ISAIAH 53:4-6 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed.
This passage is Isaiah's prophetic vision of what Jesus would accomplish on the cross. We must note here that on the very same cross, on the very same day, Jesus not only paid the full price for our sins to be forgiven, he also paid for our emotional and physical healing.
Note that in verse five he says that by his stripes we are healed. In the old testament all the covenants that God established with his people from Adam, to Abraham, Moses, through law and the prophets were all given for one reason, to point to people to the promised messiah (Jesus). See Romans 3:21-26 and Galatians 3:24. God promised that if they walked in his covenants and in obedience to them they would have good health and that none of the diseases that they had seen in Egypt would effect them(Exodus 15:26). What Isaiah is saying is that ultimately their forgiveness and healing is the result of what God is going to do through the messiah but that they can now claim that healing through the covenants that God had established with them.
1 PETER 2:24 "He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sin, might live in righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed".
In this verse Peter quotes Isaiah 53 but note that he says that by his stripes you were healed. We must realise that the work of the cross was a complete work. There is nothing more God is going to do or can do to secure your forgiveness or healing. As far as God is concerned we are healed, it is now up to us to receive our healing in the same way that we receive our forgiveness.
MARK 11:24 "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
Jesus tells us in this verse that when we pray and ask God for anything we must believe that we receive it, and when we do we will have the thing that we have asked for. This is how our faith works, we ask and then believe that we have received what we asked for. In verse 22 we see that Jesus says "Have faith in God", then in the next verse he goes on to show us how to remove the obstacles that come against us. The key to it is to believe when you pray that you have received what you have prayed for and not allow doubt to rob you from receiving your answer.
HEBREWS 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see."
Faith is the currency of Heaven and it operates in the now, it is neither past tense or future tense. It brings into substance the things that we are hoping for. Hope here is not some half hearted belief that maybe something will happen or maybe it won't. Biblical hope is based on the inner assurance that Gods word is true and totally reliable and that all his promises are "Yes and Amen in Jesus". In the case of our healing the hope is "By his stripes we were healed", Faith takes a hold of of that spiritual truth, that inner assurance that we know this to be true and causes that healing to be manifested in our physical bodies.
POINT TO PONDER.
If someone comes up to you and asks you do you know that you are saved, and on what basis do you believe, would you have any doubt or problem in assuring them that you know that you are saved based on what Jesus has done on the cross?. As I have already pointed out it was on the very same cross, on the very same day that Jesus paid for our sins, he paid for our healing, so when the question arises "Are you healed" based on what Jesus did on the cross what should our answer be?
Thursday, 26 September 2013
ENTERING GODS PRESENCE WITH BOLDNESS.
Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
God here invites us to come into his presence, before his throne boldly. His throne is a throne of grace not of judgement. When we come to the throne God offers us both mercy and grace, mercy for the past and grace for the present and the future. The key here is that we come boldly before the throne. The word boldly means to come with confidence, assurance and without reservation. If we look at Acts 4:31 we see here that the disciples had prayed and asked God for boldness, and in this verse we see that the house that they were in was shaken and they went out and spoke the word with boldness. The word there for boldness is the same word that is used in our key scripture for boldly. When we come before Gods throne we come with praise and worship, we come in prayer and supplication, and when we come with boldness we come making a statement of praise, worship and faith. The word for boldness speaks also of outspokenness, unreserved utterance, freedom of speech.
When we come before Gods throne we come based on who we are in Christ, we come based on the finished work of the cross, that through what Christ has done for us we are no longer sinners, but we are now made righteous in Christ and that we our joint heirs with Jesus. We don't come grovelling before God, but we can freely enter into his presence, God accepts as his sons and daughters based on covenant relationship. We see two examples of this in scripture, the first one is King David and Mephibosheth, David was in covenant with Johnathon, Mephibosheths father and after Johnathon died David went and found Mephibosheth and brought him back to his palace because he wanted to show him the kindness of God and so honour the covenant he had had with Johnathon. David promises to restore back to Mephibosheth all the land that had been Sauls and he could eat at Davids table. Mephibosheth only sees himself as a dead dog, but David dose not see him that way, he sees him as a covenant partner and welcomes him into his home and to his table on that basis. The other example is the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15, the younger son had taken his share of his fathers inheritance and wasted it on wild living. When he comes to his senses he decides to return home and throw himself on his fathers mercy. Before he gets back to his fathers house his father sees him coming and runs out to meet him. The son tries to tell his father that he is no longer worthy to be called his son, but his father ignores what his son says. We actually see that before his son says anything the father has already had compassion on him, thrown his arms around him and kissed him on his neck. This action of greeting his son in this way is very important, in the culture of the day, and even today if a man greets an other man in this way it means that he totally accepts the other man as his friend and equal.
