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The Bible: Is Every Word the Truth?

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The Bible is full of Truth—but not all truth is created equal. The best way that I know to describe it is to say that the Bible contains truth from cover to cover. Some truth is unimportant, and some is extremely important. But there is truth that is essential to our Christian walk. It’s what we believe about the essential, foundational truths of the New Testament that determines whether or not we experience the kind of guilt-free living God designed for us to live.

Many people know about God. They may even know the Bible or have been influenced in some way by biblical thought. But most people have never experienced God for who He really is. Even those of us who desire to know God and read our Bibles daily often misjudge what it says because we read it as a regular book and tend to think that it is a progressive revelation of God. But as New Testament believers, it is important to realize that there is only one true revelation of God, and that is—Jesus Christ, His Son.

John 1:18 in the Amplified Bible says:

No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known].

Jesus, is the only One who has ever seen God for who He really is. He is the sole and exact representation of God. It is through Him alone that we can correctly interpret what the Bible says about God and about us. Only through Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, can we rightly understand the truths of Scripture—both Old and New Testament. He is the lens we look through to know and experience God for who He really is.

Jesus is the foundational and essential truth we must use to build and establish our beliefs and doctrines. But what if I read something, Arthur, that doesn’t line up with who Jesus is? Then that truth is not essential; it does not apply to us—even if it’s in the Bible. But Arthur, the Bible is true. The Bible is true—but Jesus, who He is and what He accomplished in and through His finished work is “The Truth!”

Everything written in Scripture is “God-breathed” or “God inspired” according to 2 Timothy 3:16. God inspired the writers of the Bible to record their experiences with Him to reveal Christ. Does that negate their experience? No. But does that mean their experience becomes Truth simply because it is in a book we call the Bible? No. We must learn to discern scripture just like we discern someone’s testimony experience today.

A little old lady stands up in church to testify of God. She begins by praising God for getting her through another week of Satan’s vicious attack. She thanks God for testing her patience like gold in the refiner’s fire through her chronic sickness. She blesses God for teaching her humility through her failure to read and pray like she should. On and on she goes, attributing things in her life to God that are nothing like His character—things that we know God would never do to His children. Does her belief system define who God is? No! Was her experience real to her? Yes! Does that real experience constitute real truth? No! Can her understanding dictate other people’s experiences? Yes!

The same thing happened in Scripture. In the book of Job, we find a man of God experiencing tragedy. His friends come to “encourage him” with their opinions of who God is and what he needs to do to reconcile himself to God. Nine chapters consist wholly of their opinions—it is recorded in Scripture and Holy Spirit inspired, but they were all wrong! God even spoke to Job and said, “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2 NIV) And Job himself had to repent. Not for anything he’d done that brought about his experience, but because he had misinterpreted and misrepresented God. He said, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand…My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you…I repent” (Job 41:3, 5-6 NIV). Job essentially said, “I’m sorry, God. I let others tell me who You were and did not know you for myself.”

It’s essential to know God for yourself—and vital to build our doctrines and beliefs on the rock of Jesus Christ—the essential Truth. We can’t attempt to lay a foundation on the sandy shores of our limited knowledge or experience. Standing on the Rock of Truth, we are able to experience the guilt-free life God designed for us in Him!

…But now you have had every stain washed off: now you have been set apart as holy: now you have been pronounced free from guilt; in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 (Weymouth)

Rest Assured

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For much of my Christian life, I struggled to see God for who He really is.

I thought of Him as my “Master.” That made me believe and feel like He only put up with me, but He didn’t really like me; He only tolerated
me because of the fact that I had received Jesus. But every time I failed, or made a mistake, it seemed that God Almighty angrily yelled, “I’m going to kill you!”

But then Jesus would fervently intercede, “The blood! The blood, Father!”

“Oh, I almost forgot,” God would say as He stayed His hand of execution.

Have you ever noticed that when Jesus came, He did not just call God His “Father,” but rather in the Greek text it is the word “Abba-Father” taken from The Hebrew/Aramaic word for “Father”. (Mark 14; 36) This is an affectionate term for addressing your Father used by a more mature child. It would be used by a child who was around 13 or 14 years of age and knew his or her father’s status, character and power. 

Praise God that’s changed! I now know that our Abba-Father deeply loves and actually cares for us.

