How to Live Out Your Purpose through: Faith, Salvation & Grace

In Luke 15:1-10, Jesus says suppose you have a hundred sheep, and you lose one. Wouldn’t you leave the 99 and go after the lost? And when you find it, wouldn’t you joyfully put it on your shoulders. Rejoice! Or what if you have ten silver coins and lose one? Would you not search everywhere until you find it? And when you find it, wouldn’t you call your friends and neighbors to rejoice you found the lost coin? There is rejoicing with the angels of God over one sinner who repents, then 99 righteous ones who do not. God loves you so much as if you are the only person in the world.

 

Zechariah 9:16-17 says “The Lord their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. How attractive and beautiful they will be! Grain will make the young men thrive, and new wine the young women”. John 10:10-11 says “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”.

 

In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus then tells the story about a man with two sons, one who ran away and wasted part of his father’s wealth and the other who stayed. Many know this story as the prodigal son. When a famine came, the son returned home planning to tell his Father he had sinned against heaven and him. He is no longer worthy to be called his son and he would like to be one of his servants. His father ran when he saw him, threw his arms around him and kissed him with compassion. As the son was apologizing, his father yelled for his servants to bring the best robe, ring, sandals and fattened calf to eat for a feast to celebrate. The older son heard the music and dancing, and became angry. He told his father all these years he has obeyed yet he never gave him even a goat to celebrate with his friends, but when his younger brother squandered his wealth with prostitutes, we celebrate?! The father responded saying everything he owns is his older sons, so he is rewarded already but his brother was dead and now alive, lost and now found!. “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak” Ezekiel 34:16.

Come running home to God no matter what you have done or what state you are in. He accepts you with open arms! I understand in the story of the prodigal son, it is easy to get angry at what seems like injustice that the son who left and spent all of his dad’s inheritance should be disciplined and the son who stayed home and worked for his Father the right way did not initially get the party, but do not be fooled. The dad says all he has is his sons so his son did have access to the Fathers love, but the Father rejoiced out of love for the rebellious son that he repented and came home. The son who stayed was not perfect, has also done wrong but was prideful thinking differently. We show grace and understand the Father’s love when we realize we are all prodigals.

 

The beginning of sin is in Genesis 3:22 which says “And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever” If Adam and Eve would have eaten from the tree of life after taking from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil creating the beginning of sin, they and we would have lived eternally separated from God in our sinful condition, and God loves us too much to let that happen. God hates sin because he loves us. Sin separates us from Him and destroys us. God did not make us die, we chose death when we chose of the fruit.

 

You may be thinking “Why should I suffer because of what Adam and Eve did?” The thing is we would have made the exact same decision as them. He wanted us to be with Him so bad he sent His only son, Himself, to die in order to take the punishment we deserve. God always seeks to restore his creation. He refuses to abandon his workmanship to the point of giving everything to him, his Son. Jesus’s death shows how much our sin costs. He could have sent us to hell right after Adam and Eve sinned, but he didn’t. Hell exists to defeat evil. Satan, the false prophet, the beast will be thrown into the eternal lake of fire, and those whose names are not written in the lambs book of life (Revelation 20:15). We should not want to go to heaven because we can get all we want with no pain or to avoid hell, but because we want to be with Jesus. Our only hope to heaven and to escape the lake of fire is placing our faith in Jesus before we die. Revelation 21:27 says “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life”. The next thing I want you to notice is that once you are in heaven or hell, you cannot reverse your decision. You may be thinking “I would not choose hell!” Our loving Father would never send anyone to hell. It is a conscious decision to not be with Him for eternity that He is honoring. He wants to save you, and wants you in paradise forever with Him!

 

Isaiah 53:2-5 says about Jesus “He has no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was Him, and by his wounds we are healed”. Jesus understands suffering. When Jesus died for us, all our sins were nailed to that cross with Him, in order to satisfy the wrath God has toward sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

 

I think so many times we think God is upset with us. Then I remember, he was but once we have Jesus, his wrath is all placed at the cross where our sin was hung. When we have Christ, God sees His son in us. As Relient K perfectly puts “the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.” We do not deserve grace, but man does God desire to pour it on us! Now all of our short comings have a purpose, instead of condemnation. Romans 5:1 says Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus did. Grace was and is not a backup plan, it always was the plan.

 

Isaiah 64:5-6 says We are all unclean, and any righteous acts we do are filthy rags. Romans 5:20-21 says The law made trespass increase, but where sin increased, grace increased all the more. What was the point of the law? Romans 3:19-20  says “the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin”. The law exposes our sin. The law helps us understand why we need a Savior, it did not create us to be bad, simply exposes our wrongs. Hebrews 9:27-28 says ^“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,  so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

Hebrews 10:1-4 says “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.  Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.  But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

Hebrews 8:8-12 says “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Giving rules, laws and regulations, even though they are good, were not powerful enough to change hearts. Only the radical love of Christ could.