This is how God accepts us and welcomes us into his presence because of what Jesus has done for us. Far too often we hear people say that they are not worthy to come into Gods presence, this is not true, and actually is a denial of what Jesus has done for them on the cross.
So whether it be in your daily walk with Jesus, or when you go to church to worship him with your brothers and sisters in Christ can I encourage you at all times to come boldly before his throne, this is what he wants, this is what he invites you to do. The truth of the matter is, as far as church is concerned, how you come into his presence there is really a reflection of how you come into his presence during the rest of the week. If you are not one who is used to coming into Gods presence during the week you will find it hard on a Sunday, so I encourage you to start to make it a habit to spend time in his presence and know that you can come boldly before his throne.
God here invites us to come into his presence, before his throne boldly. His throne is a throne of grace not of judgement. When we come to the throne God offers us both mercy and grace, mercy for the past and grace for the present and the future. The key here is that we come boldly before the throne. The word boldly means to come with confidence, assurance and without reservation. If we look at Acts 4:31 we see here that the disciples had prayed and asked God for boldness, and in this verse we see that the house that they were in was shaken and they went out and spoke the word with boldness. The word there for boldness is the same word that is used in our key scripture for boldly. When we come before Gods throne we come with praise and worship, we come in prayer and supplication, and when we come with boldness we come making a statement of praise, worship and faith. The word for boldness speaks also of outspokenness, unreserved utterance, freedom of speech.
When we come before Gods throne we come based on who we are in Christ, we come based on the finished work of the cross, that through what Christ has done for us we are no longer sinners, but we are now made righteous in Christ and that we our joint heirs with Jesus. We don't come grovelling before God, but we can freely enter into his presence, God accepts as his sons and daughters based on covenant relationship. We see two examples of this in scripture, the first one is King David and Mephibosheth, David was in covenant with Johnathon, Mephibosheths father and after Johnathon died David went and found Mephibosheth and brought him back to his palace because he wanted to show him the kindness of God and so honour the covenant he had had with Johnathon. David promises to restore back to Mephibosheth all the land that had been Sauls and he could eat at Davids table. Mephibosheth only sees himself as a dead dog, but David dose not see him that way, he sees him as a covenant partner and welcomes him into his home and to his table on that basis. The other example is the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15, the younger son had taken his share of his fathers inheritance and wasted it on wild living. When he comes to his senses he decides to return home and throw himself on his fathers mercy. Before he gets back to his fathers house his father sees him coming and runs out to meet him. The son tries to tell his father that he is no longer worthy to be called his son, but his father ignores what his son says. We actually see that before his son says anything the father has already had compassion on him, thrown his arms around him and kissed him on his neck. This action of greeting his son in this way is very important, in the culture of the day, and even today if a man greets an other man in this way it means that he totally accepts the other man as his friend and equal.
This is how God accepts us and welcomes us into his presence because of what Jesus has done for us. Far too often we hear people say that they are not worthy to come into Gods presence, this is not true, and actually is a denial of what Jesus has done for them on the cross.
So whether it be in your daily walk with Jesus, or when you go to church to worship him with your brothers and sisters in Christ can I encourage you at all times to come boldly before his throne, this is what he wants, this is what he invites you to do. The truth of the matter is, as far as church is concerned, how you come into his presence there is really a reflection of how you come into his presence during the rest of the week. If you are not one who is used to coming into Gods presence during the week you will find it hard on a Sunday, so I encourage you to start to make it a habit to spend time in his presence and know that you can come boldly before his throne.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
SPENDING TIME WITH GOD.
Far too often people say that they don't have enough time in their busy lives to spend time with God. More often than not they will come home form work, have tea, spend some time with the family and then collapse in a chair in front of the t.v. I would like to suggest an alternative to just flopping in front of the t.v, that really does very little or nothing at all to enhance ones spiritual walk. Why not instead put on some good worship music or a good dvd, sit in your favorite chair and just simple say to God "I have come tonight just to meet with you, to spend this time in your presence, father I thank you for refreshing and your anointing." I will guarantee you without fail if you come with an attitude to meet with God and to hear from him he will meet with you were you are at. The Bible says that in his presence there is fullness of joy and at his right hand pleasures for ever more. It also says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. So it is pretty obvious to me that if you have no joy and so no strength in your life, then you need to get back and get into his presence, and the reality is we are meant to live our lives in his presence. Psalm 91 says that he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress. The reality is according to Ephesians 2 we are seated in Heavenly places in Christ, that is our rightful place.
I will guarantee you 100% if you will take the time to spend time with God, even in this simple way, that God will bless you beyond measure. All he desires is for us to come to him with the attitude of wanting to meet with him and spend time with him. He welcomes you with open arms.
I will guarantee you 100% if you will take the time to spend time with God, even in this simple way, that God will bless you beyond measure. All he desires is for us to come to him with the attitude of wanting to meet with him and spend time with him. He welcomes you with open arms.
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