God’s LOVE for you is border-less, boundless, endless, relentless,
limitless, fail-less, fathomless, expectation-less, performance-less,
hight-less, depth-less and unshakeable. It might sound to good to be true, but
it is true. And regardless of what the graceless grace-butters...BUT...God and
His LOVE by saying "God loves you BUT...God is good BUT... Never ever let go of
this absolute truth. Why? Because it will revolutionize and turn your
wrong-upside-down thinking of Him to right-side-up thinking of Him! And you will
be set free of whom the fear-mongers make Him out to be.
How precious is
your unfailing LOVE, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your
wings. (Psalm 36:7 God’s LOVE is never-failing. You are a LOVED child of
God!
No matter what your life situation is, good, bad or indifferent, a
sinning-saint or a sinning-sinner God’s LOVE is there for you in all its glory.
It’s never-ending. God’s only Son, Jesus, came to this earth to showcase the
all-encompassing, all-inclusive LOVE God has for the crowning glory of His
creation...people. Jesus took every sin that could ever be committed upon
himself without hesitation died and rose again so that we may find freedom from
sin and the religious bondage we find ourselves in. Jesus' finished work on the
cross forever changed the destiny of man, and the LOVE of Jesus forever changed
your life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) God
looks at you with a heart of compassion.
From the beginning of time, You
have been highly favored in graceful eyes and the LOVING heart of God. God has
deemed you as a one-of-a-kind, a hand-crafted masterpiece that will never be
thrown away. God doesn’t create useless things, and you were made for something
greater than you could possibly imagine and the full expression of that
something will not be realized until you understand and accept the Grace and
LOVE of your LOVING God.
Even before He made the world, God LOVED you
and chose you in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. (Ephesians
1:4)
God is LOVE, and LOVE is real. Learn to embrace the LOVE of our
LOVING God in all circumstances, no matter how good or bad. And no matter your
past or present or future, God’s LOVE for you is alive and looking to live and
LOVE through you for the glory of His name.
Embrace the Love of God, and
realize that God’s LOVE for you is unshakeable. No failure of yours can going to
separate you from His LOVE, and no past is too broken For His LOVE to fail
you.
Anyone who does not LOVE does not know God, because God is LOVE.
Tell the fear-mongering Grace-Haters and God's-LOVE-failers to put that in their
pipe and smoke it.
- Glenn Regular
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Boring
We’ve all heard that “honesty is the best policy.”
Michael takes it to a new level today! He speaks about something that we all
have had a desire to express at some time or another…and yet, he shows us just
why it is important to “speak up” when the situation really demands
it…
For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as
Lord, and ourselves as your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said,
“Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to
give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Christ. –II Corinthians 4:5, 6
I had a life-changing revelation when I was talking
to a man who had suffered abuse as a child that ended in his spending nearly the
next forty years in counseling. He would tell the counselors about a beating,
show the scar, they would talk to his invisible father in a chair, and so on. I
listened to this man, wondering what Jesus would say. I am often just as
surprised as those I am discipling at what the Lord gives me, and this time when
it came I leaned forward, put my hands on his knees and said, “Listen very
carefully, for Jesus has told me what to say. It is only one word, but if you
receive it, it will change the course of your life. If you do not listen, well,
amen.” The man leaned toward me and listened intently as I spoke the
word, “Boooooring!”He just stared at me, but again I said,
“Boooooring! Your story is boring; I am bored to death with it; I
cannot stand to hear any more of it.
Why have you not gotten a
life? It is a terrible shame that you were beaten as a child; it is bad
that it ruined the first twelve years of your life. However, it has become a
tragedy because you have allowed it to steal another forty years.
How long can you go on talking about the first twelve years of your life? It is
boring; you are boring!” I explained that I was sick of myself, too; I was bored
with Mike. I am exhausted from thinking about myself, who did what, said what,
reacted, rebuked, hated, or liked me. Self-life is all so
boring.Jesus is not boring. I had challenged myself to go one hour
without thinking about myself. It took months, but I finally did it. Then I did
it for one day and finally one week, the best week of my life; it added much to
rather than detracting from my life, and I had a great time. I challenged him
that I, too, would be bored and depressed if all I did was think about him.
Again, the advice was to get a life, get Christ’s life. As I was
talking, his wife interrupted and said to him, “Go look in a mirror! You will be
surprised with what you see.” He did and discovered that he was smiling. He
acted shocked and said, “Why would I be smiling?” The answer was simple,
“For the first time in over forty years your eyes are on Jesus.”
There is nothing His nearness will not cure. To be happy one
must give himself to something greater than himself. The thing far
greater than man is God.
How many people do you know that have lost many years
of their life because they are still talking about, still living, some event or
person that did something to them years and years before? What percentage of
Christians do you suppose are living like this?
And the tragedy is those years have been stolen from
them. That Jesus Christ could have overcome that “event” or “person” way back
when…
And God’s answer to the matter is Christ’s life is
supposed to be our life. And He was never defeated by any attack, any offense.
I remember when Michael introduced me to Psalm 119:165…never again, by the grace
of God, have I allowed something or someone to “offend” me. That is what
Christ’s life is all about. And it is not that His life is “available” to every
Christian…it is that His life IS our life. At least that is what God has said:
Colossians 3:4.
We are either living the Truth, or not.
God, give us the grace to live Your
Truth.
To Possess I Must Experience
Michael gives us great counsel against this subtle
lie of the devil. Every Born Again Believer must POSSESS based on what God has
told us, not by the enemy’s definitions, our emotions, any experiences, or any
other qualifiers.
Many are working to have oneness or one in their
marriages, when in fact oneness is something that is given, not worked for.
Experience must come out of faith, which is the “conviction of things not yet
seen.” Because we have not experienced all does not mean that we do not possess
all. If the experience never comes, still we believe what He has spoken. The
other side of this problem is that the enemy would like to define for us what
the experience should be and have us believe that until we have those feelings
he specifies, we do not possess what God has given us.
Take, for example, the whole issue of knowing whether
a person is going to heaven. Many have allowed the enemy to define for them
what this assurance will feel like, such as a great emotional release, visions,
appointments, the list being as varied as are the believers. We must remember
that our assurance is based on what God tells us, not anything
else…
There are those who are so governed by emotion that
the worst thing the Lord could do for them upon first accepting Him would be to
give them an emotional experience, for in so doing, God would be encouraging
them to continue to be led by emotion. For this type of person it would be
important t have no emotional experience and to learn to walk by faith without
feeling. The experience that God gives each individual will always be just the
one needed.
We must also be careful to allow all experiences to
transpire without trying to force them, because the enemy (sometimes by way of
other believers) may have defined a particular experience as our assurance.
Know this, that one sure sign of assurance is questioning the fact of being born
again.
We must be careful to allow only God to define what
is ours in Christ, and not allow the enemy to add qualifiers. We also must not
allow the enemy to define what a successful believer is, because it will so
often have to do with accomplishing something great for the Lord; his logic is
characteristically, “If I can do something great for the Lord, then He will be
pleased, and I will gain His favor and acceptance.” Such a thought has its
roots in hell, for it denies the Christian’s standing before the Father by faith
in Christ’s work, not his own. Nowhere are we commended for doing the great
thing; rather, the emphasis is on faithfulness in the smallest of things: for
the child, in such as obedience; for the wife, simple respect for her husband;
and for the husband, loving his wife. Successful Christianity involves
forgiving, loving the unlovable, giving instead of storing up treasures on
earth, and abiding in Him. We must always allow God to specify what
Christianity is, and we will find that it is rarely what we think it
is.
Isn’t it beautiful what all God has done for every
believer, what all God has given every believer…all simply because of who we are
in Christ. Well, amen!
