A Tale of Two Sons Part 2

Last week, we looked at the prodigal son  and how his Father gladly extended grace and celebrated his return home.

But, there was a family member who wasn’t so thrilled with the party.

Remember that both brothers were given their inheritance at the same time.

One spent it all on lose living, and one hadn’t learned to live in the abundance of his inheritance.

He was livid that a party featuring the fattened calf was thrown for his brother who had indulged in sin with prostitutes.

He had always done what he was told, but did he get so much as a goat kid to party with his friends? NO!

He had a serious knot in his knickers and did not want to celebrate with them.

His father implored him to come in to the party, and pointed out that all that was His had always been available to him.

What was the older son’s error?

He never appropriated what was already his.

He lived in the trap of performance based acceptance instead of grace.

He lived under the Law instead of grace.

There is no celebration in the Law. No, there is only fear and insecurity.

The Law does not empower us to walk in righteousness.

Grace alone teaches us to say no to unrighteousness.

The Law is good, righteous  and holy,  but it is cold and seemingly harsh.

Grace is filled with love and forgiveness.

It is not license, rather it teaches us to live in God’s love which leads us to obedience.

John tells us that love and obedience are linked together.

If we live in God’s love, we know that obedience is the absolute best for us, and we want to obey.

Grace is the power source for obedience, as we are filled with the Spirit of God.

The same Spirit that empowered Jesus, empowers us for obedience.

We are free from the Law and free to celebrate with fellow believers in all that is ours already in Christ Jesus.

Nothing the world offers us can compare with that!

Beloved, are you enjoying your inheritance, or are you trying to earn what you already have?

That can only lead to legalism and a judgmental and critical spirit.

Enter into the joy of His rest, and celebrate with each child that comes home.

All of us need His grace.  Let’s rejoice with each one’s return!

Blessings!

Robyn Henning

Threefold Thanksgiving

The first American Thanksgiving did not occur in 1621 when a group of Pilgrims shared a feast with a group of friendly Indians.

Rather, the first recorded thanksgiving took place in Virginia more than 11 years earlier, and it wasn’t a feast.

The winter of 1610 at Jamestown had reduced a group of 409 settlers to 60.

The survivors prayed for help, without knowing when or how it might come.

When help arrived in the form of a ship filled with food and supplies from England, a prayer meeting was held to give thanks to God.

We celebrate Thanksgiving once a year, but as believers, we are to give thanks every day.

In this Thanksgiving Blog we want to look at three things we are to be thankful for every day.

First, we are to be thankful for Material Blessings.

1 Tim. 4:3-4 says, “God created food to be received with prayers of thanks by those who believe and know the truth. Everything God created is good. Nothing should be rejected if it is received with prayers of thanks.”

We see from these verses that we are to give thanks for our food.

From this, we can say that we are to be thankful for all the material blessings that the Lord gives us.

We aren’t to become materialistic and live for material things, but what the Lord gives us, we are to be thankful for.

Second, we are to be thankful for People Blessings.

Philippians 1:3 says, “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.”

We are to be thankful for the people the Lord has brought into our lives, since they enrich our lives and help us to grow in Christ.  Even those who bug us at times!

Third, we are to be thankful for Spiritual Blessings.

Let’s look at six ways that the Lord blesses us spiritually:

1. God hears our prayers.

John 11:41 says, “Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.”

2. God has freed us from sin.

Romans 6:17-18 says, “Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin … Now you are free from sin, your old master, and you have become slaves to your new master, righteousness.”

3. God has given us victory in Christ.

2 Cor. 2:14 says, “But I thank God, who always leads us in victory   because of Christ.”

4. God has given us a rich inheritance in Christ.

Col. 1:12-14 says, “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

5. God causes our growth in Christ through the instruction we receive.

Col. 2:7 says, “Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.”

6. God has given us the greatest gift of all – Christ.

2 Cor. 9:15 says, “I thank God for his gift that words cannot describe.”

Take a moment and thank the Lord for all His blessings in our lives!

Blessings!

Pastor Ken Keeler, Director of Church Ministries

 

Navigating Life’s Storms

How do you react to storms?

Some folks like to curl up with a hot drink and watch the show out the window.  Others want to hide under their bed covers.

I have to admit that after being without power for 5 days because of Hurricane Sandy, I wince when I hear that a storm is in the forecast.

But, storms come in a variety of formats not just the weather.

Life storms can include illness, death of a loved one, financial crisis – both personal and global, wars and rumors of wars… all of these create stress in our lives.

So, how do we navigate these storms without letting fear drive us to panic?

I think that the key is to stay aware of our connection to Jesus.