Matthew 5:17-20  says ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven”.

 

Many separate the old and new testament, saying the old is no longer important because Jesus in a sense “got rid of it.” When He came. This is not true. Jesus fulfilled the law when he came. He is saying here the old is just as important as the new, they are all a part of the entire story of the world and creation. He was the fulfillment. Also, when he talks about having to be completely righteous to get into heaven, the standard he is saying is not possible on our own. We can only be declared righteous by placing our trust in Him for our salvation.

Galatians 3:5-9 says “ So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?  So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.  Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” We are Abraham’s seed through faith.

Matthew 9:11-13 says The Pharisees asked the disciples “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick””. Many have also come to me saying they do not feel good enough to come to Christ. Waiting to come to God until you are good enough is like waiting until you are healthy to go to the Doctor! I love the example of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:2-10. He was a chief wealthy tax collector, and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus. Jesus told him to come down because he was going to stay at his house. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.”

 

 

Now what about those before the coming of Christ? They still had to believe in a Savior to come from God. Romans 4:3  says “What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:10 says “Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!” Romans 4:21-25 says Abraham was “persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification”.

 

Many try to say there are different levels of sin, but James 2:10-11 says if you break one part of the law, you are guilty of breaking all of it as a law breaker, for the same God who said do not commit adultery, also said do not murder. 1 Timothy 1:15-17 says “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen”.”

 

One law is to keep the honor the Sabbath Day. What does it mean to keep the Sabbath day holy?  Matthew 12:9-14  says “Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus”.

 

Mark 2:27-28  says “Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath””. I am biased to the hand story, but he does this for the blind, paralyzed and those with edema. God made the Sabbath to give us rest. What we do not understand is it is a gift to us, not meant to burden us and make us unproductive. Isaiah 58:13-14 says “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken”.

 

Many have been saying that times have changed. The only problem with that statement is Hebrews 13:8-9 which says  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so”. God himself, his plan since the beginning of time and his purposes have not changed. Acts 4:11-12  says “Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved”. Jesus is the stumbling block because we need to put our pride aside and admit we need a savior. It is not just amazing He is God and went through this, but more that He did it for you; and would do it just for you.

 

What you do every single day matters more than you realize. Psalm 90:12  says “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”. Ephesians 5:15-17 says “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” “What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short” 1 Corinthians 7:29. Psalm 39:5  says “…the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure”. 2 Peter 3:8  says “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day”. 1 Corinthians 7:31 says “For this world in its present form is passing away”.

 

Even though our souls were made to live forever, we are only in this broken world for so long. Psalm 102:3 says “For my days vanish like smoke”. Palm 102:11 says “My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass”. 1 Corinthians 15:31-32  says “ I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained?”” 1 Peter 1:23-25  says “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.  For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever”.

 

You can live with joy knowing you have purpose, and your exact days are numbered. You can either use this to incite fear, or give you peace knowing you cannot change the amount of time God has allotted for you to fulfill the purposes He has planned for you. Job 14:5  says “A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months”.

 

Daniel 5:23  says “You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand”. Jeremiah 14:22 says “Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this”.” Judges 10:11-14 says “The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Moanites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served others gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”.

 

I take this as a warning, that if you chose with your free will to put your hope in idols, God is saying let’s see if they will save you in your time of trouble. Isaiah 46:7 says “Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer; it cannot save them from their troubles” . 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 says “ for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,  and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath”.”

 

Saul did not inquire of God when he was king, leading to his downfall. 1 Samuel 13:14 says “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command”. 1 Samuel 15:23 says “For rebellion is like the sin of divination and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king”.

 

Everything in this world belongs and comes from God. Nehemiah 9:5-30 says Blessed be your glorious name exalter above all. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. You chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise. You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea. You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. You divided the sea so that they passed through it on dry ground, you hurled their pursuers into mighty waters. By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light. You came down on Mount Sinai from heaven. You gave laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. You made known your holy Sabbath and laws through your servant Moses.  In hunger you gave them bread and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to take possession of the land you had sworn. But they were stiff-necked, and did not obey. They failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. You did not desert them, even when they worshiped an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt’. For forty years you sustained and instructed  them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing. “You gave them nations. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess.  Their children took possession of the land. You gave the Canaanites into their hands. They took possession of good things, water, houses and food in your goodness. But they disobeyed. They killed your prophets, who warned them to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies. When they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.“ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you and refused to listen. You were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets.”

Isaiah 40:21-30 says “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall”.

