God is My Portion

 

God is My Portion

 

Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

 

The Palmist reminds us that our bodies will fail. James 4:14 reminds us that our life is like a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Life is finite & if we focus our lives on earthly temporary things we will miss the eternal things that God wants for us & that He wants to do through us.

 

The older I get, the more I think about what I am leaving behind through my life. In the song Only Jesus the chorus says:

And I, I don’t want to leave a legacy

I don’t care if they remember me

Only Jesus

And I, I’ve got one life to live

I’ll let every second point to Him

Only Jesus

 

That is what I want to leave behind with my life - only Jesus, because that is the only thing that will really last.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about living life with & for Jesus & leaving Jesus as our only legacy.

 

The Palmist also says that his heart will fail. We will face many disappointments & our hearts will be broken. In John 14:1 Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me.” Jesus knew that living in a fallen, sin dominated world would cause us to face discouragement & want to give up. But Jesus gives us an alternative to discouragement & hopelessness: faith in Him.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about, during difficult times that make us want to give up, turning to Jesus & making Him our hope.

 

Then the Palmist says, “But God.” That little two-word phrase changes everything.

 

The Palmist has God as the strength of his heart. When we face difficult circumstances, God is there to be our strength because we in ourselves have no strength.

 

In the song Waymaker, one portion of the song says:

Even when I don’t see it, You’re working

Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working

You never stop, You never stop working

You never stop, You never stop working

 

God is our strength even if we don’t see or feel Him working. He is working all the time.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about trusting God to work even if we can’t see it or feel it.

 

God is also our portion forever. God is our share. This world is not our home & thus nothing in this world is our share. Jesus & His kingdom are our share & it is an eternal share. When we die, we take nothing with us out of this world. But if we have surrendered our lives to Jesus, we will go to be immediately with Him, He is all we need.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about having Jesus as our portion & leaving the things of this world behind.

 

Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Our lives are finite & we will face many difficult times, but we number our days. We recognize that life is short & at times difficult. When we place our lives in Jesus we will have a life full of godly wisdom & we will spend eternity with the One who is our Savior & Lord.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls,

Joe

God's Plans, Not Ours

 

God’s Plans, Not Ours

 

In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says that His thoughts & ways are not our thoughts & ways & that His thoughts & ways are higher than ours. We are also told in Psalm 33:11 that God’s plans stand to all generations, meaning that God does not change His plans.

 

King David wanted to build a temple for God. In 1 Chronicles 28:2 King David says, “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building.”

 

David wanted to build a temple that would honor God & be a place the people would come together to worship God. This was a worthy & God honoring plan.

 

But in 1 Chronicles 28:3 says, “But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’” It was not God’s plan for David to build Him a temple.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about us following God’s plans, not our own.

 

In Acts 16:6-8 Paul had a plan to go further into the province of Asia, but God said no. Then Paul had a plan to go to Bithynia & again God said no. In Acts 16:9-10 God gave Paul a vision of a man from Macedonia standing & urging Paul to come over & help them. Paul immediately left to go to Macedonia.

 

Paul had a plan. It was a worthy & God honoring plan. But it was not God’s plan.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about following God’s direction for our lives.

 

In the NLT Proverbs 16:1 says, “We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer.”

 

Our plan may be a worthy God-honoring plan, but we must let God gives us His plans & His directions for our lives.

God’s plans are always perfect & have the right timing. His plans are always right because He is all-knowing, all-powerful, & all-loving. So, His plans are always done with complete knowledge of the circumstances & what is right. His plans will always succeed because there is no power greater than God’s to stop them. His plans are always for His glory & our benefit because He loves us.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about trusting God’s plans because He is all-knowing, all-powerful, & all-loving.

 

We made mistakes when we put our plans into motion & then ask God to bless them. We must seek God & humble ourselves under His authority & seek His plans & then follow them. His will in & through our lives. That glorifies God & that is what we were created to do.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls,

Joe

But God Protects Us from Harm

 

But God Protects Us from Harm

 

Joseph is sold into slavery out of his brothers’ jealousy. In Genesis 45:8 Joseph says, “So it was not you who sent me here, but God; He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and a ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

 

Joseph recognizes that his brothers’ intent was for his harm, but that God is greater than others’ motives & actions. God is the One who arranged circumstances that brough Joseph to Egypt. It was Joseph’s obedience to God’s plan that allowed God to lift him into the high position in Egypt.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about trusting God to arrange the circumstances of our lives for His glory & our benefit.

