Journey in Stages

In Exodus 17:1 it says that the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages.

This is how God works in my life -  in stages.

The people of Israel didn’t leave the wilderness of Sin one day and enter the promised land the next. They traveled in stages from sin to promised land.

I have traveled in my life from sin on a route that is taking me to the promised land.

There have been things in my life that have helped and hindered.

The Helps:

God’s Word

God’s Word is not a science book, even though the science in it is truth.

God’s Word is not a history book, even though the history in it is accurate.

God’s Word is His story.

The Bible teaches us who God is.

The Bible teaches us what God does.

The Bible teaches us who we are.

The Bible teaches us what we can do.

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Prayer

Prayer is not bringing out our wish list and trying to convince God to do everything on our list.

Prayer is the relationship with God.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Paul writes, “Pray without ceasing.”

If prayer is a religious ritual, then there is no way we can pray without ceasing. But I can stay in relationship with God all the time.

For any relationship, communication is the key. Prayer is the direct communication we have with God. I don’t need to go through anyone else to communicate with God. When Jesus died on the cross, He opened the way for direct access between us as human and a sinless, holy, perfect God.

Grace

Acts 20:24

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

The focus is on a gospel that proclaims grace.

If God had not poured out His grace on me, I would not have:

Been Born

Heard the Gospel

Been Saved

Understanding of His Word

The Privilege of Prayer

Even the Desire to Know God

Grace is the thing that connects us with Jesus, keeps us focused on Jesus, and moves us along in our relationship with Jesus.

The Church, the Body of Christ

I need my brothers and sisters to help me to follow Jesus. I was not created or recreated to do life alone. I was created and recreated to do life together with Jesus and His followers.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing the Father to move us in stages from sin to faith in Him.

The Obstacles:

Comfort

Psalm 73:12 reminds that if our lives are focused on ease or comfort it will lead to wickedness. It leads there because my life becomes about me, not God.

Life is not about my comfort; life is about me being conformed to the will and image of Jesus.

Pride

My life is to exalt and honor God, not me.

1 Peter 5:6 tells us to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand and the result may surprise you: God will, at the proper time, exalt us. God can’t exalt us when we are prideful because we have put ourselves so high there is no room for God to exalt us. When I humble myself under God’s authority, it gives Him plenty of room to exalt  me.

Isolation

When the shepherd went and found the one sheep and left the ninety-nine. He did it because He knew that one sheep separated from the flock would be devoured.

When I separate myself from the faith family, I will be devoured and not have the encouragement or accountability to continue to follow Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing God to remove those things that hinder me from following through the stages of sin to faith in Him.

In Stages, Following Jesus by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                       Joe

Understanding God

I don’t always understand God.

I never understand all of God.

I am not alone in not understanding God all the time. In fact, God does not expect me to fully understand Him.

Isaiah 55:8

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways” declares the Lord.

God being God does not think like us or act as we do.

God is infinite and sees everything from that infinite perspective.

I am finite and see everything from a finite perspective.

For us to really trust God, and God wants us not to just believe that He exist but to believe what He says, we have to know four things that God is.

John 14:6 says that Jesus is truth.

We have to know and live with the reality that Jesus is truth.

1 Peter 2:22 says that there was no sin in Jesus and no deceit was found in Him.

If we believe that Jesus is truth, then everything He says is truth and we can believe Him. If I believe Him, then I am going to live based on that belief, no matter what.

I will believe that Jesus loves me.

I will believe that Jesus wants the best for me.

I will believe every promise in God’s Word.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing God is truth.

Psalm 25:8

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way.

God is good.

Good means He will never do anything bad to me or do anything that will harm me. He will only do what is good for me.

God in Psalm 34:8 invites us to taste and see that the Lord is good.

Romans 8:28 tells us that God works everything for the good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

God will use even the things that we see as bad for our good.

Raise the Roof and Remove Walls is knowing God is good.  

John 4:8 and 16 says that God is love.

God is not a God of love.

God is not a God who loves.

God is love.

This means that everything God does is done out of love.

This means that everything God does in response to us is love.

Love does not mean always telling us what we want to hear.

Love does not enable us to live ungodly or in stupid ways.

Love means God does in relationship to us what is needed for us to be in His will and be conformed to the image of Christ.

It means that I don’t have to worry what God’s motivation is when He commands me to do something.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing God is love.

In John 1:14 we are told that Jesus is full of grace and in John 1:17 we are told that grace is given to us through Jesus.

Grace means that God loves us based on Him and based on nothing about us.   

It means that everything I have from God is a gift from God that I don’t deserve. It means I depend on God’s grace and not my rights.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing God is grace.

When I really believe that Jesus is truth, good, love, and gracious I will:

Trust Him

Live with No Fear

Fully Live for Him

If I don’t really believe that Jesus is truth or good or love or gracious I will:

Not Trust Him

I Will Live in Fear

I Will Live for Whatever I Think Will Fulfill Me

I know that life will be difficult at times, but know that the God that created you:

Will always speak the truth to you

Will always do good toward you

Will always love you

Will always pour our grace on you

Knowing You Can Trust Jesus, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                  Joe

Salvation and Works

The unity of God’s Word amazes me. The idea that God used many writers over 1500 years in different locations to write a book with perfect unity speaks to the supernatural nature of God’s Word.

