No Great Joy Than to be Redeemed From All Things

"Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." (Psalm 32:2)

This blessing is so overlooked.

I was meditating for the last few days on the promises which God made to Abraham:

"2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12: 2-3)

and then

"Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?" (Genesis 18:18)

and finally in Genesis, we find:

"1And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things." (Genesis 24:1)

Wow!

I want the blessings that Abraham received. He was blessed in all things.

Of course, we are indeed blessed with Abraham, because of Jesus:

"So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." (Galatians 3:9)

and also

"29And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:29)

So, what is the most important thing when it comes to being of faith?

It's about believing that all your sins have been forgiven, and that we have been made righteous:

"6Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." (Galatians 3: 6-9)

BAM!

There is no greater joy that to be redeemed, to be justified from all things through Christ Jesus.

That is good news, good news indeed!

"38Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts 13: 38-39)

It's really important for us to get excited about this. I haven't considered how great it is, how sweet it is, that no matter how often I may fail, sin, fall short of the glorious ideal, God will never be angry at me again:

"For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." (Isaiah 54:9)

The waters prevailed at one time, signs of God's wrath against the fallen, evil world. But the LORD God gave a sign, a testimony through His rainbow that He would never condemn the world again. We have this ironclad promise that God will never condemn us for our sins, because every sin was paid for in the body of His Son Jesus Christ:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

No greater joy! Let's us continue to mediate ont he truth that we are set free from all our sins, that we have been redeemed from the curse of the law, that no matter how uch we sin, fall, or fail, Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior is our full propitiation for all our sins (1 John 2:1-2)

Thinking on Things Lovely (With No Condemnation)

Ten years ago, I meditated on this verse to a great extent:

"8Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." (Philippians 4: 8-9)

I would think on nice things, good things, and try to pep myself up with hopeful thoughts.

Yet a lingering sense of fear and upset still plagued me.

I kept thinking that I had to fight off bad thoughts, fears about the future.

I would then feel so condemned because I was fearful of the future, fearful of bad things happening to me.

I didn't really believe in the Gospel in its fullness!

Because I was still dabbling in the Twelve Steps, still going along with the AA cult, just not going to those terrible AA meetings, I did not have a heart that was fully established in God's grace:

"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." (Acts 20:24)

The Gospel is about grace, about favor which none of us deserve.

Yet for the longest time, even though I was taught that Jesus had died for my sins, I didn't even have a rudimentary understanding of all that Jesus had accomplished for me!

I didn't just die for my sins!

He died for the penalty which I would have deserved. He even became sin, that I would be made THE RIGHTEOUSNESS of God in Him!

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

There is really so much for us to be grateful for, there are so many great things to think about!

Consider again what Paul exhorts all of us to think about it:

"Whatsoever things are true ..."

Grace is the Truth that sets us free! (John 8:32)

Grace and Truth are--i.e. is--on thing before God, and we find them both in Christ Jesus:

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)

My heart was not established in the simple yet wonderful Gospel:

"38Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:38-39)

We are justified from all things! Even when we sin, even when we fall short of God's glorious ideal, God will never again punish us for our sins.

Ever:

"1Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

 "2Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." (Psalm 32:1-2)

And Paul references this promise to the Romans:

"Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." (Romans 4:8)

Now that I rest in this truth, now that my heart is at peace in this promise (Hebrews 13:9), it is easy and worthwhile to think on things lovely.

I know that God's promises are at work in my life, and I have His Word through His Son, whose blood was shed for me!

"10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

"11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

"12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8:10-12)

He is At Work Behind The Scenes, Taking Care of Everything

This revelation is so precious to me right now, it's as though I am writing it out for the first time, even though I have written something about this matter multiple times.

It's so good to know that I have my loving Daddy God watching out for me, taking care of me.

He has gone ahead of me for all the rides. I do not have to wonder or worry, as though I will be stepping into an unknown world, where nothing is taken care of or done unless I do it or make it happen.

He has a great future planned for me. He has everything prepared for me. He forsees a good future for me, for everyone!

We have no reason to withhold our praise from Him, even when things seem bad.

He has declared that "we will cross over to the other side."

He has announced glad tidings for all of us who believe on Him.

There is no reason for me to not believe that He has everything taken care of in my life. Besides, this life is not my life in the first place, but His Life (Colossians 3:4).

