I Wish I Believed God...More

God told Eve:

"you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."

Satan told Eve:

“You will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Eve was convinced by Satan that the Lord
did not really intend to keep His promise.

Or maybe she misunderstood God.

Or maybe God was trying to keep a secret from her.
(that would drive most women over the edge)

Bottom line...
She didn't believe God when He made a promise.

But before I get too sanctimonious,
a couple of things in her defense.

1) She had no history with God to know His promises never fail.
2) She had no concept of death...she had never seen it.

Had she known all she knew 5 minutes after... 5 minutes before,
I'm not so sure she would have made the same choice.

This was also the first time she had been lied to.

Nevertheless, she listened, believed and all of
human history changed in one fateful bite.

Let's move to today.

We have the Bible and some 5,000 years
of history to prove He means what He says.

God's promises can be trusted.

He told Noah it was going to rain...It did.

He told Abram he was going to have more
kids than he could count...And he did.

He told Joshua, canaan was theirs...And it was.

He told David, the Messiah was going to come
from his lineage...And He did.

You get the point.
Many promises...All fulfilled.

Jesus also gave us some promises.

Promises like...

"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
and all these things will be added unto you."

or...

"You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

or...

"Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you."

or...

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. "

We have history to show that God's promises always come through.

We are not like Adam and Eve.
We can see a legacy of fulfillment.

You know what's sad?
What's really sad?

Sometimes I still don't believe.
And I suffer great set backs and limit my success
because of my unbelief.

I have no excuse really.
I see God coming through time and time again.

Yet, I still want control.
I still want to call the shots.

In the words of Dean Trune
"I want to be comfortable."

Crazy, huh?

So, even when I read and memorize great verses like-

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more
than I can ask or imagine according to His power at
work within us."

I shrink back.
And my faith leaves me wishing I had more.

Shame really.
Satan still lies. And sometimes I still believe him.
He tells me God's promises are not for me.
He tells me I'm not worthy. Or God's not listening.

I willingly exchange the truth of God for a lie.
Sound familiar?

But today...

Today I resolve to be more like Peter, Andrew, James, John
and the rest, who gave up everything for the sake of the call.

So that when I read verse like this, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ."
I've already grabbed my coat and am out the door.
Pursuing.

Bottom line...
Believing what He says.

RP

How Can God Love Me?

God's loves is like a perfect oven.

If you set the temperature at say 500 degrees,

no matter where you measure the temp, it's always

the same. 500 degrees.

Never hotter. Never cooler.

His love is perfect.

He can't love anymore. He can't love any less.

It's just as it is. Perfect.

That's why He loves us as much as He loves Jesus. Jn 17:23

He knows no degrees to love.

His love is complete.

And He loves everyone the same.

Perfectly.

He doesn't love you any less because of your past.

And He won't love you anymore if you never, never, ever sin

even one more time in your entire life.

His love is not based on your performance.

It is based on His character.

And His character is love.

He does not love you any less because of sin.

And He does not love you more because of Christ.

He demonstrates His love through Christ.

He loves you because He created you.

And to show His love for you, He did the impossible.

God opened heaven and promised eternal life

to every believer in Jesus.

Remember the 'Tree of Life' in the Garden.

God protected it after our fall.

He put a mighty angel in front of it to guard it.

Now, through Jesus, we can eat of that fruit.

We have the promise of eternal life from a tree.

Calvary's.

That's how He demonstrates His perfect love for us.

Know He loves you, not based on your merit.

It's based on His character.

He loves you totally and completely.

Perfectly.

It's who He is.

That's the Good News we are to go and share.

God loves us so completely, that He sent Jesus.

RP

God Loves Abundance

Ever notice how much the Lord loves abundance?

Do you ever look at the stars?

He didn't just make a few... He made gazillions.

And He named every one of them.

Ever notice trees?

Now that it's almost Fall, you'll really begin to notice them.

