Pastor Marty's Thoughts

Why Does God Love You?

2010-02-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

I believe it was Tina Turner that sang the song “What’s Love Got to Do With It”. The lyrics in the song go on to say, “What is love, but a second-hand emotion”. It is true that most people believe love to be an emotion. That is why after years of marriage a husband or wife can tell their spouse that they have “fallen out of love” with them. Many people believe love is an emotion, and others think it is a choice. However, with God that is not the case.

The Bible says in 1 John 4:8 that God is love. You see God doesn’t feel love, He doesn’t even choose love—He is love. God loves you, not because He has a feeling and not because He makes a choice. He loves you because it is the substance of His character and the foundation of His nature. God cannot do anything but love, because of who He is. That is why the Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:13 that even when we are faithless, God remains faithful because He cannot deny who He is. God is love; He loves everyone the same from the greatest saint to the most wretched sinner. God cannot stop loving because He cannot stop being—He is eternal.

Love is not only who God is, but it also what motivates Him. Everyone knows John 3:16 which tells us that it was God’s love that caused, or motivated Him, to give His Son. Love motivated Him to redeem us—to provide salvation for us. God not only loves you, but everything He does in your life is motivated by love. Probably the best analogy would be a loving parent with a child. I love my children, and because I do, I provide for them, teach them, clothe them, feed them, and even punish them. It is my love for them that cause me to act. It is the same with God, only He is perfect and His love is perfect. Imagine that the trunk of a tree is love and out of that trunk grow branches of kindness, gentleness, patience, goodness and so on. That is a picture of God. He is love and because of that He is good, kind, and patient with us. Love is not an emotion, it is God, and He can never stop loving you.

Who's on First?

2010-01-05T09:33:00.001-08:00

I don’t know if you remember the old Abbott and Costello bit called “Who’s on First”. It is about the players on the St. Louis Baseball Team. Costello wants to know their names and so Abbott tells him. They start with “Who” is on First. As the skit goes Abbott tells Costello that “Who” is on fist and of course Costello says, “that is what I like to know.” The joke is that the answer actually is that a person named “Who” is on first. It is a statement not a question, which confuses Costello and so the skit continues that Who is on first, What is on Second and I Don’t Know is on third etc. It was a famous and funny comedy act.

Today I want to ask you that question, who is on first? Who is on first in your life? I know that the default spiritual answer for Christians is that God is first in our lives. My question though is meant to challenge you to examine your life. One of my favorite scriptures on this subject comes from 2 Corinthians 8:3-5 which says,

“For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, ⁴imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. ⁵And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.”.

I like that verse—“they first gave themselves to the Lord.” What an amazing statement. They gave themselves to the Lord. When you give something it is usually understood that you give all of it. You wouldn’t tell someone that you were giving him or her $20 and then keep $5. That wouldn’t make since. When we truly give something we give it all. They gave themselves to the Lord first. This implies that they really made God their highest priority and surrendered themselves fully to His will. The way we make God first in our lives is to give ourselves to Him without reservation and without holding anything back.

Who is on First? You know there are ways we can tell who is first in our lives. We can look at how we spend our time and our finances. I wonder if we evaluated our schedule for the day or week, who would it look like was on first? We can also look at how we use our finances. I heard a pastor say once, “If we want to know who is first in our lives all we have to do is take a hard look at our checkbook register. “ I do believe that would probably offer some insight. Jesus said your heart always follows your treasure (Luke 12:34). Think about that your heart will follow your treasure. Many people believe this to say that your treasure will follow your heart, but read carefully, “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” This indicates that if I want my heart to follow God then I need to make my treasure follow Him.

Who’s on First? I hope you will take a moment today to evaluate your life. Let’s make sure He is and stays on First throughout this year. I believe that as we make Him first we will experience the many blessings He desires to bring to our lives.

What does "NO" mean?

2009-10-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

In my quite time this week I have really felt burdened for those who feel condemnation. I have realized through studying grace, that there are so many believers still struggling with condemnation, and it grieves me. The largest reason for this is that many churches have kept people under the law by preaching a message of salvation by grace and acceptance by law.

