What a Victory We Have in Jesus! Part One
I Corinthians 15: 57, 58
Jesus wants you to be a winner. All you have to do is become His team mate. Often in a team victory there are members of the team who have little to do with the actual victory. The team may be carried by a superior player. That only hints of the victory we enjoy as members of Christ’s team. He is solely responsible for our victory. He, and He alone, won our victory. Yet, it can be your victory.
Our victory is “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is, by the instrumentality of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is based on His victory.
In the award winning novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee one of the main characters is a little girl named Jean Louise Finch. Her dad, Atticus Finch, calls her Scout. Her dad, a lawyer, is a man of character and integrity. One day Scout comes home and shares some problems she is having with a teacher and some students. In an effort to help her understand and get along her dad gives this advice. “First of all, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
That is exactly what Jesus Christ did. He left His celestial body and crawled into a terrestrial body composed of human skin to become Immanuel, God with us. As God with us, He was in reality God for us. His birth, life, death, and resurrection was as our proxy.
In the Old Testament is the story of a young lad named David, representing the nation of Israel, in battle against the Philistine giant, Goliath. David defeated Goliath. He was the only one on that battlefield that day facing the giant. Yet, it was a victory for all Israelites.
Jesus Christ as the “only begotten Son of God” died alone on the cross of Calvary. Three days later He alone arose from the grave. It was His victory over sin, death, and the grave, just as David’s victory was his conquest of Goliath. Likewise, as with David, so Christ’s victory is a shared victory. His victory is our victory. God gives us the victory through Jesus Christ. The moment we invest our faith in Christ as our personal Savior the victory is won.
After peace was declared in Europe at the end of World War II, there were German holdouts who fought furiously against the Allies. The war was over, but there were battles to be won. Jesus has won the war over sin and has left us here to win the mop up battles which at times are ferocious. The challenge is for us to fight daily as a winner and win our battles through Him. Don’t be surprised when you encounter a strong enemy.
Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Do You Have a Living Trust? 11/14/99
Genesis 22:1-14
Jesus Christ said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6: 19 – 21).
Question: Where is your heart?
In dealing with Abraham God went right to the heart of the issue. Knowing Abraham’s treasure to be his only son Isaac, God tested Abraham. Keep in mind as the story is summarized the purpose is for God to let Abraham establish his loyalty and devotion.
God instructed Abraham to take the pride of his life, his son Isaac, to the land of Morian and offer him as a living sacrifice. Give it up, Abraham, give it up!
Early the next morning Abraham and Isaac set out to the mountain of sacrifice. When the altar was completed Abraham put Isaac on it and prepared to obey God by sacrificing him. As he lifted the knife God spoke: “And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me’” (Genesis 22:12).
God didn’t want Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He did want to see his willingness to sacrifice him. God at no time has sanctioned human sacrifice. Once Abraham evidenced his sacrificial heart God had accomplished what the experience was intended to achieve. Abraham had proven his devotion and loyalty.
What is your Isaac?
What would you find difficult to put on the altar and sacrifice to God? Tough question isn’t it?
In the world of finance there is a process used by some persons. All of the individuals wealth is put in a living trust which is managed for them. One form is called an irrevocable trust. Meaning once given it is not possible to take it back. Technically it then belongs to someone else. The individual continues to manage it and have the use of it through out life.
That’s the relationship Abraham had with God. That’s the relationship we need with God also. It means to put everything on the altar of sacrifice and give it to God. That includes such things as your car, your house, your bank account, your friendships, your family, and all favorite items. Make it an irrevocable trust belonging to the Lord.
Then if something happens to your car you can say, “God, this car I gave you isn’t working. It is yours and if that is the way you want it that’s OK with me. Bless me as I seek your solution to this need.”
“God this job I gave you is over. I’ve been terminated. If that’s the way you want it OK. I look forward to your replacement. Bless me as I seek your replacement.”
That helps avoid bitterness when things go wrong.
What is the Isaac you don’t want to put in that living trust?
We gain sweet release when we transfer ownership of every possession to God. Every! That means our time, family, education, material possessions, finances, and every earning potential.
This is basic to experiencing the Spirit-filled life. God, the Creator, retains ownership to everything but He gives us the joy of managing it with Him.
“You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet” (Psalm 8:6).
God has given us “dominion” over things, which means He has entrusted operative power over them. Meaning we are to manage them for Him.
If you believe you are the owner of even a single possession, then the events affecting that possession are going to affect your attitude.
God will not reveal His perfect will for our life until we first surrender our will to Him.
Once you make a total transfer of everything to Him then He demonstrates His managerial ability.
God’s instructions given His people through Moses gives the conditions of His control:
“Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess” (Deuteronomy 5:32, 33).
For those who have not made this transfer of everything to God doing so is a challenge. Though difficult it is the right thing to do and once it is done life takes on a totally new dimension.
Having long considered ourselves as owning things it becomes challenging to transfer them. Being accustomed to self-management and control it is found difficult to rearrange our thinking.
Freedom comes from knowing God is in control.
Financial freedom, which all too few people know, is dependent upon letting God be in control of your finances. That means turning them over to Him and following His guidelines for managing and using them. That is financial freedom.
Are your finances the Isaac in your life you find difficult to put on the altar of sacrifice? Is it difficult to put them in a living irrevocable trust? Once begun it soon becomes a life-style. When it does the style of life resulting is a joyous one. It isn’t free from trials and adversities, but there is then an invisible guiding force working on our behalf —- the Lord.
Mark these simple but significant facts regarding finances.
I. THE CONDITION
1. To control a person’s finances means to control the individual. It literally means to govern that person. In the Great Tribulation spoken of in the Bible the anti-Christ will control all money. Thus, he will govern the people.
If we let the Lord control our finances that indicates He governs us. That’s ALL of our finances. That includes our debt profile, or investment portfolio, our purchasing habits, or giving regimen, and God’s tithe.
He who controls our money controls our life. He who controls our life controls our money.
2. Financial problems are symptoms not causes. If a person is a slave in financial bondage that is a symptom of God not being allowed to govern in the matter of finance. It is a symptom that we want more than God intends at a given time. If we can’t manage well what He has gives us He isn’t going to give us more not to manage well. Simple isn’t it?
3. Financial practices affect all of our priorities, our inter-personal relations, within and without our family, and our goals.
II. THE CHALLENGE AND CONSEQUENCE
Let’s take a thing that is a challenge for some persons to put on the altar of sacrifice, the tithe.
Our “What’s in it for me?” mentality evokes some questions.
1. If I tithe, will God increase my income? Perhaps not. Let’s even change that “perhaps” to a likely not — but He may. In Malachi 3: 11 He promises to bless us if we do. That blessing might not be in the form of money. It might be even more valuable. It might be with health, friends, joy, or any one of many other more valuable properties.
2. If I increase my giving will God give me even greater wealth? Perhaps not, but He will give something even more valuable.
“… 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).
Having proven your faith by trusting Him with the tithe you are in position to be blessed with even more faith. Faith is the quality in life that enables us to venture and achieve.
An Alabama business man who had given generously to the cause of Christ lay dying. A friend visiting him asked when he trusted Christ as Savior. He replied, “Do you remember that first time I gave a significant gift to the cause of Christ? Well, I traced that money and I ran right into Jesus.”
He had faith enough to give and was given more faith.
III. THE CONCEPT
1. Identify the thing you love most. What is your Isaac.
2. Do as Abraham and present it to the Lord.
3. Die to it emotionally. Abraham had to die to his loving devotion for Isaac to evidence his undying love for the Lord.
4. Once you have done this prepare for a sincerity check. Inevitably an opportunity will present itself for you to show your’s is an irrevocable trust of the Lord. That’s what God did for Abraham. Early the morning after God told Abraham what to do he set out on the road to the land of Moriah. When he lifted the dagger he proved his sincerity and God stayed his hand. Again I say, God didn’t want him to sacrifice Isaac. God wanted to see his willingness to sacrifice Isaac.
Tests like that come to us.
5. Next, expect God to provide what you haven’t been able to provide. Once Abraham evidenced his willingness to make the sacrifice, God spared Isaac and provided a lamb for sacrifice. He always provides what is needed once we evidence a willingness to sacrifice what He wants.
Jesus Is in Time, on Time, Every Time
We sing that chorus knowing He isn’t in time, on time, every time.
Jesus’ friend Lazarus died in Bethany when Jesus was in Jericho. Lazarus’ two sisters, Mary and Martha, sent him a message that they needed Him.
The name Lazarus has the same meaning as Eliezer in Hebrew meaning “God is my help.” His hometown, Bethany, means “house of the poor.” According to historian Josephus the region in Judea was dedicated to the ministry of mercy.
What a perfect setting for Jesus to show up … and He waited for two days after getting the news before coming. Waited two more days? This means it was four days after the death of Lazarus that Jesus came. (John 11: 17) Why the delay must have been the question haunting Mary, Martha, and others.
Now as then there is always wisdom and love in the actions of Jesus. Jesus knew there was good reason to delay and at the time Mary and Martha didn’t.
Have you ever been involved in such a scenario?
Jesus knew of the traditional belief of the time that after death the soul of the deceased lingered over the body three days hoping to be allowed to return therein. Not being allowed to return into the body the soul departed.
Jesus, knowing of the miracle He desired to perform, knew that if He did it after Lazarus had been dead only three days people would say it was before the spirit had left the body, giving support to the tradition. Waiting till the fourth day everyone believed Lazarus was dead, dead.
Standing at the tomb of Lazarus Jesus prayed to the Father, “I know that you always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that you sent Me.” (John 11: 42)
Then He made known His request of the Father as a command to Lazarus, “Lazarus, come forth!” and he did.
As in this case the delays of Jesus are always based on love and knowledge. There is always a purpose in Jesus’ delay; “many believed.” (John 11: 45)
There is an interesting aside to the story. Most know the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept.” He is thus depicted as being sensitive to our needs.
BUT, Jesus showed another emotion. The NKJ reads “Jesus groaned in His spirit” (John 11: 33 & 48) A more literal translation in keeping with the times is Jesus snorted. It was a term depicting the strongest of anger. It was used to depict a horse arrayed for battle, raring on his hind legs, pawing the air, and charging into battle. Jesus wept, but He also expressed the strongest of anger. Why?
Because He saw the results of sin: death, sorrow, and weeping. He was angry at Satan who had caused this death and sorrow in the perfect world He created. As with the horse, He charged into battle. He went to the cross and died for sin, and on the third day He arose triumphant over sin, death, and the grave. Now as then He was in time, on time, that time according to His plan. He, not we, is the time keeper in order to fulfill His knowledgeable and loving plan for us. He was, as after, in time, on time, every time, according to his plan and time. Sing it confidently.
We must set our time by His time, not His time by our time. Always do it.
You: A Thing of Beauty
Read Ephesians 3: 8 – 10
Jesus Christ loves beauty. Therefore, He loves you. Don’t discount that statement and thereby diminish your own self-worth. In considering the enormity of “all things” don’t forget one thing —- you. You are the product of His creative genius and love. “You are fearfully and wonderfully made.”
You are a work in progress and perhaps the greatest beauty is yet to be seen. We are His workmanship.” The word “workmanship” translates the Greek POIEMA. In that you can hear our English word poem. From where does a poem come? It comes from the mind of the poet. God has you in mind in His workshop. POIEMA can be translated “masterpiece.” If you are a Christian, you are a masterpiece of God’s handiwork. He is in the continuous process of conforming you to the image of Jesus Christ.
John 15:16 should cause you dignity and give a sense of self-worth: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.” We are “Created in Christ Jesus.”
God wants to make you what He can contemplate with delight. Every improvement He desires is for your good and His glory. It IS for your good.
How this new spiritual creation comes to be is explained in Ephesians 2: 8 & 9. It is by grace. Grace means to give divine favor. It means God giving to us everything we need without us deserving it. It means the blessing of God granted to us without us meriting it. We obtain this grace by faith. Some argue that our faith is our work which merits God’s favor.
Think for a moment. When you are thirsty and reach for a drink of water, what quenches your thirst, your hand or the water? Your hand is only the means of receiving the water. Our faith, which has in it no merit, is simply the means of receiving God’s unmerited favor.
The Lord chose one of the most common everyday principles as the connecting point by which salvation becomes ours. It is faith. It is a common every day act in which we engage many times.
Faith that is basic to human nature is what our Lord uses to draw us to Himself. If we can have faith in the promises and potential of earthly things, surely we can have faith in Him.
It is a gift of God. Gifts are purchased for us by those who love us at no cost to us. That loving purchase was made at Calvary.
Though salvation is not by works it should logically lead “Unto good works.” Therefore, resolve, today I will think as the apostle Paul: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13) Therefore, go get ‘um.
Jesus Loved You Enough to Pray for You
Read John 17:20-26
Use your imagination to envision Jesus praying on the Temple Mount for the last time, a significant time.
He prayed “for those which shall believe on me throughout the world.” That is us. YOU!
Jesus does not talk with His followers anymore. The importance of this teaching is indicated by it being His last. He prayed for ALL Christians then alive and those to come, us. Our primary reason for living and our style of living should be “… that the world may believe.” (Vs. 21)
Glory from a spiritual standpoint means character, not aura, authority, or acclaim (Vs. 22). Jesus says I have given them Your character to enable them to be one. God loved the world so much that He got involved and became vulnerable.
In playing sports, the player who holds back and tries to protect himself is the one who is most likely to get hurt. Likewise, it is impractical for a believer to hold back love. One who does not only hurts others, but self also.
Four paradoxes of an A+ life are germane to the Christian life:
1. We surrender to win.
2. We must give away to keep.
3. We have to suffer to get well.
4. We have to die to live.
To do what these four paradoxes demand: surrender, give away, to suffer, to die, sounds like weakness; but the products resulting: win, keep, get well and live are strengths. It is a great life, if you weaken, for it is then you gain strength.
When a person discovers life’s meaning is embodied in the person of Christ, then their eyes begin to open.
Thomas A’Kempis in Imitation of Life commented – “If only your heart were right, then every created thing would be to you a mirror of life and a book of holy teaching.”
The ancient mariner did not need to know the constituency of the stars, or their temperature. He merely needed to know how to find the North Star – the guiding star. Our ambition should be to identify our spiritual North Star and stay locked on to Him.
Jesus prayed “That they… may be with Me.” (Vs. 24a)
This portion of the prayer surely relates to our ultimate and eternal destination, but it also involves daily association. We are to be with Him day by day in the truest sense of the principle.
Using your imagination again, come kneel beside Him and pray “Thy will be done.”