Michael clearly gives us two great truths to live
by:
1. We believe what GOD has spoken, therefore
possessing because HE has said so. It is only sad if we don’t experience what
we possess, but never an indication we don’t possess.
2. We live based on GOD’s definition of what an
experience should be. Again, it is only sad if we don’t experience an
experience exactly as God has prescribed, but we cannot let the enemy re-define
or add qualifiers to change God’s definition.
I so appreciate Michael telling us what
“successful Christianity involves," and also his telling us to “always allow God
to specify what Christianity IS.” We must not let “what we think it is” rule
our living as a Christian.
Thank You, Lord, that You have given us Yourself
to live in us, so that living life as a Christian is merely living the life that
is Christ. Hallelujah!
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Tell Others What Jesus Has Done for You
When Jesus
exorcises the demoniac near the tombs, he doesn't permit him to become one of
his followers, but he says: Return to your home, and declare how much God has
done for you (Luke 8.39). He was from a town of Gentiles; he goes and begins
to prepare his hometown for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which will eventually
spread to the Gentile lands and peoples after the resurrection.
This is an example of how testimony about the works of God function in evangelism. This sort of thing is present in many of the psalms, as well. Consider for example:
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD. . . .
I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O LORD.
I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation (Ps 40.3, 9-10).
The psalmist experiences God's deliverance in some impressive way, but he doesn't keep the event all to himself. Rather he speaks out about it, and tells the whole congregation. He says, moreover, that this testimony has an evangelistic function. It will move many to see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD (v. 3).
There are numerous other psalms that speak about people turning to God after having witnessed the great things he had done. This is most notable in Ps 22, which speaks of the results of the redemption of the suffering servant of God:
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him. . . .
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it (vv. 27, 30-1).
I think the psalmist is speaking about the true suffering servant, Christ. More precisely, I believe his words find prophetic fulfillment in the resurrection of Christ, which will be followed by the conversion of the nations. Every knee will bow down to him (Ps 22.29; Phil 2.9-11) and worship Christ! This is because they will learn of what God did for him, how he raised him from the dead. They will recognize what they did wrong, and they will acknowledge that he is the true Son of God.
This motif, then, of evangelism by personal testimony is prevalent in the scriptures. Of course, we should always focus our evangelism on the testimony of the apostles to the resurrection of Christ, since that is what saves us, above everything else. Still there is place for the mention of our own experiences of God's deliverance in the midst of it all, as well. We have ample biblical precedent for such a practice, both in evangelism and in the context of the church meeting.
One of the things I like about the Romanian Pentecostal churches is the way they do intercessory prayer. Every prayer meeting, there is one specific prayer dedicated to intercession on behalf of those suffering or troubled in some way, whether present in the congregation or not. The whole assembly is given the opportunity to mention reasons for prayer with a loud voice, and after they have all been announced, everyone prays together for those things. Here, too, there is opportunity to bring thanksgiving before God and the assembly for things which have taken place in the lives of the members of the church. I find that messages of thanksgiving always motivate the others to pray, because they are newly encouraged and reminded that God is still active and working in the world.
Telling others about what the Lord has done for you is a way of letting them know that God is still out there; he still cares for us. If he answered my prayer, he can answer yours. I prayed for a long time that I would find a place of work which was suitable to my talents and my training. Finally, after more than a year of praying, I have found a job at Grand Canyon University. Furthermore it is a job which offers the opportunity of promotion in the future. For this, I am endlessly thankful to God, because this job is an undeniable gift. I enjoy what I do immensely; there could not have been a more perfect place or time for me to get this job. In the same way, I encourage everyone else to pray to God and to trust that he will provide for you.
This is an example of how testimony about the works of God function in evangelism. This sort of thing is present in many of the psalms, as well. Consider for example:
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD. . . .
I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O LORD.
I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation (Ps 40.3, 9-10).
The psalmist experiences God's deliverance in some impressive way, but he doesn't keep the event all to himself. Rather he speaks out about it, and tells the whole congregation. He says, moreover, that this testimony has an evangelistic function. It will move many to see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD (v. 3).