 

In Genesis 50:20 Joseph says to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

 

Again, Joseph does not soft sell when he speaks to his brothers. He acknowledges they meant it for evil or harm against Him. But God uses it to save many people’s lives. God is a saving, redeeming God. In Luke 19:10 Jesus says that He came to seek & save the lost. God uses Joseph to save his family & it was through Joseph’s family that the Messiah comes. God has a plan & He is sovereign & He will accomplish His plan no matter what. In Philippians 1:6 Paul says that he is sure that He who began a good work in you will bring in completion in us at the day of Jesus Christ.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about trusting God to fulfill His will in our lives.

 

David is being chased by King Saul so that he can kill David because Saul knew that God has rejected him & chosen David to be king.

 

In 1 Samuel 23:14 it says, “And David remained in the stronghold in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.”

Saul wanted to kill him, but he also knew that God had anointed him as king of Israel. David trusted that God would accomplish that. David in this situation stayed in the stronghold that God had provided for him to stay safe. Psalm 9:9 says, “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” David trusted God to be his stronghold to protect him from Saul’s hatred of him.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about trusting God to be our stronghold that protects us from others who want to harm us.

 

Jesus does not promise us that we will have a problem-free life or that we will never face difficult times. He does promise us that His plan for our lives is good. He does promise us that He will fulfill His good plan in our lives. He does promise that He will be our stronghold to protect us from harm.

 

We must believe Him, trust Him, & obey Him. Satan means to kill, steal, & destroy, but Jesus came to give us life & life in abundance.

 

Believe It!

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls,

Joe

God Protects Us from Dishonesty

 

God Protects Us from Dishonesty

 

Jacob’s name means supplanter, meaning one who manipulates others to get what they want. Jacob was certainly a manipulator. But Jacob gets a father-in-law Laban who made Jacob look like an amateur.

 

Genesis 31:6-8 says, “You know I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages’, then all the flock bore spotted; and he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages’, then all the flock bore striped.”

 

Laban was trying to cheat Jacob out of a fair wage. But God was protecting Jocob & making sure that he got a fair wage.

 

That term “But God” is used several times in Scripture. Each time it is used it means that one thing was true, but God changed it. In this case it was Laban’s dishonesty with Jacob. Laban tried to cheat Jacob, but God changed the circumstances so that Jacob was not harmed. He was really blessed.

 

Let’s apply the truth of “But God” to our personal lives.

 

“But God” means that if someone is trying to cheat or harm me, God will intervene & change something to make for my good. Romans 8:28 says that God works all things for good in the lives of people who love Him & live to accomplish God’s purpose. Matthew 6:33 tells us that if we seek God’s kingdom & His righteousness above anything else, God will provide for our needs. God will not let us fall or be abandoned.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is trusting that God will make all things work for our good & provide what we need when place Him first.

 

Let’s apply the truth of “But God” to our culture.

 

Our American culture has many, many problems. I hear a lot about how we humans must go & fix all the problems in our culture. There are two huge problems with that approach.

 

The first is that we created the problems in the first place. God didn’t cause us as a nation to turn away from Him. That was our decision. So, if we caused it, how can we be the answer to fixing it? Second, we don’t have the power or authority to fix the problems. They are bigger than human wisdom or ability. When Laban changed Jacob’s wage from spotted to striped, God caused the livestock to produce what Jacob’s wages were. Did Jacon make that happen? No, God did. So, we bring before God our nation’s problems & then obey what He tells us to do & trust Him, not our efforts to fix the problems.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about turning our cultural problems over to God & obeying Him as to what we do, trusting the fixing to God.

 

Let’s apply the truth of “But God” to the church.

