Living Reconciliation - Pt. 1 "The Command"

As believers, we are to walk out the ministry of reconciliation in real time. We are to be careful in all things to point those around us to Christ in our actions, reactions, attitudes and the way we resolve conflict. There are three components to this ministry that we are all called to; the command, the hope and the testimony. Clearly, we are reconciled to the Father through Jesus and His redemptive work on the cross. By receiving that free gift we are restored but, there is an element of maintaining reconciled lives-with Father God and with man- which requires something of us. We are to be active participants.

The scripture sets the stage in 1 Peter 3:8-16...

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

For, 'whoever would love his life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and is lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.'

Who is going to harm you if you do good? But, even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. ' Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.' But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."

The habit of our lives should be righteous living (take note that this is not perfection but, rather an "all-in" pure heart motivation to be and do right before the Father) -following the whole counsel of the Word of God and applying its precepts to our lives. We should always be truthful and truth-filled; passionate in our pursuit of the Father and dealing with our fellow man in light of that. We, as believers, are to be a peace-loving and seeking people. We are to walk humbly with compassion and sympathy always loving and ever-ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us; demonstrating the full measure of God's grace and kindness to those around us.

This is the foundation from which the ministry of reconciliation is birthed in our lives -the vehicle by which the Father demonstrates His great power to heal and affect change in us and in others.

The question is are we willing to pursue it?

More to come...

Deliverance...Even Through Pain

"O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me."~ Psalm 30:2

[He is the one who delivers us]

" ...who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles." ~ Psalm 103:3-5

[Even in the most painful of circumstances -when you can't tell which way is up...ALWAYS GO BACK TO THE FATHER'S CHARACTER...He can be no less than He is -He never changes.]

Core of God's Character (Psalm 103:8-14):

*compassionate

*gracious

*slow to anger

*abounding in love

*does not always accuse (and when he does it is justly)

*will not harbor anger

*does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities

[He is faithful, generous, long suffering, merciful and kind...committed to never leave nor forsake His own (Ps. 37:25; Duet. 31:8)...He promises that ALL things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes(Romans 8:28) and that we WILL find Him when we seek Him with all of our hearts(Jeremiah 29:13-14)]

"As a Father has compassion on His children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him, for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. "

[We are called to set our faces on Him- to look to the eternal and not the temporal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18) - to look at the circumstances surrounding through an eternal lense and to seek His glory, fame and renown in all things -even the hard place...trusting that He holds us. ]

"You turn my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy...that my heart may sing to you and not be silent." ~ Psalm 30:11-12

[DO NOT BE SILENT! Praise Him -even in pain - behold he comes for you...]

"I will make rivers flow on barren heights and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into springs. " ~Isaiah 41:18

Praise you, Jesus!

Colossians 2:8

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

Just feel like breaking this down...a little word study

Captive - held, bound, controlled, no freedom to chose...stronghold

Hollow - without real or significant worth; meaningless, empty, fruitless

Deceptive - tending to deceive[bent towards it; intentional] or perceptually misleading[seems like the right way but, in reality its not]

Philosophy - a system of values by which one lives; a set of ideas or beliefs relating to a particular activity

Tradition - a continuing pattern of cultural beliefs or practices; a long established or inherited way of thinking or acting; custom, practice or habit

So-to bring in some of our definitions - for practical application sake, we could say:

~See to it that you are not bound to fruitless values, beliefs and practices that depend on continuing patterns of culture and the influence of the flesh- bent toward leading you down the wrong path; albeit subtly, taking your attention and affection away from Christ.~

Father, would you empower us to rise up and fearlessly walk in the way you have set before us as right. For your glory, fame and renown -In Jesus Name!

Salvation Secure - Part 6: More Confidence

A firm foundation is key to walking free and confident so, here are some more faith building passages to tuck away...

Joel 2 :32 - " And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.... there will be deliverance."

Psalm 49:15 - " But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to heaven."

Isaiah 43:11 - " I, even I. am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior."

Isaiah 45:17 - " But Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation..." [if you are a believer, this applies to you... as believers we are grafted in... Romans 4:16; ch. 11]

Isaiah 51:6 - "... my salvation lasts forever..."

Jonah 2:9 - "... Salvation comes from the Lord."

2 Timothy 3:15b - "... salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

Habakkak 2:4 - "... the righteous will live by faith."

Mark 16:16 - " Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved..."

John 3:15-16 - "... that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3: 36 - "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life..." [ no mention of deeds or works being a requirement for salvation- just belief]

John 5:24 - "I tell you the truth [Jesus speaking], whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. " [upon belief, we are granted eternal life/ effective immediately- never to be condemned - God is incapable of lying and salvation can't and won't be taken back].

