YOUR BENEFITS PACKAGE!

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Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
³ who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵ who satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. – Psalm 103:1-5 ESV

As children of God, we have our very own heavenly benefits package that covers every area of our lives. By the perfect sacrifice of Himself Jesus secured this package for you and I. You see, without Him, we would still be steeped in sin, without Jesus we would still be under the sway of the evil one, wallowing in guilt, shame and condemnation. But with Jesus - because of Him and through Him, we are eternally entitled to the best benefits package ever!

We have every reason to bless the Lord for redeeming us, for by redeeming us He made us His very own, giving us His Spirit and dwelling with us and being in us. By His death on the cross and by His resurrection, Jesus freed us from the curse of the Law. He destroyed him who had the power of death – Satan. He disarmed Satan and his cohorts; He reconciled us to God and made us one with Deity. His work of redeeming us was perfect and complete, He didn't leave anything undone. It is truly finished!

Our sin has been blotted out and fellowship with the Father has been restored, and if that was all, we would be eternally grateful...but…like the infomercial says….”but wait, there’s more”…Yes now that you are a child of the King of Kings, there is more!

God loads us with benefits daily and constantly, the sooner we realize this and believe this, the less time we’ll spend begging and pleading with a loving Father for what He has, so graciously and so abundantly, already provided for us in and through Christ.

You know what beloved, many times our prayers devolve into a little more than expressions of selfishness, fear, ignorance and unbelief. Our prayer times are to be wonderful times of communion with God, our Father who loves us eternally and unreservedly. He invites us to come before Him boldly that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. He invites us to fellowship with Him, He desires to share His heart with us as we share ours with Him. Let’s not succumb to the wiles of the wicked one and end up squandering such precious moments.  

It is all by the grace, the unmerited favor of God, we didn't do anything worthy of this honor and privilege. We love Him because He loved us first and gave Himself for us. Through Christ, we have full access into the presence of God – scratch that – as His dwelling place we are in His presence 24/7. It doesn't get any better than that! Wherever you are He is there, think about it…and all those benefits listed in Psalm 103:2-5 are activated in your life.

-    - Forgiveness, healing, redemption and preservation, grace, mercy,  satisfaction, contentment, renewal and restoration…

Today when we believe in Jesus and in what He did to restore us to Himself and confess Him as LORD, we are born into the family of God, we now have His life in us, we are born of His Spirit, we become His righteousness, whether we feel like it or not. What does it say?

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⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. – Romans 10:9-10 ESV

So beloved, if these verses describe you, rest assured that you  are qualified to start enjoying your benefits in Christ today! Walk in them by faith. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

SUPERNATURAL PROVISION: Lessons from Elijah’s Life

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¹⁹ And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:19 NKJV

Look at how God provided for Elijah; First by the brook Cherith using ravens (1 Kings 17:2-4), then through the widow at Zarepath (1 Kings 17:7-16) and then by giving Him angel food (1 Kings 19:6-8). The thing is God provided for Elijah without fail, using different methods and sources. His ways and means are anything but monotonous; I guess He loves to surprise His children as He blesses and provides for them, so don’t limit Him.

As you keep on walking with Him, you’ll quickly learn to expect His provision through any means He chooses even through sources and means that you never even thought of. Don’t look to man for your provision, trust your Father, He not only knows what you need, but knows how to get it to you.  

God directed Elijah where to go after He had commanded ravens, unclean birds known to eat anything and almost everything, to bring Elijah meat and bread. God in His great wisdom used what was considered unclean to provide for the prophet.

Then Elijah was fed by a widow woman at Zarepath, she had been commanded by God to feed the prophet and in doing so she and Her son were provided for as well. They lived through the famine and came out of it well fed by the standards of the day. The point is, God’s economy knows no recession, we’ll do well to operate in it.

Later as He fled from Jezebel and fell asleep somewhere under a juniper tree, Elijah was woken up by an angel and was served angel food and water twice and went forty days on the strength of that food. Isn't our God gracious? Elijah was on the run, discouraged, holding a private pity party and praying that he should die but God still provides for him.

Now, it’s interesting to note that there isn't a record of Elijah praying for God’s provision. He simply trusted the Lord to provide. He concerned himself with what he was called to do and even when he was discouraged, he somehow knew God was going to provide for him. When he asked God to let him die I believe he didn't mean it and God knew his heart. Think about it, why run away from certain death from Jezebel and then ask God to kill him? Doesn't add up!

If Elijah could trust God like that while living under the OT and be that graciously provided for, how much more shall we who are under the NT, inaugurated by the Blood of Jesus, the sinless Lamb of God and having much better promises see the Father’s hand even more graciously providing for us far above and beyond what we have need of? 

Now don’t expect stuff to fall out of the sky just like that, no, God provides for us in a variety of ways, yes at times His provision may come in spectacular fashion and at other times through natural ordinary means - read :work! In the wilderness the Israelites were provided for supernaturally but once they got to the promised land, the manna stopped and they had to work the land, harvest the honey and milk the cows, so to speak. Work is part of God’s plan for us to enjoy His provision.

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Adam and Eve were given the task of tending the Garden way before they sinned, they weren't sitting by idly twiddling their thumbs. If you are not gainfully employed, ask the Lord to open your eyes to see the opportunities that He’s constantly bringing your way. Once you've prayed get moving, get active, get proactive, put action to your faith. That job won’t just drop in your lap…As someone once said “God feeds the birds but He doesn't put food in their nests”

Walk by faith expecting God's provision for you today. Blessings!

WHAT... WE HAVE GOD’S GLORY?...YOU BET!

