A Bad Penny and A Know It All

What is the significance of a “bad penny”?  If is thought that the phrase  “like a bad penny” originated around the time of the introduction of mechanical dispensing machines, a time when a penny actually bought something.  A “bad penny” was one that would not work in the dispensing machine.  Today, it would be the quarter.  The “bad penny” would keep showing up; so it came to be used in reference to someone who was not wanted, who kept showing up at the most inopportune times.

What has this got to do with a “Know it all” and today’s blog. Normally we view these two characteristics in a negative light; but I want you to reconsider them in a positive light as they describe your heavenly Father. 

Consider Psalm 139

¹      O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

²      You know my sitting down and my rising up;

      You understand my thought afar off.

³      You comprehend my path and my lying down,

      And are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴      For there is not a word on my tongue,

      But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

⁵      You have hedged me behind and before,

      And laid Your hand upon me.

⁶      Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

Your Father knows everything.  He knows everything about you, about me.  He knows everything about everything.  At first his may appear daunting and discouraging; but it is comforting.  There is nothing that you can share with Him, that He already does not know.  He knows your thoughts before you think them.  He knows you concerns before you verbalize them or for that matter, think them.

Combine this with the fact that He also IS everywhere!

⁷      Where can I go from Your Spirit?

      Or where can I flee from Your presence?

⁸      If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

      If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

⁹      If I take the wings of the morning,

      And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

¹⁰      Even there Your hand shall lead me,

      And Your right hand shall hold me.

¹¹      If I say, “Surely the darkness shall ◙ fall on me,”

      Even the night shall be light about me;

¹²      Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

      But the night shines as the day;

      The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

¹³      For You formed my inward parts;

      You covered me in my mother’s womb.

      When I awake, I am still with You.

After all this, the Psalmist invites God to:

²³      Search me, O God, and know my heart;

      Try me, and know my anxieties;

Kind of dumb, considering he just said that God knew everything!  I guess the psalmist wasn’t all that much different than us when we pretend to tell God how He ought to handle our lives.

What has all this to do with “spiritual warfare”?

Truth # 3

God is always with you, beside you, and in you.  You say, “but I don’t always feel like it”.  Since when does “feeling” have anything to do with reality?  Today we have been sold this bill of goods that’s says, “Perception is everything”.  NOT!  Perception is NOT everything, unless you think YOU are everything; because perception is about you and me.  It is not about God.  GOD is reality!

Your feelings don’t change reality!  God is still there even if you don’t feel Him!

When you are fighting the spiritual fight, you are not alone, regardless of how you feel.  Your Father is right there and He not only is there, He knows what is going on.  He wants you to win , “that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore.”

WHAT YOU ARE NOT!

Today, I want to talk about Truth #2.  Too many Christians today have an anemic prayer life because they don’t know what they are not.  That may not be good grammar but once you understand what I mean, you will see that it is good theology.  If you are a Christian, you are not condemned.

Paul tells the church at Rome, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).  Many versions of that verse have the phrase,  (including the King James version, which many of us grew up with), “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”.  That is an improper translation and leaves a false impression.  It implies that “walk(ing) not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”, is the cause or the basis for the “no condemnation”.  If that were the case, the converse would also be true.  There would be condemnation for those Christians walk in the flesh.  This means that the Gospel of Grace was of no effect, because it would be of works.  If you look at the NIV version you see that it reads “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

The cause or basis for the “no condemnation” is that “through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”   In the King James version, the phrase, “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”, is repeated at the end of verse 4, where it appears in the NIV.  This is where it should be, not at the end of verse 1. The phrase, “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” is the result of the “no condemnation”, not the cause.  When you, as a Christian accept, acknowledge, realize, come having this truth in your spirit, you will no longer walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  Your prayer life will change from anemic to being powerful, full of faith and not doubt.  James tells us, “he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”(James 1:6-8)

Satan would not have this truth to be part of your life.  If he can keep you living in condemnation you will never “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need “ (Hebrews 4:16)

Nor will we,  

“boldly say:

      “The Lord is my helper;

        I will not fear.

