The Principles of Recovery Part 3

This is a part of an ongoing series of lessons following the story line of the parable of the prodigal son in the Gospel of Luke.  The purpose of these lesson is to supply information to those who find themselves outside acceptable economic and social circles in our various church communitites.  Just last year in America there was a great movement and effort to encourage people to come back to church.  Earlier in this year at  my local church, my pastor deliver a series of inspirational messages centered aroung perfecting the family, in which I was informed about the possibility of a generation that will grow up in Christian name only, but will know nothing about Christ or his church.  This inspired me to write this series about retaining your christian faith through the fammine of fellowship and recovering from the pig pen of life.  In the last lesson we talked about Resolution.  Resolution is the plan to solve a problem that is destroying your life.  The story of the prodigal son supplied us with the following perscription.   One:  If you don't have to tell anyone that your leaving the pig pen. Two:  Don't tell those who have ruled over while your were in the pig pen that you are leaving the pig pen.  Three: Plan on humbly returning to the Father's house.   Four: Apologize to those whom you offended on your way back to the father's house.  Five: Don't get hung up on being blessed upon your return, get hung up in service to God in the Father's house.  We now proceed to the next lesson,  Repentance.

Repentance Defined:

1. deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or the like.

2. regret for any past action.

In Christian Church circles repentance is not  only  the regret of past acts it is also the act of the change of a persons mind, heart and direction in life.  Therefore, it has been said that repentance is not real repentance if no change transpires in a person's life.  Please note that the prodigal son formed his resolution first before he acted upon the plan of repentance.   This teaches us that unless those in the pig pen of life don't make a choice to leave the pig pen, they will be just going through the motions as though they are going to leave the pig pen of life.   Now we are using the prodigal son as an example only, this means that people are in the pig pen of life for different reasons.  Utimately, the prodigal son has one thing in common with all of those who are leaving the pig pen of life.  He accepted the responsibility of his choices.  Once a person accepts the part he played in his own demise, the opportunity of self-correction becomes available.  Until then he will wander around in the pig pen of his life.  This is where some believers are, just wandering around, just like the Isrealites did in the wilderness prior to enterring the promised land.   The only benefit in wanderring in the pig pen of life  is that everything that a person was disillusioned with dies off.  The only thing that a believer should be left is his faith in Christ.  Sad to say many have allowed to let that die too in the pig pen of life. 

When I endured homelessness,  I saw men that gave up on life.  Persons with no hope of recovery.  I also met men that still believed that God loved them.  Those men were stuck in their pig pen, stuck in homelessness.  They needed help,  but because they had an anger about what had happened to them, they could not see the way out.  Some of them were there for years.  I befriended one person, who was a christian.  He was depressed also about what had happened to him.  He did not know which way his life was going.  Well every morning I would get up and pray and study my Bible.  Many men when they saw me studying the Bible said things to me to discourage me from studying like, "It is God that made you poor, why would you still want to serve him?" or "Or that Church stuff doesn't work, you need to get a real job".  Despite this onslaught of comments by the many men in the homeless shelter, this Christian friend would join me in my Bible Studies.  At that point of my life, everything was on the table.  When I would get up in the morning I would pray to God and say everyday, "God, Jesus, this is where the rubber meets the road, this is where either faith in Jesus works or it doesn't.  Lord, all these men are watching me, to see if faith in God causes a man to fail or succeed.".  For I came to the understanding that it does not matter if you live in a luxurious mansion or have no home at all, you still have to live for God before men so that they might also believe and have hope, that is every christians responsibility.  One morning, I received a revelation:  God has given all he is going to give,  he gave his only begotten  Son Jesus for believers to have it all.   God gave all that he has and all that He is, it is now up to those who have faith to work that power that He has invested in us.  I shared that revelation with my Christian friend that morning in our Bible discussions which had grew to about ten men, with many more listening.  All God wanted was all of me was to be in service to him, all God wants was all men to be in service to him.  I had some things though I had to repent of.  One was greed, the other was unforgiveness and a few other things like accepting the responsiibility of my choices.  I formulated a plan, my Christian friends did also on leaving the state of homelessness.  Within a few weeks each member of the Bible study left the homeless center and left homelessness including my Christian friend.  I was getting fustrated,  I wondered why I was left in a homeless condition.  I went out looking for work each day.  I attended classes that the Homeless center provided, I put my resume's everywhere.   The only thing I did not do was go to church on a regular basis.  Because of this, I was a homeless Christian in more ways than one.  Like many beleivers in Christ, I did not have a church home.  The church I was a member at lost contact with me and I did not hear from them once I became homeless.    Even though of all the believers that left before I did, I recognized that they all had joined a church somewhere.   So I prayed for guidance and went out looking for another church to attend, not to become a member, just to attend.  I went across the street from the homeless center and met a Deacon of a Church.  He invited me into a building that did not look like a Church, but inside was a church.  Right next door to the homeless center!  It was a few weeks before I was accepted as a member.   Things started to change as I got involved in the ministry and soon thereafter, I left the condition of homelessness.   I continued until through the power of faith in Christ I again had  a job, a home, a family and a vehicle.  Til this day, people in the homeless center and in that Church community knows about the trial of homelessness I had to endure and my testimony that God's word works if you work it and  many have been blessed by it.   So just like the prodigal son who returned to his father's house,  I had repented and  returned to the Father's house,  I had returned to Church, in service to God in Christ.  

