God's Abundance for Every Good Work

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
—2 Corinthians 9:8

In chapter nine of 2 Corinthians, Paul speaks about financial giving. He declares in 2 Corinthians 9:8 that God can make all grace abound toward us so we can trust His provision, enabling us to be generous. In Philippians 4:19, Paul also assures us that God will supply all needs according to His riches in glory. God’s grace isn’t just for salvation but also for empowering our daily lives. He supplies what we need to accomplish His work in this world. His provision is unlimited.

This verse doesn't say, “God will make all grace abound toward you.” It says that God is able and willing to supply every need of a cheerful giver, but this supply doesn’t just happen. Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” 

2 Corinthians 9:8 also dismisses the idea that God only supplies our bare needs. He is willing and able to make “all” grace abound toward us. 

“Charis” is the Greek word for “grace.” One derivative of “charis” is “charisma,” which translates as a “free gift” (Strong’s Concordance). Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines “charisma” as “a gift of grace, a gift involving grace on the part of God as the Donor.” God is our donor. He graces us with His provision so we can grace His work in the lives of others.
 
The word “abound” means “to be great in number or amount; to be fully supplied” (American Heritage Dictionary). Whatever hardships we face in this life, God’s grace “abounds” much more (Romans 5:20). The Lord desires that we are “fully supplied” and have “sufficiency in all things.” It is not God’s will for us to suffer financially. 

Deuteronomy 8:18 states, “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

People who argue against financial success point to examples of people who have sought riches to fulfill their own lusts. They rightly say these people are selfish and corrupt because of their greed. God desires us to be prosperous not for our selfish ambitions but for His purposes.

Genesis 12:2 says, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.”

The intention of God’s prosperity is to bless us so that we can bless and help others. If we are unselfish with our prosperity, those blessings are wonderful. If we are selfish with our financial blessings, we degrade the grace with which His blessings were given to us.

2 Corinthians 9:8 describes abundant financial blessings in our lives, where we can “abound in every good work.” This means we should never be unable to give to any good cause. Satan has convinced many Christians that God wants them to always be poor, causing many good works to go unfunded. 

Money isn’t evil. It is our love of money that is (1 Timothy 6:10). If you're always thinking about the amount of money you have—whether it is a lot or too little, you are thinking about the wrong thing. What money can do for you is your concern. You are thinking about yourself and your needs instead of others and their needs. If you are blessed in this life, God has blessed you to have an abundance for every good work. He has given you sufficiency in all things. As a man thinks in His heart, He is (Proverbs 23:7). Believe Him for even more abundance so you can bless others as He has blessed you. 

God desires you to have an overflow of His blessings so He can overflow into the lives of others. He wants you to have His abundance for “every” good work, not just one or two. God has given you sufficiency in all things. Never limit Him. Never forget that He gives more grace to the humble (James 4:6). Believe Him and expect to be more blessed so you can be a greater blessing in His Kingdom. Favor others abundantly as God has favored you. 

What Are You Sowing in Your Heart?

For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 
—Philippians 1:19-20
 
 
Paul preached the Good News of Jesus Christ. The message of new life in Christ was his absolute focus. Paul had the unwavering expectation and hope that God was with him at all times, guiding and empowering him to share the Gospel. God’s grace was sufficient in everything, and nothing could keep him from God’s will. Paul had an earnest expectation and hope that no feeling or circumstance could compromise his faith. He was bold because he allowed the fruit of his relationship with Jesus to be bold. Paul knew who Christ was manifested in his life. He had assurance—he trusted—and he expected God to magnify Himself in his life. He was willing to give all for the grace of Jesus to be known and lived out in the lives of others.
 
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the only one who makes all the difference in your life. He is the only one who gives you a new life. You were also Paul’s focus. Jesus Christ is the life Paul offered to you. Paul endured persecution for the sake of Christ so you could experience the fruit of your relationship with Jesus. Your expectation and hope make all the difference in how you live this new life.
 
Look at the phrase “according to my earnest expectation and hope” in Philippians 1:20. 
 
You are expecting something in life whether you are aware of it or not. Look at your expectation as soil from which your life grows. A pessimist only expects a negative life. An optimist discovers something positive in every circumstance and thing that happens. If you fill your life with negative influences—negative thoughts—negative things, you will wrestle with negative expectations.  If you dwell on the mistakes and sins of the past, you will find yourself expecting more of the same in your future. Your attitude—your approach to life—is extremely powerful. 
 
Your expectations are either based on God’s promises or on your fears and failures.  Hope comes alive as a result of positive expectations. Hope in God’s promises can only grow from the soil of your positive expectations. Since faith is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1), a negative approach to life can never inspire your faith to grow. Faith can only be inspired and exercised when positive expectations and hope are alive. Negative expectations are why so many Christians struggle to live in victory.
 
Expectation, hope, and faith spring from a promise God has made to you. These grow in your life from a seed that has been sown in your heart.  Every promise of God activates your faith, and faith comes when you “hear” His Word in your heart (Romans 10:17). God never lies. It isn’t His nature to lie. And God has designed seeds to multiply according to their nature. A farmer who plants seeds expects a harvest. A believer who sows God’s grace and His love into the lives of others can also expect a harvest. What you invest will be multiplied and returned to you.
 
What do you expect in your life? What is the source of your attitude? If you are basing your life on God’s promises—if you believe you will reap a harvest from sowing His truth in your heart, you will without doubt live a life of faith. If you see everything through the eyes of a pessimist, you will be left to your own strength. You will experience a stingy life when you could have had an abundant one.
 
Paul had the expectation, hope, and faith that the Holy Spirit would supply all his needs as he stepped out to share the message of grace so you could, also, plant the seed of God’s truth in your heart; so you, also, could choose to live by faith and not by sight; so you could, also, believe. 

What are you sowing in your heart? It’s going to multiply.

—Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
—Romans 15:13
 
 

A Vessel of His Love

Many people who deal with sickness find themselves in a place of helplessness. Some believers try to work up their faith to believe they can be healed. Others hope that some medical help will be their answer. Others live in total despair that there is hope.
 
Here’s Jesus’ instruction to us as the body of Christ. 
 
“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8).
 
Jesus instructs me to give what I have received freely. Do I really believe that I have freely received healing as a gift from God? Do I believe in healing as an expression of God’s goodness?
 
1 Peter 2:24 says, “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.”
 
According to 1 Peter 2:24, I have been healed by Jesus’ stripes. According to Matthew 10:8, I am to give freely what I have been given. Through my faith, can healing be a gift of love freely given to someone who is hurting? 
 
“Believing unto righteousness” (Romans 10:10), the new birth, is a spiritual transformation of personal faith. Healing is a physical transformation that also requires personal faith.

