How To Avoid 40 Years In The Desert

The key to changing your outcome for the year is hidden within a story from the Bible

You don't need to be a religious person for this story to help you – you may think of it as an illustration of the power of our thoughts to infuence the course of our lives. Here's the story…

In the Book of Exodus, God miraculously freed the nation of Israel from slavery to the Egyptians. He then promised them a land “flowing with milk and honey”. But Israel had developed a poverty mindset from all those years of slavery. The didn't have enough faith to take the promised land from the people already living there … even though God himself promised He would subdue those people.

So when Moses sent spies into the land to scout it out, it should've been no surpise. Most of the spies said the land was full of mighty, fearsome warriors. “These are giants,” they said. “We are like grasshoppers compared to these beasts.”

Only two men (Joshua and Caleb) in all Israel had the faith to believe God would do what He said he would … but that wasn't enough to provide Israel with the faith needed to receive the promise. Thus…

Days Turned Into Decades

The Hebrews spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness before they finally did take the Promised Land. While they were in the desert, God gave them miraculuous provision: manna from heaven for food, and water from a rock. We often talk of these miracles as modern believers, and give credit to God for miraculous, “last minute” provision. That is as it should be, But I don't think that is the main lesson of this story. So what is the main lesson?

God hasn't promised us the “just enough”. His present-day will for us is not last-minute, enough-for-the-day, wilderness rations … he wants us to receive abunant gift of the “land flowing with milk and honey.”

That's what He wanted for Israel then. It's what He wants for us today (see John [10:10]).

Remember, God's original plan for Israel was to take their Promised Land in days, not decades.

It took Israel 40 years to be ready. If you have faith, I believe you can move mountains (even those achieving this year's goals) in just 40 days.

Think of the next 40 days as your wilderness. The wilderness is not bad, but neither is it your final destination.

Don't be anxious or worried about how you'll make it in the meantime. God provided astonishing resources to meet Israel's needs in the desert. Rest assured your needs are not a worry.

Now imagine that with faith, and perserverence, you can “take the land” that God has promised  you. Your wilderness experinece does not have to last 40 years. Or 40 weeks. Or even 40 days.

Here's the bridge…

The 3 Be-Attitudes That Stoke The Fires of Faith

1. You must be-lieve. Jesus said, “All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark [9:23])
2. You must be-come the kind of person who has the thing you want. You must become the kind of person who can withstand the answer to your prayers. is what causes lottery winners to inevitably lose all their newfound wealth within a year or two of hitting the jackpot.
3. You must be-have like that person, especially when it counts the most. That means: when it's hard.  Joshua and Caleb saw the same giants in the land as the other spies. I think they were both afraid. But how they behaved was demonstrated in their report. As the crowd murmured about their fears, Caleb silenced the voices of fear by saying: “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”

You can march directly up to the border of the Promised Land, cross over, and recieve the blessings of your dreams fufilled. You can still meet your goals. Just don't give up.

And like Caleb and Joshua, while everyone else is saying “Not now, we're not ready, we're afraid”, you say instead, “I am well able, because God is with me.”

What sort of miracle must happen for you to complete the goals you set for 2015? What must you believe, become, and how must you behave in order to receive your “Promised Land?”

We spend our lives trying to “get things done”, thinking that will make us happy/fulfilled/significant/complete. (Or maybe it's just me that suffers from this illusion. I don't mean to presume.)

I would like to propose that “getting things done” is not the ultimate purpose of our lives…

This morning as I was reading the new edition David Allen's book, Getting Things Done, I was struck by the thought that the things I struggle with today are, at their core, the very same things I struggled with 20 years ago — and also the same things that everyone else struggles with (or so it seems to me). This, I believe, explains the enduring popularity of this book.

But what is it I am really struggling with (or for)?

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”
– Psalm 23:1

For me, this contending with the “very same things” boils down to: what I want to do, what I do not want to do, and whether I have the discipline to transmute those wants into actions. This has not changed for me, despite the apparent absolute difference in my external circumstances (I am 20 years older, have an adult son, don't have a job but rather own a business, etc.)

Once our basic needs (food, shelter, safety) are met, we encounter the desire for purpose (meaning) and presence (having our awareness focused on the here and now) .

Getting the right “things” done, at the right time, in the right order, with the right amounts of tension and relaxation, is the dance of life. I'm at my best when I remember the purpose of life is not the “things”, but rather the dance.

I'm not “getting things done” in order to have enough or be enough; I'm doing things because I have enough, and I am enough.

As the Psalmist writes, “I lack nothing.”

And because I lack nothing, there is no struggle.

What would I do today if I believed “I lack nothing”? What about you?

Or, you can receive the point I was trying to make just by reading the two paragraphs below.

A legitimate question to ask is, “If Jesus is now Lord of the world, why is it still filled with evil, wickedness, pain, and chaos?”

The answer: Jesus, the ruler of the world, has chosen to rule in and through his people. For this reason, the Scriptures call us “kings and priests” on the earth. Or as Peter put it, “a royal priesthood”, bringing us back to God's original plan for human beings.

Jesus: A Theography, by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, pp. 159

Merriam-Webster defines the word “gospel” as follows:

a: the message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation. b: one of the first four New Testament books telling of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There are only four official Gospels – books recognized as part of the canon of Scripture (the Bible). They are all written by men.

But what if there were five other gospels? Five other tellings of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ? What if they were each written by a woman whose life was personally impacted by Jesus? What if they each encountered Him and even took on a significant role in the story of His ministry? What if they were five of the most prominent women who appear in the canonical four Gospels?

Now, hold on, villagers, put down those pitchforks and torches. I'm not going all “Dan Brown” on you. I'm not suggesting there are any “hidden” or “lost books” that need to be added to the Bible.

Nor am I about to tell you the whole of Christendom is about to come tumbling down because of some new and shocking historical revelation.

I am, however, going to recommend you read a book that is written from the viewpoint of five women who do appear in the canonical  Gospels. This book does not contradict any doctrine of the Faith, and does not introduce any new doctrines, either. It does not purport to be ancient, but is written for modern Christians, by modern Christians.

Yet this book could bring you the gift of hearing the heart of the gospel fresh, as if you're hearing it for the very first time.

This Is An Unusual Post For Me

I read a lot of books, and I recommend a lot of books to friends. I believe, like my friend Jeff Brown of the Read to Lead Podcast, that “leaders are readers, and readers become leaders”.

Even though I read many books each year (I have a goal of reading 52 books this year, and as of this writing, mid-April 2015, I have already completed 23 books), there are few for which I post a review on this blog.

The books for which I write an individual are most often books that (a) have had a deep personal impact upon me, and (b) books I believe have lasting, timeless, and universal value.

The Day I Met Jesus, written by respected Christian authors Frank Viola and Mary DeMuth, is such a book as this. I've already published an interview with the two of them about the book. You can read that interview here.

This is post is my personal review.

The Day I Met Jesus is an entertaining narrative that reads like a great novel, full of characters, action, and intrigue. The book tells the stories of five women, from their own viewpoint, who each had a remarkable encounter with Jesus Christ. Each encounter was so remarkable that the stories came to be part of the sacred canon of scripture.

Seven Reasons Why You Should Read This Book

This is the first book in a long time that caused me to weep. I don't mean I got “misty-eyed”, or merely “choked up”. I mean tears flowed down my face as I was confronted with the inexplicable Grace of my Savior. Here are seven reasons I think you should read The Day I Met Jesus.

1. The book is theologically sound and narratively compelling. While Frank is a wonderful storyteller, and Mary is well-grounded in Biblical theology, each of them specializes in the opposite discipline. Thus, Frank gives a firm theological framework to Mary's masterful ability to breathe life into characters and situations. The result: we can enjoy a compelling story while resting easy in the knowledge it doesn't wander off into a fanciful heresey.
2. You'll hear the gospel again as if for the first time. For most modern Christians, we've been so well-versed in the “Easter Story” and the “Four Spiritual Laws” that we've forgotten the astonishing flood of relief and comfort we felt when we first heard the story of Jesus and His love for us. Because the authors freely use “sanctified imagination” to fill in parts of the story that are in alignment with the Sacred Text, the familiar stories take on fresh new life. We get to see the events of the Bible unfold from the viewpoints of the women who were there.
3. You'll develop some deep “graduate level” insight into Scripture, but it will seem like you're just reading a great book. Facts and details about the history and culture, scholarly research that pieces together the threads of narratives to shed new light on connections between people, places, and events… these are seamlessly woven into the story. You will learn as you enjoy the narrative and benefit from centuries of Biblical scholarship, without even being aware of it. Reading Scripture through the lens of historical context, cultural norms, and prophetic eschatology was once the province of the privileged few who studied such things as a vocation. Now you can enjoy the privilege as well.
4. Each story is accompanied by the corresponding Sacred Text. If you're like me, even if you trust the authors not to take away from or add to the Scripture, you feel more at ease when you check the actual biblical texts. You want to see the authoritative source from which the story you're reading is drawn. To that end, Frank and Mary have included all the relevant Scriptures (the actual Biblical narrative of the stories we are reading), along with Scripture references to back up any theological conclusions they have assumed. If you're one who likes to “check the work” of the authors, as am I, you will appreciate this feature.
5. Each of the five stories is accompanied by a brief section called “Walking It Out”. The “Walking It Out” sections help take the timeless spiritual principles of the ancient stories and translate them into practical applications for us, in our present day and time. It's not enough to know what the events meant to those who lived them in the past – we also need to know how to apply what we've learned to our own lives.
6. The book is perfect for small group or home church discussion. Each of the stories also include a “Talking It Over” section. This section will be especially helpful for those who wish to help their small group members or church congregation navigate the book, and stir up fruitful discussion.
7. The book established the proper view of women in the Kingdom of God. From the beginning, God established men and women as co-laborers, equals, and helpers to one another. “Male and female” represent the full nature of God. Yet somehow, through the centuries, men perverted the words of God and used them to suppress and oppress women. Though this is changing today, it is a challenge that is far from being perfectly solved. As Bill Johnson has so eloquently observed, “Jesus is perfect theology.” Read this book, and see how Jesus values women in the Kingdom:

• Jesus accepted women as his disciples and treated them with such high esteem that it was a scandal to the religious professionals of his day.
• The Lord saw to it that it was women who accompanied Him to the cross, who cared for his body after His death, and who laid him to rest in the tomb.
• It was women who first witnessed His resurrection.
• Women were his first evangelists.
• It was a woman who was honored with the proclamation: “The story of what she has done will be told throughout the whole world, wherever the Good News is preached.” (Matthew [26:13] NLT)
• And of course, the Creator of the Universe chose to enter this world through the womb of a woman.

