God is Not Like Man
“Pilate therefore went out to them, and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered him, “If this man weren’t an evildoer, we wouldn’t have delivered him up to you.” Pilate therefore said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,” that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying by what kind of death he should die.” (John 18:29-32 WEB)
Look how the religious leaders of Israel had murder in their hearts but were unable to do it because they were restricted by the Law.
They keep the Law outwardly just for the public eye, and looked for ways to get around the Law to execute their murderous schemes.
While they looked for any loophole to commit murder, God used His infinite wisdom and knowledge to find a way to save mankind.
Under the Law, God said that the soul who sins must die. In Paul’s words, “the wages of sin is death”.
There was only one way for us to be saved because we cannot fulfill the demands of the Law by ourselves. Someone else must die in our place as a substitute.
This person must be a member of mankind, sinless, and his life has to be worthy enough to pay for all the sins of the world.
That is why the only begotten Son of God had to become a man, bleed, and die as our atoning sacrifice for sins.
Today, we are saved, blessed, and favored by God not because of our own obedience towards the Law, but because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. His sinless, divine blood is a massive overpayment for all our sin debts, purchasing every spiritual blessing of God for us.
I read someone write that “your sin can hinder your prayers”. If that were true, then no Christians would have any answered prayers because we still fail God daily, in thoughts and deeds. We may not be able to live a completely sinless life, but thankfully our prayers are answered based on Jesus’ obedience at the cross. His shed blood is the only reason why we can always enjoy God’s favor.
Let no one deceive you that sin is causing God to ignore your prayers. If God is omniscient, then He already knew all the sins you would commit in your life, and He still chose to let Jesus bear the punishment for your sins at the cross.
What hinders us from receiving God’s promises today is only unbelief. When you have a bad opinion of God and see Him angry, demanding, and unapproachable, you will be unable to freely receive all that Jesus died for you to enjoy.
Paul taught that no one can be justified through the works of the Law. Not before salvation, and not after salvation. God is so gracious that He made us the righteousness of God in Christ when we believed in Jesus as Lord.
Abba God has the perfect, righteous reason to lavish His goodness upon you. Through your prayers of intercession, the people around you are also blessed.
Some well-meaning Christians want to live godly through keeping the Law as a moral guideline, but it only serves to stir up sin’s rebellion in our flesh. They will experience short-lived victories ,only to fall back into sinful patterns when the willpower runs out.
When you place your faith in God after receiving His Word, you will be progressively transformed to live a righteous life. The goal of godly living is the same, but the only way to get there is by beholding Jesus and trusting in Him.
Live by the new and better covenant that is built upon better promises, and you will reign in life through the one Lord Jesus Christ!
The four gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are full of precious revelations of God’s truths and promises. When you get this four eBook bundle, you will learn the meaning of every one of Jesus’ miracles, parables, words, and deeds. Let this resource replace wrong legalistic beliefs, and position you to receive the abundance of God’s Grace through unhindered faith!
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Everlasting Grace and Mercy
““For a small moment I have forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you. In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,” says Yahweh your Redeemer. “For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed,” says Yahweh who has mercy on you.” Isaiah 54:7-10 WEB)
Mercy is when you are spared from the punishment that you deserve, and Grace is when you receive goodness and favor that you do not deserve.
In the passage above, the Lord speaks to Israel, of which we born-again believers are now considered citizens of.
At the cross, God’s wrath towards sin has been fully poured out on Jesus. For believers, God has no more wrath because Jesus has paid their sin debt and satisfied God’s holiness.
We can now enjoy His “great mercies” and “everlasting loving kindness”.
“Loving kindness” (in Hebrew, pronounced as “hesed”) is the Old Testament word for “grace” that is revealed in the New Testament.
God wants us to be so settled in our hearts about this, such that He swore to never be angry with us nor punish us. God cannot break His vow.
He swore that His grace will never depart from us, and the covenant of peace (the New Covenant of Grace) will never be removed from us.
“Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2 WEB)
You will never lose your salvation, and you will never fall out of God’s favor. His love towards you never changes. You have peace with God.
Believe this, and you will keep receiving His grace without the supply of grace being blocked by your own unbelief.
“But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 WEB)
To keep being transformed into Jesus’ image, meditate on beautiful passages like the one in Isaiah 54–see His love, grace, and mercy. Such portions of Scripture acts as a mirror to show you who you (the born-again spirit) have become in Christ. It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance.
As you behold the Lord in His abundant grace, you will be transformed in body and soul from glory to glory!
If you loved this devotional, you will enjoy “Younger and Younger: 31 Days of God’s Youth Renewal Promises” like these readers have:
“Thank you Milton. I love this book. It has helped me to keep my eyes on Jesus. As He is, so am I in this world. I am getting younger and younger too. I have known the delivery man for many years but recently he has started to call me beautiful when he sees me. I smile and praise the Lord. This book has helped me to receive the blessing of renewing my youth to be younger and younger. All glory to Jesus. He is beautiful, lovely and young. So am I in Him.” - Cynthia Lim
“Hi Milton, your book is beautifully written with deep spiritual insight. It opened my spiritual eyes to the fact that I don’t have to settle for the natural aging process of my body which I kind of took for granted. Through Jesus’ finished work I can enjoy youth renewal. Your daily devotional and scriptures illustrates that very clearly. For which I sincerely thank you! Your book is a “must” for all Seniors who like me focus more on the natural aging than on the spiritual truth! All glory to Jesus!” - Ilva S.
“Hi Milton, I am very very pleased with Younger and Younger. I especially like the Declarations that you speak!! I listen to them several times a day!!! I love that I can just play them whenever I like. Even if I’m not totally paying attention to them, I know that they are still getting into my spirit and mind. Thank you so very much! God Bless!” - Sheree Kleinhuizen
Download your copy of “Younger and Younger” here: https://bit.ly/younger-and-younger
one of a kind israel 在 Milton Goh Blog and Sermon Notes Facebook 的最讚貼文
Self-Made or God-Made?
““This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’” Then Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, saying, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies waste? Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.”” (Haggai 1:2-6 WEB)
Sometimes with a fast pace of life, it is easy to confuse much activity with productivity. We need to pause and consider, “Am I just desperately toiling by the flesh because of fear, or am I being led by the Spirit?”
Only the Holy Spirit can give you the kind of restful increase and fruitfulness that the children of Israel enjoyed. They stepped into the land of Canaan and possessed houses, orchards and land that they did not build, plant or labor for.
“It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn’t build, and houses full of all good things, which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out, which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12 WEB)
God had prepared the way for them, allowing the strong giants (the Anakim) of the land to build cities and towns for Israel, before giving Israel victory over the natives.
God gave them favor without the labor.
The world has people who call themselves ‘self-made men’, and they take credit for their achievements because they strived and sacrificed to get them. Lots of loss and compromise before getting something transient.
In the way of faith, it is impossible to boast about the good things we receive because the supernatural results cannot be justified by human effort. When God supplies fruitfulness, it is above and beyond what we think is possible.
Do you want to take credit for your achievements as a ‘self-made person’ and smile in public while you are crying from all the stress, loss and suffering in private, or do you want God to do all the heavy lifting and you just enjoy restful increase?
You have a loving, powerful, prosperous Heavenly Father who wants to take care of all your needs. Trust Him and receive everything you need by faith.
Learn and apply the way of miracle-working faith to enjoy supernatural fruitfulness: https://www.ko-fi.com/s/0db846b58c