Seeing God through the Eyes of JesusJesus portrays God as a good shepherd, a good woman, and a good father in Luke Chapter 15. He also teaches that repentance is based on our acceptance of the love God has for us. The shepherd searched and found the lost sheep. The woman, the owner of the lost coin, searched and found her lost coin. The father of the Prodigal ran out and embraced and kissed him.If we don’t see our heavenly Father in the light Jesus portrayed Him to be, we will act like the critical fault-finding brother who resists his father’s love, grace, and mercy–at the same time, being blind to the love his father has for him.Ed ElliotYour Heart Will Expose YouToday, you hear many believers talking about God in terms of going through tests, trials, tribulations, judgment, and even hardships. Whenever your spiritual identity isn’t rooted in righteousness, your will feel worthy of suffering instead of blessing.Paul explained to the church in Rome that trials, tribulations, and persecutions, etc. would never separate you from God’s love. (Romans 8:35-39) He went on to teach them they would overcome all these situations if they never forgot they were loved by God.Religion tries to convince people that trials, tribulations, etc. came as punishment or evidence that God is angry with you. Obviously, Paul disagrees because he wanted believers to know that it doesn’t matter what life’s difficulties they face. They didn’t come from God.“Do not let your heart be troubled,(afraid, cowardly. Believe (confidently) in God and trust in Him, (Have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and ) believe also in Me (John 14:1, AMP).Ed ElliotIf it troubles you, God wants to take care of it!The very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Luke 12:7, NLTIf, as the Bible says, God bothers to keep track of how many hairs you have on your head, then there is no symptom, no discomfort, and no condition in your body that He doesn’t know of or care about. His love for you is all-encompassing, personal and in-depth. There is nothing in your body or life too small that you can’t bring to Him and watch Him take care of ! Joseph PrinceThe Power of RighteousnessMost believers struggle with their identity. They allow their failures and sins to identify who they are. I can’t tell you how many people I have counseled who believe they are losers because of their past. Sadly, even friends and family have reinforced this erroneous idea in their heads. The truth is, as a believer in Jesus, He has given us His righteousness as a gift (2 Corinthians 5:21).Being righteous does not mean you will never fall. It means when you do fall, you get back up again.“For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes” (Proverbs 24:16).How does God help us get back up again? So glad you asked, and I promise the answer will bless you. The last verse in Psalm 23 about Jesus being our Good Shepherd, tells us something we should never forget.“Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell forever (throughout all my days) in the house and in the presence of the Lord” (Psalm 23:6) AMP.Whenever you fall, you fall into the arms of God’s goodness and mercy that will never fail you. God uses His goodness and mercy to raise you when you fall. It is His unfailing love for you that helps you stand up again after you have fallen.Do me a favor. Turn around and say, “Thank you goodness and mercy, for always being there for me to catch me when I fall and for raising me up again.”Ed ElliotWhy We Should not Worry“Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow (seed) nor reap (the harvest) nor gather (the crops) into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by worrying can add one hour to the length of life?”Matthew 6:25-27Jesus preached against worry three times, He said, “Do not worry.”Worry is probably one of the major reasons for stress.Worry will hold one captive, waste one’s time, sap one’s energy and robone of today’s joy.Listen! Worry is fear-based. Worry is meditating on things that we are afraid of.God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and of sound mind. Satan is the author of fear.Moreover, fear will give the devil legal entry into one’s life. Bishop Daniel O.C.GOD IS A GOOD FATHERWhat man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good fits to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:9-11How do you know that God is a good God and a good Father?Jesus dealt with this question simply by asking another question: “If earthly fathers, imperfect as they are, know how to give good gifts to their children, don’t you think that your loving Father who is in heaven will be even better?”If your child asks you for bread, would you give him a stone? Certainly not. You would give him the best bread you can find. How much more then, will your heavenly Father give good things to you when you ask Him!Beloved, know in your heart that God is a good Father to you. So if you need something today, just as Him for it. And as you ask HIm, believe that you have received it from Him, and you will have it (Mark 11:24). Joseph PrinceThe Right Definition of “Righteousness”What has a right understanding of your righteousness got to do with expecting good to happen to you today? Everything!Many believers associate righteousness with a list of things that they have to do, and if they fulfill this list, they feel “righteous.” Conversely, when they fail in terms of their behavior, they feel “unrighteous.” But this is the wrong definition of righteousness.Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He (God) made Him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus Christ).” We are not righteous because we do right. We became righteous because of what Jesus did for us at the cross. “Righteousness, “ therefore, is not based on our right doing. It is based entirely on Jesus’ right doing. Christianity is not about doing the right to become righteous. It is all about believing right in Jesus to become righteous.Do you realize we have been conditioned to associate being blessed with doing right? Most belief systems are based on a system of merit whereby you need to fulfill certain requirements–give to the poor, do good to others and care for the underprivileged–to attain a certain state of righteousness. It all sounds very noble, self-sacrificial and appealing to our flesh, which likes to feel that our good works have earned us our righteousness.But God is not looking at your nobility, sacrifices or good works to justify you. He is only interested in Jesus’ humility at the cross. He looks at His Son’s perfect sacrifice at Calvary to justify you and make you righteous! Attempting to be justified by your good works and trying your best to keep the Ten Commandments to become righteous is to negate the cross of Jesus Christ. It is as good as saying, “ the cross is not enough to justify me. I need to depend on my good works to make myself clean and righteous before God.”The apostle Paul said, “I do not frustrate the grace (unmerited favor) of God; for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” My friend, consider carefully what Paul is saying here. He is effectively saying that if you are depending on your good works, your doing and your ability to keep perfectly the Ten Commandments to become righteous, then Jesus died for nothing! That’s what “in vain” means–for nothing! So don’t frustrate the grace of God by depending on your good works to make yourself righteous and put God on your side. Jesus’ sacrifice is more than enough to justify you! And when you know that you are justified, you can be confident that the unmerited favor of God is on your side and expect good to happen to you today! Joseph PrinceThe Right Definition of “Righteousness”What has a right understanding of your righteousness got to do with expecting good to happen to you today? Everything!Many believers associate righteousness with a list of things that they have to do, and if they fulfill this list, they feel “righteous.” Conversely, when they fail in terms of their behavior, they feel “unrighteous.” But this is the wrong definition of righteousness.Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He (God) made Him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus Christ).” We are not righteous because we do right. We became righteous because of what Jesus did for us at the cross. “Righteousness, “ therefore, is not based on our right doing. It is based entirely on Jesus’ right doing. Christianity is not about doing the right to become righteous. It is all about believing right in Jesus to become righteous.Do you realize we have been conditioned to associate being blessed with doing right? Most belief systems are based on a system of merit whereby you need to fulfill certain requirements–give to the poor, do good to others and care for the underprivileged–to attain a certain state of righteousness. It all sounds very noble, self-sacrificial and appealing to our flesh, which likes to feel that our good works have earned us our righteousness.But God is not looking at your nobility, sacrifices or good works to justify you. He is only interested in Jesus’ humility at the cross. He looks at His Son’s perfect sacrifice at Calvary to justify you and make you righteous! Attempting to be justified by your good works and trying your best to keep the Ten Commandments to become righteous is to negate the cross of Jesus Christ. It is as good as saying, “ the cross is not enough to justify me. I need to depend on my good works to make myself clean and righteous before God.”The apostle Paul said, “I do not frustrate the grace (unmerited favor) of God; for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” My friend, consider carefully what Paul is saying here. He is effectively saying that if you are depending on your good works, your doing and your ability to keep perfectly the Ten Commandments to become righteous, then Jesus died for nothing! That’s what “in vain” means–for nothing! So don’t frustrate the grace of God by depending on your good works to make yourself righteous and put God on your side. Jesus’ sacrifice is more than enough to justify you! And when you know that you are justified, you can be confident that the unmerited favor of God is on your side and expect good to happen to you today! Joseph PrinceThe Right Definition of “Righteousness”What has a right understanding of your righteousness got to do with expecting good to happen to you today? Everything!Many believers associate righteousness with a list of things that they have to do, and if they fulfill this list, they feel “righteous.” Conversely, when they fail in terms of their behavior, they feel “unrighteous.” But this is the wrong definition of righteousness.Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He (God) made Him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus Christ).” We are not righteous because we do right. We became righteous because of what Jesus did for us at the cross. “Righteousness, “ therefore, is not based on our right doing. It is based entirely on Jesus’ right doing. Christianity is not about doing the right to become righteous. It is all about believing right in Jesus to become righteous.Do you realize we have been conditioned to associate being blessed with doing right? Most belief systems are based on a system of merit whereby you need to fulfill certain requirements–give to the poor, do good to others and care for the underprivileged–to attain a certain state of righteousness. It all sounds very noble, self-sacrificial and appealing to our flesh, which likes to feel that our good works have earned us our righteousness.But God is not looking at your nobility, sacrifices or good works to justify you. He is only interested in Jesus’ humility at the cross. He looks at His Son’s perfect sacrifice at Calvary to justify you and make you righteous! Attempting to be justified by your good works and trying your best to keep the Ten Commandments to become righteous is to negate the cross of Jesus Christ. It is as good as saying, “ the cross is not enough to justify me. I need to depend on my good works to make myself clean and righteous before God.”The apostle Paul said, “I do not frustrate the grace (unmerited favor) of God; for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” My friend, consider carefully what Paul is saying here. He is effectively saying that if you are depending on your good works, your doing and your ability to keep perfectly the Ten Commandments to become righteous, then Jesus died for nothing! That’s what “in vain” means–for nothing! So don’t frustrate the grace of God by depending on your good works to make yourself righteous and put God on your side. Jesus’ sacrifice is more than enough to justify you! And when you know that you are justified, you can be confident that the unmerited favor of God is on your side and expect good to happen to you today! Joseph PrinceThe Right Definition of “Righteousness”What has a right understanding of your righteousness got to do with expecting good to happen to you today? Everything!Many believers associate righteousness with a list of things that they have to do, and if they fulfill this list, they feel “righteous.” Conversely, when they fail in terms of their behavior, they feel “unrighteous.” But this is the wrong definition of righteousness.Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He (God) made Him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus Christ).” We are not righteous because we do right. We became righteous because of what Jesus did for us at the cross. “Righteousness, “ therefore, is not based on our right doing. It is based entirely on Jesus’ right doing. Christianity is not about doing the right to become righteous. It is all about believing right in Jesus to become righteous.Do you realize we have been conditioned to associate being blessed with doing right? Most belief systems are based on a system of merit whereby you need to fulfill certain requirements–give to the poor, do good to others and care for the underprivileged–to attain a certain state of righteousness. It all sounds very noble, self-sacrificial and appealing to our flesh, which likes to feel that our good works have earned us our righteousness.But God is not looking at your nobility, sacrifices or good works to justify you. He is only interested in Jesus’ humility at the cross. He looks at His Son’s perfect sacrifice at Calvary to justify you and make you righteous! Attempting to be justified by your good works and trying your best to keep the Ten Commandments to become righteous is to negate the cross of Jesus Christ. It is as good as saying, “ the cross is not enough to justify me. I need to depend on my good works to make myself clean and righteous before God.”The apostle Paul said, “I do not frustrate the grace (unmerited favor) of God; for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” My friend, consider carefully what Paul is saying here. He is effectively saying that if you are depending on your good works, your doing and your ability to keep perfectly the Ten Commandments to become righteous, then Jesus died for nothing! That’s what “in vain” means–for nothing! So don’t frustrate the grace of God by depending on your good works to make yourself righteous and put God on your side. Jesus’ sacrifice is more than enough to justify you! And when you know that you are justified, you can be confident that the unmerited favor of God is on your side and expect good to happen to you today! Joseph PrinceCould you forgive someone who sexually assaulted you and cut of your hands and feet?Many years ago, I read a news story about a young girl who had been kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and brutally attacked. Her hands and feet had been cut off by her attacker, and she was left for dead. Miraculously, she survived, and the man was caught and sent to prison for his horrific crime.Eighteen years later, this man was being paroled. The news media got wind of it and thought this would make a great human interest story. They tracked down the girl, who was now a married woman with children of her own. With cameras running, they approached her front door, and when she answered, they delivered the news that the man who had kidnapped and brutalized her was going to be set free! The cameras quickly zoomed in on her face expecting to see a burst of emotional outrage and anger at hearing this monster was going free. Instead, she calmly said, “Eighteen years ago this man took thirty minutes of my life, and I have decided not to give him one second more.”This lady was a believer in Jesus and she made the decision to forgive the man who had maimed and violated her so terribly. If she hadn’t forgiven him, she too would have been in prison; a different kind but, nonetheless, a prison.Someone once said, “ Harboring unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping your enemy will die!” Unforgiveness poisons anyone who holds it, causing them to become bitter. It is impossible to be bitter and get better at the same time!The love every believer possesses today is the very same love that forgave the entire world on the cross. God would never ask us to forgive if He hadn’t equipped us with the ability to do so. This same love can heal your broken heart and enable you to forgive the one who broke it. Living in God’s forgiveness is freedom. Knowing how to forgive is freeing.“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:23). Ed ElliotA LYDIA PLACEShe was baptized along with other members of her household, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am faithful to the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we did. Acts 16:15“Be my guests,” said Lydia to Paul and Silas. Lydia “urged” them–in other words, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. So Paul and Silas accepted her offer of gracious hospitality.Hospitality has been defined as “the love of strangers,” and all through Christian history, the homes of believers have been the places where both strangers and friends have gathered for worship, friendship, healing, and help. Paul told the Roman Christians to practice hospitality (Romans 12:13); and Paul honored Gaius, the Roman whose hospitality he and the church enjoyed (16:23). On the island of Malta after a shipwreck, Publius, “the chief official of the island,” welcomed Paul, Luke, and their companions to his home and fed them for three days (Acts 28:7). Paul healed Publius’ father while he was there, and a stream of blessing began on the island (28:8-10).If nonbelievers, like Publius, and brand-new believers, like Lydia, welcomed strangers hospitably, then how much more should we, who have known the Lord for much longer, show hospitality? The problem often lies in western busyness and fractured, scattered families. The words, “Come and stay with me,” are seldom heard.
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