Because he was sensitive to the importance of telling these stories from the viewpoint of the women in the stories, Frank knew he needed a female co-author. That's why he sought out one of the best female Christian authors of our time, Mary DeMuth, to co-labor with him in the creation of this book. Together, they have created a wonderful work.

The Day I Met Jesus is written with elegance, adheres steadfastly to the best Biblical scholarship, and is uniquely stirring. I don't think I overstep in saying this is an anointed work that will impart wisdom, revelation, and grace to all who read it. I recommend you make it the next book on your reading list.

~ Ray Edwards

Why did you write this book?

Frank: Back in 2007, I got an idea to create a new genre of Christian literature. I call that genre “biblical narrative.”

The new genre would contain autobiographical fiction closely based on the Scriptural narratives and faithful to first-century history. It would also contain a nonfiction section that practically applies the narratives to our lives. Finally, it would include a discussion guide so that readers could better digest and apply the content.

God's Favorite Place on Earth (2013) was my first book in this genre. In it, Lazarus tells the story of when Jesus came to His hometown Bethany and all the amazing things that took place there.

The Day I Met Jesus (2015) is the second book in this genre. I wanted it to tell the story of five women whom Jesus encountered, allowing each woman tell their own story. I also wanted to draw out practical lessons and critical insights from each narrative.

Because I'm not a woman, I couldn't do justice to the stories on my own, so I asked the top female Christian fiction writer of our time — Mary DeMuth — to coauthor it with me.

Mary: I wrote it because I love stories, and I felt that some of these encounters with Jesus didn't get the air time they deserved. By doing careful research and weaving more of a story arc into the five women's encounter, I hope to show people that the “characters” of the New Testament are actual, breathing people with stress and dysfunction and hopes just like us. Frank pioneered the idea of this book, so all credit goes to him for imagining it. I'm grateful he asked me to be a part.

Tell us the story of how you two came to coauthor it…

Mary: Frank wrote God's Greatest Place on Earth and had long wanted to do something similar with five women of the New Testament. He approached me about writing the fiction side of The Day I Met Jesus after he found out I wrote fiction as well as nonfiction.

Frank: When I began to think about a female coauthor for the project, I wanted it to be someone who (1) writes fiction (2) is a remarkable writer, and (3) believes in the classic tenets of the Christian faith (Jesus is divine and human, He rose again from the dead, Jesus is Lord and Savior of the world, etc.)

As I investigated authors who fit the bill, I quickly thought of folks like Francine Rivers and Karen Kingsbury. But then I discovered that Mary DeMuth wrote fiction. I had known that she was a non-fiction writer, but had no idea that she could “switch hit.”

I also discovered that she was an outstanding writer of fiction as she was of nonfiction. (I regard Mary to be the Mickey Mantle of Christian literature — she has enormous power from both sides!) So Mary ended up being the only name on my “short list.”

You feature five women from the Gospels. Why pick women in particular as your subjects?

Frank: Some of the most gripping, instructive, inspiring stories in the Gospels involve women. The longest recorded conversation that Jesus ever had was with a woman. And some of the most amazing things He said and did related to women. So I thought that a book in which some of these women told their own stories about Jesus would not only bring the Gospels to life in our minds, but it would also bring Jesus alive in our hearts.

Mary: Women had significant, personal encounters with Jesus, a fact that we sometimes miss, particularly since so many stories revolve around the 12 disciples (who were men). I love that we're elevating these stories, helping people reimagine just how radical it was that Jesus so beautifully interacted with these women.

Which one is your favorite and why?

Mary: For me, it's hard to say. I love them all in different ways. This week, I'll say it's Mary of Bethany. She didn't have a blatant “need” for Jesus. She was just downright faithful and often misunderstood. I think a lot of people can relate to that.

Frank: Mary of Bethany is my all-time favorite disciple of Jesus. This came home to me when I wrote God's Favorite Place on Earth. (Mary was the sister of Lazarus, so she gets ample airtime in that book.)

I love Mary because she knew Jesus better than most, anticipating His reactions and even His impending death. She also paid the price for loving Him, for she was falsely accused by both her sister and the other disciples (on two different occasions), mostly out of jealousy. In both situations, Mary embraced the spirit of the Lamb, refusing to defend herself. But Jesus Himself rose to her defense on both occasions. He also gave her an enduring honor that He gave no one else.

Why would someone want to read the book?

Frank: If someone wants a good story to get tied up into . . . or if they want to see the Bible come to life in a compelling way . . . or if they want to experience Jesus Christ anew and afresh . . . or if they want to identify with people who were far worse off than they are, and see what Jesus did for them . . . or if they want to be given hope and encouragement in their situation . . . or if they are lacking love for the Lord and want that love to be rekindled . . . or if they want new motivation and fresh inspiration to follow Jesus more closely . . . or if they want to increase their faith and expectation in the Lord, they'll want to read The Day I Met Jesus.

Mary: Someone would want to read it because it's truly unique. It's biblical narrative, but in short story form, but it doesn't end there. After you've been absorbed into a page-turning story, Frank exegetes the wisdom from each encounter and helps you apply it to your life.

Tell us about the course that supplements the book.

Frank: The Day I Met Jesus Master Course is designed for those who wish to delve deeper into the themes set forth in the book. It includes a workbook and 20 audio messages delivered by Mary and I. In addition, it includes 8 bonus eBooks from Mary and I. It also includes a closed forum where people can access us both directly for Q&A and dialogue. People can check it out at http://www.thedayimetjesus.com/course

Tell us what readers get if they purchase it from March 3rd to March 17th from Parable.com.

Frank: They'll get these 7 exclusive bonuses.

1. An exclusive audio interview where Mary and I give a behind-the-scenes look at all the facets of the book. The interview covers where the idea of the book came from, why we wrote the book, what it was like collaborating, the hardest part about writing it, and much more.
2. Mary's Book Beautiful Battle in Kindle & Nook.
3. My Book, Rethinking Spiritual Growth in PDF, Kindle, and Nook.
4. A never-before-released audio conference message entitled “A Woman Inside of a Man.”
5. Mary's Book What To Do After People Poop on You in PDF.
6. A never-before-released audio conference message entitled “He's Not Ashamed to Call Them Brothers and Sisters.”
7. A 15% discount off The Day I Met Jesus Master Course.

Click here to order The Day I Met Jesus from Parable before March 17th and get your 7 exclusive bonuses.

Some gleefully proclaim that our only requirement of those “living under Grace” is the one commandment of Jesus, of which He said, “This is my commandment: that you love one another.” That sounds nifty. But it's not easy…

Try it sometime, and you'll see how He set us up.

For starters, what does it mean to “love one another”? What does that look like?

Well, according to the Apostle Paul, these are some of the qualities of the kind of love we are to exhibit:

“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.”

Ouch.

How many times YESTERDAY did I strut? How many times YESTERDAY did I make things about “me first”? How many times in the LAST WEEK did I fly off the handle, tally up the score of the sins of others, or secretly revel when others were humbled?

More times than it is comfortable to admit.

I find myself irritated by people who are gossipy, selfish, liars, cheaters, and hypocrites. In my moments of clarity, I realize I'm irritated by these things because I see them in myself.

Maybe I'm the only one who has these problems.

It's easy to talk about these principles of Scripture, and think of them as lofty ideals.

It's difficult to actually walk out the practice of Christian love when it begins to involve actual people.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize it is not “difficult”: it is simply IMPOSSIBLE.

That's why I'm so grateful that God accomplished a way for me to experience this life of His, this life of love, that does not involve my own ability.

By standing under the never-ending flow of his grace, through Jesus Christ, and allowing His spirit to live within me, this life of love becomes possible.

Sometimes I wonder why, if I am truly His, as I claim I am, I still come up short so many times?

Then I read this, again from one of my best friends in heaven, apostle Paul:

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.

Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.

Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

That's me. Fixing my attention on God, and so grateful that he is still changing me from the inside out.

Here I am, Lord. Taking my everyday, ordinary life—my sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and placing it before You as an offering.

Thank you for the Gift of righteousness and the abundance of Grace you have given us through your Son, Jesus Christ.