Acts 4:12 - " Salvation is found in no one [or thing] else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. [Jesus is it! ]

Ephesians 1:7-8 - " In him [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. "

Ephesians 2:4-5 - " But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved."

Philippians 2:12b-13 - "... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to is good purpose."

Philippians 3:8-9 - " What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes form the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. "

I John 5: 11-13 - " And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life."

Colossians 1: Jesus is redemption and forgiveness of sins...

James 2: Faith and works are married; they do not function apart from one another according to scripture...

May your hearts be greatly encouraged as you meditate on God's truth and the awesome work He has accomplished for us to be restored unto Himself...

We have an amazing God who loves us lavishly!

Salvation Secure -Part 5: UNTO "Good Deeds" not THROUGH...

1 Timothy 6:18-19 - " Command them to do good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

We are commanded to do good and be generous as a foundational principle of a life lived by faith. When we are generous and willing to share we store up " treasure...for the coming age" -that's the heavenly reward part mentioned in an earlier post...

The ability to do good and be generous comes out of a heart work that has already been accomplished by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us -apart from Him we are incapable of it. 

The cornerstone of that foundation is Jesus Christ and His redemptive work- death on the cross, burial and resurrection. 

We don't work backwards to salvation...i.e. good works brings Holy Spirit sanctification which in turn brings Jesus to the cross and salvation and reconciliation to Father God...

It is the reverse:

Father God desired that fallen man be reconciled to Himself so, He sent Jesus to die on a cross for every mans' sin (Roman 6:23). Once  the new covenant was established through Jesus' blood, anyone who [repents, believes, confesses, receives] calls on the name of the Lord Jesus shall be saved (Romans 10:13). At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit is given to every new believer [in full measure] as a gift from Father God to guide them into all righteousness -HE is the one who sanctifies. Through the process of sanctification -the working out of salvation- one becomes an imitator of Christ and good deeds are the product of genuine heart change and the obedience of walking in the "newness" of life in Christ.

At first glance, the final portion of that verse - "...that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." could be misinterpreted as "that they may take hold of salvation" but, really salvation[albeit absolutely essential] is only the vehicle by which we take hold of life...salvation isn't "the Life" it is how we enter into LIFE...

So, LIFE comes through salvation and the experiential aspect of that LIFE, lived out in Christ;

is made richer, purer, and more intimately satisfying through doing the good deeds the Father sets before us to do. As we seek Him, know Him, pattern our lives after Him, and become doers of His word;  we begin to have that "Abundant LIFE" he prayed we would have.

Salvation UNTO Good Deeds!

Salvation Secure - Part 4: More Grounding Scriptures

Ephesians 2:8-10 - " For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -not by works, so that no one can boost. For we are God's workmanship, created in Jesus Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  [MORE ON THIS NEXT POST]

1 Corinthians 6:11 - " And that's what some of you were [ Paul is referencing the believers' old lives]. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God." 

The Spirit does the work...WASHED = blood of Jesus; SANCTIFIED = the process by which we are purified and set apart by God for His purpose - we no longer operate on our own authority; JUSTIFIED = made right, done! And the Spirit does it all buy the Father's authority through the blood of Jesus!

2 Thessalonians 2:18b -"...because from the beginning GOD CHOSE YOU to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth."

Something to note here, we were chosen by God and the Spirit does the sanctifying but, we have to participate in the work by believing. Our choice of belief or unbelief- as evidence through our actions, words and attitudes- can either help or hinder the sanctification process. If we chose unbelief then we effectively grieve the Holy Spirit and block his ability to work in and through us (1 Thes. 4:3-8; Eph. 4:30).

Salvation Secure - Part 3: Key Grounding Scriptures

Hebrews 6:17-18 - " Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, [if Jesus is your Savior -you qualify here] he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged."

Hebrews 7:22; 25 - " Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. ...therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him..."

Hebrews 10: 12-18 - " But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy...' Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.' "

Romans 8: 1-4 - " Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the spirit."

Romans 10: 9-11 - " That if you confess with your mouth, ' Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the scripture says 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' " (Isaiah 28:16)

John 10:28 - " I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." [Jesus speaking]

Romans 4: 7-9 ="' Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered [by the blood of Jesus]. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will NEVER count against him. '"

As far as the East is from the West; he remembers our sins no more - because of Jesus; nothing we do or don't do past the point of believing in him as Savior can alter our state of salvation or snatch eternal life from us...everything past tense is forgiven and wiped clean! We are new creations (2 Corinthains 5:17) from the point of receiving Father God's free gift on...the scripture references heavenly rewards as being connected with the fruit from our lives and works we do for the kingdom but, not our salvation (Matt. 16:27, Rev. 11:18; 22:12). 

MORE TO COME...