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Judgment Day (ATP)

Our question for this week is: On judgement day, can God turn you away? Say He had a specific thing for you to do in your life, but you never knew or learned what His specific thing was and you never did it, but you were saved and lived for God.

It is true that one day we will all appear before the Lord and answer for the life we lived in this earthly body. Scripture tells us this. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”  We also see this impending judgment in Romans 14:10-12, “…For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

So from these scriptures we see that one day all humanity will stand before Jesus and give an account for the life we lived. Now my heart is reminded of Romans 12:1-2, which says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Because of the great price Jesus paid for us, that is that the Father sacrificed His only Son to buy us back from the grips of sin, the devil, and external damnation, it is our “reasonable sacrifice” to live these lives on earth for His glory and for His plan. When Jesus left, He left us with a great commission. He told us we were members of one body, His body, and we therefore needed to continue His work bringing the gospel of salvation to the ends of the earth. Living in such a way, with such a purpose, is our reasonable sacrifice. Of course we run faster and are better examples of His glory as we live free from sin and pursue righteousness.

What’s interesting here is that scripture mentions the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. That word good means upright and agreeable. Many will live a good and moral life, but there’s more to this life than just living morally. Next is that word acceptable, which means accepted and well pleasing. This is a Christian who strives to live by the Word of God, a well-pleasing life before the Father, one that honors Him. Romans 14:17, defines this acceptable life before Christ as, “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” In my experience as a pastor I would infer that this is the highest place many Christians ever go. To live by the Word, be a doer of the Word, pursuing righteousness, peace, joy and the other fruits of the Spirit is pleasing to God. But now let’s look at that word perfect, which means finished, wanting or lacking nothing necessary for completeness. This is the kind of life Jesus lived. When He declared, “it is finished” on the cross He was declaring that He fulfilled the perfect will of God for His life, nothing lacking for completeness. This is also what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote to Timothy in, 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” There’s a difference between starting and completing, with nothing lacking or nothing wanting.

I recall being a child and going to a family member’s house that was a new building. The first time I went there I remember the house wrap and fresh plywood on the outside, and unfinished fresh drywall on the inside. Year after year I’d go there and instead of getting finished the house sat as it was and slowly decayed along the way, until eventually, in my adult life, that same new house had to be torn down because it was no longer able to stand. Look at 1 Corinthians 3:10-13, “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.” We live this life on earth in a vapor of time, whether we like it or not. Our foundation as Christians is Jesus and the fresh start He paid for. We decide if we then are going to sit still and let the time deteriorate us without ever completing the plan or if we’re going to build with the right stuff. On the day of judgement it will be known and irreversible. Building with precious stones, silver and gold is fulfilling the perfect plan of God, finishing the task He has assigned you as a member of His body.

Now to answer the original question, look at 1 Corinthians 3:14-15, “If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” Your salvation isn’t based on works. Salvation is based on believing on, trusting in, and calling upon Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Now let’s continue in 2 Timothy 4:8, “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” Finishing our course, in the perfect plan, leads to a crown of righteousness and rewards when we appear before Christ. Now, I don’t know about you, but just based on knowing how it felt to win the first place medal as a kid, I know it must be pretty amazing to stand before Jesus and be handed the prize for finishing the race and finishing it strong. I want to hear the words, “well down thou good and faithful servant.” Let’s endeavor to look at fulfilling His perfect plan as nonnegotiable, because, as the Apostle Paul said, we have loved His appearing. We love the plan of God. We love the gift of Jesus. We love this lost and dying world. Amen!?

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

Must I Be Married? (ATP)

The question that came in for this Faith Fix was, “Is there a Godly benefit to singleness? We are a church that loves the covenant of marriage. Even in the natural world at my age, I should be married and at least on my first or second kid by now. Marriage is something I’m not really desiring right now. Is it okay to not want to marry right now, I assume my desires will change over time. Is there a benefit to being single?”

This is an interesting question. It is true that the covenant of marriage is very highly regarded in our church, because it is highly regarded in scripture. The covenant between a man and his wife is the greatest example of covenant we have on earth, meant to represent and to give us an understanding of the covenant we have with our Heavenly Father. It is true that when we truly live in a marriage covenant the way God intended a marriage to be, we will have a greater ability to understand this covenant relationship with the Father. One scripture that shows us this is Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.” If we were to read more in Ephesians chapter 5 we would get the understanding that in the marriage covenant each member gives themself for the other, in such a way that nothing is withheld and nothing is separate. The Lord gave Himself likewise for the church, for each born again believer and when we accept Jesus as Savior we enter into a covenant where nothing is withheld from us. It’s also important that nothing is withheld on our end either. Marriage is a precious gift the Lord has given us to represent this relationship with Him and to bless us while here on earth.

