The God Looking For Love

March 23, 2024

The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. Psalms 33:13-14

God is looking. He is looking for something. What is it? God is looking for love. He is looking for your love, for the surrender of your heart, totally abandoned of fleshly pursuits and worldly influences. Let’s jump into this. But, before we begin, let’s start off by defining some things about the love of God.

A Love That Is Selective

And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. Genesis 8:11

As the post’s headline image depicts, the Lord uses a dove to represent His Spirit and His love in the Word. We know it was a dove that overshadowed Jesus when John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River (Mat 3:16-17; Mrk 1:10-11;  Jhn 1:32-34). This was God’s way of expressing His presence and a sign that this Jesus was indeed the one the Jews were waiting for – their anticipated Messiah.

The dove was also on the scene after the traumatic flooding of the earth. Noah did not need sophisticated sonar equipment to discern the abatement of the waters and ensure it was safe to disembark the ark. Instead, he sent out two wireless water depth gauges – one in the form of a raven and the other as a dove. (This in itself was a demonstration of the great wisdom of God imparted to his faithful servant Noah).

As the Bible tells us, unlike the raven (Gen 8:7), the dove would not rest its feet upon the floating mass of rotting human flesh, decaying animals, and on the carrion floating upon the earth’s watery surface. Upon being released, it was the dove who flew back to the ark and waited. What did she wait for?

The dove waited to rest her feet upon life. It was something living, a green olive branch that she brought back to Noah on the ark (Gen 8:11). And it was no doubt a living tree or bush that the dove eventually found a resting place for her feet, never to return to the ark (Gen 8:12).

It is not until we truly die out to sin through repentance that we can then become living material for the Lord to rest his Spirit upon just like the dove in Noah’s day. True, deep, heart-breaking repentance is God’s prerequisite for His best things. It is only through death that we can really experience life, new life:

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; Acts 3:19

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 2 Corinthians 6:17

What does this all mean? It means God is selective upon what and upon whom He allows His Spirit to rest. A dove is a somewhat restless, flighty, sensitive and particular bird. Such is the Spirit of God. The Bible tells us that God’s spirit will not always strive with man (Gen 6:3).

And it is possible that we can even grieve God’s spirit by allowing dead things to arise in our hearts and repulse the precious Spirit of the living God (Psa 78:40; Eze 30:38; Eph 4:30; I Cor 5:7; II Tim 2:21; Heb 9:14). Surely, none of us want to be found resting on that side of the equation.

The God Who Is Looking For Love

The word tells us that God is love (I Jhn 4:8,16). And that word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jhn 1:14). So Jesus being the word made flesh, is also love manifested in flesh. But can the Lord possibly be lacking anything that he would come looking for us? Or are there even scriptures to back this assumption up? Well, let’s take a look at these:

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. Isaiah 43:10

God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Psalms 53:2

The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. Lamentations 3:25

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

With just a small sampling of these four scriptures, it is quite apparent that the Lord is looking for those who are looking for him. It has been stated that God does lack some things because some things can only be given to him. What might those things be? One is your heart. Your devotions. Your prayers. Your worship and your faithfulness. In short, Jesus is looking for someone to respond to his love. This brings us to the next topic.

God’s Love Mission

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. Luke 23:34

Like the dove sent from Noah’s ark, and as God’s spirit moved upon the face of the waters over the unformed void at the beginning of creation (Gen 1:2), could God also be sending out His spirit each and every day looking for a place to rest His love?

Is this great Saviour of ours, who IS LOVE, really out looking for love? It is this blogger’s opinion that He truly is. It very well could be that each morning, each and every day, the Lord of Glory is on a love mission. He is on a mission looking for love. Your love.

The entire focus and purpose of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for the redemption of the soul lost in sin and iniquity. The Gospel’s sole intent is to restore mankind to its pre-fallen nature so the Lord can once again partake of his ultimate joy and pleasure – to fellowship with His most prized creation – the soul made in his image, your soul.

As the Christian community celebrates next Easter Sunday the one time of the year set aside to remember, reflect and commemorate the life of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, may we also
consider the love mission of Jesus Christ.

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? Genesis 3:9

As with Adam in the Garden of Eden, the Lord is asking the same question today and wondering: “Where are you?” He is asking because Jesus is on a love mission, a mission calling you into his eternal plan of salvation to forever be his love, as a part of his bride for all of eternity:

And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Malachi 3:17

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Revelation 19:7-9

Happy Easter 2024!

Into The Day – Bebo Norman

Hold on love, don’t give up
Don’t close your eyes
The light is breaking through the night

Step out into the day, all the clouds and all the rain are gone
It’s over now
Step out into the sun, for you have only begun to know
What it’s all about

As the hungering dark gives way to the dawn, my love
It’s over now

God’s Grace Will Not Save You

January 27, 2024

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Okay, now that your attention is captured, and before you forever write this blogger off as a heretic, there is one caveat to the wording of this post. Let’s be real. The grace of God is powerful, wonderful, and one of the most profound gifts the Savior bestows upon His creation.

Yet, God’s grace ALONE cannot save us. You have never thought about it in this light? Good. Hopefully, after this is all done you will have a deeper revelation in your spirit about the powerful work of one of God’s most gracious gifts – God’s grace.

Grace, Grace, God’s Grace

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Grace Greater than Our Sin
By Julia Harriette Johnston (1849–1919) 

This hymn is one that hits home. One that goes right through the heart. There is nothing more powerful than the precious blood of Jesus and can be expressed no better than to say that the blood of Jesus is indeed greater than “all our sin”! Where would any of us be save for the grace of God?

But is that all there is to it? Is the gift of God’s grace just left standing out there all by itself? Just grace alone? We’ve all heard folks in various phraseologies say: “All you need is God’s grace”. “His grace is able”. “Grace will make a way”. “But for the grace of God!”.

Well, yes, God’s grace is wonderful. But if God’s word says that’s all to it, then that is all there is. However, during prayer time at 4 am this morning, this subject crossed my mind and the Lord opened up some things never before imagined about His grace.

God’s Grace & God’s Word Are Inseparable

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:8

For it was only through this wonderful grace that we believed in him. Nothing we did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the gracious gift from God that brought us to Christ! Ephesians 2:8  TPT

The word “through” in the above verse is the Greek word διά (dia) which is defined as “the channel of an act” – Strongs. The verse states that God’s grace travels through the channel of one’s faith (your understanding of God’s word) to complete the work of salvation. Both God’s grace and His word work together for soul work, to save it. In short, grace’s ultimate mission is for the saving of the soul. Grace operates solely within God’s church. It is God’s mercy that operates in the world to bring people into the work of God’s grace.

The gift of grace is God’s supernatural umbrella over His church to empower it and enable it to execute the will of Heaven upon the earth. One writer made the following insightful statement: “Jesus indicates we are to pray Heaven’s reality into earthly existence, not vice versa”. Heaven is the “place” of God’s perfected Kingdom. Earth has the “potential” to be the inflection point for God’s perfected Kingdom (see Col 2:16-17; Heb 8:3-6, 10:1).

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10

God’s will is His word. And that word became flesh as the man Christ Jesus. Was Jesus more than just the living word of God? Yes, he was. The opening scripture tells us that Jesus was full of “grace” AND truth. You cannot separate grace and truth. To say all you need is grace is at best a misunderstanding and at worst heresy and false doctrine. Yet, so many will say all you need is God’s grace. Is that the full picture? According to God’s word, it is not. We need to allow both truth (the Word) and grace to be intimately intertwined to complete the plan of salvation God has for His creation (see also Rom 4:16 & 5:2).

Is There More To It Than Just Believing?

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38

In the above verse, Jesus is speaking of what is perhaps one of the most important subjects regarding salvation. It is the subject of being born again as evidenced by a spiritual encounter with God – the infilling of the Spirit of God. Yet, some will say all you need to do is believe, just believe God, and your good to go. Really? Is this what the word tells us? Yet Jesus emphatically tells us to believe on him “as the scripture hath said”. That means for us to believe on him as his word instructs us. The whole word of God, not just a piece of it. This is grace and truth working together.

Okay, if you stuck it out this far, hat’s off to you. But I’m going to go one step further on this and relate a personal story that if you are thinking of bailing out now, at least hold on until you read this.

Years ago, a close family member was struck by a very serious, life-threatening medical condition. They were young, successful, educated, with a beautiful marriage and the prospect of many wonderful years of life lying before them. What was done? The spouse took it upon themselves to find the best medical professionals in the U.S. They literally scoured medical institutions throughout America to find the best medical doctor to intervene in the situation. And you know what? They found a medical professional located across the country at the top of this field of medicine, uprooted their lives and traveled to the hospital to undergo intense treatment.

The result? They are alive and prospering today many years after this episode (not forgetting the impact of many prayers made for them). The tenacity of this spouse to see her husband well and healthy (it was his wife who commandeered the situation) was honorable. To witness the intense focus and energy involved to see a loved one’s physical condition turnaround was impressionable.

What does this all mean? It means we will emphasize and focus much effort on the superficial things in life. And yet, when it comes to the most critical and essential things in life, we settle for so much less. Things like our salvation. What is more important than that? Eternity. Is that important? Oh, dear God, may we pray and hope that it is! Yet, we will sit in a pew and have the mindset that all we need to be “saved” is to simply believe in Jesus, and all is fine and dandy. And what God does, and not man, is what lasts forever.

So, what is Jesus saying in John 7:38? He tells us that we need to have “rivers of living water” infused into our being through the infilling of his Spirit to be truly saved (see also Acts 1:4-5, 8, 2:38; Rom 8:11; Eph 1:13, 5:18). These are the words of Jesus – grace and truth.

Grace Is Temporary, Mercy is Forever

In conclusion, we have barely scratched the surface of the topic of grace. The main takeaway is to know that grace alone falls short of God’s original design. Grace and truth cannot be separated in our walk with God because grace left alone without the guardrails of the Word of God will be abused and fail to bear fruit (Rom 6:1-2, 15-17; Gal 2:21). And that grace enables us to fulfill God’s will by provisioning us to obey the word of the Lord “as the scripture hath said”.

Did you ever think that grace will end one day? When the church is raptured, grace will no longer be needed. Grace will end in eternity. But God’s mercy never ends (I Chr 16:34, 16:41; II Chr 20:21; Psa 100:5, 103:17) and His salvation and love are everlasting (Isa 45:17; Jer 31:3; Psa 23:6, 49:8; I Cor 13:13; Rev 14:6). It is the grace of God that will get you to Heaven. And it will be the mercy of God that will keep you there.

Life is not God’s ultimate gift to humanity. The treasure of eternal life is God’s ultimate gift to humanity. Not everyone who crosses the finish line in life is a winner. But everyone who finishes the race of grace and truth are true winners in the eyes of God. Keep running. The finish line is just ahead.

Blessings, in Jesus’ Name. Amen

Hope in the Midst of Hopelessness

January 5, 2024

The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. Job 14:19

Hope is a powerful thing. It is said that with hope nothing is impossible. The Bible is a book filled with hope. Moreover, the phrases “hope in God” and “hope in the Lord” occur 5 times in the KJV (Ps. 43:5, 78:7, 31:24, 130:7 & 131:3). If God-centered hope is central in keeping one living on the path that leads to eternal life, then why would the opening scripture reveal to us that God exercises His ability to destroy the possibility of us attaining it? Is this possible? And if so, why would God do this?

It is understood that the scriptures explicitly tell us that God cannot be pleased without faith (Heb 11:6) and faith is the bedrock on which any kind of walk with God rests. The Word of God is paramount and is the source code upon which all things in Heaven and on Earth are created (Gen 1:2, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24 & 26; Joh 1:1). And we also know Jesus is the visible and tangible manifestation of that Word through the incarnation as God in flesh (Joh 1:14; 2Cor 4:6; Col 1:15-17). So, faith in God’s word and faith in Jesus are elementary understandings any believer will embrace in their walk of knowing God and in pursuing Him in deeper dimensions. Then why would God intentionally disrupt this foundation of faith as stated in Job 14:10 to the point of causing one to become hopeless?

Could it be that God has a purpose in doing this? And if He does, what would that purpose be? We just may be surprised where this leads us.

Love Is In the Crosshairs

“Love is the activating force from which faith gets its energy” – Marie Beth Evans

Jesus warned us of many things during his earthly ministry. But two things come to the surface that he pinpoints to be on the lookout during the Endtime – deception/false doctrine (Mat 7:15, 16:6; Luk 12:1 & 21:8) and this:

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Matthew 24:12

The fallout of lifeless love is a waning of a true, pure love of God and a compassionate love for our neighbor. Do we really need to validate the latter? All one has to do is read, watch or listen to the latest news cycle reporting on of the affairs of our present world. Why is this? It is because the enemy knows that if he can wear you down through the iniquity of this age, he can cripple the love needed to energize your faith and overcome hopelessness:

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. KJV

When you’re placed into the Anointed One and joined to him, circumcision and religious obligations can benefit you nothing. All that matters now is living in the faith that is activated and brought to perfection by love. TPT Galatians 5:6

The word “worketh” in the KJV verse is the Greek word ἐνεργέω (energeō) which means “to be active, efficient, effectual (fervent), or be mighty in” – Strongs In short, for faith to survive in hopeless circumstances, it must be coupled by a love that is alive and real. Going back to the question of why Jesus would bring a believer to a point of hopelessness. It is because the true test of the purity and depth of our love for God is proven in times of hopeless situations.

Case in point. The Apostle Paul suffered a tragic shipwreck on his journey to Rome. The Bible tells us that it was literally a hopeless situation (Acts 27:20). However, Paul’s love for Jesus was deeper than the sea of despair out to demolish his faith. Paul held dear to his heart the forgiveness, compassion, patience, and mercy Jesus showered over his life. During the darkness of a personal prayer closet, he refused to forget what God had done in his life and sought out the One who loved him and gave himself for him. And in the end, hopelessness failed its mission (Acts 27:43-44).

Faith Is Not The Ultimate Prize … Love Is

One can have faith in God, and simultaneously, have a shallow and tepid love for God. Is this substantiated by scripture? Yes, it is. The apostle John in his letters to seven churches in Asia Minor, one was addressed to a people in such a state:

And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Revelation 2:3-4

The church in question was located in Ephesus. They exercised great faith. They “labored” with gusto and great zeal. They were even steadfast and unrelenting in their pursuit of “church work”. However, Jesus was not impressed with these things. He was displeased because they lacked the one critical component he desires in His people – Love.

Faith alone will not get the job done that is needed in trying times. Times such as these. Could it be you were chosen to live in this Endtime age for this very reason, to allow a proven love of and for God, coupled with faith (your faith) purified by life’s fiery trials and temptations to radiate the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ?

It is of this blogger’s opinion that it is. God has chosen you for “a time such as this” for primarily one purpose – to give God glory. And it very well may be that God has yet to reveal some glorious and magnificent aspects of His being to this world by using this turbulent and perplexing age to do it. And He can only reveal it through a people called by his name, led by His Spirit and faithfully walking in His will.

God did it through Moses and the nation of Israel (Exo 7:5; Deu 9:29), Daniel and the exiled Hebrew children (Dan 2:47, 3:28), Joshua and wandering nomads (Jos 2:9-11), Esther and a persecuted minority (Est 8:17), and many others. And He is looking for vessels today that He can use to shine forth His glory.

Notice the position of the word “hope” in what we know as the Lord’s chapter of love in the NT:

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7

Hope is right after faith in the chain of instructions to keep love alive in one’s life – in all things.

There Is Still Hope in Hopelessness

Where do we go from here? Or what do we do when we find ourselves in a hopeless situation and it seems God has drifted away and it appears He is unconcerned about our plight? Could it be him calling through the calamity? Then we turn back to God in repentance, allow the fallow ground in our lives to be broken, surrender and reclaim the love of Jesus we walked away from. There is a scripture in Psalms worth mentioning here:

For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? Psalms 56:13

The psalmist wrote these words during a hopeless situation. He was surrounded by his enemies and the devourer was gnashing his teeth over his soul. What did he do? He reflected on God’s past, His present and His future work in his life. He figured, since God saved him from death, would he not also keep him the rest of the way through life?

Jesus has already paid the price for our redemption on the cross and paved the way for us to acquire eternal life. Does it not make sense that Jesus will also keep us on the journey lying ahead where this thing we know as life ends? We must believe that he will.

Happy New Year & God’s Blessings to You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

That I May Know Him

September 17, 2023

That I may know him … Philippians 3:10

We know that God, being the all-sufficient One who creates all things, will not and cannot do some things. God cannot sin, He cannot lie, He cannot be unjust, He cannot be evil, He cannot violate His word, and the list goes on. But there is one more thing God will not and cannot do that sets itself apart from all others. And it is the most important “one thing” of all.

The question has been asked if God really needs anything. The general consensus is, He does not. There are even Christians who really believe that God lacks nothing. In fact, a well-respected minister was quoted as saying that God lacks nothing and we certainly cannot give Him anything that he already does not have. The rationale for such a response is that God is all-sufficient in His omnipresence, in His omnipotence, and in His omnipresence. He needs nothing outside of himself, especially from us. Is this really true? We are about to find out that this is in fact a misperception concerning God. God does in fact lack something and we are about to see what that one thing is.

That I May Know Him

The Apostle Paul understood his word choice when penning the sentence of what we now know as Philippians 3:10. In the Old Testament, wherever the word to “know” someone is used, it is meant to be intimately involved with that person. Or in a sexual context, to be “at one” with a person. There is more at stake than just feelings when being intimately involved with another person. The Word of God specifically tells us that when two people engage sexually, they at that point become “one flesh” through a spiritual connection:

 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24 

What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 1 Corinthians 6:16  

The Apostle, under the Spirit’s inspiration, communicated his desire to “know” who Jesus really is. It was a desire that went deeper than religion, deeper than a superficial knowledge, and deeper than a casual relationship. The Apostle Paul’s greatest desire was to know this God who showed such abundant mercy on him to forgive him for the way he treated the church, the bride of Christ. In his former life, Paul went on a rampage to inflict harm and pain on those who were future partakers in the marriage supper of the Lamb. And God forgave him for that, and he never forgot it either. The problem is sometimes we forget about the sins, iniquities, the despicable, the horrendous, and the regrettable things of our past that the Lord has forgiven us for.

One Thing God Cannot Do

In all of God’s glory, in His magnificence, His splendor, and in His majesty, God desires one thing. And it is the one thing that He cannot create, fabricate, speak into existence, command His ministering angels to do, or force you to do.

The one thing God truly desires that He cannot and will not make you say is this ……..

“Jesus, you are my heart’s desire”.

He cannot make you say this. It has to originate from you, and you alone. From somewhere deep inside. It does something to God when faced with millions of choices, desires, temptations, decisions, and actions that will turn our hearts away from God and His presence, you make the deliberate choice to turn your back on them and tell God that above everything else, He is your “heart’s desire”. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine that you could do or say something that gets God’s full attention? If we might know one thing that can make the heartbeat of the God of All Creation skip a beat? If you can imagine this, would we not all want to do it? I believe we would.

God’s ultimate passion is that you are absolutely passionate about Him!

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31  

It is that simple, but oh so hard to do at times. That is why it is so valuable to Him. Jesus is touched by the feelings of our infirmities, He is touched by our pain, our frustrations, our inner conflicts, our failures, our fears, our doubts, and our shortcomings. Jesus cares about what is going on in our lives. And he can be trusted because he is faithful.

God does in fact need something that He cannot always have. Because it can only be given to Him. And that something is that your heart’s number one desire be Him!

A Dream & A Cross

Please pardon this interruption. The blogger rarely writes in the first person and rarely relates personal experiences. But what follows needs to be said.

About 3 months ago I had a dream on an early Sunday morning. The dream was about an incident I was involved in as a young man. It was as if I was translated back to this exact moment in time many years ago. It was a late Friday night when I encountered someone I should not have been with, and at a place where trouble has taken many down a path of regret. What was unfolding before my eyes would no doubt have affected me for the remainder of my life as it would have left lasting scars.

