Stepping Out In Faith, Part 6

Greetings! This blog continues to hit on the subject of “Stepping Out In Faith.” Why do we give so much attention to this topic? Basically it’s because, “. . . without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

I was talking to a friend the other day, and he was telling me about this PX90 thing. Now, he’s starting to look all trim and buff, and he said, “You know at first it really hurt, and I couldn’t even lift my hands this high.” I said, “That right there is what keeps me out of the gym.” People, if we’re going to get in shape, we’re gonna have to do something. Similarly, if we want to see our current financial status change, that means taking action as well!  Faith requires actions; we must take steps.

Stop waiting for God to do something when He’s already told you what to do. He has taken the first step by communicating what you’re supposed to do. Until you take a step in response, you have no right to further instruction. So if you feel that God has been silent, maybe you haven’t done the first thing that He told you to do . . . or maybe it’s the last thing that He told you to do.

You might be saying, “I just can’t hear God; I’m in a desert place.” Well, maybe you ought to go back to where you lost the ax head! God doesn’t have to speak because you push a button and put a quarter in.  I love it when Christians say, “God asked me to . . ..” God doesn’t ask me; He says, “Do it,” and then He awaits my response. Maybe it doesn’t work that way in your life. I’ve never heard the voice of God say to me, “Emory, I need you to do such and such. Would you? Could you? Pleeeaaase?” I ain’t ever heard God say “please” to me. He gives out His instructions, and then He waits to see if I’m gonna do it. Every time it requires faith!

It seems that He always wants me to do something that’s going to require an element of faith, and that right there is where many believers stop. It might be in the area of relationships or attitude. God might be saying, “Emory, forgive them,” and I might say, “I can’t forgive them.” Now would God tell us to forgive someone if it were impossible to forgive him or her? No! How do you think God forgives you? It’s a supernatural thing. You can forgive anybody if you choose to. The reason you’re not forgiving is because you elect not to.  

Here’s another thing to consider, forgive doesn’t mean to forget. Forgive means to release someone from the debt, offense, trespass, or penalty. Let it go! They probably let it go a long time ago. Forgive them! God is not telling you to do something that He has not given you the ability to do!

In your finances, God has instructed you to do certain things. It’s amazing to me how many mature Christians struggle with tithing. The reason there’s a struggle is because folks don’t understand that it ALL belongs to God. They say they do, but they don’t live it. So God says, “Give me back one tenth.” “Are you crazy, God? One tenth?” Then you get into the offering part of it (above the tenth), and before long Deuteronomy 28 becomes the reality, “Blessed going in, blessed going out, blessed in the city, blessed in the field, and all of these blessings will come upon thee and shall overtake thee.” Why? Man, you’re walking in the blessing! You’re walking in the promise! You’re walking by faith.

God said, “Do it,” and I did it, and here’s the fruit of it. Want to know why some people are more blessed than other people? It’s not because God loves them more, it is usually because of decisions and choices they’ve made. Those choices are based on perspective. It’s really all about fulfilling God’s purpose. What are you doing in your life today? What steps are you taking in order that you might walk in a greater measure of God’s promises and God’s blessing?

~ pg

Stepping Out In Faith, Part 4

We think that the devil can put thoughts in our head, right? Sometimes we hear, “Don’t let the devil put them thoughts in your head.” The devil doesn’t have the power to do that! Now get this. Those thoughts are the result of your perspective.

What the devil CAN do is bring distractions into your life. When he brings those distractions, he knows just what will work. He gets you to focus on the wrong things and because our minds are not yet renewed and still carnal, we look at those things and they affect us a certain way.

Two of us could look at the same situation; we could even talk about the same person and have two entirely different opinions. Some people love me; others hate me. They won’t say it because they’re Christians, and they’re afraid to. God sees our hearts. You see, this leads to a life of frustration because some of you are going through life with love/hate relationships, not only with people, but also with things . . . with situations. You’ll love it on one hand and hate it on the other.