There are numerous other psalms that speak about people turning to God after having witnessed the great things he had done. This is most notable in Ps 22, which speaks of the results of the redemption of the suffering servant of God:
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him. . . .
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it (vv. 27, 30-1).
I think the psalmist is speaking about the true suffering servant, Christ. More precisely, I believe his words find prophetic fulfillment in the resurrection of Christ, which will be followed by the conversion of the nations. Every knee will bow down to him (Ps 22.29; Phil 2.9-11) and worship Christ! This is because they will learn of what God did for him, how he raised him from the dead. They will recognize what they did wrong, and they will acknowledge that he is the true Son of God.
This motif, then, of evangelism by personal testimony is prevalent in the scriptures. Of course, we should always focus our evangelism on the testimony of the apostles to the resurrection of Christ, since that is what saves us, above everything else. Still there is place for the mention of our own experiences of God's deliverance in the midst of it all, as well. We have ample biblical precedent for such a practice, both in evangelism and in the context of the church meeting.
One of the things I like about the Romanian Pentecostal churches is the way they do intercessory prayer. Every prayer meeting, there is one specific prayer dedicated to intercession on behalf of those suffering or troubled in some way, whether present in the congregation or not. The whole assembly is given the opportunity to mention reasons for prayer with a loud voice, and after they have all been announced, everyone prays together for those things. Here, too, there is opportunity to bring thanksgiving before God and the assembly for things which have taken place in the lives of the members of the church. I find that messages of thanksgiving always motivate the others to pray, because they are newly encouraged and reminded that God is still active and working in the world.
Telling others about what the Lord has done for you is a way of letting them know that God is still out there; he still cares for us. If he answered my prayer, he can answer yours. I prayed for a long time that I would find a place of work which was suitable to my talents and my training. Finally, after more than a year of praying, I have found a job at Grand Canyon University. Furthermore it is a job which offers the opportunity of promotion in the future. For this, I am endlessly thankful to God, because this job is an undeniable gift. I enjoy what I do immensely; there could not have been a more perfect place or time for me to get this job. In the same way, I encourage everyone else to pray to God and to trust that he will provide for you.
We are all Loved by God to Love Each Other
One thing that I am thankful to God for is the revelation that I was
in sin's prison and through the finished work of Jesus on the cross and his
resurrection He set me free...from sin. But, the very entity that helped me see
and understand that revelation and helped free me from the minimum security
prison of sin, impounded me in the maximum security prison of religious bondage.
The controls that are in place within the bondage of religion is difficult to
break free from because the bars are made from deception's lies that has been
presented and accepted as truth for so long that it is deemed to be Bible Truth.
Thus the only way to break free is the religious encasement that encases the
prisoner's heart has to be broken by the softening agent of the Spirit of Truth
so that the truth of God's grace can begin to do it's work in melting away
Religion's facade and be discarded for the lie it is.
In order understand and experience the reality of New Covenant life...grace living...the religious mindset must be broken exposing the wrong doctrines, practices and rituals that negate the finished work of Christ on the cross and the godless entity it is. It MUST be broken in order for God's people to recover the powerful spiritual relationship and inheritance that they have been defrauded of because of religion's deception. Until we break out of religious bondage we will not know or experience life living as God's righteous people...new-creation people...as children of God united in a spiritual union with Jesus by His victorious resurrection from the dead.
The iceberg religious mentality of the frozen chosen that dominates religious hierarchy MUST MELT to the warmth of God's love and grace so that believers, including themselves, can experience the truth and freedom of living as a loved child of God free from the religious mindset that dominates most of the religious world.
For too many years I accepted the way of man-made religion with its man-made doctrine without question. I thoroughly agreed with what the denominated seminarian of my denomination taught me and I was not looking for any reason to contradict it. In fact, when I was questioned on the denominated doctrines I interpreted the scripture in light of that doctrine and refuted the question using out of context scripture interpretation with air of superiority for knowing the Bible and feeling good because I was a Bible-quoten-sharp-shooten Bible-verse-slinger. However, in laying aside my man-taught beliefs and studying the scripture to help formulate what I believe instead of interpreting them in-light of what I believed, I have come to realize, a new understanding...the revelation of being in Christ and Him being in me. I found out that relationship with God is not about religion or being religious, I found out that spirituality was not about the deceived rightness of a denomination and a multitude of other iceberg mentalities that dominate religious denominationalism.
One great dawning of my spiritual relationship with God was when I woke up from the religious stupor I was in and began my escape from religion's prison of religious bondage to enter into the New-Covenant way of living...living in Christ and Him living in me, and coming to a place of realizing that it is not my religious works that make me acceptable to God. Rather it is the works of Jesus that makes me acceptable to God. I then saw the need for Him to do His work in me so He could do His works through me in the gracefulness of His Love and Grace.
Religion with its man-made traditions and doctrine, is the biggest hindrance to living in the freedom of God's Grace and Love. Even though people view religion as well-meaning it is misguided in that it is a distraction to a glorious life of freedom in Christ.
People have been misguided by man-made religion and have been mindlessly taught man-made tradition and doctrine for so long that most believers do not recognize how most religious teaching contradicts the scriptures that is preached from and the very foundation of the the Good News of the Gospel itself.
Though my post are weighed heavily against religion and the content contradicts a lot of religious sacred cows when it comes to religious beliefs...they are in NO WAY meant to be a personal judgement or attack on any brother or sister in Christ that are caught up in the religious system...I spent many years in that same system. I have no disparagement against any person in or out of that system. However, the teaching that springs from the religious system or any teaching outside of that system should be open for questioning and examined in the light of Jesus' teachings and adjusted accordingly.
From my study and understanding of scripture (for what that's worth) some very popular religious teachings and doctrines are heavily laden with error that needs exposing and abondenment, this in no way is an accusation against those who teach the doctrines. Most of the people holding to and teaching the error are believing they are doing the right thing and fail to see the error in it. Only the Spirit of Truth will convince them of the error and lead them to the Truth. God loves them or me, in spite of the error we may be in.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, “we know in part” and “we see through a glass, darkly;” therefore, we do not see truth in its purity. However, we can pursue a better understanding of the truth and we can extend the grace and love of God to one another in the process. If we disagree, there is no call for argument, dispute, animosity or hatred with fear-mongering. We can agree to disagree respectfully. Each person must walk with God in light that is revealed to them by the Spirit.
However, if we refuse to question our preconceived ideas, traditional thinking and ritual practices, and prayerfully consider the measuring of what we believe and do through the lens of Jesus...the express image of God...we will never mature spiritually in our spiritual relational journey with God or move toward the highest and best that God has provided in Christ for the Community of the Redeemed.
We all need a spiritual revolution in our lives. Remember everybody is loved by God equally and as His Children we are to love everybody, even though we may not agree with their actions, or beliefs and when necessary explain our opposition to such action and beliefs.
- Glenn Regular
In order understand and experience the reality of New Covenant life...grace living...the religious mindset must be broken exposing the wrong doctrines, practices and rituals that negate the finished work of Christ on the cross and the godless entity it is. It MUST be broken in order for God's people to recover the powerful spiritual relationship and inheritance that they have been defrauded of because of religion's deception. Until we break out of religious bondage we will not know or experience life living as God's righteous people...new-creation people...as children of God united in a spiritual union with Jesus by His victorious resurrection from the dead.
The iceberg religious mentality of the frozen chosen that dominates religious hierarchy MUST MELT to the warmth of God's love and grace so that believers, including themselves, can experience the truth and freedom of living as a loved child of God free from the religious mindset that dominates most of the religious world.