One thing about true repentance is that it is an act, an act that you can not fake.   Either you do it or you don't.  What do you need to repent of that is keeping in the pig pen of your life?  More than that what are you in need of repentance so that you may continue to walk in the blessing of God in your life?  You see the common mistake is that once you have repented of something you don't need to repent of anything else anymore.  Repentance is a tool and whe used properly and in faith it will keep your Christian walk maintained and keep you from alot of trouble.  Couple repentance with forgiveness and you have a powerful duo that will allow you do many things by the Grace of God in your life for the glory of God.

The parable does not tell of the people the prodigal had to meet upon his return, the towns he had to go back through.  Enduring the humiliation of the journey all he coucl focus upon is getting back to his fathers house.  Why was he so focused?  The illusions of granduer of a life he imagined that he was going to live  had faded and died in the pig pen. What about his father?  His faither every day since his departure looked to the horizon anticipating his lost son's return.   That is exactly is what God, the Father is doing just that for each one of us.  He is awaiting for each of us to return to him. 

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. "-Romans 8:38+39

It is time you left your pig pen, return in service to God, return to Jesus. leave whatever is in the pig pen of your life in the pig pen and make your humble journey back to the Father's house, back to the Church. The  loving Father God awaits you eagerly to repent and come home.

    

The Principles of Recovery Part 2

This is a continuation of a multi-part series of lessons aimed to assist believers who have found themselves out side of the acceptable social and economic circles of our church communities.  In order to give them direction through the teaching of parable of the prodigal son. We continue now with the second step on the road to recovery : Resolution.

By following the the story line of the prodigal son in the  Gospel record. We have learned some valuable and practical lessons:  One: never take the blessings of God on our lives for granted, Two: never squander the gifts that God, our father has bestowed upon each one of us and three: always protect your wealth against any anticipated or unanticipated losses.   Now we turn our focus upon the second principle of recovery. Resolution.

Resolution Defined: a resolve or determination: to make a firm an action to do something or the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.               -source Dictionary.com

"I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, " - Luke 15:18

The prodigal son makes a resolution, he makes a plan to return home.  A resolution is a decision to act upon a plan to correct or to redirect oneself from the way he was once going.  The prodigal was not going anywhere, he was in the pig pen, in a foreign land as an employee of a stranger.  I give the prodigal son credit to have the strength to make the descision to put away his shame and humbly return to his father's house.  Many believers today are stuck in the pig pen of life, subject to the rules of a stranger, because they are too ashamed of what their siblings and Parents would think of them.  So there they sit, in the pig pen of their lives, living off the scraps of human existence when all each of them could do is make a plan to get out of the pig pen and return to the place where they had the abundance of their Parents at thier disposal.  As demostrated by the prodigal's actions and resolution, the perscriptive actions one must take when in the pig pen of life is the following:

1. Make a plan to leave the pig pen of life

2. Prepare to make a humble return

    -plan on repenting to those whom you know you offended when you return.

The return is ineffective without the plan of return.  A person must know what direction he must now take in order to make the move to recover.  A few things are noticable about the prodigal's plan to recover: He did not ask he employer for any assistance or permission when he left the pig pen.  Many people go to the one that is oppressing them for relief and assistance.  The reason they are opressing people stuck in the pig pen is so that they would be discouraged from leaving it. Next he did not tell his plan to leave the pig pen  to his employer.  Understanding that the employer would be upset finding out  that  the cheap labor he was getting was soon to be gone.  Finally he never got comfortable in the pig pen to the point that he was satisfied with it. Many people has gotten too comfortable in their pig pens in life that they look no more to rise from it.  The reason why some people do not recover is because they have not tasted a better life than the one they are living in the pig pen. 