In an earlier blog, we used the example of walking around the room with your eyes closed as you listened to voices, sometimes even voices you think you can trust. “Take a left.” Well, you might trust that voice, take that left, and then run into a chair. The human inclination would then be to go through life blaming somebody else. No, you shouldn’t have listened to that voice! Don’t listen to all those voices!

Satan can bring these voices into our lives. He’ll get our eyes off the things of God, our purpose, and the prize, and before long, we’re going for the wrong thing. It works; it’s very effective. Think about the children of Israel. What was the greatest weapon against the armies of Israel? Well, I’ll tell you what I think it was: beautiful Pagan women! Man, if nothing else works, send the hotties! You read about that throughout the Bible; it works almost every time! It still works today!!! You watch men and some pretty thing walks by and every head turns. Huh? It doesn’t take much. What were those beautiful women? A distraction. “If we can get them to look at these women,” and what Israelite soldier ain’t gonna look at a pretty Pagan woman? So send in the beauties! It was simply a distraction to get their eyes off the prize and keep them out of the Promised Land!

How many distractions is the enemy throwing your way? The Bible says that, “He roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” How is he going to devour? How’s he going to steal, kill, and destroy in your life? He’s going to do it by coming after the Word of God in your heart and mind. If he can get you thinking about things that will bring destruction, and you think about them long enough and get them in your heart, you’re going to do it sooner or later given the opportunity.

We need to get our minds renewed so we are no longer thinking carnally, because to think carnally is to put ourselves at enmity against God. The carnal mind is at enmity against God. Now, walking in the promises of God requires that we walk in agreement with God. You’ll never walk in the fullness of His promises until you’re walking in agreement. Walking in agreement doesn’t mean, “Thus saith the Lord, amen, God said it; I believe it; that settles it!” We think that if we just put a bumper sticker on our backs, that we’re going to walk in the fullness of God’s promises. Do you really believe it, and are you really doing it? Are we moving in agreement with God? How do we do that?

We’re going to have to get our minds renewed. We have to be thinking like God thinks and get on the same wavelength! Now that doesn’t mean being woo woo or super-spiritual. Christianity is not simply based upon some spiritual experience; true Christianity is based upon the Word of God. I’m sick and tired of spiritual frivolity that is not bringing people to a fuller measure of God’s promises in their lives; it’s just giving them goose bumps and making them feel good for an hour a week. It’s cheap and it’s artificial.

True Christianity is based on truth and the Word of God is the final authority. It’s a whole lot easier to have some Shundai experience than it is to conform your life to the Word of God so that you might walk in the fullness of His promises! I feel better; I don’t know about you . . . but I’ve been wanting to say that. 

Thanks for joining me as we continue to look at steps we can take towards obtaining God's promises, and pitfalls we can avoid that keep us distanced from the prize.

~ pg

Walking in God's Promises, Part 4

I would like to start off by asking you a question: Do you really think that when God told Joshua, “I want you to march around the walls seven times, and on the seventh time I want you to shout,” that Joshua could really comprehend that? Do you think he processed it this way in his thoughts: “Okay, we’re going to march around the walls, we’re gonna shout, and the walls are gonna come tumbling down.” Huh? I don’t think that he quite could have grasped that. He was a warrior.

Also, think about this. God speaks to Gideon and tells him, “Okay, I’m going to use you to defeat the enemies of Israel. So he gathers up an army of 30,000 and whittles them down to 300. Then God said, “I want you to use clay lamps and horns to defeat the enemy.” Do you believe that Gideon understood how God was going to do it? Gideon is ready by brandishing a sword, and he has warriors ready standing behind him and God says, “You’re to use clay lanterns and horns, and with this, you will defeat the enemy.” I don’t think that Gideon fully grasped that. I don’t believe Gideon said, “Oh, no problem, God just said we’re going to use clay pots and blow a lamb’s horn and that’s it!”

He didn’t take the time apparently to try and figure out what God was telling him to do. Cuz if he had tried to mentally figure it out, I’m not sure he would have understood it, and I’m not even sure that he would have done it. All he knew was that God said, “Do it,” so, “Boys, this is what we’re going to do.” He must have thought, “It makes perfect sense to God, so let’s do it.”