But as long as we see Him only as “Master,” we can’t experience Him any other way. Many Christians today are still trapped in that old Master-slave mentality. Even though a slave may know the status, character and power of his master, only a son or daughter can call Him “Abba.”

The Greek word for “master” comes from a combination of two other words: the first one meaning “to be the pilot or the steer man of a ship” and “to be the governor or the guide; to be lord.” Jesus is our Lord, but He doesn’t treat us like a slave-driving master!

“Henceforth I call you not servants; for a servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” John 15: 15

The second Greek word means “to exercise lordship” or “to be down upon.” It literally means to lord it over another!

But Jesus didn’t see God this way—He saw Him as Abba-Father. In His view of His relationship with His Abba- Father, He (the Son) was equal to and loved by His Father. Even the Pharisees understood this when they accused Jesus of making Himself equal with God!

“Therefore the Jews sought to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” John 5: 18

Have you heard the terms commonly used in the church today amongst believers, referring to vertical or horizontal relationships? We think of our relationship with God as vertical and our relationships with people as horizontal. This very terminology reveals the mentality that God is a “down upon” God.

But to Jesus, the fact of him being a Son was a horizontal relationship! 

Jesus came to bring us and give us that same, horizontal, Abba-Son relationship with our heavenly Father! You and I can now rest, assured that we are loved, accepted, and co-heirs in the beloved! Seated together with Him in heavenly places.

“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” Ephesians 1:6

“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” Ephesians 2: 5-6

You are His son, and He is your Abba-Father!

-Blessings on you this month, Arthur 

Want to get to know God as “Abba Father”?

HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL 

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Everyone has a built-in desire to live a successful life. But this can mean different things to different people… 

For some, it’s money and stuff. To others, it might be fame and recognition, etc. Success for a believer is a life full of wholesome, life-giving relationships with family and friends. These relationships are mutually beneficial as we advance the Kingdom of God together. This is real success. We were created for relationship!

People were not made for money. Money was made as a tool for our time here on the earth. Therefore, a materialistic, temporal view of success will be extremely disappointing. At a much deeper lever, what we all desire is emotional stability. If we don’t have peace, we will give anything and everything we do have to acquire it. Fame, fortune and all the “friends”real peace and emotional stability is impossible without an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father.

The Christian life is all about living easy and free from the inside out. Grace and peace are meant to dominate our hearts as we enjoy our relationship with our Abba-Father. The greatest benefit of our eternal inheritance is relating intimately to our beloved Father.

Though others would tell me that Christian living ought to be like this, my life of faith was strained. In fact, the longer I lived as a believer, the more strained my life became! It took me a long time to grasp that the life of Christ is something that flows out of my heart. It’s not some holy standard for us to conform to that’s against our true nature. Freedom happens as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth—day by day, for the rest of our lives.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14

Being led by the Spirit is not some mystical, spooky thing. This verse is simply telling us to follow what is true in the spirit. When we begin to believe what’s true about us in the spirit, we experience our son-ship in Him. What is true in the spirit is that we were made righteous, holy, healthy and prosperous (successful) in Jesus Christ!

Once I understood this, God was able to affect great change in my life and ministry. And it was effortless for me.
Change that is not effortless is not real change.

The moment you begin to try to change yourself, it just becomes behavior modification, and it won’t last because your heart stays the same.
A successful Christian life becomes really easy when you allow the truth to sink into your heart and soul. You begin to change on the inside. Then that truth manifests effortless change on the outside. When you truly know that you are righteous, holy, prosperous and totally whole in Christ Jesus, a successful life comes naturally—just like it’s supposed to!

-Blessings on you this month, Arthur

Stressed out trying to be successful? Check out this resource!

Fully Persuaded

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We are all in different stages of our journey and growth in the revelation of righteousness. We may mentally assent to the fact that Jesus’ death and resurrection put us in right standing with God, but we all are learning to continually walk out that reality in our day-to-day lives. In some areas, we may find ourselves fully persuaded of this truth. In others, we may need to consciously work on establishing this truth in our hearts. The only way we can completely rid ourselves of the feelings of guilt and condemnation that accompany our relationship with God is to become fully persuaded of what Christ accomplished for us on the cross.

Are you struggling with guilt or addiction? Do you have a financial or a relationship problem? Is there an area in your life where you feel that you’ve failed? Those may be clues that you may not be fully convinced that God loves and accepts you, He is pleased with you, and that He desires good for your life—including intimate relationship with Him.

You have been made right before God (Rom. 2:13). But you may not consider yourself holy (Heb. 10:10). A person who does not know they’ve been made holy will continue to act as if they are unholy. But when you are established in the fact that you are holy and right with God, you will start acting like it! The fruit of that understanding will spill out and show itself in every area of your life.

Does that mean you will never make another mistake or that you will never miss the mark and sin again? No. At some point or another, you will violate your conscience; you will hurt someone with your words or disappoint them with your actions. When that happens, seek forgiveness from the person you wronged and try to make it right so you can live at peace and keep your mistakes from becoming an issue in your relationship with them (Rom. 12:17-21). But know that your mistake (your sin) will never become an issue between you and God. Jesus has taken care of that issue permanently (Heb. 10:14)! He has completely removed your sin and signed a covenant of peace between you and God!

For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion and mercy I will gather you [to Me] again. In a little burst of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with age-enduring love and kindness I will have compassion and mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. For this is like the days of Noah to Me; as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:7-10 (Amplified)

Your sin is not hiding and waiting for an opportune moment to revisit you and shout to God that you are “unclean.” It isn’t attached to your hip, hoping to trip you up whenever you aren’t looking so that you can’t enter God’s presence. It’s not even buried in your heart trying to dig its way out. Your sin has been removed!

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm103:11-12 (KJV)

I am fully persuaded, and that’s good news, my friend!

Fully Persuaded

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We are all in different stages of our journey and growth in the revelation of righteousness. We may mentally assent to the fact that Jesus’ death and resurrection put us in right standing with God, but we all are learning to continually walk out that reality in our day-to-day lives. In some areas, we may find ourselves fully persuaded of this truth. In others, we may need to consciously work on establishing this truth in our hearts. The only way we can completely rid ourselves of the feelings of guilt and condemnation that accompany our relationship with God is to become fully persuaded of what Christ accomplished for us on the cross.

Are you struggling with guilt or addiction? Do you have a financial or a relationship problem? Is there an area in your life where you feel that you’ve failed? Those may be clues that you may not be fully convinced that God loves and accepts you, He is pleased with you, and that He desires good for your life—including intimate relationship with Him.

You have been made right before God (Rom. 2:13). But you may not consider yourself holy (Heb. 10:10). A person who does not know they’ve been made holy will continue to act as if they are unholy. But when you are established in the fact that you are holy and right with God, you will start acting like it! The fruit of that understanding will spill out and show itself in every area of your life.

Does that mean you will never make another mistake or that you will never miss the mark and sin again? No. At some point or another, you will violate your conscience; you will hurt someone with your words or disappoint them with your actions. When that happens, seek forgiveness from the person you wronged and try to make it right so you can live at peace and keep your mistakes from becoming an issue in your relationship with them (Rom. 12:17-21). But know that your mistake (your sin) will never become an issue between you and God. Jesus has taken care of that issue permanently (Heb. 10:14)! He has completely removed your sin and signed a covenant of peace between you and God!

For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion and mercy I will gather you [to Me] again. In a little burst of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with age-enduring love and kindness I will have compassion and mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. For this is like the days of Noah to Me; as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:7-10 (Amplified)

Your sin is not hiding and waiting for an opportune moment to revisit you and shout to God that you are “unclean.” It isn’t attached to your hip, hoping to trip you up whenever you aren’t looking so that you can’t enter God’s presence. It’s not even buried in your heart trying to dig its way out. Your sin has been removed!

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm103:11-12 (KJV)

I am fully persuaded, and that’s good news, my friend!

A Successful Life

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Everyone has a built-in desire to live a successful life. This means different things to different people. For some, it’s money and stuff. To others, it might be fame and recognition, etc. Success for a believer is a life full of wholesome, life-giving relationships with family and friends. These relationships are mutually beneficial as we advance the Kingdom of God together. This is real success. We were created for relationship!

People were not made for money. Money was made as a tool for our time here on the earth. Therefore, a materialistic, temporal view of success will be extremely disappointing. At a much deeper lever, what we all desire is emotional stability. If we don’t have peace, we will give anything and everything we do have to acquire it. Fame, fortune and all the “friends” money can buy may be there. But real peace and emotional stability is impossible without an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father.

The Christian life is all about living easy and free from the inside out. Grace and peace are meant to dominate our hearts as we enjoy our relationship with our Abba-Father. The greatest benefit of our eternal inheritance is relating intimately to our beloved Father.

Though others would tell me that Christian living ought to be like this, my life of faith was strained. In fact, the longer I lived as a believer, the more strained my life became! It took me a long time to grasp that the life of Christ is something that flows out of my heart. It’s not some holy standard for us to conform to that’s against our true nature. Freedom happens as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth—day by day, for the rest of our lives.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14

Being led by the Spirit is not some mystical, spooky thing. This verse is simply telling us to follow what is true in the spirit. When we begin to believe what’s true about us in the spirit, we experience our son-ship in Him. What is true in the spirit is that we were made righteous, holy, healthy and prosperous (successful) in Jesus Christ!

Once I understood this, God was able to affect great change in my life and ministry. And it was effortless for me. Change that is not effortless is not real change. The moment you begin to try to change yourself, it just becomes behavior modification, and it won’t last because your heart stays the same. A successful Christian life becomes really easy when you allow the truth to sink into your heart and soul. You begin to change on the inside. Then that truth manifests effortless change on the outside. When you truly know that you are righteous, holy, prosperous and totally whole in Christ Jesus, a successful life comes naturally—just like it’s supposed to!

A Successful Life

by

 

Everyone has a built-in desire to live a successful life. This means different things to different people. For some, it’s money and stuff. To others, it might be fame and recognition, etc. Success for a believer is a life full of wholesome, life-giving relationships with family and friends. These relationships are mutually beneficial as we advance the Kingdom of God together. This is real success. We were created for relationship!

People were not made for money. Money was made as a tool for our time here on the earth. Therefore, a materialistic, temporal view of success will be extremely disappointing. At a much deeper lever, what we all desire is emotional stability. If we don’t have peace, we will give anything and everything we do have to acquire it. Fame, fortune and all the “friends” money can buy may be there. But real peace and emotional stability is impossible without an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father.

The Christian life is all about living easy and free from the inside out. Grace and peace are meant to dominate our hearts as we enjoy our relationship with our Abba-Father. The greatest benefit of our eternal inheritance is relating intimately to our beloved Father.

Though others would tell me that Christian living ought to be like this, my life of faith was strained. In fact, the longer I lived as a believer, the more strained my life became! It took me a long time to grasp that the life of Christ is something that flows out of my heart. It’s not some holy standard for us to conform to that’s against our true nature. Freedom happens as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth—day by day, for the rest of our lives.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14

Being led by the Spirit is not some mystical, spooky thing. This verse is simply telling us to follow what is true in the spirit. When we begin to believe what’s true about us in the spirit, we experience our son-ship in Him. What is true in the spirit is that we were made righteous, holy, healthy and prosperous (successful) in Jesus Christ!

Once I understood this, God was able to affect great change in my life and ministry. And it was effortless for me. Change that is not effortless is not real change. The moment you begin to try to change yourself, it just becomes behavior modification, and it won’t last because your heart stays the same. A successful Christian life becomes really easy when you allow the truth to sink into your heart and soul. You begin to change on the inside. Then that truth manifests effortless change on the outside. When you truly know that you are righteous, holy, prosperous and totally whole in Christ Jesus, a successful life comes naturally—just like it’s supposed to!

Vertical or Horizontal? Master-Slave or Abba-Son?

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Have you ever noticed that Jesus did not just say “Father,” but rather “Abba-Father?” The Hebrew word for “Abba-Father” is an affectionate term for addressing your Father used by a more mature child. It would be used by a child who was around 13 or 14 years of age and knew his or her father’s status, character and power.

For much of my Christian life, I struggled to see God for who He really is. I thought of Him as my “Master.” I felt like He didn’t really like me; He only tolerated me because of Jesus. Every time I made a mistake, it seemed that God Almighty angrily yelled, “I’m going to kill you!”

But then Jesus would fervently intercede, “The blood! The blood, Father!”

“Oh, I almost forgot,” God would say as He stayed His hand of execution.

Praise God that’s changed! Now I know that our Abba-Father actually loves and cares for us deeply. As long as we see Him as “Master,” we can’t experience Him any other way. Many Christians are still trapped in that Master-slave mentality. Even though a slave may know the status, character and power of his master, only a son or daughter can call Him “Abba.”

The Greek word for “master” comes from a combination of two other words: the first one meaning “to be the pilot or the steer man of a ship” and “to be the governor or the guide, to be lord.” Jesus is our Lord, but He doesn’t treat us like a slave-driving master!