I had a friend once who did not have a High school diploma,  this friend could not find a basic job to provide for his living.  So he became content with the under the table jobs that he could do.  Sometimes they would pay well and sometimes they would pay nothing at all.  This friend of mine would live off of refunds, and financial kickbacks.  Flea Markets, yard sales and clearance sales was the limit of his shopping venue.  Everything he owned came from one of these sources.  He believed in Jesus and was thankful for the little things he could afford.  He lived in subsdized housing until the Landlords sold  their property to a corporate management group and the rent would get too high for him.  He would have to move to another location.  He was content to living at this level until he got a taste of the life that was a litte better than his.  I took him to a place that was everything he dreamt of and desired.  We talked to another one of my friends who lived in that neighborhood and owned his own home.   He thought that Christian people was not supposed to live that good, but after we showed him from the scriptures that it was up to him where he lived, that God gave him everything that he needed in Christ to make the journey from one level to another, he changed his mind about his level of living.  He began to dream big.  He had one major stumblimg block, he had no high school diploma.  My friend that lived in that well off neighborhood and I decided to help him study and pay for his GED test. After a few tries he finally recieved a letter from the state issuing him a GED.  He was off to the races.  He went to school got a skill, soon after that he got a job, he continued his education and graduated from college with a degree, which in turn gave him more opportunity to earn the kind of money he dreamt of.  He now lives in his dream house that he owns, makes enough money to support himself and most of all He is still a Christian through it all.  Now he helps others to turn their lives around, just as he was helped so that he could turn his life around.

Just like the prodigal son, he realized that he did not have to live in that economic condition.  Unlike the prodigal son who was blessed already, he had a road block and all he needed was someone to bless him along the way.  He had no High school diploma which is essential to fundamentally succeeding in life.  If anyone one suggests to you that obtaining a high school diploma is not neccessary to for you to succeed at life, just remember the testimony I shared with you in this article.  I am not saying that God cannot bless you despite you obtaining one, but those examples and testimonies are few and not the way that God has provided for most of us. Here are some of the scriptures that we shared with that friend of mine.

"Buy the truth, and sell [it] not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding."                           - Proverbs 23:23

 "..I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly."                   - John 10:10 

"Wisdom [is] the principal thing; [therefore] get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding."- Proverbs 4:7

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,.."- Ephesians 3:20

These above are just a few of the scriptures my friend and I shared with the Christian friend who was living below his status.  Simply put.  If one wishes to recover, they have to change whatever they are doing now and do something different.  Now in doing something different, requires a change of mind, a change of direction and a change of purpose.  The prodigal son changed his mind about living in the mire of the pig pen. He change the direction of his life from wandering in want in a foriegn land to heading back to his father's house. He changed his purpose of living from that living beneath his status in the pig pen to that of living as a servant in his own father's house.  All those changes did not come from without the prodigal son, they came from within the prodigal son.  This teaches us that all we need to succeed is already within us, if we are willing to change our minds about our present condition, change our direction of each of our lives and change our purpose for living. How do we do this? We do it with education, learning something new that can provide for each one of us a better level of living.   One caution however, choose what ever you are going to learn as a trade wisely.  Make sure that whatever you choose is always going to be in demand or going to be in demand for a long time.  For it is foolish to learn something different and new to make a better life for yourself only to find youself and your new expertise is not any longer needed by anyone. In other words, that people find you newly acquired skills obsolete by the time you graduate.

Here is the lesson: If we change our will and subject it to the obedience of God will, then anything that God wills for us is possible.  So the questions are: Does God want us to be blessed? Does God want us to  recover? Does God want us to serve him?  The answers to these questions are yes, yes and yes.  So many of us get stuck on being blessed, but being blessed is just a means to serve the will of God in our lives. This the same test that the young rich ruler failed when Jesus asked him to sell all the wealth that he had acquired from doing the will of God and serve God with Jesus.  The wealth possesed the heart of the rich young ruler, not serving God with Jesus  which is the will of God for all.      

Principles of Recovery Part 1

I. Introduction 

A. We live still in a throw away society in the United States.  If something or someone is no more use to us we throw them or it away in leu of whatsoever new thing or person we wish to associate ourselves with for whatsoever the reason.  We as a society has gotten better at it in recent years which is evidenced by the human services that has asrisen  to restore and rehabilitate the segments of our American society that have been injured, misdirected, and corrupted as a result of being thrown out of acceptable social circles.  The only place that it has not gotten better is in the Church community.  This, I believe in part, is the result of an abnormal  prosperity teaching.  Many prosperity teachers have taught that if a person suffers loss, socially and economically, that it is a result of being cursed by God, or due to their lack of faith.   They often point to a person's level of giving  as the cause of their social and economical loss.  Consecutively they also point to the level of a persons faith is equal to their level of giving.  What happens when a person suffers an social and economic loss that has been a faithful giver? Do we call that person cursed by God because they do not give at the level the Church was accustomed to them giving at?  The sad truth is that many Church communities do.   By doing so, they alienate people from their church and some of them choose to seek alternative faiths. What do these believers of God really need?  They need to be told how to recover from social and economic loss and how to keep their faith intact.  They do not need to be thrown out of or alienated from our church communities.   This is what this set of teachings is about:  How to recover and keep your faith in Christ intact.     This book is based upon scriptural stories and parables of recovery, so that the people of God may know the principles of recovery and understand how to recover from the social and economic loss they may have experienced in their lives.   

