James River Church blog

Burning Zeal

2013-05-07T14:32:00.003-07:00

Luke 12:49-53 (NLT)

"I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against--or two in favor and three against. 'Father will be divided against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.'"

Jesus wants to set the world on fire with the burning zeal of His followers! Would Jesus endure the baptism of suffering on our behalf so He could have half-hearted, lukewarm followers? Absolutely not! Jesus likes it when His followers are so zealous and passionate for Him that it stirs up a reaction in others to the truth. He wants people to see His light so they have to respond. He does not want light and darkness to peacefully co-exist with each other. He wants light to be so bright and bold that it exposes darkness for what it is and repels it.

3 Reasons to Celebrate Jesus' Activities as a Judge

2012-08-31T10:19:00.001-07:00

1. Because a land without justice is a terrible place to live.

Ask someone who lives in a third world country where the justice system is corrupt and they will tell you that it is a terrible place to live. Those who are the most deceiving, the most violent, and the wealthiest thrive at the expense of everyone else in society. Corruption and injustice rule the day as evil men are allowed to pursue the fulfillment of their wicked and carnal lusts unchecked. As a result, the weak (usually women and children) and the poor are robbed, raped, abused, and taken advantage of without any hope of protection unless they too resort to wickedness as a means of self-preservation, adding to the downward spiral of society.

One of the fundamentals of good leadership is that you will always get more of whatever you reward and less of what you punish. Certainly, this principle applies to human behavior in society. The fact that Jesus is a judge guarantees that He will reward righteousness and punish wickedness without partiality, thereby promoting good behavior and discouraging bad behavior in society. His judgments comfort us because He insures that the vulnerable will be protected, the bad guys won’t get away with evil, all the wrong things will be made right, and the earth will be a glorious place to live forever!

2. Because Jesus’ character is consistent, pure, and incorruptible.

God doesn’t give us a moving target to aim at. His standards and expectations have always been the same since the beginning of time. Because of the consistency of His standards and His judgments we can always know what He likes, what He hates, what He rewards, what He punishes, and what He expects of us. Romans 2:6-11 states clearly that “God will ‘give to each person according to what he has done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.”

God’s impeccable integrity guarantees that He cannot be bribed, manipulated, or intimidated. Therefore we can always know for certain where we stand with God. He leaves no room for confusion. If we follow His ways we will be blessed. Conversely, if we don’t follow His ways we will be cursed, which alerts us of our need to repent of our ways and ask Him for mercy.

3. Because Jesus is a merciful judge.

Not only is Jesus a just Judge who punishes sin, but He is also a merciful Savior who delights in forgiving rebellion, showing kindness, and lavishing good things upon us that we don’t deserve. In Ezekiel 18:23 God says, “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their wicked ways and live?” While it is true that the wages of sin is death, it is equally true that God’s preference is to show mercy, and He passionately works toward this end.

God’s intense hatred for sin and love for the sinner is seen through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. On the cross, the sinless Son of God willfully bore the sins of the world and was therefore crushed by the wrath of God, thereby making a way for us to be pardoned from our death sentence and liberated from sin’s dominating power over us. Jesus bore the wrath of God that we deserved for our sinful life so that we could inherit the blessing He deserved for His righteous life. It’s the ultimate trade that has nothing to do with our worthiness and everything to do with God’s mercy! The merciful heart of God motivates Him to go to such extreme measures to show us kindness because He is “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9).

But doesn’t the message of the cross also tell us that God is just, that He will condemn sin, even when He sees it on His beloved Son. I find it interesting that the same Lamb of God who bore God’s wrath for us is the Lion of God who dispenses God’s wrath upon us if we do not repent. The message of the Gospel is to flee from the wrath of God by leaving our rebellion, running to Jesus, and receiving God’s mercy by faith. Those who receive God’s offer of mercy will be saved while those who refuse to repent of their rebellion will still bear the full measure of God’s wrath for their sin because He is a just judge.

Another aspect of God’s mercy as a judge is seen when He uses judgments to break through hardened hearts. Often, Jesus’ judgments are themselves acts of mercy. When we are stubborn and unresponsive to God, He can release these disciplinary judgments to get our attention and provoke us to repent while there is still time to do so. In His kindness, God will often do this as a last ditch effort to help us avoid a worse and more permanent punishment.