It is possible, and rather than try to convince you with a theological argument, I'd like to propose you simply try it, and see for yourself what happens. Here are 5 steps to help you hear the voice of God for your business. The 5 steps are…

1. Invitation. It sounds simple, but I think it is often overlooked. God has granted us each the inspiring, dizzying, and a somewhat terrifying ability to accept or refuse His gifts. If we don’t invite Him into our affairs, including our business, He’s not going to force His way in. So we begin with an invitation.In the book of James, we are promised that if any of us lack wisdom, all we have to do is ask God and He will grant it. That’s exactly what you’re doing when you make this invitation. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy or ceremonial.You could start by having a quiet moment before your workday begins, and praying something simple: “Lord, I invite you into my business today. Give me ideas, insights, and awareness to make the right decisions and to say the right thing in every situation that I face today.”
2. Communication.  If I invite you to a party, and you show up but I never talk to you, and I never listen to you, how much communication takes place? Right. Zero. So it’s not enough just to invite God into your business. He will be faithful to show up, but you need to treat Him like you would an honored guest at a dinner party. Pay attention to Him. Listen to what He has to say. Ask Him questions. Communication is a two-way street. I believe God desires a dialogue with us, not a monologue (on either side.) So have a conversation!
3. Cooperation.  So you have invited God into your business. You have been in communication with Him, learning to hear His voice, and becoming sensitive to what He is saying to you. The next step is cooperating with Him. Because here’s the thing: He is going to have opinions about what you should do, and what you shouldn’t do, in your business. He is going to have ideas and suggestions for you.Sometimes they may just “pop into your mind”, and you might wonder if they are your thoughts or His? Learning to discern the difference is part of the communication step. But the only way you’ll ever learn is to try cooperating with what God is saying to you. Sometimes, you may mistake your own voice for His (trust me this does happen.) But over time, as you cooperate with the voice of God, you will become more and more familiar with it. And it is only through cooperation that you can move to the next step – implementation.
4. Implementation.  While I think of cooperation as a form of agreement, a way of saying, “Yes, God, that is a good idea. We should definitely think about doing that.” There is a step beyond mere cooperation or agreement: this is the step of implementation. I fully believe that God blesses us far beyond what we can ask, imagine, or even deserve. I believe that he is interested in every detail of our lives. I believe that he swings deals are way, that he gives us ideas that will make our business profitable, and that he influences people to do business with us when it’s in the best interest of both parties.At the same time, working with God, and having God with us at work, does not mean that we are completely passive. Bill Johnson has said, “Jesus didn’t accomplish everything so that you could accomplish nothing.” I think that’s right, and I would take it one step further, and say that Jesus accomplished everything so that you could accomplish anything… in His name. What this means is we have to actually implement the ideas, strategies, and tactics God gives to us.If you’re a farmer, for instance, God might give you a plan for a new crop rotation schedule that could cause your land to yield better harvests. But if you never get up and plow the fields, tend the crops, and bring in the harvest, you’ll never reap the reward. Which brings us to…
5. Manifestation.  This is the step we all would like to jump to. We would like to start with manifestation. It’s the whole idea of that New Age book and movie “The Secret” : that thinking will make it so. For instance, this thinking goes, if I just sit and visualize a brand-new Mercedes long enough and hard enough, it will just “show up” in my driveway. You and I both know that is nonsense.Now there is nothing wrong with you wanting or owning a Mercedes. There is nothing wrong with you building the wealth to be able to afford one. In fact, doing so blesses the people who created the car, those who manufactured it, those who delivered it, sold it, detailed it, and who service it. And all the myriads of people in between. As long as you don’t worship the thing, and as long as you understand that success is about more than piling up earthly riches, I believe you’re free to enjoy the rewards of your labor.It’s been said that if you “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness” that everything else will be added to you. This doesn’t mean that if you decide the thing you want most in life is a Rolex, you should seek God’s Kingdom in order to get it. It does mean that if your desire for a Rolex is not motivated by greed, or the idolatrous worship of money, that God certainly has no problem with you owning a nice watch. If you seek first His Kingdom, and that’s all you seek, you will get your heart's desire-because you will never desire anything that is outside the Kingdom.

Please understand these 5 steps are not some kind of magic formula.

They are rather a description of the natural process that happens when we are in deep relationship with someone we love. When we are in love, we invite our loved one into our life, we communicate deeply with them, we cooperate with their desires because we want them to be happy, we implement the plans that we cook up together, and we enjoy the manifestation of our joined hearts desires.

That, my friends, is how you invite God into your business. That is how you see tangible results and God-given answers to your questions and concerns.

I challenge you to simply take the 5 steps, and then watch for the results.

Question: Do you have a story of how God has helped you in business or in your job? Please share it below!

Most of us are afraid to show our secret face in public. So our public faces are polished, and present a carefully crafted fiction of who would and what we are.

The irony is, we hide our secret face because we want people to like us. We want them to approve of us. The very approval you seek, the very response you most want to receive from people, can only be yours once you become the person you are afraid to be. For many years, I kept the spiritual side of my life shrouded and hidden from public view. I thought, as many do, that business and spirituality did not belong together. But more truthfully, I was concerned that people I respected would think I was a little bit crazy to believe the things that I believe.

The person I was afraid to be was the real me.

One day, God made it perfectly clear He was tired of being my best kept secret. So I surrendered, and faced my fear. I made a public declaration of who I really am, stripped off my mask, and showed my secret face.

Some people were shocked, and ceased to listen to what I had to say. Some wanted to pick a fight with me about my beliefs. Some mocked and made fun of me (some still do.) I'm okay with that.

I'm okay with it, because the person I was afraid to be was the very person that others were praying would show up. That's my tribe. It may be a small, modest tribe. But what would've happened if I had not planted my flag on that hill, and said “here I stand.”

What about you? Who is the person you are afraid to be? And who is waiting for you to show your secret face?

When I became a Christian in my youth, I had the naive idea that all Christians were loving, honest, and reliable. So I would always seek to hire a Christian if I needed a product or a service.

Sadly, my youthful notion of Christian business people was shattered when I realized that virtually every Christian I hired (1) overcharged (2) did a poor job and (3) weren't exactly ethical or honest.

By contrast, the non Christians I hired charged less, did better work, did everything to insure that I was satisfied, and they were more pleasant in general.

Consequently, I raised a standard long ago that I would never hire a Christian to do anything for me. I would instead hire nonbelievers.

There have been a few exceptions, mainly with Christians that I know personally and trust. But these people aren't typical. In fact, they are rarer than hen's teeth!

They are genuine disciples of Christ.

Their hallmark is this: they treat their clients the same way they want to be treated if they were the client.

Ring a bell?

It should. That's Matthew [7:12], and it's the summary statement for how we know a genuine disciple of Christ. They treat everyone the same way they want to be treated in every circumstance.

Strikingly, Jesus said that this one sentence summarizes the entire Old Testament (the Law and the Prophets).

Treating others the same way we want to be treated is the way that God's own life operates. And as Christians, we possess that life.

How do you want to be treated when someone works for you?

You desire honestly, reliability, and great work at a reasonable price. You also desire that the work is fully guaranteed and that you are satisfied with the product or service.

Well, that should be the hallmark of how you treat others when they hire you.

Why do so many Christians not follow this precept in their business practice?

I believe it's because they have been taught to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil rather than by the Tree of Life.

Living by the former is simply being religious. It's trying to do the “right thing” and avoid the “bad thing.” And when we try to do the right thing and avoid the bad, we usually fail. Why? Because we're relying on our own human abilities and resources in “being good.”

Eating from the Tree of Life, however, is learning to live by the very life of Jesus Christ Himself. And the DNA of that life is to treat others the same way we want to be treated in every circumstance.

When we learn to live by Christ rather by our religious nature, being honest, ethical, and walking in love toward others isn't a duty or a chore. It's second nature.

I've spoken a lot about this elsewhere in very practical terms, but I wanted to sketch out the difference in this brief article.

May God raise up countless business men and women who are learning to live by Christ and express His nature in their work, making Matthew [7:12] a visible reality rather than a pious precept.

The time has come to tell you that I have Parkinson's disease.

The symptoms became apparent in May 2011. The diagnosis came in September of that year. If you want to know more about Parkinson's disease, please refer to the website of the Michael J Fox Foundation.

This is not about fighting for victory, it's about fighting from victory. Click to tweet this.

The focus of this post is about victory, even where victory appears impossible. This is not about fighting for victory, it's about fighting from victory. Such victory is only attainable through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus…

Seven Incredibly Joyous Lessons I Have Learned Through Having Parkinson's Disease

1. Don't Waste Your Parkinson's (Or Whatever).  I do not believe that God gave me Parkinson's, nor that he “allowed me” to have it, nor that it is his will for me to have it. All disease is evil, and comes from hell, and God has promised that he heals all of our diseases (Psalm 103, Isaiah 53). Though he does not cause evil to happen to us, God can and does use hellish situations to accomplish his purposes. The day I realized this fully, the day I realized that God's judgment and vengeance will exact a price from the devil (yes, I believe the devil is real!) for every moment of pain he has inflicted on me… that was the day I gained the victory. Satan will be sorry he chose to inflict this illness upon me. If it continues to progress, as the doctors assure me it will, I will fight the good fight of faith with even more joy in my heart. I will not waste the opportunity to show others how to live, fully alive, no matter what is thrown at us. Jesus said “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, for I have overcome the world.” Thank you, Lord!
2. It Doesn't Matter. I don't want to minimize anyone else's suffering. But for me, I was free from the suffering the day I realized: it doesn't matter. Here's what I mean…  before the diagnosis, I had prayed for many people with a variety of different illnesses, and I had seen the Spirit of God miraculously heal them. One of my friends was healed of stage IV cancer. I had witnessed many other miracles like this. Yet, to this day, I myself still experience the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, even though I have been prayed for many times. It would be a mistake for me to ask “why”. It would be a greater mistake for me to attribute the work of the enemy to God the Father. Attributing the work of the enemy to God is blasphemy.The bedrock of my faith is the belief that God is love. My continued illness is not an excuse to abandon my faith, it's an invitation to embrace it. And in the end, if my healing comes only after death, that is no excuse for me to abandon the work God has put in my hands.When three young men were threatened with death in a fiery furnace in the Old Testament, the leader of those young men said, “We will not bow to your false gods. Our God is well able to protect us. And even if he does not, we will not bow.” I have work to do, assigned to me by the King, and he gives me strength and joy every day to do that work, despite what the enemy may throw at me. My light and temporary affliction does not matter.
   Illness is no excuse to abandon faith, it's an invitation to embrace it. Click to tweet this.
3. I Have Learned Empathy. In the past, before my diagnosis, I would pray for people and often there would be no apparent response. Not everyone I prayed for was healed. I had perfected the art of answering their questions about why they had not been healed. My answers were theologically sound. I gave them with confidence, including answers like these…
   • Sometimes God's healing comes as an instant miracle, sometimes as a gradual process.
   • God uses many instruments for healing, and often the instrument is medical science.
   • God may time your healing in a perfect way we may not understand.
   • Sometimes we ask God for an oak tree, and he gives us an acorn. We must steward the acorn.
   • And sometimes we must simply embrace the mystery and accept that we don't know everything, but affirm that God is still good.

   I knew these answers were true, and yet… when I faced the same situation myself, I found them difficult to accept. However, on the other side of working through that difficulty, I found the answers are indeed still true.

   Now, I have great empathy for people who are walking through difficult challenges.

   Now, when I pray for someone who has not seen the manifestation of their healing, I meet them with compassion instead of judgment.

   Now, I treasure the gift of this empathy.

4. Grace Is the Gospel. “Grace” is not merely a topic in a theological textbook. It is the gospel itself. The Apostle Paul tells us that through the sacrifice of Christ we have been given the “gift of righteousness” and also the “abundance of grace”. Grace is more than mere forgiveness; it is taking forgiveness a step further and adding a generous gift on top. The word used in the original Greek Scripture that is translated as “grace” literally means “unmerited favor”. The gospel message, and the state of being “saved”, is about more than just getting “eternal fire insurance.” It's about more than simply getting out of hell.When we accept the gift that Christ offers, we inherit his righteousness. We receive his grace. Jesus took on himself what we deserved, so that we could get what he deserves. The Bible tells us that the Law and the Prophets were given through Moses, but Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ. Jesus is Grace and Truth. Jesus is the gospel. Jesus is the perfect image of the Father.Let that last statement soak in: there are many who believe that God the Father is angry and vengeful, and that Jesus the Son is peaceful and forgiving. I submit to you that anything you attribute to the Father, but that you do not see demonstrated in Jesus, needs to be re-examined. And what do we see in Jesus? First, he only did what he saw the Father doing, and the Father is love…
   • So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Fatherdoes, that the Son does likewise.” (John [5:19])
   • “For God so loved the world,that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John [3:16]-17)

   Second, Jesus never refused anyone when they asked to be healed. He never said, “I see that you have leprosy, and I have some bad news. This is the kind of leprosy my Father gives. Learn from it.”

   No, his response was to heal everyone. He healed them all. Both before and after his resurrection.

   • When the sun was setting, all those who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.   (Luke [4:40])
   • That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.  (Matthew [8:16])
   • Jesus, perceiving that, withdrew from there. Great multitudes followed him; and he healed them all,  (Matthew [12:15])
   • At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick, and those who were possessed by demons. All the city was gathered together at the door. He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. He didn't allow the demons to speak, because they knew him.  (Mark [1:32]-34)
   • All the multitude sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.  (Luke [6:19])
   • But the multitudes, perceiving it, followed him. He welcomed them, and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God, and he cured those who needed healing.  (Luke [9:11])
   • More believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. They even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mattresses, so that as Peter came by, at the least his shadow might overshadow some of them. Multitudes also came together from the cities around Jerusalem, bringing sick people, and those who were tormented by unclean spirits: and they were all healed.  (Acts [5:15]-16)
   • It happened that the father of Publius lay sick of fever and dysentery. Paul entered in to him, prayed, and laying his hands on him, healed him. Then when this was done, the rest also who had diseases in the island came, and were cured.  (Acts 28:8-9)
5. Victim Thinking Equals Death. In the early days after my initial diagnosis, and the apparent failure of prayer to heal my condition, I began thinking like a victim. Poisonous thoughts repeatedly ran through my mind: why did this happen to me? Doesn't God see how I've been serving him? Is it really not God's will to heal me? Even more subtle, and more deadly: how can I minister to others when I can't even help myself? Who wants to hear a message about the God who heals from someone who is sick? That last question began to wake me up-because the Lord instantly showed me how ridiculous the question really is. For instance, if we substitute “sin” for “illness”, the question becomes: who wants to hear a message about the God who forgives from someone who still sins? We don't require, expect, or even believe that any pastor in any pulpit is 100% free from sin. Yet we don't tell them to go home and stop preaching until they are. Victim thinking robs us of our identity in Christ. Whenever we start thinking about our sins, our illnesses, our shortcomings, or our lack of faith, we are ultimately just thinking about ourselves. The best thing we can do is to take our focus off our self, and put our full attention on Christ.Paul writes in Galatians: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live through faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”My diagnosis gave me an opportunity to once and for all move out of victim thinking, and into victorious thinking.

   Victim thinking robs us of our identity in Christ. Click to tweet this.

6. Our Trials Represent An Opportunity That Won't Last. Whatever we face in life that seems like a problem or a trial actually represents an opportunity. In this life, we have the opportunity to praise God, and to worship him, in the face of adversity. This takes an act of will, a decision, a certain amount of discipline.When my hands are trembling, and my relatively young body tries to feel like the body of an old man, it is a sacrifice for me to put a smile on my face and raise my hands, and praise the goodness of God. The opportunity that is time-limited is this: once I am in my eternal body, in heaven, I no longer have the option to offer that sacrifice to God. Each of us is able, today, to offer God the gift that one day will be impossible for us to give. Truly, I refuse to waste my Parkinson's.
7. The Law Demands, But Grace Supplies. I have encountered a number of good-hearted, well-intentioned believers who want to tell me that my disease must be caused by some hidden sin in my life… a “generational curse”… a failure on my part to follow an obscure law written in Scripture… etc. I have been prayed for, prescribed to, undergone various forms of “inner healing ministry”, and otherwise subjected to condemnation thoroughly and completely. I'm here to tell you, no amount of shaming, blaming, or justifying your illness is going to help you. Inner healing ministries are good and valuable, and have their place. But we must move beyond the idea that our sin is more powerful than the sacrifice of Christ. With his last breath, Jesus pronounced: “It is finished.” What part of “finished” is unclear? Jesus died to redeem us from the curse. No curse he redeemed me from has any power over me. Jesus died to free me from condemnation. Therefore it is a dishonor to him for me to accept condemnation. Condemnation comes straight from the fiery bowels of hell. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” (Romans 8:1)Grace doesn't require rules – it supplies us with a heart that makes rules unnecessary. Click to tweet this.Many worry that the preaching of “radical grace” will encourage people to sin. I'm glad there is concern over this, as it tells me we are preaching the right gospel.

   This kind of outrageous liberty is exactly what Paul was criticized for, and the reason he had to tackle this issue head-on when he said: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

   Paul goes on to explain how our old nature died with Christ and we were resurrected as new creations. Grace does not require that we follow rules and laws-Grace supplies us with a new heart that makes rules and laws unnecessary.

In the movie “Shawshank Redemption”, Andy Dufresne says to his pal Red as they sit in the prison yard, “It comes down to one simple decision. Either get busy living, or get busy dying.”

This line has always reminded me of another memorable piece of dialogue.

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John [10:10])

I choose life.

The Time Has Come

I wrote this for two primary reasons.

First, I never want to write things that give an impression about me that is not true. It's probably impossible for me to fully achieve that goal. People will draw their own conclusions no matter what I write. On the other hand, it is possible for me to know my own heart, and in my heart I knew that keeping this secret any longer was just not an option.

Secondly, and most important, I wrote this for you. I may not know what your specific struggles are, but I know that you do have a choice before you. You can either let the enemy steal, and kill, and destroy your life… or you can choose to accept life, and accept it abundantly.

The time has come.

Choose life.

 Question for you: how has facing a great difficulty given you the gift of a more abundant life? Please share your story and your insights below.

Under the Law, we use our willpower to force ourselves to obey in a certain way in order to earn  the good will of God.  If we don't keep the law perfectly, God will be angry with us, and punish us.

It was impossible for any human being to keep the Law perfectly, which is why Jesus, who is God, became a human being and did it for us. It's why, after he paid the price for all the sin of all mankind, that he pronounced, “It is finished.”  Jesus quite literally paid it all.

So, why do we keep trying to pay it again? Not only is that backwards, it sets us up for condemnation – in other words, the feelings of self-recrimination, where we literally judge ourselves to be a criminal, and we suffer the consequences the sentence we have pronounced upon ourselves.

The apostle Paul addresses this issue quite directly…

”There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2

Condemnation is the work of the Enemy. We must avoid this at all costs. How do we do that? Here's how…

1. Guard the gates.

In this case, the gates are your eyes, your ears, and your mouth. You have to be careful what passes through each of these gates because they can have an effect on your inner being.

