The Good Of The Father (The Smell Test) # 2057

 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are of God, for many false prophets have come out into the world 

First Epistle of John 4: 1, Concordant New Testament 

I have a gym friend whom I have taken to placing the word judgmental in front of his name whenever I think of him.  For this friend has made it clear where he stands as far as the scriptures are concerned.  I don't find this surprising, as he is a regular attendee of a local mainstream church.  So, I see him as only speaking what he learns in church.  That God is vengeful and hateful God.  Recently, Franklin Graham doubled down on this thinking by proclaiming that God hates and that he is a God of war.  Have we gotten to the point in our belief that we proclaim that God hates those we disagree with?  Indeed, there are some out there who adhere to such a belief.  I first witnessed this in action at a church I used to attend where a small crowd had gathered outside of the church to protest the churches stance that marriage is between a man and a woman.  Instead of speaking the love of God over all, the pastor proclaimed that God indeed hated the behavior of those who were protesting.  We didn't agree with them, so we spoke to the belief that God hated their actions.  This got me to thinking this week, does God truly hate anyone?  Does He hate anything?  I will base my answer in the words of the apostle John who speaks to the one true nature of God, that is love {First Epistle of John 4:1}.  Love is what God has chosen to be known as.  When we think of love, we think of the Father.  At least I do.  But, unfortunately, there are competing messages out there when it comes to the nature and love of God.  Those within the church will speak to a God who not only loves, but is also vengeful and hateful.  They cherry-pick scriptures to suit their narrative.  Franklin Graham cited a scripture where Saul was called upon to destroy Israels enemies.  Does this make the Father a God of war?  I would disagree with the reverend on that one.  In discussions with my gym friend, I notice his hard liner stance between those who commit bad behaviors and those who have chosen to accept Christ Jesus.  In his opinion, only those who have accepted Christ will be saved {Paul to the Romans 10:9-10}.  But is this the Fathers intention?  Again, we must heed the words of the apostle John and "Test the spirits" {First Epistle of John 4:1}.  Does it pass the smell test?

In my discussions with other believers, whenever I mention the concept of universal salvation I usually get a bit of pushback.  My gym friend will immediately counter with a question if God intends to overlook wrong behaviors and people.  The issue is not if God intends to overlook wrong behaviors, but that if we ourselves have gotten it wrong all along.  Has sin separated us from God as the church is so fond of preaching?  I would answer no to that.  This theology doesn't pass the smell test.  For there is scripture to back up the claim that all shall be saved {Johns Account 3:17, Peter to the Dispersion(2) 3:9, James 2:24}.  Jesus has proclaimed that there is only one way to the Father, and that is through Him {Johns Account 14:6}.  So, why is it that we pre-judge those who we feel will and won't go to hell?  Doesn't that decision belong to Christ?  Once again, we see the competing message offered up by those within the church.  I have taken a lot of flack for my belief that the Father decides everything that He does based upon His love for us {Paul to the Romans 5:8}.  Imagine that, that while I was still a sinner, Christ Jesus died for me.  Well, the thing is that those in the church continue to refer to me, and everyone else for that matter, as sinners.  Again, it doesn't pass the smell test.  The apostle Paul has spoken that Christ Jesus died for sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  So, if Jesus has already given Himself for me, why does the church continue to condemn me?  If you think something doesn't seem right there, you're absolutely right!  One thing that does pass the test is that God loved me enough to create me in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  That He loved me enough to call me His own {First Epistle of John 3:1}.  This I believe. 

For such are false apostles, fraudulent workers, being transfigured into apostles of Christ.  And no marvel, for Satan himself is being transfigured into a messenger of light.  It is no great thing, then, if his servants are also being transfigured as dispensers of righteousness, whose consummation shall be according to their acts

Paul to the Corinthians (2) 11: 13-15, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Not For Me) # 2056

 

Now, unbending, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they?  Does no one condemn you?"  Now she said, "No one, Lord!"  Now Jesus said, "Neither am I condemning you.  Go! From now on by no means any longer be sinning." 

Johns Account 8: 10=11, Concordant New Testament 

It is one of my favorite scenes from the Chosen series.  Mary Magdalene has found her way into what we might call a modern day pub.  Broken and distraught, she asks the proprietor for a drink of what we assume is an alcohol of that time.  Although reluctant to serve her, the keeper offers her the drink she has requested.  Within seconds, we see a mans hand touch her shoulder.  As she looks behind her she stares into the eyes of Jesus!  Far from condemning her for partaking in her drink of choice, Jesus simply tells her "This isn't for you."  This is a profound scene which has taken particular meaning from a time in my own life as well.  See, I once dabbled in things which Jesus would have said were "Not for you."  For more than a few years, I immersed myself in the strip club scene of Portland.  Yes, I knew it was wrong, but the pull of the flesh overrode that part of my own conscience.  It seemed that I had no way out of the life I lived.  But, as He often does, Jesus had other plans for me.  One night, as I was about to enter into another flesh palace, I was reminded that "This isn't who you are."  As He had done with His daughter Mary, the Lord was reminding me that He had so much better for me.  That night, I turned and left even before entering another of idolizing the flesh.  Was it my conscience which finally convinced me that what I was doing was wrong?  Remember, I had ignored my own conscience for so long that I began to accept my behaviors as being normal.  But, in my heart I knew that Jesus had been correct, this wasn't who I was in His eyes.  In the eyes of the Father, I am not a sinner, but His loved child.  It was because of His love for Mary Magdalene that Jesus confronted her in her weakest moment.  It was also because of His love for me that He introduced me to who I truly am in His eyes.  For those who struggle with things they know are wrong, we do well to remember that Jesus does not speak to us to condemn {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  In my years in the mainstream church, I witnessed far too many times how it is that so called Christian pastors use "Intervention" in order to scare believers back to church.  I can only imagine what such an intervention would have looked like that night I heeded the words of Jesus.

A gym friend I know has related to me just how those within the church would deal with a wayward "Sinner saved by grace."  Following the scriptures, he would confront his sinful brother with his misdeeds.  If his brother would not listen, he would then gather a few brothers from within the church and together THEY would confront the sinner.  If their brother continues to go his own way, they are to consider him as a gentile or a tax collector (In other words, reviled){Matthews Account 18:15-17}.  Yet, in the words of the apostle Paul in his evangel, we see a different approach.  Paul speaks to restoring a brother caught in transgression with "A spirit of gentleness" {Paul to the Galatians 6:1}.  Tell me, which approach would you find most effective?  Which approach is it that we see being used by Jesus with Mary and also with myself in my situation?  Remember, Jesus has not come to condemn but to redeem.  In His own words spoken to Mary in that scene from the Chosen, Jesus proclaims that "I have redeemed you...I have called you by name."  In my opinion, many well meaning believers could learn an important lesson from Jesus in this regard.  We should not be looking to "Confront" a brother or sister caught in transgression, but to approach them as Jesus has, with a spirit of gentleness and compassion.  THIS is how Jesus has spoken to us in our own transgressions, why would we treat a brother differently?  Paul has also spoken to the truth that there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus {Paul to the Romans 8:1}.  If a Christian brother is caught in transgression is he deserving of our condemnation?  Or, as Jesus has demonstrated, is he deserving of a reminder of the truth of who he is in the eyes of the Lord?  

Brethren, if a man should be precipitated, also, in some offense, you, who are spiritual, be attuning such a one, in a spirit of meekness, noting yourself, that you, also, may be tried 

Paul to the Galatians 6: 1, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (The Greatest Gift) # 2055

 

And the Word became flesh and tabernacles among us, and we gaze at His glory, a glory as of an only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth 

Johns Account 1: 14, Concordant New Testament 

This time of year I'm often asked about gifts.  Gifts I've given as well as gifts I've received.  Indeed, we've been conditioned to believe that the Christmas season is the "Season of giving."  But I'll do you one better, and I will suggest that this is the day of the greatest gift we could have ever received.  More precious than material possessions, this is the day in which God the Father chose to come and dwell among His creation Johns Account 1:14}.  I have written a lot about the false separation theology spoken by those within the church, that it is our sin which has separated us from God.  In reality, we have never been apart from the Father who created us.  For we have been created in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  The truth of the birth of Christ Jesus is that, through Him, God has once again been reconciled unto His children {Paul to the Romans 5:10, Paul to the Colossians 1:20}.  The very name given unto Jesus speaks to the truth of His existence, Immanuel (God with us) {Matthews Account 1:23}.  For through the birth of His Son, the Father has once again come to dwell among His creation.  THIS is the greatest gift.  Many churches around the world will hold services this week seeking to proclaim the truth of the birth of Jesus, for the forgiveness of sin.  I say that this is but part of the purpose of the birth of Jesus.  Long before Sunday sermons spoke to our separation from God via our sin, those within the Jewish faith spoke of a coming Messiah who would one day free His chosen people from sin.  But this was never the sole reason by which God dispatched His Son into the world {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  Not that sins would be forgiven, but that He would dwell among us 

Tell me, what good is it that we should gain riches but lose our souls?  Jesus Himself has presented this very question to us {Marks Account 8:36}.  What material gift is there which can match that which the Father has given us through Him?  Still, many retailers will continue to insist that it is the material gifts that mean the most.  If we follow our own advice, that it is indeed better to give than to receive, then we can see that the birth of Christ Jesus is indeed the greatest gift we could have ever received.  We walk now in the truth that the Father is among us.  Not only that, but Jesus has spoken to the truth that our life is now lived in union with the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  Of course, this runs contrary to the mainstream church separation theology, but is also verified by the spoken record of the scriptures.  I would suggest that the Father has not given unto us the greatest gift of all, but that HE is that gift.  Indeed, He is our life.  As we gather with friends and family this season, we do so in the Father.  

Now when the full time came, God delegates His Son, come of a woman, come under law

Paul to the Galatians 4: 4, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (The Pride Of Man) # 2054

 

There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except for the One Who calls Himself the I AM {Exodus 3:14} and says, "I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside Me {Isaiah 45:5}. 

No Independent Self ~ Norman Grubb 

I have been watching with some interest lately a few videos from podcaster and former Fox News celebrity Jedediah Bila.  Her shtick is to encourage men in dating and relationships by instilling in them some form of confidence.  Now, she has definitely turned me on to a few certain behaviors which are displayed by women which I have noticed in play in the gym environment which I often frequent.  But I take issue with her attempts to encourage men to somehow be more confident in their lives.  This might be a popular topic these days as so many men have been beaten down supposedly by the introduction into society of feminism and women's rights.  While I do agree that feminism has caused havoc on the traditional gender roles which many of us grew up with, at the same time I question this entire idea of self confidence.  Tell me, what is it that you have confidence in?  Who is it that you have confidence in?  Because, if you tell me that you have confidence in yourself as a man, you're missing the mark entirely.  When i speak to this idea to others, I often get more than a few blank stares.  I get it.  We've been conditioned to see ourselves as the masters of our own life.  Therefore, we're told that we need to realize that we're in charge of what we do.  To have confidence as a man is to display the knowledge that we're in command of our situation.  But could it be that the very reason that so many people struggle with so called self confidence is because that confidence has been misplaced?  Let me explain, who is it that ultimately controls your life?  Do you live day by day living in the belief that you're in charge of your own destiny?  If you do, prepare for some truth to be presented to you.  Is your life your own?  I would answer no to that question.  However, many within the mainstream church would most likely say that God comes in second fiddle when it comes to how we live our lives.  Yet Jesus has proclaimed that we now live our life in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  This confidence which we all too often place in ourselves should, instead, be placed in the true source of our life, Christ Jesus {Johns Account 1:1-3}.  

Do you believe that you came into being through your own efforts?  That you somehow were there when the decision was made between two people which would ultimately lead to your conception?  The truth is, it is the Father Who has formed and created us in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  So, what good is it, therefore, to have confidence is something which you had no hand in creating?  What good it, oh man, to have confidence in something that is not even yours {Paul to the Corinthians 6:19-20}?  Can you now see that this confidence you seek has been misplaced?  That your life has never been your own to live?  The apostle Paul speaks to this truth in a foundational passage of the truth of Christ Jesus in us {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  Paul understood that he, as an individual, was dead.  That all that now remains is Christ Jesus in us.  I would venture to say that Paul did not struggle with the same self confidence issues which so many do, because he ultimately knew where his life was.  His life was not his own, but was lived in union with Christ Jesus.  Indeed, this is exactly how our own confidence has been misplaced by so many people who have zero idea where their life really is.  It is why I can confidently say that I rarely struggle with my own self confidence, because I know in my heart that my life is in the Father.  

Or are you not aware that your body is a temple of the holy spirit in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you are bought with a price.  By all means glorify God in your body

Paul to the Corinthians (1) 6: 19-20, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Not Allowed) # 2053

 For everything that is in the world, the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the ostentation of living, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world is passing by, and its desire, yet he who is doing the will of God is remaining for the eon 