A great example of this type of judgment is seen in Daniel 4 when God humbles a very arrogant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon by driving him away from people, making him eat grass like cattle, and drenching his body with the dew of heaven until his hair grew out like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. This judgment lasted seven years until finally, at the end of the seven years, Nebuchadnezzar learned the lesson and his sanity was restored to him. Nebuchadnezzar writes in his own words the redemptive transformation this judgment produced in his life: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.” (Daniel 4:37 NKJV).

All Jesus’ judgments are redemptive and purposeful, never harsh, undeserved, or excessive. Jesus’ judgments can be very intense, yet He “always uses the least severe means possible to reach the greatest number of people at the deepest level of love without violating anyone’s free will in training the rulers of the earth.” (Mike Bickle, The Omega Course Manual, p. 31). His judgments are wise and thought through well, never rash and unpredictable. Even when we deserve judgment, God often patiently holds back the punishment we deserve, working to help us see the error of our ways in the hope that we will repent, turn from our wicked ways, and live! Knowing that Jesus is a merciful judge gives us confidence to approach him when we sin and receive help to overcome our sin rather than condemnation because His preference is to give mercy. In my next blog we will examine two more reasons to celebrate Jesus as a Judge.

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV).

Heaven Applauds Jesus for His Judgments

2012-08-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

The last book of the Bible is titled The Revelation of Jesus Christ, yet it is filled with vivid descriptions of twenty-one devastating judgments that Jesus dispenses upon the inhabitants of the earth in rebellion against His leadership at the end of the age. Revelation 18 describes God’s final judgment and destruction of the most wicked city in human history, called Babylon:

" 'Woe! Woe, O great city…In one hour she has been brought to ruin! Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.' " Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: "With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth." (Revelation 18:19-24 Emphasis added)

The musicians, workman, and merchants in this city that will never be heard from again are real people that God kills. They have parents and children and spouses who care about them. The buildings, businesses, and infrastructure that God decimates in this city was the work of human hands and ingenuity, the most luxurious and creative city in all of history. Yet in one hour, God utterly destroys it along with its inhabitants. Why? Because this was also the most wicked city and people in history. The architects of the city built it to glorify Satan and exalt themselves. The whole city was built as a mocking, defiant slap in the face of God and His people, much like the Tower of Babel was built in Genesis 11. The musicians played music that exalted Satan and promoted wickedness; the businesses made their wealth at the expense of oppressing the weak and the poor; and the city was the most bloodthirsty city in history, mercilessly hunting down, torturing, and killing Christian families, Jews, and others.

The enormous number of innocent Christ-followers killed in this city were also real people with children, parents, spouses, and friends who loved them. The city of Babylon did not repent of their wickedness, so God paid them back what they had given to others because He is a just judge.

Rather than being apologetic about His judgment, God calls His people to rejoice and celebrate the fact that He finally avenged their blood by destroying Babylon: “Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you." (Revelation 18:20). And all the inhabitants of Heaven obeyed, throwing a party, getting exceedingly happy, and intensely praising God for destroying the city. Revelation 19 records the celebration:

After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants."

And again they shouted: "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever."

The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: "Amen, Hallelujah!" (Revelation 19:1-4 Emphasis added)

As ambassadors of Christ we are called to be merciful and contend through prayer and the preaching of the Gospel for evil people to be saved, even those who persecute and mistreat us. However, this does not mean that we should deny, apologize for, or shrink back from God’s activity as a Judge. On the contrary, the certainty of coming judgment for evil deeds should comfort us when we are mistreated as well as motivate us to warn our persecutors to repent of their rebellion so their sins can be forgiven. In my next blog we will examine five reasons to celebrate Jesus’ activities as a Judge.

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV).

Jesus is Altogether Lovely!

2012-08-07T11:23:00.001-07:00

Imagine with me that you were a loving husband, an amazing father, and a very good judge by profession. As a husband and father, you diligently serve your family with excellence, lavishing love and affection while imparting wisdom and providing security and protection. As a judge, you made your community a safe and enjoyable place to live for everybody because you did not let the guilty go unpunished and enforced the laws of the land without partiality, thereby discouraging criminal activity in your city. Organized crime could not take root in your town because your incorruptible character ensured that you could never be bribed. Instead of being calloused and hard, you were compassionate and caring, seeking to show mercy when appropriate in the hope that criminals could be reformed into good citizens. Because God had anointed you with perfect wisdom to excel in this critical position you always knew the right thing to do and when to do it. Rather than being stumped by the complexity of the various cases you oversaw, you always knew when to show mercy and when to give none. In addition to flawlessly enforcing the laws of the land, you also perfectly adhered to every one of them, being the perfect role model for everybody in society.

