NORTH KOREA TESTIMONY – PART 2
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:17
At the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town in October 2010, North Korean Gyeong Ju Son shared her moving life story. Here is the conclusion.
While staying at the Korean Consulate in Beijing, waiting to go to South Korea, her life was dramatically and irrevocably changed when Jesus came to her in a dream. She says:
“He had tears in His eyes. He walked towards me and asked ‘Gyeong Ju, how much longer are you going to keep me waiting? Walk with me. Yes, you have lost your earthly father, but I am your heavenly Father and whatever has happened to you, was because I love you.’”
Praying to God for the very first time, she gave Him her heart, soul, mind and strength, asking that she would be used at His will. A deep love for the lost people of North Korea and the need to bring the love of Jesus to them has subsequently become her life purpose. She continues:
“I look back over my short life and I see God’s hand everywhere. Six years in North Korea, eleven in China and now in South Korea. Everything I suffered; all the sadness and grief, all that I have experienced and learned; I want to give it all to God and use my life for His Kingdom. In this way I also hope to bring honor to my father.”
Now a student, the intention of this young and vibrant follower of Christ is to go to university to study political science and diplomacy, and then work for the rights of the voiceless in North Korea. She concluded:
“Brothers and sisters here in this place, I humbly ask you to pray that the same light of God’s grace and mercy that reached my father and my mother and now me, will one day soon dawn upon the people of North Korea, my people!”
RESPONSE: Today I will continue to believe that God takes terrible situations and turns them into good.
PRAYER: Lord, we pray that you will call many youths like Gyeong Ju to minister among the needy people of North Korea.
You’ve Been Chosen
By Tia McCollors
“You didn’t choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give to you.” – John 15:16
Jury duty is a civic duty that most of us wish we didn’t have to serve. Inevitably we’ll be summoned, and at one point some may be chosen. Work, family, and social obligations top our priority lists, so being chosen to serve may seem like an inconvenience. God also calls us to serve Him in ways and at a time when it may seem inconvenient.
To choose means to “select from a number of possibilities,” or to “pick by preference.” It should be an honorable feeling to know that you’ve been preferred by God. Of everyone in the world He could have called to perform a task, He chose YOU! The Bible is full of women who chose to serve by sacrificing their own conveniences. Mary was chosen to conceive the son of God, Esther to save the Jewish people, and Rahab to conceal the spies. Mary’s sacrifice produced the Son of God (Matthew 1), Esther sacrifice saved the Jewish people (Esther1), and Rahab, who concealed the spies sent out by Joshua, was part of the lineage of Jesus (Joshua 2).
Women in every line of work, with different marital statuses, and in different seasons of live have been chosen by God. Sacrificing is part of our DNA.
Practical Application: It’s not like the awkward moment on the elementary playground when you wonder if you’ll ever be chosen for the best kickball team. God always wants you, and He chose you for a specific reason. He’s confident in your ability and determination, so believe in yourself. God certainly does.
Prayer: Lord, when you call me, my answer will be, “Yes.” When you need me, my answer will be, “Yes.” Your will and plan for my life is better than I can ever imagine. No matter the costs, I will go where You lead me. You didn’t have to choose me, but You did. For that, I’m grateful.
Tia McCollors is a wife and mother who loves to encourage women to wear their faith like a designer label. Information about her inspirational novels and devotions can be found at www.tiamccollors.com.
The Woman Who Lived a Sinful Life
Her character: She was a notorious sinner, possibly a prostitute or adulteress. Rather than trying to defend what was indefensible in her life, she admitted her sin and made a spectacle of herself in a passionate display of love and gratitude.
Her sorrow: That she had offended God so grievously.
Her joy: That Jesus forgave her sins and commended her for her great faith and love.
Key Scriptures: Luke 7:36-50
Her Story
The woman felt as though the world had unraveled in a moment’s time. Doors had opened, walls had crumbled, thoughts of the future no longer frightened but thrilled her. She felt clean and whole, innocent as a girl still living in her father’s house. Her heart was a wild confusion of sorrow and joy as she followed the rabbi through the doorway.
Ignoring the stares of the men, she walked over to the place where Jesus was reclining at a table. In her hands she held an alabaster jar of perfume. Her body trembled as she approached. She hardly knew what she was doing as she covered his feet with her kisses and then anointed them with the precious perfume, wiping his feet with her hair. How else could she express her heart to the man who had loved her so well?
Like any good Pharisee, Simon loved the law, measuring his days by the steady rhythm of the regulations by which he lived. They were a fence safeguarding his purity, protecting his sense of settled security. How good of the holy God to provide a map for the righteous, a way of life to set him apart from ordinary Jews—like the woman who had just walked through the door, hoping to glean a few scraps from his table.
Simon was surprised that a sinful woman, even a hungry one, would enter his house. But his surprise grew as he noticed she was not eating but weeping so profusely that her tears were spilling onto the feet of one of his guests. Everything about the scene repelled him, offending his sense of order—a notorious harlot kissing the man’s feet, wiping them with her hair, and then pouring perfume over them. It was an astonishing performance.
Even more astonishing was the fact that his guest seemed to enjoy the attention. “If this man were a prophet,” Simon thought, “he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” All of his questions about Jesus were put to rest by the scene he had just witnessed. His ordered way of looking at the world was safe enough, bolstered by the judgment he had just made.
As though he had overheard Simon’s secret thoughts, Jesus turned and spoke to him. “Simon, I have something to tell you.
“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Though this woman was a notorious sinner, she recognized her great need for grace. Repentance turned her world on its head, opening up an entirely new view of things. Simon, by contrast, was a religious man who, no doubt, had done his best to live a respectable life. His sin was tucked away, hidden even from himself. His habit of judging others had formed a fence around his one-dimensional view of the universe, shielding his neat and orderly life from the unpredictable power of grace.
But Simon and the woman both owed a debt they could not possibly repay. Though Simon’s sin was less obvious, it was the more dangerous. He was like a man who was following a map he was certain would lead to heaven—but when heaven came down and walked into his house, he didn’t even know it. The woman, on the other hand, realized just how lost she had been. Forgiven much, she loved much. She found heaven at the feet of Jesus.
Her Promise
Let’s be honest. Many of us would respond to this sinful woman just as the Pharisee did. It’s so easy to look more with judgment than love at people whose lives have been devastated by sin. But Jesus looked at her and at Simon and saw the same thing: their need for forgiveness. And he gave it freely. We don’t know what Simon’s response to Jesus was, but the woman’s response is evident in her tears and kisses.
This story isn’t included in Scripture just so we can see the forgiveness given to one sinful woman; it’s included so we can know that no matter how sinful, how broken, how entrenched in error we might be, forgiveness is available if only we seek it in faith—he’s promised.
 | Jesus Wept ANITHA ABRAHAMLee en español |
“And he said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’” John 11:34-36 (ESV)
There are times when there are no words. The situation is so heartbreaking that you feel it deep down in your soul.