The second Greek word means “to exercise lordship” or “to be down upon.” Jesus didn’t see God this way—He saw Him as Abba. In His view of His relationship with Abba, He (the Son) was equal to and loved by His Father.

Have you heard the terms commonly used in the church today vertical or horizontal relationships? We think of our relationship with God as vertical and our relationships with people as horizontal. This very terminology reveals the mentality that God is a “down upon” God. But to Jesus, being a Son was a horizontal relationship!

Jesus came to give us that same, horizontal, Abba-Son relationship with our Father! God will never point out your faults or failures. You can rest assured that you are accepted in the beloved!

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. —Ephesians 1:6

Vertical or Horizontal? Master-Slave or Abba-Son?

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Have you ever noticed that Jesus did not just say “Father,” but rather “Abba-Father?” The Hebrew word for “Abba-Father” is an affectionate term for addressing your Father used by a more mature child. It would be used by a child who was around 13 or 14 years of age and knew his or her father’s status, character and power.

For much of my Christian life, I struggled to see God for who He really is. I thought of Him as my “Master.” I felt like He didn’t really like me; He only tolerated me because of Jesus. Every time I made a mistake, it seemed that God Almighty angrily yelled, “I’m going to kill you!”

But then Jesus would fervently intercede, “The blood! The blood, Father!”

“Oh, I almost forgot,” God would say as He stayed His hand of execution.

Praise God that’s changed! Now I know that our Abba-Father actually loves and cares for us deeply. As long as we see Him as “Master,” we can’t experience Him any other way. Many Christians are still trapped in that Master-slave mentality. Even though a slave may know the status, character and power of his master, only a son or daughter can call Him “Abba.”

The Greek word for “master” comes from a combination of two other words: the first one meaning “to be the pilot or the steer man of a ship” and “to be the governor or the guide, to be lord.” Jesus is our Lord, but He doesn’t treat us like a slave-driving master!

The second Greek word means “to exercise lordship” or “to be down upon.” Jesus didn’t see God this way—He saw Him as Abba. In His view of His relationship with Abba, He (the Son) was equal to and loved by His Father.

Have you heard the terms commonly used in the church today vertical or horizontal relationships? We think of our relationship with God as vertical and our relationships with people as horizontal. This very terminology reveals the mentality that God is a “down upon” God. But to Jesus, being a Son was a horizontal relationship!

Jesus came to give us that same, horizontal, Abba-Son relationship with our Father! God will never point out your faults or failures. You can rest assured that you are accepted in the beloved!

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. —Ephesians 1:6

The Gospel by Faith

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As a rule, the majority of believers in the church do not really understand faith. Many have come to believe that living by faith is virtually inaccessible for them and only really meant for the Super Saints. Others believe they have to “grow faith.” Still others feel that they are too weak or fallible to ever experience something good from God through faith. But nothing could be farther from the truth!

Whether you are cultured or uncultured, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, strong or weak, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for you and will work for you! I like what Paul says in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth;…” But guess what? He also says that faith comes by hearing the Gospel or the Word of God!

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Our word for salvation comes from the Greek word soteria which speaks of "a condition where nothing is missing, nothing is broken and nothing is withheld—wholeness.” It is more than simple forgiveness and going to Heaven; it includes deliverance, protection, prosperity, peace, and healing. And according to Paul, faith is the agent that activates it in our lives.

“But I just don’t have that kind of faith,” you say. That’s the beauty (and power) of the Gospel—it’s not about you! It's about Jesus!

I remember a time in my life when I was just beginning to grasp this concept. One spring while we were still living in South Africa, I realized that no one in my family had been to the doctor all year. (This was very unusual for our family.) It stopped me in my tracks. Because as a faith preacher, I realized that I hadn’t purposefully believed God for healing, so I couldn’t understand how I was experiencing the benefits of salvation without “fighting the ‘so called’ good fight of faith.” That’s when God revealed and explained the true definition of our fight of the faith to me. He said, “Arthur, the scripture says when you are rooted and grounded in my love, you experience the fullness of my benefits!” (Eph. 3:17-19) I realized it wasn’t so much about my “faith,” but it was about me becoming fully persuaded and absolutely convinced of God's extravagant, unconditional love for me in and through what Jesus did for me on the cross!

So I stopped trying to do faith and began to believe and rest in the fact that God completely and unconditionally loves me. Because faith and living by faith will not make any sense, unless in the depths of our hearts we become fully persuaded that God "LOVES US UNCONDITIONALLY AND EXTRAVAGANTLY—without respect, boundaries, caution, limits, and without regret!

This is the true message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

No matter what has happened in your past, or what is happening right now, or what might happen in your future, God cannot and will not (He refuses to) stop LOVING YOU!

Under No Obligation

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Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love.Micah 7:18 (NASB) 

This is a beautiful verse declaring the character and nature of God—who pardons our iniquity!!

Iniquity is a word that describes our fallen state and is closely connected to the idea of "indebtedness" or to be in debt! 

How many of us know exactly what “in debt” feels like? When you owe money to someone it changes your relationship. You do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do because you feel indebted, and that sense of indebtedness ultimately turns into obligation. And eventually that obligation, if not relieved, will turn to hate.

For example, if Tom wanted to buy a house but could not afford the down payment, his wife’s parents might step up and say, “We’ll loan you the money. No interest. Just pay us back as you can.” It sounds like a good deal, so Tom agrees. They’re family, so no paperwork is drawn up. Tom and his wife buy their house and start enjoying life. 

Soon it’s Easter, and Tom and his wife begin making plans to visit the in-laws. “Oh no,” thinks Tom, “I owe them money, and I can’t pay it. This is going to be awkward.” And even though the parents don’t mention the money, the money Tom owes remains in the back of Tom’s mind. Their relationship is changing.

Before Tom realizes it Thanksgiving is here, and it’s time to see the in-laws again. “We’ve missed you guys,” Mom says opening the door.

“Yeah,” Tom replies, “we’ve just been so busy.”

“Before dinner, would you mind helping me?” Dad asks. And although what Dad wants isn’t too difficult, Tom agrees because indebtedness obligates him to help—thinking that in some way he is paying his debt. But in the back of his mind he is thinking. When are you guys gonna move into a retirement home where you belong? They have people there who get paid to help you.

Unfortunately, this is the same mentality that many people have in their relationship with God, they serve God under a sense of indebtedness and obligation! Feeling that they owe God, and therefore need to do things for Him to pay back some of their debt!

Is there hope for this kind of relationship? Only if the debt is forgiven. Like the old song says, “We owed a debt we could not pay; He paid a debt He did not owe!” Praise God, Jesus has removed the debt of sin between us and God. Today, we can enjoy a debt free relationship with Him without fear, and without obligation. Our debt is forgiven!

 

Take a Mulligan

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Take a Mulligan

Have you ever played golf with a serious golfer? It can be intimidating. They have rules for everything! There are so many rules, they keep them in a little book and treat it with almost the same authority that Christians treat the Bible.

The first time I played golf in the United States, I realized that very few players

really paid any attention to the rules. It seemed like everyone I played with carried about six balls in their pockets, and every time they sunk a ball into the water or hit out of bounds they’d cry, “I’m taking a Mulligan!” and reach into their pockets for another ball. I couldn’t understand it. “You mean you just get to do that over without a penalty?!” I’d ask. “Yeah,” they’d say. “That’s taking a Mulligan.”

Now where I’m from, no serious golfer would consider using a Mulligan. And how many of us as believers feel that no serious Christian should get a penalty-free do-over in life either? But the Gospel of Jesus Christ shows that God is a God who gives us a do over without penalty, when we trust in His Son Jesus Christ!

"For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." ( "For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]" (Romans 11:29 AMP) 

All of us need a second, or third, or sixteenth chance for a do over along the road of life. And with God that chance is also possible without penalty! God’s never had anyone qualified working for Him yet:

  • Noah was a drunk.
  • Joseph was abused.
  • Moses stuttered.
  • Gideon was afraid.
  • Rahab was a prostitute.
  • David was an adulterer.
  • Elijah was suicidal.
  • Martha worried.
  • The Samaritan woman was divorced-more than once.
  • Paul was a religious Zealot.
  • Peter denied Christ.

But it was never about them. They weren’t the message, only the messenger. No matter how badly you have failed, or how far you have fallen, or how deeply you hurt today, with God there is always another "Mulligan" or another opportunity for a do over! Like Paul, we need to “forget what is behind,” (Phil. 3:13) take a Mulligan, and keep pressing forward in Christ! 

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