How God Views the Poor

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high prietshood of Annas and Caiaphas, the Word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness (Luke 3:1-2 NASB). (God didn't send His Word to the high and mighty, but to a lowly person.) Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God (Luke 6:20 NASB). For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen he weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, and the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,so that no man boast before God (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). Listen, my beloved brethren; did not God choose the poor of th world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which He promised to those who love Him (James 2:5)?

Challenges

Once I mentioned a friend with the attitude that if you have the right priorities, the money will be there. His financial situation is gfetting worse. It reminds me of Deuteronomy 28, where God lists blessings for obedience, and curses for disobedience. Blindness is listed among the curses. Then in John 9, when Jesus' disciples asked him who sinned, the blind man, or his parents. His reply was that the man's blindness was not a result of sin. Things aren't neat and tidy. Good people suffer. Life is not fair. I suspect the Lord is trying to teach my friend some deeper lessons in trust.

Knowing God

In John 17 Jesus says that eternal life is knowing God, and Jesus Whom He has sent. We can have a real, intimate relationship with our Lord. We learn Truth through this relationship and others. That's why strong discipling relationships are so important. We learn alot through Scripture alone, but when we see Scripture modeled through godly relationships, it enhances our understanding. It has been said that married people can know God in ways that celebate people can't. This is because God designed for marriage to be a picture of Christ and His church. Single people can know the Lord as their husband in ways that married people can't. Just as husbands in Scripture are said to "know" their wives, so Jesus' bride can know Him intimately in a spiritual sense. Don't be like the foolish virgins to whom Jesus said, "I never knew you." That doesn't mean He didn't know they existed. It means He didn't know them intimately and personally.

Romans 8 and 9

Alot of times, Christians think that Romans 9, 10, and11 are about God's choice vs. ours, but it's not. Romans 9:11 shows that it's God choice vs. our works. Every aspect of our salvation depends on God and His purposes, not our works. This doesn't nullify our choices. We still must exercise faith. We believe. We call on the Name of the Lord (Chapter 10). We confess. But God gives us the grace (prevenient grace) to do it. Many people love Romans 8:28. But it must be interpreted in light of verses 29 & 30. Verse 28 is not about us & our circumstances. It is about God's purposes. Verse 17 says we are children, heirs of God, & fellow heirs with Christ IF WE SUFFER WITH HIM so that we may be glorified with Him. If we are to be glorified with Christ, we must suffer with Him. The Christian life is gloriously hard! But He has already provided the grace we need to endure joyfully in His strength, thus glorifying Him!

Romans 9-11

I was looking at some passages on election yesterday afternoon. Romans 9:11-13: All this is saying is that just like everything in the Christian life, election is based on God's purposes and grace, not on our works. In verse 13, "loved" means "committed to," and "hated" means "not committed to." In verse 16, we're reminded that everything depends on our merciful God. Verses 19-21 of chapter 9 show that God has the rights. We don't. Most of the rest of the chapter deals with God's mercy, and the necessity of faith on our part. The Christian life is by faith, not works. Chapter 10 also deals with faith. In chapter 11, we see that Israel's fall was temporary, until the full number of Gentiles believed in Jesus. Verses 17-24 deals with being cut off and grafted in. The falling away has to do with God's purposes, not individual salvation. If we fall away from God's purposes, we can be restored (see also verse 29). Throughout this chapter, we see that this is not about individuals. Election is about Israel as a nation, and the gentiles as a whole. Righteousness is by faith. Pursue the Lord and His righteousness by faith. These chapters are not in the Bible to make you worry about whether or not you can lose your salvation. Follow hard after Jesus and His purposes by faith, depending on His grace.

Open Doors

Have you ever been frustrated when doors don't open? I certainly have. What has encouraged me to to remember Who is in control. Things are happening whether you see them or not. God is working on you while you wait. He is working on other people and situations all the time. He is the One Who opens and closes doors (Revelation 3:7). He has a purpose for everything, and will bring it about in His time. When He does, you will be able to look back and marvel at what He did. Hang on! God is not finished with you yet, and He finishes what He starts.

Faith in Action

I have a friend who believes what you need from God will be there for you, no matter what. You just have to hang out and wait for it to happen. I certainly believe in waiting on God. All King Jehoshaphat had to do was stand still and see his deliverance. But sometimes you have to take action, reach out, and take a step of faith, like the paralytic Jesus healed. Faith also needs to be accompanied by works.

Warfare or Not?

When is it spiritual warfare, and when is it coincidence? First of all, I don't think that there is any such thing as coincidence in the Christian life. God is in complete control. The devil fights Him all the time. A friend of mine knows someone who can do recordings for free. He saw this man often, until we decided to record my book, An Exquisite* Grace on CD before doing a printed version. Now he can't seem to make contact. Now, money for the project is a problem. Money was tight before, but it wasn't this bad. Taken alone, or the two together, you might not come up with warfare as the problem. However, add that I've undergone major and prolonged spiritual attacks in my recent history, and that there is significant interest in this book, and you might begin to get a different picture. This story has been called "powerful. " Add that, and you can see the devil is threatened. My friend said it's coincidence. I think the issue is warfare. Please pray that this opposition will be broken, contact made, and money available. Thanks.

Books

Shelter of Hope, Inc. is looking for old books for us to sell to raise money for publishing and other expenses. If you have any you wish to donate, or to book a concert, please contact us at leewardhope@yahoo.com. Our book, An Exquisite* Grace, is still in the writing stage, but is expected to be finished soon. Please look for it. Your prayers would be appreciated.

Ministry Update

Last Friday I was privileged to talk to someone who has a real interest in my story, and who can help promote it, potentially expanding the ministry exponentially. May the Lord do with this contact what will glorify Him. It's exciting, but I don't want to presume. Tomorrow, a colleague and I have a meeting with our pastor to see how the church can be involved. Please pray for these contacts. The book is taking on a life of its own. I never expected it to go where it's going. We have many financial needs. Please pray they will be met. Would anyone in the Indianapolis area like to be involved? Contact us at leewardhope@yahoo.com.

Ministry Update

The Lord is leading us to broaden our support base. The team is all being crunched by the economy. We've decided that the printing project will be relegated to second or third priority. We want to focus first on a CD version of the book, which is more economical to produce, since we are able to most of the work ourselves. We'd appreciate your prayers. You may contact us at leewardhope@yahoo.com for more information. God bless you.