“I hate sickness !” Part 1
Our God Heals All of Our Diseases! Loving God and loving the Word of God is so easy and it is easy to hate sickness and disease.
Warning!!! This blog is fairly long so I plan on breaking it up into bite size pieces and hope that God causes someone who needs to read it to read and to share it with someone else will be obedient to do so. The scriptures are powerful and this blog hopes to highlight His great power and love. My opinions and insights are based on what I have witnessed over my many years on this temporal planet.
Let’s take a closer look at what the Bible says about sickness, disease, afflictions, and healing and choose to agree with the word and to go and pray for the sick in faith according to God’s promises and provisions. Warning!!! There is no magic pill, no quick fix, no formulas that we can manipulate God with. He is the same yesterday, today and forever! He is sovereign in all things. Sometimes sickness and diseases may be a test or a trial that makes us stronger, I do not have the answer as to why we or anyone has to suffer sickness. I believe that because Jesus healed diseases in His earthly ministry, and we are commanded to do the work of Jesus, then we need to be about the business of practicing, strengthening, and exercising our faith to pray and watch God perform a miraculous work when He is ready. The Bible teaches us that God is Omnipotent which means by definition He is all-powerful. He is El Shadai the all-sufficient one, He is more than enough. Therefore, we can only conclude that He is able. By studying His word we should also conclude that He is willing to heal.
I believe that God has inspired this blog on healing to highlight or emphasize what He has provided for us in the Bible. My prayer is that some folks who need healing for themselves or for others that they know and or love will mediate on these scriptures and that God will use them to demonstrate His power and might and love by healing many who are hurting. Please do not ever lose faith in God, our heavenly father, if you don’t see the manifestation of the healing come to fruition in your time-table, but keep praying and believing until God releases you from praying fervently. God answers every prayer! Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no, and sometimes not yet. Keep praying and believing.
One joy of my ministry at Grace Fellowship is to go to hospitals and to pray over prayer requests for those who have become injured or sick. I have the easy job, the light lifting, and that is to pray. I can not heal anyone. Sometimes after I have prayed in faith and have witnessed miraculous healings take place, sometimes the manifestation comes much later, and sometimes the miracles don’t appear to come at all. My job is to pray. It is God who receives all of the glory and honor and praise. God does the heavy work, the heavy lifting when He does the healing. The prayer of faith heals the sick according to James 5 13Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. (let him do his own praying) Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Have you every considered that the work on the cross was a twofold exercise in redemption? That Jesus died on the cross for all mankind as a substitute for our sins, that if we will receive His generous gift of salvation and our healing. Consider the two elements we share in communion one the wine represents the spiritual healing of our spirits and the bread was his body broken for us.
Foundation Scriptures: Psalm 103 1Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies;
Please note in verse 3 that our redemption includes both forgiveness and healing! I love the reality that our sins and diseases were taken care by Christ on the Calvary. His love to us is so amazing.
III John 2Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
Jesus bore our sickness and disease at the same time He bore our sins. In Matthew chapter 8
16When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
17That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Isiah 53 1Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
I Peter 2 24Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Isn’t it mind-blowing that in the Old Testament we are healed by the beating He took before being crucified and were healed in the New Testament looking back at the cross? The work and sacrifice of the cross was so complete that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word of God, the manifested member of the triune Godhead declares that we were healed and are healed. If we were healed and we are healed then why do we experience sickness? My thought is that we live in a cursed world because of the fall of the first Adam, but have been raised to walk in divine health and forgiveness once we accept the gift from the second Adam, Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:45. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
I Corinthians chapter 6 19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
In Colossians 2 12Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Jesus completed our salvation and our healing on the cross! Let us give Him thanks for saving us from the penalty of our sins as He paid it all! Thank you Jesus!
One Shot
I love Pastor BJ’s realization that at every Sunday service that we may only have One Shot at reaching a lost person who attends the next service. As staff and members of Grace Fellowship, we should all embrace this thought and do all that we can to make every service an experience that is receptive and warm to every man, woman, and child that comes on to our campus. We can help to make every service a memorable or an unforgetable a “super bowl” experience. We never know if the one who accepts the invitation may become the next Billy Graham. I do not want to miss that decision if it happens at any of our services. If we believe the Bible is in fact the inerrent inspired Word of God, and I do believe it is, then we will rejoice and pray during every invitation. Hopefully, those not needing to serve will stay and pray. Let’s pray that the lost person will be moved by the Holy Spirit, and will respond to the free gift of salvation by faith and trust, and will be saved. Saved from the eternal judgment and suffering. Hell is a real place created for Lucifer and his demons. Those who reject Christ will also spend etenity in Hell.