That’s what happened when we heard the news. A small plane had gone missing, and the only person aboard was the young pilot who had attended our church for years. We prayed for a miracle but quickly discovered our worst fears were true. The plane had crashed, and he did not survive.
He was only 17.
I knew all the “right” Christian things to say to myself and anyone else who might ask … but it was hard to wrap my mind around the incredible loss.
As followers of Christ, we have hope. We know that God uses all things for our good and His glory. We know He is sovereign.
But we still grieve. That isn’t a lack of faith or trust. It is the response of the human heart to a fallen world. The story of Lazarus in the Bible tells of a time Jesus Himself grieved.
There are so many facets to the story of Lazarus. Jesus knew him — this wasn’t just someone who pursued Him in a crowd or heard of His miracles. This was a friend Jesus spent time with. We know Jesus loved everyone, but the Bible specifically states, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11:5, ESV).
Jesus had dinner with Lazarus. Jesus even found Himself in the middle of sister drama with Martha and Mary. He knew this family, and they knew Him. Personally.
That was one of the many reasons why the death of Lazarus was such a shock. It was hard to understand why.
We all know how the story ends — Lazarus didn’t stay dead long. Jesus displayed what He proclaimed: He is the resurrection and the life.
But in the middle, between death and life, something else happened. “Jesus wept” (John 11:35, ESV).
This begs the question … why? Jesus knew Lazarus would die, but He also knew Lazarus would live again. Why weep? He could have started with “Lazarus, come forth,” but He chose to shed tears publicly instead.
Scholars and theologians have theories on this. Jesus doesn’t ever say why, so we really don’t know. But I do know this: I’m glad He did. It reminds me that some moments don’t need words. They don’t need explanations or proclamations. They are simply a time to grieve.
The best advice I received from a friend when I was going through a very dark time was merely to “feel” whatever I was feeling. The healing would come later.
To everything there is a season, including grief. As we walk through sad times, know we have a Savior who is our sympathetic and understanding High Priest. A Savior who gives us hope and life eternal.
A Savior who wept.
Dear heavenly Father, sometimes, life is hard, but I am so grateful for Your presence through it all. Thank You for Your love and the hope that we have in You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
TRUTH FOR TODAY: Hebrews 2:14, “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.” (NLT)
Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” (NLT)
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REFLECT AND RESPOND: How have you sensed God’s presence during difficult situations in your life? What verse brought you the most comfort?
We’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments.
© 2020 by Anitha Abraham. All rights reserved.
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Promise #271
Promise #271:
I will soon crush the evil one under your feet.
Romans 16:20 (WEB)
And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught us to ask our Father to ‘deliver us from evil’. Jesus wouldn’t have told us to pray this way unless He was certain that His Father would answer this prayer.
We know that in this world, we will have trouble in life because we live in a fallen world. Hurting people hurt other people and the cause and effect of a fallen humanity causes many evil things to happen. However, that does not mean that we are in subjection to the prince of the power of air. In James 4:7, the Bible says, resist the devil and he will flee from you.
In Romans 8:37, Paul says that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. As Paul continues to write the book of Romans, he goes on to say in today’s promise found in Romans 16:20, that the God of peace will soon crush the evil one beneath our feet.
No matter what circumstances you are facing today, be encouraged that our God and Father will soon give us an eternal victory and crush the evil one beneath our feet! …So rest in this amazing promise and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
TRUSTING GOD DAY BY DAY
Simplicity Brings Joy
“… Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all]. “— Matthew 18:3
Christians have available to them the abundant quality of life that comes from God, Who is not full of fear, stress, worry, anxiety, or depression. He is not impatient or in a hurry; He takes time to enjoy His creation. And he wants us to do the same.
Unfortunately, I don’t really think that the majority of people are enjoying their lives. When you ask them how they are, their response is nearly always “Busy! I am just so busy with work, the kids, church, and school activities”.
We live in a stressful world that seems to be getting more stressful with each passing year. People are hurrying everywhere. They are rude, short-tempered, and it is easy to see that many people are frustrated and under pressure. They are experiencing financial stress, marital stress, and the stress of raising children in today’s world.
I have a thought for you to consider: Simplicity brings joy but complication blocks it. Matthew 18:3 says God wants us to approach life with simple, childlike faith. He wants us to grow up in our behavior, but remain childlike in our attitude toward Him concerning trust and dependence. He wants us to know that we are His precious little ones — His children. We show faith in Him when we come to Him this way, which allows Him to care for us.
We cannot have peace and enjoy life without childish faith. When you begin to live your life with all the simplicity of a child, it will change your whole outlook in a most amazing way.
Start looking for ways that you complicate things and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you simplicity in those areas. He lives in you, and although He is extraordinarily powerful, He is also extraordinarily simple. He will teach you simplicity if you truly wish to learn.
Trust In Him — Take the time to observe a child and notice how they approach things with such simplicity. Approach God with that same kind of innocence and complete dependence. Trust Him to take care of all of your needs so that you can enjoy your life.
Going Where God Guides
by: Marshawn Evans Daniels
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (II CORINTHIANS 3:17 KJV)
In many areas of life, we have to ask for permission before we can walk through a new doorway, climb the career ladder, or even do what we love. Obeying man-made rules is not always a bad thing. They are often a blessed thing that give our lives structure, maturity, and discipline. But there are also times that man-made traditions and conventions conflict with where God is guiding. Never forget that the most blessed lane you can live in is wherever the Holy Spirit flows. Scripture reminds us that liberty resides where the Spirit of the Lord is. Liberty means freedom, authority, favor, ability, prepared soil, abundance, healing, joy, anointing, limitless possibility, and a place of permission. That is just an inkling of who God is. The Holy Spirit is where the blessing – the provision, protection, and promise – is waiting. The “it” you’ve been praying, waiting, and looking for is found in the center of God’s presence. And it’s where we always want to be. Remember also that you carry the Holy Spirit inside. So going where God guides isn’t necessarily about working harder; it can also be about trusting deeper. Or encouraging someone. Giving. Forgiving. Or simply resting. Allowing the Spirit of the Lord to rule and reign in your heart and mind ensures that you arrive at your intended destination.
Where do you need to give yourself permission to ditch protocol or trade it for unpredictable possibility?
Pray:
Lord, I long to live in the lane You have paved for me. Drench me in Your Holy Spirit as I walk unapologetically in Your gifts and assignment. Amen.
This is an excerpt from 100 Days of Believing Bigger by Marshawn Evans Daniels – a devotional book now available from DaySpring publishing. Learn more about this book, or shop other books & devotionals from DaySpring.
But God…
“But God is my helper” (Psalm 54:4 nlt).
Have you ever looked up the phrase “but God” in the Bible? You’ll find it in a lot of interesting situations where God intervened.
Take the story of Noah, for example. I wonder if he started to lose hope as he and his family bobbed around in that ark with all those animals after the Flood. Genesis 8:1 tells us, “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede” (nlt, emphasis added).
Then we have the story of Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery and thought he was dead. Yet God preserved him. He elevated Joseph to a position of great power in which he was in charge of the food supply.
When a famine struck, his brothers appeared before him one day, asking for food. Joseph said to them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:20 nlt, emphasis added).
The nation of Israel faced the Red Sea—an insurmountable obstacle—with the Egyptian army in hot pursuit. But God intervened. And what looked like a hopeless situation became a time of glorious deliverance.
The Bible tells us, “But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides” (Exodus 14:29 nlt).
The lives of Noah, Joseph, and the Israelites remind us that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26 nkjv).
Maybe, like them, you’re in a place where the only way out is God. You can be sure of this: God is bigger than your problem. And God will always have the last word.
Copyright © 2020 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
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How to Get Out of a Spiritual Slump
Hope Bolinger
Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer
It seems that every Christian encounters one of these. No matter how much they spend time in the Word or going to church, sometimes, we hit a slump.
God seems far away. Being a Christian feels abstract and a bit purposeless. As much as we try to connect and pursue God, it feels like we’re getting nowhere.
The recent events sweeping the world have exasperated this for many Christians. So how do we get out of a spiritual slump while in the middle of it? And what does the Bible have to say about it?
We’ll dive into these questions and more and help you as you navigate your way out of the slump.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/SIphotography
What Causes Spiritual Slumps?
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As one may guess, not all causes of spiritual slumps are the same. Someone dealing with a mental health-related illness such as depression or anxiety may medically enter a spiritual slump along with a physical slump that tends to accompany these two diseases.
Others may have recently encountered a difficult trial in their lives. Perhaps they have lost a loved one dear to them or they have been let go at a job they have worked at for several years.
During these moments, we often can question the nature of God and why he allows for tragedies or bad things to happen.
A Christian may enter a spiritual slump after observing the events on the news or by watching fellow believers fall away. They may wonder when God will truly Maranatha. And why he hasn’t chosen to do so yet.
And others may have entered a spiritual slump for a variety of other means. Perhaps they have chosen to live in sin and they feel the effects of the divide between their actions and God’s holiness. Maybe they have not had a chance to plug into a church community during the pandemic, and they have felt the loss of community with godly people that often spurs us to grow closer to God.
The list can go on and on.
As we can discover from our brief inventory above, no Christian has a one-size-fits all reason for entering a slump. But we do know that we do not face these morose times alone.
Related: Listen to Episode 5 of How to Study the Bible: What to Do When You Get Stuck:
https://www.lifeaudio.com/embed/380
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Jordan Bauer
What Does the Bible Say about Spiritual Slumps?
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One can easily point to many examples of people in the Bible who cried out to God in desperation because they had reached a spiritual slump. David frequently, in the Psalms, asks God where he is and why he has allowed for evil to take place.
Job, after taking a battering from Satan, wishes God would take his own life and rid him of his misery (Job 7:16).
Even the prophets grew weary from feeling so alone and without friends who also followed the Lord. Elijah, so fed up with having to run and flee from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, begs God to take his own life (1 Kings 19).
Patriarchs, prophets, judges, and kings all reached spiritual lows. And as we stated in our previous section, these spiritual slumps happened for a variety of reasons. In addition to these examples, let’s explore some Bible verses, in particular, Psalm 13:1-6:
“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.”
The Bible doesn’t have a specific definition for spiritual slump. We don’t ever see the wording for that. But we can see David wrestling with it in these verses.
David also gives us some hints on how to emerge from these difficult times.
Photo Credit: ©Pixabay/Cocoparisienne
1. Exercise Gratitude
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1 Thessalonians 5:18 calls for us to give thanks in all circumstances.
As a person who personally struggles with severe clinical depression and has done so for many years, I know precisely how much of a task this can be for some readers. When you reach a mental and spiritual slump, your brain has entered a pea soup fog. It takes everything just to get out of bed.
But regularly coming up with things to thank God for, even the most minute things, can scientifically rewire our brain. Furthermore, gratitude helps us to remember that even when life appears to be falling apart that God has given us so many blessings.
While enduring persecution, prison, and death, the apostles found ways to exercise thanksgiving and praise.
Gratitude allows for us to open our eyes to the many ways God has shaped our lives. We begin to see his fingerprints in everything. A spiritual slump convinces us that our Lord has abandoned us. That he has left us to fight against the very forces of nature.
A thankful heart does the opposite. It shows that God is not only here with us, but he carries us through the difficult times.
Gratitude also tends to lift the spirits. Once we realize just how much God has given to us, we cannot help but experience joy. We cannot help but go to him in prayer and praise to thank him for everything he has done for us.
For more verses on gratitude, check out this article here.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/pondsaksit
2. Serve Others
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Spiritual slumps have a nasty habit of giving Christians a sense of entitlement. After all, during these moments, we often feel as if God has blessed everyone around us and deserted us or forgotten us.
It may seem counterintuitive, but one of the best ways to beat a spiritual slump is to give of ourselves until others in service.
Acts 20:35 says, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Kingdom math works a little differently than worldly math does. The worldly idea of service operates under a quid pro quo model. I scratched your back, therefore, you gotta return the favor, sort of mentality. I gave 50 percent of my time to you, now you have to give fifty percent of your time to me, and we’ll even out.
But the Bible tells us to do the opposite.
If we give one hundred percent of ourselves to others, God blesses us significantly (Proverbs 19:17).
Serving others also reminds us about the real reason we follow Jesus: to spread the good news and to imitate Jesus. Spiritual slumps have a tendency to distort our original purpose to the point where we forget why we’re here, and we go through the motions instead.
When we serve others, we kickstart our brains. We remember why God has called us to be the hands and feet of the church, and we see changed lives because of it.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Biserka Stojanovic
3. Plug into Christian Community
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As one might guess, this pandemic has done a great deal of harm when it comes to the idea of spiritual slumps. Many churches require masks, limited seating. And many Bible studies, services, youth groups, and other church gatherings have been put on hold.
Many of us have experienced Zoom fatigue, and for those wanting to stray away from screens, streaming in services may not be an option. And even if it is, it doesn’t always have the same tight-knit feel of an in-person community.
Pandemic aside, even during times of regular gathering, many Christians may find they haven’t attended a church service in months.
During the days of college, I had a hard time finding a community which aligned with my beliefs. I would go weeks on end without having attended a service, and I felt the spiritual strain in the community I lacked.
Although we don’t have a perfect solution or the pandemic, here are some ways to fight the spiritual slump by plugging into a Christian community.
First, if able and if you exercise proper precautions, attend church locally. Many hold services outside, practice social distancing, take temperatures, and require masks. Several Christians have foregone church for the sole purpose of not wanting to wear a mask. But if you can bear wearing one for an hour, the best solution is to go where you can physically gather.
For those who cannot:
Second, attend virtual Bible studies. If you church has not created one, try to help spearhead one yourself. Worst case, ask some members of your congregation to gather on Zoom once or twice a month to discuss a devotional or a book of the Bible.
Finally, if you cannot do any of these things, find a Christian mentor or mentee and find ways to pour into them (see our second point of serving others for the latter). You can hold one another accountable for Bible readings and ask about each other’s spiritual journeys.
Most Christians experience spiritual slumps. But we do have many ways to emerge from them. In the meantime, lean into God and trust he has a plan for your life, even when it doesn’t feel like it. Find ways to serve others, exercise gratitude, and plug into a Christian community.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Marija Jokic
Hope Bolinger is a literary agent at C.Y.L.E. and a graduate of Taylor University’s professional writing program. More than 600 of her works have been featured in various publications ranging from Writer’s Digest to Keys for Kids. She has worked for various publishing companies, magazines, newspapers, and literary agencies and has edited the work of authors such as Jerry B. Jenkins and Michelle Medlock Adams. Her column “Hope’s Hacks,” tips and tricks to avoid writer’s block, reaches 6,000+ readers weekly and is featured monthly on Cyle Young’s blog. Her modern-day Daniel, Blaze, (Illuminate YA) Den (releasing July 2020), Dear Hero (releasing September 2020), and Dear Henchman (releasing 2021) Find out more about her at her website.
10 Things God’s Voice Will Never Say to You
Aretha Grant
“A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” (John 10:5)
When I was a new Christian, hearing and knowing God’s voice were the two things I struggled the most with. How could I know whether I was hearing from God when I didn’t know His voice? How could I be sure the Lord was speaking to me while reading Scripture, listening to a sermon, or going to Sunday school or a Bible study lesson? I was so afraid of missing God’s instructions, warning, and encouragement that I often found myself paralyzed by doubt.
As I began studying the Bible, I learned how God’s voice matched the Scriptures. Thus, if I wanted to know what God had to say on a particular topic, I only had to know what the Bible said on that topic. If I heard a voice and was unsure whether or not that voice was the Lord’s, the Bible would confirm whether it was Him.
God’s voice will never contradict the Bible. If the voice you’re hearing is encouraging you to take Scripture out of context to make it fit your situation, the voice isn’t God.
We can grow to learn and discern God’s voice by studying the Holy Scriptures, praying, and asking God to teach us.
To help us more correctly discern His voice, here are ten things God’s voice will never say to us.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
1. God’s voice will never deny Jesus Christ.
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“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
As sure as we are that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, that He is God’s Son, and that salvation comes only through belief in Him, many others are convinced otherwise. There are voices in the world, trying to convince Christians that Jesus is not the only way to God and heaven. Rest assured, any voice that tells you there are other avenues to God isn’t from the Lord. Thus, God will never ask you to place your faith in another savior.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
2. God’s voice will never demean nor demoralize you.
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“For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.” (Hebrews 12:10)
God will convict believers. God will rebuke and reprove us. He will even chastise us. However, He will never demean nor demoralize His children. He will never put you down, nor will He intentionally hurt you. God loves us, and He pours that love upon us as a loving father would. Any voice that demeans you isn’t of God.
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3. God’s voice will never instruct you to sin.
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“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2)
God’s voice won’t entice you to sin. He won’t tell you it’s ok to live a sinful lifestyle. If you’re hearing a voice encouraging you to commit sin, rest assured that voice doesn’t belong to our Father. For example, the Bible tells us to honor our parents, not to fornicate, and not to lie to one another. If you believe God is telling you to dishonor your parents, that it’s ok to fornicate, and to lie to someone, rest assured, those instructions aren’t being spoken to you from the heart of God.
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4. God’s voice will never cause division between brethren.
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“A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:19)
Our Father is a God of love and unity. God hates division or discord. He doesn’t want His children to live in disunity. He wants us to love one another, work together in ministry, and be a family. He wants us to get along. He encourages us to live in peace toward one another. Any voice encouraging division within the body of Christ isn’t God.
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5. God’s voice will never tell you to hate someone (their sin, yes, but not them).
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“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)
God won’t tell you to hate someone because the Bible tells us to love our enemies as well as our neighbors. Thus, if you’re hearing a voice encouraging you to hate, you can rest assured that voice doesn’t belong to the Lord.
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6. God’s voice will never say someone can’t be saved.
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“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Salvation is God’s will for all mankind, the Muslim, Hindu, atheist, agnostic, Buddhist, etc. God wants everyone to come into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He wants all of us to spend eternity in heaven with Him. Thus, God’s voice won’t tell you someone can’t be saved. We should continue to pray for our unsaved family, friends, strangers, and even our enemies.
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7. God’s voice will never tell you to doubt His will, His Word, or His way.
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“But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:6-7)
Doubt never comes from God. Remember, when the serpent asked Eve, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” Satan uses the same tactic on us today. He wants us to question God’s instructions. He wants us to doubt the Lord and disobey His voice. God’s voice won’t tell us to doubt Him. Doubt is not a sin. What matters is how you respond to doubt. Indeed, God’s voice will encourage us to trust in the Lord at all times.
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8. God’s voice will never tell you to fear demons.
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“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
God will never tell Christians to fear demons. On the contrary, the Bible tells us that we should fear God. God alone deserves our reverence and awe. Christians who are walking in the will of God don’t have any reason to be afraid of demons, and so any voice that encourages us to be fearful of demons isn’t coming from the heart of God.
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9. God’s voice will never tell you to disobey godly authority.
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“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2)
We may not like nor enjoy godly authority, but we should obey it nonetheless. The key here is the word “godly.” Whether that authority is your spouse, your employer, or church leadership, we should obey. God won’t tell you to ignore your spouse, employer, or church leadership unless they require you to do something illegal, immoral, or sinful.
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10. God’s voice will never tell you that He doesn’t love you.
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“We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16)
For many years, I struggled with the knowledge that God loved me. I couldn’t understand how a holy and just God could love a wretch like me. I was convinced there was something I had to do to earn His love, and it seemed like every time I thought I was earning His love, the bar was raised, and I worked harder to win His love. I soon realized I believed Satan’s lies. God loves us, despite our flaws, weaknesses, and even our sin. God loves us through it all. Any voice telling you that God doesn’t love you is a lying voice. That voice doesn’t belong to God.
God is calling His children into a relationship with Himself. We have an open invitation to commune with Him. Thus, it is to our advantage that we learn to discern His voice. Continue studying the Bible and praying. God will speak with you, and you will learn His voice.
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3 Reasons You’re Feeling Stuck and How to Break Free
Alisha Headley
iBelieve Contributing Writer
It’s so easy to get in a rut—unable to move toward the thing that we desire and the thing that we feel called to do. We tend to either stay stuck because we are tied to the past, or we are too terrified of the future.
By doing nothing, we are choosing to stay stuck on a daily basis. It’s time to pivot, move, change, and get unstuck. Through the Lord, we have the strength to break free from the things that are holding us in place, where we have grown comfortable in our own “stuckness.” Some of us carry around stuckness like we carry around our purse each day. It takes courage to break free, and it takes daily dependence on our God to do this, but it is possible.
Whatever you are doing, or not doing, the words you are using, the wrong patterns you are playing over and over in your mind are no longer serving you well. In order to get you from stuck to free, you have to be able to recognize the reasons you are feeling so stuck.
There could be many reasons, so I encourage you to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal them to you. But here are 3 common reasons you’re feeling stuck, and biblical truth on how you can break free from them.
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1. You Are Stuck in a Lie
One of the reasons you’re unable to break free is because you may be stuck in a lie that prevents you from moving forward. This could be a lie that you were told about yourself since you were a child, or perhaps it came from the aftermath of a devastating end to a relationship. Or it was simply caused by words a friend or co-worker spoke over you. Words are so powerful. For words have the power to “speak life and death over you” (Proverbs 18:21).
Maybe words were never spoken over you, but it was a belief you’ve carried as truth about yourself, and you’ve become accustomed to thinking it’s just a part of “who you are.” Maybe you acted in some way, or someone acted this way toward you, making you believe you are defined by this action. Perhaps your husband cheated on you, or your father abandoned you at a young age. This left you believing that lie that you were never good enough and are not worthy of being loved. This leaves you stuck in this lie, preventing you from being free.
But that’s just it, these are all lies. Lies lies lies!
Allow me to remind you where these lies come from. They come from Satan himself. It started in the very beginning when he told lies to Eve in the Garden of Eden. When God told her to not eat from the tree of life, Satan came in and asked her if that’s what God really said, and then told her the lie that she would actually not die if she ate from the tree of life (Genesis 3:1-7). Satan is “the father of lies” and “in him, there is no truth” (John 8:44).
In order to break free from being stuck in a lie, you must first identify the lies you believe. Spend some time journaling and praying for the Lord to reveal to you lies that you’ve taken on as false truth. Confess these to the Lord and ask Him to forgive you for believing these lies. After you have identified the lies you’re stuck in, you must then begin to replace these lies with truth, with Scripture. For the word of God is nothing but truth as Psalm 33:4 says, “His ways are perfect, and His word has proven to be true.” Start diving into the Word to find the treasures in Scripture to replace those lies with truth and begin to see yourself slowly breaking free from being stuck as you have been stuck in lies for too long.
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2. You’re Stuck in the Idea of How Things Are Supposed to Be
We tend to view our lives according to our goals, our desires, and our will. We marry someone with the expectation that they will fulfill certain needs or desires in our lives. We have kids in the hopes of expecting things to be the way we pictured them to be. We choose careers we expect will bring us fulfillment.
What happens when life doesn’t go according to our plan, or go according to the idea of how we think things are supposed to go?
We praise God when things go according to the way we expect them to. We question God when life doesn’t go according to plan, and sometimes we even walk away from Him when we feel He should change what’s happening to us. But most of the time, when things don’t go according to our plans, we remain stuck.
We get so stuck to the idea that things in our life are supposed to look a certain way, that we hang onto those ideas and stagnate in stuckness. We try to recreate or manipulate things to go back to where they were or where we think they should be, so we stay stuck in place much longer than we should.
In order to break free from being stuck in the idea of how things are supposed to be, we must surrender our will to the Lord. We must align our hearts with His heart and our will with His. When the disciples asked Jesus how we are to pray in Matthew 6:10, He said to pray for “God’s will to be done, and not thy own.”
If we stay stuck in the idea of how we think things are supposed to be, we will never be able to break free. We will be so tied to the outcome we expected, that we remain in disappointment forever. Let’s surrender our will to the Lord. This takes dying to ourselves daily as Luke 9:23 says “if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross daily, and follow Me…” As we do this, our hearts will begin to look like the Lord’s more and more, day by day, and we will break free from the idea of our own selfish desires and outcomes.
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2. You’re Stuck in the Idea of How Things Are Supposed to Be
We tend to view our lives according to our goals, our desires, and our will. We marry someone with the expectation that they will fulfill certain needs or desires in our lives. We have kids in the hopes of expecting things to be the way we pictured them to be. We choose careers we expect will bring us fulfillment.
What happens when life doesn’t go according to our plan, or go according to the idea of how we think things are supposed to go?
We praise God when things go according to the way we expect them to. We question God when life doesn’t go according to plan, and sometimes we even walk away from Him when we feel He should change what’s happening to us. But most of the time, when things don’t go according to our plans, we remain stuck.
We get so stuck to the idea that things in our life are supposed to look a certain way, that we hang onto those ideas and stagnate in stuckness. We try to recreate or manipulate things to go back to where they were or where we think they should be, so we stay stuck in place much longer than we should.
In order to break free from being stuck in the idea of how things are supposed to be, we must surrender our will to the Lord. We must align our hearts with His heart and our will with His. When the disciples asked Jesus how we are to pray in Matthew 6:10, He said to pray for “God’s will to be done, and not thy own.”
If we stay stuck in the idea of how we think things are supposed to be, we will never be able to break free. We will be so tied to the outcome we expected, that we remain in disappointment forever. Let’s surrender our will to the Lord. This takes dying to ourselves daily as Luke 9:23 says “if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross daily, and follow Me…” As we do this, our hearts will begin to look like the Lord’s more and more, day by day, and we will break free from the idea of our own selfish desires and outcomes.
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3. You’re Stuck in the Fear of the Future
Maybe we’ve been able to let go of the past and our expectations. But we are terrified of the future and what’s ahead that we remain stuck. I left my corporate career in finance because I felt the Lord call me to write and teach. For the first few years, I felt so stuck because I was living in a state of fear. I was pursuing something I had never pursued, totally unfamiliar, and I had no idea what I was doing, so for some time I didn’t do anything, and remained stuck.
Then the Lord began revealing to me to just take one step of obedience at a time. And so I did. I took the first step. Then the second. I didn’t try to figure it all out at once. One beautiful promise the Lords gives us is in Deuteronomy 31:6. “Be strong and courageous, do no fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” The Lord is so faithful. He has never proven to be anything less than faithful. If He’s called you to it, He will equip you for it. He won’t leave you empty-handed.