He was really good at staying calm in storms.  They didn’t faze Him at all.

Why?  Well, He knew who was really in control and that nothing could separate Him from His Father.

Beloved, is there anything that can take Jesus out of us or us out of Jesus?  Nope.  Not even death!  We should  not even fear death.

The day we die is the best day of our lives.  It’s the day we start to really live life as God intended for us in the beginning.

So, when storms arise, remember that we are sheltered in the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ.

While the storm rages, He will keep us safe in Him.

Choose not to be offended by the storm.  It can’t really hurt us because it cannot separate us from Jesus.

I’m not saying to ignore the storms; I am saying that we need to stop seeing them as a threat.

The only genuine threat to  believers is something that can sever our connection to Jesus.

There isn’t anything that can do that!

We live in Jesus’ perfect love, and His love picks up fear and throws it out of our lives.

Satan wants to paralyze us with fear.

But, when we remember how safe we truly are in Christ, he loses fear as a weapon to use against us.

Beloved, set your mind on Christ in you navigating the storms through you, and you will experience His peace and calm even when the storms of life are raging around you.

Blessings!

Robyn Henning

Just Do It

Have you ever sought the godly counsel of another believer only to receive a Bible verse, a pat on the head, and the challenge to just do it?

I call this the Nike approach to Christian counseling.

Having trouble loving your spouse?  Well, just love them.

Having trouble with anxiety or fear?  Don’t worry; be happy; trust God!

Having lustful thoughts?  Don’t think about sex.

Is this bad advice?  No, but it’s powerless and guaranteed to leave the recipient frustrated and discouraged.

If they could do what they wanted to do….walk in victory… they would!  But they can’t.

Why?  They’ve never been taught to plug into the power source of the life of Jesus within them.

Why?  Many churches are content to teach the Nike approach to the Christian life.

So, churches are full of two kinds of Christians:

• Those who think they are doing well because they have most of the Christian check list checked off.
• And those who are really frustrated with not measuring up but are too afraid to ask for help because they know they are only going to hear a Bible verse along with, “Just do it.”

So, instead they hide their struggles or walk away from church and give up altogether.

Remember that Pride says, “You can do it; just try harder.”

Beloved, there is only one Person who ever successfully lived the Christian life:  Jesus.

Here’s more good news: He knows you can’t live the Christian life, and He’s okay with that!

In fact, He’s taken up residence in your skin, so that He can express His life in you and through you.

So, if you’re struggling in an area, consciously engage Jesus in the battle.

Let Him fight it on your behalf.  He wins every battle that we yield to Him.

If someone comes asking for help, do not give them a Bible verse and tell them to just do it.

Give them a Bible verse and share how Jesus can do it through them for His glory.

He is far more powerful than the Greek goddess Nike could ever be.

Our victory has already been won for us by Jesus, and we live out His victory as we walk in total dependence on His life expressed in us and through us for His glory.

Blessings!

Robyn

Who Are You?

Who are you?

Seriously, not the song, but how do you perceive yourself?

The world defines people primarily by their actions.  A person attending an AA meeting has to introduce themselves as someone who is an alcoholic.

How do they reach that conclusion?  It’s simple: actions equal identity.

But that’s a huge lie!

The reality is that who we are is determined by our family of origin.

When we are born into this world, we are born into Adam’s family.  That means we are human beings with a nature infected with this thing called sin.

Sinning does not make us sinners.  Being born into Adam’s family makes us sinners.  Sinning is just the natural outworking of an inner identity problem.

Now, let me address why Christians struggle so much with sinning.

Most Christians do not know who they are in Christ.

They are taught that they are sinners saved by grace.

And that sounds humble and even correct, but it can’t be further from the truth.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior not only are our sins paid for in full, but we are also identified with Jesus.

When He died, we died; when He rose again, we rose again…thus making us born again into a new family: Jesus’ family.

This is what makes every believer a SAINT saved by grace.

Beloved, we are holy…set apart from the power of sin and set apart unto God.

Sin is no longer our master; Jesus is.

We can tell sin to go pound sand when it launches into its demands.  You see, we are dead to it.  We no longer have a relationship with sin.

We now have a relationship with Jesus; we are family.  God sees us completely in Christ, all new creations in Him with human natures freed from sin and reconnected to God.

Why is this so important?

No one can consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with their self perception. 

If I see myself as a sinner, not sinning will bother me, and I will revert back to fleshly habits and excuse them.  If I see that the truth is I am a saint, when I choose the flesh, it will really bug me and I will be quick to get back on track with the Spirit.