Receiving healing can be an act of personal faith, a gift through another's faith, or simply a miracle that comes through God's goodness, who makes His rain fall on the just and the unjust. 
 
Peter had faith for the lame man (Acts 3:6-7). The centurion had faith for his servant (Matthew 8:13). The Canaanite woman had faith for her demon-tortured daughter (Matthew 15:28). Jairus had faith for his sick daughter (Mark 5:23). In each situation, the faith of another person brought the gift of healing to the one who was suffering. 

Lord Jesus, help me to receive the revelation of this truth in my heart. I am to impart You freely. I never need to burden a suffering person with working up their faith to believe in their own healing. Rather than frustrating someone who is hurting, I can be a vessel of Your love and bring healing to them. You are that good. Lord Jesus, I am willing. You are the potter. I am the clay. It is Your excellence. I have none. Lead me, Lord. I will follow You.
 
 

Come in Confidence

 

 

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
—Hebrews 4:16
 

The only way we can come to God is in humility. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Humility before God doesn’t demand anything based on your accomplishments or worth. Humility is also not groveling and bargaining with God to answer your prayer. Humility before God is coming to Him in confidence, knowing He gives mercy and grace in your time of need. It is knowing the worth Christ has placed on your life.
 
When you come boldly to the throne of grace, it doesn’t mean you come instructing God. That is not the surrender that expresses humility. That is pride. When you come boldly to God, you come in the assurance of your relationship with Him. You come knowing your right standing with God. When you believe in your heart the truth of everything Jesus has purchased with His blood on your behalf, you have confidence in your relationship with the Father. 
 
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).
 
Do you have the confidence to approach God boldly? If you ask anything according to God’s will, He will hear you, and you will receive it. Do you believe this? If what you ask is promised in the Word of God, it is without question God’s will. 
 
When you believe who you are in Christ, you are at peace in your relationship with God. You walk in the freedom His grace has given you. When you have a need, you come freely to God without fear of reproach, judgment, or retribution. You come knowing what the grace of Christ has given you. You come knowing your Father loves you, and you will receive His mercy and grace to help you. You come with a heart of praise because you believe.
 
True humility does not promote self. Neither does it demean itself. True humility only glorifies the Father. When you have confidence in your relationship with the Father, you don’t need to beg for mercy and grace. You don’t need to beg God to give you anything He has already provided in the gift of salvation. You don’t need to beg for forgiveness, healing, or your needs to be supplied. Jesus paid the price for all of these long before you were made in your mother’s womb or wrestled with sin, illness, or need. You received His complete salvation when you were born again. There is nothing left to earn. His love earned it for you.
 
“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (James 4:6).
 
God pours more grace into the lives of those who walk in true humility and are confident in their relationship with Him. He pours more grace into those who depend only on Him. True dependency on the Father promotes confidence in Him and not in yourself. 

Resist pride’s temptation and receive more of God’s grace in every moment of your life. You will believe the Father for what the rest of the world believes impossible. Present your requests to God confidently, knowing Christ has made you worthy to receive the petitions that you have asked of Him. 

 

How Are You Rich?

He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 

So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 

But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

—Luke 12:15-21

*******

The dictionary defines covetousness as: “Having or showing a great desire to possess something belonging to someone else.” However, in this parable the rich man didn’t want what someone else had. He wanted to hoard what he had. Part of what we have belongs to God and others. Keeping everything we possess for ourselves is covetous and greedy.

This rich man thought his abundance was just for himself. He missed the truth of Genesis 12:12, where God says, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.” The rich man also missed the truth of Deuteronomy 8:18, which says, “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

The New Testament reveals the reasons why the Lord desires us to work. Through our labor, we can provide financial support for others (Ephesians 4:28) and abound in His good work (2 Corinthians 9:8). True prosperity isn’t selfish. It’s surrendered to God’s purpose and enables us to give (Acts 20:35). Those who use their money to meet only their needs are like the rich man in this parable—a fool.

This rich man wasn’t just scraping by. He had barns that were full. But he had harvested so much he was going to tear down the barns he had and build bigger ones. How much prosperity do we need to be satisfied? How much money do we require before we stop focusing on just our needs and begin meeting the needs of others?

Those who persistently seek more wealth in life, surpassing what is necessary to provide for their families (1 Timothy 5:8), are like the foolish man depicted in this parable. It’s foolish to gather wealth and hold on to it. We don’t know what is coming (James 4:13-15), and we certainly can’t take it with us when we die. 1 Timothy 6:7 says, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” Only a fool takes all he can get in life and uses it only for himself. The way we are rich financially toward God is to use our money to prosper His Kingdom and bless others (Matthew 25:40).

How would the Lord have responded if this rich man had given away his harvest and planted again to produce an even greater harvest? I think this rich man would have been praised, his wealth would have increased, and he would have been blessed throughout eternity (Mark 10:30). You can look at the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-23 and know the Lord wants increase, but that increase isn’t just for us.

This doesn’t mean we should have nothing. Those who give will be blessed with abundance in return (Luke 6:38, 2 Corinthians 9:6-10). The Lord “has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant” (Psalm 35:27). We can never out give the Lord. But money is God’s gift to give away. It profits us nothing if it is buried like the one talent in Matthew 25:18. We don’t give to receive. We give because it not only benefits others but also brings blessings to the Lord and our own hearts. Increase in our heart is what is important.

Our Pastor said yesterday, “We don’t determine how we die. We determine how we live.” Your life isn’t defined by what you own, your prosperity, or your success. It is defined by the Savior you allow to live and prosper in you. God wants you to thrive in this life to be a blessing. Your focus must never be on yourself, but on others and prospering His Kingdom. When you believe in your heart that the Lord has blessed you to be a blessing, you get your priorities right. You give out of your resources, knowing His resources are endless. 

If you are faithful over a few things, God will make you ruler over many things (Matthew 25:21). What you invest in His Kingdom and the lives of others will be richly returned. Nothing will destroy or steal the riches you lay up for yourself in heaven (Matthew 6:20).

Where is your treasure? Are you rich toward God? Where your treasure is, there lies your heart.



 

Have You Heard God?

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 
—John 10:27 

 

Do you hear God? John 10:27 says if you know Him, you can hear His voice. Hearing God is the key to living in faith, victory, and peace. Hearing Him brings perseverance and success in every area of your life. 

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit” (John 15:7-8). 

Abiding in Him can be compared to a continuous meditation on His Word, which the Holy Spirit quickens to your spirit. When His Word is quickened in you, it is referred to as “hearing” or “revelation knowledge.”

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”(Romans 10:17).

When you have truly heard from God, faith will come alive. No matter what the circumstances might be, you will be alive to God’s will, you will have vision, peace and perseverance. There may be obstacles that once seemed impossible to overcome, but a word from God makes them look small. Nothing can stop you. That word has unlatched an overcoming faith in you.