Now pretend that you were shopping in the store one day and happened to overhear your wife around the corner speaking to an acquaintance. After a moment you realize that the subject of their conversation is you and your performance as a judge. Unaware that you were listening, your wife listens to the other woman second-guessing and complaining about various decisions you had made. You think, Oh good. Set the record straight honey. You know me better than anybody. Tell her how good I am and about all the blessings this community enjoys because of my judgments.

But instead of honoring you, your wife sheepishly apologizes for you saying, “I’m so sorry that my husband did that. He is generally a good person, but he’s not perfect. He should not have made those decisions you were telling me about.” Incredulously, you watch as the two women part ways and go on with their shopping, both agreeing that your performance as a judge was not anything to be celebrated, but rather something they had to tolerate and endure.

How would it make you feel if, in spite of the excellence with which you did your job and the many benefits it brought to your community, your wife was ashamed of the fact that you were a judge? What if your wife loved your companionship, heralded your excellent fathering, thought of you as a generally good man, but was embarrassed by the fact that her husband sentenced criminals to prison and even to the death penalty when warranted? Wouldn’t you want your wife to be proud of all that you are as a husband, father, friend, and even as a judge? So how does Jesus feel when His loved ones are embarrassed by His activities as a Judge?

In Song of Solomon 5:10-16, an incredible conversation takes place between the bride of Christ and some other women. The conversation gets interesting when the women ask Jesus’ bride, “How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women?” (Song of Solomon 5:9). Little did these ladies realize that this question would uncork the mother lode of passion and adoration that Jesus’ bride feels for Him. His bride immediately responds by gushing on and on about all the attributes that make Jesus so glorious. After describing more than twenty attributes that she loves about Him, she finally concludes by saying, “Yes, He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!” (Song of Solomon 5:16 NKJV Emphasis added).

How do you think Jesus felt after overhearing that conversation? Song of Songs 6:4-5 records Jesus’ response to His Bride’s affirmation of all that is glorious about Him: “You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners. Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me.”

Jesus has no dark side. Every aspect of His nature, His mercy and His justice, is glorious and worthy of celebration. His wrath is not an aberration from His love; it is a natural expression of it. When Jesus overhears us talking about Him, may He hear us gushing over Him with affection, adoration, and admiration: “Yes, Jesus is altogether lovely! He is my friend and I am proud of who He is and I am proud to be His. Every aspect of His nature, His character, His personality, and His leadership are beautiful and lovely, even His judgments and His wrath.”

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV).

What Makes God Glorious?

2012-07-31T11:05:00.002-07:00

One of the greatest God-encounters of all time is recorded in Exodus 33 and 34. Moses, the man of God who had already experienced many amazing encounters with God, had just finished hearing God tell him that He was pleased with him when he decided to take advantage of the moment and ask God for something unprecedented: “Now show me Your glory.” (Exodus 33:18). In essence Moses was asking God, “Show me what makes you so glorious! I want to see what it is that makes you so awesome.” Without hesitating God responds, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Exodus 33:19). The Lord proceeds to give Moses specific instructions on how to prepare himself for seeing the awesomeness of God and concludes by saying, “Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain.” (Exodus 34:2).

I imagine Moses must not have slept well that night in anticipation of his looming revelation of God’s glory. Even though he was the most experienced person alive when it came to close encounters with God, his emotions must have danced back and forth all night long between excitement and terror. Morning came and Moses followed God’s instructions carefully presenting himself to God on the mountain. Then it happened…

The Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:4-7)

When asked to explain what is glorious about Himself, God revealed two aspects of His nature: He is merciful and He is just. As lovers of God, we love to boast of His mercy. We joyfully parade God’s goodness for the entire world to see declaring, “God is love! He is compassionate and gracious, longing to bestow mercy and help us in our need. He is not harsh and impatient. On the contrary, He is slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. He is so good at loving people that He is able to maintain passionate love to thousands, even billions, all at the same time. He forgives wickedness, rebellion, and every type of sin. This is our God—love Him!”

But there is another aspect of God’s nature that is equally glorious and worthy to be celebrated, it is His justice and His wrath. When is the last time you praised God for His wrath? Have you ever taken time to meditate on God’s justice and exult Him out of a heart overflowing with adoration, “Jesus, I love that You are just. Thank you for not leaving the guilty unpunished. Thank you for releasing judgments that uphold your righteous standards and restrain the advance of wickedness and perversion in society. I love Who You are. You do all things well!”