 

 

Since everything in this world belongs to God, you can trust you are never alone. John 16:32 says  “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me”. 2 Timothy 4:16-17 says “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.  But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.” Even if everyone in your life abandons or leaves, God will never leave and He is enough to give you strength. God is always with us. I tease my Mom when really I look up to how she does this. She never, ever says she is alone. One time I asked her where she was and she said Taco Bell. I said I was sorry she was alone there, and her response was I’m at Taco Bell with Jesus. I had to laugh, but at the same time realize she is right. I can’t imagine how Jesus must have felt to have his closest friends desert him, and to be humiliated and crucified even when he did nothing wrong. These verses remind us even if everyone in our life abandons us, we always have Him, and he knows the feeling.

 

Acts 2:22-28 says Jesus of Nazareth was a man and God who performed miracles. He was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and put him to death by wicked men nailing him to the cross. God raised him from the agony of death. David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ Whenever you question if your life is out of control and question God’s sovereignty, remember he used the most unjust, horrible act of all time, the murder of His Son, to bring about salvation for all of us, overcoming death.

Acts 7:9-49 summarizes the greatest stories of the bible where sin created suffering, pain, injustice and turmoil only for Him to display His sovereignty and glory in the midst of it all. It says “Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan. When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent his sons to get some. On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was. “Then ‘a new king came to power in Egypt.’ He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors killing their newborn babies. At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son when left outside. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. He saw one of the Hebrews being mistreated by an Egyptian and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.  Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’ “But the man said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?  Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian. “An angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. He heard the Lord say: I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and have come down to set them free. I will send you back to Egypt.’ “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their deliverer by God himself.  He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.  “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.  They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’  That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.  But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel? You have taken up the tabernacle of the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile.   After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David,  who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.  But it was Solomon who built a house for him. “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:  “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.””

Acts 13:20-39 continues to say “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.  Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.  After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.  Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.  As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’ “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.  The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.  Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.  When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.  But God raised him from the dead,  and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people. “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors  he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’ God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ So it is also stated elsewhere: “‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’ “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.  But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses”.”

Acts 15:10-11 says  ^“Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?  No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are”.”  Acts 17:25-28 says As if God needs anything, but gives everyone life and breath. From one man he made the entire earth, and marked out our appointed times in history and boundaries of our lands. God did this so we would seek him and find him, though he is not far from any of us. For in him we live, move and have our being.

The people of Jewish heritage held so tightly to being God’s chosen people, and could not understand that Jesus broken the walls and chains, allowing both Jews and gentiles to be saved. The people of Jewish heritage at this time continued to hold a “perfect” standard to the gentiles that they could not even hold themselves. God does not need anything from you, and simply loves and wants you to love Him. You have breath today because God is purposefully giving it to you. He made this world for and through Jesus. He is literally our source of life that allows us to have our being.

Romans 9:23-25  says “What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?  As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one”. God knew in advance and his plan all along was to save gentiles as well as the Jewish heritage. Galatians 3:26-29 says “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”.”

John 8:56-58 says  “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”. The Pharisees could not see that Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise God made through Abraham. In John 5:46-47 Jesus says “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” Jesus was frustrated with the Pharisees who were the religious leaders at the time, because they clung so heavily on the scriptures and what Moses had to say, but not Jesus who fulfilled everything they believed.

 

Romans 8:22-25  says “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently”. By the natural disasters, decay in the world, animals suffering and us as people suffering, anyone can see creation is just waiting to be restored. Isaiah 24:5-6 says “The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt”. The world was created good and beautiful, but us in our sinful desires a curse has now been placed on the earth. The beauty is God can make beauty from the brokenness. It is all over the bible, and he continues to do so today.

Romans 14:7-9 says “For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.  For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life”. Ecclesiastes 12:7  says “…and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it”. You were not created for yourself, but you were created for God. Your life is not your own. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;  you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies”. Honestly, think how much pressure it relieves you of to think your life belongs to God. You can have confidence he is going to counsel you and help you if he is choosing to have your life belong to him.

 

John 14:19-20 says We do not physically see Christ, but we see him because he lives as he is in the Father and in us. How He lives in us is through the Holy Spirit. John 14:25-26 says ““All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 16:7 says “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” I used to struggle what Jesus meant when He said it is better that the Advocate comes. I mean what can be better than having Jesus right next to me, verbally telling me exactly what I need to hear and exactly the direction I am supposed to go in?! Then I realized that is what the Holy Spirit does, who He is and it is Jesus living inside of us. When we trust Jesus, we can also trust in what He says, and He says when he ascended into heaven and the Holy Spirit came, He is still with us just as much as if he could physically hug you in your darkest moment.

 

Since we are saved and have the Holy Spirit, we can bear fruit and we can find church necessary and fun and not boring, we can love others and we can obey God, we can endure without losing heart, we can trust, live in anticipation and expectation, have assurance of heaven and live the most supernatural lifestyle one can imagine explaining what Jesus meant in John 10:10 when He says He came to give us life, and life to the full or the “abundant” life. Ephesians 6:24 says “Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love”. Once you have the Holy Spirit, you have this undying love where you cannot lose your salvation.