Many times we don’t know the end from the beginning. This is something we need to know though: every one of us is somewhere in the process. Right now you are somewhere between where you used to be and where you are going. That’s pretty deep, ain’t it? That’s called process, and you can’t figure out why certain parts of it are hard. “That can’t be God, I bind the devil in Jesus’ name, shundai, shaba!”

You’ve bound the devil and cast out demons. You’ve prayed and fasted. And you’re still going through this thing. It could be God. God’s taking you through a process. But it hurts! I know. That’s usually your flesh burning, and God loves the scent of burning flesh, so let it burn, baby. He’s taking you through this process to the fulfillment of the purpose that He placed in you from the foundations of the earth.

Walking in the promises. How many of you want to walk in the promises and not just stand on them? Here’s one key amongst so many others; although, I would consider it the key of keys. You must develop the ability of being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing with the right people. If you don’t have the right people, it ain’t gonna work.

Believe me. I’ve tried and tried and tried and tried to do right things with the wrong people, and the first key whether in business, ministry, or life is to get the right people on the bus. Because when you got the right people on the bus, it usually doesn’t matter where the bus is going. Did you hear me? That is a principle of success. 

Now you want to be in the right place at the right time doing the right thing with the right people. How are you going to do that? We’ll continue this and I’m going to share some things that I’ve discovered in the Word of God and in my own life that have brought me to that place; I’m not telling you that I always hit the mark and I’m always where I’m supposed to be, although I know there are times when I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

God’s Word says, “If you’ll obey these words, these statues, these commands, my blessings, all of these blessings will come upon you and overtake you.” The problem is that we are all looking for the blessings, but we’re not getting overtaken by the blessings. Why? Because we’re not in the right place, at the right time, doing the right things with the right people.

~ pg

Available, But Not Automatic, Part 4

This is Part 4 of “Available, But Not Automatic,” a blog series based upon a message I shared a couple of months ago regarding the blessings of God. We’re going to pick up right where we left off. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at pastorgoodman@cliffdalealive.com.

Oftentimes I believe that we neglect the gifts of God, the inheritance that is ours, and what God has put in us for HIS glory. So often we want the glory, and we’re afraid to take the risk because we won’t look good if things don’t go the way that we think they should.

One of the things we’re going to be doing here at CCC is something called “Firestarters.” We’ve invited the church to come and take classes. It’s really less about the teaching, although there is an element of that, it’s a class designed to impart into and release believers to do the work of the ministry, which is not simply feeding the hungry or clothing the naked. Those certainly are important and valid ministries, but the main focus will be to impart and release. Why? Because God wants to speak to people at your workplace, and He wants to use you as a prophetic voice. My friend, do not be so afraid.

It doesn’t mean that you have to stand in the office hallway and say, “Thus saith the Lord!” My goodness. I can walk into a place of business and there might be some young person there; I don’t have to make a big scene, I don’t even have to say, “The Lawd.” I’ve walked up to people and very quietly and gently and said, “You know, I feel like God has spoken to me about you and that He loves you very much, and He wants you to come back to Him.” I’ve seen people just fall apart and start confessing, “Ooohhh, I’ve walked away from Him; my life’s a mess.”  And I’m like, “I don’t want you to get fired here; I’m just giving you a word that God spoke to me.”

Is that less prophetic than someone standing up here and saying, “The Lord says,” and going into our whole religious thing? God wants to use you to speak prophetically, to heal the sick, and to set people free. Now, you may or may not do it the way that I do it. You don’t have to blow on people for them to be healed. I only do that once in a while and as the Lord leads. I don’t know why. Don’t ask. Why did Jesus rub spit into a blind man’s eye? I don’t know. That makes absolutely no sense to me. I’m pretty sure He was hearing from the Spirit. The point is though that serving God doesn’t always have to mean creating a scene.

Yes, it does mean that there’s going to be some tension regarding what we consider to be risks and being obedient. Isn’t it amazing that serving God involves the element of risk? You say, “Is that a valid point?” I want you to think about the issue of risk. We could go down through the Bible from Father Abraham to Joshua and beyond.