There are seven principles of recovery that the Bible shares through the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:14-24.  These principles are as follows:

1. Realization =Vs. 17

2. Resolution=Vs 18

3. Repentance=Vs.19 

4. Return=Vs.20

5. Reconciliation=Vs.20

6. Restoration=Vs.22

7. Rejoicing=Vs.23, 24                

II. Realization

"And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!" -Luke 15:17

 A. Realization is defined as: (noun)  The process of making real or being made real something planned or imagined.-Source: Dictionary.com

1. Realization therefore is the process of the revelation of  a reality that supposed to happen from  either effective or ineffective planning or choices.

A. It was the prodigal son's poor planning and poor choices that allowed him to experience the reality of the pig pen. What choices did he make?

i) He chose to take his share of his inheritance and spend it any way he wished.

       a) He effectively excuted his plan and sqaundered his temporary wealth.

       b) He evidently was decieved by the amount of wealth he received from his father, he thought    
           that it was inexhaustible.  So he spent all of it down to the last coin, and found himself to be 
           in want.

*We find a truth here; That wealth is not determined by how much money you possess, for money does not last forever.

ii) His mistakes are notable: Luke 15:11-13

a) He was self deceived about the longetivity of his share of the inheitance.

    - This is why I say that the worse kind of deception is self deception

b) He made a  poor choice of friends:  They did not have his financial security interests in mind.

     -When you base your relationships upon what you can give them, when you fail to give them 
       what they expect at the level  they expected it, your relationships will also fail.

c) He excercised implusive and liberal spending habits.

d) He made no investments to secure his inheritance

iii) The one mistake he did not make: He did not attempt to borrow any money .  He was only in want, he was not in want and in debt.  Because he was not in debt, he preserved his name which was the only thing he possessed.

2.When he was in the pig pen, he came to the conclusion that his faither's servants has it better than he now.  He also realized he had it better off back home than how he was living now in the pig pen. -Luke 15:17

A. Isn't it amazing how a person's perspective changes when their financial circumstances change:

i. When one becomes financially wealthy, the amount, nature and quality of their friends change.  Their environment changes and their spending habits become more implusive and liberal.

ii. When one becomes financially poor, the amount, nature and quality of their friends change.  Their environment changes and their spending habits become more planned and conservative.

B. Life for many of us, is a struggle to transend from a status of being financially poor to being financially wealthy.

i. What the prodigial son exhibits for us are the things we ought not to do, if we aspire to leave the life of poverty behind.  We ought not to do the following:

a. Believe that any lump sum of money or wealth received  will last your entire life.

b. Make friendships on the basis of what you can do for them with your money

c.  Excercsie implusive and liberal spending habits.

d. Fail to invest to secure your money or wealth.

C. Why did the prodigal leave his home in the first place?

i. He possibly percieved that his life at home was not as interesting as what he imagined what was in the world.  He possibly heard about the exciting things that happened in other towns that his faither traveled to.  He possibly heard about the places that vistors told his father about.  So his vision of the world was that it was an exciting place more exciting than what he had at home.  Such things possibly fired his imagination and inspired him when he had come of age to ask his father for his share of the inheritance.  He wanted to see the big wide wonderful world for himself.  He figured that his inheritance was worth the adventure.  He had no way of knowing of the many pitfalls he would experience.  Maybe he did not pay attention when his father talked with other busniessmen that passed through, who his father warned of the dangers of the trail and the cities they intended to visit.  So the prodigal son's education was incomplete.

* Education is paramount for one to experience success in life, so pay attention and learn all you can.

a. The prodigal reasoned within himself that his share of the inheritance that he recieved from his father would last him for the rest of his life, so that he would never have to work. He found out that his money ran out before his life was over and he had to work for a living.

*This is why it is said that a fool and his money is soon parted from one another.

b. Many people dream of not having to work for a living.  The prodigal had a chance to establish his finances in such away that he could have accomplished what envisioned his life would be, but he instead squandered it all away.

1) Some people use unexpected wealth that has been deposited in their lives foolishly and implusively. Some do not.

*The people that become rich did not spend their wealth foolishly and implusively.

c. The prodigal's father was wealthy, so wealthy that he continued to be wealthy even after his yougest son took his share of his inheritance.