Of course, we see also in these scriptures that other disciples were married, namely Peter. We also know that God created male and female, for one another back in the book of Genesis. Our bodies are vessels of the Lord, temples of the Holy Ghost, so the important thing is that we live pure before the Lord. Look at 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God.”

1 Corinthians 7:2-5, says, “Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” We know that desire is a part of our human nature. The devil has robbed from a lot of wonderful Christians by seducing them in this area. We’ve had friends who were tempted to live and give themselves to a homosexual lifestyle but they knew those thoughts were opposite the Word of God. We’ve known many women and men alike who succumbed to sexual temptation in their flesh out of the marriage covenant. We know the sex industry and the media use of sexual imagery is all meant to tempt humanity to sin against their own bodies, ultimately against the Lord.  No man or woman is alone in this struggle. And the Word gives wisdom on the subject.

Look at 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, “But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” This was the Apostle Paul’s personal viewpoint, but he recognized that every man did not have his same self-control. Paul believed and was saying it is best to have this self-control, but for those who don’t, “it is better to marry than to burn.” Now later in 1 Corinthians 9:5-6, Paul expresses that his unwed status is a sacrifice for him, “Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working?” The Apostle Paul, given the nature of his ministry, as in the constant travel, opposition, imprisonments, and the like, knew it was better for him to remain single, and that exercise of self-control in his flesh when it came to sexual desire was part of crucifying his flesh with Christ.  But we see in these scriptures that the Lord has a wife for him if he so chooses, but for his life he knew that he must remain single.

Look back at 1 Corinthians 7:5, “Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer.”  It would seem that the kind of lifestyle required by the Apostle Paul was that of extreme prayer and separation. He said he thanks the Lord he prays more than us all (1 Cor. 14:18). There are very few have been called to live to the level of sacrifice as the Apostle Paul, but of course we also know Jesus was never married while on this earth. Jesus would not have been able to give himself to a wife because His call was so great He could only give Himself to that. This is rare, but it does occur.

The simple answer is this: if a man or woman deals with the sexual desire, it is better to be married than to burn with lust. If there’s no struggle with being sexually impure, and instead you’ll give yourself wholly to the Lord, in prayer and time, then do that. If you’re desiring to be married but the right spouse isn’t here yet, give yourself wholly to the things of God. If you’re not desiring marriage now, but know you would like that in the future, don’t put your own timeline on it, but let the Lord show you the right spouse and the right time. Ultimately, whether married or not, we all must do our best to follow Him for every area of our lives. Amen?! We’ve got to make sure our focus isn’t on what God has for others, but what God has for us. Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

Paul Rose Above The Thorn (ATP)

This week’s devotional is in response to a question posed about God’s desire and willingness to heal. The question of Paul’s thorn in the flesh, as written in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, was brought up as an example that God was allowing Paul to be sick. Many Christians believe that his thorn was a type of sickness.

So, what exactly was Paul’s thorn in the flesh? Well, a lot of people have argued this but as always we believe the best way to interpret scripture, is through scripture and in its context. Let’s look at this carefully: 2 Corinthians 12:7 says, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.” There are a few things I want to point out while reading this scripture. One, God didn’t give this thorn and two, it was not a sickness it was a spirit.

Right after Paul mentions this thorn in the flesh he makes a very important acknowledgement as to what it was and where it came from. The thorn was a messenger of satan. Well we know that any messenger comes from whom they were sent and Paul clearly tells us that satan sent it! Where people sometimes get tripped up in this is in vs 9 which reads: And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

People often stumble on the word infirmity here because of its connection to our understanding of sickness. In our day we equate this word with sickness but just because our modern language does this does not make it the intent of the author here. Another example of this different usage of language in scripture, is how the King James Version of the Bible speaks on several occasions of unicorns. We know unicorns do not exist so does this mean the Bible was in error? Of course not! If you get an 1800’s dictionary you will see that that is what people used to call the rhinoceros.

This word infirmity also means feebleness of mind, weakness, and lack of strength or ability to bear trouble. What Paul is saying is precisely what he is saying so much in his writings, “When I don’t have the strength or ability to deal with opposition in of myself, God’s strength is sufficient for me.” He also reiterates this in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He clearly is not talking about being sick at all.

Now, there is another method of Bible interpretation that we use to help us understand what scripture is saying and that is the rule of first mention. In other words, to understand scriptural principle, it is best to know if it is talked about in other places so we can make sure we are not pulling random scriptures out and making wrong doctrine out of them. It is important to note that all wrong doctrine comes from either misinterpretation or misrepresentation of scripture. That said, we see the first mention of a thorn in the flesh in the book of Numbers.