But what could of and should have happened never did. God showed me in that dream that He saw everything that was taking place. And in His mercy stepped into that moment in time and changed life’s course for a broken and lost backslider, who had he continued venturing down the path he was heading, would have suffered permanent and perhaps tragic consequences. I believe God knows the line, upon being crossed, our conscience will not allow us to ever return. I woke up at 1 a.m. from the dream that morning, immediately crawled out of bed, got on my knees, and cried out to God and thanked Him for his great mercy, forgiveness, and love.

Later that same morning in church the pastor spoke about the love of Calvary at the service’s conclusion. Coincidental? I think not. He spoke about the blood that Jesus shed for our sins, Jesus’ love for us being so immense that he gave his all on the cross. Sometimes these things appear so simple, so elementary, so Christian 101 (if you will), and something we perceive as “small stuff” in the grand scope of life’s “things”. But to a sinner or to someone whose former life was driven by sin, it is so powerful.

It was God’s mercy that saved my soul that night and God’s grace and love that led me to church that morning. At the service’s conclusion, I lifted my hands to Heaven, and while tears streamed down my face I worshipped and thanked Jesus for saving a wretch like me. Because I “knew” and understood what Jesus had done for me. Do you know him and know what he has done for you?

That I may know him.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Isaiah 44:22

Above All Else I Must Be Saved

For above all else, I must be saved.
For above all else, I must be saved.
For whatever You have to do to me,
don’t let me be lost for eternity.
For above all else, I must be saved.
Written by Doug Davis

Does A Multitude of Sins Matter To God?

September 6, 2023

Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. James 5:19 -20

Finally, as members of God’s beloved family, we must go after the one who wanders from the truth and bring him back. For the one who restores the sinning believer back to God from the error of his way, gives back to his soul life from the dead, and covers over countless sins by their demonstration of love! TPT

A “multitude of sins” is a three-word phrase occurring two times in the KJV of the Bible (Jas 5:20 & I Pet 4:8). These two occurrences do not refer to the sins of people who have never known God or have never tasted of the goodness of God’s mercy, grace and love. These sins spoken of are the sins of believers living in or out of the church. The question to ask is: Why is this such a big deal? What is so important about the elimination of a bunch of sins, especially the sins of those who once walked with the Lord and who lived an overcoming life? God thought it important that James and Peter mention in their writings that the eradication of this mass of sin be given special attention. Let’s take a look into this.  

Restoration – The Premier Work of God 

Before, we begin, there is a foundational work of God that needs discussing. As one writer so aptly articulated, God’s “greatest glory” is displayed in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. There is simply no other thing in all of creation greater than what the sinless, spotless, precious, priceless, perfect, and powerful blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, accomplished on the cross, and the subsequent work of forgiveness when one repents of their sins. 

The Lord sent prophet after prophet to Israel in an attempt to arrest their attention to their sinful condition in the hope of true repentance and restoration. The phrase “Return unto me” was the cry of Isaiah (Isa 44:22), Jeremiah (Jer 4:1, 15:19, 24:7), and Malachi (Mal 3:7). The Lord is still in the restoration business. In fact, restoration is the one purpose and reason why God created us in the first place. How is that? Because of one thing – the blood of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the heaven and the earth. It is the blood of Jesus Christ that holds everything in Heaven and earth together:

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8 

And they shall worship him, all who dwell upon the earth, whose name does not stand written in the scroll of the life belonging to the Lamb who has been slain since the time when the foundations of the universe were laid, and who is looked upon as the slain Lamb at present. (Wuest)

What does all this mean? It means God takes sin very seriously, even the multitude of sins overshadowing His people. We all know sin separates us from God. God is holy and he will not continue to work in lives where there is unrepentant sin (Gen 6:3; Isa 59:2; Eze 18:4, 20; Jas 1:15). The Lord takes pleasure in three things; those who fear Him (Psa 147:11), who prosper in Him (Psa 35:27), and who fellowship with Him (Rev 4:11). This tells us that God is displeased when He cannot commune with us. This frustrates the Lord. Here is why. 

God’s Gifts & Callings Are Forever 

We do know the gifts and callings of God are irretractable (Rom 11:29). As far as God is concerned, once a gift is imparted, it is forever. There is a story of a prodigal, the son of a godly mother who prayed incessantly for her wayward child. He said he was amazed over an incident in his life when he was walking out of a barroom. A friend passed by and asked him to pray for him and for his healing. The man sensed the gift of healing residing somewhere in that prodigal’s soul that continued to shine through his darkened, sin-filled life. This is an example of a gift of God that could not be hidden, even in a marred vessel living outside of God’s will. 

The precious blood of Jesus is not only for those sinning in the world. God is concerned about sin wherever it is, and more so for those involving his church. Which is the focus of this discussion. That being said, one is wise to be careful how they treat God’s anointed (King David thought so (1Sam 24:6, 10, 26:11, 16, 23)). And everyone who has ever been born of the water and of the Spirit is anointed of God. And it’s good to remember, it’s not We, but He who has called us (Jer 7:13; Jhn 6:44; Gal 1:6; 1Pe 2:9, 5:10). Which leads us to the following diversion. 