 

Are there problems with the church? Yes, the church is not perfect mainly because it is made of flawed people. So, do we abandon the church? No, because it is not our church. The church is God’s. So, we don’t ignore the problems & we don’t, in our own wisdom, try to fix the church. We go to God’s word & let Him conform His church to His word & thus to His will.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about acknowledging the church has problems & seeking God to conform us as His church to His word & His will.

 

“But God” is a powerful truth & we need to learn how to face the problems in our personal lives, in our culture & in the church by obeying God & letting the One who is all-powerful & all-knowing & who has all authority & who is all-loving to fix the problems.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls,

                         Joe

Why I Believe

 

Why I Believe

 

In 1993 Rich Mullins released a song called Creed. The first few lines of the song say:

I believe in God the Father

Almighty Maker of heaven and Maker of earth

And Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

 

Rich Mullins is testifying to his belief that there is a God & that He is the Creator of all & that Jesus is the Christ & God the Son & that the Holy Spirit is God the Spirit.

 

The chorus says:

And I believe what I believe is what makes what I am

I did not make it, no it is making me

It is the very truth of God not the invention of any man

 

He is saying in the chorus that what he believes was not invented by him or any human & that it is not what he or anyone has made up about God. It is what God has revealed to him about who God is & it is this truth that makes him the person he is.

 

I love this song. I love it because it is truth, but also because I relate to it as to how I have come to know & believe God.

 

My life verse has been for many years Philippians 3:10. It says, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.” Lately I find more & more the culture questioning my faith in Jesus as God & as my Savior & Lord. So, I have asked myself two questions.

 

Raise the Roof & Removing the Walls is about knowing Jesus & experiencing His presence in our lives.

 

Question #1: Why do I believe that Jesus is God & is my Savior & Lord?

 

The answer is that I know Jesus.

 

Question #2: Why do I believe that the Bible is God’s word & it true?

 

The answer is that I know Jesus.

 

Now, when I say I know Jesus I mean I know Jesus as a person. I don’t know Him as a theological truth or a theological concept. And I don’t mean I know about Him like some historical figure. I mean I know Jesus like I know my wife or my son. I know Jesus as a real person, up close & intimately.

 

The word know that is used in Philippians 3:10 means to experience. It is knowing based on having personally experienced someone. In this case I have personally come to experience Jesus.

 

In John 17:3 Jesus defines eternal life as knowing the only true God & Jesus Christ whom the only true God sent. Jesus defines eternal life not as something God gives but as a relationship with God where we know Him. The same word for know is used in this verse. Eternal life is experiencing the personal reality of Jesus in our lives.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about knowing that eternal life is about experiencing the reality of Jesus in our lives.  

 

I believe the Bible because I know Jesus. I have experienced Jesus personally in my life & I know His words when He speaks to my spirit. It is like I recognize my wife’s voice or my son’s voice because I have experienced the reality of them in my life.

 

I am not basing believing that Jesus is God & that the Bible is true on historical or archaeologically or scientific evidence, though there is plenty to justify believing. I am basing my faith in Jesus as God & the Bible as true & the word of God on my personal experience of Jesus as a real person in my life.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about basing faith in Jesus on a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord.

 

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists, and He rewards those who seek Him.”

 

A relationship with Jesus is based on faith. Faith in Jesus that He is who He claims to be in the Bible. The reward for having that kind of faith is we get to experience Jesus in our daily lives as our Savior, Lord, & friend.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about relating to Jesus based on faith in Him as God the Son, our Lord.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls,

                         Joe

Jesus & the Culture

 

Jesus & the Culture

 

We, as Paul did, live in a culture that is not open or even friendly to the gospel of Jesus. Paul shows us ways that we can show the truth of the gospel to our culture in Galatians 6:11-18.

 

Verses 11-12: Overcoming Political Correctness

Paul writes with his own hand to those who are trying to force the believers to be circumcised. He knows they are doing it so that they will not be persecuted because of the cross of Christ. It wasn’t because they sincerely thought that circumcision was necessary for salvation, but so they would not be persecuted.