The Lord told Moses in Numbers 33:55: But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides (flesh), and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. Clearly here God was equating these people to thorns and was not telling Moses that they would be a sickness to them. Our enemies are just that to us, are they not? Like a thorn, they might not kill you, but they sure can cause you discomfort!

Let’s go back to 2 Corinthians 12:7. We see that the purpose of this thorn was to buffet Paul. Literally the word buffet means to strike with a fist. Harass in Numbers 33:55 means to show hostility towards. Wouldn’t you easily say that harass and buffet mean a very similar thing? When we look at scripture through the light of the understanding of scripture, it makes the whole thing a lot more clear. Many people in today’s society (non-Christians) are misinterpreting scripture in a similar manner trying to show a God who isn’t good. They bring up the idea of things like slavery and genocide, trying to draw a parallel between things found in scripture and atrocities perpetrated by humans. Just because people read it some way doesn’t make it truth.

So we can see, as Christians, we need to continually read scripture through the light of God’s revelation. As believers and disciples we should constantly be learning. I often say that my doctrine on anything can be changed, as long as it’s founded in scripture. As far as God’s desire for healing goes, I can say this much: the abundance of scripture points to His character of being healer not inflictor.

Jesus, who only did God’s will, only healed, He never inflicted. He clearly told us, to do what He did and greater. One of God’s many descriptive names is Jehovah Rapha, or the God who heals you. God is not in the destroying business, He is in the redeeming business. Redemption means deliverance and so I think I’ll close with a Psalm on this subject. Psalms 107:20, “He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.”

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

God’s Will On Healing (ATP)

“Even though I already know the answer, my question is: “Is it God’s will that I am sick?” I know a family who is struggling right now, because they are expecting a little girl who has some serious health problems, including a heart condition. I do believe they’re Christians, but of course, they don’t have a good understanding of God and His Word.”

The short answer to your question is No! It is not God’s will for someone to be sick. The long answer is this, we have a real enemy that will continually try to convince you otherwise and steal this truth from you! 1 Peter 5:8-9, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith…” How will we resist the devil in faith? By building faith, as seen in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Sadly, many Christians have been taught an answer that’s not in line with the truth of scripture. The world and even many Christian denominations have created an image of God comparable to that of those in charge of The Hunger Games. Thankfully, in the Family Churches we have revelation of the true character of God, as a loving Father, not an omnipotent puppet master divinely orchestrating trials to see who makes it through and survives in the end. See, God is a good Father, so much better than we are as parents. The Word says His love is so much greater in comparison to ours (Matthew 7:11), which wouldn’t be possible if he was pouring sickness onto His children.

God’s will was never and will never be for humanity to experience sickness. We could go to Genesis to see His original intent for mankind, but for sake of time, let’s stick with what the Word says specifically about healing. When my daughter was a baby in the womb the doctors told me she wasn’t going to make it. When she was just a one year old, she was again attacked with sickness that could have been life threatening. It was clear that the enemy wanted to rob from her, so what did we do? We build scripture of God’s healing promises into us and into her. The first scripture I ever taught her as a toddler was 1 Peter 2:24, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” Jesus took the sickness of the world when He died on the cross. By His stripes, healing already belongs to the born again believer.

When Jesus sent out His disciples in Luke 9:1-2, look at what He called them to do, “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Jesus knew something, He needed to get more workers involved in order to bring this healing gospel to the world. Romans 10:14, “How 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?” My goodness people need to get this truth to families like the one you mentioned above!

I love Psalms 107:20, which says, “He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.” The Word of God heals (Exodus 15:26)! God’s character and in fact one of His names is HEALER. It’s who He is. You can’t come to God and call upon Him in faith and go without His healing power. Where He is, His power is. Where He is, His character is! The key though is trusting Him. We can’t believe God is the disease maker and the disease healer at the same time. We can’t have faith if we’re divided and double minded.

My advice is to get in your Word and get your arsenal prepared for battle. Just a couple scriptures to go to: Matthew 4:23, Matthew 9:35, 2 Kings 5:1, Psalm 30:2, Isaiah 53:5. Get the Word ready and built in you for when the devil tries to attack. And if you yourself don’t need healing at this time, be willing to be a disciple like those Jesus originally sent out to do His work and bring this healing gospel to the world.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

Confident In Him (ATP)

“How do you confidently know who you are in Christ?”

Well, the short answer to this question is, we know who we are by what He says in His Word. But, there’s more to it, the confidence. Confidence in what His Word says will only come from renewing our minds (Romans 12:2). We hear so much negative faith out there, whether from the news, social media, friends, colleagues, family members, you name it. So if we are going to look at life through the lens in which we belong to Christ and His promises to us, we’ll have to spend more time putting the right stuff in. So, why don’t we do that together right now?