Why is it that some in the body of Christ complain that God is too merciful? They endure mistreatment, mourn over injustice, and wonder why God doesn’t act and judge sin to vindicate them and make the wrong things right. At the same time, others in the church rejoice in His loving kindness, but are ashamed of His judgments. Instead of agreeing with God that His justice is glorious, they get embarrassed when God judges sin and try to change the subject when it comes up because they think God’s judgments make Him look bad.

I think that we need to respond to all of who God is the same way Moses did. After seeing these two aspects of God’s nature, “Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshiped.” (Exodus 34:8). Worship is the only appropriate response when God entrusts us with a revelation of Himself. Rather than re-defining God to make Him more palatable and easier to accept, we must humble ourselves before Him and passionately worship Him for who He is. The Bible says that the mature Bride of Christ will one day passionately declare that Jesus is Altogether Lovely! In my next blog we will discover why.

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV).

Coming to Grips with Jesus the Judge

2012-07-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

When I think about my future as a Christian living in the United States of America I feel a mixture of excitement and soberness. I feel excited because the church in America is about to rapidly mature and become much more fruitful. I feel sober-minded because we are also going to suffer for our devotion to Christ and I sense that we are largely unprepared for both the shaking and the glory that we are about to experience. As a wise and loving Father, God is committed to preparing His children for the radical changes that lie ahead. For those of us who are willing to receive it, God will equip us to not only survive, but to thrive in the coming days!

One of the most important ways we can prepare ourselves to thrive in the coming shaking is to come to grips with the fact that the Bible portrays Jesus as both a loving Savior and a terrifying Judge. We need a biblical understanding of the glory of Jesus in His role as a Judge because His judgments against sin and rebellion cause pain, suffering, and even death to real human beings. Understanding the purpose and wisdom behind His judgments will help us overcome the temptation to be offended with God and equip us to faithfully represent Him as His prophetic messengers.

How do you respond when questioned about Jesus’ activities as a Judge?

If you had been a member in good standing of the church in Jerusalem during the time period recorded in the book of Acts, what would you have said if an unbeliever had asked you, “How could a loving God kill two members of His own church?” (See Acts 5:1-11). Or suppose, after Herod’s death, an angry Roman citizen questioned you, “How could your loving God kill a government leader for his pride? I thought your Jesus was a Savior who wanted to save sinners, not kill them?” (See Acts 12:19-23). What if you had been a Christian in the church in Paphos in Acts 13 and a member of the press (just pretend they had news media back then) wanted to interview you? Excitedly, you agree to the interview thinking this was your opportunity to glorify Jesus so the masses would hear the good news about Christ. Then the interviewer asks you, “If your Jesus is so loving and good, why did He purposely cause our government leader’s trusted adviser to go blind?” (See Acts 13:6-12). Of course, these judgments pale in comparison to the final judgment when Jesus permanently condemns real people to the Lake of Fire for their rebellion. As a Christian you have likely already been asked, “How could a loving God condemn people to eternal torment in Hell?”

How do you respond when you find yourself in these types of situations being questioned about the relationship between God’s good nature and His terrifying judgments? Is your knee-jerk response to avoid the issue saying, “Jesus is a good God. He would never do those things. Satan is the one who steals, kills, and destroys—not Jesus.”? Would you secretly be thinking, Come on Jesus—why do you do stuff like that? Don’t you know that you are making my job of proclaiming your goodness difficult? How do you expect people to like you when you do that?

Some make a strong distinction between God’s activity in the Old Testament and His activity in the New Testament. This line of thinking believes that the Old Testament portrays God as a God of wrath and judgment while the New Testament reveals this same God as a God of love and mercy. The problem with this interpretation of Scripture is that both testaments reveal the same God and He does not change. God is not schizophrenic. He doesn’t turn off one part of His nature in order to turn on another aspect of His nature. In Malachi 3:6 God Himself says, “I the Lord do not change.” The New Testament confirms the consistency of God’s nature saying, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). Renowned Bible teacher Derek Prince sums this issue up well, writing “the two testaments are consistent with each other. Each depicts God as being, at one and the same time, a God of mercy and of judgment.” (Blessing or Curse: You Can Choose p. 39).