 

It is easy in our culture today to go with the secular culture & not be fully surrendered to the will of God & just privately practice religion. It is also easy to go with a church culture that attacks & demonizes those who are not followers of Jesus by calling them evil or of the devil. What Jesus calls us to do is neither. Jesus calls us to speak the truth in love living out the gospel in our everyday lives & see those who reject Jesus as victims & love them as Jesus does.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about not compromising the truth but living out the truth of the gospel with the love of Jesus for others.

 

Verse 13: Overcoming Hypocrisy

Paul says that those who were being circumcised to avoid persecution were not doing so to follow the law but to pridefully boast about themselves.

 

Following Jesus is not about just an outward display of piety. Following Jesus is about denying selfish ambitions, dying to the old sinful nature, following Jesus by being a servant to others. That is not just outward action but an inner surrender to Jesus as Lord.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about outwardly & inwardly being surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus.

 

Verses 14-15: Exalting the Cross of Jesus above Everything

Paul says that he will boast only in the cross of Jesus because it is through the cross that the world has been crucified to him & him to the world. Paul was fully surrendered to Jesus as his Lord. Then he says that it is not about religious traditions or rituals or rules. It is about becoming a new creation.

We become a new creation only in Jesus, not by being religious. It is only by Jesus’ death & resurrection & our surrendering our lives to Jesus as Savior & Lord that we become a new creation.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about becoming a new creation in Jesus.

 

Verses 16-18: Praying for Others

Paul prays that the Galatian believers will walk in peace, showing mercy to others. Paul mentions that he bears the marks of persecution on his body. He then prays for the grace of Jesus to be on the believers.

 

Prayer is not hard. It is talking to Jesus as our all-power, all-loving Lord. It is sharing our lives with Him & interceding for the needs of others. Communication is the key in any intimate loving relationship & so prayer is the key to our relationship with Jesus.

 

Revelation 12:11 says that they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb & by the word of their testimony because they did not love life even unto death. We overcome cultural pressure & hypocrisy by exalting the cross, living out in love the truth of the gospel, & serving others in Jesus’ name.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls,

                         Joe

Don't Give Up Doing Good

 

Don’t Give Up Doing Good

Galatians 6:1-10

 

In 1910 William Booth was too ill to attend the Salvation Army’s annual convention. He sent a telegram to encourage the other members. It was a one-word telegram it simply said, “Others.” Paul’s message in Galatians 6:1-10 is saying do good to others.

 

Verses 1-2: Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

 

Paul gives us guidelines for helping other believers.

Restore a fellow believer with gentleness.

Remember that we all are vulnerable to being tempted.

Bear other’s burdens.

 

When we do these things, we fulfill the law of Christ. We fulfill what Jesus desires for us to do.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about, through gentleness & humility & love, doing what Jesus desires for us to do.

 

Verses 3-5: For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.

 

One key to helping others is to realize that we must be willing to submit our lives to Jesus & exalt Him, not ourselves. It is to not be dependent on parents or spouse or friends but understanding that Jesus looks at our works done out of our faith. We are to see ourselves as accountable to God.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about submitting ourselves to Jesus & being accountable to Him as our Lord.

 

Verses 6-8: Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

 

A second key to helping others is to understand that God has established spiritual principles just as He established natural principles. God wants us to share the blessings that He graciously gives us with others. What we sow is what we will reap. If we sow to our own flesh, meaning we spend our lives focused on gratifying our old sinful nature, we will reap corruption which means to waste away. When a person lives as self-centered, they waste their life. If they sow to the Spirit, meaning the Holy Spirit, they will reap eternal life. Life lived directed by the Holy Spirit will enable us to live helping others & our lives will have meaning.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about living our lives with Jesus as Lord & enabled by the Holy Spirit to be a help to others.

 

Verses 9-10: And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

 

A third key to helping others is to believe God’s promises. God promises that if we do not grow weary doing good, we will reap a good harvest. We continue to do good by using the opportunities that God gives to help others. We are to help other believers, but others also all have needs. Just as the parable of the good Samaritan illustrates, our neighbor is anyone who has a need.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about reaping a good harvest by doing good to others who have needs.

 

Jesus came to serve & not to be served. We as the body of Christ need to serve & not be served.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls,

Joe