For too many years I accepted the way of man-made religion with its man-made doctrine without question. I thoroughly agreed with what the denominated seminarian of my denomination taught me and I was not looking for any reason to contradict it. In fact, when I was questioned on the denominated doctrines I interpreted the scripture in light of that doctrine and refuted the question using out of context scripture interpretation with air of superiority for knowing the Bible and feeling good because I was a Bible-quoten-sharp-shooten Bible-verse-slinger. However, in laying aside my man-taught beliefs and studying the scripture to help formulate what I believe instead of interpreting them in-light of what I believed, I have come to realize, a new understanding...the revelation of being in Christ and Him being in me. I found out that relationship with God is not about religion or being religious, I found out that spirituality was not about the deceived rightness of a denomination and a multitude of other iceberg mentalities that dominate religious denominationalism.
One great dawning of my spiritual relationship with God was when I woke up from the religious stupor I was in and began my escape from religion's prison of religious bondage to enter into the New-Covenant way of living...living in Christ and Him living in me, and coming to a place of realizing that it is not my religious works that make me acceptable to God. Rather it is the works of Jesus that makes me acceptable to God. I then saw the need for Him to do His work in me so He could do His works through me in the gracefulness of His Love and Grace.
Religion with its man-made traditions and doctrine, is the biggest hindrance to living in the freedom of God's Grace and Love. Even though people view religion as well-meaning it is misguided in that it is a distraction to a glorious life of freedom in Christ.
People have been misguided by man-made religion and have been mindlessly taught man-made tradition and doctrine for so long that most believers do not recognize how most religious teaching contradicts the scriptures that is preached from and the very foundation of the the Good News of the Gospel itself.
Though my post are weighed heavily against religion and the content contradicts a lot of religious sacred cows when it comes to religious beliefs...they are in NO WAY meant to be a personal judgement or attack on any brother or sister in Christ that are caught up in the religious system...I spent many years in that same system. I have no disparagement against any person in or out of that system. However, the teaching that springs from the religious system or any teaching outside of that system should be open for questioning and examined in the light of Jesus' teachings and adjusted accordingly.
From my study and understanding of scripture (for what that's worth) some very popular religious teachings and doctrines are heavily laden with error that needs exposing and abondenment, this in no way is an accusation against those who teach the doctrines. Most of the people holding to and teaching the error are believing they are doing the right thing and fail to see the error in it. Only the Spirit of Truth will convince them of the error and lead them to the Truth. God loves them or me, in spite of the error we may be in.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, “we know in part” and “we see through a glass, darkly;” therefore, we do not see truth in its purity. However, we can pursue a better understanding of the truth and we can extend the grace and love of God to one another in the process. If we disagree, there is no call for argument, dispute, animosity or hatred with fear-mongering. We can agree to disagree respectfully. Each person must walk with God in light that is revealed to them by the Spirit.
However, if we refuse to question our preconceived ideas, traditional thinking and ritual practices, and prayerfully consider the measuring of what we believe and do through the lens of Jesus...the express image of God...we will never mature spiritually in our spiritual relational journey with God or move toward the highest and best that God has provided in Christ for the Community of the Redeemed.
We all need a spiritual revolution in our lives. Remember everybody is loved by God equally and as His Children we are to love everybody, even though we may not agree with their actions, or beliefs and when necessary explain our opposition to such action and beliefs.
- Glenn Regular
Monday, March 2, 2015
The Lord's Compassion
Perhaps my favorite psalm is Ps 145, which
praises God's universal benevolence and compassion at great length. I've posted
about it and quoted it multiple times before, but it never hurts to hear the
truth again.
My favorite verse from the psalm is this one:
The LORD is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made (v. 9).
Why is it important to think about God's compassion being over all that he has made? Among other reasons, it gives us confidence in approaching the Lord in prayer, no matter what the subject matter may be. This same sentiment is echoed in the epistle to the Hebrews:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4.15-6).
Christ knows what it is like to live in the world, with all its temptations and trials; as the psalmist wrote, he remembers that we are dust (Ps 103.14). Because he knows the difficulty of our situation, we can approach him with confidence, expecting to receive grace and mercy. Dumitru Stăniloae likewise says somewhere that mercy everywhere and always accompanies Christ; for this reason we are always to seek mercy from him, pleading with Christ, Lord have mercy!
I love the compassionate God who is concerned for his creation, and who is concerned even for me. Though I sin against him and many times I run from his face, yet he is good to me and provides for me all the things I need. Among other things, he provided me with a wonderful job after I had been praying for years for such a thing. He gave me the job when I was able to work it, and not before when the demands of seminary were much higher than I could have handled.
I don't have much of anything to say in this post except to praise God's compassion. He is good to me, and to the whole world! He loves me and he loves the whole world! There is a quotation from Kuyper, I think, along these lines: "There is not one square inch of the entire universe about which Christ does not claim, 'Mine!'" I accommodate this sentiment thus: there is not one square inch in this universe for which the LORD's compassion and goodness has run out, or ever will.
My favorite verse from the psalm is this one:
The LORD is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made (v. 9).
Why is it important to think about God's compassion being over all that he has made? Among other reasons, it gives us confidence in approaching the Lord in prayer, no matter what the subject matter may be. This same sentiment is echoed in the epistle to the Hebrews:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4.15-6).
Christ knows what it is like to live in the world, with all its temptations and trials; as the psalmist wrote, he remembers that we are dust (Ps 103.14). Because he knows the difficulty of our situation, we can approach him with confidence, expecting to receive grace and mercy. Dumitru Stăniloae likewise says somewhere that mercy everywhere and always accompanies Christ; for this reason we are always to seek mercy from him, pleading with Christ, Lord have mercy!
I love the compassionate God who is concerned for his creation, and who is concerned even for me. Though I sin against him and many times I run from his face, yet he is good to me and provides for me all the things I need. Among other things, he provided me with a wonderful job after I had been praying for years for such a thing. He gave me the job when I was able to work it, and not before when the demands of seminary were much higher than I could have handled.
I don't have much of anything to say in this post except to praise God's compassion. He is good to me, and to the whole world! He loves me and he loves the whole world! There is a quotation from Kuyper, I think, along these lines: "There is not one square inch of the entire universe about which Christ does not claim, 'Mine!'" I accommodate this sentiment thus: there is not one square inch in this universe for which the LORD's compassion and goodness has run out, or ever will.
The Kind of Sin Jesus Publicly Exposes
Religious sin is the only sin Jesus publicly confronted. The religious
variety of the forbidden fruit is the most addictive and deceptive variety.
Instead of acknowledging that judging others is prohibited, religious idolatry
embraces the knowledge of good and evil as divinely sanctioned and mandated. It
gives the illusion of being on God’s side even while it destroys life and
hardens people in direct opposition to God.
Religious sin is the most destructive kind of sickness, for it masquerades as and feeds off the illusion of health. Far from being open to a cure, this kind of sickness thrives on the illusion that it is the epitome of health. By its very nature it resists soft correction. Indeed, because it gets life from the rightness of its beliefs and behavior rather than from love, religious sin tends to construe all compassion, accommodation, and unconditional acceptance as compromise. People afflicted with religious sin thus tend to disdain compassionate love, even if it is extended toward them. Hence, Jesus’ approach to leaders who fed off this illusion could not be to gently offer them a cure. Rather, for their sake and the sake of those who blindly followed them, he had to publicly expose their sickness.
What does this mean for the church? The church is called to be the corporate body of Christ that unconditionally loves and embraces all people, regardless of their sin. The only exception to this otherwise unconditional embrace is the sin Jesus confronted in the religious leadership of his day. While all sin is equal in the sense that it separates us from God, sins differ in terms of their impact on people and thus differ in how they need to be dealt with. Religious sin is unique in that it is the only sin that can keep a community from fulfilling the commission to unconditionally love and embrace everyone.