This news, this awareness reminds me "But God ..."

"But God!"

We must not leave him out of any factor, any calculation in our lives.

God is very much in charge, actively working for me, working within to will and to do for His Good pleasure (Philippians 2:13)

For so long, I was convinced that I had to force God's will. If I didn;t get busy taking care of the situation, mapping out my life, making things happen, then nothing would happen.

Yes, yes, I had listened to the sermons at great length, that God was at work behind the scenes, but it didn't sink in tell yesterday, that indeed He is at work RIGHT NOW taking care of my concerns, taking care of my needs:

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

It's not some nice idea--it's the truth, and it's time for us to rest our minds in this revelation.

This has taken me more time than I realized, but I am so glad that God is patient with me:

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

and

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up," (1 Corinthians 13:4).

I may be writing about this stirring revelation a few more times today or throughout the work, but that's OK. It's worth reflecting on as much as possible. For so long, I had no idea what the future would bring, and a sense of sorrow would accompany my thoughts about the future. Where am I going? What's coming up?

All of that was never supposed to be a burden on me. I wasn't supposed to wonder, since I have God's Word declaring that He has a perfect, wonderful, expected end ready for me.

He Has Been Preparing the Way from the First Day

"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" (Isaiah 46:10)

It's not just about focusing on Him.

It's about more than knowing that He has been from the beginning.

It's ALL about knowing that He is actively in the works, caring about every need in our lives.

This revelation has taken a long time for me to recognize. He has been busy, at work making everything ready for me on the way.

But it has taken me a long, long time to be prepared and receive these blessings from Him.

God does indeed declare the end from the beginning.

And He wants us to know His Son, Him who has been from the beginning, for that standing defines true Christian maturity, fatherhood before Him:

"I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning." (1 Jon 2:13)

He has been at work for us to receive a blessed, hopeful end:

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." (Jeremiah 29:11)

We are called not just to expect the best, but to become prisoners of hope, in that we cannot get away from the good things that God has planned for us:

"Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;" (Zechariah 9:12)

I have often believed that I have to know where He is headed, or that I have to have some idea of where the next destination is.

But the Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23:1), and as my shepherd He sees the way ahead of me. It makes no difference for me to know where I am going, if I do not trust that the Good Shepherd is taking care of me the whole way along the way:

"For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." (1 Peter 2:25)

He is preparing the way, for Jesus is the Way, as well as the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)

God Deals With Us As Sons

This is a good day.

I have seen some interesting hardships and difficulties in my life over the last two months.

Things just were not working out as I had hoped that they would.

Things have not been making a lot of sense in my life lately.

I had hoped for opportunities to open up, and yet a sense of vision is missing. I am not sure what steps I needed to be taking. I had no idea where I was supposed to be going.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." (Proverbs 29:18)

I have been lacking the vision. I could not see where God was leading me. It's supposed to be a vision in our heart, and God is not hiding back anything from us:

"[Paul prays that] The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints," (Ephesians 1:18)

We have a confident expectation of good in our lives.

Yet for me, I could not figure out what was going on. So many setbacks seemed to have overcome me.

I began to wonder:

"Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?" (Psalm 77:8)

Not at all.

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, could testify to God's never-ending mercies:

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

"They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3: 22-23)

Let us not forget that this year 2018 coincides with Psalm 118, and the refrain of that Psalm is:

"His mercy endureth forever.: (Psalm 118:1)

So, what is happening? What is going on?

I have learned that it is crucial not to get angry with God.

We should always justify God. ALWAYS! After he was confronted for his sins with Bathsheba and against Uriah the Hittite, David would write in the 51st Psalm:

"Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." (Psalm 51:4)

The sad tendency for many of us, when we think that we have done nothing wrong, or that we are doing and thinking everything in line with the truth, is that we will justify ourselves. We will talk about everything that we have done, that we have been doing everything right.

Notice that that was Job's response:

"1So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God." (Job 32:1-2)

The truth is that Job was not righteous. He did not believe in the LORD, as Abraham had done (Genesis 15:6).

The righteous live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17). We are not justified through anything that we have done, but we are justified because of Christ Jesus, and we continue to receive his gifts of righteousness and grace (Romans 5:17). It's about receiving from Him, not doing for Him.

God is the one who is justified. We should never disparage God in the face of our challenges or trials.

