring us life that overflows out of us to others.

Life that leaves no room for sickness.

Life that is more than enough.

God can give us a way out of tragedies, but God doesn’t cause them.

God can give us grace to deal with the issues of life, but God doesn’t want us to have those issues.

God is not involved in the business of death.

God is in the LIFE business.

Repeat after me:

Satan and sin are Death.

Jesus is LIFE and LIFE more ABUNDANTLY!

Let us not confuse these truths any longer.

God does not always prevent evil from afflicting us. It isn’t because He doesn’t love us, it is because we were given dominion over the Earth and WE ALLOWED Satan to take it from us.

Evil prevails where good people do nothing to stop it.

We must be vigilant, because Satan wants to take our lives.

God wants us to live long and fruitful lives and so He has provided for our physical healing in Christ.

He has provided for our leadership by the Holy Spirit.

God has provided for everything we need to not only survive, but to thrive. But WE have to choose LIFE.

If we believe that God allowed trouble to come to us, or that He intentionally and purposefully brought trouble to us, then we cannot have faith in Him to be the solution.

I saw a bundle package in the store that contained both glue and hand wipes together. The glue necessitated the wipes to clean up its mess.

Just like that bundle, Christians tend to believe that God is bundling tragedy and pain with blessing and healing. That’s like a doctor that breaks your arm and then offers to heal it.

God doesn’t tempt us with sin, and He doesn’t test us.

Life brings about tests which our faith must overcome.

Why do we believe that there must be some “higher purpose” to tragedy?

Why must we believe that God has a plan in both our sicknesses and in our death?

It may be comforting to believe that God is in control of everything that happens on the Earth, but that is a lie of Satan.

If God were in control, millions of Jews wouldn’t have died at the hands of the Nazi’s.

God isn’t a murderer.

If God were in control, journalists and foreigners wouldn’t be getting beheaded in faraway countries by religious extremists.

God is not in control of everything, and He doesn’t cause the pain and suffering and death in this world!

I’ve heard it said by some that they believe God allowed them to go through hardship so they would have a testimony.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t need to be drug addict, a criminal, a victim, a sick or crippled person to HAVE a testimony.

I don’t believe for one second that God “allows” or causes people to go through hardship for a later “testimony”.

God is not the twisted or perverted God that most Christians believe that He is.

Frankly, we should be ashamed for believing that God has any part in evil, when He rejoices in righteousness and expects us to do no less.

God wants us to be more like Him in our beliefs and actions, not believe that He is more like us and Satan.

If you are believing for a healing, keep believing, because God wants you well!

Jesus healed everyone, and He did His Father’s will!

God wants us to live to proclaim His goodness, not to suffer for some “greater purpose”.

30 Days of Truth

Day 20 – faith connects

The Apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit and had received the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

As believers, we have that same power inside of us!

People had such faith for healing that they believed that if Peter’s shadow would touch them, they would be healed.

Does this mean that Peter’s shadow had some healing ability?

I don’t believe so.

Neither do I believe that “prayer cloths” or “anointing oil” have any inherent spiritual healing ability.

Yet in several places in scripture, we see examples like these, of people making a “connection” by faith.

There are religious movements today that seek to take away some of these “points of connection” that people use to express their faith.

While sound doctrine must be taught so that people understand that these things are not “required” to receive anything from God, we must be careful not to shipwreck their faith by taking away their ability to “express” their faith or make a “faith connection”.

Let me give you an example:

There is a growing movement that teaches people that “Jesus” is not “Yeshua’s” real name, so we must stop using the name “Jesus” and pray only in the name of Yeshua.

The name of Jesus, which is the Latin form of the Greek name Lēsous, is the name by which many have learned to call our Lord and Saviour. It is the name that is a “connection point” for their faith.

If you tell them that they are wrong to pray in Jesus’ name or that Jesus isn’t the real name of their Saviour, you destroy a connection point for their faith.

It isn’t as simple as someone changing the meaning of a word in their mind.

The name of Jesus is rooted in their soul, and it is Spirit.

If they had learned Yeshua from the beginning, Yeshua would have been a dominating connection point of their faith.

We must not shipwreck someone’s faith!

If we seed “doubt” instead of “faith”, and tear down the connection points of faith, their faith can become shipwrecked.

These points of connection are not necessarily required for our faith to operate, but they are required to the extent that we “believe” they are required.

The release of our faith must pass through the filter of our mind and our beliefs can definitely get in the way of our faith operating the way that it should.

This is why we must renew our minds daily in the Word of God.

