Bleed Between The Lines

Months ago I wrote in a blog the words “I hope” and some one commented that hope was the wrong word, but that’s the word the bible uses. I’m going to try my best to explain the blessed hope. In the bible there have been many prophesied “events” The growth of Israel, The coming of a messiah, the resurrection and the next event according to scripture is the coming of Christ in the air to reveal himself as king and bring his followers home. This is Described in a number of places

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

This “hope” is a hope because none of us know when it will happen so we just wait in anticipation as the generations before have. You shouldn’t debate words based on your own understanding of scripture, instead use scripture to make a point. You’ll find you’re far better off when your starting point is God’s word.

When I was younger I developed a lot of pride in my walk with Christ and God has spent the last 8 years striping me down to be a humble person. Well I hope I’m getting close because I get work off and on, my wife is the bread winner and we’re now on food stamps, but in all of this I’m thankful. I’m thankful for my wonderful family, for the friends that lift me up and even for those that don’t. I’m thankful that me and my family have food even if we need the government to get it. I’m thankful that God is in control and he has plans to prosper me and not to harm me.

In Psalm 143, David shows many beautiful characteristics of a man of God. He starts by asking for help in his time of need. In verses 3-6 he explains to God what he’s upset about and then in Verses 7-10 He asks to be saved from his trials. All of this we understand as humans but in verse 11 David does something we as people are not accustomed to doing. David states that the reason he wants to be delivered is for the name of God to be glorified. It’s easy for me to look at my tiny apartment and think I wish I had more room for my children and it would be easy to say I wish I had money to pay the bills so that my wife could stop worrying. But that shows a heart that doesn’t understand that God is in control. My kids are taken care of and my wife and I will be fine, we’re in God’s hands and there’s no place I’d rather be. We’re not going to be poor forever and when God delivers us we’re going to tell everyone we know that God heard our prayers. What ever you’re going through know that God will save you when you can’t save yourself, bringing glory to his name. So remember Love God, love each other, DIVORCE THE WORLD!

I’ve heard many-a sermon on Job and his suffering and most of the time it’s a message on suffering which is sad if you think about it. Jobs suffering was used by God to silence the devil and bring God closer to himself. We use the book of Job to plan for and or get through suffering. It’s almost silly because if that’s not how God used the events then why do we use them that way?

God gave me a very special message out of Job that I want to share with you. Job was at a very focused state in his suffering because he had lost everything and his misery was all he had left. He was begging for comfort and yet his acquaintances gave him only grief and accusations. As Job was replying to Bildad, his second accuser; he spoke a few very wise words that should humble us all.
32 “He is not a man like me that I might answer him, (referring to God)
that we might confront each other in court.

33 If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay his hand upon us both,

34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.

35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

Job in his weak state cried out for a savior, a Christ figure that would stand for him before God. We we’re given this in Jesus and still many times we look to God with a desire to be validated of our own accord. How many times to we work for a wage not given or grind through an investment that doesn’t yield a revenue. People can be found looking to God crying, “It’s not fair!” but who are we to even bring our case to God, who knows our deepest and foulest sins. The lies that we keep secret, God brings to the light. You can’t hide anything from God any better than you could outrun him. Little man is so determined to prove his worth and yet none of us are grand enough to see past our own blink. We need to really spend every day meditating one how blessed we are to have someone who is willing and able to take our case before a sovereign God.

Redemption is simply when someone else who can afford it, pays the price for someone who owes a debt. Redemption in the bible is the idea of redeeming property lost by a family member. In the law, this was God’s way of keeping the economy fair. The need for redemption came when a person was too poor and had to sell themselves into slavery or when someone died it evolved the redemption of all of their property including any wives or land.
There were 4 requirements of a kinsman redeemer:
He must be a close relative
He must be able to redeem
He must be willing to redeem
The price must be completely paid.
This shows us why God was the only one who could have saved us and it shows the necessity of the cross. As sinners we owe the debt that incurred by sinning which is death. Now if you owe a debt to someone and I owe the same dept I can’t redeem you because I need to be redeemed. In order for our debt to be paid, it had to be paid by someone who didn’t owe the debt. This is why God the redeemer of Abraham and Jacob came to earth and was nailed to a tree, because he could afford to pay our debt and he loved us enough to do it.

Have you seen the surveys that say what percent Angel are you and what percent Devil are you? They are really popular with almost everyone. So what’s the apeal? Why is everyone so proud to be bad. I’m not talking about people who feel that their life style is OK. I’m talking about people who feel like partying is wrong and immoral but like to do it to be wild. I think that there’s a simple answer to why people act out and church is to blame. Sorry church, you know I support group worship but we’re failing in one major issue. Judgment is not the problem, no drinker, drug addict, or sinner of any sort left church because they felt judged or at least not most. Most people go to church to find moral guidance and so they expect a certain level of judging, they leave because church people pretend to be perfect.