Now before you through your Bible at me, think about it. Many of us were raised in a church that believed in grace to save a sinner, but after you were born again you had better not do anything wrong or you would go straight to hell. We were saved by grace, but then sustained by the law. We believed that Grace was God’s UNMERITED favor, but yet we had to act a certain way, do certain things, dress a certain way, and not do a lot of things in order to merit God’s UNmerited favor. Isn’t that odd. We were taught we were under grace, but yet we had to keep certain rules or laws to keep what was given as a gift. Paul tells us in Romans 5:18 that just as through the sin of one man [Adam] judgment and condemnation came to all men, through one Man’s [Christ] righteous act, the FREE GIFT came to all men resulting in justification [salvation] of life. If is it free it doesn’t cost you anything, and if it is a gift then you don’t have to do anything to get it and you don’t have to do anything to keep it—it is a free gift. Why do we still feel like we need to try and pay Jesus back for what He did? That would be impossible. Do you understand He does not want your "I owe you", He wants you gratitude? He just wants you to thank Him for what He has done, not try and show Him how good you can be on your own.

The law has never saved anyone; Romans 3:20 says, “By the law will no one be justified”. Paul told the churches of Galatia that the law’s purpose was to tutor us to bring us to Christ, not save us. The reason so many Christians are still struggling with condemnation is because they have been taught by the law to have more faith in their actions and behaviors to justify them than in Christ’s work. We have been taught if we keep a certain set of standards we can be righteous, but the Bible says our righteousness is filthy rags. We are working to gain something Christ has already provided for us freely. That is the Gospel that the Apostle Paul preached. Jesus has made you righteous! You are the righteousness of God is Christ! You can’t add anything to it and you can’t take anything away from it.

Please understand that I am against sin, but I am also against condemnation, which comes by the law. In fact, Paul says in 1 Cor. 15:56 that the strength of sin is the law. Paul also says in Romans chapter 8 that if God didn’t spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us, won’t He also freely give us all things. Why would God give the amazing price of His Son to redeem and make us free, and then allow us to be bound by condemnation, which comes by the very law God, set us free from? This is the message of Romans 8, there is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ. That means if you believe in Christ’s atoning sacrifice then you can’t be condemned. Again, the problem is that we have been taught to have more faith in our work then Christ’s. The truth is that condemnation comes from a lack of faith. If we really believe that what He did is completely sufficient to make us righteous then we can rest from our work and just receive His grace. However, if we believe that we have to do certain things and not do certain things then our faith is in our performance and not Christ’s. We are made righteous by our position in Christ not our performance. We will never measure up to the standards of men and the law, but we can accept Christ and His work and be made the righteousness of God in Him. There is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1). Be free!

No Longer Slaves but Sons

2009-09-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

This morning in my quiet time I read Galatians chapter 4 verses 4 though 7:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons God has sent for the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying out! "Abba Father". Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Those words (which I have read before) became so real. It was like they jumped of the page and popped me on the head. We are not slaves, we are sons! The Bible tells us that we were slaves to sin, we were born into slavery with no hope of ever being free. Then God sent His Son, not to make us slaves, but to make us sons! That is incredible. In the days of slavery, slaves where bought, sold and traded. There was nothing they could do--they had no freedom. They had to serve whoever purchased them. However, there was also another price that could be paid. This price didn't buy them, it set them free. It was the price for their freedom. It was a greater price then just purchasing them to make them a slave. It was unfortunate, but many times if someone bought a slave's freedom the slave would began to try and serve the person who paid the price. You see thier status had changed, but their mindset had not. In their minds they were still slaves.

This is how we relate to God many times. You must understand that the price God paid for you was more than sufficient for your freedom. It was not just enough to make you His slave, it was enough to make you His son! The Bible says in John 1:12: "to as many as received him, to them He gave the right to become the sons of God.". The price Christ paid was not just enough to buy us back from sin, it was enough to set us free--to make us sons.