When religious sin infects people, they feed off their judgment rather than love. Where this diabolic delusion is in place in leadership, the kingdom of God is resisted. God’s will can’t be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10), for those enslaved to this delusion think they are bringing the kingdom in the very act of preaching their delusion. They preach the fall and think it is salvation. In the name of opening the kingdom, they “lock people out of the kingdom” (Matt. 23:13).
For this reason, religious sin sabotages the whole enterprise of the church when it is found in leadership. It prevents the church from manifesting the loving unity of the Trinity, which is God’s main witness to the world. When a people—especially leaders—gets life from the rightness of their belief and behavior, they will invariably get life by attacking and/or separating from others who don’t see things exactly as they do.
Moreover, since idols never satisfy the hunger that drives us to them, leaders who serve an idol of religion tend to believe they are serving the interest of the kingdom by splitting into increasingly well-defined and ever-shrinking groups.
Hence, while most of the time love requires that we hide the sins of others, the sin of leaders who get life from their religion at the expense of others must sometimes be confronted and exposed. It may be the only hope those who are enslaved to this sin have of recognizing it as sin. It may also be the only way of protecting people who would follow these leaders as well as others who might be harmed by these leaders. Precisely to ensure that it remains a community where outrageous love flows, the church must in love be willing to aggressively confront leaders who are enslaved and enslave others to religious idolatry.
—Adapted from Repenting of Religion, pages 203-205
Religious sin is the most destructive kind of sickness, for it masquerades as and feeds off the illusion of health. Far from being open to a cure, this kind of sickness thrives on the illusion that it is the epitome of health. By its very nature it resists soft correction. Indeed, because it gets life from the rightness of its beliefs and behavior rather than from love, religious sin tends to construe all compassion, accommodation, and unconditional acceptance as compromise. People afflicted with religious sin thus tend to disdain compassionate love, even if it is extended toward them. Hence, Jesus’ approach to leaders who fed off this illusion could not be to gently offer them a cure. Rather, for their sake and the sake of those who blindly followed them, he had to publicly expose their sickness.
What does this mean for the church? The church is called to be the corporate body of Christ that unconditionally loves and embraces all people, regardless of their sin. The only exception to this otherwise unconditional embrace is the sin Jesus confronted in the religious leadership of his day. While all sin is equal in the sense that it separates us from God, sins differ in terms of their impact on people and thus differ in how they need to be dealt with. Religious sin is unique in that it is the only sin that can keep a community from fulfilling the commission to unconditionally love and embrace everyone.
When religious sin infects people, they feed off their judgment rather than love. Where this diabolic delusion is in place in leadership, the kingdom of God is resisted. God’s will can’t be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10), for those enslaved to this delusion think they are bringing the kingdom in the very act of preaching their delusion. They preach the fall and think it is salvation. In the name of opening the kingdom, they “lock people out of the kingdom” (Matt. 23:13).
For this reason, religious sin sabotages the whole enterprise of the church when it is found in leadership. It prevents the church from manifesting the loving unity of the Trinity, which is God’s main witness to the world. When a people—especially leaders—gets life from the rightness of their belief and behavior, they will invariably get life by attacking and/or separating from others who don’t see things exactly as they do.
Moreover, since idols never satisfy the hunger that drives us to them, leaders who serve an idol of religion tend to believe they are serving the interest of the kingdom by splitting into increasingly well-defined and ever-shrinking groups.
Hence, while most of the time love requires that we hide the sins of others, the sin of leaders who get life from their religion at the expense of others must sometimes be confronted and exposed. It may be the only hope those who are enslaved to this sin have of recognizing it as sin. It may also be the only way of protecting people who would follow these leaders as well as others who might be harmed by these leaders. Precisely to ensure that it remains a community where outrageous love flows, the church must in love be willing to aggressively confront leaders who are enslaved and enslave others to religious idolatry.
—Adapted from Repenting of Religion, pages 203-205
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