If you ask someone outside of the church, where do people in church fall short, they might say “they’re fake, they gossip, they tip poorly, they get angry really easy” but if you ask the same question to a christian, Where do they fall short? you get a cop out answer like “I don’t read my bible enough, or I don’t give enough to the poor” We make mistakes too and if we don’t start admitting openly how wretched we are then we’re going to loose the world and some of our own to Hell.

So the next questions are important to solve the problem. What makes something Holy? Who is a Saint? Who’s a sinner? To understand all of this I need to go a lot deeper. When God created everything in the beginning he called all of it good. It all was designed to co-exist with God and exist forever. When man sinned in the garden of Eden (the story about the snake and the apple in the beginning of the bible), man did something that had a lot of repercussions. See God is perfect, before there were physics or time or matter or anything that makes up our world God was everything and so God is love. What we know as love is what looks like God. God is good so everything that exists with God is good, everything apart from God is bad. When Adam and Eve “sinned” they separated them selves from God and we know that anything not with God is bad. Now this world is apart from God and so it’s bad. This is how a person who gives everything they have to the poor and is nice to everyone can go to Hell. That person looks good because of the things they do but their heart isn’t good because it isn’t connected to God. God knows our hearts and so even if the persons actions seem to justify them that’s not the issue. The issue involves people sinning and separating themselves from God. Now we have to go to 1 Samuel chapter eight; in this chapter Gods people ask Samuel for an earthly king, now God tells Samuel that they’ve rejected him, not Samuel so God gets mad. (note to self don’t reject God, he doesn’t like it!) God knew the heart of man from the beginning of time and so the answer from the beginning was Jesus. So people separate themselves from God, then they demand an earthly king. God then sends them one, (many years later) Himself in human form! God was the answer all along. If you’re not connected to God then you die, people took there faith away from God and put it in worldly things and so God the father sent Jesus (God the son) to pay the penalty for our sins so we could be united with God and be good again. So if our sin separated us from God and Jesus died to reconnect us then how do I know if I’m a saint or a sinner? Have you been reconnected to God through the blood of Jesus? If you have then you’re connected to God and made Holy in God’s sight.

Now as followers of Christ we’re still human and still sin but most of us won’t admit it. Now please don’t use salvation as an excuse to sin, but if you’re connected to God you’re 100% saint because you’re connected to God and remember, God is the standard for good. I firmly believe that if we as a body of believers stand up and admit when we lie, cheat and steal then more people would be willing to walk in the doors and ask for forgiveness knowing that they’re with people who need help just like them. They could also give their shortcomings to God and they wouldn’t feel the need to justify them.

In our lives we see people getting cancer, dying in car accidents, moving to new cities, having chance encounters in stores and we say that it’s all part of Gods plan, This plan involves pain ad yet God has plans “not to harm”, this plan involves complex human decisions and yet we supposedly have freedom of choice. These apparent contradictions come not from an inconsistency with God but in our lack of understanding in how God plans. When we plan, it’s based on an assumed list of events and our assumed ability to affect the outcome. When God plans it’s on the basis that he exists outside of the boundaries of time or reason. When we make decisions they are based on physics and pattern. God is the author of physics and pattern. God weaves his plan around us and one of my favorite examples of this is Jesus and his mother at the wedding. Mary tells Jesus that their out of wine and Jesus says, “dear woman, it is not my time” and then guess what she does, she tell some servant girls to do whatever he says. She didn’t care that he said no! She knew what Jesus would do if she just asked him. While this principal can be taken the wrong way many times we need to understand that this biblical example exists.
I want to take this idea to the end times. In regards to the day of the Lord, Paul writes “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”
It is God’s plan that the end times will come and the Earth will become evil and rebellious. This plan isn’t because God will cause us to be rebellious, it’s because we will choose to be rebellious. Therefore we can also choose to be righteous. I don’t see the end times coming in the near future because I plan to get on my knees and I’m going to pray for revival. As God’s people we need to see that it is the desire of God that all would come to Christ. We should pray that his grace will spread and that all will come to know Jesus Christ. Their are so many doomsayers in the Church that it is hard to see revival as an option sometimes but we the hopeful have God on our side. We are soldiers and Christ’s cause is our cause. Take a moment today to pray for revival and maybe the world will repent and we can see God’s visible reign again.