We must not let the problems of our daily living, and our negative experiences block the expression of our faith.

This begs the question; do we allow those who are ignorant of the truth to continue in empty or ritualistic expressions of faith?

We MUST teach the truth.

We CANNOT waver on truth.

Nevertheless, we must have discernment and rightly divide the Word of God.

It is important to show people that their faith is more than these expressions, without pulling the foundation of their faith out from under them.

I pray in the name of Jesus.

I don’t know Him by any other name.

30 Days of Truth

Day 21 – scriptures are for you

Many people quote verse 16 or verse 16 and 17, but rarely present these scriptures in context.

Verse 15 says, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures”.

Timothy is referring to those that were raised up in the teachings of the Old Testament.

It can only be guessed at how much, if any, of the New Testament scripture was available in Timothy’s time.

Timothy is reminding these people of what they have learned from their childhood, and then in verse 17, he concludes with the results of what the scriptures can do in a person’s life.

Verse 17 days, “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

It says, “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t SEE myself as perfect.

I don’t FEEL perfect.

But thanks be to God that FAITH goes beyond what I can SEE or FEEL.

Hebrews 11:1 KJV

[1] Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is evidence of things that are not seen.

By faith, we believe that in our spirit we ARE PERFECT, just as Christ IS PERFECT.

We reject the lies that say that Christ’s work was not completed for us or in us.

While Timothy was preaching to those that were raised from childhood in the scriptures of the Old Testament, many people today do not have the benefit of knowing the scriptures or being raised in church.

We are blessed to have the New Testament scriptures, because in them, we can see the fully-realized plan of God’s salvation in Christ Jesus.

The Old Testament testified of the Messiah to come, but in the New Testament, BELIEVERS have become the testimony of Jesus.

Even Timothy didn’t have this benefit.

Timothy says that the scriptures are “able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith…”

Did you know that having more “scripture” doesn’t equal “more faith”?

You might say, “If I can just learn more of the Bible, I’ll be stronger in the faith.” That isn’t true.

There are inherent benefits to knowing more scripture and understanding more about God, but “more scripture” doesn’t mean “more faith.”

There are those that have had less scriptures to read than any of us, and yet they have unshakable faith in who God is and who they are in Christ Jesus.

If a person had no Bible but heard about John 3:16 and believed what it said, it would be enough to save their soul.

You see, it has never been about just the words of scripture on paper.

It has always been about faith and revelation of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 16 days, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

This does not mean that believers should use scripture to indoctrinate, reprove, correct or instruct others. If you are called to teach, then teaching sound doctrine and instruction is required, but some believers have taken this scripture and used it as an excuse to manipulate and control others. Some believers have used this scripture to accuse and “correct” other believers when that was never the intention of this scripture.

Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that THE MAN of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The scriptures are given to indoctrinate YOU, to reprove YOU, to correct YOU, to instruct YOU, so that YOU in God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works!

People will often quote this and other scriptures as an excuse to try and speak correction into someone else’s life or to try and reprove someone else’s words or behavior.

Many times, this correction and reproof is wrong, and not according to the Spirit of God or the spirit of what these scriptures are communicating.

It isn’t that we are not supposed to reprove the works of darkness.

It isn’t that if we see our fellow brother in Christ stumbling in sin that we aren’t supposed to try and correct their path.

It is the manipulative, selfish nature of such correction and reproof in the body of Christ that must not be tolerated.

Using scriptures to defend and support your viewpoint when God requires no such defense from you.

People on Facebook and in churches are doing this sort of thing every day, sowing division and doubt instead of unity and faith.

The scriptures plainly speak and defend themselves.

You are merely defending your own ego.

Using scriptures to condemn those in sin is wrong, as though it is up to you to decide who should go to heaven.

These practices must stop.

The scriptures are given for YOU!

The scriptures are given for YOU to grow and mature and be fully equipped in this life for every good work!

30 Days of Truth

Day 22 – reconciled and restored

Reconciliation is defined as the “restoration of friendly relations”.

Like most interactions with other people, true reconciliation requires both an offer and a response to that offer in order for any change to take place in a relationship.

If I offend you and you offer me forgiveness and I choose not to accept it, it doesn’t change the fact that I am forgiven of the offense.

However, it does change how I relate to you.

Forgiveness has the potential benefit of healing both the person that has been offended and the offender as well, but it only makes a change in the relationship if the offender accepts the forgiveness.

It doesn’t mean that the forgiver won’t continue to extend love and kindness to the offender.

God reconciled all things to Himself by the peace offering of Christ’s blood. Reconciliation was required for the entire world or there could be no peace and no chance of receiving salvation.

It has been taught that reconciliation only happens when we believe in Jesus, but reconciliation was a prerequisite to even receiving the offer of God’s salvation towards us.

The offer of reconciliation is fully accomplished on God’s end of the relationship because of what Christ already did and not because of anything we have to do (including belief).

Our belief in Christ does not cause God to extend reconciliation to us, it was extended to the whole world when Christ died on the cross.

Now it is up to us to accept God’s offer of reconciliation.

This acceptance of reconciliation changes how we relate to God, NOT how God relates to us.

Verses 21 and 22 say, “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:”

I should make note here that verse 23 adds a requirement for being presented holy and unblameable and unreproveable to God, and it says: “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;”

We must remain grounded in faith and not move away from the Gospel. The promise and hope of the Gospel cannot be taken from us, but we can move away from it and reject it.

Referring back now to verses 21 and 22: Our wicked works (sins) alienate us from God in our minds, but not in reality.

This mindset of alienation convinces us that we are enemies of God and unfit for reconciliation, but that is not what the Gospel teaches and not what Jesus demonstrated when He walked the Earth in human flesh.

Under the Old Covenant there was a real separation of relationship from God because of sin, but we are not under the Old Covenant and neither has anyone on Earth been under the Old Covenant since Jesus died on the cross.

Our mind can deceive us into believing that God does not love us because we’ve sinned, or that He has grown weary of our mistakes and sin-inspired behavior, but that is not true.

Our conscience condemns us, but God does not.

Our conscience is subject to the truth of God’s Word, but only as much as we renew our mind by focusing on God’s love and forgiveness and who we are in Christ.

You CAN live free of self-condemnation!

30 Days of Truth

Day 23 – imitate god, not people

Have you ever heard someone cough in church, and it seems like several more people have to cough after them?

Have you ever seen someone yawn, or even heard them yawn over the phone and it makes you feel like yawning as well?

Have your ever followed the car in front of you, even when they don’t stay in the lane?

The human response system is designed to follow the examples of others, even to a fault.

Yet this response system is how we learn to walk, talk, read, write and believe.

However, beliefs about God and who we are in Christ must be individually chosen for ourselves and not based on the faith, experiences or beliefs of others.

Being so conditioned from birth to follow the example of others, it is not easy to think for ourselves in matters of faith.

As a result, the illusion of believing that we think for ourselves is everywhere in Christianity today.

Many Christians believe certain doctrines because they are convinced of them by others, but not because they have studied the Bible and have allowed the Holy Spirit to teach them.

They are so blinded by the illusion of their uniquely individual faith, that convincing them of the need to study what they believe and question the consensus of others is not easy.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to know who YOU are IN Christ, if all you know about Christ is what others have told you.

Job made this mistake, and he believed things about God that weren’t true.

Job 1:21 KJV

[21] And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

On the surface, this scripture sounds like truth, except that the Lord took absolutely nothing away from Job.

Satan took everything that Job had, and yet Job attributed his loss to God.

God didn’t allow Satan to take from Job. Everything that Job had was within Satan’s dominion upon the Earth.

It was only by God’s mercy that Satan was commanded not to take Job’s life, because even Job’s life was under Satan’s dominion.

Job was wrong in accusing the Lord of taking away from Him, and he admitted to saying such things in ignorance.

Job 42:3-5 KJV

[3] Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. [4] Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. [5] I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

Job only knew of what others had said about God, and so he had formed his own opinions of God’s character and nature without actually knowing God personally.

Christians are still making this mistake, even today!

We form our own opinions about who God is, how He operates and even who He loves and doesn’t love.

How arrogant for us to believe that God withholds His love from sinners, or to pass judgment on those for whom Christ died.

Without knowing God for ourselves and seeking out the truth of His nature and character, it is easy to form beliefs and attitudes that are not Christ-like.

Studying the Word of God can require study materials, and not everyone can afford those materials. Does this mean that they are incapable of understanding who they are in Christ?

No! It means that those who have the materials and understanding of scripture must share what they have learned and teach!

We don’t need preachers that repeat old traditions and surface-level interpretations of scripture.

We need teachers of the Word who will reveal the truth about God with inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

If you have learned about who God is and who you are in Christ, there is someone that God has placed in your path that you can share with.

For some of you, God has given you a larger sphere of influence, and you have the potential of leading many people into true discipleship with Christ.

If you don’t know of anyone that you can share your faith with, ask God to open up an opportunity for you, and then listen to the voice of the Lord to guide you into that opportunity.

Remember that you can’t give what you don’t have.

It is important that you know who you are in Christ before you try and tell others who they can be in Christ.

If you don’t have a revelation of who God is and who you are in Christ, you will be like Job, uttering words that you don’t understand, and talking about a God that you truly don’t know for yourself.

30 Days of Truth

Day 24 – words shape our destiny

Many Christians and even non-Christians are coming to the realization that our words shape our lives and our destiny more than we ever thought possible.

When God gave us the ability to “speak”, He gave us the ability to create. He spoke everything into existence.

Our ability to create with our voice is not limited to the physical realm, but it enables us to create in the spiritual realm as well.

English is one of the most commonly spoken languages on Earth.

Yet many of us fail to realize that conversational and cultural usage of the English language has picked up many negative terms and phrases along the way.

So much negativity has been introduced into our everyday use of English that some of us speak negativity all the time without even realizing it.

Here are some examples of negative phrases we use:

“I’m afraid…”

Have you ever been waiting on hold when calling a company and they said, “I’m afraid all the operators are busy”?

Admitting that you are afraid can be considered a strength, but we overuse this term so much, that we have convinced ourselves that the word has no serious meaning anymore. That simply isn’t true.

The Devil wants us to be afraid because in fear, faith cannot function.

“I’m afraid it won’t…”

Adding “it won’t” or “it can’t” to “I’m afraid” is even worse than using “I’m afraid” by itself because now you have taken a generally negative statement and have specifically attached it to a situation that you are facing. You are not only stating that you are “afraid”, but now you are admitting unbelief.

How can your faith work?

“I fear…”

This one is used less commonly, but it is no better than “I’m afraid”.

“I don’t think…”

Does what you “think” change the truth of God’s Word?

Does it change the facts, or does it only affect how you interpret truth?

We don’t always think correctly, and we don’t always think truthfully, but God’s promises are true and He is always faithful, even when we “don’t think” we are good enough or that He will be faithful to us.

“There is no way…”

If you really believe there is “no way”, then there may not be.

We should always be willing to accept alternatives and believe that we could be wrong.

We don’t always see every angle of a situation, and there may be other options that we haven’t considered or refuse to consider out of arrogance or pride.

“I’ll never…”

You should never say “you’ll never”. There is always a chance you will…

This is especially true in matters of sin. Self-condemnation comes when we say we’ll never sin and then we inevitably give into it again.

“I can’t…”

The Bible says that you can do all things through Christ!

There is no “I can’t” in a believer’s vocabulary.

“I don’t believe…”

“I can’t believe…”

These are some of the most dangerous and damaging statements that a believer can make. You are canceling your faith out with these statements of unbelief.

When we use these kinds of statements, we are watering down their meanings in our minds.

We become accustomed to negativity, and we lose sight of the truth.

Practice avoiding these statements, and if you must use one, make sure you are using it in the proper context, without negating your faith and belief in the matter.

Sometimes, when these statements are all that we can say in a particular situation, it is better to just remain silent. Death and life is in the power of our tongue.

30 Days of Truth

Day 25 – no one is “good”

There is no one that is “good” but God Himself.

Think of the nicest, kindest, most thoughtful person that you can think of.

Now remind yourself that in God’s eyes, they are not “good”.

They may help every person they meet, give endlessly and expect nothing in return, and yet God says that they are not “good”.

God calls His workmanship “good” but we should never think that we are “good” in both word and deeds according to what God calls “good”. We simply do not qualify.

The only thing that makes us “good” is to be reborn in the image of Christ Jesus spiritually, nothing else.

“Good” behavior doesn’t bring about our salvation or keep us saved, and it doesn’t change God’s love towards us at all.

On the contrary, trying to keep the law to “be a good Christian” causes us to increase in sin.

God gave man the ability to choose from the beginning.

Does this make the garden of Eden into a “setup”?

Did God intentionally set us up to fall into sin?

It might seem like that is true, but we must remember that GOD IS Love. Love would not wish sin or death upon anyone, or intentionally cause them to sin or lead them to death.

God merely gave us the choice between life and death, and we foolishly chose death.

With every choice, we either strengthen sin in our lives or strengthen our faith in God.

As sin increases, so God’s grace increases to cancel it.

Does this mean that we should increase our sinning so that we receive more grace from God?

Of course not!

The grace of God is not cumulative and its benefit for us does not ever increase or decrease.

Grace cancels out the debt of sin, but many times, we are left to deal with the consequences of our choices.

Some of those consequences can ruin our lives or the lives of others.

Sin is cumulatively damaging but grace was a one-time atonement for all sins, forever.

How then are we to be “good” if we don’t follow the law?

No one has been under the Law since the New Covenant began.

Yet everyone has the law written in their hearts and knows right from wrong. Their conscience accuses or excuses then in every choice they make.

The grace of God doesn’t excuse our sin, but it also does not accuse or condemn us for it.

The Holy Spirit reminds us that His righteousness is in us, and cleansing us from all unrighteousness, even as we struggle with sin.

There is a belief in the church today that once we are born again, we must live holy and perfect in order to remain saved, and yet Jesus never taught this.

In fact, there is nothing in the Bible that says we must live without sin. The Bible warns us to abstain from sin, to hate sin, to run from the very thought of sin, but it also reminds us that are sins were paid for and that they are not counted against us because of what Christ accomplished on our behalf.

If you have believed on Jesus, then spiritually you are as holy as you can be while you are still in a corrupted fleshly body. You cannot make yourself more holy to God by your acts of “goodness” any more than you can make yourself more unholy to God by your acts of sinful behavior.

You did not make yourself Holy and you cannot make yourself become unholy. The holiness in you is the work of God’s grace and the finished work of Christ at the cross.

Your belief merely appropriates in your spirit what Christ did for you over 2000 years ago.

Your unbelief cannot change your born-again spirit, because when you believed, Christ made the change in you.

If you could have changed yourself apart from Christ, then we would not have a need for a Savior.

No one can change their base spiritual nature and save themselves.

Only God can change the spirit.

So, stop worrying about your sins and your relationship with God, because God has chosen to have a relationship with you despite your sins, and He will never leave you or forsake you.

30 Days of Truth

Day 26 – emotions reflect the heart

This is the shortest scripture in the Bible, and yet no matter how many times I read it, it continues to be a powerful statement about Jesus.

Jesus was not only God made flesh, but He was also human!

He experienced the human condition without the tragedy of experiencing our sinful nature.

He was happy just like we are happy.

He was angry about injustice and those things which kept people in both physical and spiritual bondage.

He was kind and generous.

He was sad and He wept, just as we do when we are sad.

People have often asked, “Why did Jesus weep, when He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead?”

He wept because He empathized with those that had experienced the death of Lazarus, and their emotions touched Him profoundly.

He wept because they had lost hope when they expected Jesus to arrive on the scene in time to heal Lazarus, but He didn’t come.

Even though Jesus knew He would be able to raise Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus’s loved ones had experienced a great loss.

It is important for us to recognize the human expression of Jesus.

We sometimes imagine a Jesus that never got frustrated or angry or sad because we only see a glimpse of His life in the Gospels.

Nevertheless, the scriptures that we do have about Jesus show a complex individual that experienced the complexity of human emotions.

Jesus got angry, but He didn’t sin.

When a parent scolds a child, they don’t stop loving the child, but they are upset because the child is not obedient or is doing something that is dangerous. Their love for the child is constant and everlasting despite their momentary emotional state.

It is taught in some Christian circles that we are to be passive and peaceful. While peace should always be our goal in anything that we say and do, being peaceful and passive is not something that we learn from Jesus.

Jesus was bold and made no excuses for His beliefs.

He didn’t shy away from intellectual confrontations, and He didn’t restrain from using harsh language at times.

Christians that believe in such a passive lifestyle are often weak in the faith and are trod upon by anyone that disagrees with them.

Their beliefs are half-hearted, and they tend to change with whichever way the wind/trend is blowing.

We must stand firm in our beliefs without wavering, and we cannot be passive.

Let’s review:

Having emotions is not sinful.

Being angry is not sinful in and of itself.

It is how we express emotions that reveals the state of our heart.

If our heart is overflowing with Godly intentions and meditations, our emotions should reveal love, even through occasional anger.

If our heart is sidetracked from meditating on God and His Word, our emotions can be particularly damaging to both others and to ourselves.

We cannot control our emotions or our tongue without first dealing with the intentions of our heart.

That is why keeping our mind and focus steadfast upon God is so important.

When we operate under a renewed heart/soul/mind, our emotions should reflect that renewed nature.

People often say, “That person makes me so angry!”

Really?

Jesus said that it is what comes out of our heart that defiles us.

No one can “make” you angry, or “make” you sin.

Self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have the Holy Spirit living in you!

A lack of self-control reveals the need to retrain our focus on Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to change our responses and habits.

Who we are in Christ is wrapped up in who Christ is in us, and Christ not only understands but expressed the same emotions that we have.