The Fuel that Drives the Religion of Self

Let’s digress here for a moment. Things are about to get a little “rocky” here and you may want to skip this section if you are easily offended. However, what is written is true and is worth mentioning. 

We can think pretty highly of ourselves at times and believe we really have it all together with “this God thing”. When in actuality, the best of us are simply sinners saved by the grace and mercy of God. We can do NOTHING without the Lord. It is only his mercy that we are all not simply annihilated from the face of the earth.

Now for the offensive piece. There is an innate perverse, guttural, almost diabolical propensity burned within our nature that relishes seeing another person suffer as a result of either their own sins or the recipient of the sins laid on them by others. The fuel that spun the pistons and crankshafts of the “religious system” in Jesus’ day originated from an inner corruption that relished to see the pain and agony of another wallowing in their own sin (Jhn 8:3-4, 9:34; Luk 7:39) or the recipient of the sins of others.

You might say “That is harsh and an ignorant perception” (and you may just at this point click off this blog). Okay, before you do that, please read this first:

And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. Mark 15:29-32

Enough said? Jesus was the recipient of such treatment. Jesus was sinless and took upon himself the weight of the sins of all humankind. And how do you think Jesus feels towards the individual who today treats others similarly or whose walk with him is motivated by such a mindset? I would not want to be that person.

Now back to the discussion. 

The Church’s Impact on Sin on the Earth

We can oftentimes underestimate our impact on this world. Particularly the impact on sin. Jesus spoke about this topic to his disciples many times. But in one instance, Jesus revealed a very powerful statement regarding his church’s position in wielding power over sin on the earth:

Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. John 20:23 

The following statement is a good explanation of this verse: “They who believed on the Son of God, in consequence of their preaching, had their sins remitted; and they who would not believe were declared to lie under condemnation“. (Clarkes Commentary) Jesus empowered his church with the mission of preaching the Gospel, which is a mission in the forgiveness of sins. If the church’s witness is watered down by worldliness and its sword of the Spirit dulled because of sin, this directly impacts its effectiveness in remitting sin on the earth. This is one example of the power Jesus gifted to his church. 

And this all ties back to the opening scripture regarding a multitude of sins. When a fallen, or a believer with a fault, repents of his or her sins, not only are their past and present sins forgiven, but also the potential of all the future sins forgiven by their influence (salt & light) in helping others overcome their own sins is added to the total! That is a lot of sins, a “multitude of sins”.  

The Power of The Blood

What is the most valuable substance existing in creation? Dust from a distant galaxy? Rocks and crystals from a nearby planet? Rare earth metals and gems mined deep within the belly of the earth? Yes, you are correct. The precious, perfect, priceless, and powerful sinless blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, is the most valuable substance in all of Creation! The redemption of the soul through the precious blood of Jesus is the most magnificent display of the glory of God. For it can even wash away a multitude of sins.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:  And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: Luke 15:22-23

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Galatians 6:1 

Light Vision

August 6, 2023

No man, when he hath lighted a candle …. Luke 11:33  

The eye is perhaps the one body organ that silently, and visually reveals the condition of the heart and serves as a major sensory gateway into the secret chambers of the soul. We are familiar with the terms or phrases such as – eyes burning with rage, an “evil” eye, see the “pain in your eyes”, a glance that “cuts with a knife”, and a “twinkle in your eye”. It is even said that the eye is a reflection of your health. To add to this list, famous writers have referenced the majesty of the human eye such as “the window to your soul” (Shakespeare) and the “jewel of the soul” (Thoreau).

And exploration of the wonders of human vision has lost no traction with the scientific community. One of the early projects of artificial intelligence (AI) was to design a computer to digitize and simulate the neural pathways of human vision and give a computer the ability to see and identify objects (1). It is quite the task to conquer considering the human eye contains approximately 125 million photoreceptor cells (2).

But human vision simulation is only one piece of the equation. It is known that the eye serves purposes beyond just creating images of the outside world in the brain. The eye also integrates with other brain functions such as logic, reasoning, language, and even tapping into the wealth of basic human common sense (3). In short, human vision ventures beyond just what the eye sees and its complexity involves most of the neural networks of the brain. And science backs this up.

Medical science has shown the brain contains around 100 billion neurons (nerve cells) and approximately a hundred trillion synapses (4). Research has proven that it is almost logistically impractical to build a computer system that can simulate the processing power of the human brain. This is not to say it has not been attempted. The closest work done in this area is the SpiNNaker project (5).

The goal of this undertaking is to produce a computer design with 100,000 processing cores (note: the typical laptop or desktop PC has between 2 & 4 cores, with top-end gaming PC’s having only 16 cores (7)). Such a computer system can effectively emulate a meager 25 million brain neurons (6), simulating only 1% of total human brain capacity. Why say all this?

Over 2,000 years ago Jesus gave us clues to what science would much later discover concerning the complexity of the human visual apparatus. You see, to God, seeing involves more than having the physical capacity to read or arrive at a destination without getting lost, tripping, and running into things. To God, seeing moves far beyond a physical realm, and into a deeper spiritual dimension that forms the basis of our life – how we think, reason, what we communicate, our perception, and how others perceive us. Let’s take a “look” at this.