First Epistle of John 2: 16-17, Concordant New Testament 

A good friend commented to me the other day, in response to my previous post, that "God is not passive."  I have to admit, he was correct in his statement.  For too many believers have taken to using the phrase that God "Allows" things to happen.  That the Father allows circumstances to come to pass in our lives.  Does this sound like a God Who is working for the fulfilling of His will in us?  I'm thinking not.  Yet for the longest time I followed the mainstream church theology which proclaims that we've been separated from God by our sin.  This, of course, is the false teaching of the church.  So it is that I trust in the truth that the Father has never been passive, but active in whatever He does.  God is not sitting in heaven waiting for something to happen, He is actively involved in whatever we do.  To better understand this truth, we need to also understand that our life is not our own as some would say.  Jesus proclaims this truth in His words that we live in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  We might see ourselves as pretty active, but I would suggest that no one is as active as the Father.  Think of all those prayers that are lifted up to Him each and every day.  Can a passive God remain passive in the face of all that is going on?  But I think that it goes deeper than that.  The prophet Jeremiah has proclaimed the word of the Lord and that "I know the plans that I have for you" {Jeremiah 29:11}.  We're told that it is the desire of the Father to bring about His will.  He has created the earth and all which we will ever experience in it {Genesis 1:1}.  Upon the completion of His creation, we're told that God rested from the work He had done {Genesis 2:1-2}.  it is not a passive God Who has created all which we see, and He continues to be active even as our life is within him {Johns Account 17:21}.  

To fully understand the Father, we must understand that He is actively involved in all which we do.  The apostle Paul speaks to the truth that in Christ Jesus all is created {Paul to the Colossians 1:16}.  I'm not entirely certain why I continued to believe that we live within a passive God even though it has been revealed to me that my life is in Him.  I guess those old mainstream church teachings die hard.  Despite the fact that I knew that the Father was active in His creation, it was a habit for me to refer to His presence in my life as being passive at times.  That was in error.  To know God is to know that He is always bringing about His will not only in His children, but in the world around us as well.  To say that God simply "Allows" things to happen is ignoring the truth that it is through the efforts of the Father by which all has been created {Johns Account 1:1-3}.  Was Jesus passive in His time here on earth?  Absolutely not!  Jesus was not only active in His ministry, but those He chose for His disciples were active in their learning from Him as well.  How much effort was it for Jesus as He "Prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became as if clots of blood descending on the earth" Lukes Account 22:44}.  Jesus was not passive in these moments.  He was active in the fulfilling of His Fathers will here on earth.  God did not "Allow" Jesus to do what He did, but was active in all which His Son accomplished.  Jesus has proclaimed that "The Son can not be doing anything of Himself if it is not what He should be observing the Father doing" {Johns Account 5:19}.  We can assume that Jesus has observed the active works of the Father first hand.  God never allows anything, but is active in all He does. 

For in Him is all created, that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties, or authorities, all is created through Him and for Him

Paul to the Colossians 1: 16, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father(Seeing God Through Our Pain) # 2052

 

In which you are exulting, briefly as present, if it must be, being sorrowed by various trials, that the testing of your faith, much more precious than gold which is perishing, yet, being tested by fire, may be found for applause and glory and honor at the unveiling of Jesus Christ 

Peter to the Dispersion (1) 6-7, Concordant New Testament 

Have you ever felt as if God was distant from you?  I have.  Before my mother passed away I made it my practice to lift her up in prayers that the Lord would relieve her pain and heal her from her suffering.  Then came the night that I was informed that my mother had passed away.  As I made the final arrangements after her passing I became aware of something I had never experienced up until that point.  I was angry with God.  Yes, I was angry with Him because I had been taught that if I were to pray for something that God would honor my prayer {Lukes Account 11:9-10, First Epistle of John 5:15}.  This has been the teaching of the church over thousands of years.  But what happens when our prayers go unanswered?  This was the situation that I found myself in as I mourned the passing of my mother.  It seemed that God had turned His back on me and ignored my prayers for her.  Or had He?  In my mind, that is what happened.  Of course, I was only seeing things from my own perspective of grief.  It took awhile, but I eventually came to realize that my assumption about God had been wrong.  Not long after the passing of my mom it was revealed to me that God had indeed honored my prayers for my mom.  This only happened when I not only came to see my life in the Father, but seeing Him through the perspective of my own pain.  For through the pain of my grief, the Father revealed unto me that He had indeed answered my prayers for my mother, but not in the way I was expecting to see Him work.  For my mother was no longer hurting, and she no longer felt the effects of her illness.  Isn't that what I had been praying for?  How is it that I could be angry with God for relieving my mother of the pain she endured for so long?  Easy, I was not seeing my situation through the lens of God.  I was not seeing God through the lens of His love for us {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  My thoughts had been focused on my mom and the pain which I was enduring.  As I have learned, our life is in Him even through our pain. 