• Guard your eyes. Be careful what you see. A friend of mine says, “What entertains you, enters you.” What does this mean? Things that you watch on television and the movies have a deep effect on your spirit being. If you watch shows that are filled with sex, violence, betrayal, hatred, anger, strife and fear, what do you think that does to you inside? This is not the kind of thing you need to be pouring into your spirit. I don’t tell you this to set up rules to make you feel guilty. I’m not telling you what you should or should not watch. I’m suggesting you might want to ask yourself as you’re watching your favorite entertainment, “Is this what I want to be putting inside of me? Does this help me or hurt me?” Here’s a hint – the answer is never neutral.
• Guard your ears. Be careful who you listen to and what you’re being taught, even in church. If you’re listening to a preacher or minister that teaches condemnation, that teaches the mixture of the Law with Grace, that teaches you that you still have a “sin nature” even after you’ve been redeemed by the Lord, that teaches you that sickness is the result of sin in your life, or that you somehow have to earn God’s redemption, or that calamity has befallen you so you can learn a lesson, here’s what you need to do – stop listening. Allowing that kind of thing to come into your ears, to listen to those kinds of teachings, is damaging your spirit.
• Guard what comes out of your mouth. The Bible says, “The tongue contains the power of life and death.” It also says that we’re actually saved by the confession of our lips. Now, you cannot undo God’s work to save you, but what that scripture tells me is that what we proclaim from our mouth has enormous power. If you’re constantly saying things like, “Why does this always happen to me? I always have this terrible luck. I’m sick, sick, sick. I’m always in pain. I’m always depressed,” – saying things like this is dangerous. Because you’re anointed by the Holy Spirit, your words have power. They’re like a weapon. Be careful how you wield them and who you wield them against – yourself, for instance.

2. Use the power of group anointing.

First, let’s be clear about what the anointing is. The anointing in the Bible refers to the oil that was used in the Hebrew rituals. To be anointed with oil meant that you were smeared with, or covered with, the holy blessed oil that had been prepared carefully by the priests. This anointing conveyed spiritual power.

In the New Covenant, we’re anointed by the Holy Spirit. He is smeared or rubbed into us and we’re infused with his power, and there are greater and lesser levels of anointing. Every believer is anointed. You can increase the anointing by being in the presence of God, and you can also enjoy increased anointing by being with a group. This is one of the reasons we come together as believers.

The power of the group anointing cannot be under-estimated. Remember that when Jesus came to his own home town, the Bible says that he could not perform any great miracles there because of their unbelief. If the very Son of God could have his miracle-working power limited by the anointing of unbelief of a group, and he could visit other places where the faith level was high and the anointing was also high, what does that mean for us?

Come together with groups of other believers who understand God’s power to heal and his will to heal, and ride the momentum of that group anointing. To be clear, seek out a church that believes in the gospel of Grace, that believes in the power of God to heal, and that believes it is his will to heal today. Surround yourself and soak yourself in that anointing.

3. Don’t mix the Law and Grace together.

This mixing of Law and Grace cuts off the flow of your receiving everything that the Lord has for you. In the book of Hebrews the writer refers to “those who have fallen from Grace.” Elsewhere, in the book of Galatians, Paul writes that those who would put themselves back under the Law have “fallen from Grace.”

What does it mean to fall from Grace? It doesn’t mean that you lose your salvation, but it means that you’re refusing to receive the benefits of Grace, of the unmerited favor that God has for you.  (I realize that for many people, I just opened a big can of theological worms, but we will have to save the debate about this issue for another blog post.)

4. Don’t be alone.

The strategy of the enemy is to cut us off from the other sheep in the flock. If he can get us alone, he can begin talking to us, whispering his lies, and get us to engage in false beliefs, to put us in a place of hopelessness and despair. That is exactly where he wants us, so we’re disempowered, so we don’t make an impact for the Kingdom, and so that we don’t enjoy the benefits that the Lord has purchased for us. (If you want to know what your benefits package is, see Psalm 103.)

When we’re with other believers, they stir us up to good works, they help keep our feet on the path, they encourage us, they pray for us, they fill us with faith, and they smear us with their own anointing.  In the Gospels, we see that the presence of Jesus was enough to dismantle the powers of darkness. Today, we are the body of Christ on the earth-we are in fact his physical presence. Do not be alone.

At the times that you feel that you want to withdraw and go hide somewhere and lick your wounds, that’s the very time you need to do exactly the opposite. I know it will be hard, but do it anyway. You’ll thank me later.

5. Don’t fight for your suffering.

If you fight for your own suffering and victimhood, then you shall have it. This is the very definition of victim-thinking. When we’re faced with a terrible situation such as a divorce, the loss of a loved one, or a devastating illness, our tendency is to go into victim mode. We begin to bemoan the terrible thing that has befallen us, and we want to tell other people about it and get their sympathy.

This is understandable. It’s human nature, but it quickly crosses over into victim thinking. Once we begin thinking like a victim, it becomes something very ugly, something very self-indulgent, very self-centered, and also disempowering to us. We may be rolling in the feelings of empathy we get from other people. We may begin using our victimhood as an excuse for why we can’t do certain things or why we behave in certain ways.

The story of your life is not your life. It's just your story. Don't like it? Change the story you keep telling.  (Click To Tweet This!)

“Of course I’m angry all the time,” you may find yourself saying. “You would be, too, if you suffered like I suffer. You have no idea what it’s like to be me.”

If you are constantly rehashing how tough your childhood was, how mean or disinterested or abusive your parents were, you're arguing for your victim status.

This is the language of the victim. It’s the language of the powerless. It’s the language of the faithless. It’s the language of defeat. It’s ugly and it removes you from the game. Fight, fight, fight, the victim mentality.

Declare to yourself daily, “I am not a victim. I am a victor. I am not at the whim of my circumstance. I’m living the destiny that my Savior purchased for me.” You’ve got to talk to yourself this way. You’ve got to make these positive declarations over your life. You’ve got to say of yourself what scripture says of you.

To that end, it’s important to know what scripture says about you, because when you realize what God has to say about you, you will never again fall victim to what the devil has to say about you. When Satan began to tempt the Lord Jesus in the wilderness, how did Jesus respond? He responded by speaking the truth of scripture. This is a good example for you and I to follow as well.

Here’s a list of declarations (these declarations were written by Steve Backlund – find more here) you can make over your own life that are taken directly from the Holy Scripture:

Daily Declarations

• I set the course of my life with my declarations (James 3:2-5).
• As I speak God’s promises, they come to pass.  (2 Peter 1:2-4; Mark [11:23]-24).
• When I pray, God always does something good. (2 Cor [5:21]; James [5:16]b).
• God showers me with financial abundance. (Phil [4:19]).
• My angels are carrying out the Word of God on my behalf (Psalm 1[03:20]).
• I am dead to sin and live to obey God. (Romans [6:11]).
• My health is always improving. (Isaiah 53:3-5; Psalms 103:1-3).
• I have supernatural protection. (Psalm 91).
• All my relationships prosper. (Luke [2:52]).
• Through Jesus I am 100% righteous, loved, and worthy . (Colossians [1:12]-15).
• I have the wisdom of God today, to think right , speak right, and do right. (James 1:5; 1 Corinthians [2:16]).
• I expect the best day of my life spiritually, emotionally, and financially in Jesus’ name (Romans [15:13]).

30 Day Victory Challenge

Here's my challenge to you: follow these five suggestions, and make those declarations daily, for the next 30 days.

If you do this with even the faintest ember of faith and hope stirring in your heart, you will see a positive impact on your life. These very actions, attitudes, and declarations, are forms of worship and demonstrations of faith. There is never, ever a time when we can worship and stir up our own faith, and have nothing happen. Something always happens. God is always doing something good.

Take the challenge. I look forward to hearing your stories and testimonies of victory. Seriously. Post them below-share with your brothers and sisters!

This is how I answered him…

God's will is for us to prosper and be in good health (3 John 1:2). But in this world, his will is often thwarted by the enemy, whom we know as Satan.

There are many reasons why this is possible, and it would take a long time for us to go through all of them. And, in fact, I don't know all of them.

What I do know is Jesus said “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John [16:33])

Notice that he did not say that because he had overcome the world we would have no trouble. He said that we WOULD have trouble… and also that he has overcome the world, and we should take heart (not be afraid).

This tells me that Jesus supplies us with the ability to be unafraid even in the face of trouble in this world.

What Are We To Do?

So, what do we do about the fact that God wants us to prosper, and we are not prospering? That he wants us to be healed, and yet we are sick?

I think we can take a clue from the subject of sin. God says we are “dead to sin” (Romans [6:11]). Yet, as far as I know, every Christian still sins, at least occasionally. But it's God's will that we don't, right?

This doesn't mean that we can conclude that sin is God's will, after all. It doesn't mean that we stop trying to not sin. It simply means that we are in the process of getting closer to a standard Jesus set for us.

He showed us that there is a better way to live, and that he has the power to help us.

Frankly, I don't know why it has to be so hard at times. Why doesn't every person I pray for get well? Why doesn't every person who comes to the Lord remain faithful to him? Why do we have these troubles at all?

This is a mystery. But this much we do know: people do get healed, people do prosper, people do remain faithful to the Lord.

I have physical complaints of my own. Yet I pray for other people, and they are healed. I have a choice to make in that moment: I get to choose whether I will criticize God, and withhold my faith until he tells me “why”… or I can choose to simply confess that God is good at all times, and that there are things I don't understand.

When I choose to praise God even in hard times, then I also choose to pay attention to what he IS doing. And to pay no attention at all to what he is NOT doing.

If any of this helped, I highly recommend a book by Joseph Prince called “Destined to Reign”… and I also recommend this post, “Some Thoughts On Suffering”, by Phil Drysdale.

Can a follower of Jesus also accept the philosophy of Ayn Rand (author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged)? Yes, and the result is “Christian Objectivism”.

What is “Christian Objectivism”?