And when your out raking leaves,

notice the abundance He puts on every tree.

How about our bodies?

He didn't just make us out of a few cells,

He uses trillions.

How about the angels of heaven?

"Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. Rev. 5:11 NLT

He didn't just make a few angels,

He's made millions and millions.

Yes, my friends, the Lord loves abundance.

Even after He made everything, He wanted more.

"Be fruitful and multiply"...not add.

Jesus reflects that desire for abundance.

After He fed the 5,000.

After everyone had their fill.

12 basketfuls left over.

Not just enough.

Not just scraps.

12 basketfuls.

hhhmmmmmmm.

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. ” Luke 5:38

Your Savior is not stingy with anything.

Especially His grace.

Your salvation is not hanging by a thread.

His sacrifice was more than enough.

His grace is far greater than your sin. Than my sin.

One drop of His blood was great enough

to atone the entire universe.

And yet He poured it out for us in abundance.

Look around you.

See His abundance.

It's everywhere!

Remember His love for you and

how abundant His grace is for you.

There's no shortage.

There's infinitely more than enough!

Praise be to Jesus and His amazing, abundant grace.

RP

Yes, Please. I'll Have Some of That, Thank You.

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12

Ever notice how much Jesus talks about life?

"I am the way, the truth and the life".

"I have come that they may have life and life more abundantly."

Even under the former covenant God said

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life,... Deut. 30:19

God made the earth teeming with life.

And then He wanted even more!

"Be fruitful and multiply"...

God loves life!

And Jesus is the way to an abundant life.

"The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." Jn 10:10

Notice the contrast.

Satan and his ways are death. Destruction. Lack.

Jesus and His ways are rich and satisfying.

Jesus did not come here to give us a life of sackcloth and ashes.

He came to give us life and life to the fullest.

He gives meaning to your life and will richly bless you.

Uh oh.....

Randy's gone to health and wealth.

I knew it!

Ok.

Question.

Who brings poverty, starvation and lack?

God?

God doesn't bring poverty.

God doesn't bring starvation.

God doesn't bring lack.

Those come from the evil one.

God brings life.

And through His Son, Jesus, we have the promise

of a life full of blessing.

And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.

Eph 3:6

'the promise of blessing'.

ummmmm.

Yes, thank you.

I'll have some of that please.

RP

Does God Really Love Me?

My Pastor and friend Tim York and I were sitting
at a restaurant yesterday.

He was buying as a birthday present to me. Nice.

We were talking about Abraham and Isaac and the parallels
to Jesus.

One of us said, "If our people could see how much
Jesus loves them, it would radically change our church."

Later in the day, I came across a verse that will radically change my life. It will change yours.

And if you share it, it will change every life it touches.

The verse is written in red.
It comes straight out of the mouth of Jesus.

23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. John 17:23 NLT

Do you see that my friend?
The Father loves you as much as He loves Jesus!

Whoa. Wait. Really?
Yep. It's true.

And we know how much He loves Jesus.

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan,
the Spirit descended as a dove.

Listen to what the Father said about the son.

"You are my Son, whom I love, and I am very pleased with you."

He says the same thing about you.
Not because of what you do, but because of what Jesus did.

When you accept His son, He adopts you into His family
and is very pleased with you.

He's pleased that you accepted His grace.
You are in. You are part of the family.

And what a family it is!

Read this very carefully.

After the Father said this about Jesus,
Jesus went into the desert to be tempted.

The first temptation from the accuser, that's what Satan means,
was, "If you are the son of God..."

Notice he left out 'Beloved'.

The Father didn't.
And the Father doesn't.

Satan distorts the truth and he attacks our identity.

He knows if we knew our true identity,
he would have no power over us.

The Father does know who you are.
He knows you by name.

When you accept His Son's grace and sacrifice,
He writes your name down and now YOU are 'Beloved'.

Get it?

He writes your name down.
And He doesn't forget it. Ever.