We must come to a place where God's Word is so real to us that it is God speaking directly to us. When we have a need, we go to the Father through His Word. We do not consider what we sense or experience but rather the promise of God. His promise cannot fail. 

The Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears from the Father (John 16:13). Believe His promise, speak His victory, and receive His provision. 

“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill” (Numbers 23:19)?

 

Are You Hearing the Word in Your Heart?

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.
—Proverbs 4:20-22
 
 
This Scripture doesn’t say God’s words are “like” health to us. It says that His words “are” health to us. You may have a million dollars in a bank, but that money doesn’t benefit you if you never withdraw it. You may be told that life and healing are in the Word, but you won’t receive their benefit if you don’t find them.
 
When we give attention to His words, incline our hearing toward them, and keep His words in our hearts, we spiritually consume wholeness and health. When we fill our hearts and minds with the world’s darkness, anxiety, fear, and disdain, we spiritually consume depravity and loss. Many believe in healing, desire healing, and ask God for healing, but their hearts may not be open to receiving the healing God has spoken of. 
 
Look at this story of Paul preaching the Gospel in Galatia. 
 
“And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, ‘Stand up straight on your feet!’ And he leaped and walked” (Acts 14:8-10).
 
Paul was preaching the Gospel and most likely wasn’t even preaching on healing. Yet, this man “heard” healing! It only took the Gospel! It only took God’s words! The Gospel IS the power of God (Romans 1:16)! What the cripple man heard reached his heart, and faith was ignited. This became evident to Paul, and the lame man was healed by “hearing” his healing in his heart.

“Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” Paul asked (Galatians 3:5).
 
Have you heard God’s words? Not just with your physical ears, but spiritually with your heart? They are life and healing to all who find them. They must first be discovered spiritually before they can become your physical reality. You are changed by the hearing of the Word from the inside out.
 
Meditate on Psalm 107:20: “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions” (Psalms 107:20).
 
Don’t just read this verse and go on. Don’t just accept the obvious and not be open to what the Spirit wishes to reveal to your heart. Come hungry to the Word. Contemplate and consider each word in the verse. Don’t give up and say it is not working. The Word is alive and active and always working. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal His thoughts. He wants you to find them. Allow His thoughts to paint a picture in your mind. Dwell on it, envision it, anticipate it, and believe it in your heart. 
 
God’s Word never fails. Your healing and deliverance are in Jesus, the Word. Your healing is in Him. God sent Jesus with the purpose to heal and deliver you. He loved you that much. His revelations for your life are in His Word. Have you heard His Word in your heart? Are you hearing it each day? His Word for you is new every morning. Great is His faithfulness! (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Listen With Your Heart

 
We all have questions about our health, finances, relationships, and other issues in life. Some believers seek God for advice, and others ask a friend or someone else. Advice from even a godly friend is not the same as hearing from the Lord. When you hear from the Lord, His Words stir your faith. He speaks directly to your heart and not through someone else’s spiritual, mental, and emotional understanding. You will always lack if you continually seek someone other than God to guide you. Abundant life cannot come to you through someone else’s spiritual guidance. You were created to hear God for yourself. 
 
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).
 
God created you to live by His Word. 
 
The Word of God is not just a book; it is Spirit and life (John 6:63), and the only source of abundant life, health, peace, and purpose. Until we hear God for ourselves, we will never receive the abundant life God has planned for us. Advice might be necessary for a new believer, but spiritual advice from someone else is not meant to be our spiritual food forever. We were created to feast on the living Word of God. If we commit ourselves to hearing His still, small voice, we will avoid many mistakes and the resulting issues they bring. 
 
God created us with the ability to hear Him. 
 
“Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live” (Isaiah 55:3).
 
God is always speaking to us. He speaks through His written Word (John 20:31, 2 Corinthians 4:13). He speaks by the Holy Spirit to our spirit (Romans 8:16), and He speaks through the preaching of the Gospel (Acts 2:36-38). 
 
“My son,” God speaks, “give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:20-22).
 
If you were asked, “What is God saying to you,” could you answer? 

You cannot have faith and God’s wisdom without hearing from Him. When left to your own limited knowledge and ability, you will ultimately fail. We have all made bad decisions when left to our own resources. 
 
Faith has only one source.
 
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17)
 
If you aren’t hearing God’s still, small voice or His Word isn’t stirring your heart, the time has come to redirect your life. It is time to focus on His Word, seek Him in His Word, and expect to hear Him in your heart. That is abundant life.
 
If you wish Him above all else—if you desire His abundant life of health, peace, and purpose, incline your ear to Him and feast on His Word. 
 
“Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).
 
 

Accepting Responsibility

Some Christians blame God when they can’t understand something bad that happens. Blaming Him seems to make them feel justified in their actions. 
 
Look at Adam. When God asked him if had eaten of the tree that was forbidden to him, Adam answered,  "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12).
 
Not only did Adam blame Eve for his sin, but he ultimately blamed God. Adam said that if God hadn’t given Eve to him, he would never have eaten the fruit of the tree. Instead of being accountable, he held Eve and God accountable. Justifying ourselves by blaming others might be a common human trait, but it is not the trait of the spiritually reborn person in Christ. 
 
Look at Jesus and the disciples in a boat in the middle of a storm.
 
“But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing’” (Mark 4:38)?
 
The disciples were terrified. Their reaction to the storm and its obvious threat was to get upset with Jesus, who was sleeping in the stern.
 
“Don’t you care we are perishing?” they cried out. Of course, He cared. When it appears that God doesn’t care about our difficulties, we sometimes cry out just like the disciples. We see the storm instead of Jesus and hold Him accountable. Of course, God cares if we are perishing. He gave us the very best He could to rescue us. He gave us Jesus.
 
How often do we think of God as uncaring? Doesn’t He care about the condition of the world? Doesn’t He care about cancer? And illness? And our hard struggles?  
 
Some people say God could stop these things if He wanted to, and since He doesn’t, He must not care. Others will conclude that God is actually behind the world’s problems, personal struggles, cancer, and illness. God does care that we are perishing. He sent His Son to prove it and to save us. This fallen world is the problem. Sin is the problem, and the fruit of sin falls on the righteous and the unrighteous alike.
 
If God controls these things, why were we given authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19)? 
 
We have an enemy who works evil in this world. Jesus came to destroy the works of the enemy (1 John 3:8). The enemy comes against us with evil works to convince us that we are perishing and that Christ’s light has not overcome his darkness. We are not perishing. Jesus is the One who has come to redeem us from Adam’s sin and the evil works of the enemy. Yet, so often, we blame God for evil and excuse ourselves from responsibility, just like Adam did. 
 