My perception is that, presently, much of the body of Christ in America doesn’t know how to reconcile the fact that Jesus is both a merciful Savior as well as a just Judge. We have a harmful tendency of neglecting one aspect of His nature to promote another aspect of it rather than wrestling through the apparent contradictions and coming to a more complete understanding, and appreciation, of who God really is. Jesus’ judgments don’t contradict His loving nature; they are a natural expression of it. We need grace to rightly divide the Word of truth so that we are able to perceive how God’s love and wrath actually complement each other rather than conflict with each other. In my upcoming blogs we will examine the Scriptures to learn why we should not only tolerate, but celebrate Jesus and His judgments.

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV).

Why Does God Work Miracles Among Us?

2011-09-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

Galatians 3:5 (Amplified Bible)

Then does He Who supplies you with His marvelous [Holy] Spirit and works powerfully and miraculously among you do so on [the grounds of your doing] what the Law demands, or because of your believing in and adhering to and trusting in and relying on the message that you heard?

          I love the Scripture quoted above! I can feel the excitement in Paul's voice as He is writing to this church in Galatia. He is affirming to them that they are indeed experiencing the blessings of the normal Christian life. They are experiencing the manifest Presence of the Holy Spirit regularly. They are seeing God perform powerful miracles on a regular basis. This is the normal Christian life! In our church we regularly experience God's Presence and see God perform miracles when we meet together and in our personal lives. It is a rare occasion when we gather together and do not feel the tangible Presence of the Holy Spirit. For the last 3 or 4 Sundays we have seen people healed every week. But why? Why does God draw near to us and work miracles among us? This is the important question that Paul is asking the church in Galatia.  Does God do these things in our midst because we have earned it by our stellar obedience and impressive hours of prayer and self-denial? Does God do these things because we earn it or simply because He likes us and it is in His heart to do it. The answer is the latter. God enjoys dwelling among us and likes working miracles in our midst and we believe this to be true about Him. And because we believe we therefore get to experience what He has been eager to do all along.

          Isn't that the Gospel message? Jesus comes to us and offers us forgiveness, entrance into His Kingdom, and adoption into His family. We don't deserve it, but we say "yes" to His invitation because we believe He means it. Therefore we receive the Holy Spirit and enter into the life of His Kingdom, which is by definition a supernatural lifestyle. We receive the Kingdom like children receiving a gift at Christmas. Yet, after a while we sometimes start to think that we must do certain things to qualify for God working miracles in our lives. We mistakenly move from living as a favored son of God to begging as a servant. A servant only has faith to receive gifts from His master if he performs well. A son has faith to receive from His Father because He already has favor and is an heir to the Father's resources. God does not supply us with His Spirit and work miracles among us in proportion to how well we pray, fast, deny ourselves, obey, etc. God does these things among us because He enjoys fellowshipping with us and He likes to work miracles in our midst. It is part of our inheritance as sons of God. That is why it is part of the normal Christian life. We never earn anything from God by our performance. Rather, we simply receive His favor as a gift and therefore have access to His blessings.

          So then, why do we pray? Why do we give, fast, read the Bible, pray for the sick, etc.? Because we know He likes to bless us so we position ourselves to experience these blessings, not earn them. For example we know that He likes to speak to us and manifest His Presence to us (not because we earn it, but because it is His desire), so we pray, read the Bible, worship, and fast. We know He is speaking so we tune out distractions and incline our ears to hear what He is saying. Another example...we know & believe that He likes to heal people (not because we earn it but because it is His nature and His desire), so we pray for the sick. We know He wants to heal people so we look for sick people to pray for. We don't pray to get Him to speak. He is speaking so we pray to tune in to what He is saying. We don't fast & pray to get the Holy Spirit to manifest. The Holy Spirit is manifesting so we pray and fast to make ourselves sensitive to Him. We don't obey God to get God to forgive us. God forgives us, so we obey to experience the intimacy that His forgiveness provides us. We don't pray to get God to work miracles. God is working miracles so we pray for people and situations that need miraculous intervention.

          Through your faith in Christ, you have been adopted as a royal child of God. As a result, you have access to the Father's resources, which includes all Spiritual, physical, financial, emotional, & relational blessings. You are invited today to come before Your Father in Heaven and simply enjoy His favor. It is His heart's desire to let you enjoy His Presence and work miracles in your life. Simply come, ask, & receive like a little child. Jesus already paid for it. You just have to receive and steward it well!