As I watch almost every service at Grace Fellowship from the back of the auditorium preparing to receive the offering, I see and understand that those who serve need to quietly leave the auditorium during the closing to get to their place of service, but am saddened by the others who leave before being dismissed. Are they trying to get a jump on leaving the parking lot or getting to lunch? Why they leave early is beyond me, but it is disrespectful to the Holy Spirit of God as He is dealing with people’s lives and where they will spend eternity forever out of the presence of God if they miss our One Shot? I pray that our members, attenders, and guests will understand the urgency of our One Shot, and stay until being dismissed and pray for those who are in need of being saved, healed, or having other needs being met.
I hope we never take the miracle of reaching the lost for granted. The Bible says the angels in heaven rejoice with every soul that accepts Christ. We were created a little lower than the angels but have been raised to be in Christ and we are His body and all things have been put under our feet. As believers we have been given the authority or the Power of Attorney of Jesus to do the works that He did and greater works. We may only get One Shot.
Prayerfully, we will all come to a realization that every person coming on to our campus needs Christ and needs a touch from God. Everyone who serves will receive heavenly rewards in their crown for that service regardless of function in the work that is done through praise, worship, and the message from BJ or other speakers. I am committed to praying during the service until the very end that God will show up BIG and change lives forever. We may only have One Shot, lets score a bulls eye each week for our Heavenly Father, his son - our savior and Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Let us together at Grace Fellowship make our One Shot count, every service.
You Can Work It Out – Marriage Part II
Today, there are many that are divorced. God loves the divorcee, but He hates divorce. Divorce, according to the Word of God, is a sin, but for years the church has treated it as the unpardonable sin. God may not like divorce, but He loves the person who is divorced. If you are divorced, you may say, “If divorce is a sin what am I supposed to do?” 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Many are divorced because it was forced upon them by the other party – they were deserted or abused or their spouse was involved in adultery.
There are three scriptural reasons for divorce found in the Word of God. Thefirst reason is abuse. I am speaking specifically of physical abuse. 1 Corinthians 7:12-13 talks about a partner being pleased to dwell with you. I do not believe that God wants one marriage partner living in a home where they are constantly beaten up day after day. It seems obvious to me that this spouse is not pleased to dwell with the other. If they were, there would be no abuse of their mate.
The second reason for divorce is desertion. 1 Corinthians 7:15 states that if a marriage partner departs permanently, we are not in bondage but that God has called us to peace.
The third reason for divorce found in the Word of God is adultery. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 5, beginning in verse 31. Jesus said, “It has been said, ‘Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. ‘” Verse 32 continues, “But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery.”
Verse 31 is from Deuteronomy 24:1, “When a man hath taken a wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of is house.”
This verse is talking about a man who finds his wife in “uncleanness” or in fornication. By the time Jesus came around, the scribes and Pharisees had taken that word “uncleanness” and applied it to everything that was considered unclean in the Old Testament. In their day, a man could divorce a woman for many reasons. In the Word of God there is no such thing as incompatibility. When two people are born again, they are not incompatible. They are compatible in marriage because the Word of God has made them one.
There are times when some couples think they don’t have any love for each other, but no marriage is ever too far gone for the Word to work. If the Word will heal a sick body and sick finances, it will heal a sick marriage. Faith starts by saying, “I am going to love you. I have made a decision to love you whether I feel like I love you or not. The Word of God says that agape love is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost, Therefore I am going to shed forth love for you. I am going to the wall in faith that I love you and the feelings will come in time.
Again, Deuteronomy 24:1 says, “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.” Verse 2 continues, “And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.”
