Every now and then, the Lord God calls men to make a decision. Before Jesus, there really wasn’t any choice about our destiny; everyone was born into sin, and our fate was sealed.
But because God is God, He knew before the world was created that in order for His plan to work, something drastic had to be done. There is the general choice that Jesus came to give the whole world between life and death. But before Jesus, there was a temporary fix for our biggest problem.
The big problem that man has came from the choice that Adam made when he chose who would be his God.
Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Adam understood exactly the decision he was making that day. He chose to obey Eve instead of God.
1Ti_2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
The Godhead set up a temporary plan to deal with the Sin problem before the creation of the world since God knew what we would do in advance. The temporary plan was the law, and blood sacrifices.
So, the Word -who was with God and who was God ;decided that He would be the one to put on flesh, give up His position and come down to put the plan they made into action.
Sin makes us out of control – So God gave us the law to bring some sense of order.
From Moses to Jesus there was a season where God dealt with people based upon the law
God used the Jews to give the law to , they failed many times and were punished by God. Sometimes they were obedient and God would miraculously save them like at the Red Sea and other times He would be absolutely frustrated with them and would allow them to go into captivity by other nations or destroy those that disobeyed.
During that time we saw God deal sometimes more quickly and harshly than we see Him deal now. We live in the age of Grace because of Jesus.
Joh_1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament for example Moses had some folks that got on God’s nerves; Moses was up on the mountain getting the law from God. Some people felt he was gone too long and they started to get into mischief and act a fool.
Exo 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Exo 32:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people :10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
Moses acted as an intercessor and began to reason with God. You see the kind of relationship Moses had with God.
Exo 32:11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? :12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
He reminds Him of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Israel and His servants.
God is the judge but you can fall on the mercy of the court and advocate for mercy. You can remind Him of his promises. That is why praying the Word, praying His promises back to Him is so important.
When we are praying God doesn’t need us to tell Him the problem, He already knows. Want must pray the Word, pray the promise not the problem.
It may make you feel better to moan and groan about all that you are going through but if you want things to change you must attach your request to a promise in the Word.
Moses said;
Exo 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
Moses addresses the people in vs 26;
Exo 32:26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
There were some deadly consequences for those that made the wrong choice.
Exo 32:28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
God has feelings about us disobeying, disregarding, and dismissing Him. I have feelings about disrespect from my children– “I brought you in this world”, ….
Surely we can understand God having feelings about our rebellion, disobedience – just repent. Be honest about it He already knows. He makes it easy, if we will confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive.
That was the pattern before Jesus, once Jesus came God has been dealing with us according to Grace.
Grace= manner or act especially the divine influence upon the heart,- acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, joy.
If you look at how God dealt with things in the Old Testament and how He has dealt with man through the church age He seems different but He is the same God. That is why we need to read the Old and the New to get a better sense of who He is. He is the same God in the Old Testament and the New, He is just revealing a different part of Himself.
Jesus was all about His grace.
Luk_2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
John_1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Joh_1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Rom_5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Rom_5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Rom_5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Thank God for His grace – that is all about stuff we do not deserve. We must stop being entitled – He didn’t have to do anything for us but give the wages of sin which is death..
Jesus came and gave the whole world a chance to be saved from the sin problem- The Lord set before the whole world life and death and told us which one to choose.
All that Jesus went through to give us a choice; the pain , the separation, the humiliation, the loneliness, the torture.
He was God and He made himself of no reputation. He came very quietly, born in a barn, and poor. Just a few angels announced his coming, a few shepherds came, the wise men. Soon as he got here the devil started hunting him. He died, went to hell and arose with all power and glory.
We get angry when we watch people kill, maim, rape, sell people, torture, beat, mutilate, enslave and destroy, tear up the planet, party with demons, twist and pervert everything He made good. Surely He gets angry too.
God is merciful and full of grace but even He has a limit. That limit is quickly coming up soon.
Psa_103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
Chide =contend, debate, wait, plead, rebuke,
Why is He holding back?
Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
When He is full what will He do?
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
So how should we respond?
2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
The Good thing
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness
He does not want us to respond to all the bad prophecies about the world with fear. He says be sober– not in fear, not in depression
1Th_5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober
Pe_1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Future grace
1Pe_4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. (Watch and pray)
1Pe_5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Be vigilant you have and adversary that is not flesh and blood – we are real defensive with people and ignore the real enemy.
The enemy is not white people, not black people, not republicans, not democrats, not Communists, they are all just puppets when they operate in an evil way. The real enemy is principalities, powers, rulers of darkness..
There is another decision God is calling us to as Christians right now.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Open the door of our hearts today, welcome the Lord in to sup with you and you with him. (Talk to Him – prayer) Praying is not just us whining, He is not your last resort.
That is relationship – He wants to restore what He had with Adam. To walk in the cool of the day together to laugh and talk together. Sometimes I just smile at Him and say I love you.
It is two way communication, intimacy, fellowship, and the breaking the bread of the Word together.
When it comes to opening the Door to the Lord – F Meyers says –“ least lift the latch of the will, so that He may push the door back and enter. Do not attempt to deal with the squalor within; He will see to that, and cleanse, keep, and enrich. Do not try to provide supper; He will bring thee His own flesh and blood.
He promises to all believers that if they share with Him His age-long conflict against the evil of the world, they shall share His rule and power, which they shall use with Him for the uplift and blessing of mankind. Complete and continually renewed self-surrender to Christ will admit into our hearts the royalty and power of Christ.”
Make the Grace Connection;
Start by going back and doing what the Lord told you to do in the past. Instead of waiting for a new word we haven’t done the previous things God said.
What excuses are you giving to God about why you are not doing something He is pulling you to do;
I don’t have a title, I am shy, I am a woman, I am poor, I am old, I am not educated, I haven’t been to Bible school, I don’t have the skills, I am not good at that, people will talk about me, I don’t want to be on the video, I can’t.
It’s not about you – excuses, Jesus says =pick up your bed of depression, fear, laziness, weakness and follow me. HE supplies all you need, He is the power, HE is the wisdom and the supernatural endowment you need. His grace is sufficient – connect with His grace
2Cor_12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. (That is in red) Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Sufficient = be content, be enough, suffice,
Paul discovered a mystery, that is why he could take pleasure in trouble and persecution for Christ’s sake. He recognized that was when God’s power rested on him and when he was weak, Christ made him strong.
2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
It was why he had a thorn in the flesh that the Lord would not take away. His tendency was towards pride and self righteousness. So the thorn was there to help him stay in line.
Right now there is a desperation in the world and in the church, everyone knows something is going very wrong with our world. Use that desperation to push you to the Lord and connect to Him In a more intimate way. – we are connecting to God in a different way. When you suffer for Christ. – you connect to His Grace-
Recognize that without Him you can do nothing and say like the song, Lord, I’m available to you, my will I give to you. I do what you say to, use me Lord to show someone the way and help me to say. My storage, my strength, my knowledge, what I think I can do is empty and I am available to you.
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