God speaks to Abraham. Get up and leave the place where you are to the place where I’ll show you. Was there a risk involved? Abraham was settled, established, and rich. How about Joshua going into Jericho and getting the armies ready? God said, “I want you to circle around it for a week and at the end of the week I want you to circle it seven times, and then I want you to shout.” The enemy was up on the walls of the city. Do you think that Joshua thought that there was risk involved? Come on, these people were human. But obeying God overpowered the element of risk that was in their hearts or minds. They were willing to go out on a limb to serve the Lord. I could go on and on with Jehoshaphat, David, Daniel, Esther, Ruth, etc. Think of Peter and the one-word command he received, “Come.”

See, we don’t like those; we like explanations. And we think that we are worthy of explanations. Sometimes God will give us a one-word command, and we get upset because He doesn’t explain it to us. When He spoke to Peter to get out of the boat, He didn’t explain. He gave him one word: COME! And He didn’t say it again. We want Him to say it again and again and again and then we get really agitated when He quits speaking to us. And God’s attitude must be, “I’ve told you what to do.” 

Have you ever walked around with that thing on the inside of you knowing what you were supposed to do but didn’t do it because you were afraid? I have! And then it’s like, “Oh God, just give me a word.” And He says, “I already did.” “But God if you could just show me, just tell me.” He gave Peter a one-word command, “Come.” Peter sometimes takes a lot of flack for sinking, but at least he got out of the boat unlike a lot of us today.

I think sometimes it’s foolish for us to think that God owes us an explanation when He’s already given us a command. “Do something.” He’s told us to do something, and we’re not doing it, and we want to play multiple choice; we want options. There are options with God. It goes like this: obey or disobey. Choose this day whom you will serve. Will you serve God, or will you serve your own interests? Will you heed the voice of God, or will you heed the voice of fear?

Listen to me. It is not up to you to heal anybody. Stop worrying about your reputation, and you definitely need not worry about God’s. He’s very secure in who He is. If we’re going to get really serious about revival—whatever that looks like in your mind—we’re going to have to lay aside our own reputations and simply follow God’s command. I believe that this common struggle is one of the reasons why revival tarries in the land.

I’ll pick up with the end of this series in our next blog. Be sure to join us next Wednesday night, March 14^th, at 6:30 PM for “The Starting Line” classes. In addition to featuring “Firestarters,” we will also be offering exciting classes on “Family and Marriage” and “Apologetics.”

Get ready to be fired up!

~ pg

Available, But Not Automatic, Part 3

We are continuing with the topic of “Available, But Not Automatic,” and how that relates to the blessings of God in our lives.

You’re all familiar with the word, “soteria” in the Greek. It’s synonymous with “sozo,” which refers to our deliverance, our healing, and to the abundant life that Christ came to provide for us. “How shall we escape if we neglect this great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3). And then the writer continues on in verse 4, “And God also bearing witness . . .” How did God bear witness to the things that had been spoken? The answer is in verse 4. “God bearing witness both with signs and wonders and with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”

That’s how God confirmed His Word. I want to say this, and I don’t mean this as an offense, but is it neglecting so great a salvation, is it an example of neglect, to not allow God to confirm His Word the same way today? Here’s my point. God still wants to confirm His Word with signs, wonders, and miracles, and He does this through believers. The problem is that oftentimes we’re neglecting our salvation. I don’t mean that in a condemning way, and I’m not saying that you’re headed towards hell. What I am saying is that we don’t place the value upon what God has given us and give Him the credit that He’s worthy of.

Many times we don’t believe His Word to the point of doing it. Why is that so difficult? I think I know why. Because in our human way of thinking, there is tremendous risk involved. What keeps us from praying for the sick? What keeps us from delivering those who are held captive? Oftentimes I hear excuses such as, “Well, that’s just not my gift.” Well, then you’re in direct contradiction with the Word of God because Jesus told all of His disciples to go and do these things. There were no exemptions. There was no, “I want everyone to go out and do these things except you. I’m giving YOU a different gift,” huh? There were no exceptions when it came to this mandate. If you are a disciple, Jesus told you to do these things!

When the disciples went and did "these things" in places as stated in Mark 16:20, God once again confirmed His Word with signs and wonders following. See, I’m getting to one of our Core Values, which is “O” for “Outreach” (derived from the acronym W.O.R.D.). Oftentimes we define “outreach” as food distribution, going to the homeless shelter and cooking a meal, or going to spend some time with those in the nursing home or prison. Now those are all great things to do; they are forms of outreach. A lot of times we will do those things, but neglect doing that which requires greater faith. Why? “Well, God has called me to feed the hungry, but not heal the sick.” Really? How about let’s be honest. “I believe God wants me to heal the sick, but I’m afraid.” How about, “I believe God wants me to cast out demons, but ‘what if?’” That’s the risk factor.

Obedience to God will always involve a level of human risk. What we’re really saying is, “obedience to God is risky business.” And we think about all of the “what ifs” and all of the failures. We say, “Oh yeah, I prayed for this guy and he died.” Well, so did I. It was a different guy. Back in the 1980’s, first guy I ever prayed for. . . died. Boom. Dead. I’ve been praying for sick folks ever since. I don’t know how many have died; I do know that a bunch of them have lived. And it’s not going to keep me from doing what the Word of God has told me to do. What are we risking?  Here’s the deal. Am I risking my good name? What is it that I’m afraid of risking? My reputation? My job? Am I really willing to put all of that on the table over here and finally walk in obedience to God?

These are some questions that I’d like us to dwell on for the next few days. Ask God to search your heart and show you areas wherein you’re holding back, and not only that, but WHY you may not be moving forward. Regardless of the past, it is a new day and a new, fruitful season that is abounding with God’s favor. All we have to do is take steps in the right direction and be obedient to His command. 

~ pg 

Available, But Not Automatic, Part 2

This is a continuation of the previous blog wherein we are looking at the blessings and promises of God and how they are available, but not automatic.

"For if the words spoken through angels proved steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, ³ how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him" (Hebrews 2:2-3).

How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? I want to remind you that the word "neglect" here means to be "careless with; to treat lightly; to make light of, to not regard as being as valuable as it is." I've had to receive the Lord's rebuke and my own as well as I think that sometimes I'm simply careless with this salvation and life that God has given me. I don't always value, or treat them as priceless, as I should. And how do I do that? By giving greater importance to other things.

That can oftentimes be seen in my day-to-day decisions. Every day we are faced with a multitude of choices and decisions. So many times people ask: "Pastor, how can I know what God wants me to do? I'm trying to make a decision in my life." It's amazing to me how many people go to their pastor looking for direction. And I'm not advising against that, there is a place for it. Usually most people who come to me for counsel already have their minds made up, or they have not really sought the Lord on their own. Many times they want me to confirm something that they're suspicious of, but most of the time they're going to do it how they've predetermined anyway. Hopefully, throughout the course of this series, we'll all be better equipped in the decision-making process that God would want us to follow.

Here are the criteria for every decision you make. I want to remind you that when Adam and Eve were in the Garden, they had to make a choice between two, and they made the wrong decision. Don't ever think that you're somehow smarter than Adam. He's the guy who named all the animals. But when he was faced with "two," he made a wrong decision. And I know why he made the wrong decision; it's because he didn't follow this little piece of advice I'm gonna give you. This isn't because I think I'm so smart. It's just that it comes from a very familiar passage of the Bible. You all know Joshua 24:15, right? There's a little nugget tucked right in the middle of it, "As for me and my house we will choose to serve the Lord." He said to the people of Israel, "Choose ye this day whom you will serve." Choose. You have a choice to make. Will you choose the gods of your fathers, the pagan gods that they decided to go after? When I say, "The gods of their fathers," I'm not referring to "Jehovah," as their fathers served strange gods.

Are you going to follow that example, or will you follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the one true God? Choose this day. You know, in every choice that we make, it can come down to something this simple, and it will help clarify our decision-making. This is what drives us nuts sometimes, causes us to walk in so much confusion, and why oftentimes Christians have to pay a terrible price. We can't figure out why we're not blessed. Well, we would be if we made the right choices!