        What can man do to me?”

        (Hebrews 13:6)

Too many Christians walk around timid in their prayer life, timid in their witness, timid in their relationship with their Father.  It is not about you!  It is about HIM!

Your are a child of God.  You have been adopted into the family of God, “joint heirs with Christ”, with all the rights and benefits, AND responsibilities. 

Act like it!  Walk like it!  Talk like it!  Pray like it!  Fight the devil like it!

WHAT ARE YOU?

WHAT ARE YOU NOT?

How Do You Put On Your Shoes and Socks?

Do you put on both socks and then your shoes?  Do you put on one sock and one shoe and then the other sock and then the other shoe?  You know what?  It does not matter!

But , how you put on the whole armor of God does.  Truth is the first piece.  Why? 

THE Truth makes you free!  John 8:31, “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 

You cannot fight if you bound!  Only a free person can fight!

Not just any truth, THE TRUTH.  The Word of God is THE TRUTH!  The Truth is life!  A dead person cannot fight!

The Word of God is spirit and life.  John 6:63, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

Remember when we started this discussion, we said that Paul was writing to Christians in the letter to the Ephesians.  He was telling Christians to “put on the whole armor of God”.  Only Christians can wear God’s armor.  You say I don’t think that’s fair.  Duh!  If you are not a Detroit Tiger, you can’t wear their uniform.  If you are not a Detroit Red Wing, you can’t wear their uniform.  This is true is the sports world.  Does anybody say that it is not fair?  Why would a non-Christian want to wear God’s armor.  So,

Truth #1:  I am saved

Romans 10: 9-11

“if with your mouth you confess Jesus as Lord and in your heart believe that God brought Him back to life, you shall be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart men believe and obtain righteousness, and with the mouth they make confession and obtain salvation. ¹¹The Scripture says, ‘No one who believes in Him shall have reason to feel ashamed’.”

The next time you are tempted to doubt your salvation or ashamed that you are not “good enough”, reach down to your Belt of Truth and throw Romans 10:9-11 at Satan.

If you have confessed Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that the Father raised Him from the dead (believe that he was crucified for your sins and raised to life), You are saved. PERIOD!  Done! Finished!

"Just the facts, ma'am,"

If you are over 50, you recognize this quote.  It is from the 50-70’s show, Dragnet.  Do you remember the starting line to the show each week? "My name is Friday—I'm a cop."  What was the “cops” name and who was the actor?  He also was the creator, writer and director of the show that ran 1951-59, and 1967-1970.  What was his badge number?  By the way, it was a real LAPD badge and upon the death of Jack Webb, the actor, writer and director, the LAPD (Los Angeles Police department) officially retired the shield number 714.  Webb was buried with full police honors.  

Why do I bring this up?  Because I want to give you “just the facts”, TRUTH.  TRUTH is the first piece if the “Armor of God”.   Paul tells us to “have our loins girt about with truth”.  “Loin” is not a word we use much today except for when used to describe a piece of meat like steak, pork or chicken.  In the Bible, it referred to the hip (loin)  but also “loins” was thought by the Hebrews to be the place where the generative power of man resided (semen).  It was also referred to as the “belly”.  In John 7:38, Jesus said, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said , out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit .”  The belly was thought to be the place where the fetus is conceived and nourished until birth.  It was the innermost part of a man, the soul, heart as the seat of thought, feeling, choice.

If you now put this all together, you start to get the picture.  When the phone rings at 3 in the morning, you get that sinking feeling in side of you, in your belly, your innermost being. 

How do you protect your inner most being, with truth, THE TRUTH.  You need, at that time, to know just the facts of God’s Word!  You need them on the tip of your tongue, ready, like the bullets the old west cowboy on his gun belt. Think of the policeman or soldier who has all of his weapons hanging on his belt, at his finger tips, ready when needed.