As believers, we should not fear our emotions, but we must learn to control them. Emotions do not define or change who you are in Christ.

We must not get caught up in worrying about showing emotion, or what other people might think about us. People want someone who can empathize with their situation, not someone that appears unemotional and callous.

God is not angry with us, nor will Ge ever be angry with us again, because there is peace between God and man through Christ Jesus.

We may lose our temper, and we may fail to forgive, but God has chosen to forgive us in advance and forget that we ever sinned.

God created emotions, but while we may experience emotions that are not “lovely”, God IS LOVE!

God IS Love!

He IS the most perfect, beautiful, passionate, head-over-heels lover of our souls!

He is not willing that any should perish.

He does not steal from us, kill us or destroy us.

He does not afflict us with sickness or allow suffering to come upon us.

God loves us with an everlasting love.

He wants the best for us, always!

30 Days of Truth

Day 27 – love the sinner, period

This is a scripture that you may be familiar with, and yet I believe that many Christians who know this scripture are missing the point of it.

Paul is talking to believers and telling us that our love should be genuine for one another. We should hold tight to what is good and hate what is evil.

This has given rise to “Christianese” statements like “Love the sinner, hate the sin.”

While this statement may sound good on the surface, Jesus never intended for us to live this way and we have a really hard time separating the “sinner” that we are supposed to love, from the “sin” that we are supposed to hate.

How then should we interpret both New Testament and Old Testament scriptures that seem to support the “hate the sin” mentality?

It’s not as hard as you might think.

The focus of this “hate for sin” should not be on the sin of others as much as it should be on hating how sin operates in us.

This doesn’t mean that we should be self-absorbed with our sinful mistakes.

The Holy Spirit is constantly reminding us of who we are in Christ, and His righteousness that we are clothed in. We are righteous and irreproachable before God, because of what Christ has done for us, not because of anything that we do or don’t do.

You see, Paul was addressing believers in the church concerning how THEY were supposed to live.

The focus was never supposed to be on the sin(s) of others.

No, Paul is dealing with matters of the spirit in the context of believers.

We have somehow taken scriptures like this and twisted them to make us believe that we are the judges of others and their behavior.

We have excused ourselves to such an extent that we have supported shunning and separating ourselves from those who “sin” instead of embracing them in the love of Christ.

All the while, we have become hypocrites, operating under the Old Covenant which was never our covenant to begin with.

We have placed ourselves under the very laws and traditions that blinded the Pharisees to the truth of God’s love, mercy and grace towards mankind.

We have looked at the sins which are exposed in the lives of others, and we have passed judgment on them.

We have labeled those based on their behavior, instead of looking at them the way that God sees them.

Our religious traditions have taught us that God sees them as filthy sinners that are bound for Hell.

But God doesn’t see them that way.

God sees the potential in them.

He sees the sacrifice of His Son on their behalf.

God sees them with loving eyes, and while God hates what sin is doing in their lives, God doesn’t turn away from them. He gently and lovingly invites them into relationship with Him.

God sent His Son to take care of their sins. He has already forgiven them and forgotten their sins.

It is only their rejection of Him that separates them from being one with Him.

God hasn’t called us to be separate from the world physically, but to be separate spiritually.

We are to be in the world but not of the world.

He wants the love of our soul to be Him alone.

Christians today don’t understand this truth, so they struggle to live in a world that they believe God wants them to be separate from.

The struggle to love a sinner that they believe God is disgusted with.

They struggle to keep themselves holy, when God already told them that they were ALREADY made holy in Christ.

It is truly this quest for holiness that keeps them exalted in themselves; haughty. It is this haughtiness that makes it frustratingly impossible to separate the “sin” from the sinner, and to “hate the sin” but “love the sinner”.

In order to love the sinner, we must look past their sin and see their potential. This doesn’t mean that justice must not have its day when they violate the laws of man.

Yet we condemn sinners that are not criminals. We condemn mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters and co-workers.

We condemn them and believe that we are better than them.

We so easily forget our own sins, and the life of sin that God brought us out of.

We so easily forget that we were once lost.

People that live in a lifestyle of sin, don’t need us to look down on their behavior.

They need us to look at them the way that Christ looked at us; the way that Christ looked at all of mankind.

Love the sinner, period.

John 8:10-11 KJV

[10] When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? [11] She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

30 Days of Truth

Day 28 – sin focused or god focuseD?

Why do believers focus so heavily on the sins of others? Jesus did not consider the sins of others, except to heal what sin had done to us and try to point us in a better direction.