 

You can’t make up God’s power in your life or manufacture or fake even if you wanted to; His joy isn’t normal! It has to be from Him.  With salvation, your sins are forgiven, your life has purpose and you have a forever home in heaven! Christianity is the only religion where you do not get to heaven through works, but by grace alone. It’s the only faith where God seeks us as opposed to only us trying to find God, and He wants you to come and join the Fam!

 

Titus 3:3-8 says “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,  whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,  so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone”. We are no longer a slave to sin. It does not help to think about the sin and say to yourself “I can’t do that.” Instead, continue to fall in love and draw closer to Jesus and sin will begin to naturally appall you.

 

1 Corinthians 12:13 says how when we are saved through the Holy Spirit we are connected to every believer. People want the spirit of God, and desire that connection to Him and others in Him. 2 Corinthians 4:13-14  says “It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak,  because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself”. 2 Corinthians 8:7-9  says “But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.  I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich”.

 

He left His throne of glory and became poor, so we may become rich in Spirit, to excel in faith, speech, knowledge and earnestness, being zealous for Him, being full of His love in order to give gracefully. These are all qualities the Spirit can give when we ask of Him. Remember, it may not look like we are excelling in these areas from our tainted standard or thoughts, but God is faithful and will guide us by His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit energizes, helps us persevere, comforts, gives us intuition and discernment in the world and spiritual dimension meaning “accident” and “coincidence” no longer exist. When we submit to the Holy Spirit, we will have joy, comfort, guidance, confidence and courage.

 

How do you get “filled” with the Holy Spirit? By doing Spirit filled activities. When we are spirit filled, I am surrounded by the Spirit’s omnipotent shield, joyful, I can understand God’s book, positive attitude to servanthood, humility, sense evil, to love and be loved, be vulnerable and open, rely on the Spirit to intercede when I do not know what to pray, never fear evil, can stand alone with confidence, inner assurance, live worry-free, minister to others with our spiritual gifts, intimate abiding “Abba” relationship with the living God, Spirit of God is my constant companion and counselor for the rest of my life, filled with the all-powerful Spirit of God, release from the things that would otherwise hold us in bondage.

 

I love how my friend Sam talked about us being God’s contenders. I think some guidance with your prayer life could be something like “This is your day Lord, I am yours. Fill my mind and thoughts. Take control of my senses and let me be your contender.” Being filled with the Holy Spirit is like walking. When we are little, every step is a conscious effort and huge achievement. Finally you’re walking and not even thinking about it.

 

No day is a waste when we have the Spirit. Ask Him every day to have His way in your life. When we are filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18-21 says be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another is psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Colossians 3:16-17 also says “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word and deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

 

Galatians 5:16-17 says “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.  We follow the spirit, not when we are so focused on avoiding or sin, but when we focus on Jesus sin begins to repel us. We are free in Christ to follow him, avoid the trouble, have fun in life in the freedom he has given us and we now have the power to follow Him!

 

Ephesians 1:3-14 says  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love  he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—  to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace  that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,  he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,  to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,  in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.  And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,  who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory”.

 

We are anything but Holy, but because Christ died for us it sanctified us making us Holy when we trust in Him in God’s sight. You were thought of to be created before the creation of the world! He gives us he wisdom. He gives us the grace. When it says we are “predestined” it does not mean God chose some and not others. God desires all to be saved, however some will deny Him. We have a seal placed over us when we have the Holy Spirit, and even though we may not always listen to the Holy Spirit as we should, I am a firm believer you cannot “lose” the Holy Spirit. Once you see truth, you cannot “unsee” truth. Philippians 1:6 says  “being confident of this; that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.

 

Galatians 4:3-7 says We are born in slavery by the spiritual force of the world but at the right time God sent his son, born under the law of a virgin to redeem those under the law so we can be adopted. God sent the spirit of Jesus in our hearts so we can call out “Abba, Father.” We are no longer slaves but God’s child, and co-heirs with Christ when we share in his sufferings in order to share in his glory. It is crazy to think about God’s plan to have us be co-heirs with Christ. When a child is adopted, they are chosen! God adopts us into His family as a chosen child. When we call out “abba” this is the most dependent form of “Dad.” The best example is picture a little child who when they are hurt or scared running to their Dad.

Revelation 17:14  says “They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers”. Romans 8:14  says “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God”. 1 John 3:1 says “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”.

Want to know how to get wisdom? Proverbs 4:7-14 says “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though is costs all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. She will give you garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown. Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.”.

 

Proverbs 11:30  says “…the one who is wise saves life”. Proverbs 19:8  says “The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper”. Ecclesiastes 7:19  says “Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful than ten rulers in a city”. Many would say strength is the key to victory, but the Bible seems to feel it is wisdom and influence. Wisdom gives life, saves lives, helps you prosper and makes you more powerful than ten rulers of city by influencing others. In Daniel 1:20 it says “In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom,” talking about how God granted Daniel wisdom. Who is wise? What is wisdom considered? Fear of the Lord. This means that it does not matter your profession, even though it is wise to continue to learn within your profession, but many of the disciples other than Luke the Doctor and Matthew and Judas the accountants were not educated, yet people were amazed by their wisdom.