I have a question. Why did Jesus need to rebuke the storm if His Father controlled it (Mark 4:39)? And why did Jesus give us authority over the enemy if we do not need it? 
 
God has given us free will. Adam abused it, and we suffer. We abuse it, and we suffer. Others abuse it, and we suffer. God does not control you or anyone else. God is not controlling corruption, sin, or any evil thing. 
 
There is a saying that has been attributed to several different people called Hanlon’s Razor. It says, “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” 
 
Never attribute malice to God—never blame Him for what can be explained by our foolishness. What happens in our lives is the result of our choices or the results of the evil works of the enemy. We should never blame God for the enemy’s work, our works, or Adam’s foolishness.
 
Jesus loved us enough to redeem us from Adam’s sin. His work was complete, and He overcame the works of the enemy. We must accept the responsibility God has given us. God doesn’t control us. He is waiting for us to believe His Word, accept our responsibility, hold ourselves accountable, and walk in faith, exercising the authority He has given us.
 
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).
 
 

The Provision of His Grace

For we walk by faith, not by sight.
—2 Corinthians 5:7

 
 
Everything good God has for us is provided in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. Faith doesn’t create anything new. It can’t create healing or deliverance or provision. Faith appropriates what God has already provided. When we make ourselves the authors and the finishers of our own faith, we aren’t going to like the results. Anytime we make receiving from God about ourselves, we become disappointed and disillusioned.
 
“Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: ‘Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk’” (Acts 3:11-12, NKJV)?
 
These two Spirit-filled men knew that this miracle was not anything they had done. They knew it was the supernatural power of God that flowed through them that had made a change in this man’s life. From lame to healed, this man was now whole. 
 
“Through faith in the name of Jesus,” Peter said, “this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes” (Acts 3:16).
 
We never receive the promises of God through anyone else’s work or through our own work. We only receive by exercising the measure of faith Christ has given us (Galatians 2:16, Romans 12:3). 
 
Do you have peace one moment and live in fear the next?  You can never walk in the peace of God when circumstances or the opinions of others determine your life. These are unfinished and changing and always will be. But the finished work of Jesus on the Cross for you is complete. It is unchanging.
 
What you believe in your heart determines the course of your life (Proverbs 23:7). When you believe in your heart that Christ’s work on the Cross for you is finished, then you know that there is nothing you have to do to win God’s favor and love. You know you are favored and loved. You live in His peace that passes human reasoning and removes everything you thought necessary to be His. You are unhindered and free to receive His love. 
 
Faith that receives from God is faith that comes from hearing God’s Word (Romans 10:17). The mind of Christ takes hold, and His Word speaks truth to you (1 Corinthians 2:16). Your beliefs are changed by God’s truth (Romans 12:2). When you seek God with all your heart, you are rewarded (Hebrews 11:6). You know that He is who He says He is in your life.
 
You have a new life in Christ— a life of wholeness and victory. But, maybe, you are afraid to seek it. Perhaps, you have struggled for a very long time and are afraid to reach for the wholeness of the new life Jesus has given you because you have been disappointed again and again.

Receiving from God is not about you. It is all about Him. Jesus is the gift. He is the Word that must be opened to discover the truths for you that have been hidden. Be renewed in your mind by the Holy Spirit’s understanding of the Word (Ephesians 4:24) until you believe without the need to see or experience your healing. Jesus becomes your focus and what you experience becomes less. Enter into fellowship with Him, where His presence becomes paramount, surpassing even your health, needs, or problems. In this surrender, receiving His love and returning it becomes more vital than any distraction or problem, regardless of how painful or disturbing it may be. Jesus, Himself, is your answer for your deliverance. Guard His truth from doubt. Continually clothe yourself in His righteousness and truth (Ephesians 4:24), constantly taking possession of it as yours. Keep on moving forward, walking by faith, and not by sight, and trusting in Him (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith in Jesus Christ requires action. Without action, that faith has no life. With action, that faith becomes life.

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

Jesus, the Healer, dwells in you. His power dwells in you. He will give life to your mortal body through the Holy Spirit, who also dwells in you.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Jesus has supplied all you need, according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).Above all else, seek fellowship with Him; the things Jesus has provided through His atonement shall be added in your life. It is only through faith in Jesus—in the name that is above all names—that you receive what God has already provided for you in His finished work of grace. His provision is for you.


 

Am I Seeing What My Father Sees?

If you examine the various accounts of Jesus feeding the multitudes, they all share similar circumstances. Each account describes thousands of hungry people, limited resources, and a lack of faith. Yet, in every account, a few loaves of bread and fish are multiplied to feed thousands, with plenty of food left over.
 
What happened? Think about this: Jesus revealed the power of spiritual vision. The resources of bread and fish took on the nature of the One looking at them. Natural eyes saw the shortage. But spiritual eyes saw more than enough. Jesus’ vision, compassion, and faith caused the bread and fish to take on the nature of the resources He saw in the spiritual. The resources miraculously became what He saw. 
 
“But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
 
This verse indicates that we will be transformed into His image when we “see” Him. In other words, what we “see” is what we become. Proverbs 23:7 affirms this truth: “As he thinks in his heart, so is he.” 
 
The things around us take on the nature of how we see them. When we “see” a lack in our hearts, our resources reflect that lack. When we see sickness, we reflect sickness. When we see problems, we reflect problems. The lack of vision defines our lives and futures.

Jesus said: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matthew 12:35). 
 
Out of our hearts, we either bring forth what we lack or the power of God’s spiritual resources. What we see becomes what we are. What we envision in our hearts is powerful.
 
Jesus saw more than enough in the loaves and fish, and they responded to what He saw. The nature of the bread and fish had to conform to the nature of the spiritual. Through Jesus’ vision, a meal for just a few people became a meal for thousands. He chose to see His Father’s abundance, and the bread and fish adjusted to His spiritual vision. 
 
Then Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, likewise the Son does” (John 5:19)
 
Jesus trusted in His relationship with the Father to receive vision. What He “saw” the Father doing became the vision for what He did. This is why Jesus always had the resources and faith to meet the needs of those who came to Him. He had already seen it. The resources responded to the nature of the vision and the faith of Jesus. 
 
Isn’t Jesus’ Father also our Father? Do we not have the same Holy Spirit? Can we not also “see” the vision of the Father? Yes, we can. We were created in His image. We can see with His eyes. God’s vision is revealed in His Word. When we genuinely get His Word in our hearts, we no longer see what we lack. We see what is ours in the spiritual. There is immense power in seeing God’s spiritual resources. 
 
“But blessed are your eyes for they see,” Jesus said (Matthew 13:16). His spiritual vision doesn’t create a lack. It blesses you and me.
 
Without my Father’s vision, I will perish; my own vision welcomes the lack of His blessings (Proverbs 29:18). Do I trust my relationship with Him? How do I view the resources in my life—my health, ministry, work, marriage, family, and friends? They all respond to my perspective every day. Am I seeing what my Father sees? 

Quit Limiting God

 

 

Yes, again and again they tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel.
—Psalm 78:41


God doesn’t limit us. It is we who limit Him by limiting our faith in Him. Never grieve God by not believing Him. You will experience the deliverance of God only as far as you believe (Matthew 9:29). If you believe in Jesus, you have rivers of living water within ready to flow out of your life (John 7:38). If you lose everything in this world, you still have the abundance of Jesus within you (John 10:10). You have the ability to draw upon the abundant life Jesus has placed in you. But how can do you that?
 
You can “hear” God.
 
Throughout the Bible, we are repeatedly told to “hear” the Word of the Lord. You can hear God speaking to you, and He will never ask you to do something you aren’t capable of doing. 
 
Hearing God speak to you is one of your most vital gifts. Nothing is more crucial than hearing His Word spoken to you. You are His sheep, and you can know His voice (John 10:4). God is always speaking, but you must be still and listen. You must desire and seek Him. Your Father created you to hear Him.  
 
Faith comes by hearing Him, and hearing Him is the source of faith (Romans 10:17). Healing comes by hearing God’s truth in your heart. Direction, guidance, and warnings in life come by hearing Him. When you aren’t hearing God regularly, you live a fearful, confused, and defeated life. When you hear God, the words He speaks to you are spirit and life (John 6:63). When you hear Him, you bow to His truth. You exalt His Word above any doubt or unbelief. You are still before Him, and you “know” He is your God (Psalms 46:10). You experience His peace, joy, and victory. You know He is Lord over everything in your life. He has blessed you for eternity. Praise cannot be contained when you “hear” the words of His mouth in your heart.
 
“All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord when they hear the words of Your mouth” (Psalms 138:2). 
 
You can “see” God’s will.
 
“While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
 
Hearing God gives birth to “seeing” the promises God has for your life. No matter what you are experiencing, you can “see” healing, provision, and victory in the Spirit. The ability to spiritually “see” is in you, but first, you must “hear” the Lord. Hearing stimulates your vision. You “see” what you hear. If someone asks me to go shopping, their words instantly create a vision. I have an image in my mind of going with them to the store. God’s Kingdom works in the same way. He constantly speaks His Word, and when you finally “hear” Him, you have a mental picture of what He has told you. 
 
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
 
God “sees” all the possibilities but He is limited to what you “see.” If you only have a head knowledge of His Word, you can’t see God’s possibilities as a reality, and you can’t act upon what you think you believe. Belief is of the heart—not the head. When Jesus ministered on this earth, God “saw” all the possibilities, but Jesus could only do what He “heard” and “saw” from His Father (John 5:19).
 
You can “speak” God’s words. 

The words God spoke to create and sustain His creation can be “heard,” “seen,” and "spoken." His words are rivers of living water that are available to flow out of you. We were created in His image. We can speak His words. Just as God spoke His creation into existence, His spoken Word speaks His truth into existence. 
 
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23).
 
Jesus has given you His authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). You can “speak” the all-powerful truth of God’s Word into your need. When you “speak” by faith what God has spoken and revealed in your heart, you draw out of His abundance. You have surrendered any doubt and unbelief to your Father. You believe Him. His Word is your Word. He is your truth. You can hear, see, and speak Him. Out of the good treasure of your heart, you bring forth good things (Luke 6:45).
 
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” (Psalms 19:14).

Lord Jesus, I desire, above all else, for my life to honor you. I will honor you by meditating on your words until I hear them in my heart. You are my Redeemer and my strength. I will open my mouth and speak out of the abundance you have given me. Forgive me, Lord, for tempting you and limiting you in my desert. You, are perfectly capable of performing your Word. Your words are spirit and life. I’ll deny my flesh, Lord. My words and my actions will declare life and not death. In you, I have placed my confident trust, and I will not be disappointed.

An Unhindered Life

What is power in my life? Power is simply God flowing through me. No matter how weak or how unaccomplished I might feel, when I allow God to work through me, then what I do will be powerful. I need to remember this during days when I seem to slide back two steps after climbing one. 

No day is a failure when I have given it to God. His use of my surrendered day may not be apparent, but it is real. If I dwell in Him, and He dwells in me, then I will bear fruit. The fruit is not mine to bear. I am just the branch which carries the life of the vine to the fruit. He is the vine, and I am the branch. For the life of the vine to flow through me, I must surrender all that I am to Him. If I dwell in Him, and desire only His will and His work, His Spirit will not fail to flow through my life into the lives of others.

Is His power hindered in my life? The only hindrance that can hold His power from flowing through my life is self. If this is the case, then I don’t have enough hunger for the revelation of His Word and intimacy with Him. Why don’t I hunger enough for Him to let go of all that I am, all that I want, all that I have chosen? Why don’t I realize that when I hold on to the least vestige of myself I have told the Lord that I am the vine? That is pride. Now consider Peter telling the Lord he was not worthy to have his feet washed. What appeared as humility in Peter was really pride. Peter was trying to hold on to his relationship with the Master as it had been by saying he was not worthy for the Master to wash his feet, and the Lord was asking Peter to surrender to a new relationship with Him. Pride. Self. Unworthiness. All are excuses to my absolute surrender.

I hunger for others to be better off for having come in contact with me. If I yearn to be a conduit of His unconditional love and grace, I will continually surrender to Him, and His Spirit will manifest the love of Jesus in and through me. If I seek and to yield Him in each moment, then I will be a channel of all He is flowing through all I am not. Others will receive that which I cannot give, and experience His power doing abundantly and exceedingly more than I can think or ask.

Thanks be to the Lord for the indescribable gift of His grace! May I always honor Him as He has honored me.

The Word Works Effectively in Those Who Believe

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
—Mark 9:24
 
Just as faith can arise from hearing God's Word, unbelief can gradually seep into the heart, obstructing the flow of God's grace. Jesus' miraculous works were limited in Nazareth due to the people's unbelief (Matthew 13:58). 
 
Faith can be a sensitive topic for many people. It’s easy to confuse our understanding of faith with actually experiencing it. While knowledge lives in our minds, faith truly comes from the heart. Doubt may start in our thoughts, but when it becomes unbelief, it puts down roots in our hearts.
 
Some regard faith as a force within us, allowing us to pray when it is needed. But do we ask in faith (James 1:6) or merely out of habit? Genuine faith is a response nurtured in us through fellowship with God and hearing His Word (Romans 10:17, John 5:19). Merely knowing about faith, understanding it, and believing we possess it doesn’t guarantee a fresh quickening of the Holy Spirit. Yesterday's faith will not sustain us today. 
 
Unbelief often arises from what we feel and our emotions. It focuses on what is visible, waiting for tangible evidence before accepting belief. For example, the disciples were given the important task of healing the sick and succeeded in many instances. However, there was one occasion when they couldn’t help a father with his son, and Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief. Perhaps they had begun to rely on their past experiences with healing instead of remaining closely connected to the true Author of faith.
 
Belief is powerful, but so is unbelief. Unbelief prevents God from manifesting His truth in us. Our senses often cannot distinguish unbelief. For instance, some individuals who believe in healing and declare their faith may wrestle with unbelief. The father of the son whom the disciples couldn’t heal admitted this. I have experienced this, too. Sometimes, we cannot fully see what is happening in our hearts and need the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us. Guilt, condemnation, bitterness, unforgiveness, and fear can all hinder genuine faith. The mind can be convinced, but the heart may be in turmoil.
 
Just like electricity, faith can only flow when a switch is turned on. In this example, the switch represents fellowship with God and listening to His voice. The faith that originates from God requires that His life dwell within the believer’s heart and what has been stirred within them to be spoken. We must grow spiritually in our relationship with God by praying His Word and meditating on it until it comes to life within us. Then, we can speak from the good treasure of our hearts and bring forth good things (Matthew 12:35, Proverbs 18:21).
 
Unbelief often waits to see results, but God's kind of faith confidently expects results even before they arrive. God isn’t limited; however, we frequently restrict Him through our unbelief. We appeal to Him based on what we sense rather than by putting our faith in the reality of what our senses have yet to experience. 
 
Jesus speaks to us as He spoke to the father who sought deliverance for his son: "All things are possible to him who believes." The father heard Jesus' words, and they quickened his heart. "Lord, I believe!" the father cried out. "Help my unbelief!" The father listened to the words Jesus spoke, and his faith was ignited.
 
The disciples later came to Jesus and asked him why they couldn’t cast the demon from the boy. 
 
"Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20).
 
Do I believe Jesus? Does He lack honor in my life as He did in Nazareth?
 
I can't work up the faith to believe. Jesus helps me overcome my unbelief. I must sow the Word, that mustard seed of faith, in my heart, nourish it, and protect it until it comes to life within me, and I "believe." Then I can speak to my mountain. That mountain may move quickly or take longer. But it shall move. Nothing is impossible when I “believe.”
 
Quit trying to muster your faith to believe. Meditate on the Word. Renew your mind and let the Holy Spirit begin His work to convince you. Be patient. Don’t rush Him. Surrender your heart to the divine work of Jesus. Listen. The Holy Spirit is always speaking, and you will hear the Word you need quickened in your heart. You shall “believe.”  

“For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Welcome Jesus, the Word. He works effectively in those who believe.
 

Taking Possession of Jesus

Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.
—Proverbs 1:23


What is your personal turning point? Are you prepared for Jesus Christ to become the Lord of your life? Someone can be saved without surrendering to Him as their Lord. Without surrendering your will to His will, you won’t understand His passion. Without surrendering to His Spirit, you won’t experience His power. And without surrendering to the Word and prayer, you will never change; He will never manifest in your life.

The Lord wants to pour Himself into you. He is ready and willing to help you change. You don’t need to plead with Him to intervene. It may seem that way at times, but that’s because the Lord reveals Himself to those who truly seek Him with all their hearts. The Lord knows whether you are repentant because you were caught or if you are genuinely seeking Him with all your heart.

“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). 

A heart divided by sin, doubt, or unbelief will never experience the Lord. But if you seek Him with your whole heart, you will find Him. The Holy Spirit will make known His teachings to you. The Lord doesn’t make Himself difficult to find or understand, and He follows through with His promises. His Word calls for you to acknowledge and accept it, and rely on it instead of your own understanding. God desires all of you. He doesn’t keep anything from you. He wants you to take possession of His truth. His love for you is intentional, and He seeks the same of you.
 
When you surrender your entire being to the Lord, you become so intensely aware of Him that your heart is one with His. You know without question what saddens Him because you experience His sadness. You know what brings Him joy, because it brings you joy. Do you want to have a heart like this—one that is so intimate with His you experience Him? 
 
“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,” Paul writes in Philippians 3:10.

Knowing Jesus is more than just head knowledge. It’s knowing Him in your heart. Your salvation is the greatest miracle you will ever experience. The Lord desires you to grow in wisdom and revelation of this miracle. He wants you to know the power of His resurrection. Only in intimate fellowship with Him do we understand the pain He endured and experience His resurrection power manifesting in us. This relationship can only be found and maintained when I continually surrender myself to the Word, taking possession of Jesus Christ as Lord of my life. 

The more you seek the Lord, the more you know Him. The more you know Him, the more He reveals Himself to you. Press on toward the goal of knowing Him. Surrender yourself, your doubts, fears, and desires so that you may know and experience Him working in and through you.

Turn from a lukewarm life to one filled with the passion of His love that gave everything for you. Turn from a life without the power of the Holy Spirit to one filled with the power of His Resurrection. Turn from a life without the Word and prayer to a life filled with an alive faith that moves the heart of God. God knows your need, but it is in surrender, praying and believing in faith, that He moves.

I want to experience Jesus who knows me so completely. This is my personal surrender: to know Him as He knows me and to experience Him manifesting in my life. Do I always get this right? No, I don’t, but it’s the intention of my heart He sees. Each day, I will choose to die and grow spiritually, becoming more vulnerable and personal with the Savior who has claimed me. My faith has no power without action. I will step out in faith, knowing that the Lord who has called me is faithful to do the work. I will take possession of Jesus who has taken possession of me.

A Faithful Messenger

Like the cold of snow in time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters.
—Proverbs 25:13


Many people lack faith in God’s ability to fulfill His Word by providing for their needs. Instead, they strive to prove their worth and, in the process, rely on themselves to meet their needs. This lack of faith prevents them from faithfully representing the Master.
 
A genuinely humble person finds joy in recognizing that God is the source of all the good in their life (James 1:17). They may have worked hard to earn their money, but it is God who gave them the ability to do so (Deuteronomy 8:18). Similarly, you may work hard to be healthy, but it is God who fearfully and wonderfully made you (Psalm 139:14). You may be skilled in music, but God gave you that talent to bless and serve others (1 Peter 4:10). The world may encourage you to be a “self-made” man or woman, but you aren’t. God created you. When you allow Him to create through your life, He achieves His best in and through you. 
 
However, if you take credit for the best God accomplishes through you, you steal His glory and set yourself up for humiliation. You can steal God’s glory by taking credit for what He has done, but you can also steal His glory by not humbly receiving the honor given to you for what He has accomplished through you. Never downplay what you have done for the Lord. Just give Him honor and praise. 

Jesus never took God’s glory for Himself. He always stated His dependence on God and honored His Father. Jesus said God spoke through Him, and He only spoke His Father’s words.
 
“My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me. Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies” (John 7:16-18, NLT).
 
Jesus didn’t speak His own message. He didn’t seek His own glory. There was no unrighteousness in Him. He gave God the credit. But He also didn’t deny what God did through Him—the dead were raised, the blind received sight, and the lame walked. He even cited those miracles as evidence of who He was (Matthew 11:4-6). You don’t need to discredit your accomplishments. But do you give God credit for them and acknowledge Him as your source?
 
Taking credit is prideful, but so is downplaying what God has done. You basically steal His glory. Jesus never downplayed the miracles God did through Him. People asked Him where He got His authority, and He faithfully gave the glory to God. He was a faithful messenger of God’s message.
 
In Proverbs, you discover what is meant by being a faithful messenger (Proverbs 13:17; 14:5, 25;  25:13). A faithful messenger is trustworthy. He is true to the one who sent him. He doesn’t honor and glorify himself but represents accurately and reliably the one who sent him. An untrustworthy messenger is more concerned with his or her own reputation. If the message to be delivered will cause him hurt or discomfort, he will revise the message to be sure it is well received. That is pride. He shouldn’t concern himself with how people will respond. A faithful messenger will just do what God says. He is concerned with God’s response and whether He is pleased. God seeks those who will share His message accurately and reliably and aren't worried about how it is received.
 
A worker harvesting on a hot day would find the cold of snow incredibly refreshing. That’s similar to the way a faithful messenger makes his master feel. Are you a faithful and trustworthy messenger? Are you more concerned about God’s opinion than the opinions of men?  Do you seek God’s approval instead of the approval of others? Do you glorify God for His accomplishments and not downplay what He has accomplished through you? Do you refresh your Master's soul?
 
Humility is balanced. It doesn’t elevate or deflate you. A faithful messenger is a person whose life is totally and utterly dependent on God. God is his source. He relies only on the One who created him.
 

Live a Life of Intimacy

The Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
John 1:1,14a

 
 
To have an intimate relationship with God, you must spend time with Him and learn who He is in your life. The Word is Almighty God becoming human so that you may have an intimacy with Him that is beyond anything you have ever known. The Word isn’t just a book. It is Jesus. 
 
God invites us to know Him by developing a vivacious and ever-increasing relationship with Him through the Word. Getting into the Word may seem overwhelming, but God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us and lead us into all truth (John 16:3).
 
God fervently desires a close relationship with you. The enemy will attempt to make God seem distant and standoffish. He says things like, “You can’t really know God or what He will do. He doesn’t care about your issue.” Yes, He does! 

Where once God's love for you was hidden because of sin, He is no longer hidden from you. You are His! You can know Him intimately. The enemy’s lies go on and on and keep you from drawing close to God. Why would you want to develop a relationship with someone who is uncaring and inconsistent and who you aren’t sure how he is going to respond to you?

You can’t trust God if you are worrying if He is angry at you. If you are uneasy in any relationship, you guard yourself. It is the same in your relationship with God. If you are uneasy with Him, you hold yourself back. You walk on eggshells. You become careful not to offend Him because you aren’t sure how He is going to react to you. 
 
If you don’t know how God relates to you, you have no way to identify the enemy’s lies. And the only way to know God’s character and how He relates to you is in the Word. You will discover God loved you first. You will find out that His true nature is love, and everything He has done for you comes out of His love. God gave you His very best at Calvary. What do you give Him in return? Do you seek Him, or do you avoid the One who gave you life? Your greatest response to His love is knowing who you are in Him and receiving it. It is only when you know His love can you love Him with your best. Serving Him will flow out of your relationship with Him. You will love others as He has loved you. Not knowing what God has done for you is refusing His love. He never denies loving you. Don’t ever deny loving Him.
 
You don’t need to have an emotionally charged roller-coaster relationship with the Lord, wondering how He will respond to your sin, problem, sickness, pain, or loss. His Word makes it clear that He loves you today, He loves you right now, and He loves you into eternity. God already responded to your need at Calvary. How you respond to His love is your choice. He has served the ball, and it is in your court.
 
God’s Word is not a “someday” book. It is a “today” book. Reading the Word with a “someday” attitude has the potential to give you a legalistic mindset—one that says you can never be good enough for God to love you or you can never understand His Word. 
 
Don’t study the Word with a “someday” attitude. Today is His day, and He wants to bless you with His benefits right now. 
 
“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation. Selah” (Psalms 68:19). 
 
“Selah” means to pause and contemplate. 
 
Jesus has already loaded you with the benefit of His righteousness. The daily blessings you receive from this truth are numerous. Do you know what they are and how they change your life?  Receive this truth that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). Resolve to get into the Word each day and start developing an intimate relationship with the One who loves you without condition, hesitation, or change. 
 
God has been His most intimate with you. Be your most intimate with Him. Live a life of intimacy by choosing each day to go deeper into your relationship with Him. He is the Word. Spend time with Him. There is something special in that relationship that is just for you.
 
“I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word” (Psalms 119:15-16).
 

An Experience with God

The late Tim Keller,  an American pastor and Christian apologist, wonderfully described prayer as “a conversation that leads to an encounter with God.” Prayer isn’t just asking God for help or praying just because it is what a good Christian does. Prayer is an opportunity to connect so intimately with God that you are conscience of His Presence.

“For this reason,” Paul prayed, “I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).

Paul is praying for the Ephesians to receive strength from God’s Spirit, enabling Jesus to dwell in their hearts through faith. He desires for them to experience such a closeness with Christ that it leads them to comprehend God’s love filling them with all of His fullness. God’s love is so vast it is hard for us to comprehend. But Paul says that we can know the love of Christ that is greater than knowledge. To understand the fullness of God’s love, Paul is praying for the Ephesians to encounter God in ways they have never before experienced.

There is a joy like none other to be experienced as you receive the fullness of God’s love and His Spirit. John Wesley described this work of the Holy Spirit as his heart being “strangely warmed.” His description captures the certainty and also the mystery of experiencing the presence of God. Personally encountering the One who created you is life-changing. It is the indescribable joy of being one with the Father who loves you, knows you, fashions you, and gives you life. It is the deep spiritual connection you experience as the Holy Spirit prays from within you, revealing the Father to you.

Prayer is interceding for others. It is praying for God’s help, but it is also coming boldly into His presence to experience Him. You must come expecting in faith. It is in His presence that the Spirit intercedes, you receive His help, and His purpose becomes revelation. When you encounter Jesus, the blindness that has hindered your comprehension of Him is lifted, allowing you to perceive Him as you’ve never perceived Him before, hear Him as you’ve never heard Him, and comprehend Him as you’ve never comprehended Him.

“Be still, and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10 instructs. 

Just be still and quieten your heart before the Lord. When your heart is settled, come near to God, and ask Him to come near to you. Ask him to examine your heart and reveal anything that is not of faith. Whatever He shows you, repent, and refuse it any place in your heart. Ask God to help you to experience His Presence. Ask Him to fill you. Expect Him. Listen with your heart. 

Your heart may become “strangely warmed,” but it also may become so much more. As you surrender even more to His Presence, you are more open to receive from Him. When you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it is an experience like none other. There is a completeness in Him, an awareness that He is in you like you have never known before. In His Presence is the fullness of His indescribable love and grace and the spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him. 

Experiencing the Lord is a joy unequaled and full of glory. It is the Holy Spirit praying God’s will within you. It is your Father loving you deeply and personally. It is His fullness that surpasses all else in this life. It is the Lord declaring, “You are mine, and I love you. I’m going to use you beyond anything you ask or think. Now move forward. Walk by faith and not by sight. Let me continually fill you and manifest in your life.”

A Joy Unequaled

 
Years ago I realized I needed something more in my walk with the Lord. I thought I knew Him intimately, but trials convinced me I didn’t completely trust Him. I knew faith and fear could never work together. But what I sensed—what I felt, saw, and experienced had more power in my life than the truth I thought I knew. I realized I couldn’t walk by faith without knowing the absolute safety of Jesus’s perfect love for me. The only way I would know the breadth, height, length, and depth of His love was to surrender myself and take in more of Him. I wanted to know His genuine and palpable presence, so I came to Him, defenseless, vulnerable, and wide open. I began to delve into the Word as I never had before. Paul’s epistles came to life for me. In Philippians 3:7-8, I found his response to Jesus. 
 
“But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life]. But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]” (Philippians 3:7-8, AMP).
 
Paul considered everything he had gained in life as loss because of the priceless privilege of knowing Jesus Christ. The things that once mattered, believed, and drove his life had suddenly become nonsense. Paul discovered that in knowing Jesus, he had received the “supreme advantage” of life and godliness. When the Word began to come to life in me, the world, the opinions of others, and the lies I believed became less valuable compared to the precious privilege of knowing Jesus. Faith began to overcame the sin of fear that controlled my life.
 
Paul’s words reveal the supreme advantage of knowing Christ. Understanding this advantage emerges when we pursue God as He pursues us. God pursued Paul and finally got his attention on the road to Damascus. When faced with the goodness of God’s love, I have a decision: I either respond or I don’t. In pursuing God, I discover the indescribable gain of knowing Him. I receive His forgiveness, healing, deliverance, provision, and blessing. This pursuit restores and completely satisfies me.
 
Just a few weeks after my husband and I were married, he took a four week business trip. It was a terribly hard to be apart. We valued our visits on the phone. Through the last  56 years, we have grown to value each other more completely. We have to come to know each other as others don’t. Marriage is an example of what our relationship with the Father should be. Personal, intimate, special, protected, giving, receiving, vulnerable, honest, and committed. Two are no longer two. Two have become one.
 
When I value my marriage highly, I consider it a priceless privilege. I'm familiar with what I need to know about my spouse, learn to respond to his likes and dislikes, and anticipate how he will respond in various situations. The same is true of our relationship with God. Knowing God intimately acclimates us to His likes and dislikes. We know how to respond in difficult situations. We hear Him clearly and understand the hidden things unique to our relationship. Two have become one.
 
When we place unsurpassed value on knowing God, we discover He is the God of abundant life. Ephesians 3:18 reveals this abundance as knowing the breadth, length, height, and depth of His love for you. The more we know God, the more of Him there is to know. The gift of His love is unending and just waiting to be unpacked and known by you.
 
The world offers nothing lasting. God desires to change our lives with His surpassing love and to establish His Kingdom. But we can never build His Kingdom on our merit and limited understanding. Knowing God fully will not only draw us closer to Him but draw others too. It is our priceless privilege to know Jesus. As we grow more deeply acquainted with Him, we have the supreme advantage to successfully navigate and overcome in this life.
 
Peter wrote: “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3).
 
We have been given everything we need to live a godly life. We discover these things by knowing God intimately.
 
Paul wrote: “[I always pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the Son]” (Ephesians 1:17, AMP).
 
I cannot live by my insight. It is death to my faith (Romans 8:6). I desire my Father’s deep and personal insight. His insight is much better than my senseless one. His insight is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).
 
Lord, grant me a spirit of wisdom and revelation in my relationship with you. As you hunger for me, I want to hunger for you. The former things I thought meant something now mean nothing. The former fears mean nothing. The former life has passed away. I walk by faith and not by sight. You are all I need. Nothing surpasses this priceless privilege of knowing you. It is a "joy unequaled."

What Are You Considering in Your Heart?

What you consider is more than just having a thought. It is taking a thought, meditating on it, and deliberating on how it applies to you. What you consider determines the course and the outcome of your life.

Look at Abraham: “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (Romans 4:19).

Abraham chose not to meditate on his advanced age and the “deadness of Sarah’s womb.” He chose not to let himself meditate on these negative things but placed his faith in God’s promise that they would have a child. 

Whether we realize it or not, our hearts always meditate on something. The heart is where our choices are made, and our futures are shaped. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
 
No matter the world's difficulties and challenges, we can choose what we will consider in our hearts. Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world with no sin and chose to consider Satan's words. What they considered changed human destiny. We now live with the results of their choice. We no longer live in a perfect world. We have to consider issues and make choices. We can consider the darkness of this world and be depressed, or we can consider the goodness of God’s love and be found in faith like Abraham. Our circumstances won’t automatically vanish, but we will grow in our faith to overcome them.
 
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matthew 12:35).
 
We all draw something from our hearts. Some of us bring forth fear, worry, anger, envy, resentment, and lust. Others bring forth love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness. Regardless of whether it’s the good or evil treasure of our hearts, words are spoken, actions and reactions change lives, and futures are shaped. You must “keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
 
“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy,” Paul wrote, “meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
 
Mediate on things that are of a good report—honest, uplifting, encouraging, and praiseworthy! Don’t meditate on the “dark” issues in your life! Jesus is the Light. Mediate on Jesus and God’s promises. You may be “old and barren” to this world, but you are “young and fruitful” and full of promise to Jesus.
 
What would your life be like if your mind and heart contemplated pure and lovely things? Can you envision yourself living in a place of God’s peace and faith? If you consider good things in your heart, it is possible to live in love, joy, and peace.
 
“If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes,” Jesus said (Mark 9:23). 
 
The heart is where you believe (Romans 10:9). What are you considering in your heart?