1) The father of the prodigal servant's were not financially affected by the withdrawal of the prodigal's share of the inheritance.

a. The father of the prodigal possibly hedged himself from financial damage by the withdrawal of the prodigal's share of his inheritance.

*It is always wise to protect your assests from financial loss so that when that loss occurrs it is easier to recover.

d. What did the prodigal do after realizing that he had it better back home?

1) The prodigal son realized that the foolish choices he had made has brought him to poverty , that all the fault was his for his present condition in the pig pen.

a. It is when a person accepts the mistakes he has made, then the opportunity of change is available to him.

2) The prodigal son found out that the lifestyle he ventured out to live with his wealth does not last forever.  He also learned that such a lifestyle comes at a cost, and that cost is poverty.

a. He realized how good his father servant's had it back home.  So what does he do? -He resloves his present dellemma and plans to to return as his father's servant. No longer disollussioned with the exciting wide world nor enchanted by it.

3. What did we learn about the principle of realization?

A. We learned that so many of us have taken what we have inheirited from God, our creator, our father; Our strength, our gifts and various abilities and have vainly squandered them in loose living in order to make fair wheather friends. Until our strength has gone, our health has faded and our gifts and various abilities have wained.  "Our friends" have left us and we find ourselves in the pig pen of life. Cast out of society and the lifestyle we aspired to live.  There is good news! We need not to wallow in the mire of the pig pen of life.  We have a father in heaven who still love us and is still waiting for us to return to him.  A Father who takes care of those who willingly serve him.  If only if each one of us who have found himself in the pig pen of life would choose to humble himself and choose to be a servant of the heavenly father.  All each one of us need to do is repent from our sinful and worldly ways and make Jesus the Lord of our lives. Secondly, we each need to commit to live according to the will of God.

A Gospel for Everyone

There are some people that believe that the Gospel message is only for the Israelites. The they use passages from the Bible that appear support their view such as: 

"And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils."
Mark 1:38+39

"But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Matthew 15:24

"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, 'Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into [any] city of the Samaritans enter ye not:  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.'"
Mark 10:5-8

If this be so, then why did the Apostles appear to stray from their original commission? What made them change?  Well before we get into all of the reasons why the focus changed from bringing the Gospel to Israel to bringing the Gospel to the rest of the world.  Let is focus upon the verses shared in this article that appear to espouse this Gospel for the Israel only view.  The above verses were stated by Christ in the earliest part of his ministry.  The reason why Jesus was so focus on getting the Gospel out to only the people of Israel  was to fulfill God's promise to Israel. God's purpose was to keep the promises he made through the mouths of the prophets to Israel.  That He would have a son (Isaiah 9:6; 1 Samuel ), that son would be born of a virgin (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14), that son would be God's anointed servant ( ), That servant would die for the sins of the people (Isaiah 53:5; Psalms 22).  It keeping his promises to Israel God sent Gabriel to a virgin named Mary who told her about her selection and the soon to be born child's name. 

"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name [was] Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, [thou that art] highly favoured, the Lord [is] with thee: blessed [art] thou among women. And when she saw [him], she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Luke 1:26-35

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
Matthew 1:18-21

Now this does not prove that Jesus and the Gospel that he preached was for everyone, for we have also read in the previous passages that Jesus will save HIS PEOPLE from their sins.  So the next question is: Who is Jesus' people? If we take a natural view, we will notice that Jesus was born as a Jew, raised as a Nazarene by Jewish parents and lived most of his youth in Nazareth.  So His People biologically and geographically speaking are the Jewish people, the people of Israel.  It would appear that the people who make the claim that Jesus died to save His fellow Jews only are correct. That is, if you only consider the verses that they use.  For Jesus himself before he left this earth, gave specific instructions to his disciples  to preach the Gospel message to all nations teaching them and making disciples.  (Mark 16:15; Mathew 28:18; Luke 24:46+47) Why the switch from preaching to Israel alone to preaching to the entire world?  It is because the Gospel was not fully accepted by the by the people of Israel that the message of salvation, the Gospel came to the nations.  

"He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
John 1:11-13

Some people have said that this passage is a later explanation of what occurred between Jesus, the Christ and His people for the Jews are still His People and God's plan of salvation is designed exclusively for them.  Yes it is true that the people of Israel are still Jesus' people in many respects, but not everyone in God's sight is not of Israel.  The Apostle Paul explains:

"... For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, [are they] all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this [is] the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son."   Romans 9:6-9

and

"Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, [saying], In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.....That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.......For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:6-9, 14, 26-29

Jesus himself also stated that He had "sheep" that were not of this fold. (John 10:16)  Which only at first glance appear to mean that he knew of other Jews living outside of the Land of Israel that had not yet had a chance to hear the Gospel message.  That is until he says the following to the inquiring Jewish religious leadership:

"And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand.'" John 10:23-28

So what Jesus said here is that just because they did not hear his call to be saved, they are not his sheep.  Here is the point, Jesus separated those who would hear and accept the Gospel from those who would not.  Those who did accept the Gospel was called "His Sheep", those who did not remain lost by the consequence of their own choice to not believe the Gospel. (John 3:16-21) It did not matter if they were of Jewish decent or not. Why did Jesus do this? Because the religious leadership and many of the people did not believe who  Jesus said he was.   He gave them the evidence and they still did not believe.  Jesus found many people that were not of Israel that believed in who he was (Matthew 15:22-28; Luke 7:2-10) So what we see is Jesus outlining three critical things that make a believer in God, His Sheep regardless of their ethnicity.  They are the following:

a) His Sheep, hears His voice
b) He has intimate knowledge of them and they have intimate knowledge of Him
c)  His Sheep follow his guidance 

Let us examine each of these qualifications:

a) His Sheep, hears His voice

How can anyone hear the voice of Jesus now that He has returned to the Father in Heaven?  When anyone reads, studies or recites any of His words that was recorded in the Gospel record they are hearing Jesus' voice. 

b) He has intimate knowledge of them and they have intimate knowledge of Him

How can anyone have an intimate knowledge of someone that has left this life? This is crucial for believers to understand, you can not be a follower of Christ without having a personal relationship with Christ.  How can someone have a personal relationship with Christ?  By getting born again, but we will get to that a little later.

c) His Sheep follow His guidance

How can one follow His guidance, since he is not with us physically?  Jesus did not leave us comfortless, he sent the Holy Spirit to assist us and guide us into all truth, to bear witness of Jesus, the Christ and empower us to live this new life in God.  He also gave us His word, the Bible so that if we lose our way, we can always come back and get on the right path.  So studying the Bible and understanding the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is imperative to walking in the guidance of Christ. 

This answers the question: Who can be one of His Sheep?  Anyone that hears his voice, accepts the Gospel message and follows His guidance.  This fulfills the prophecy that reads:

"... I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to [them which were] not my people, Thou [art] my people; and they shall say, [Thou art] my God."  Hosea 2:23

For who is these that had not obtained mercy? Those who once were not God's people.  God proclaiming through the prophet the selection of  a people of faith  from among the nations, a people who will believe in Him.  (Romans 9:26)

So how does God do this? He sends Jesus to keep the promises He made through the prophets to save Israel, but most of Israel refuses to accept the Gospel.  So God through Christ and His Apostles begin to preach to those who would hear and accept the Gospel of Salvation. Does this mean that that Israel can not be saved? By no means, the same salvation that was provided by Christ for all, also includes an open invitation to all Jews everywhere also to receive it.  Which brings us back to the question:  How can I receive this salvation provided by Christ?  The answer: By Being born again:

"...But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12+13

But How do you get born of God? Someone had the same question and asked Jesus to answer it, this is what He said to him:

 "'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus saith unto him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?'  Jesus answered, 'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again...And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'" John 3:3-7, 14-16

From what Jesus had said getting born again is as easy as believing that he died for your sins.  Jesus corellated the lifting up of the Son of Man, that is God's man, to Moses lifting up the Serpent on a pole.  Jesus was appealing to Nicodemus knowledge of the sojournings of Israel in the wilderness when God was punishing the people for their unbelief, the people pleaded to Moses and God provided a solution that those who chose to repent and believe in God could be saved from wrath of God. (Numbers 21:4-9 ) God instructed Moses to make a brass serpent and lift it up upon a pole. That whosoever repented from their unbelief looked upon it they were healed. In very much the same way Jesus was to be lifted up upon the cross so that whosoever chooses to believe and repented of their sins can be saved.   How do one get saved?  The Apostle Paul explains the saving process further.

"...if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:9-13

It is upon the open confession of faith in the death and resurrection of Christ and an acknowledgement of His Lordship by a repented heart that saves a person from their sins. How does one do that?  All a person has to do is recite the following prayer with all his heart:

Dear heavenly Father, In Jesus' name come you now as a repented sinner, I confess all my sinfulness to you and ask you to forgive me for Jesus' sake.  I now believe that You sent Jesus to die for my sins according Your promises in the Bible.  I Also believe that You raised Jesus from the dead according to Your promises in the Bible. I therefore, invite Your Holy Spirit to live inside of me and ask You to make me Your Child.  I promise to strive to live Holy everyday with Your Help. I thank you Lord for saving me.  