In order to break free from your fear of the future, you need to listen to the Lord’s instructions and take one step of obedience at a time. And when you begin to take obedient steps, you must then keep your focus on Jesus, otherwise fear will take over. It’s so easy to take a step, but when we go out in the unknown and unfamiliar waters, we become afraid. Just like Peter did in Matthew 14:22-33. This passage discusses the story of Jesus walking on water towards His disciples. Jesus told Peter to not be afraid and to walk on the water towards Him, so “he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when Peter saw the wind was boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out to the Lord…”
Peter was obedient and took the steps, but he became afraid the moment he took his eyes off of Jesus and put his eyes on the storm around Him. Let’s keep our eyes focused on him and begin to break free of the fear of the future holding us back. The Lord has called us to get out of the boat and walk with Him. Don’t stay stuck in the boat. He promises to be with us every step of the way.
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Walking ahead in Freedom
It’s time to get out of a place of feeling stuck and move forward in freedom for what the Lord has for you. Let’s replace those lies we have believed about ourselves for too long with the truth written in God’s word. Let’s remove any expectations we have in this life, of ourselves, of others, or how we think things are supposed to be as we trust that God is in control and has great plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). And then let’s take one step of faith at a time as we keep our focus and eyes on Jesus who will never leave us nor forsake us, for this is His promise.
Let’s choose today to stop replaying the old tapes, old mistakes, old thought patterns and beliefs, believing old lies, and break free from what’s holding us back. You don’t have to stay stuck forever. Jesus came to set us free. Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and do no let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Freedom is offered to us and waiting for us to take a hold of it. We no longer have to be burdened to the slavery of being stuck. Christ came for us to give us freedom, so let’s hang on to that promise and break free so we can live the lives we were made for.Photo Credit: © Getty Images/jacoblund
Alisha Headley is a writer + speaker who has a desire to meet the everyday woman in her everyday life with biblical truth. Stepping into her true calling, she left the corporate world behind as a former-financial VP to love on her family as a stay-at-home wifey + dog mama, while also being able to pursue her passion as a writer. Healing from a chapter of life consumed with lies she once believed about herself, she is inspired to point women to Christ to experience the freedom + power to overcome those lies with the truth written in God’s word. In her free time, Alisha enjoys road trips around the country, working out so she can eat her favorite foods, and creatively styling her outfits with a craft for fashion. Alisha is a proud wifey and dog mama living in Scottsdale, Arizona.
You can follow her blog by visiting her website or connect with her on facebook + instagram.
why faith is a big deal to God
You have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. — Exodus 33:17 NRSV
Trusting a Dangerous God
by Darren Wilson from Chasing a God You Don’t Want to Catch
If it’s true that how you think defines who you are, then what you think about God is the most important question of your life.
All life on earth was created by God and for God, and for the most part everyone is wrestling with what they think about God. For some He’s a tyrant, and they reject Him as unworthy of their love. For others He’s a genie, and when He doesn’t give them what they want, they either pout or lose their secure footing. Some view God as a kind of force that can be found in everything — not a personal being, mind you, but more like a providential mist that isn’t super interested in rules or details but only in the big picture of things. Some view God as a puppet master, causing all the good and all the bad in the world. They are elated when good things happen but devastated when tragedy strikes. Others view Him as a figment of people’s imaginations.
What you think about God is who God is to you, and it affects every aspect of your life. It’s your spiritual reality, even if it may be entirely wrong.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. This verse fascinates me because it is so direct. I think a lot of people miss this and they replace faith with religious activity. We often think that the more we do for God, the better we are with Him. If I can just do my devotions on a more regular basis, or if I can just soak in His presence more, or if I can serve more at my church, then I know that will please Him. Well, I’m sure He will find anything you do for Him pleasing, but don’t forget the one thing you must have if that is your goal. You have to have faith. But what exactly is faith?
The definition is pretty straightforward. Merriam-Webster says faith is “complete trust.” So then, how much trust must we have in God for it to qualify as faith? Jesus said if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we can see great things. So I guess even the tiniest amount of trust in God counts for something. But I would like to make the argument that if our goal in life is to please God, then the main thing we should be focusing on is our faith level. If it’s impossible to please God without trusting Him, then wouldn’t it make sense that the more we learn to trust Him, the more pleasing we are to Him?
Why does it need to be this way? Why is God so preoccupied with our faith in Him? Why is it such a big deal?
When Saul screws up big time and basically loses his kingship (1 Samuel 15), he doesn’t lose everything because he kills someone or commits adultery (shoot, David did both those things). He loses it all because he has no faith in God and this lack of faith leads to disobedience. The Lord told Saul to go bust up a town named Amalek, and he was to spare no one — not even the animals — in this mission.
This was divine retribution for stuff Amalek had done to Israel, so Saul heads out on a military sortie. He does what he’s told — mostly. Saul takes the king of Amalek, Agag, hostage, and keeps a bunch of the best animals to offer as a sacrifice to God. It seems like Saul has good intentions, but unfortunately it’s not what God asked him to do.
The prophet Samuel rolls in, and Saul is feeling pretty good about himself. He has even built a little monument to himself to mark the occasion, like an idiot. Saul proudly tells Samuel that he’s done what God asked him to do. Then Samuel drops the hammer:
What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? — 1 Samuel 15:14 NKJV
Saul tries to put a nice spin on it, but Samuel wants none of it.
Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.
— 1 Samuel 15:22–23 NKJV
Dang. Saul is toast. And all because he didn’t obey the voice of the Lord. He didn’t trust God’s word. He didn’t have faith but did what seemed right in his own eyes. Lesson #1: If you want God, you’ve got to take Him on His terms.
We know faith is a big deal to God, if not the biggest, but again I ask, why? While I realize there are three currencies in God’s kingdom (faith, hope, and love) and 1 Corinthians 13 tells us plainly that the greatest of these is love, we still can’t avoid the utter importance of faith as explained in Hebrews 11:6, particularly when it comes to pleasing God. I would argue that while it’s impossible to please God without faith, if your faith isn’t grounded in love, the whole thing kind of falls apart. Hope then is the glue that holds them all together. But for our purposes, I want to focus on this slippery little thing called faith, since the battleground we’re dealing with is the mind, and faith is very much a mind thing.
A frustration that has never left me is the fact that God is invisible. When He asked me to make films about Him, my first thought was, Uh, God, You do realize that film is a visual medium and You’re, well, not. Figuring out new ways to make an invisible God visible is the biggest hurdle I have in making my movies. It’s like trying to film air. The only way you can even tell it’s there is when the wind blows. So I have to try to find situations where God’s wind is blowing on people.
In my book Finding God in the Bible, I talk at length about “God’s invisibility cloak.” Maybe it’s because I’m a filmmaker that I obsess about God’s invisibility so much, but I think it’s a thing for a lot of other people too. I mean, let’s face it, if you’re a Christian, you literally believe in an invisible man. As in, an invisible man is your best friend. No wonder the world thinks we’re nuts sometimes.