Beloved, we are human beings not human doings.

Mental health is the result of seeing ourselves as God sees us.

Over the next few nuggets we are going to look as a few verses that declare our new identity in Christ.

I hope you’ll join me for them.

Blessings!

Robyn Henning

Nothing Can Separate

Does Satan constantly remind you of all your mistakes?

Does he introduce thoughts like, “How could God possibly love me?  I have messed up too much for God to love me.”

Beloved, we are at war!

Satan is constantly seeking to undermine our faith in God’s love for us because he knows it’s his way into our lives with fear.

Fear and love cannot co-exist, so if he gains a foothold in our lives through fear, he knows we won’t be bearing the fruit of love, and he has the advantage over us.

Satan hates God, but he can’t directly attack God, so his primary goal is to take as any people to hell with him as possible.

But, just because we get saved, it doesn’t mean that Satan ignores us.

No indeed, we get a target painted on our backs.

Satan’s goal is to keep us walking in our flesh, so that the fruit of the Spirit doesn’t grow in our lives.

He has many strategies to accomplish this.

He wants us to view God’s love through our circumstances.

If life is pain free and easy, then God loves me; if life is hard and painful, then God doesn’t love me and can’t be trusted.

Remember, the proof of God’s love is simply the cross.  That’s it!

We need to learn to remain or abide in His love, so that when hardship comes,… and it will… we can be of good cheer, because Jesus has overcome the world.

Paul tells us that there is no evil angelic power or painful circumstance, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

The more this reality takes root and grows in our lives, the more free we will be from fear or any other strategy Satan can muster against our faith.

The storms can rage, but like Jesus, we can sleep knowing that Father holds us securely in His hands.

Beloved, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus…. Nothing!

Believe this!  Rest in this!

Enjoy His great love for you!

Blessings!

Robyn Henning

Interdimensional Prayer

How would you like to influence another dimension?

It’s easy, really.  Just pray!

People, a whole lot smarter than me, say that we are aware of 4 dimensions – length, width, height, and time.

But, there have been scientists from far back in the early centuries who declared that there are at least 10 dimensions based on their study of Genesis.

We know that there is a spiritual realm or dimension that we cannot see.

One of my favorite accounts in the Old Testament is where the King of Aram is so frustrated with Elisha’s spiritual spying on him that he sends his army to kill Elisha.

Elisha’s servant cries out in despair when he sees the army surrounding the city, but Elisha is unfazed because he could see into the spiritual dimension.

Elisha prays asking the LORD to open the eyes of his servant.

All of a sudden, his servant sees the spiritual forces of heaven surrounding the Aramean army.

Elisha prays again and the opposing forces are struck with blindness, and then he leads them to Samaria as his captives.

One man captured a whole army!  How?  Prayer!

Elisha is a fascinating character who seems to have been able to see into the spiritual dimension as a result of receiving a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.

Obviously, we are  not Elisha.

But, nevertheless, our prayers can influence the dimension of the spirit realm.

I’ve had the privilege over the last two decades to teach believers how to engage in spiritual warfare praying.

I’ve seen and heard some pretty weird things through the years.

It’s only weird because we have a ‘seeing is believing’ mentality.

There are scientists today conducting highly complex and dangerous experiments with the goal of connecting with alien life in other dimensions.

Beloved, you don’t have to work for CERN to influence or learn from aliens.

Technically, Jesus was an alien; He was not of this world, but came into this world to rescue us.

Every time we pray, we are connecting with another dimension that, in turn, can influence the dimensions that we perceive.

Prayer brings healing, freedom from spiritual bondage, awareness of the Presence of Jesus, and the knowledge of God’s will.

Blessings!

Robyn

Law vs. Grace

What does the word grace mean?

I’ve heard it defined as,”unmerited favor,” or “When you get what you don’t deserve.”

The problem is that many Christians think that grace is a free pass to indulge fleshly lusts.

I agree with Paul: “May it never be!”

Paul tells us that sin takes advantage of the Law to deceive us.

Here’s how sin takes advantage of the Law:

What happens if you put a plate of green beans in front of a kid and say, “Don’t stick those up your nose.” Right, as soon as you aren’t looking, they stick the bean up their nose. Why? Because the flesh wants to do its own thing, and sin is right there to help by saying, “do it!”

The problem isn’t found in the Law; the problem is found in sin and our flesh.

So, what happens when we choose to live in God’s grace instead of the Law?

Sin loses its opportunity to use the Law against our flesh. How?

When I live by grace, I am choosing to let the Holy Spirit lead me into what is good for me.