I have ound myself more committed than ever to ask the questions which need to be asked:

"What am I not seeing, Lord? What have I been believing that is wrong? What is it that you need me to see that I have not caught yet?"

Without going into great detail, I often found myself forced into going into certain events. In my spirit, I sensed that the wisest thing to do was to step away from a conflict and trust that Christ Jesus would be able to step in and take care of what needed to be done.

Yet there were other voices who would be saying to me: "You need to take of this matter! We need you to go to this event. If you do not got to this event, then the bad guys will win!"

I knew in my spirit that that statement was not true. Not true at all!

With this revelation in mind, I will cite what I learned in Hebrews 12, too:

"7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." (Hebrews 12: 7-11)

Chastening is not harm, damage, or punishment.

In the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob event, not once is there a record of God deliberately rebuking or slamming them. They faced terrible circumstances and trying times, but God always appeared in their lives to give them guidance, covering, and provision.

Now that's the kind of life that I want to receive!

So, the challenges are real, the setbacks will emerge. The last thing that anyone of us should do, however, is to county God slack concerning His promises toward us (2 Peter 3:9) 

I can tell you that I faced what seemed like a serious setback when I was blocked on Facebook and banned for good. That has turned into a real win, since I had not read or received more of God's Word. In fact, when so much was going well in my life: great job, great pay, activism, writing, and everything else: I was NOT reading God's Word!

Talk about leanness of soul! That's what I was going through. Those days are gone, and I am back reading God's Word once again! There are so many promises, so many comforts which I had received in my life, and I am glad that today I am revisiting God's promises, and I have been restored to seeing more of Jesus in my life, understanding that I have a blessed sonship before God my Daddy.

He is dealing with me as a son, and I know that He is not only saving me from trouble and strife, but is preparing me for more wonderful things to come!

Thank you, Jesus, that you have accorded to me your standing and granted me your sonship! You became sin, that I might be made the righteousness of God in you! (2 Corinthians 5:21) It is really important for me to see Him who has been from the beginning (1 Jon 2:13). Whatever else has been holding me back, whatever thoughts or ideas that I have believed which are actually not true, I want to know what they are! Why? That I may live, and that I may profit!

God wants me to be a winner in every way!

YES!

Reflections with My Step-Mom on the Transitions of Life

Before I flew back home from my Christmas vacation in Oregon, I had lunch with my step-mom Patty.

She is OK with my not calling her "Mom", and I am glad for that. At this point in my life, it feels like a step down, a step backwards. I prefer talking to her and interacting with her as a friend as well as member of the family. If I started calling her "mom", I think it would take away from the camaraderie that she shares with everyone else, including me.

We had lunch before I had to take off for the airport.

She and I were talking about the future, the opportunities which await me, and I was able to share with her how things have really improved for my dad now that they are married.

She then touched on something that she could share with my Dad before I arrived. My mother has been dead for nearly six years, and there is not one day that passes that I miss her. I am glad that she is gone, and I did not even attend the make-shift funeral which my father and sister threw for her at the South Coast Botanical Gardens in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Me and my Dad

I had said good-bye to her in November 2011, after the years of being lied to and manipulated, of her telling me what to think and why, and shaming me into submission to take her word for just about everything. I saw no reason to pay final respects.

But my Dad, that's a different story. My father had indeed helped me in many ways as I was going through the last five years. Major transitions had emerged in my life, and my Dad had been a key source of help, financially as well as morally. Would I be able to make it in life without him?

Patty hit on the issue very well. She explained to me Dad, and she told me how she had talked about with him: "I think Arthur is startling to realize that once you're gone, Sandy (my Dad's nickname), that he;s going to be alone."

Yes, in the sense that my parents will be gone. It will be just me. It's a strange place to be, a definite transition in this life. I do not have a family of my own right now, for example, and I am not sure that time and circumstances will be permit me to be married and have children. I just don't know.

It was a bit of a shock for me, and I had been talking with my Dad for the previous two weeks about whether I would be able to handle the shock when he dies. Patty told me that she was not prepared for her mother to die. She had brought her home for hospice care, and she would died only a week later. Patty told me how difficult it was to go through that period.

But then I have to rest on a deeper promise. The Christmas season is all about "God With Us" I am never going to be alone, and I will never have to wonder if I am cared for or not. Jesus died on the Cross not just to wash away all my sins, to ensure that I would remain forever righteous before Him and in Him, and that I would have eternal life. His death, resurrection, and ascension assure us that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13: 5-6).

I will never be prepared for my father's death. It's just not possible. That's the way it is, but Patty was really happy for me because I was thinking about it. She admitted that she had not thought about the grim reality which comes for all of us.

That recognition gave me a great deal of peace. I am not worried about the passing of my last parent on this earth. I was able to make it when I had learned that my mother died. I knew that she was not going to last long, since she had held onto her self-righteousness to the very end. There are other things going in my life that I am not happy with at this time, but they are no longer as overwhelming as they had been three weeks ago or even three months ago.

Me and Patty

And I am glad that Patty and I could talk about them as we did the day after Christmas.

Not Stressing Or Struggling, But Resting and Receiving

This lesson has been one of the hardest yet for me to rest and receive.

Our lives do not get better, and God's opportunities in our lives do not get better if we strive and struggle within ourselves or outside of ourselves.

We do not wake up every day trying to force God's will to flourish in our lives.

He is already working within us:

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12)

The more that I strive and strain from within, the more difficult it becomes for God to be allowed to flow in and work in me.

Jesus is our life (Colossians 3:4), and we should allow Jesus to be our life, to flow through us!

We need to rest and receive His life in us, so that His life my produce fruit in our lives:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Galatians 5:22-23)

Let's allow God to work in our lives.

This is not the easiest thing for me. When I see trouble, damage, hardships in my way, I want to rush and do something, or at least force something to happen.

Faith is about recognizing, however, that God is very much on the job, making things happen, making sure that all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28).

He Doesn't Want Us to Know the Way, but His Son--The Way, the Truth, and the Life

"And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way." (Numbers 21:4)

Today, I was looking over this passage, and realized how easy it is for any of us to lose heart or hope when heading into new territory, unchartered waters, if you will.

It's really surprising that the Israelites felt the way they day, considering how the LORD was with them and helped them in the following ways:

1And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. 2And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. 3And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah." (Numbers 21: 1-3)

Notice that Israel, the very nation as one man, called upon God to deliver them, and God led them to a complete victory.

Yet the find that the journey was taking longer than expected, and they began to lose hear.

"Discouraged" in Hebrew is  קָצַר, which means "to be short" or "worn out"

Notice that they were not tired after wiping out one of their worst enemies.

They were tired because they saw the long journey ahead of them. 

They complained and murmured against God and His friend Moses, despite all the miracles which the LORD had fulfilled in their midst.

God retracted His protection when the complained, and fiery serpents began to strike at the people, poisoning them to their fatal hurt. Then the Israelites begged Moses to take away the serpents, yet God over-answered their prayer, not merely removing what had poisoned them, but directed Moses to provide a bronzed serpent for the Israelites to look upon. When they looked at the serpent, they were healed from their deadly bites.

We need to look at God Almighty, we need to see Jesus, for He is the Way that matters:

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14)

and then

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

Let's not focus on the pathway before us, in that we shouldn't think about the time or troubles that may face us.

Let us focus on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of Faith (Hebrews 12:2), and let Him take care of us along the way in every way.

Having a Peaceful Heart Makes All the Difference

And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore." (Isaiah 38:3)

Hezekiah, one of the greatest kings in Judah's history, was facing an imminent death. The prophet Isaiah told the king to prepare for death. Instead of just accepting this sad fate, Hezekiah reminded the LORD how he walked in the truth and had a "perfect heart",

I looked at this passage recently, and that word "perfect" stood out to me.

Throughout the Bible, we read that man needs a new heart, and that no man can claim to be perfect in his thoughts or deeds.

No man is made righteous through what he does but rather what he believes (Habakkuk 2:4)

In the original Hebrew, the word "perfect" is shalom, or peace, a peaceful heart.

God wants us to walk in truth, having a peaceful heart towards Him, and knowing that He has a peaceful heart toward us:

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." (John 14:1)

God asks us that we "let not" our heart be troubled.

It's that simple. If we allow His life to flow through us, He is able to bless us, allow His grace to rest and be released through us into our lives:

"9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10).

Let's rest in the peace of Christ, let's allow His peace to hold us and guide us through the hardest as well as easiest times in our lives.