When I examined the invisibility problem, I found a possible explanation. There are two wildly different instances of God “showing” Himself to people in Scripture, and both can teach us a lot about God’s nature.
The first is found in Exodus 33. Moses has gone up Mount Sinai and is hanging out with God. The two friends are talking about Israel, with Moses reminding the Lord that these are His people after all, so, you know, don’t smite them, please. Yes, they’re a dysfunctional tribe, but they’re His dysfunctional tribe. God shows great affection for Moses, saying,
You have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. — Exodus 33:17 NRSV
So Moses realizes he’s holding the golden ticket, and he just goes for broke and asks to see God’s full glory. What a request! Shockingly, God decides to grant his request, but with the caveat that Moses only be able to look upon His back. If he looked at God’s face, he’d die. Like, Raiders of the Lost Ark face-melting die. So God puts Moses in a cave and passes by, allowing Moses to see His full goodness. Man, I’m not jealous of much, but this one is off-the-charts cool.
After this little love fest, God makes new tablets for Moses to take to the people with His commandments, and Moses scurries down the mountain. But he doesn’t realize that because he just literally saw God, his face is now glowing. Everyone freaks out when they see Moses, and he has to wear a veil because the people simply cannot deal. Understand what’s going on here — the people are freaking out at the aftereffect of someone else seeing God. Just imagine what would have happened if they’d seen Him with their own eyes!
There will come a point in time when the entire world will see Him in His fullness with their own eyes. God minced no words when He said:
By Myself I have sworn, My mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: before Me every knee will bow; by Me every tongue will swear. They will say of Me, ‘In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength.’ All who have raged against Him will come to Him and be put to shame.
— Isaiah 45:23–24 NIV
God is not messing around here, and He wants you to realize it. He swears by Himself (there is nothing higher) that what He’s about to say will happen. And why is He so sure that this is going to happen, especially considering how horribly messed up the world is these days? Are we Christians suddenly going to become incredible witnesses for Him? That’s highly doubtful. No, I think there’s only one way for this event to happen, and it’s going to come at the grand finale of life as we know it on earth. Whenever that “date and time that only the Father knows” comes, that will be the moment when God throws off His invisibility cloak and the whole world will see Him for who He truly is. At that moment, when He shows Himself clearly in all His goodness and glory, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is indeed Lord of all.
But there’s a funny little thing about love that most people forget.
Love must be a choice. Its very nature demands freedom, and all love comes with the risk of rejection. It’s why God gave man free will. You cannot have true love without the possibility of rejection.
It’s that possibility of rejection that all of us have faced at one time or another.
I have vivid memories of hiding in my parents’ bathroom at age fifteen, staring at the beige phone I’d pulled in with me, trying to will myself to call a girl and ask her to go to the skating rink with me. But calling meant I’d have to admit I liked her and, good Lord, what if she said she didn’t like me back? I’d sit and stare at that phone, but the fear of rejection was simply too great. I couldn’t do it.
Yet God does it over and over and over again. He puts Himself out there, asking us to choose Him, to love Him like He loves us. And when we reject Him and His kindness for our own selfish desires, He simply looks for another opportunity to prove His love and grace once again. For many, it will be a lifetime pursuit, and they will never choose Him, usually because they never fully understand how wonderful He is. They look at His other kids and think their dysfunction is somehow His dysfunction. But we are all in need of a Savior, even when we’ve chosen Him. The war rages on around us, and it won’t ever stop.
You see, God cannot reveal Himself to us physically, because if He were to do that our choice to love Him would cease to be a choice at all. Every knee would bow because no matter what you do or don’t believe, if you were to see Him for who He is, not through the filters of our brokenness, but truly as He is — He’d be utterly irresistible. When that day comes, for those who have chosen to love Him when it was most difficult, our love will be made complete. For those who haven’t, it will be a day filled with the greatest regret of their lives.
Excerpted with permission from Chasing a God You Don’t Want to Catch by Darren Wilson, copyright Darren Wilson.
. . . .
Your Turn
Are you trusting Him? What we think about Him matters! It matters more than anything else and directs the course of every step of our lives. Take a step of faith. Take a step of love. Come share your thoughts with us on our blog. We want to hear from you!
Chapter Five: Legality Hill
RevelationMedia
Legality Hill
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
-Eph. 2:8-9 [ESV]
Christian hesitantly placed his foot on the golden pathway created by Worldly Wiseman. The new path seemed much easier than the path that Evangelist had instructed him to follow. Worldly Wiseman advised Christian that he would find a way to get rid of his burden if he followed this path to the end. In the city Morality where Legality Hill stood, Christian would find a giant mountain, studded with commandments. There, at that mountain, his burden would be lifted—at least that’s what he thought.
Struggling under the increasing weight of his burden, Christian sees that this hill is too steep to climb. Legality’s voice thunders from the top of the mountain. He refuses to take away Christian’s burden until he climbs the mountain. In order to reach the top, he must obey every commandment without missing any. “Don’t Move!” “Obey the Rules.” “Walk.” “Don’t Question My Authority.” The laws continued to pop up around Christian.
“I can’t do the work for you!” shouts Legality. This is precisely where the difference between a religion driven by morality and the truth of the Christian faith lies: that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, not by our own works. It is, simply put, because Jesus did the work for us that we are saved.
This is precisely where the difference between a religion driven by morality and the truth of the Christian faith lies: that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, not by our own works.
When Jesus came, He followed every one of God’s commandments perfectly. He earned the title “righteous.” Through His death in our place, and His resurrection, He delights to give that righteousness to us. This is not a religion of morality, but of a great exchange. He took upon Himself our sin, and we have received His righteousness as a gift.
This not a religion of morality, but of great exchange. He took upon Himself our sin, and we have received His righteousness as a gift.
Just when Christian begins to lose hope and falls to the ground, The King sends him help. Looking up, Christian recognizes Evangelist’s feet. “Commandments cannot give you what you seek Christian. They will only be a reminder that you are not able to keep them all” he explains. This is true for us as well. The law is good because it is God’s will for our lives, but because we are sinful, we cannot obey the law perfectly. The law of God now serves to show us our sin and reveal to us that we need a savior.
Salvation has been accomplished by Christ on the cross, and it is freely given to all who believe in Him. There is no standard of law-keeping that we must meet to merit this gift. Morality and Legality, then, cannot rid us of our burden, just like they could not rid Christian of his; they can only make our burden increase because where the knowledge of sin increases, so does our desperation.
An added complication arises when we, sinful humans, decide to invent our own law in order to try to earn God’s favor. The endeavor to earn love or favor from God will always be fruitless, and will be just as frustrating as when Christian sees the ever-multiplying contradictory commandments coming out of the ground around him, impeding his path up the hill.