Christian Objectivism is a worldview that is a synthesis of the Christian faith and Ayn Rand’s philosophy called “Objectivism.” So, then, what is Ayn Rand’s “Objectivism”? It’s best let her tell you herself:

“At a sales conference at Random House, preceding the publication of Atlas Shrugged, one of the book salesmen asked me whether I could present the essence of my philosophy while standing on one foot. I did as follows:

• Metaphysics: Objective Reality
• Epistemology: Reason
• Ethics: Self-interest
• Politics: Capitalism

If you want this translated into simple language, it would read: 1. “Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed” or “Wishing won’t make it so.” 2. “You can’t eat your cake and have it, too.” 3. “Man is an end in himself.” 4. “Give me liberty or give me death.”

If you held these concepts with total consistency, as the base of your convictions, you would have a full philosophical system to guide the course of your life. But to hold them with total consistency—to understand, to define, to prove and to apply them—requires volumes of thought. Which is why philosophy cannot be discussed while standing on one foot—nor while standing on two feet on both sides of every fence. This last is the predominant philosophical position today, particularly in the field of politics.

My philosophy, Objectivism, holds that:

1. Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man’s feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.
2. Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man’s senses) is man’s only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.
3. Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.
4. The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others.The government acts only as a policeman that protects man’s rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.”

– Ayn Rand, 1962

Christian Objectivism holds these values as well, within the context of the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. One might wonder how this possible, since Ayn Rand herself was an atheist and many Christian precepts appear to be in conflict with Objectivism. But these are perceived conflicts, not actual ones.

1) Christian Objectivism believes that the Bible is an accurate account of history and thus its revelation should be considered fact.

2) Christian Objectivism recognizes that reason is “man’s only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.” Reason is not purely intellectual thought, which many Christians have shunned, but “the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man’s senses.” Reason puts all the pieces from all of our senses together and builds an understanding of reality from them.

Spiritual revelation is a sense just like any other, therefore, reason takes our spiritual revelation and applies it everything else we know about the world and synthesizes a understanding of reality from it. And just as it must do with all of our other senses, reason must analyze if our spiritual revelation is congruent with all of other senses and/or if it is giving us false information. Sometimes our senses (all of them) send us wrong information and it is the responsibility of our minds to weigh everything we are receiving and come to a conclusion about reality around us.

3) This point is probably the hardest for most Christians to swallow, but it is still true, though understood a little differently. The original design in the Garden of Eden was for Humanity to enjoy union with God, and their lives on Earth. There was no ministry to be done, there was no sacrificing necessary. People were to live their lives and enjoy them. Christian Objectivism holds that the enjoyment of life and God are still our ultimate purposes, and not to sacrifice ourselves for others, though service and self-denial are sometimes necessary to achieve those ends.

C.S. Lewis articulates this point well in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses:

“ The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to our desire.”

C.S. Lewis

Self-denial and sacrifice are not bad things. They are necessary if we want to achieve everything God has for us. Self-denial and sacrifice are evil if they are held as ends unto themselves and made the penultimate purposes of our lives. Hebrews 12:2 states that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. He did not deny Himself and go through the Cross purely out of self-sacrifice. He did it because He wanted the joy of redeeming His people and knowing that God’s Children would get the lives they were originally meant to have.

Therefore, self-denial and sacrifice have their place, but only as means to an end, and they must be completely voluntary. They cannot be forced onto people.

4) Objectivism holds that there are two ways in which goods and services are transmitted between people, either through trade, where people willingly trade with each other for their mutual benefit, or through force, where one person steals from another. There are no other options.

A basic tenant of Christian Objectivism is that Jesus always made compliance with His teachings voluntary, which includes giving to charity and being generous. He never told His disciples: “Help the poor, and if you don’t have enough money to do it, then forcibly take it from someone else. Preferably someone rich.” Government run welfare and social security, though born of good intentions, force some people involuntarily support a charity with which they do not agree. This is wrong and can never be justified.

Money is the product of men’s labor and thus an extension of their lives. No one has a right their lives but they themselves, and God as their creator. Compassion does not give men the right to tell others how to live their lives or what to do with their money. Therefore, capitalism is the only moral way in which resources can move between individuals. Walter E. Williams put it best when he said:

“Prior to capitalism, the way people amassed great wealth was by looting, plundering, and enslaving their fellow man. Capitalism made it possible to become wealthy by serving your fellow man.”

We as Christians have the privilege to help those around us, those in great need, because it reflects the heart of the Father and empowers people to encounter His love. This virtue is not self-denial or sacrifice. It is integrity. If we believe who we are and who God is, then we can’t pass by one of His children who is in need. They need to be built up and brought back into their potential.

But we do not have the right to force people to help the less fortunate. To quote Terry Goodkind, “Charity must always voluntary. Otherwise it is just a nice word for slavery.”

That, in a nutshell, is Christian Objectivism.

But Joseph's prosperity did not come without a price…

He was sold into slavery by his brothers, who were jealous of him. His father assumed he was dead. He rose to a place of prominence as a slave in the house of Potiphar, but when he refused the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife, she accused him of attacking her. He was thrown right back into prison.

There he would remain for years, until Pharaoh began having disturbing dreams. Sensing that they were supernatural in origin, Pharaoh sent out word to all of his psychics and magicians But none of them could interpret the dream.

One of the king’s court, who had for a time been imprisoned alongside Joseph, remembered the young Israelite had a gift of interpreting dreams. Joseph was brought before Pharaoh.

The king said to him, “I have had a dream, and no one can explain it. I have been told that you can interpret dreams.”

Joseph answered, “I cannot, Your Majesty, but God will give a favorable interpretation.”

The king said, “I dreamed that I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began feeding on the grass. Then seven other cows came up which were thin and bony. They were the poorest cows I have ever seen anywhere in Egypt. The thin cows ate up the fat ones, but no one would have known it, because they looked just as bad as before. Then I woke up. I also dreamed that I saw seven heads of grain which were full and ripe, growing on one stalk.  Then seven heads of grain sprouted, thin and scorched by the desert wind, and the thin heads of grain swallowed the full ones. I told the dreams to the magicians, but none of them could explain them to me.”
 
Joseph said to the king, “The two dreams mean the same thing; God has told you what he is going to do. The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven full heads of grain are also seven years; they have the same meaning. The seven thin cows which came up later and the seven thin heads of grain scorched by the desert wind are seven years of famine. It is just as I told you—God has shown you what he is going to do.  There will be seven years of great plenty in all the land of Egypt.  After that, there will be seven years of famine, and all the good years will be forgotten, because the famine will ruin the country. The time of plenty will be entirely forgotten, because the famine which follows will be so terrible. The repetition of your dream means that the matter is fixed by God and that he will make it happen in the near future.

“Now you should choose some man with wisdom and insight and put him in charge of the country.  You must also appoint other officials and take a fifth of the crops during the seven years of plenty. Order them to collect all the food during the good years that are coming, and give them authority to store up grain in the cities and guard it. The food will be a reserve supply for the country during the seven years of famine which are going to come on Egypt. In this way the people will not starve.”

Joseph Is Made Governor over Egypt
 
The king and his officials approved this plan, and he said to them, “We will never find a better man than Joseph, a man who has God's spirit in him.” The king said to Joseph, “God has shown you all this, so it is obvious that you have greater wisdom and insight than anyone else. I will put you in charge of my country, and all my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine. I now appoint you governor over all Egypt.”

Genesis [41:15]-41

It’s worth noting that Joseph served the king of Egypt well, even though Pharaoh did not share Joseph’s beliefs about God. But when Joseph demonstrated the supernatural power of prophecy, Pharaoh responded. He granted Joseph the governorship of Egypt.

If you haven’t read the story of Joseph in a while, it’s worth revisiting. You will see that he continued to serve the king of Egypt well, and was honored by all of the Egyptian people. In fact, when Joseph's father Jacob died, Pharaoh sent all of his servants, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt to attend the funeral.

Kris Vallotton is the first person I heard speak the phrase, “Pharaoh is dreaming again.”

Meaning, the kingdoms of the world are open and seeking supernatural input. I believe this includes not only rulers of nations, but rulers of businesses as well. There is a hunger for the prophetic spiritual insight that we as Christians carry.

The doors are open for us to minister and to serve. It is not necessary for us to “convert” people to accept our doctrines or our creeds. We, like Joseph, can remain faithful to the Lord, and let his spirit which lives within us minister to the needs of people.

I have seen this firsthand, as God has granted me the privilege of speaking prophetically to leaders in the business field. To CEOs and entrepreneurs, to market influencers, and to policymakers.

I’ve had the privilege of praying with these people, and in some cases delivering a word from the Lord for them.

Kris Vallotton and other prophets of our day are advising the rulers of nations behind-the-scenes.

The beauty of what God is doing here is that we don’t have to convince people that we are “right” about God, or that the Bible is his word, or that Jesus is his son. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

But when we can walk into a room and deliver a word of knowledge, or a spirit empowered prophecy that changes the course of a business (or of a nation), that saves jobs, or even lives… When we do those things, trust me. People are open to hear what we have to say about who God is and what he is capable of.

When we deliver the gospel of grace, without the trappings of religion, without the burden of guilt and condemnation, and when we accompany it by the signs that follow believers, people open the doors to the Lord Jesus.

So. Pharaoh is dreaming again. Perhaps a Pharaoh within your sphere of influence. Will you step up and show him the meaning of his dreams?

Where did this teaching come from? Is it biblical?

If you're looking for it in the Bible, you won't find the “Seven Mountains”. So in that sense, it is not in the Bible.

However, Jesus did instruct us to be “salt” and “light”, and to go into all the world, and the New Testament is replete with admonitions that we are to influence the culture. And not, I might add, to be influenced by the culture.