Acts 17:28 reminds us, “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’” If you have received Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you are now God’s offspring. Your life is in Him and His life is in you. Look at John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Think about the privileges the children get to partake of. Everything in my home is accessible to my children. If they need food they can open the cupboards and get it. There’s heat to keep them warm, furniture to sit on, beds to sleep in, and water to wash with. All the provision I have belongs to them and I love to see them taken care of. God is a good Father and likewise likes to see His children taken care of.

Now, what is it to believe in His name? That word believe means to have confidence. It’s very difficult to have confidence in something or someone you have not learned to trust. And it’s very challenging and even foolish to trust someone or something you have not spent time getting to know. The more time we spend with God and His Word, the more we will get to know Him and the more confidence we will have in Him, and in who we are in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Colossians 3:1-2

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

1 John 5:4

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Look at these scriptures in conjunction with one another. If you are in Christ, you are a new creation, born anew. So then if you’ve accepted Jesus, being born again, now you must seek those things above and set your mind on the things of God (His Word & His Spirit.) Then we get to the cherry on top, in accepting Jesus, setting our minds on the right things, we become over-comers!!! We walk by faith into victory over every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 15:57 AMP, “But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Finally, let’s look at Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” As we confidently trust in God as our Father and His Word as truth for our life, we will learn that anything and everything in His inheritance belongs to us. That’s who we can confidently know we are, a joint heir of Christ in the kingdom of Heaven. It’s sure good to put our trust in Him!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

Growth & Grace

This week’s question addresses something that the world sees a lot of. “How do you deal with strife in the church in the aspect of jealousy? How do you deal with someone who seems to always be trying to one up you? I think I should know how to deal with/handle this, but I don’t. I am really struggling to find a solution.”

This is a very good question, one that I have at many times dealt with myself. The interesting thing is, as I sit to answer, there is literally a flood of scriptures that pour into my heart. This tells me that this isn’t just a nowadays problem, but a human problem. What I want to start with is something the Lord showed me a while ago.

It’s summed up in this: It’s not what happens to us that matters, only how we react to it. Everything in walking out a pure Christian life, acceptable to the Lord, is how we keep our heart. We cannot change another’s heart and we will waste time trying. God Himself could not change the heart of man. That said, I want to refer first to Proverbs 6:16 & 19 which say, “These … things the Lord hates,

yes, … are an abomination to Him… one who sows discord among brethren.” Discord is as evil as murder to God. Strife is nothing more than plain discord. That said, we will all have plenty of opportunity to either get jealous of someone or loath how they act, but the truth is, we are not permitted to act back with anything but love.

The church is made up humans with human personalities and I am convinced that God mixes it up for us on purpose. We need the opportunity that others provide us to learn to walk in love. Love is what describes God’s nature and since we are His children, should describe ours. People need to see the love of Christ in us which by definition always yields ones own personal desire to that of others. This is what Jesus meant when He said to love one another. It’s one thing to love someone that’s easy to love and another to love someone who makes it difficult to love.

I love the words of Paul as he wrote to the Church of Philippi. He said, (Philippians 2:2-3) “fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” When someone starts competing with others, this is selfish ambition. However, when those who are at the receiving end of their selfishness act out of offense, this too is selfish ambition. Our first reaction should always be to pray for them. Often people do not realize what they are doing to others. We have to remember what was said in 1 Corinthians 13:5, that love does not seek its own, is not provoked, and always thinks the best of others. When someone is acting foolishly, that can seem hard to do. This is another area we get to crucify our flesh in. I know, doesn’t that sound fun?

The key here is, no matter what, to keep our own minds thinking right. I do it like this: we are all called together to promote the work of the Lord. Period. If someone is acting wrong, God will correct them in due time. If I act right, He will bless me regardless. We must… think… right!

I’m now going in a direction that may seem surprising, but this is the life of a pastor. I love all the people God has given me to shepherd. I’ve dedicated my very life to them. If I’m honest though, there are tons of things that I could correct in even the most faithful of my people. There have been enough times when I’ve gotten frustrated, I’ve sought the counsel of my mentors. “What would you do when someone in your congregation does this or that?” I would ask to which is often replied, “Growth and grace Pastor Jeff, growth and grace.” In other words, in time, faithful people will make the right decisions and God will correct their stupid thinking if we give them space to grow. I once asked Pastor Michael, “Are there things in me I need to change?” He just smiled when he looked at me and said, “Growth and grace!”

Let me end with Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” Your job is to do the best you can and follow the Lord’s direction for your life. Don’t look at what others are or are not doing, only make sure you do what you are supposed to. Think the best of them and walk in love. God will always make it up to you if you choose right. Besides, you may not know it yet, but you are probably in need of a little grace while you grow too.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff