Treasure Hunt

So yesterday was an interesting day. I forgot my keys at home and got locked out until James was able to get home. So basically I had 2 hours to wait. So I went to DQ for supper and while there I was thinking "what I'm I gonna do?" So I said, "God, if you wanna give me a divine encounter I'd be cool with that." So immediately I thought of this thing called "Treasure Hunting." I learned about it in a book by Kevin Dedmond. Basically you build up a treasure map by asking God to give you clues. Your treasure is people. From my experience you just write down the first thing that comes to your head and go with it. So right after I figured I'd do this in my spare time, sitting in DQ, I took note of my next things that entered my mind. I didn't question them, I just went with the first thing I thought of. I got Red Jacket, Dark Hair, In the hallway in the Arts building under the Library, Girl, and Sprained Ankle. They seemed really random, but I thought whatever I have an hour and am up for an adventure.

So I went to the location that I got in my list. I walked through and saw a guy in a red jacket walking by, but that was about it. Then I had this feeling I should wait at the computers in that hallway. So I did. I didn't pay much attention to people walking past because I figured if God wanted it to happen it would. Then just as I was surfing the net I randomly looked up and to my shock and amazement I saw this girl in bright red jacket, with dark hair, on crutches walking past. I was speechless and she walked by.

Now I had a decision. First point - cool God talked to me. That's crazy! Second point - Now God wants me to act on this divine encounter He set up. Crap. Now I get to look like I'm insane. Whatever. So I followed her. Not creepy like, just kinda walked slowly. On the elevator I was close to her and said "Ankle?" She was like "Yeah." Now Im like okay God certainly is in this, because I mean without God what are the odds of all that coming together within 1/2 an hour?

She was with a bunch of people so I kinda wanted to wait till she was a little more alone. I like to say its because then she would feel more comfortable, but really I didn't want to look crazy in front of lots of people. So once outside it was just her and one other. I figured it was now or never. So I went up to her and said, "You might think I'm crazy, but" and then I told her how God spoke to me about her being there at that exact time. I told her that Jesus loves her so much that He sent me here to tell her so, and that He wanted show that love by healing her ankle right now. I told her I wasn't gonna try to convert her to Christianity, I just wanted to see her ankle healed. I told her that when I pray for people they get healed, which is true. Then I asked her if I could pray for her ankle and have it healed. She looked at me as if I was crazy, which some of you reading this may be thinking as well, and said, "No thank you." At that I said, "Alright" and simply walked away.

Gives and Takes Away Pt. 2

We have all experienced ourselves or seen someone else experience things that are terrible. We say God "allowed that to happen." In a sense yes He does "allow things to happen," but it is the same as how He allowed Adam and Eve to sin in the first place. This sin brought death to mankind (Genesis 2:17), just like actions today can bring sin and death to people. Thank God Jesus completely redeemed us from sin and death (Isaiah 53:5-6, 1 Peter 2:24, Matthew 26:28, Romans 3:25, Ephesians 1:7, Revelation 1:5). We can still choose sin and death however, and so can others around us.

I believe God allows us all to have a choice in our lives, and sometimes another person or group of people's choices affect our lives. When we choose "sin and death" we reap that in our lives. When others choose "sin and death (example - the way our food is sometimes handled before we eat it)" it affects our lives as well. All of a sudden we are fighting off something that we didn't choose.

Just because something happens, does not mean it is God's will. God's will is revealed in scripture. He is the Giver of good gifts. He says that even humans know how to give good gifts, how much more will your Father in heaven know how (Matthew 7:11). He is saying if you can be a good parent, He can too, and more. A good parent would not take away something that is good for the child (unless possibly this "good thing" has become a "bad thing" because of the place the person has given it in their lives, then God could take this "good thing" away because it has become more important than it should. Then He might even give it back after a while). But to say God's will is that someone is in poverty, sick, unsaved or gone to heaven because of an accident is to thwart the entire purpose of prayer.

The only way we can expect any kind of answers in prayer is to know it is God's will to answer. If we think God sometimes teaches us things by "allowing" us to stay sick or by keeping sickness on us, then we could never be sure its God's will to heal in any situation. We could never pray with any certainty for someone to be healed. We could never have faith for healing.

If we believe it was God's timing when some tragic accident happens, then how could we ever pray for protection for anyone? We couldn't because we would never know if God actually wanted to protect us. The reason its so tragic when someone dies from an accident is because they had more life left. They do go to be with the Lord which is awesome, but its too bad they had to go so soon.

Why do these things happen to believers? I don't know. I don't have those answers. I do know that the Bible says that if we pray God will heal (Matthew 8:17, Isaiah 53:4-5, Romans 1:16, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 1 Peter 2:24, Psalms 103:3, Matthew 9:5, Matthew 13:15, James 5:14-15, 2 Corinthians 4:11 ), and that He is our Protector (1 Peter 5:6-7, Romans 8:28, Matthew 10:29-30, Ephesians 6:11-13, Psalm 27:1-3, Psalm 55:22, Psalm 62:5-8, John 10:27-29, 1 Corinthians 10:12-13). We cannot let experiences dictate truth, but instead let the Word of God tell us what is true. When the two contradict each other we hold fast to the Word of God and expect our experiences to begin rising to the level of our faith. If I'm going to go down, I'm going down swinging.

In closing, I do not know the reasons why bad things happen to good people. I do know however that God is good. He does not do bad things. To give Him credit for bad things is wrong. God is good (Psalm 100:5, 119:68, Matthew 10:19, John 10:11, 1 Peter 2:3), and that cannot be negotiated with me. If that is lost, Christianity is worthless. Since God is good, He is not doing bad things to people. He is the Redeemer, Saviour, Healer, Provider, Peace, Guide, and Victory. The devil is the one who steals, kills, and destroys (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8, Luke 8:12). We need to fight against the devil's schemes. To do this we must believe God is not behind these acts (If we believe He is behind these things we might think we are fighting God). We need to know that God is always good and gives only good gifts, and is not the one stealing, killing, or destroying. We need to pray that God's will is done on earth as it is in Heaven, and have confidence/faith it is His will for this to happen.

Righteousness

"We are now justified (aquitted, made righteous, and brought in right relationship with God) by Christ's blood. " Romans 5:9(AMP)[Also see Colossians 1:14 AMP]

We are made righteous through Christ's blood. One redemptive name of God (which describes His redemptive-relationship with us) is Jehovah-Tsidkenu. This means The Lord is our Righteousness.

"For our sake He made Christ {virtually} to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become {endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of} the righteousness of God {what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness}." 1 Corinthians 5:21 (AMP)

Through the redemption of Jesus we can be found In Christ (Colossians 3:3, Ephesians 2:10). Through Christ's blood (redemption) we have been made righteous.

What makes someone righteous? Christ's blood
Do works make you righteous? No (Ephesians 2:9)
Can you become unrighteous because of your works? No

You have been made righteous by the blood of Christ. Your works cannot make you any more or any less righteous.

When we die and are with God will we be more righteous than we are right now? No

Jesus does not have to die again. He made us righteous by His blood. He doesn't need to do this again.

Therefore, Jesus took care on the "sin problem" on the cross. I used to worry about the possibility of dying before I was able to ask for forgiveness for any sin that I may have forgotten to ask for. I thought that sin stood in between me and God and therefore I would be unworthy to be with Him in eternity. But, Jesus took care of the "sin problem" on the cross, my sin does not make me less righteous.

Just like an earthly parent does not need their child to ask them for forgiveness before they are able to forgive their child, God does not need us to ask for forgiveness before He is able to forgive us. He has already washed away all of our sin, past, present, and future, on the cross (Acts 5:31, Ephesians 1:7). Why would we ask for forgiveness then? Because the act of asking for forgiveness is a part of a healthy relationship. When we are in relationship with the Lord we ask for forgiveness for hurting Him, not because we think He will hold it against us if we don't.

God has made us righteous through His blood. We are in right standing with God. The only requirement is to be found In Him. You are found in Him when you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart that Jesus rose from the dead for your justification (to make you right with God) (Romans 10:9). We are not unworthy anymore. We can approach God in confidence (Hebrews 4:16). We are right with God now.

"For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy." (Hebrews 10:14 AMP)

We are righteous, being made holy. We are made holy by renewing our mind (changing the way we think, rewiring our brain) to the truth of our righteousness. When we change our way of thinking to reflect what is already a reality in us. We are righteous in Him, live in this reality.

The Old Man is Dead

Romans 7 reads, "Do you not know the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man. So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you may belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not the old way of the written code."