In Luke 3:38 we find that the Bible says that Adam was the son of God. Have you thought about that? When I read it, I thought, "wait a second, Jesus was the only son of God". The truth is that Jesus was the only begotten Son of God. Adam was created to be a son of God. You know what else? You and I were created to be sons of God, but because of sin, God's children were sold as slaves. Then Jesus came, and if we believe Him, we gain the right to be sons of God. You see the price Christ paid was enough to restore us to our original state as sons like Adam!

The problem is that many of us still have the mentality of a slave. We are still trying to serve our new master instead of enjoying the freedom that our Father has provided. We are no longer slaves, we are sons! Stand in the liberty by which Christ has made you free!

Review the Instructions First

2009-09-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

Have you ever set out to assemble or complete a task only to discover about halfway through that you skipped a step. I have done this too many times. Then you have to take apart what you just assembled so that you can put in what you left out. That can be frustrating. Over the years I have learned that reviewing the instructions before you begin can save time and eliminate frustration.

I believe that it is the same with our walk with God. God is very purposeful and intentional in our lives. He had a plan for us before we were born and He will happily give us instructions if we ask. James 1:5 tells us, "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking."(NLT). I love this scripture because it portrays God as a generous God who loves to give us the wisdom we need for life. He will never be upset with us for asking Him what to do.

Second Kings chapter 5 tells two accounts of the army of David attacking the Philistines (the enemy of God's people). What I love about this account is that the Philistines were in the valley of Rephaim and the Bible says, "David inquired of the the Lord" and the Lord told him to go "straight up" against them. David did and his army prevailed. The next verse (vs 22) tells us that the Philistines came back again to the same valley. So what did David do? He inquired of the Lord again. He asked God what to do--he reviewed the instructions. He didn't assume because he won last time that he could make a formula out of that victory and do the same thing again. He went back to God to review the instructions and this time God tells him, "Do not go straight up against them, this time circle around behind them near the mulberry trees, and when you hear the sound of feet marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then advance quickly.". Did you catch that? God had a different set of instructions for victory even though the situation was the same. It would have been a huge mistake for David to assume that he could default to his past experience.

God's plan and purpose are constant, but his methods (the instructions) change. Don't live frustrated or waste time because you failed to review the instructions first. Ask God, He really is generous and He really will give you wisdom freely.

The Compliment of Job

2009-08-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

This week I have been reading Job in my quiet time. That may seem odd, as most of us don't think about reading Job unless maybe things are going really badly and we think God has possibly forsaken us. Admit it or not, most of us only read Job if we feel, at the moment, that we identify with him. Of course as bad as it may get for us, I am sure, in most cases, that we have never experienced anything as dreadful as Job. However, we do all experience trials and tests. That is my point for the post. Have you ever considered the compliment of Job?

Satan comes to God, and in short, God tells him that Job is the most righteous and committed individual on earth. Of course, Satan blasts back that the reason for this is because God has blessed him so much and has protected him, his family, and possessions. God then gives Satan the opportunity to strike Job and he takes everything, but Job's life.

Here is the compliment. God only allowed Job to be tested because He was certain that he would pass. Have you thought about that? God told Satan, "Have you considered Job, he is finest man in all the earth--a man of complete integrity. He fears God and will nothing to do with evil." Then after Satan strikes Jobs possessions and children God repeats these words and adds, "He has maintained his integrity even though you persuaded me to harm him with out cause." Did you catch that, "without cause". Job was tested and lost everything not because he was bad, but because he was good. He was tested because God knew that he would pass, and he did.

I had a teacher in High School that was going to give me a test. I told her that even though I had studied, I didn't feel prepared and I was afraid that I wouldn't pass. This was here reply, "I wouldn't give you the test if I didn't think you could pass and if you don't take the test and pass you can't graduate". What an amazing response. She was confident that I would pass, and I did.

My point is that the only reason you are tested is to graduate to a new level. The real purpose of a test is to show YOU what you know and what you are made of. God was confident that Job would pass and when Job did pass he graduated, and was increased beyond what he had previously. We read these words in chapter 40, "So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than the beginning".

In this life we will have tests, Jesus told us that in John 16, but consider that sometimes a test is a compliment not a punishment, and after you pass God will promote you to a new level in life. That is the Compliment of Job.