 

Jeremiah 8:9  says “Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?” Proverbs 13:14 says “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death”. Think of what you are most passionate about. It could be the Packers, your fantasy football league, learning guitar, to dance, your profession, investing in stocks or strategies for a board game. Even if it were confusing, you would study it. Same goes with God’s word. Many say they will not bother to read it because they find it confusing but we need to remember God used people who could not even read. We need to realize the enemy does not want you in the word because then you are back in the fight. This means we need to be prepared to fight when you are trying to follow because we are in spiritual war. We can open up the word with confidence and fight. We are able to fight because when you know the word, you can deny the accusations against you, but if you do not know the word you will take false accusations against the enemy or others as truth.

 

The beginning of how we get wisdom is to fear God. Job 28:23-28 says “God understands the way of it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. When he established the force of the wind and measured out the waters, when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm, then he looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it and tested it. And he said to the human race, “The fear of the Lord-that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding”. Fear of the Lord is wisdom and to shun evil is understanding.

 

Isaiah 33:6 says Fear of the Lord is the key to a sure foundation, salvation, wisdom and knowledge. In Isaiah 6:1-7, Isaiah saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim and they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. He said “Woe to me, I am ruined for I have unclean lips and am surrounding by those with unclean lips. My eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” One of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand from the altar and touched my mouth saying, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for”.

 

Psalm 97:4-6 says “His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory”. God’s power is beyond anything we can comprehend which should bring a natural fear understanding this power is beyond you, however once you fear God, you have nothing else to fear! You realize this God who has this power is on your side.

 

Once we begin to fear God, we have an understanding of who He is. Psalm 34:9 says “…for those who fear him lack nothing”. Psalm 34:7 says “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them”. Psalm 33:8-9 says “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm”. How can we not fear our God, a God who literally simply speaks and the world, the universe and even “we” came to be with but a breath? Psalm 25:12-15 says “Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare. Once we fear God, we lack nothing, He protects us and He instructs us in the ways He wants us to go.

 

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 says “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil”. The duty, our duty, our purpose, is to fear God and keep his commandments. Malachi 3:16 says There is a scroll of remembered of those who fear God and honor his name. Proverbs 19:23 says “The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”

 

Psalm 103:10-22 says As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass and many are remembered no more. But the Lord’s love is forever with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. His works are everywhere. We are his children when we fear him, leading Him to have compassion on us as a Father would. I have had times in my life when I would get frustrated that God was in a sense “using” me as a pawn either in someone else’s life to do His will even if it hurt me, or even a pawn in my own life to go through a particular situation, bringing me pain in order to do His will. Then my friend Karissa said “You are not a pawn, you are His child!”

 

Proverbs 3:13-22 says “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed. By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew. My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.”

 

Wisdom brings life and peace rooted from God. By wisdom He created the universe, which is why people cannot separate science as if it were apart from God. God created physics, chemistry, math, anatomy and physiology, so when people claim them believe in science over God, it is not possible because by wisdom even your very nature has been formed. Science is supernatural in and of itself. Science is how we make sense of God’s creation. King Solomon was a scientist according to 1 Kings 4:29-34. Science can be trustworthy without challenging faith. Science can move us to worship and actually glorifies God as its creator. People love to obsess over why there is not any life on other planets, but what if God made them for us!

 

Colossians 2:8-15 says Let no one take you captive through deceptive philosophy which is on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the word instead of Christ. In Christ is fullness, he is head over every power and authority who circumcises, not performed by human hands, allowing us to put off the flesh. We are buried with him, baptized with him and raised with him through faith. We were dead in our sins, God made us alive in Christ forgiving us of our sins. He disarms the authorities and cancelled our legal indebtedness which condemns us, nailing it to the cross. Do not follow or believe something when it comes to faith or God if it is only based on tradition whether in a church, your family, friends or just because someone else says so, but make sure it is in the word of God. Mark 7:8-9  says “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!”.

 

1 Peter 3:21-22 says Water symbolizes baptism, not the removal of dirt but a pledge of a clear conscience toward God which saves us by the resurrection of Jesus who is in heaven at God’s right hand with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. Baptism is an action you do to display your inward faith in Christ, as you have already been spirit baptized in order to receive salvation.  Physical water baptism does not save you as opposed to popular belief. Paul says in the bible it is so important, and once you become a believer it is your way of proclaiming and telling the world you are made new, however I do not want you to be confused as only baptism of the spirit saves you.