Our old man is dead. When we accept Christ our sinful nature dies, and no longer resides in us. "We were bound by it, but now have been released from it (v. 5-6)." The only way we can be released is through the death of the sinful nature or old man (as seen in the example right before of the woman). Why then, if we no longer have a sinful nature, do we continue to sin?

That's a good question. I have been reading a lot of neuroscience books lately and I made a great connection with Romans 7 and what is going on at the neuronal level. Page 118 of Norman Doidge's book "The Brain That Changes Itself" explains what happens in our brains when experiencing a death of a loved one.

"Often such people cannot move on because they cannot yet grieve; the thought of living without the one they love is too painful to bear. In neuroplastic terms, if the romantic or the widow is to begin a new relationship without baggage, each must first rewire billions of connections in their brains. The work of mourning is piecemeal, Freud noted; though reality tells us our loved one is gone "its orders cannot be obeyed at once." We grieve by calling up one memory at a time, reliving it, and then letting it go. At the brain level we are turning on each of the neural networks that were wired together to form our perception of the person, experiencing the memory with exceptional vividness, then saying good-bye one network at a time. In grief, we learn to live without the one we love, but the reason this lesson is so hard is that we must first unlearn the idea that the person exists and can still be relied upon."

In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us to "be transformed by the renewing of our minds." The renewing of our minds is the rewiring of billions of connections in our brains from who we once were to who we now are In Christ. The reality is the Word of God is clear that our old man is dead, but that reality "cannot be obeyed at once" by our brains. Renewing the mind is a life long process of saying good bye to "old man" connections and hello to "New man in Christ" connections. The first step in this process is to unlearn the idea that our sinful nature or old man exists and can still be relied upon. It is dead, and although many of us may walk around as if it is alive and well, the fact is that In Christ the sinful nature is dead. If you are a believer in Christ you are in Christ. You cannot be a believer and not be In Christ.

We begin our relationship with the Lord with a lot of baggage. Thankfully our Lord is patient. It would do every believer well to start renewing their minds to their reality In Christ, instead of walking around and acting as if nothing has changed. I believe this is the biggest problem in the church right now. We have people we have accepted the Lord and stopped there. They have not rewired or renewed their mind. If our church is like this than why would anybody want to join? We would be no different from the world.

However when we renew our minds to what Jesus provided on the cross we have complete provision for our every need (Jehovah Jireh), we have health and healing (Jehovah Rapha), we have become in right standing with God (Jehovah Tsidkenu), we have complete peace (Jehovah Shalom), we have a Guide in our lives (Jehovah Ra'ah), we have victory (Jehovah Nissi), and we have a God who is always with us (Jehovah Shammah). These things may not manifest all at once, but as we rewire our brains to their truth they will begin to manifest in our lives. The way each one of these is carried out is through LOVE. When LOVE is the main ingredient and all of these benefits are available In Christ, who would not want to come and know both us and our God?

This all must start with each one of us renewing our minds to God's truth. In doing so we will allow more of Him into our lives, and therefore more of Him will leak out of us "in streams of living water" to all those around us.

Faith

Faith is the act of believing in order to see something manifest in your life. Seeing before we believe is not faith for we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus said,

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)

“If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Believing you have received comes before it being yours. Knowing the truth comes before it sets you free. Faith is believing something is true before you experience it as truth.

Super Bowl champion NFL coach Tony Dungy believes that “the first thing you have to do when you’re trying to turn a football franchise from a loser to a winner is create the belief that you can win.” Before the team ever experiences actually winning, the team must believe they can win. The experience of winning comes after believing they can. Coach Dungy concludes “It is this expectation of success that defines championship teams.” Faith comes before experiencing even in football.

Faith is knowing the truth of God’s Word before we experience it. Our experiences will begin to match up with our faith, but faith comes first. Just like the football team trying to create an expectation of winning so that they can win, we need to create an expectation of receiving from God so that we can receive from Him.

How do we create this expectation and grow in Faith?

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
(NAS) (Romans 10:17)

Faith comes by hearing the word of God. Faith grows by training our minds to hear the word of Christ in every situation we face. Renewing the mind is creating instincts in our minds that represent the word of Christ in every situation. We grow in faith by hearing the word of Christ and by training our minds to hear this word all of the time. To the point where our every thought is God’s thought.