You Can Work It Out-Marriage Part 1
Let’s begin in the Book of Proverbs. Chapter 18, verse 22 says, “Whoso finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord.” The Hebrew actually says, “Whoso finds a good wife, finds a good thing and not only obtains the favor of the Lord, but he also obtains the grace of God.” This verse is actually saying that a good wife is the grace of God. I like what the Septuagint adds to this verse. The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It adds, “He that divorces a good wife divorces a blessing, and takes an unchaste and stupid woman to his bosom.” This verse is telling us that if you have found a good wife, you have found the grace of God. Even though some may have dated for a year before getting married, we really didn’t know much about marriage. We had the crazy idea that when a man and woman get married, everything automatically flows, … that the husband automatically knows how to be the head of the home – the wife automatically knows how to submit, … you have kids and you automatically know how to raise them and that your love just grows and gets better because you are walking in the things of God. Boy, are you in for a surprise! We may think that submission had to be commanded. We think our wife should automatically know how to submit, but she doesn’t. We may keep telling her, “Submit! Submit!” We will find out that submission is a response. A wife can’t respond if the husband doesn’t give her something to respond to – love, care and affection. We may also had the idea that a wife was someone who was there when you needed her. You may think that you are good at delegating and so we just delegated everything to our wives – checkbook, kids, house, etc., and we expect her to take care of everything. When we have needs don’t come home, say a few little words, and expect her to automatically respond to me like she was a slot machine – put a coin in, pull the handle and get anything out of her you wanted. After the man is gratified through sex, he is willing to put her back in the kitchen – ignore her – forget she existed – except when he needed gratification again.
The Fruit of the Spirit is Love
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace… (Galatians 5:20) Biblical authors have stated that there is only one fruit of the Spirit, love. I tend to agree. I believe each mention of the characteristics of a Spirit led life is a manifestation of divine love found in us from the moment of the new birth. The best example I can use of a fruit is the orange. When opened up, it has many sections. Each piece is a section of one orange. Joy is one section of the fruit of love. Peace is another section of the fruit of love. I guess I am trying to say this: Quit trying to walk in joy, peace or patience. Walk in love and you will be joyful, peaceful and patient toward others. As it says in 1 Corinthians 13, love is patient, love is kind, etc. After all, God is love and He has no trouble being full of joy and peace. When the love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit, you will manifest every section of the fruit of the Spirit without trying.
Have you had your fill?
This morning I read the first few pages of a book titled “Not a Fan: becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus” by Kyle Idelman. He discusses John 6 and I was taken by the words of Jesus in verse 26. I do not want to be a fan of Jesus and Christianity, but a completey committed follower of the son of God, Jesus Christ, my savior.
Reading the account of Jesus feeding the Five Thousand in John 6 is a very familiar miracle to many of us. But, have you considered asking yourself and those whom you know if they are attending church and developing their Christian walk because they want to be fed and that alone. Are we coming for bread each Sunday from our Pastors, who have been called by God, or have come to develop a personal and lasting relationship with Jesus Christ and His Father God and to be enlightended by the Holy Spirit?
Below is a great deal of John 6 for your review as I try to keep this thought in context with the rest of the chapter. After Jesus feeds the five thousand and night falls. The next morning the crowd again looks for Jesus and the disciples and when they find Him, read verse 26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill…”
John 6
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
Jesus the Bread of Life
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Many Disciples Desert Jesus
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Will you examine yourself and your motives to be more than hungry for food but dedicate yourself to serving Jesus Christ will all of your heart, soul, spirit, and mind? Will you serve Him in Spirit and in Truth? Will you help to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment? James instructs us to do the work of the ministry, not just to be hearers only. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. We gain knowledge from hearing and studying the Word, but we display wisdom by acting on the Word.
Faultless
Faultless before the presence of His glory.”
–Jude 24
Can our minds really grasp or fully comprehend that awesome word, faultless!” We are far off from it now; but as our Lord never stops short of perfection in His work of love, we shall reach it one day. The Savior who will keep His people to the end, will also present them at last to Himself, as “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without blemish.” All the jewels in the Savior’s crown are without a single flaw. All the maids of honor who attend the Lamb’s wife are pure virgins without spot or stain.
But how did Jesus make us faultless?
Revelation 1:5
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
He washed us from our sins in His own blood until we were white and fair as God’s purest angel; and we shall be clothed in His righteousness, that righteousness which makes the saint who wears it positively faultless; yes, perfect in the sight of God. We shall be without blame and without reproof even in His eyes. His law will not only have no charge against us, but it will be magnified in us. Moreover, the work of the Holy Spirit within us will be altogether complete. He will make us so perfectly holy, that we shall have no lingering tendency to sin. Judgment, memory, will–every power and passion shall be emancipated from the powers of evil. We shall be holy even as God is holy, and in His presence we shall dwell for ever.
Saints will not be out of place in heaven, their beauty will be as great as that of the place prepared for them. Meditate on the promise that we, being made ready for the inheritance, shall dwell with the saints in light. Sin gone, Satan shut out, temptation past for ever, and we will finally be “faultless” before God, this will be heaven indeed!