Believers have this concept that forgiveness is relational, and that without relationship with God, there is no forgiveness for individual sins.

We’ve grown so comfortable with this belief that it shapes how we relate to other people.

We shun and condemn those that sin around us.

We avoid relationships with people that do things that we consider sinful, even when there is no scriptural precedent for such a belief.

We believe that God wants to stay separated from those who sin, so we also separate from them, and we try to live as holy as we can, in the hopes that they will see how holy we live and feel convicted about their own lack of holiness.

We have become the Pharisees that Jesus reprimanded instead of conforming to the likeness of Jesus.

We try to apply law to our own lives instead of applying grace, and we judge others according to the law instead of recognizing that God looks at them in love.

When you separate yourself from the world, you are separating yourself from where Christ wants to go.

You are His hands in this world. He lives in you!

When you don’t go, Christ doesn’t go.

When you don’t share the Gospel by living it out, the Holy Spirit doesn’t confirm it with signs and wonders.

You can’t separate yourself from God by avoiding the world, but you can separate Christ from reaching those in the world through you.

I’m not saying that we should live like those in the world and act like we are no different. We are different.

We are a new spiritual creation.

Are we sin-focused, or God-focused?

If we allow garbage into our minds, we become less effective at releasing what is pure in Spirit and can find it harder to resist evil.

Nothing external will make us filthy. Despite popular belief, Sin does not rub off on us.

We can abstain from sinful choices and still have meaningful relationships with those in the world and have these relationships we must!

It is essential that we realize that true humbleness comes from sharing our lives with those in the world, not appearing to be “better” and separate from them.

Christians focused on homosexuality, abortion and other things that the church considers “sinful” are blinded to the truth of God’s love, forgiveness and grace. They do not represent Christ. They represent a set of rules.

Christians focused on the sins or “perceived sins” of others are unable to live for Christ, because they are too busy living for Moses.

God is concerned about what sins do to a person’s life, but He is infinitely unconcerned about their sins keeping them from having a relationship with Him. He has chosen to forgive their sins before they even commit them, and He has provided a way for them to enter into a relationship with Him that is free from the requirements of the law.

We need to realize that the people of this world don’t need to clean themselves up and stop sinning in order for God to accept them and love them and bless them and save them. They only need to believe.

Their belief will enable the Holy Spirit to work with them on anything else that is detrimental to their physical and spiritual health.

Do you live for Moses, according to all the laws of the Old Covenant, or do you live for Christ, representing only the law of love?

30 Days of Truth

Day 29 – Satisfaction or stagnation?

The disciples had walked with Jesus for several years and still didn’t understand that Jesus and the Father were “one”.

Jesus explains to them that if they’ve seen Him, they’ve seen the Father.

“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?”

What a statement this is!

The disciples had been with Jesus closely and still didn’t really know Him.

Despite all the miracles they had witnessed, they could not seem to get past Jesus’ human exterior and see the glory which was the Father living in Him.

People today are not much different.

There is a point at which each of us must examine ourselves and decide if we are “satisfied” with Jesus.

Jesus has imparted His Spirit into all who believe, and His Spirit is the same as the Father.

Have we seen the mighty hand of God moving in our lives and in the lives of others, while failing to know Him?

Have we attributed His power working through us to our own efforts and denied that He is the source?

Have we become unsatisfied with the God that we know to the point that we must constantly search for the next vision, word of knowledge, dream, confirmation, miracle or sign?

Remember, the signs and wonders that Jesus performed and those which the disciples performed didn’t satisfy them. Why should we believe that these manifestations of God’s power will satisfy us?

What does satisfy?

How do we keep ourselves satisfied with God?

Psalm 17:15 KJV

[15] As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

David longed for a time when he would awake from the deadness of sin and be re-shaped spiritually into the image of God’s righteousness and holiness.

With the New Covenant, this is not a wishful dream of things to come, but a reality.

We have been born again!

We have been raised up from the deadness of sin to new life in Christ Jesus!

The disciples could not satisfy the hunger for life in their souls because they had not yet been born again.

Like David, they only had the hope of a future time when they would cast off their sin and be spiritually restored.

We have the realization of their hope in us right now.

When we focus on manifestations and external stimuli to bring a sense of satisfaction with God in our lives, we are not really satisfying ourselves.

The disciples walked with Jesus and may have seen miracles that we have never seen or heard of.

How arrogant can we be to believe that more manifestations must equal more satisfaction?

Satisfaction with God comes from the revelation that we have been restored to oneness and relationship with the Father.

Satisfaction with God comes from understanding that God is always pleased with us, loving us, speaking to us and wanting us to love Him and others.