You need the TRUTH protecting your innermost being.  You don’t have time to look them up in your Bible.  Satan is attacking!  He wants to knock you down! Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, and Spiritually!  Respond instantaneously!  With the Word.  The Word must be part of you, an integral part of you.  You need to become one with THE WORD OF GOD!

GIVE Satan the facts, the truth of God’s word!

If you do not have the facts, the truth, you can not and will not recognize who is doing the attacking.  If you do not recognize the enemy, you cannot fight him.

You need to get THE FACTS, in order to arm yourself.  Too many people are sitting around wondering why God is making them go through all these trials when in fact God has given you the GRACE, the weapons, needed to have victory over those trials. 

Say with Paul:

“As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. ³⁷Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. ³⁸For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ³⁹Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:36-39

“You Can’t Handle The Truth”

Many of you recognize this quote from the movie “A Few Good Men.  LTJG Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) questions Col. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nichcolson) in the court-marshal of two Marines accused of murdering a fellow Marine.  Under heavy pressure from LTJG Kaffee, Col. Jessup yells out “You can’t handle the truth”.

I wonder if the same could be said about many of us today.  Many have created this virtual world of how we see God, absent from any scriptural basis.  It is this comfortable place where we can be complacent in the events happening around us.  Everything that happens is God’s will so we have no responsibility.  We can just sit back and relax.  Nothing to do, just be spiritual couch potatoes.

We don’t want to know the truth because then we might need to do something.  We don’t want our virtual world disturbed.  We don’t want to be challenged.  Don’t bother me with the facts.

If the truth be known, we might have to do something.  If the truth be known, we would be seen as the cause for many of the problem around us.  This problem is not unique to individuals.  It is widespread problem in the church in America. 

We can ignore Satan, but closing our mind and eyes to the truth, does not change the truth.  We sit in the pew like the three, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys; while Satan in running rampant. 

James tells us:

“God sets Himself against the haughty, but to the lowly He gives grace.  Submit therefore to God: resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you who are half-hearted towards God.  Afflict yourselves and mourn and weep aloud; let your laughter be turned into grief, and your gladness into shame. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”              James 4:6-10

Paul instructs us in Ephesians 6:13:

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand”

God wants you to “resist the devil”.  He wants you to “stand against the wiles of the devil”.  That is what God wants.  That is what His will is.

You have a choice in this.  If you choose to not to “put on the whole armour of God”, you will not stand.  You will fall.  You will be defeated.  It is not God’s will for you to fall.  Don’t blame God.  He has given you everything you need to “resist” and “stand”.   You can sit on your couch like one of the three monkeys or you can stand. 

What will it be?

PS, Satan really can’t stand the truth.  That is why the first piece of God’s armour is TRUTH.

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. (Ephesians 6:14)

Binder

What is a binder?

-a detachable cover, resembling the cover of a notebook or book, with clasps or rings for holding loose papers together.

-a person who binds books.

-Insurance, an agreement by which property or liability coverage is granted pending issuance of a policy.

-Agriculture, an attachment to a harvester or reaper for binding the cut grain, a machine that cuts and binds grain.

-a person or thing that binds.

How many have seen a binding machine, not the one that binds books; but one that binds grain?  Unless you are older than 60 and raised on a farm, most of you have seen binder in action.  I have but only a few times.

What does this have to do with this blog?  You ask.  Well, if you call yourself a Christian, you a called to be a binder, a person that binds.

Matthew 16:19,

I will give unto thee (the church) the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Matthew 18:18-19

Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

Every day we must bind Satan, tie him up.  This is the responsibility of the church.  If you are a Christian, you are part of the church.

When is the last time you heard anyone in your church bind Satan and his demons.  Jesus did it by speaking the Word to Satan when He was tempted in the wilderness. 

You say, “we were never taught this”.  Well, it’s never too late to start.

Paul was the example for us.

Acts 16:16-18

as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us……….But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

Every day, when you are praying thank God that he has given you the authority over Satan and take that authority and bind Satan and his demons that he can not touch you, your family, your possessions, anything that you come in contact with.  You say, “but I’m talking to God”.  Trust me Satan is listening. 