It All Begins With A Candle

The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. Luke 11:34, 36

Jesus always uses perfect illustrations to reveal profound spiritual truths. He starts out talking about lighting a candle. What is the purpose of a candle? It is a light source. Its purpose is to illuminate the area it occupies and dispel darkness. He then goes on from talking about the external light of a candle to an internal light, the eye being the source of that light. What is Jesus communicating here about our eye being single? The Greek word for ‘single’ here is ἁπλοῦς (haplous – Strongs G573) and is used one other time in the NT (the other in Luk 11:34 in the same context of describing a single eye). The word means to be ‘folded together’, ‘ braided’ or ‘to twine’.

Considering the previously mentioned understanding that the eye integrates with other brain functions and capacities such as language, vocabulary, logic, and common sense, Jesus is emphatically saying this inner candle of light (inner spirit) cannot be conflicted or in conflict with other dimensions of our thinking. We can ‘say’ (vocabulary, knowledge) we have faith yet, at the same time, harbor fears and doubts (perhaps even unforgiveness, unbelief, anger, bitterness, strife, jealousy, etc.). All these things unfold or unravel this ‘singleness’ of light, resulting in the second condition Jesus refers to – an ‘evil’ eye that results in inner darkness. Here are some Biblical applications:

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. James 1:6

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 1 John 2:10-11

Jesus then goes on to say that when one attains this single eye (spiritually pure vision), they are then “full of light”. The phrase “full of light” is the Greek word φωτεινός  (phōteinos – Strongs G5460) which means lustrous, transparent, well illuminated, or full of light. The Bible records three instances where this very condition was physically manifested in Moses (Exo 34:29-30, 35), Jesus (Mat 17:2) and in Stephen (Act 6:15). Their faces “glowed” with an inner, luminous light – an eye being single and full of light.

God’s True Light of Life – From the Inside Out

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12  

Having established an understanding of what Jesus was conveying about having a single eye and its importance in walking with an inner light, he set the stage to reveal to us a radical concept of the function of vision. To Jesus, vision is not “seeing” things as they appear as when physical light enters the eye from the outside in. He is telling us that the beacon of light that guides our lives, spiritual light, derives its source from the eye which emanates light from the inside. This is the opposite of how light works in the physical realm where the light source is on the outside shining in. Jesus flips the concept of the passive role of the eye in the natural realm upside down. He reveals the real light of life shines from the inside out and not from the outside in!

The carnal person walks according to the affairs of this life by the light given by this world, a light that is actually darkness. The world’s light shines from the outside … in. Such is not the case for those who walk in the Spirit and guided by another light – the light of God’s word and Spirit:

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Matthew 5:14

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

One thing is certain, as sin abounds and runs rampant in this world, God will use it to reveal His people who have the true light of God, God’s spirit that shines from the inside out. Think of this simple illustration, but somewhat profound. If you ride down a residential street in your city or town during the day, what do you see in the house windows? Nothing usually. Any light emitted from inside the homes through its windows is overpowered by the surrounding light of the daytime sun. However, ride down that same street during the evening and you will see a completely different picture. Now the windows of these same homes are illuminated by the lamps and light bulbs turned on, even those that were on during the day you could not see. The night or darkness reveals where the light is.

One window during the night can be illuminated by a single burning candle in the room (No man, when he hath lighted a candle …). The point is not so much the size of the light source. The key is that a light remains burning! Whatever faith you may have left, don’t let it go out! Keep your candle burning and defy the darkness. As the old, old, song of long ago goes:

Faith, faith, faith, just a little bit of faith.
You don’t need a whole lot,
Just use what you’ve got!

In these last days, days becoming more and more dark, is now the time to let your life shine for God. As Paul wrote in Romans chapter 5 – where sin abounded, his grace did much more abound (vs. 5).

Once your life was full of sin’s darkness, but now you have the very light of our Lord shining through you because of your union with him. Your mission is to live as children flooded with his revelation-light! Ephesians 5:8  TPT 

Fight For What Remains

July 10, 2023

Image: shattered cell phone screen

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Matthew 25:21

A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. Psalms 37:16

The words “a few”, and “a little” appear insignificant. Yet, there may come a time in life when “few” and “little” are all we have to work with. It can even look on the surface that we are fighting for and holding onto a little that still remains. Let’s dive into this some more to see if there is something the Lord can show us in “fighting for what remains”.

A Remnant Of God Always Remains

God always has a remnant, a people who despite the prevailing winds of unbelief, popular opinion, and worldly, fleshly desires, surround their lives with hope and trust in a God who they believe is worthy of EVERYTHING. What is the believer in God and those trusting in the Lordship of Jesus Christ up against?