Titus tells us that it is “grace that teaches me to say “no’ to ungodliness and ‘yes’ to righteousness.”

It is God’s grace that has transformed us from children of wrath to children of God.

And, it is His grace that will teach us to make choices that line up with our new identity as His children.

The Law says, “I HAVE TO” live like this.

Grace says, “I GET TO” live like Jesus, as I allow Him to express Himself through me.

Grace does not let me sin all the more; grace lets me live out of the righteousness of Christ in me.

The Law compels me to perform; grace gently leads me to rest in my new identity in Christ.

Beloved, choose to live in God’s grace and love for you, and you will experience the victory He has accomplished for you over sin!

Blessings!

Robyn

Good vs. Evil Part 3: The Blame Game

So, whose fault was it?

Was it Eve’s, for being so stupid to fall for Satan’s lies?

Where was Adam anyway?  Why didn’t he intervene and stop Eve?

Ah, the Devil made them do it!

How about the ultimate blame shift: Evil is all God’s fault!

After all, God made Lucifer, and because He is all-knowing, He had to know that Lucifer would rebel and become Satan.

Therefore, evil is all God’s fault!

Over the last 20 plus years of counseling, I have had professing Christians express this judgment to me.

So, how do we handle this faulty reasoning?

We don’t.

What? Seriously, God doesn’t need us to be His defense lawyers.

Why?  He’s not on trial.

He is the Judge, NOT US!

Beloved, we completely lack the capacity to truly discern good from evil; only God knows the difference.

Here’s what we know: Adam and Eve’s choice to be like God put them in the same boat with Satan.

Lucifer wanted to be like God, and it got him kicked out of God’s presence.

There are philosophies out there today saying, “You are god; you just have to realize it.”

In their pride, people get sucked into that crazy, arrogant thinking.

God did not design us to have to discern good from evil.

He only wanted us to ever experience good.

I, for one, wish that I only ever had to experience good, don’t you?

That would be amazing!

Adam and Eve’s sinful choice left us starting out life at a deficit.

We need God, but sin caused us to born separated from Him.

God knew what Adam and Eve would choose, and He already had a rescue plan in place.

Love motivated God to send Jesus to die on the cross, pay the penalty for sin, once and for all, and to make a way for us to be reconnected to the Source of Life.

How?

Simply by acknowledging our sins and our inability to be good enough, by believing that Jesus’ blood was sufficient, and by receiving His gift of eternal life by faith.

Beloved, we can never be good enough.

But we don’t have to be; Jesus was good enough to pay our debt and redeem us.

Through His shed blood, we are now in a position to receive God’s love and acceptance every moment of every day!

And, we can now learn to experience life like God intended for us, as we put our trust in Him.

It’s time that we stop playing the blame game, and start accepting God’s sufficient grace to be more than enough for all that we need!

Blessings!

Robyn

Rejection Series Part 4: From Rejection to Acceptance

How do we heal and break free from the wounds of rejection?

Paul gives us the key in Romans 12:1, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

Renewed how?  By renouncing the lies we’ve believed based on the messages from others and by claiming the truth of God’s message to us.

“If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away, the new has come.”

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, there is a transformation in our spirit.

We are identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.

We are ‘born again’ into God’s family… converted from sinners in Adam to saints in Christ Jesus.

Because of Jesus’ shed blood, we are now 100% accepted by God in Christ Jesus.

We cannot achieve this acceptance by keeping a system of do’s and don’t’s, nor can we lose it by sinning.

It was achieve for us by Jesus and given to us as a gift by His grace through faith in Him.

Because our acceptance is based on Jesus, it can never change.

Praise the Lord!

Beloved, we already have all of the love and acceptance we will ever need in Christ Jesus.

This is the truth, whether we FEEL it or not.

The daily question we must all answer is: “Who is our voice of truth: people or God?”

God alone is the Source of Truth.

People have their good days and bad days.

God alone is consistent.  He is the same today, as He was yesterday, as He will be tomorrow.

Beloved, God’s love and acceptance of us depends on Jesus, not on us, so it never changes!

God does not always approve of what we do, but He always approves of us!

When we choose sin, He lovingly disciplines us to teach us to choose obedience to Him the next time.

The Lord Jesus was despised and forsaken by men. He knew rejection intimately.

Jesus understands the pain of rejection, and He longs to deliver us from it.

Please stop and ask the Holy Spirit to search your Hidden Chambers and root out all lingering pain from human rejection.

Picture in your imagination giving it all over to Him.

Forgive and unhook from those who have rejected you

Start each day by setting your mind on resting and receiving His great love for you!

Blessings!

Robyn