Christian’s first response when Evangelist convicts him of his sin is to say, “It wasn’t my fault!” How often do we, when confronted with our sin, blame others instead of taking responsibility?
But quickly, Christian realizes his error, and tearfully repents. He acknowledges that, “It’s no one’s fault but my own, and I’m sorry.” Evangelist encourages Christian that with repentance such as this, The King will always forgive.
We will also fail daily in our pursuit of God’s path. We are called to live holy, set apart lives as Christians, which is not an easy task! But, our sins will always be forgiven if we turn to The King with repentance.
Our sins will always be forgiven if we turn to The King with repentance.
Evangelist uses this as an opportunity to instruct Christian about his missteps. Christian had rejected the instructions that The King sent to him, and brought the frustration and difficulty of his confrontation with Legality upon himself. If he had stayed on the path toward the Celestial City, though the path would have been difficult, Christian would have been walking in line with the law of God. Evangelist points out that this misstep, though forgiven because of the grace of The King, still served to reveal that Christian’s deceiver accomplished two things:
- Worldly Wiseman convinced Christian so easily to leave The King’s path.
- Worldly Wiseman made it seem like the difficulty of the journey on The King’s path was something to be avoided.
Difficulty in the Christian life is not to be avoided, and it is pleasing to God when we follow Him, even when it is hard to do so. So follow Him. Stay on the narrow path, trusting that when you fail, you will be forgiven in Christ.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. -Ps. 19:7-9 [ESV]
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The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him..— Isaiah 53:6
The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
by Michael Norten from Unlocking the Secrets of the Feasts
Editor’s Note: Amazing prophecies of God’s plans for the world can be found embedded in the customs of the feasts of Israel. The intricate detail of the prophecies illustrated in the observances of these feasts provide insight into God’s plan for the ages. On the evening of September 27th Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins and it continues through the evening of the 28th. For Jews, it is a day of repentance to God often observed by 25 hours of fasting, going to synagogue and praying. Yom Kippur is considered the holiest day of the year and it brings an end to the High Holy days for the year. Earlier this year for Passover we shared an excerpt of Unlocking The Secrets Of The Feasts, which was received with overwhelming response. Enjoy this excerpt for Yom Kippur and learn more about the significance of the Jewish festivals that Jesus would have observed in His time on Earth.
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The Second of the Fall Feasts
The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) follows closely after Rosh Hashanah. We read in Leviticus 23:26-28:
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord. You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God.’
And Exodus 30:10 says:
And Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.
The Jews consider the Day of Atonement the holiest day in all, for it is on this day that Israel would be forgiven of their sins or would face judgment. Devout Jews tell me that this day understandably brings plenty of anxiety into their hearts. Isn’t it wonderful that we believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ have the peace and assurance that our sins are forgiven eternally, because of what He has done on the cross! Yom Kippur literally means “Day of Covering.”
The word Kippur also means “ransom.” It is to show God’s willingness to cover the sins of the previous year. While the animal that was sacrificed had to be one year old in order to provide atonement for the previous sins for one year, Christ, being eternal, provided atonement for an eternity!
Leviticus 16:29 gives further instructions on how the Jews were to observe Yom Kippur:
On the tenth day of the seventh month you shall humble your souls and not do any work
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In explaining what must characterize the act of humbling oneself, the rabbis say one must avoid eating and drinking, bathing or washing, marital relations, putting on perfumes or lotions, and wearing leather shoes. Now “refraining from the wearing of leather shoes” threw me. I asked about it and was informed that wearing leather shoes signified luxury.
They wear comfort socks instead!
According to Leviticus 16:31–33, the high priest was to put on his linen garments and was to make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent or temple, the altar, himself (high priest), the priests (Levites), and the people (Israelites) — all in that order. Leviticus 16:3–4 states:
Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash, and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on.
This is not the colorful robe the high priest usually wore. This was a plain white linen garment. This observance was to be performed once a year according to Leviticus 16:34:
Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel, for all their sins once every year.
The procedure had four parts as spelled out in Leviticus 16:13–14: take fire from the altar of incense, offer sacrifices and place the blood of these sacrifices in a bowl, sprinkle the blood in the Holy Place and upon the mercy seat of the Ark seven times. The ingredients of the incense are found in Exodus 30:34:
Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each.’
The Scapegoat
One of the most important aspects of the observance of the Day of Atonement was the scapegoat. We read in Leviticus 16:7–8:
He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Then verses 9–10 add:
Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
Laying both hands on the head of the goat, the high priest then confessed the sins of the people. After that he sent the goat away to the wilderness by an appointed person. This fulfills the requirement explained in Leviticus 16:22:
The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
This also ties into Isaiah 53:6, which says:
All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
The Talmud, Tractate Shabbat Folio 86a, states: “How do we know that a crimson-colored strap is tied to the head of the goat that is sent [to ‘Azaz’el]? Because it is said, ‘If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).’ By a miracle this crimson-colored strap turned white, thus showing the people that they were forgiven of their sins.” It then explains: “Rabbi Ishmael says, ‘Now did they not have another sign? There was a crimson thread tied to the door of the sanctuary. When the goat had reached the wilderness, the thread would turn white, as it says, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.”’” That is fascinating, but this becomes totally amazing when another section of the Talmud (Yoma 39b) says: “Our Rabbis taught: ‘During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple the lot [‘For the Lord’] did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson-colored strap become white… and the doors of the Hekal (the temple) would open by themselves.’”
After Christ was crucified, the crimson strap on the scapegoat and the crimson thread on the temple door never turned white again! Apparently, God was reminding the Jews that Jesus is the true scapegoat once and for all.
Jesus fulfilled the promise of both goats. He paid the penalty for our sins and removed our sins as well! Since the lot that was drawn for the goat for sacrifice to the Lord never came up in the right hand, this, too, was a sign that God did not accept their offering again. Hebrews 9:11–12 says:
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
As already noted earlier, the Talmud says that the temple doors were found open by themselves each evening. In his writings, The Wars of the Jews (Josephus Complete Works), Josephus said, “At the same festival (Passover)…
the Eastern gate of the inner court of the Temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a base armored with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night.”
This is similar to the tearing of the veil, which is a sign that there is now total access to God because of the redemptive work of Christ.Excerpted with permission from Unlocking the Secrets of the Feasts by Michael Norten, copyright Thomas Nelson.
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Your Turn
Aren’t you glad we are forgiven of our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ? As you learn about the history of Yom Kippur what light does it shed on what Jesus did for you? Come share with us on our blog. We would love to hear from you about the forgiveness we have freely in Jesus! ~ Devotionals Daily
Daily Devotion
True Worship
“I will extol the Lord at all times: his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.” – Psalm 34; 1 – 3
Dear Lord, may I truly worship You in spirit and in truth. I know and love You. Help me live in faithful obedience with a pure heart. Amen
Dose of Devotion 