Tag: abundant mercy

The Great Scam

On By francesrogersIn GOD'S WORD5 Comments

Anyone who has been scammed would probably say theirs was the greatest. When we know we have been scammed, we don’t take it lightly. Though angry and humiliated, we admit we took the bait and attempt to recover our losses.

Recently I read a report about pastors scamming the members of their churches. One woman gave her pastor access to her funds, supposedly to help women who were cancer patients.

She lost all her money to a deceiver she trusted.

In the Garden of Eden, our inheritance from God was stolen from the first man. Future generations were left destitute of anything valuable in this life. Gone was any hope for a relationship with our creator who provided all His creatures needed.

The deceiver has continued to manipulate every generation, attempting to keep men from their legacy.

Yet, from the beginning, the same God had a restoration plan, its beauty and glory revealing a more significant inheritance. Through another man, He makes us aware of the scammer. He gives us the knowledge we need to recover the Kingdom He promises His children.

Still, false shepherds are claiming to care for their sheep who do not know God and mislead the flock. They are blind, leading the blind to destruction. We live in a world of deceivers.

In His Word, our heavenly Father gives us explicit knowledge of Himself and His kingdom. We have His promises for all of life here and in eternity.

Through His leading, we know who to trust and are free to enjoy our fellowship with Him and with His Son, Jesus Christ, the true Shepherd. He is our prophet, teaching us; our priest, interceding for us with the Father; and our King, knowing and ruling over all things, protecting and providing for all our needs.

The apostle Paul wrote these words: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Gal. 5:1

Simon Peter left us this truth: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Pet. 1:3-5

Dear Father, Paul prayed that we may be filled with a knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. We need this filling, knowledge of you, wisdom to live in this world without fear of deception and enjoy the inheritance you have given us through Jesus our Lord. Let us live in fellowship with you and Jesus, by the power of your Holy Spirit that we may be light and salt, a sweet fragrance of Christ, and fruitful for your name’s sake. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. 

Hope, Hope, and More Hope

On By francesrogersIn GOD'S GLORY, GOD'S GRACE, GOD'S WORD1 Comment

The world gives us every reason to despair.

What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life? Job 6:11

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. Job 7:6

So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish. Job 8:13

The Lord, our God is the one reason for hope. Let us as His people flood the airwaves in our speech and all communication, with the truth of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
Colossians 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
Titus 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1 Peter 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Gracious and loving Father, for those who may be without hope today, I ask your mercy to be upon them. By your Spirit, draw them to your Word and to your Son. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Fran
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Living Sacrifices

On By francesrogersIn Beyond a Mere Christianity, GOD'S GLORY, GOD'S GRACE, GOD'S WORD, HUMILITY, Paul's Letter to the Romans3 Comments

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.”
Romans 12:1-2

These verses in Romans 12 cannot be taken out of context but in relation to the whole letter to the Roman Church. Paul gives the means and the reason for His beseeching. Presenting our body (our whole being) is our response to the mercies of God. Afterward, we see the results of the presentation and the commitment of ourselves to Him.

The Reason
Here, Paul brings the believer to consider the truths he has presented in the previous eleven chapters. The key words in this verse are by the mercies of God. Before we do can anything with or for God, there has to be a revelation of Him and the work of His mercy for us.

In Romans 11:29-36 we find the capsule of God’s mercies opened–the door–therefore–for Paul’s beseeching the reader to consider and respond. He calls us as brethren–believers and followers of Christ–to bring to God the Father, the gift of His mercies in earthen vessels for His use. When, by His mercies, He gives us new hearts (Ezekiel 36:26) and lives in Christ, our only reasonable response is to bring ourselves in dedication and commitment to His service and worship

Peter speaks of God’s abundant mercy that has given us new life in Christ.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 
1 Peter 1:3

A Covenant Relationship
We are made holy and acceptable unto God through Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

Before the foundation of the world, the covenant of redemption was planned between the Father and the Son. In the power of His Holy Spirit, through the knowledge of His Word, this covenant–the covenant of grace as we know it–is revealed as God’s plan to win us to Christ, His Son.

We are betrothed to Him through His sacrifice for us.
Paul’s teaching in Romans 12:1-2  show how we are to accept and enter into this covenant with Him. As a wife submits to her husband in the covenant of marriage, we submit to His covenant for life here and for eternity.

It is our agreement with Him that we are His temple, His building, His people, His children.

This is His means to accomplish all He desires in and through us.

“For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
1 Corinthians 6:20

Paul’s purpose of ministry to the Gentiles was that they might glorify God for his mercy (Romans 15:9).

In Romans 10:3 Paul speaks of those who have not submitted themselves unto Him.

We must be humbled to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. The proud cannot present themselves; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5-6).

“Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:
but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Romans 6:13

Living Sacrifices for a Living God
Paul speaks to the Thessalonians of how they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 1 Thessalonians 1:9

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:14

For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. Luke 20:38

Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. 2 Corintians 3:3

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, Hebrews 12:22

 But if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15

The Results

“And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” 
Romans 12:2

When we read all of Romans 12, we find the results of the whole body of Christ living sacrificially for His glory. Except for the offering of ourselves to Him, the remainder of the chapter would mean nothing to us.

When we understand the love and mercy in the sacrifice of our Lord, we willingly bring all to Him to do what He wills in and through us. He died, sacrificing all in His death for our salvation. We sacrifice all to Him to live and prove His perfect will in us. He performs His covenant in our lives when we enter into His covenant with Him, agreeing to His working to conform us to His image (Romans 8:29).

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Romans 7:4 

 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 21

Dear Father in heaven, Only you, by your Holy Spirit, can draw us to Christ. Only through your Holy Word, do we know who you are and your purpose for us. Do your holy, acceptable and perfect will in our lives for your glory and our joy. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Fran
Image and Song
Related Article: Radical Mercy

Words of Life ~ Abundant(ly)

On By francesrogersIn GOD'S GLORY, GOD'S GRACE, GOD'S WORD, TRUTH, Uncategorized6 Comments

ABUNDANT may be the most misunderstood word in the Bible. We may think of an abundance of the things of this life from God, or we may fail to understand the abundance of the spiritual things that God promises. There is one prominent verse in the Old Testament and one well known in the New that uses this word or the word ABUNDANT(LY). As we look at the meanings and how it is used in the Scriptures, we notice that the word originates with God and focuses on God and the Lord Jesus Christ. All that is ABUNDANT comes from God and revealed to and in His people. It is similar in origin to our last word ABLE, as we learned that God is the one who is ABLE, and who enables us.

In The Old Testament
ABUNDANT  in the Concordance H7227
defines the word (marbeh mar-beh’)
By contraction from H7231; abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank,
quality):—(in) abound (-undance, -ant, -antly), captain, elder, enough,
exceedingly, full, great (-ly, man, one), increase, long (enough, [time]), (do,
have) many (-ifold, things, a time), ([ship-]) master, mighty, more, (too, very)
much, multiply (-tude), officer, often [-times], plenteous, populous, prince,
process [of time], suffice (-ient).

ABUNDANT is prominent in Exodus 34:6 as God responds to Moses when he asked Him to show him His glory.

“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,”

In a earlier post Inexhaustible Goodness we learned of the abundance and endurance of His goodness.

In the New Testament
ABUNDANT  in the Concordance G4121
defines the word perisson, meaning exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, superfluous, a quantity so abundant as to be considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate.
From G4119; (plan, plane) to do, make or be more, that is, increase(transitively or
intransitively); by extension to superabound:—abound, abundant, make to
increase, have over.

The apostle Paul speaks of the abundant grace of the Lord in 2 Corinthians 4:15.

“For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.”

And in 1 Timothy 1:14:

“And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”

The apostle Peter speaks of the abundant mercy by which we are given new life in Christ.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” ` Peter 1:3

ABUNDANTLY H8317 in the Old Testament :
A primitive root; to wriggle, that is, (by implication) swarm or abound:—
breed (bring forth, increase) abundantly (in abundance), creep, move.

Our first parents were instructed to multiply abundantly in the earth (Genesis 9:7)

Isaiah speaks of the LORD’s mercy to those who return to Him, “for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).

ABUNDANTLY  G4053 In the New Testament
From G4012 (in the sense of beyond); superabundant(in quantity) or
superior(in quality); by implication excessive; adverb (with G1537) violently;
neuter (as noun) preeminence:—exceeding abundantly above, more abundantly,
advantage, exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, superfluous,
vehement [-ly].

We come now to this most significant verse in God’s Word, from the mouth and life of our dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

This is a reminder of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:9.“No one has conceived of what God has prepared for those who love HIm.

Ephesians 3;20 links our last Word of Life ~ ABLE ~ to this one;

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” 

Paul also speaks of us His mercy that saved us, regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

“Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;” Titus 3:5-6

Simon Peter spoke of the “divine power,” the “great and precious promises” the “divine nature” and life that is preparing us “For an entrance ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:3-11)

Dear Father, we thank you that you began creation with your abundant goodness and truth, passing down your promises of abundant pardon in the Old Testament; this pardon revealed in the New Testament through your mercy and grace in our Lord Jesus Christ, for an abundant entrance into your everlasting kingdom. Truly, this is your Word of Life to us as your children. Let us live and witness of this abundant life that is ours in Christ, our Lord; in whose name we pray. Amen.
Fran
Words of Life A-Z The Ordinary Vocabulary of a Christian