I was honored to be on a recent pastor’s vision trip to Tanzania with Here’s Life Africa in one of the remote villages we visited, a man known by everyone as the town drunkard came and watched the JESUS film. He prayed to receive Christ and was instantly delivered from his addictions. The next day he actively began sharing his faith and is encouraging others to come to Christ. Standing in the middle of a crowd of his peers the man asked those listening. “Who here does now know me? Who here does not know how bad I was? You must be shocked to see me standing upright rather than my customary position of lying drunk in a ditch. I was the area drunkard. When these people came and showed the JESUS film in our language, I knew I had to change. I prayed and now I am free. This change is real and I have Jesus in my heart and if you don’t have Jesus in your heart you need him. Jesus has changed my life and He changed my name to Thomas.”
After hearing Thomas’s testimony the crowd, including our team, began to cheer and celebrate. After witnessing one of their own villages so radically changed by the gospel, smiles and sighs of relief and shock were evident amont the people. That day we were honored to be part of planting a new church in that village. The JESUS film was shown again that night and 182 accepted Christ.
The gospel really does have the power to change hearts and lvies. These are the kind of stories encountered in villages everday in Central and Eastern Africa and one of the many reasons that Here’s Life Africa, with their headquarters in Decatur, Texas continues to sponsor JESUS film teams, train pastors, Proclaimer Listening Groups, plant churches, and educate about AIDS and HIV prevention. I pray for this ministry daily and I support their work. I truly believe they are good ground to sow into.
Romans 10:9-10 (New Living Translation)
9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
God is so good and He is no respector of persons. He saved the town drunk, he will not turn anyone away. If you are not a Christian, please trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and begin to develop a personal relationship with Him right now.
Missions? How can they hear?
Pastor's Conference teaching with translator
How many times have we been presented with a challenge or opportunity to support missionaries, pray for mission trips, or even be challenged to go on a trip yourself? Have you ever wanted to go personally but were either afraid or said to yourself I can not afford to go?
More than 30 years before joining the staff at Grace Fellowship Church in Paradise, Texas, I served on the staff of Grace Fellowship in Tulsa, OK for 5 years as their Minister of Finance and ministry pilot. One of the privileges I enjoyed was providing bi-annual flight reviews for missionaries who were visiting our church. I frequently wanted to go on a mission trip but was fearful or too busy, or so I told myself.
In February of 2011, I had the most spectacular opportunity to go on a vision trip to Tanzania, Africa with a most amazing ministry based in Decatur, TX, Here’s Life – Africa Missions. I can not tell you everything that blessed me on this trip, but a few of the highlights included teaching about real faith at a African local pastors conference, meeting some dedicated men and women of God that challenged me greatly,blessed to attend several African church services and to observe their love for Christ and worshiping and their warm hospitality, and was present as we planted a church in Tanzania. These 11 days changed my life forever and opened my heart to love the African people.
Mark 16:15
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature
Romans 10:
13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
You may not be able to go on a trip yourself, but let me encourage you to pray and financially support those who will go. I believe that God credits our account in heaven for every soul that is won whether you are their in person or support in any way as we follow the great commission.
Walk by Faith
I love these verses about grace and faith. Grace is often defined as unmeritted favor. Something we did not work for or deserve. We deserved justice for our sins, but God gave us faith through faith. The point in Romans 12:3 is that God’s provision for our salvation and our ability to walk after Jesus begins with a measure of faith. We all received a measure of faith as a free gift from God. Nothing we do or don’t do can earn or loose our eternal life with God in heaven, therefore we cannot brag about our salvation or boast because Christ paid it all for us. All we have to do is believe by faith or trust that the scriptures are true and without error.
Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Romans 10:17
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Listening to the word of God brings faith or builds on the measure of faith God saw fit to give to each of us. We all need to read our Bible daily so God can speak to us through His Son, the Word, Jesus the Christ.
John 1
The Eternal Word
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
How amazing it is to me when I first learned that Jesus is the Word of God, He was with God in the beginning, and that He is God, and that He not only made all things, He holds everything together in the universes and galaxies. What a wonderful, powerful, amazing, creator we serve.
The Word Becomes Flesh
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
And the Word became flesh, as a perfect 100% God left His royal position in heaven, and Jesus was born by virgin, Mary. The Word, Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God, became 100% man for one purpose, to provide a substitute for the charges that were brought against all man kind. I hate that a perfect God and perfect Man had to die for me, but I am so grateful that He did. Because He laid down his life for me and for you, I will love Him and serve Him for the rest of life on this earth, and when I cross over from this life to the serve God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son of God (Jesus Christ).