²² I have given them the glory that you gave me…– John 17:22a NIV

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Beloved child of God, you who believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you who believe that Jesus Christ has taken care of all your sins, you who trust in His finished work on the cross to save you and make you righteous, you are filled with God’s glory. You have received His life in you and since you are now His temple, His dwelling place as it were, God by His Holy Spirit, with His glory, lives in you.  

God wants you to share in His glory, yes He does; otherwise Jesus wouldn't have prayed the way He did in John 17:22-23. God always heard and answered all His prayers, this one included. God’s glory makes us one, just as Jesus and the Father are One. And as we respond by walking in love towards one another the world will see the glorified Christ in us and be drawn to Him. His glory in and on us is for the purpose of revealing Christ to those who don't know Him, it is not for us to revel in selfishly.

Now, before we start quoting all those Scriptures about "God not sharing His glory with another" (Isaiah 42:8); we must accept the truth that they are not in contradiction to Jesus' prayer. Reading those Scriptures in their proper context, one will quickly notice that God didn't want idols or other gods (Satan and his cohorts included) to be given His glory.

God freely shares His glory with His own – that’s us – think about it, we are in Him and He is in us so...we cannot help, but be filled with His glory! The Bible is replete with accounts of His glory being manifested in and through His people. It was in fact the unbelievers, the ungodly, who met with severe consequences when they attempted to "touch" God's glory, Herod and his famed speech come to mind. He was struck down by an angel of the Lord, not a demon - Acts 12:23 (that should mess up the theology of some… )     

In the OT they had the Ark of the Covenant which symbolized God’s presence, a type, a shadow of it, if you will; in the NT we have the real thing, the substance, Christ in us the hope of Glory. Unlike the OT times where the glory departed and returned depending on how well they kept the Law, we have a New Covenant built on better promises, He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Jesus said:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  – John 14:16-17 NIV

You have the never fading glory of God in you and on you, whether you feel it or not.  Our faith is to be based on what HE says not on how WE feel. Once you settle this truth in your heart you will be emboldened to do what He has called you to do. You will then know what the Prophet Isaiah meant when He prophesied saying:

then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. – Isaiah 58:8b NIV

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Our righteousness is not a result of our self effort, it is through Christ, it is His and it is imputed to us when we believe in Him. Now since we are in Christ, it is His righteousness that goes before us and it is His glory covers us. We stand before God without any sense of sin, guilt or condemnation just like Adam and Eve did before they fell. May our minds be renewed to this truth and our consciences purged from sin consciousness.

Beloved, you are full of the glory of God. Believe His Word and see His glory manifested in and through you to impact others today. Jesus said:

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” – John 11:40 NIV

YOUR WORDS MATTER, YES THEY DO!

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The Word of God has plenty to say about how we are to communicate, specifically about our words to others and also about what we say to and of ourselves. The Word also reminds us over and over again that our words are not inconsequential; on the contrary they shape our lives and lives of others for either good or bad. We would therefore do well to pay attention to this vitally important aspect of our lives.

As sons and daughters of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, let us speak forth what He has already said concerning us in His Word and not fall for the enemy’s suggestions. The enemy will always try to get you to focus your attention on lack, negativity and everything that isn't right in your life, his aim is to get you to start thinking, speaking and acting along those lines and should we succumb to his schemes, then we've effectively given him a foothold in our lives and believe me, he'll exploit every bit of it until we stand our ground.

The thing is, we cannot stop thoughts from bombarding our minds but we can decide which ones to accept and which ones to reject. We are to take every thought captive and demand it aligns itself with the Word of God or it’s not welcome and that beloved is spiritual warfare right there (2 Corinthians 10:3 -5) 

Ever been in, say, a chinaware store and seen a sign that reads “you break it, you bought it”? Same idea with thoughts, “you verbalize it, you own it”. If you want to know what someone is thinking just listen to them speak…

Jesus our Lord had plenty to say about this:

³¹ Therefore take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘Wherewith shall we be clothed?’ – Matthew 6:31 KJ21 (Emphasis added)

There you have it, you take ownership of thoughts by verbalizing them. And when it comes to our words, the Lord made this revealing statement:

…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. – Matthew 12:34 NKJV

Since we are not under the law but under grace, sin does not have dominion over us; we therefore have the power and the authority to control our thoughts and consequently our words and actions. We have been entrusted with this awesome privilege, the ability to bless and the ability to curse. With this privilege comes great responsibility. The Holy Spirit via the apostle James admonishes us with these words:

⁹ With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. – James 3:9-10 NKJV

I truly believe that every time we open our mouths we are either blessing or cursing, we are either speaking life or speaking death, we are either edifying or demolishing, you get the idea… No wonder the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to pen these sobering words:

²⁹ Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. – Ephesians 4:29 NKJV

We see it again here, we believers, have the power to “let” or “not to let” corrupt words out of our mouths and sadly many have gone right ahead and done so with dire consequences. It is better not to speak at all than to spout off corruption filled words. The Word of God is basically letting us know that if our words aren't imparting grace then they are corrupt, regardless of how well we lace them with Scripture.

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For our words to reflect the Father’s heart concerning ourselves, other people, situations and what-have-you… we will do well to start by believing that we are made God's righteousness and we are perfectly and unreservedly accepted by the Father based solely on faith in Jesus' perfect sacrifice of Himself on the cross for us.  

As we continue to meditate on the grace and goodness of our Abba Father, His thoughts become our thoughts and our words will impart grace to others – reflecting His heart and character. That way God will be glorified in us and through us. Blessings!