 

2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”. The reason Jesus has not returned yet, part of his grace, is his postponement of judgment on the world right now. God wants to save every single individual, and Jesus has not returned yet to rapture the current believers because he is being patient to let as many come to him as possible because he loves us. God is being patient because he wants everyone to willingly join his team. Whether you realize it or not, you are making a choice now, and this choice will simply be revealed when we either die or when Christ returns.

John 6:40 says  ^“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day”. God’s will is that all be saved, even though not all will chose. 2 Samuel 14:14 says “But that is not what God desires; rather he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him”. God has an act for wanting to save those who are lost, which is every single one of us. Ezekiel 18:32 says “For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!”.

Revelation 3:20 says “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me”. Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart, all you have to do is answer!. Isaiah 1:18 says ““Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool”.

 

Revelation 22:13-20 says “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.  Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.  “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.  And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus”.

 

Every single day that passes is another day closer to Jesus’s return, no matter when you are reading this. The tree of life that we were never able to grasp since the beginning since we first grabbed from the try that ultimately lead to our death, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we will finally have hold of, but not in a broken state. We will be in a perfect state because Christ will have made us perfect. This is the mic drop of the bible, the final words. Whether you continue on or give up, either way you are surrendering to Satan or God, there is no neutral ground.

 

John 14:15 says If you love me, keep my commands”. Luke 11:28  says “ He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it”. Luke 6:46-49 says God says why do you call me Lord, and not do what I say? If you come to him, hear his words and put them to practice you will be like the wise man who build his house on a solid foundation to withstand the flood, unshaken. But if you hear his words and do not practice them, your house will collapse from the weak foundation.

 

After talking about following His commands, Jesus says in John 15:11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete”. You need to understand following His commands brings joy. Please do not believe the lie it’s a burden. 2 Chronicles 6:14 says “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth- you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way”. No one has ever obeyed God whole heartedly and regretted it. 1 John 3:4 says “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

 

There is a distinct difference when someone is believer where you can tell they desire to keep the commands of God and love others. We will not be perfect, but I believe you will notice a difference. Someone with Jesus in their life may fall into sin, but will not run toward the sin. When a believer sins, they confess their sin to God, get back up and want to make it right.

 

Proverbs 29:6 says “Evildoers are snared by their own sin”. Psalm 37:14. Says “The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow” Psalm 37:15 says “But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken”. The sin we commit that we think is going to prosper us, benefit us, satisfy us or flat out looks fun at the time literally will pierce our very life if we are not careful. Psalm 7:15-17 says “Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out fall into the pit they have made. The trouble they cause recoils on their own heads. I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High”.

Colossians 2:20-22 says “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules  “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings”. There are many worldly, man-made rules talking about not being able to eat certain foods, etc. Jesus said this is no longer a law.

You may think since we have grace, why not just sin, and do what we want? Once you have a true relationship with Christ I dare you to try it. He will be right there, convicting you otherwise out of your love for Him! Romans 6:15-22 says “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!  Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.  When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.  What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life”.

Jesus does forgive us of every sin, but once you realize the sacrifice and love He went through to do it, sin begins to repel you. Jesus gave you freedom to say no to sin, not desire it because of His grace. There are no benefits to sin anyways. Initially, the enemy may have you deceived there is, but is always results in death, whether eternally, relationally or in circumstances in our lives.

John 8:33-36 says “They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”. People living in sin will not admit this to you, but when you are stuck in a sin and become its slave it sucks the life out of you. Becoming a slave to Christ is the only way to live in true freedom. Romans 6:14 says “  For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace”. Jesus wants to take care of you under his grace to give you complete freedom.

You may still be thinking Jesus can’t be the only way, there has to be multiple ways. Let me ask if I ask for directions, I would prefer someone “closed minded” to tell me where to go, as I think if someone said “take anyway it’ll get you to the store!” I would get lost. Or even if the answer was “Just be sincere about where you are going, and you will get there.” You would still get lost. There still is a direction and right answer. Also “I sincerely think that ball was a strike.” Then you get a different view of perspective and it’s at the person’s eyes or below the knees. You can be sincere, and still be completely wrong. There are absolute truths. If one person thinks it is a ball, and another a strike, they cannot both be right. God is who He says he is, and an opinion of Him does not change the absolute truth of who he tells us he is in his word.

 

Jesus was intolerant of sin to the point of death on the cross. I am a Packer fan. If I go to a Packer game and cheer for both the Packers and Bears, anyone could argue I am not a true fan. Jesus was very clear about what he believe as the truth and that He is the truth. He included and invited everyone into the invitation of His ways and I believe He wants us to do the same. He included the rich and poor, every race, every gender, sick, healthy and never left them the same. The ultimate tragedy for someone who is determined to believe the bible is not true and God does not exist, is not giving themselves any sense of hope or purpose. I know I cannot force someone to believe, because only God can change hearts. I pray you know your purpose, starting now!