If you’re a follower of Jesus and you listen, God will tell you what he wants. After you hear him, it’s up to you to decide if you’re going to listen. As a Christian you need to know the difference between God’s voice and how you feel. When the holy spirit places something on your heart, it’s more then a feeling. God’s voice is a call that penetrates the deepest pores of our soul. Know your God sounds like such an impossible request but the truth is if you can’t recognize God’s voice then you need to take a serious look in the mirror and ask if you’re his sheep or not. I would never say that if you don’t hear God then you’re not a Christian but it’s a serious red flag. In John 10 1-6 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Many people who read things like this blow it off like it’s just opinion. The bible isn’t just opinion, it’s divine law. As Christians we should respect the bible and what it says about Christian living. Some things are harder to swallow then others but the truth is that pride should never get in the way of seeking God’s will for your life. Next time you read the bible see if you’re living up to what God asks of you and if not strive to be a better you. Many people claim a call to dance or sing or work in the nursery, usually these relate to a desire we already have in our hearts. But how willing would we be to hear Gods call to sing if we were terrified of it. What if God called you to look after your neighbors three kids every day without pay so they could go to work. What if God called you to die in the name of Jesus. We hear stories of people who loose their lives because they have a gun to their head and refuse to deny the name of Jesus. It’s called heroic when you are forced into a situation and make the right choice. I wonder what we would call it if someone outside of a situation, not in danger, chose to enter that situation and die because they were called.
What about giving, when I was in college I gave to every beggar that I came in contact with because I felt called to do it. I wonder what I would have done if God would have called me to go out one day and find a beggar and give him all my money for the week. I wonder would I have been like Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:8
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”
You can read a thousand books on hearing the call of God but the truth is if you want to hear from God simply close your mouth open your heart and listen.

I’ve been thinking lately about people and morals and some of the things many people believe about good and evil and then I thought about the word Love. Love is a strange word because it’s used so often in so many ways. You can love your wife or your child, you can love ice cream or hockey, you can love music or a pet… the list goes on forever. Recently I touched briefly on the idea that human love is shallow. When you love your family, it’s because it’s YOUR family. How much honor is there in that. Jesus said in Matthew 5 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

God loved us while we were sinners and because of this we get to see what real love is. Believe me I wouldn’t want anyone to tell me I don’t love my baby girl because no one knows how I feel inside, but it’s only because the word love is used so loosely. Understanding what real love is, comes from understanding that we all have fallen short of God’s glory and then deepening our relationship with Jesus. Only the Holy Spirit can perfect us and give us a deeper understanding of love. I love all of you, I’m praying that you will be blessed from this and blessed in life in general. Please I feel so blessed from my relationship with Jesus I just want to share it with the whole entire world. Remember you don’t need to be perfect to be perfect in God’s eyes. Have faith in Jesus and when he calls answer.

I was at camp a few years ago and we’re singing “Feed us, Jesus” a song about going to Jesus for food, when I turn to bishop Sam Grey and say hey do you think they mean let’s go to Jesus and get something to eat, or lets go have some Jesus and potatoes? He laughed and then in perfect timing we overhear a kid right in front of us go hey, maybe they mean fetus Jesus, like before he was born. I was overwhelmed and just darn amused with his shenanigans and that night I started thinking; I wonder if Jesus did anything cool as a fetus. He was still God, I wonder if Mary was like, “Joseph… get me some peanut butter and waffles” and then Boom! there it was and she was like “Jesus!” and he was like “HA HA, I’m so deserving of worship” But then after the first wave of ridiculousness was over I was thinking about what Jesus did do before he was in the womb. Believe it or not Fetus Jesus (this is what I’ll refer to the pre-incarnate Jesus as) was the redeemer in the old testimate. I’ll show you one example.

Hebrews 11:26 talks about Moses choosing disgrace for the sake of Christ, but that was a long time before Jesus,… wasn’t it? Well lets explore. In Exodus chapter 3 God comes to Moses as a burning bush, but if you read the verses carefully it says,
“There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

OK scripture says the Angel of the lord came to Moses, then the Angel refers to himself as the Lord. You guessed it, Fetus Jesus! Jesus being a redeemer isn’t something new, Jesus was there in the beginning and he’s been redeeming people as long as people have been redeemed. Jesus isn’t just a part of God, Jesus IS GOD! The entire old testimate points to Jesus, he’s always been there. As a matter of fact John 14:6 says Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

That means no one, anytime anyone spoke to God in the old testimate, Fetus Jesus! Think about it. I’ll cover this much more extensively in my video ministry. I love you all, remember you’re strangers in a strange land, Divorce the World!

We’ve been breaking down the pieces of salvation and now we’re going to look at PROPITIATION. Propitiation is the act of giving a replacement sacrifice and in the terms of the bible refers to the actual act of Jesus dying on the cross in place of us. Propitiation is found in the, “for God so loved the world that he gave.” A nice little note is that giving freely is a natural byproduct of love. Propitiation can also be looked at as a response birthed from God’s great love in response to his holy nature. In Romans 3 Paul writes “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” Right there was the Propitiation. It is a complete attack on our pride and feelings of entitlement that we only have place with God because first God Gave.