No, you wouldn't live a problem-free life, but even in the midst of your struggles, you'd know what to do to overcome, to get to the other side, and to walk in the blessings of the Lord. You can make right choices, and every choice by definition involves choosing. So Joshua says, "Choose whom you will serve." Every decision is going to serve somebody or some cause and bring about some result. Every choice you make has ramifications.

We must choose what God desires for us even though we don't always understand why He would want us to make that choice at that specific moment. We may not understand. It's called, "being led by the Spirit." Oftentimes there's contention between being led by the Spirit in obedience to God and doing what we think is best. Eve saw the fruit and that it looked good, to be desired, and that it would taste good. She took it, bit it, gave it to her husband, and he ate it, too. Don't you know that they thought that they were making the right choice at that moment? Why? What could have caused them to think that they were making the right choice? They did not give heed to the things they had heard, so they drifted away and made the wrong choices. They didn't make the decision that would serve the Lord.

So we have to ask: what god are we serving? Are we serving some strange god of the world, the god of flesh, of greed, of selfishness, the god of self? He says, "How shall we escape if we neglect or treat carelessly so great a salvation?" Our choices in life are a direct reflection of the god/God we serve. Let us choose carefully this day whom we shall serve.

~ pg   

Available But Not Automatic

“The blessing of the Lord makes one rich” (Proverbs 10:22). I think that we’re rich beyond our comprehension. We have wealth that we don’t even know about. Part of the Church’s responsibility is to help people become aware of the wealth that is theirs, so they can get their hands on it and use it wisely for the expansion of God’s kingdom.

The minute that I say “wealth,” most people naturally think about money. But there’s a wealth of blessing that is not necessarily monetarily related. I believe God wants us to have abundance in every area and that certainly includes finances. The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow to it. That’s the first point I really would like to make. God doesn’t attach sorrow to His blessing. Now, He can certainly use bad situations to bring about good results, but He does not add sorrow to His blessing according to His Word.

That’s why I’m calling this blog, “Available, But Not Automatic.” The essence of the message is this: the blessings of God are available to us all, but they are not automatic. God gives to us everything that He has. As joint heirs with Christ, we are equal heirs with Jesus. Therefore, biblically, everything that God has, He makes available to you and I, but it is NOT automatic. It is not something where we push a button and waa laa, there it is! It doesn’t work by magic; it doesn’t work by formula. It may be available to us, but that does not guarantee we’re going to get our hands on it!

I believe this includes the manifestation of God’s grace, His presence, His gifts, and His glory in our lives. We can ill afford to take for granted the blessings of God. Even though we know that all we have has been made available to us through Jesus Christ, that is not cause for us to take the blessings of the Lord for granted. And when we begin to think that things are automatic, it’s easy for neglect to set in.  

Think about “neglect” for a moment. It’s like a child who takes his toys for granted, and as a result, tends to neglect them. This principle works in our lives even though in chronological age, we may be adults. It bears repeating: things that we take for granted, we tend to neglect, even kingdom things, kingdom values, and the blessings of the Lord.

Hebrews 2:1: “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.” I want to break this down. We must give earnest heed. In other words, we’re going to have to pay careful attention to the things that we’ve already heard. That’s what the writer of Hebrews said. The tendency is for us to drift away if we don’t pay attention. And he’s writing to, I assume, relatively mature individuals.

There’s a danger in drifting, and it is infecting the Church today. And you don’t have to get off course by much to end up with a bad result. It’s sort of like the airplane pilot. If an airplane pilot is off by just one degree, of course depending upon how far his intended destination is, being off by one degree, he’ll certainly miss the mark.

It’s true in golf. Now, I never really had to worry about it too much in golf because I could never hit the ball far enough to be too concerned about being off a few degrees. But if you’re Tiger Woods, and you can drive a ball 300 to 325 yards, the more accurate it better be, or you’re gonna end up out of bounds. And the same is true in our Christian walk. The longer you drift off course without taking corrective action, the farther you’ll end up off course. You keep going, going, going, and believe me, that one degree is going to make a bigger difference the longer it is ignored. Are you with me here? The writer of Hebrews says, “Give earnest heed, pay attention, to the things that you’ve heard in order to avoid drifting away.” That’s a great admonishment for us to listen to, take earnest heed, and pay careful attention!
~ pg 

Is Tithing A Law?