 

Acts 3:15 says You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this”. The story of Jesus’s birth and crucifixion is proof of how God’s love for you. He shows us how His sovereignty is more powerful and will always win amidst the evil and suffering in this world. Jesus, God, came into the world during a hard time, but yet we see it was God’s perfect time when Luke 2:1-2 says Caesar Augustus had a census taken of the entire Roman world.

Luke 1:26-37 says God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth in Galilee to Mary, a virgin to be married to a man named Joseph who was a descendant of David. The angel said to Mary, Greetings! Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God. You will conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a son, and will call him Jesus because he will save people from their sins. He will be called the Son of the Lord God, will have the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail. This fulfilled the what God said through the prophet, the virgin will give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).

Matthew 2:1-15 says how The Magi, otherwise known as the wise men, were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod once they visited Jesus, so they returned with a different route. God knew Herod would try to find out from them where Jesus was, as he was pretending  he wanted to worship Jesus when he actually wanted to kill him. An angel then appeared to Joseph in a dream saying for them to escape to Egypt because Herod is coming to kill Jesus and all baby boys. They stayed in Egypt until Herod died which fulfilled the prophesy “Out of Egypt I called my son” referencing Hosea 11:1. This was similar to Exodus 1:22 which says “Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile”. Many times through the kings and male descendants it came down to one to continue the line leading to Jesus our Savior which is fascinating in and of itself.

 

Matthew 2:22-23 says how Joseph Jesus’s Dad was warned in a dream they went to Galilee and lived in a town called Nazareth fulfilling the prophesy “he would be called a Nazarene”. People questioned “How can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Again, proof that God, Jesus, was able to come from a town that nothing good was supposed to come out of. God chose to come in the humblest way possible, while his power was still on full display in every aspect of Jesus’s life. Luke 2:39-40  says “When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him”.

 

Luke 22:2-6 says Jesus is with His disciples having the last supper before his crucifixion, when Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the disciples and he went to the chief priests and officers of the temple guard to discuss how he could exchange Jesus for money. They waited until the crowd was not present. In Mark 14:18, Jesus says at dinner one is going to betray him, and he dips bread and hands it right to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

 

As he is arrested he states in Matthew 26:53-54 and says “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”. This is proof God did not force Jesus to be sacrificed, but Jesus was willingly sacrificed while being God, His very self, choosing to die in our place.

 

Mark 14:55-56  says “The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.” Mark 15:4-5  says “So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. Jesus knew his identity was in God, and was confident in that. The chief priests and whole Sanhedrin could not find any evidence against Him and yet when Pilate asked him to answer, he was silent in his strength and confidence of his identity. Also, even more importantly out of love for what he knew he had to do for us.

 

John 14:6-7 says “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him”. John 8:12-18 says Jesus said he is the light of the world, if you follow him you will never walk in darkness but have the light of life. The Pharisees challenged him saying if you appear as your own witness, your testimony is not valid. Jesus said I know where I come from and where I am going. You judge by human standards. My decisions and judgments are true because I stand with the Father who sent me. He is my witness. His confidence is amazing. I cannot emphasize it enough, because Jesus is saying we can have this same confidence that I know I need more of. We need this confidence and self-esteem not only to help ourselves, but others! How can we serve when we do not know who we are?

 

John 19:7-12 says The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” Pilate was afraid. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar”.

Since they could not find evidence to have Jesus crucified, what they accused him of was blasphemy, claiming that He is God, even though Jesus was telling the truth. When Jesus answered Pilate, He was making a point that even though it was all of the people’s evil ultimately leading him to be crucified, it had to happen in order for our sins to be forgiven referencing that Pilate only has the power and is allowed to do what he is about to do because of God. Again, Pilate gave into the peer pressure being accused that he is no friend of Ceasar’s if he were to let Jesus go free. He cared more about Human approval than God’s.

Mark 15:10-11  says The chief priests handed Jesus over out of self interest., stirring up the crowd to have Barabbas released Pilate said you gave me this man as if he was starting rebellion, I or Herod have found no basis for your charges against him to deserve death. I want to remind us here, that yet again, there is no basis to crucify Jesus yet, the chief priests out of their pride stirred up the crowd, having them shout to release Barabbas, instead, a murderer. Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” He said “Why? What crime has this man committed? But with loud shouts they yelled to crucify.

 

They had no reason. Pilate granted their demand out of fear of the crowd. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will. Could you imagine how Barabbas felt, being released as a murderer in place of an innocent man? That is exactly how we should all feel. Jesus not only took Barabbas’s place, but each and every one of ours.

 

Matthew 27:27-31  says “The soldiers stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him”. Jesus left heaven, his throne of perfection, for this painful sin tainted world.

Luke 23:32-45 says They divided his clothes and rulers, soldiers, rebels, chief priests, teachers of the law, elders and others who passed sneered and mocked him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”  And “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God! Then we will believe you. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.”  There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.”

 

Jesus is the definition of humility. He only hung there for the very people yelling at him. He hung there for you and me. On his way to the worst death imaginable, he has the love and strength to say the words “Father, forgive them, they know not what they are doing?!” This is the definition of true love. I also love how the one criminal finds God right before He dies, and Jesus tells Him this same day he will be with Him in paradise. It is never too late for anyone!

 

Matthew 27:45-54  says “Darkness was over the land when Jesus cried out “My God, why have you forsaken me?” Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two, the earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open where bodies were raised to life where they appeared to others after Jesus was resurrected. The centurion exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”  . For that split second, God’s wrath had to go onto Jesus as he carried the wait of every single thing we have done wrong, every single one of us, referring to the term sin. The significance of the temple curtain being torn into two was that the veil separated the “holy of holies” in the place of the temple. Only the highest rank priest could go in. Now, Jesus physically tore the veil giving all of us direct access to God ourselves.

John 19:27-30  says “and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled. Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit”. Even up until the very end, Jesus made sure his family was taken care of. When Jesus said it was finished, he meant it. The trying, the working, the pleasing. Once we fall in love with Jesus knowing He finished it, for you, you will have such enthusiasm and passion to serve him that it will flow out of you.

John 19:33-37 says “But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.  Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced”. Proof once again that the Bible in infallible. Some may argue well did Jesus really die? My next question would be do you understand what a Roman crucifixion was? Next question, do you think anyone ever survived a Roman crucifixion?

John 20:1  says “Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance”. Mary’s first reaction was to think the worst. Jesus’s body has been stolen. John 20:12  says “and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been”. Matthew 28:1-7 says Both Marys went to the tomb when there was a violent earthquake and an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were terrified. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Go quickly and tell his disciples.” Jesus has risen from the dead, and today His tomb is empty! No one has been able to find Jesus’s bones since.

Luke 24:5-7 says The men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again”. Matthew 27:62-66 says The next day the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate, making sure the tomb was secure until the third day otherwise, they thought his disciples were going to stead his body and pretend he rose from the dead. So Pilate put out guards with a seal on the stone Matthew 28:12-13 says “The chief priests and elders gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep””. Matthew 28:15 says “this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.”

Luke 24:9-11 says When they came back from the tomb, they told the disciples who did not believe because their words seemed to them like nonsense”. Even after Jesus rose from the dead and told His disciples it was going to happen ahead of time, they still did not believe. John 20:27-29 says Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. I feel bad for Thomas, as he is popularly known as “doubting Thomas,” when actually all the disciples did not believe it initially. Jesus is saying, blessed are those who have not seen and have believed, referring to us!

Romans 10:8-13 says “But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

John 17:20-26 says Jesus prays for his disciples and us to be one just as him and the father are one. He prays we are in him as he has given us his glory, so people will believe God sent him and even more loves them just as God loved him, and then we can be in complete unity. Jesus prays anyone in him will be where he is, see his glory he was given because the Father loves him before the creation of the world. Though the world does not know God, they know Jesus making him known to us so the love God has for Jesus can be in us and Christ with us..1 Peter 1:20-21 says “ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”

 

Did you know God loves parties and even compares heaven to a wedding banquet?! Matthew 22:1-2 says Jesus said “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come”. You are invited to God’s party in heaven! Jesus welcomes you with open arms as you are, but he loves you too much to leave you there. He embraces you with your brokenness, but from that moment on begins to clean it. It Is not about perfection, but it’s about increasing your consistency. Instead of fixing your mind and eyes on the sin, fix them on Christ and loving Him. It naturally makes you want to move from sin, instead of when we just focus on “not sinning,” our thoughts are consumed by it. If you play a sport, for the first time, you may find it tiring and very confusing. However, the more you play, get to know your teammates and get in shape, the game is fun and you can compete!

Revelation 1:3  says “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” Revelation 22:7 says  “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll”. We do not know when Jesus is returning, but we know it is soon!

Romans 13:11-12  says “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.  The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

We do not know the exact date, so what now? What about today? 2 Peter 3:11-18  says “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen”.

2 Peter 1:3-11 says “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;  and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.  Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,  and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”.

This blog is for God’s glory alone. Thank you Jesus for using me in ways I never could on my own. Thank you everyone for your prayers. Thank you to my editors. You took all “all over the place” thoughts and made it into a finished work. I pray Jesus shares with you the story of every person affected by this that wouldn’t have happened without your help.  I want you to know you can do all things through Him, everything. I pray at the end of my book, you do not remember my name but His. God made you. God is for you. Jesus loves you. And made you for an exact purpose. With God, all things are possible. Whatever mountain is in front of you and will be in front of you the rest of your life, Jesus is the answer. I hope you chose Him. I promise it will be the best yes you have ever made in your life, and then after! For more, go to YoucanthroughChrist.com.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13