God is good, and He does good!

Today, I had an opportunity to hangout with some precious ladies from my church, virtually of course. With the current circumstance of COVID-19 we have been unable to meet in person since March 2020, however I truly believe we are strong in the Lord and more people are able to attend more regularly with the use of technology!

"You are good, and what you do is good..." 

Psalm 119:68a

A clip was shared from a virtual conference called "Desperate for Jesus - Rooted" hosted by Priscilla Shier on YouTube. We were instructed to watch only 9 minutes of it, from 1:59:33 until 2:08:21, as we were to discuss the clip in our time together. Click this link to view the conference. 

Trust God

We discussed the topic of "how to trust God during difficult times/situations", and although we each have our own expectations on how we think life should go, most times these expectations are not met yet we still need to trust God. How do we do it?

Experiencing God for ourselves is the most efficient way to build our trust in Him. Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him". Now, if you have made a beautiful dinner for yourself and a loved one, you know that unless they bring the food up to their mouth and chew on it, they will never know the taste of that food. No one else can taste and see for you. We need to taste and see the goodness of the Lord for ourselves, spending time in His Word and seeing His heart within the pages of it, is a key way to build our confidence in Him.

Dr. Tony Evans made this statement during the clip of the conference, to be able to trust God in difficult situations is to "know His heart, even when we are unable to see His hand" at work in our lives. With the recent loss of his wife, Dr. Evans reassures that knowing God's thoughts for us will enable us to put our confidence in Him. Psalm 119:68 says, "You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees", which echoes this truth, when we are rooted in God's Word we will know He is good, always. 

Why Pray

Another topic we discussed this morning was "what to do when are prayers are not answered". We are instructed to pray, but "if God already has a plan for my life; why pray?". I believe we pray because this is how we can get involved in God's plan and will for our lives - not that our prayers are contingent on what the will of God is for us. Yet, when we are in relationship with God we will want to pray and seek His plan for our lives. We are to pray without ceasing (see 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

We also learned that there is a conditional and an unconditional will of God for each of us. There are some things God has simply promised He will do, and we can be assured that He will see them through. This is part of His unconditional will, as there is nothing required of us for it to be fulfilled. The most common example of this would be when God said "I establish my covenant with you... never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth", as we see in Genesis 9:11. However in Jeremiah 29:11-14 we see how there is also a conditional will of God, specifically in verse 13 it says, "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." So if we truly desire to find and know the Lord, we are required to seek Him, and to seek His with all your hearts.

The final takeaway from todays meeting can be summed us as this; Trust God, He does not change, He is good and He does good, always!

What is Faith? - Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. - Hebrews 11:1 ESV

Let’s being with a basic definition of faith; what is faith? Faith, according to Oxford’s Dictionary, is the complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Faith is a noun, it not simply an action word, but rather, a thing – faith is to put trust and belief in God.

What about assurance? Assurance is a positive declaration intended to give confidence; the confidence that one can rely on someone or something. This furthers the notion of trust in God, and in His Word. “Things hoped for” are already expressed in the Word of God; “we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ... we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God... and hope does not put us to shame...” (see Romans 5:1-5).

Conviction is defined two ways: (1) a firmly held belief or opinion; (2) in the court of law, evidence that the party being accused is guilty of a crime. Conviction, in light of this verse study, is to have a deep seated belief God will do as He says He will, even though we cannot see it yet.

Faith is the basic ingredient to begin a relationship God. Faith enables us to believe God is sovereign, He is the Creator of the universe (see Nehemiah 9:6) and He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask, think, or image (see Ephesians 3:20). “Faith is the assurance that the things revealed and promised in the Word are true, even though unseen, [faith] gives the believer a conviction that what he expects in faith, will come to pass.” – source: Hebrew Roots, The Original Foundation

Based on my own experience, often when faced with a stressful situation, the concept of faith is suggested to replace any fear being experienced. For example, when someone is fearful, one might say to the other, “don’t fear; have faith”. Faith is not the opposite of fear; faith is actually activated in the midst of fear. “I have never had faith without being surrounded by fear... Faith springs out of the ground and the fertility of fear... the real art to life is not to be controlled by the feeling of fear, but to let faith drive the wheel, even if fear is sitting in the back seat... because you cannot count on fear to get out of the car in order for you to be mobile... you want your faith to drive the car... be driven by faith” - Bishop T.D. Jakes #AskBishopJakes

Full Reward - Honor

Honor's Reward - John Bevere
Chapter 3 - "Full Reward" - Notes

Recap:

This is our second session studying through the book by John Bevere called "Honor's Reward". We learned last week what honor means. To honor; is to hold someone or something in high regard; to consider someone as precious and valuable.

We have been reminded and encouraged to, "Look to yourselves, that we do not lost those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward." 2 John 8

Last time we learned about making the choice to honor because the bible tells us so; these choices are life defining-moments that can lead to full, partial or no rewards. We discussed partial and no reward scenarios.

Chapter 3 summary:

Full reward biblical scenarios John Bevere mentions are; the roman centurion, the gentile woman with the demon-possessed daughter, and the woman with the alabaster box.

A biblical example of someone who received a full reward is the story of the roman centurion, found in Matthew 8:5-13. The centurion simply stated that his servant was paralyzed and suffering terribly, yet upon Jesus's response to come and heal the servant, the centurion requests for Jesus to "say the word". Because just as the centurion gives orders to the soldiers under his command, he knew that Jesus had authority over all creation and that his servant would be healed. The roman centurion had a root of motivation to honor in his heart; in Luke 7:1-10 the centurion gave honor to Jesus and he understood Jesus' authority as he states "I, too, am a man set under authority" (verse 8). The centurion understood the authority of Jesus and rendered Him respect which demonstrated great faith. As is says in Hebrews 11:6 - "without faith it is impossible to please God". The verse goes on to say, "whoever draws near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

Another example of someone who received a full reward is the gentile women with a demon-possessed daughter, found in Mark 7:24-30. She honored Jesus by falling at his feet, begging Him to heal her daughter, and responding to him with honor even when there was an opportunity for offense. In Mark 7:27-28 it says, "[Jesus] said to her, "let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."" As John Bevere puts its, "no matter how you slice the pie, it's coming out the same... Jesus called her a dog!" Yet in her desperation, her response still honored Jesus and her daughter was healed.

The third example mentioned in this chapter is found in Mark 14:3-9, when Jesus was anointed at Bethany by a woman with an alabaster box of costly oil. Without going into much detail, she honored Jesus through her actions. As is says in John 13:20, "whoever received the one I send received me, and whoever received me receives the one who sent me." Jesus was sent to us by God, and the woman in Mark 14 highly esteemed and honored Jesus through anointing him with costly oil. This was a tangible way to honored the Father; we honor Father God through the treatment of His Son, Jesus.

Honor is something we steward, and it is key to receiving from heaven. There is an honor principle - a principle is a fundamental truth that we must live by - when we honor Jesus, we are honoring Father God. The opposite is also true: if we dishonor Jesus, we are dishonoring the Father, and He will consider us as insignificant and will treat us with contempt. As it says in John 5:23 "that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him." As well as in 1 Samuel 2:30 "those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed."


Thoughts:

Honor is an attitude which flows from our hearts. Honor can be show in action, thought, and words. We must consider the way we treat others - those in authority, on our level and under our authority - and realize how we honor (or dishonor) them, reflects our honor (or dishonor) towards Christ.