One major obstacle that hinders one’s faith to mature and be fruitful is this world we live in that is controlled and dominated by a god whose name is satan. There are two names that define the swirling thought pool that pervades this world, and dictates fallen humanity – the aion and the Kosmos. Here is an excellent description of what constitutes “the world”, commonly known as the Kosmos:

“All that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations, at any time current in the world, which it may be impossible to seize and accurately define, but which constitutes a most real and effective power, being the moral, or immoral atmosphere which at every moment of our lives we inhale, again inevitably to exhale, – all this is included in the aion, which is, as Bengel has expressed it, the subtle informing spirit of the Kosmos, or world of men who are living alienated and apart from God”. (Richard C. Trench)

Other writers define it as:

“The Germans have a word for it, zeitgeist, “the spirit of the age.” “World” is the head, his demons are his emissaries, and all the unsaved Kosmos, which here refers to the system of evil of which satan are his slaves, together with the purposes, pursuits, pleasures, and places where God is not wanted”. (Johann A. Bengel)

“To distinguish the words, one could say that Kosmos gives the overall picture of mankind alienated from God during all history, and aion represents any distinct age or period of human history as marked out from another by particular characteristics.” (Kenneth Wuest)

This is what your faith in God is up against. This is what you face when you wake up in the morning. This is what you are confronted with when you leave your home to go to school, your job, run your errands, or conduct your daily activities. This world we live in, this age or epoch of darkness now existing upon the earth can only be defeated when we decide to fight for some things that the enemy does not want us to have. What is that? It is to be an overcomer.

The word of God tells us that we have three contenders on earth each fighting for supremacy over the eternal, powerful things available through God’s Spirit and Truth – the flesh, the devil, and the world. And the devil is ALWAYS looking for an open door. It is through these doors that satan leveled his three-pronged attack against Jesus during his 40-day wilderness experience (Mat 4:1-11). The first two are more familiar to us than the last enemy, the world:

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1 John 2:15-17

Jesus will have a people, a remnant of overcomers, who will choose him over the world, over lust and over pride. God will always have a remnant who will fight for what remains. Let’s look at some who did.

Sea Voyagers Fight For What Remained

And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land. Act 27:44 

The scene did not offer any sense of hope. The ship was on a journey to Rome with some very valuable cargo. We do know the cargo manifest included two men called of God; the Apostle Paul and Luke, the writer of two NT books (The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts). We are also told the ship encountered an unrelentless storm as the sun had not appeared “for many days” (Act 27:20). As the writer Luke penned it, it was a hopeless situation:

And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. Acts 27:20

The dire situation only made one man on the ship to dig a little deeper. We are told the Apostle Paul disappeared in a prayer closet to get ahold of God, the God who controls the wind and the sea (Acts 27:21-24; Mar 4:37-41).

At the end, all men on the ship survived and made it safely to land. What saved the men who could not swim? Broken boards and wooden pieces of the ship. As long as you hold on to a piece of something that is a part of something much bigger than your situation, you will make it (and Jesus is bigger than whatever situation you may find yourself in). They refused to give up and fought for what remained, even if what remained seemed so insignificant!

Four Lepers Decide To Fight For What Was Left

And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 2Kings 7:3

The city of Samaria was under siege by the king of Syria and a great famine fell upon the city (II Kings 6:24-33). The Word of God pans the scene for us and brought into focus are four lepers standing at the gate of the city, a city surrounded by a looming cloud of death. They pondered their situation to decide the next course of action. The entire city is starving, and these men not only are hungry, but their bodies are ravaged with leprosy.

What would you do in this situation?  What could possibly be worse than dying a slow death of leprosy? You are right – either die of starvation or die a quick and painful death by the hands of a cruel Syrian army. So, they decided to go for the gold, live to see another day, and headed out to the Syrian camp to find provisions (II Kings 7:5). And as they say, the rest is history.

Sometimes in life we just have to “go for the gold”, sell out, and head towards the enemy’s camp to take back what he’s stolen from us. Risky business? You bet it is. Does it put your life on the line? Absolutely. And what are the potential rewards? God will put the enemy’s head under your feet and you will find yourself in a very, very good position with the Almighty (Psa 18:37-40, 47:3; Rom 16:20). Fight for what remains, even if the faith you possess is threadbare and frail. Someone said that one small thread in the hand of God is stronger than all the chains of hell!

Will You Fight For What Remains?

The Word of God tells us that we are made overcomers by two things – the covering of the blood of Jesus Christ and living a victorious life of faith:

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Rev 12:11

What does this mean? It means consistently coming before the Lord in repentance (the blood covering) and living a faith-driven life, energized by the love of God (a steadfast testimony) are the ingredients needed for living an overcoming life. The blood of Jesus and the love of God will take you through things and enable you to “fight for what remains”.

You may be securing and protecting a postage-sized patch of earth beneath your feet that the enemy of your soul is vying for, fight for what remains!

You may be the only one in your family “living for God”, fight for what remains!

A loved one is fighting for their life and only a miracle of healing can change the situation. Love heals. And God is love. And His love never fails, fight for what remains!

You may be in a hopeless situation with nowhere to go nor anyone left that emphasizes with your dilemma. You have breath in your lungs and Jesus still answers prayer, fight for what remains!

The devil salivates over the prospect of shipwrecking your faith to cause you to give up on God. But His “still small voice” is speaking into your darkness: “I love you!”. Fight for what remains!

Fight for what remains. Love remains. For God is love. (I John 4:8, 16)

In Jesus’ Name, Amen!