He loves you just as much as He loves Jesus.
Do you think He ever forgot Jesus or His name?

Do you think He will cast you aside when you fail?
That wouldn't be love now, would it?

Yes, my friend He loves you.

His love for you is not based on you.
It's based on Him.

Remember.
While we still sinners, Christ died for us.

He loved us first.
And He demonstrates His love for us through Christ.

Brothers and sisters. Please listen.

The veil was ripped from top to bottom
and God's Holy Throne was made wide open to us.

The table is ready and He longs to dine with us.
Not snack. Dine.

A great big gazillion course meal with ALL the trimmings.

Why would we not want to sit and dine with Him?

Because of His great love for us, He's done all the cooking.
All we need to do is accept the invitation and walk into the party.

Read the words of Jesus.
Open your heart to God's love for you.
Don't resist.

Life will be rich beyond measure, in every possible way,
when we believe and accept His love.

Love that is as deep, and wide, and long, and high
as His love for Jesus.

He loved us first, so now we get to relish in that love
like a puppy playing with a little boy.

RP

Grace and Food Stamps

I was at a convenience store yesterday to

fill up with fuel and buy some gum.

I stood in line behind a couple of young men.

The oldest, I'd say 13 and the youngest around 5.

I noticed on the counter what they were buying.

4- 2 litres of soda.

2- 32oz powerades.

3- cans of Pepsi.

1- bag of candy.

Then came the clincher.

It was paid for with food stamps.

Really?

Food stamps?

I was immediately aggravated and

called my wife to rant.

Through the course of conversation it dawned

on me. There is a parallel here.

A parallel to grace.

The food stamp program was intended

to help those in need put food on their table.

It was not intended for pop and candy.

We've all seen the abuses and we all are rightly

agitated by those abuses.

But they were not breaking the law.

The program was intended to help

but like all things given to people, some abuse.

Ok. Many abuse.

It's kinda like grace.

Grace was given to all of us, but not without risk.

God knew there would be those who would abuse it

and not receive it as it was intended.

It was a risk He was and is willing to take.

Grace intended to bring us and keep us in fellowship

with the Father, through Christ.

Even when we sin.

He knew we would sin and grace is given to us

ahead of time so we can stay in constant fellowship with Him.

Of course there will be those who abuse this grace.

Of course there will be those who dishonor it.

God does not base grace on our behavior.

It is based on His goodness.

If God did not extend abundant grace to every believer,

none of us could stay in constant fellowship with Him.

We honor God's grace when we stay in fellowship with Him.

Even when we fail.

And we do fail.

All of us.

Walk in the assurance of God's faithful, abundant grace.

Allow it to transform your life as you seek

to be more and more like Christ.

When we fail, He still loves, forgives and walks with us.

It is the reward of His risk.

RP

The Purpose of the Bible

The Sadducees and Pharisees knew scripture.

They could recite entire chapters.

They knew Hebrew and the precise pronunciation of every word.

To even be a Sadducee or Pharisee,

one would have to be exceptionally bright and studious.

Very few of the children who studied the law

would make it to such a high level of achievement.

Only the 'best of the best' made it to this status.

These 'Teachers of the Law' took great pride

in their knowledge of the law, understanding

of the scripture, and the coming Messiah.

Is that ironic?

When the very one whom they studied their entire lives

to find was standing right in front of them, they missed Him.

They were looking for something else.

Someone that would fit their agenda.

When He wouldn't conform, they hated Him.

Please don't miss this.

The Bible, from cover to cover, was written for one purpose

and one purpose alone.

To reveal Jesus.

Our need for Him, His sacrifice for us,

and the return for His people.

Since this is true, read the Bible in it's context.

God's revealed plan through Christ.

It's not a book to condemn you and make you feel sinful.

It's a book to reveal salvation and the love God has for you.

For us.

For all of us.

Read the scripture to find Jesus and

the grace He has made known to us

through His finished work on the cross.

RP