In that sense, the “Seven Mountains teaching” is quite biblical indeed.

The first recorded reference to the Seven Mountains that I can find originates with Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade. In 1975, Bright was having lunch in Colorado with Loren Cunningham (who founded Youth with a Mission).

Both men had been given a dream by God, containing a message to give to the other. That message was about Seven Mountains of influence. Francis Schaeffer received a similar message from the Lord at about the same time. All three believed that in order for the church to impact the world for Jesus Christ, it would be necessary for us to influence the Seven Mountains of society.

This is a message of encouragement for those who don't feel they are called to “full-time ministry”. Even that term-“full-time ministry”-is inaccurate, as it is clear from Scripture that every believer is a full-time minister, a royal priest in God's Kingdom.

When we say “full-time ministry” what we mean is vocational ministry. Paid staff positions at churches, for example.

In 2009, I reduced my working hours to a part-time basis, and took the year to go to ministry school. I was so naïve, I did not realize at the time that my wife and I had consecrated our lives to the Lord for a year (nine months of class, followed by a three month trip around the US visiting family, revival hotspots like IHOP in Bethel, and ministering to people along the way).

That kind of consecration brings transformation.

When I started ministry school, I felt certain that God was leading me to shut down my business and become a pastor. But as I progressed through the school year, and especially after hearing the message of the Seven Mountains, I felt God was speaking to me, saying: “Ray, I have enough pastors in pulpits. What I need is ministers in the marketplace.”

I did not know what that looked like.  Was I supposed to put the fish symbol on the door to my office? Conduct a men's group Bible study each week? Increase the amount of my ties from the business? Join a Christian business men's group?

Sometimes it takes me a while to see the obvious. My wife and I had just spent nine months in intensive training where we learned how to live “naturally supernatural”. In other words, we had learned that God was not a category of activity in our lives, but rather he is the source and the central fabric of everything we do. If we face a problem in our family, our business, our health, or anywhere else, the first thing we do is seek the supernatural counsel of our Father in Heaven.

As I came back to the business world, I realized that it was impossible for me to deal with the questions of clients, the needs of my students, and the challenges they faced, without God. Seeking the supernatural in every area of my life was just… well… natural.

For me, and the people who seem to be attracted to what we're doing, this is the only way. I don't feel that we are called to “covert ministry”, where we simply try to be good people and hope someone will notice. The idea behind this sort of ministry seems to be, “let's not offend anyone and maybe they'll ask us why we're so cool. Then we can tell them about Jesus.”

I can't help but think  of what Jesus said in the gospel of Matthew: “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.”

It's clear to me: if my answer to making big decisions in business is to seek the wisdom of God first, I cannot advise my consulting clients to do anything different.

I should mention at this point, not all of my clients are Christians. Some of them, I'm sure, find my beliefs quite amusing. But they continue to seek my business counsel. And while I don't make a secret of what I believe, who I follow, or where I get wisdom, I don't require clients to believe the same things I do.

This approach to business has given me a unique position of influence with many people. I find the combination of loving people, not judging them, and sharing with them the good news that God is for them, attracts even nonbelievers to your side. We shouldn't be surprised; it worked that way for Jesus. He didn't hang out with churchy people. He hung out with the people the churchy people held in contempt. Jesus loved people into the Kingdom.

It's the kindness of God that leads to repentance.

Which brings me back, albeit somewhat circuitously, to the Seven Mountains. Whichever “mountain” you are called to, or find yourself on currently, that's a place where you can bring the Kingdom of God. You can be a light on a hill.

You don't have to become a pastor, or join a religious order, or be ordained. You have already been ordained by God himself as a royal priest, and you have been given the authority to administer the Kingdom wherever you go.

And just what is this Kingdom we are administering? When Jesus walked the face of the earth as a human being, wherever he went he healed the sick, released people from demonic oppression, and then he told them, “The Kingdom of God has come near you today.” Elsewhere in Scripture, we are told that the Kingdom consists of righteousness, peace, and the joy in the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul made tents. Peter was a fisherman, as were James and John. Matthew was a tax collector. Cornelius worked in government. Each was a key influential leader in the church, yet none were vocationally in the “full-time ministry”. They all did their Kingdom work in the Seven Mountains.

It seems like a good idea for you and I to do the same.

One of the greatest tragedies for leaders in the church is that we have misinterpreted our role.

The role of a leader in Christianity is not to tell people what is right or wrong in different situations but rather to remind people of who they are and who God is in their different situations.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, Christianity is not a morality club! It’s not a religion you join that is supposed to dictate right and wrong for you. The truth of the matter is that Christianity is a state of being, a union with God that comes from nothing we do but rather entirely from what He did for us – namely coming and dying for, and as, mankind and raising us up as a new creation.

It is our beliefs that are the important aspect of Christianity, we are not exhorted to have good works but rather faith in the one who can produce good works through us. How do we bear these works? We believe in who we are in Christ and who God is. These beliefs are what will dictate how we see our circumstances, our relationships, God and ultimately determine how we conduct ourselves day-to-day.

Since the Christian life is an outworking of our beliefs – a transformation that occurs by the renewal of the mind – we as leaders must view people’s “problems” with this as a foundational understanding.

You see most of the “problems” we deal with are not really the problem at all. The broken relationships, the bad circumstances, the trouble at work, the habitual sins, anything that physically manifests is not the actual problem, rather these things are the fruit of the problem. To effectively heal people you don’t treat the symptoms, you must first diagnose the problem.

This is the job of a spiritual leader, to help people transform their lives and the way they see their lives by renewing their minds. Your job is to help people have a healthy view of who they are in Christ and who God is. Everything will change for them as they start to see their righteousness in Christ, the goodness of God and the ability (and desire) of God to turn all things in their lives to good.

The great news about all this is that we are not training people to come to us for answers, we don’t have to be a mediator between God and them on how to live their daily lives! Rather we are there to equip people to think for themselves, to know the heart of God, to be confident in who they are in Christ and to connect with God so that they are able to walk out their faith with Him rather than through their leaders!

Prayer for the day

Thank you Father that we are not called to try to micro-manage all the people in our lives. Thank you that you are not interested in having us as a middle-man for the relationships you’ve established in the people we lead. Help me to walk out my calling, help me not to fall into the easy trap of treating the symptoms rather than focusing on the real issue. Give me discernment to see the lies that others have embraced and help me, by your Holy Spirit, to lead them into the knowledge of the truth that will set them free. Thank you that walking in freedom is easier than we want to make it and help me to believe that your grace really needs nothing more than a willing vessel agreeing with what you have to say to bring forth righteousness and life.

Question: How does this idea of not sharing advice, but rather sharing the good news, affect your daily Christian life? Is there anything you might do differently than in the past?
 

I watched a TV show this weekend and one of the characters reminded me of you. Well, the big “universal you”. Me… and you… us. All of us.

For the record, this was not a “Christian” show.

This character was at a drastic turning point in his life. He was a despicable person; had done really bad things. But…

He was ripped apart to the point he could only go one of two ways. His facial expressions indicated he could clamp down and become numb to emotions, or he could become the person he used to be: kind, strong, and happy.

The change happened when the second character started speaking about the good person he is (not “was”) down deep inside. As she spoke life into his being, you could see his eyes darting back and forth. You could just see the brain tipping toward shutting down; then you’d see the switch back to hope.

Back and forth the scene went for almost 6 minutes. It was tense. It was his last chance. No one would ever talk like this to him again. No one would ever see the good in this man. The decision was now. Will he seek redemption? Will he shut down, retreat from the world, accepting who he (and the world) thought he was?Anyone who shows you that much kindness, that much acceptance… you would follow that person the rest of your life.

He reached for the lifeline. He chose life. It was the kindness, the gentleness, and the lack of addressing his crimes, the forgiveness, and the focus on love, which shifted his brain.

We often quote Matthew 6: 31-32: “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

Believe me, I have declared these verses out loud many times.

A year ago, I discovered the next verse: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Seeking the Kingdom of God is looking for the good in everyone; seeing earth from a Heavenly perspective; to be more like Jesus.

But to seek…”and his righteousness”? What is that?

It is to seek his grace all your life. Realize that all your sins are forgiven: past, present and future. Really get that!

Once you see the kindness of God, you will be transformed forever.

Then, seek his grace daily.

Once you see his blessed forgiveness in all areas and times in your life, once you see the kindness of God, you will be transformed forever. You will fall in love with Jesus, who cared enough for YOU, not the generic you, not the universal you, but YOU, reading this right now. He cared enough for…you.

Anyone who shows you that much kindness, that much acceptance… I believe you would follow that person the rest of your life.

Soak in his gift of righteousness. Let his love wash over you.

Know you have a clean slate every day and every hour.

No more guilt or shame. No more. Ever!

Know it came from Jesus. …and all these things shall be added to you!

Grace is in fact the gospel itself…

What do we mean by grace? The definition of the word as it is most often used in the New Testament is unmerited favor. It refers to the fact that Jesus paid the price for all of your sins: past, present, and future.

Grace means that God will “remember your sins no more”.

You don't need to remind him through some ritualized confession process. Your work at feeling guilty, mournful, and condemned does not buy you an extra ounce of grace. You couldn't afford an ounce. Or even a gram.

Some Christians become very concerned about what they think of as this “greasy grace” or “cheap grace”. They warn us that we must be careful, not take this too far, and that we must balance the teaching of grace with the keeping of commandments.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Keeping commandments does not earn you grace.

Grace produces all the fruits of the spirit, without using fear as a tool of manipulation.

There is no fear in love.

Fear-based fruit is filled with poison, as history proves.