How many of you believe, as the Scripture says, that the just shall live by faith? Do you really believe that? You should try saying this aloud, “The just shall live by faith. I am ‘just’; therefore, I will live by faith. I walk by faith and not by sight because I am just in the eyes of God.”

You know at least three times in the New Testament and a couple of times in the Old, we read this statement that, “the just shall live by faith.” To be “the just” means, in other words, to be the justified: those who are seen as not guilty in the eyes of God. Do you know that that’s how God sees you?

So no matter how guilty you think you are, God says, “No, you’re not.” And it’s kind of like we’re standing in a courtroom before Almighty God, and we have Jesus as our Advocate standing next to us, and God declares us “Not Guilty,” and we want to keep saying, “No, Your Honor, I really did it.” He then responds with, “You are NOT GUILTY.” Then we counter, “But, You don’t understand, I did it!” He replies, “I said, ‘NOT GUILTY.’” We want to get into an argument with God about our guilt, and the whole time God is trying to say, “You are declared, ‘NOT GUILTY!’”

Now we all know that you really did it. But when you confess your sin, He’s faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from all of your unrighteousness, or in other words, all of your guilt, right? He washes it all away; it’s gone.

So the Scripture says that the just shall live by faith. Faith is a principle of God’s Kingdom. Every kingdom has a set of principles or laws by which the citizenry lives. Can we agree on that? If I live in America, I am to live according to the laws of the land. If I go to South Africa, guess what? The laws are different, and if I don’t heed the traffic laws of South Africa, I will very soon find myself in a head-on collision with another automobile, because in my opinion, they drive on the wrong side of the road!

But according to South African law, you are to drive on the left and not on the right. Right? No left! Did you get that? So every kingdom, area of domain, has a prescribed set of principles by which the citizens are to live. God’s Kingdom is certainly no exception.

A short time ago, I remember making a statement about how we sometimes get hung up on legalism. If you are one who is hypersensitive about that word/concept, then you might have a real problem with God, because oftentimes, God might appear to be legalistic. For instance, He says, “Do this; don’t do that. If you do this, you will be blessed. If you do that, over there, the opposite of it, you will not be blessed.” And if we’re not careful, that may sound a bit like legalism to our ears. All the while, God is giving us laws or principles, which are synonymous, by which we are to live because He wants us to prosper and have good health, as it states in 3 John 2.

Now if we’re going to prosper and have good health, wouldn’t we be wise to apply His principles to our lives? Do we think it’s just, fair, or equitable to live in a constant state of disobedience and expect the blessings of God to flow freely in our lives? Does that make sense? It certainly does not line up with the Word of God. In this series of blogs, there will be times that I refer to “laws.” When you hear me say that, I am simultaneously speaking of “principles,” as they are synonymous.

A principle is a law. It is a sure thing. Now, if you hear me say, “the Law,” I’m talking about something entirely different, and it’s important to understand the difference between the two and keep this in mind because the Kingdom of God is established on certain principles such as faith. Without faith it’s impossible to please God. The just shall live by faith. And how about this one: Abraham believed God, had faith in God, and trusted God. It was accounted to him as righteousness.

The Bible is actually a book of principles by which we, God’s people, are instructed to live. We are not to be ones who are simply looking for a religious experience. We’re not to be merely religious. We’re certainly not to become legalistic as the Pharisees did. However, it is important to keep in mind that God promises to bless us as we walk in the obedience that comes from faith. I’m talking about the same kind of faith that is expressed and illustrated in the life of Abraham.

We can expect the blessings of God to flow unhindered in our lives when we are a people who live principled lives based upon the Word of God.

I’ll be continuing this for the next couple of weeks in order to bring clarity to a variety of topics that are interrelated: the Law, principles, laws, obedience, blessing, curses, and tithing.

~ pg