God receives glory when you act on His Word! 

Be the BINDER God wants you to be!

True or False

I am going to digress a little today and ask you a True/False question.  This question is very critical and meaningful as to how you respond to what happens to you and around you.  The question is:

True or False:  God is all-powerful and causes everything that happens in the world.  Nothing happens without His willing it.

I would dare venture to say that many, if not most, Christians would quickly respond: “True”.  I am going to shock many by saying: “False”.  Let me explain.

God is all-powerful. TRUE.

BUT

God is also just and righteous and God created man and angels with a free will. 

From scripture, we learn that sometime in eternity past, 1/3 of the angels, lead by Lucifer, rebelled against God.  They fell.  The angels prior to the rebellion had a free will to choose between serving God or rebelling.  There is no scripture that would lead us to believe that the angels still have a free will.  The angels that rebelled are lost and the ones who did not rebel are no longer able to rebel.

Man was created with a free will also.  Man chose to disobey and fell.  God sent His Son to save mankind.  Man still has a free will to decide to either accept or reject God’s offer of salvation.

A  just and righteous God could not and can not overlook man’s sin.  Someone had to pay the price.  His Son did.  His Son paid the price for man but not the fallen angels.

NOW,  did God cause Man, or for that matter, Satan, to fall? 

NO!

Did God WILL man and/or Satan to fall? 

NO!

To follow up on the first question, I want to ask a follow-up question:  Does everything that happens the result of God WANTING it to happen? 

NO!

Did God want Job’s family killed.  Did God want Job to loose everything.  The answer to both questions is: NO!  Who killed Job’s family?  Who took everything from Job?  Satan!

Did God ever answer Job’s question as to why he had to suffer?  No!  God did not reveal the source of man’s suffering until in the New Testament though His Son.  Jesus revealed to us His Father and simultaneously revealed to us the inner workings of Satan. 

I started by saying that I was digressing; but, in reality, I was not.  In order to understand spiritual warfare and be successful, you must KNOW both your heavenly Father and Satan.  To many times God is blamed for events when in reality Satan is the cause. 

Many of you still are in shock and reject everything that I just said.  Let me offer one more thought.  Most everyone has prayed the Lord’s prayer.  What is the 4^th sentence of that prayer?

 “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

If everything that happens is God’s will, then this part of the Lord’s prayer is meaningless.   I do not believe that Jesus said anything meaningless.  Paul told the Romans:

“I make mention of you always in my prayers; Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.”

If everything that happens is what God wants, this is also another meaningless prayer.

Finally, to set your mind at ease, your heavenly Father KNOWS everything that happens to and around you.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. ³⁰But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”  Matthew 6:29-31

In closing, you and I have been given a job:

“Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:18-20

Are you up to the job?

Do You Want God To Be Your Co-pilot?

(I want to thank our Ft Myers Pastor, Dr Richard Powell for the planting the seeds of thought for today’s blog.)

“God Is My Co-pilot” was a 1945 movie based on the 1943 book by the same name, and written by Brig. Gen. Robert L. Scott.  Scott was a WW II fighter ace credited with 13-20 aerial victories flying a P-40 Warhawk over China.  Today, the saying is used to signify that God is flying with us.  At first glance, it sounds scriptural and spiritual to want God as you co-pilot.  BUT, when you really think about it, God does not want to be your or my co-pilot.  He wants to be THE pilot.  He wants to be in control of your life.  He wants to be THE Lord of your and my life.  We are not sitting in the cockpit with Him.  We are in the back of the plane.  There is room for only one pilot on His plane.

Matthew 16:24-26

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ²⁵For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. ²⁶For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Mark 8:34-38

“Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ³⁵For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. ³⁶For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? ³⁷Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Luke 9:23-26

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. ²⁴For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. ²⁵For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? ²⁶For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels”

John is the only gospel writer who does not record this proclamation by Jesus.  John however records a different proclamation, which says basically the same thing:

John 14:6

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

He is either Lord of your whole life or He is Lord of none of your life!