That is it! You are now a Child of God! I welcome you to the Family of God in Christ. The next thing you need to do is find a Bible Believing Church and Learn all you can about Jesus.

Now for those of you who did not choose to say the suggested prayer.  I have a warning for you.  Just like those who chose not to believe in the wilderness were subject to the wrath of God for their unbelief.  You too are under the same wrath for not choosing to believe the Gospel of God's Salvation through Jesus, the Christ.  For the Bible states:

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36

Now why would you think that God would spare you in your unbelief, if he did not spare them that did not believe that sojourned in the wilderness with Moses, but died before seeing all that God had promised them?   God is no respecter of persons, in the matter of the acceptance of His salvation, He plays no favorites.  Who would want the wrath of God abiding with him for the rest of his natural life?  When the people of Israel saw the wrath of God, some of them quickly repented.  The others died in their unbelief.    If you are one of those who believe that there is nothing beyond the grave then listen on the testimony of a man recited by Jesus who thought the same thing.

"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [would come] from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Luke 16:19-31

As I said this was a testimony, not a parable.  If Jesus was teaching a parable He would state the the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven is like a or end with so it is in the Kingdom of Heaven or His Father.   There is no reference to the Kingdom of God or Heaven as a comparison to this testimony.  Because Jesus is God, he can recite the testimony of people who have died and their vain requests of God while in hell.    The point is that this testimony recited by Jesus proves that  the grave is not the end of it all, it is just the beginning.  Hell is not a place of comfort, there is not going to be a party there.  For Hell was not created for you dear reader.  Jesus says that hell was created for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41) , so if a soul would venture to go there, because of their unbelief of the Gospel of Salvation provided by God through Jesus, the Christ, they would be tortured by the demons of Satan himself for making such a judgment error.  

The choice is yours.

Support Your Local Pastor

One of the many reasons that Pastors these days have to work is that they are not getting the financial support they are suppose to get from the people of God that they are ministering to. Some people really believe that they are paying for just the livelihood of the Pastor, not for the Gospel to be preached because they believe the Gospel comes without a cost..  Some other people believe that Pastors do nothing worthy of getting support, because they see the Pastor of a particular church driving the best cars, living in the best homes and eating food that for the most part, in the view of the non-supporter, that Pastor did not pay for. Their thought is, well why don't he get a real job, like the rest of us and keep the Gospel free?  Or the sentiment is, Paul, the Apostle worked as a tent maker and preached the Gospel, why can't the Pastor of churches do the same instead of charging us for the message the he preaches?  The fact of the matter is that if the Pastor or Preacher desires to work in order to support his family and the Ministry, he has the scriptural right to do so, but that is not what God desired or designed.   God's plan of support of the Man of God who he has sent to minister the Gospel to your church community is that the Man of God is supported by the people of God.  Let us Go to the word, shall we?

In the Book of Numbers Chapter 18 versed 20 to 24, God instructed Arron the selected High Priest that he has no inheritance among the people of Israel. It goes on to say that neither does the Levites have any inheritance among the people of Israel.  What was their inheritance?  Their inheritance was God himself, therefore whatsoever tithes God received of the people, the Levites also received.  After which they had done so the Levites were instructed to tithe the tithes that they received of the people to the Lord and his house (Numbers 18:26).   This is the principle that I stated before that Gods people must support Gods man,  but those of us who believe that this principle is not applicable to us today because of the belief that Jesus took away the Law and now we live by God's grace, we do not have to look far to find that even before the Law was ratified the principle that God people must support God's man selected to minister to them.  In Genesis 14:18-20 we find that Abraham gave tithes to the man of God in his day.  This occurred before there was ever a law given to the people of Israel, for Israel was not even born when Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek.  Because Abraham gave tithes, not under any commandment, but by faith under the promise of blessing, we too must give support of God's  man by faith and not under any compulsion for we too are under the Abrahamic blessing by faith in Christ. The point is the principle is still God's people must support God's man is still in effect because the Bible stipulates that the Law which appeared 430 years after the Abrahamic promise can not put out of legal effect or disannul the promise that was made by God to him.                         (Galatians 3:15-18)

Well somebody will say that Jesus did not receive tithes when he walked the earth with his disciples, nor did he command people to give to God tithes.  Well yes he did, recall the the time when the religious leadership tried to ensnare Jesus in his words and asked him whether or not should they pay tribute to Caesar or give to God? How did Jesus answer them?  He said, "Give unto Caesar what the things that is Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" (Mark 12:17-21) Jesus did not oppose people giving to God what is His. Among the things that are His, the tithe offering is one of them.(Leviticus 27:30,32) The fact of the matter is that Jesus did not oppose the people tithing at all.  He opposed the way the conducted the tithing process, like it was a money making venture,. (Matthew 21:12-14,23:23+24) squeezing every coin out of it for themselves. It is true  that there is no record that Jesus did not receive tithes, but he did have a treasurer because he constantly was supported by God's people,which echoes the principle I mentioned before, God's people must support God's man.  Why did Jesus not receive tithes when he was among us?Jesus could not receive tithes while he walked upon the earth because he had not died yet and the old law of tithing was still in effect.  Remember Jesus came to fulfill, or satisfy the Law, not to destroy it, so while he was on this earth he could not receive tithes.