Isaiah 58:6-11

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house: when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, “Here I am.” If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

God is telling His people that what He desires is for them:

To break the bonds of wickedness

To set the opposed free

To share their bread with the hungry

To provide homes for the homeless poor

To cover the naked

The outcome is that:

Our light will shine

We will be healed

We will have the yoke of sin and condemnation removed

God will guide us

God will satisfy us

God will make us strong

God will make us like a well-watered garden

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is obeying God’s desires, being used by God, and being blessed by God with blessings that multiply, which blesses others.

In Matthew 25 Jesus says that when the Son of Man returns He will gather  all the nations and divide them into two groups: the sheep and the goats.

He will say to the sheep, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will say to you, ‘as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me.’ ”

The Son of Man will then turn to the goats and tell them to depart from Him because they are cursed. They did not feed the hungry or give water to the thirsty or welcome the stranger or visit the sick or those in prison.

The goats will ask when they failed to do that. The king will say that when they failed to do it to the least of these, they failed to do it to Him.

Jesus is saying that if we as His followers minister to the powerless of our society then we are ministering to Him.

The result of ministering to the powerless in the name of Jesus is that we inherit the kingdom.

The result of not ministering to the powerless in name of Jesus is that we will not inherit the kingdom.

The blessing is that we get to be Jesus to people who need Jesus.

The curse is that we fail to be Jesus to people who need Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is ministering to the powerless, the down and out, and the outcast in the name of Jesus and seeing that as a blessing.

In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us that we as His followers are not to be obsessed or even focused on what we will eat or drink or what we will wear. The people who are not followers of Jesus are focused on those things.

We as followers of Jesus are promised by Him that He will take care of our needs. Our obsession, our focus, is to be the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting God for our personal needs and seeking above anything else God’s kingdom and His righteousness.

Works do not earn salvation because is a gift from God out of His grace.

Works do not make God love you because God already loves you.

Works are what flow out of our experiencing God’s grace and surrendering our lives to Him as Lord.

Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God’s workmanship or His masterpieces that were created in Jesus for good works. God had prepared those works for us before the creation of the world for His honor.

Works show that our faith is real and centered in Jesus and His Word.

It is not good works → salvation.

It is salvation → good works.

Good Works in Jesus Name Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                      Joe

Fear is a Liar

What do you believe in?

Who do you listen to?

What you believe and who you listen to will determine how you live.

The people of Israel were at the edge of the promise land. Moses had sent twelve men over into the promise land to scout it out.

In Numbers 13:27-28 the report from the men who had gone to the promised land is recorded.

They say, “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.”

The Israelites were instructed by God to take a land that already had people living on it. It would be a huge challenge.

The men who scouted it out said two things about the land:

It was as God told them it would be - flowing with milk and honey.

It was inhabited by people who were bigger and stronger than them.

It was covered by strong, fortified cities.

They were saying, “The land is awesome but the people are too strong and the cities too fortified for us to be able to take it.”

They were afraid of what they saw. They felt it was beyond their ability to obey what God commanded, to take the land.

They listened to the ten men who believed what they saw and said they could not take the land.

They believed what they could see and listened to their own fear.

As a result, the people of Israel refused to cross over and take the land. They wandered for the next forty years and the generation that were adults never entered land that God had promised for their home.

In verse 30, two of the twelve men voiced a different opinion. They said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

These two men had seen the same circumstances in the land that the other ten men had seen. What was the difference?

Caleb and Joshua believed God when He told them to go and take the land.  They listen to God’s voice, not the voice of fear that the others had listened to.

They were the only two people of that generation that entered the promised land.

When you look at Jesus, few would have anticipated His victory. Few things about Jesus’ life communicated that Jesus would be the victorious King of all creation. The truth is, it appeared to be just the opposite.

Jesus was born in a barn, to very ordinary parents, in obscurity. He ministered as an untrained, itinerant rabbi. He died the death of a common criminal.

Yet God the Father used Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection, to defeat all the enemies we as humans have no chance against: Satan, sin, and death.

We as followers of Jesus also find ourselves, as the Israelites did, facing what looks to us like overwhelming conditions.

How do we not believe the conditions and listen to the fear?

1 John 4:4

You dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

First thing is that we believe that He who is in us, the Holy Spirit, is greater than he who is in the world, Satan.

One of the areas I have had the most fear about in my adult years is money. I used to get very fearful if our bank account felled below a certain level. I was trusting the level of our bank account more than I was trusting God. I had to come to believe that no matter what the bank account said, God was bigger. I had to trust that God would take care of us and provide for us.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is believing Jesus, not circumstances.

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

The second thing is that we believe and rely on the perfect agape love of Jesus.

We as followers of Jesus don’t have to wake up every day wondering if we have done something to tick God off and He will then bring punishment on us. God’s love should cast out our fear because His love is unconditional and has no limits. That doesn’t mean God doesn’t punish sin. But God is not just not waiting around to pour out punishment on us. His grace means that He wants more than anything to bless us through His love for us.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting God’s love and letting it get rid of fear.

Matthew 6:33

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

The third thing is to focus on Jesus and His kingdom.

When I focus on my needs, it leads to worry.

When I focus on Jesus and His provision, it leads to hope and peace.

When God’s people seek Him and His kingdom, He will provide what we need.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is seeking God’s kingdom above all else with no rivals and trusting God to provide all that we need.

Zack Williams has a song called Fear is a Liar. In the song he sings about all the lies that fear tries to convince us of.

We need to believe God, not the lies of the enemy.

Believing Jesus, and Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe