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Tuesday, April 5, 2016

It's What Jesus Did



It’s What Jesus Did 

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Ephesians Chapter 2 


4. But God, who is rich in mercy, 
for his great love wherewith he loved us,
 5.Even when we were dead in sins, 
hath quickened us together with Christ, 
(by grace ye are saved;) 
6.And hath raised us up together, 
and made us sit together in heavenly places
 in Christ Jesus: 
7.That in the ages to come 
he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace
 in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 
8. For by grace are ye saved through faith;
 and that not of yourselves: 
it is the gift of God: 
9.Not of works, lest any man should boast. 
10. For we are his workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, 
which God hath before ordained 
that we should walk in them. 


     I am writing today to help those of you who are bound in religion to find the freedom that is in Jesus. So many people are being condemned by religion and the mean spirited preaching that comes out of many pulpits. I want you to know that I am praying for you and hoping you will read the truth in the scriptures I posted above.

     Herein lies the problem: With religion it's always about what we must do to please God. That's not the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The true gospel is about what Jesus already did for us. That's right, if you read the bible you know that as Jesus was hanging on that cross he said “It’s finished!" so why are we still trying to finish it?

     So let's start mining the truth from the scriptures we just read. First of all it starts with mercy. Who was the mercy towards? Not just us. The mercy was towards God's love for us. He loves us so much that He had mercy on his own love. His love is so great that He had to come up with a way to save us because He loved us too much to lose us.

     Second point: when did He love us? That's right you saw it didn't you? He loved us while we were dead in our sins and trespasses. Love overcomes sin and death and it always will. There is no death great enough to overcome God's love for us.

     Third: So what did He do about it? He quickened us which means He infused His everlasting life into us so that we could never be separated from Him again. Notice it didn't say He would save us but that He already saved us and made us to sit with Him in heavenly places in Christ. He joined us to Christ so we could be one with Him. He already placed us into Christ so that we could be secure.

     This is already done. When you are born again your spirit becomes a new creature. I think that's where the confusion comes from in those who are religious. They can’t separate the  eternal part of us from the temporary part of us. They don't realize that we are a three part being.

     Once we are born again our Spirit is one with Christ and is secure. It has already been perfected. Our soul, which is made up of our mind and our will and our thought processes, is being renewed day by day as we behold the truth that is in Christ. It doesn't get renewed by works of our own but by beholding the truth of what He already did for us. The more we see who we truly are in Christ the more the outer part of us becomes like the inner nature that we received when we were born of His Spirit.

     Our bodies are the third part of us and are not capable of going to heaven in their current state, that's why they must be changed. Sin does not dwell in our spirit but in our soul and body. So while our spirit is already alive in God our bodies are still in death. Our spirits are like the treasure hidden in earthly vessels that the bible talks about. Our spirit and God's spirit are already one but this new God/man Spirit is alive in our dead bodies. Just like a seed is planted in the ground. This was God's plan.

     By letting God's light and love come from our spirit into our mind we are changed into the being of love that He is. The Lord revealed it to me this way. One day after working in the mud all day my truck was completely filthy. I said “that truck is awful.” The Lord spoke to me and said, “Will talking about how dirty it is clean it up? Then I realized that a dirty truck can't wash itself. It needs water from another source. It needs washing and cleaning.

     We are the same way. Our spirits are sealed deep inside of us so they stay clean. Our souls, minds and bodies are the outer part. They need washing continually. They need a source of pure water to wash and clean them from the dirt of the world. That source is the Word and the Spirit of God. We can’t become clean by condemning the dirt. We can only become clean by staying in the water.

     I feel compassion on the children of God who sit in churches that condemn them for having a dirty face and never give them soap and water to clean with. It's an endless cycle and one I hope you will help me break. It’s time to look at who we are inside in Christ and be changed into His image. 

     We can’t get people clean by telling them how dirty they are. We need to tell them how the blood of Jesus washed away their guilt and dirt and how that by reading His word and listening to His voice will clean up their lives. Jesus told his disciples in John chapter fifteen verse three that they were clean through the word that He spoke unto them. His voice prunes us and cleans us.

     Next point: Why did God do all these wonderful things for us? Verse seven of our text tells us why.

     That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
God wants to spend eternity just showing us how good and kind He is. Love is not what He does. It's who He is. His riches and kindness will be with us for all eternity but the problem is that people don't understand that they are already ours. His riches and kindness toward us started before we were ever born again. He isn't kind to us because we are His children. We are His children because He was and is kind to us. Your eternity already started. Don't wait until you get to  heaven to start knowing how good God is.

     What did we ever do to deserve this? Oh that's easy. We did absolutely nothing. What does verses eight through ten say?

8.For by grace are ye saved through faith; 
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 
9.Not of works, lest any man should boast. 
10. For we are his workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, 
which God hath before ordained 
that we should walk in them. 

     It's all by faith. Faith in what He did and absolutely no faith in anything I could have done to earn it. It was God's free gift. Free means free, Free means free, free means free, free means free... Not of works. Do you see in verse ten how that we aren't doing the work but we are the work? He created us in Christ to bear fruit of salvation. This was ordained by Him before the world began. We don't work to get saved; we work because we are saved.

     So what do we do now, you may ask? Look unto all the works that He did. Accept them with thanksgiving and praise. Getting saved was not your plan it was His. Get over it. The bible says we are the righteousness of God in Christ. We already are. Get over that too. Righteous is not what you do, it's who you are in Him. It's a free gift also. We don't become righteous by doing works we become righteous by having faith in what He already did.

     Now this might get serious to some of you but I have to tell you this because I love you. If you are in a church that is constantly telling you how bad you are and how much God hates you when you sin then get out now! I don't care how long you have been there or how much you are invested. If you are not being built up into who you are in Christ then you are wasting your time.

     The purpose of the church is to train people to go into the world and preach the gospel but you can never grow into your calling if you are not getting the light of God and the water of the true word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit that you need to grow. If all you are being fed is darkness then that's what you will become. There are many churches that will love you and help you to grow into what God wants you to be. He doesn't want you beat down and depressed and hopeless. That won't do one bit of good for His kingdom.  

     It's time that we let the love of God shine in our lives and stop all the condemnation. I want you to know that Jesus loves you with all His heart and He wants you to know His love and His eternal goodness. Don't sit under condemnation but find a place in His love and grow. You are His delight and the love of His life.

     If you are born again you have already been seated with Him in heavenly places. He thinks so much more of you than what you are hearing from those fire-breathing preachers who make you feel like a worm. I know, I've sat in those pews and understand how you feel. It's time for a new day; A day in His glory and His light.

     I will leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians chapter five verse one.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty 
wherewith Christ hath made us free, 
and be not entangled again 
with the yoke of bondage. 


     I hope you are encouraged by these words.

Until next time,

Grow rich in His Grace,

I love you ALL,



michael

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