“God is better than we think. So we need to change the way we think.” -Bill Johnson

So how do we respond to our brothers and sisters who are worried about what they view as a “hyper grace” doctrine? I believe much of the conflict flows from a simple misunderstanding of what the gospel of grace really means.

Phil Drysdale expresses it this way:

A lot of people seem to be arguing that those who are preaching a hyper-grace believe that the devil should be saved, nobody will experience hell, it's good to sin and that the law is bad. These are all really bad arguments because I don't know ANYONE who is preaching grace who says these things.

• The devil is not going to get saved.
• People will and do experience hell.
• It's not good to sin.
• The law is good, perfect and holy – it just can't make people good, perfect and holy… it's to show sin not to fix it.

This “movement” is not the end-times deception, it's not a doctrine of demons… it's called the gospel.

Is it unbalanced? YOU BET IT IS!

I don't know why, when we speak the message of grace, the way the Apostle Paul spoke that same message, people try and steal the revelation of how beautiful the work of Christ really is. But they do.

You must learn to ignore these voices of condemnation.

Any ministry that teaches you that you have to worry about whether you are really saved, that teaches you that you are saved by your works, that teaches you you should feel guilty and condemned for your sins after you have been saved… is heaping condemnation on you. And we know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

While they may be our brothers and sisters in Christ, when they try to teach us that we have to “be careful”, that we have to work for our salvation, that we need to “balance grace with the commandments”, they are operating under deception.

The Apostle Paul was persecuted for his message of radical Grace.

Paul had to defend himself against those who said he preached a grace that was so radical that it would encourage people to sin and be reckless.

Isn't it interesting that so many who preach this message of “balance” (condemnation) are not persecuted for the same things that Paul was persecuted for?

Perhaps if we're not persecuted the same way the Apostle Paul was persecuted, the reason is we are not preaching the same gospel he preached…

Be at peace, and don't be disturbed by those who would have you work for the very things that Christ has already accomplished.

It's been said that Christ “didn't accomplish everything so that you could accomplish nothing”.

I agree.

Christ accomplished everything, so that we can accomplish anything.

Jesus' promises are true. You can rest in his finished work.

What has God been teaching you about who you are in Him? Leave your comments below!

In what ways has God helped you take back your tomorrows? Leave your comments below!

You're often closest to your big breakthrough right when you feel like giving up. God provides a way for us to have joy and peace, even when we face real trouble.

Every believer can overcome trials if they will follow the example of the Apostle Paul, and his very explicit instructions. In this podcast, I explain what the Apostle Paul has to teach us today.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Romans [10:17]

How Has God given you peace and joy, even in the midst of trouble? Leave your comments below!

Some are feeling this desire for the first time in their life. I encourage you to follow that dream

How are you answering God's call to marketplace ministry? Leave your comments below!

Wait, wait… don’t stone me. Let me explain…

For many years, believing Christians have labored under the weight of their own sins. They have bemoaned their pitiable state, they have lamented the terrible things they’ve done, and they have been haunted by a guilty conscience. They have accepted the lie (from the enemy) that they are saddled with a “sin nature” that makes it impossible for them to live a righteous life.

What a horrible way to live! This point of view is so pervasive, most people believe it is a mark of being a Christian. The world’s people think of Christians as guilt-ridden, pathetic, self-loathing creatures- and this gives testimony to why the devil would want us to believe such things. Bearing the burden of a guilty conscience disempowers the believer.

Of course, I agree that without God, we are pitiable creatures. Without God, and without a personal relationship with Him, we can and will do the most horrific things. Jesus came to die as payment for those horrific things-past, present and future. But that’s not the end of the story!

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”?(Hebrews [10:17])

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John [3:16]-17)

As we read in the book of Hebrews, God promises that He will “remember our sins no more”. Elsewhere in the Bible (Psalm 103) He promises to cast our sins as far from us as East is from the West-that’s pretty far!
When Jesus paid the penalty for all of mankind’s wrongdoing, and when we as individuals accept the gift of that payment, our sins are forgiven. Our slate is wiped clean. We are free to stand before God having been made pure by his own Son.

If we continue to feel that we somehow need to pay for our sins over and over again, by constantly lamenting our past, it’s as if we are spitting in God’s face. It’s as if we are saying, “What Jesus did was not enough. I have to keep paying for my sins.” That’s not what the Lord instructs us to do.

Because of the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, we can approach the throne of God boldly, having been made pure and righteous by Jesus himself. What a wonderful gift! When we accept that gift, we give up the right to criticize it, or to accuse the gift of not being enough of a gift. That only insults the giver.

Now you may say, “Yes, but what about the sins I committed after I accepted Jesus? What about my future sins? Heck, what about that gesture I made in traffic today?”

Here’s something to think about: on the day that Jesus hung on the cross, every one of your sins was… a future sin. He saw them all. Even the ones you haven’t committed yet. And, because of His great love for you, after looking at all those sins, your Creator said, “I will pay for that.”

No wonder the early church spent so much time rejoicing!

I believe it is our duty as Christians to recapture the joy of the gift Jesus has given us. It is time for us to put off the robes of mourning, and to put on the clothing of joy and thanksgiving. It is time for us to go and share this good news with everyone we know.

It gets even better.

The Bible says we, as believers, are to “reign in life”. Yes, it’s right there in the Bible!

“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans [5:17])

You Are No Longer Punishable!

For so long, Christians have struggled with the question: “Why do I continue to sin, even though I know it’s wrong?”

The explanation that has traditionally been given is that we have a “sin nature” that makes it impossible for us to please God. In my view, this is simply not true. And it is, in fact, dangerous.

The text in the Bible that is most often used to support the idea of a “sin nature” is the seventh chapter of the book of Romans. This is where Paul writes about the struggle of knowing what one wants to do (that which is right), yet not being able to do that which is right. In fact, doing the opposite. Most people who hold the view that we have a “sin nature” (even after we are saved) believe that Paul, in this chapter, is writing about the present state of believing Christians.

Reading this chapter of Romans in context, however, seems to tell a different story.

The passage that is so often used to support the idea that we have some sort of “sin nature” seems to mean something different entirely when you read it after reading the chapter that comes before. Paul seems to be giving an example of what it’s like when we live under the law (the old covenant). He is clearly showing how it was impossible for anyone to keep the law; and how it was necessary for the law to exist to show us our need for God’s grace. After demonstrating the example of what it’s like living under the condemnation of the law, Paul has something entirely different he wants to talk about.

He celebrates the good news — that we are now free from this predicament — the very predicament he was writing about in Romans chapter 7.

How do we know this is what he meant to say?

Well, it’s important to remember that the chapter divisions were not present in the original Biblical text. So the “stop” at the end of chapter 7 is an artificial device. You have to read about the struggles of chapter 7 and then continue reading into the next sentence-where Paul clearly says “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.?(Romans 8:1-2 ESV)

In other words, the very struggle to do the right thing that Paul was writing about just a few paragraphs before… is now over. Nullified by Jesus Christ.

Instead of “beating ourselves up” and feeling the spirit of “condemnation” for our sins, we should be celebrating the beautiful gift of forgiveness that God granted us, long before we committed those sins.

Instead of running away from God when we “mess up” (because running away is what most of us do in those times), we have been given the great privilege of running to God, and being encircled in his protective arms, and hearing the words from our daddy, “I’ve already forgiven you.”

And Now We Are To “Reign In Life”

What does it mean exactly to “reign in life”?

I would like to propose to you that it means exactly what it sounds like: that Jesus intends for us to enjoy the benefits of every blessing He has given us.

He intends for us to be without anxiety, to be satisfied, to experience joy, and to be saved, healed, delivered.

How are we to receive these benefits? What do we do in order to get them?

That is the best news of all; we don’t have to do a single thing. Jesus paid it all! All we have to do is receive. Read it for yourself in the passage above from Romans. Who is it that reigns in life?

It is, quite simply, “those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness”.

Grace is the unmerited favor that Christ offers to everyone who will simply say “yes”. The fact that it is unmerited should be a source of great joy to us; it means not only did we not earn it, but also that we can’t lose it! If we did nothing to gain it to begin with, how could we possibly do anything to lose it?

Even more exciting is the gift of righteousness. Righteousness means “right standing with God”. It means that when God looks at us, and we have accepted the gift of eternal life through Jesus, God sees us as righteous. It means that even when we stumble, we are still “right with God”.

Remember that when Jesus died to pay for your sins, all your sins were future sins! So you’re not just “okay for now” – you are “perfected forever”.

What the law could never do, and what we could never do through trying to adhere to the law, Jesus did for us.

And now, we are told that once we have received this abundance and this gift that we will “reign in life”; not in the mystical hereafter, but in life! In the here and now.

So what does it mean if we are not experiencing this thing called “reigning in life”? What does it mean when we are faced with sickness, or lack, or adversity? Should we be discouraged?

By no means! We should know that these circumstances are the work of the enemy. They are not God’s way of “teaching us a lesson” and they are not His will for us. Believing otherwise is the opposite of “receiving the abundance of grace”.

Now be cautious, because this is the point at which it’s easy to fall into feelings of guilt or self-condemnation. If you are experiencing sickness, pain, or adversity, don’t blame God-and also don’t blame yourself.

Simply step up, and receive that which has been freely given to you by the Son of God: the “abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness”. If you are facing any kind of suffering in your life, you might want to pray something like this:

“Father, thank you for the abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness that you granted me through your mighty work on the cross. Thank you for taking all authority over death and hell. Thank you for the gift of eternal life, and for the privilege of reigning in life through the one, Jesus Christ.”

Watch what God will do for you when you accept his gifts!

What do you think of the idea that we are “unpunishable” under the New Covenant? Leave your comments below!