Furthermore, the Old Law gave power and authority to the priestly order in his day to determine sin and pronounce God's per-scripted judgement upon it. Understanding that God himself set up this order of priesthood, while the Law still had legal power Jesus could do nothing, while he was alive on this earth, that would offend it. All He could do is satisfy its righteous demands, which required His death. For sin gave the Law the power of judging it and exposing it.  As long sin is found, God must judge it, for he is Holy. God did so through the legal sacrificial system that God set up from the beginning of human existence,(Genesis 3:21,4:3-5,8:20-22) but mankind is frail and prone to sin. (Hebrews 8:8)  Therefore, finding the fault in mankind,  God had to do something to save mankind from the penalty of sin, which is eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire.  God sacrificed a part of Himself, he sent Jesus, His only begotten Son to save mankind from their sins and ultimately from the condemnation of the Law. (Galatians 3:13; Romans 8:1-4).  When Jesus satisfied the righteous demands of the Old Law, by shedding his own blood, he put a legal end to it. What people do not understand that God through Jesus set up a New Law which fulfills or satisfies the Old Law. (Jeremiah 31:31-34) That Law is the Law of Christ (Romans 8:1+2) His shed blood satisfied the righteous demands of the Old Law of God and also ratified forever the all the promises of God made to mankind. (1Corinthians 1:20).

When Jesus arose from the dead and entered into the true Holiness of Hollies, in the presence of the Father, God, He went showing Himself that all has been fulfilled as He has spoken concerning the redemption of mankind.  Jesus took his rightful place at the right hand of God, the Father interceding for us as a High priest over our profession of faith in Him and our confession of faith concerning things in this world.  So what does this have to do with supporting our local Pastors?  Before Jesus went to be with the Father, God, He instructed and called men to continue the Preaching of the Gospel to all men.  Anointing them with power of the Holy Spirit, they preached.  That tradition of preaching is continued today through our local Pastors, under that same anointing. Just as Jesus and His Apostles, even the Apostle Paul received support for the preaching of the Gospel, so should the Local Pastors ( Luke 10:1-12,17-24; John 13:29; 1 Corinthians 9:14). That God's people support God's man.  Point of clarification: When Jesus told his disciples to not carry a money purse or script of money on them when preaching the Gospel, it was not because he did not want them to receive  money, He was protecting them from depending upon money to corrupt the power He had given them. (Acts 8:9-20)

It is only in these recent times that people believe that Pastors should themselves pay for the Gospel to be preached and not, in their minds, force the people to pay anything.  Please understand that No offering is to be given under compulsion, but by faith in the one who has provided all good things to us.(2 Corinthians 9:6) To give as though it was a bill, or a tax is to dishonor the principle upon which the first tithe was given.  Which was by faith in the Goodness of God and to praise God for his goodness toward us.  It is only in these recent times that Churches have to pay for buildings to be constructed, and pay people to do it.  It is only in these recent times that giving an offering to the man of God is an option.  It is only in these recent times that people expect  God to change what he has written, to suit their own appetites.  Well God does not change, His word does not change and his principle that God's man is supported by God's people has not changed.  So what shall we do? We need to repent, and support our local Pastors that are preaching the Gospel, because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us and the commission he gave to us.  Nothing more nothing less.

How do I do that, when I don't have a church home?  Find a local Pastor and support him, church membership is not required to support the Man of God.  The Widow of Zerephath was down to her last meal, but there came a Man of God to her and instructed her sacrifice a piece of the meal to him first. This woman was not an Israelite, that means that she was not privileged to receive the blessing of the covenant, but she did what the Man of God instructed her to do.  God, blessed her for her obedience and provided for her throughout the famine.  This is what can happen if the people of God support the man of God, whether they are a church member or not, that is preaching the word of God.  (Luke 4:25-27; 1 Kings 17:8-16). In short, you don't have to be a Israelite to receive the blessing of God.  All you have to do is support God's man, that is preaching the Gospel. All you have is comply with the Biblical principle that God's man is supported by God's people.  The Local Pastor is God's Man in these days sent to preach the Gospel to God's people.

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