I didn't know it a the time, but the passing of my mother opened the door for me for a greater knowing of my life in the Father.  Was God using this circumstance in order that I would grow in my knowledge of Him?  It's entirely possible.  I can only confess that up until that point my own knowing of God was based on what I had learned while growing up in the Christian church.  That being said, the teachings of the church never brought me closer to knowing who I am in the Father.  I believe that seeing God through our own suffering requires looking beyond our own circumstances to see things from the Fathers perspective.  By this I mean seeing ourselves and the world around us in the way which God looks upon us.  How is it that He sees me?  How is it that He looks upon you?  Does He see you as simply a sinner, or are you far more loved that that?  Indeed, He loved us enough to dispatch His only Son to bear that sin penalty for us {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  He loved us enough to create us in His own likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  THIS is how God sees me.  This is how He looks upon His children.  That He will be "Brushing away every tear from their eyes" {The Unveiling of Christ Jesus 21:4}.  This raises the question among many Christians and non Christians alike, does God use difficult situations in our lives in a wicked and vengeful way?  No!  That goes against His true love nature.  Will He use difficulties to establish His will and desire for our lives?  Absolutely.  I believe that He used the grief I felt at my mothers passing in a positive way that I would come to know my life in Him.  That being said, I also believe that if we look past our own pain that we will ultimately see His desires for us.  

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of pitties and the God of all consolation, Who is consoling us in our every affliction to enable us to be consoling those in every affliction through the consolation with which we ourselves are being consoled by God 

Paul to the Corinthians (2) 1: 3-4, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Looking For Jesus) # 2051

" Going, then, disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to be keeping all, whatever I direct you, and Lo!  I am with you all the days till the conclusion of the eon! Amen!"

Matthews Account 28: 19-20, Concordant New Testament 

Have you ever found yourself looking for Jesus?  I have.  I usually find myself in this predicament when I am facing a time of uncertainty or discomfort.  When everything I know has failed, I turn to the Lord and ask Him, where are you, Lord?  Back in my formative years of being a believer, when everything I knew about God I learned from my time in the church, I often found myself wondering if Jesus was even there as He had promised me in the scripture {Matthews Account 28:20}.  And it's not just me, either, I have had many discussions with other believers who have at times felt that same way.  For their part, the church taught me that I had become separated from God through my own sin.  So, is it any wonder, then, that I would have difficulty in seeing Jesus in my life?  I had been born into the world a sinner, and it seemed that I was destined to always be looking for Jesus no matter where I went.  Had Jesus lied to me?  Had He promised me that He would be with me always only to remain apart from me as the church proclaimed?  If there is one thing that I understood about Jesus is that He keeps His promises.  If Jesus has said that He will be with us always, He will do just that.  Then I began to wonder, maybe the this isn't a Jesus issue, but a me issue.  Was it entirely possible that Jesus had been there all along and I had not realized it?  Not only is this possible, but it is the basis of the evangel rarely preached within the mainstream church.  For some time, I have viewed the church belief that it is my sin which has kept me separated from God as one of the lies the church has told me.  I have also received a lot of resistance for speaking this belief to others who claim to know Jesus.  Yet there is definitely scripture that I can point to which supports my belief.  Jesus Himself has spoken that we live in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20, Johns Account 17:21}.  In our search for Christ Jesus, we should start by looking within ourselves.  

To whom God wills to make known what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations, which is: Christ among you, the expectation of glory 

Paul to the Colossians 1: 27, Concordant New Testament 

I believe that the major issue which prevents us from seeing Jesus in our life is our own view of Him.  Do we adhere to thousands of years of church teachings which proclaim that it is our sin which has separated us from God?  Or, as I have, do we realize that revelation which the Father has revealed unto our heart?  The revelation that not only has Jesus provided for the forgiveness of ALL sin, but that it is He in Whom we now live {Paul to the Galatians 2:20, Paul to the Romans 6:8}.  Not only that, but the apostle Paul speaks to the truth that Christ Jesus has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  Knowing this, what is left which Jesus needs to forgive us for?  That debt has been paid in full by Christ Jesus on the cross.  Another lie which the mainstream church has taught me was that, as a sinner, that I could never be in the presence of the Lord.  The church continues to drive home this point by proclaiming that all have sinned and that all are in need of the forgiveness of God.  Yes, that is true, but the truth is that the Father HAS forgiven us!  It is through His Son that we are no longer slaves to the bondage of sin {Paul to the Romans 6:6}.  It is also through Christ that God has once again been reconciled to His own {Paul to the Colossians 1:20}.  The church is correct in speaking that all have sinned, but that is where their truthful belief ends.  For they continue to speak of our search for Jesus, when what they should be speaking is that our life now rests in Him.  

~Scott~