John 14:18 KJV

[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Jesus has come to us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Do not mistake satisfaction for stagnation.

Stagnation is when we settle into routines and practices which seem to satisfy, but do not.

Jesus was trying to show the disciples that the signs and miracles are evidence of the Father working in Him.

The signs that are supposed to follow believers are also meant to show the Father working in us.

How do we know if we are satisfied with God?

When we know Him, we will stop searching for Him and stop searching for the next big “move” of God, or the next “word” or “vision”.

These signs and wonders are important, but they should flow effortlessly as a byproduct of relationship with God, and not merely be consistent proof that we need to satisfy a longing in our soul for relationship.

He is in us.

We are in Him.

His will can be our will, and our will can be His will.

He is internal, not external.

He is closer to us than anyone in this world can be, and He has promised never to leave us.

When we search for Him, it isn’t because He has left us.

It is because we have cluttered our soul with garbage and need to refocus our attention on who we are in Him and get quiet before Him.

30 Days of Truth

Day 30 – Servant, Friend or Son?

In John 15:15, Jesus is addressing His disciples. He says that He will no longer call them “servants”, but instead He will call them “friends”.

It sounds good, doesn’t it?

Jesus, the Son of God is considering these men to be His friends!

This may be the source of “Christianese” phrases like “I am a friend of God” or “Jesus is my best friend”.

It might surprise you to learn that “friendship” with God is not the same as “sonship” with God.

“Friendship” with God is actually not a New Covenant way of relating to God.

Abraham was called “the” friend of God.

Moses was not called “the” friend of God.

Elijah was not called “the” friend of God.

In fact, from the time of Abraham until the time of Jesus and His disciples, there is no record of anyone else being called “the” friend of God.

“The” being singular, and exclusive.

Fast forward to John 15:15 and Jesus is now calling His disciples His “friends”.

Yet as ground-breaking as it is for Jesus to call His disciples “friends”, it is does not begin to compare with what we have as partakers of the New Covenant.

From scripture, we learn that while Jesus’ disciples were indeed His friends, they did not truly know Him when they walked with Him.

It wasn’t until after His death and with the illumination of the Holy Spirit living in them that they understood Fully who Jesus was and what He had done.

When they received the Holy Spirit, they also understood sonship.

While we may serve in many capacities, we are called beyond mere servanthood into the spiritual heritage of being adopted sons of God.

God didn’t call us sons and then give us no evidence that we are indeed His sons. The Holy Spirit has been sent forth to dwell in our hearts and is given as the down payment of our inheritance as heirs with Christ.

Friends are never as close as family and don’t know everything that goes on the family.

We are FAMILY with God as adopted sons. He treats us as sons, not as just friends.

This is fundamentally important in our walk with God; not only in how we perceive God’s relationship with us, but how we perceive ourselves.

Our faith can only operate through belief, and a lack of knowledge or a lack of proper understanding can hinder our faith from working.

When Jesus walked the Earth, friendship with God was the best that the disciples could have until after His sacrifice was complete, and their salvation was sealed at Pentecost.

We are co-heirs with Christ, and we have been made into sons of God by our spiritual adoption.

As sons, we have access into God’s best for our lives.

We have a relationship that transcends friendship, favors and disappointing answers.

Did you know that God doesn’t want to disappoint you?

Did you know that God doesn’t want to say “no” to good things that you want?

The key to understanding a relationship in which God answers every prayer with a resounding “Yes” is to understand what it means to pray according to His will and for your own will to be in alignment with His.

Jesus prayed to the Father saying, “Not my will, but thine be done.”

He also said that He did nothing of His own.

Living according to God’s won’t mean that we don’t do nice things for ourselves or make our own choices.

It means that we allow the Holy Spirit to place God’s thoughts and God’s will into our hearts in such a way that it becomes natural to do those things that God wants done.  His desires become our own desires insomuch that they are indistinguishable.

This isn’t saying that we become a God unto ourselves.

To an extent, we must have faith that God will give us the desires that He wills for us to have and have discernment to know what they are.

It is common for Christians to interpret Psalm 37:4 to mean that God will give us our desires when we delight ourselves in Him, but that interpretation also tends to feed a materialistic view of reality.

I can tell you from experience that God places His desires in your heart and His desires blend into and become your desires as you submit your will to His will.

When that happens, knowing and following His will is as easy as following your own desires.

As sons of God, we are closer than friends, and we are one with Him.

To the degree that believe that truth, we will see our relationship with God and how He operates in us and through us differently.