We Need More Ammo

Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?…If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. James 2:5, 8

Doing God’s work is filled with joy. Love your neighbor as yourself! I mean, that’s joy! It’s the royal law, the commandment of the Kingdom of God. The trumpets sound, and the King says, “Go and love.” That’s the warriors’ command from the King. The trumpets sound, and Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself, and love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”

So go and love your neighbor. That’s your war cry! Leave the Kingdom walls, figure out what is wrong with your neighbors, and love on them. Don’t worry about having the means to do it. Trust God for that! When you need help, send word to the King. Tell Him, “We’re filling a need here, and we need more resources.” He’ll provide what He needs to provide.

Imagine this as if it were a movie about medieval Europe. The king’s forces have gone to war, and there’s a moment when the tide of battle seems to be turning against them. They realize, “We need more men!” What do they do? They send word to the king. What does the king do? He provides more men! When they run out of anything, they send a courier to the castle. “Tell the king we need more ammo.” Or, “Tell him we need more food.” The king sends food, ammo, or whatever his forces need.

God will provide for you. Pray, and the Holy Spirit will go to the Father and speak some words. We don’t necessarily understand what the Spirit says, but we know it means something like, “Hey, your daughter needs something.” There’s no doubt in my mind that God replies, “Go and give it to her.” He says, “My child says we need more ammo, or food, or men, or tents? That’s my child! I’ll give him or her what he or she needs.”

That’s what the Bible says. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6) Does this mean that if you ask for a million dollars, He’s going to say yes? I don’t think so. He’ll ask, “Does my son need a million, or does he want a million?” Those are two different things! But whatever you need, God will give it to you.

We can trust the King of Kings because we are His children! As members of His family, we say, “I am a part of God’s Kingdom, so I am going to go forth to fulfill the royal law. I’m going to get on my horse and go out of the gate and into the world. I’m going to love my neighbor, and when I do that, I’m going to represent the Kingdom of God.”

We go out even if we don’t have any money. We go out even if we don’t have the resources lined up. Just send word to God. Pray. Tell Him, “I need a way to get more ammo so that I can love on my neighbors. They are in need, God!” He will give you the ammo you need. Jobs will open up. Maybe a donor will come along and offer to help you. God will provide. Trust Him in this.

The Bible says we’re all royalty now, since we have heard and responded to Jesus. We are all holy and righteous. This is what God means when He says, “You are mine now.” You are His child. And as a child of the King, you are a prince or princess of the Kingdom, God’s precious child.

More on this next time. See you Thursday.

Kingdom Freedom

So many people are taught that if you have grace, you’re going to sin more.

Even the people in ancient Rome were saying that grace gives Christians permission to sin. They were saying that Christians can do whatever they want to do, because grace frees them from any consequences. So when Paul wrote to the Romans, he talked about this. He said no, that’s not the case. In fact, it’s the exact opposite! Since Christians have God’s grace, they are holy and righteous. And if you understand that, if you understand who you are, then you won’t sin because you won’t want to. Not out of fear of being punished! You just literally won’t want to do it.

I am a new creature, man! I don’t want to sin! Sin contradicts my fundamental sense of who I am. This is what the people of the Kingdom of God are like!

Why are we like that? Look at Jesus. Jesus said, I do everything I see my Father do. I love my enemies. I see the woman accused of adultery and I love on her. I don’t judge her.

The people of the Kingdom of God want to do the things we see Jesus do. Not because we have to! We want to be like Jesus because we understand how good it is to be holy and righteous. We still sin, yes. We have flesh and it’s unavoidable. When it happens, He helps us deal with it. Sin is not who we are.

Now if you understand who you are, fear will go away. Holy and righteous people don’t fear punishment, because they don’t get punished. That’s not who God is. In the Kingdom, there is no punishment. That’s out. The cross is that powerful. I don’t care what you do, there’s no punishment.

There will be some earthly consequences for sin. Suppose you commit adultery. There will be consequences. But that does not mean God loves you less. It doesn’t! In fact, He’s probably going to grab you even closer, because He knows the turmoil you’ll suffer because of what you did. He knows the turmoil your family will suffer because of what you did. He knows, and He’s not going to run from you. He’ll say, “Oh, man, I’m not letting you go on this one. This is going to be a long walk. You’re going to need me, now more than ever.” That’s what He would do, not punish you.

What makes you think God judges you? Jesus did everything that He saw His Father do, no matter what. Think about the woman at the well. He went out of His way to sit with her. He knew that she was going to come to that well and He went to call her out. Not to condemn her. To free her. Because that’s what the Father does. 

Think about you, a child of His. He sees your crap. And He says, “I’m not here to condemn you. I’m here to free you. Come to the wedding feast. You don’t have to find the table. The table is here. Wherever you’re at, I’ll bring it to you and you will dine with me. We’re going to have fun! We’re going to love on each other and live our life in freedom. We’re going to learn that grace is being holy and righteous. Grace is allowing you to be you.”

That’s what God says, not, “You know what? I think you need to be someone else.” No! God made you, and you have His image.

Jesus frees us. He frees us from our wounds and our fears. Your freedom is being you. God made you already. He sees you already. And He’s not ashamed of you. Even in your crap He’s not ashamed of you. He just walks with you through it. “Yeah,” he says. “I’m here with you.”

The Good News is very, very good!

See you Monday.

Good Theology

But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance. Galatians 4:5-7

The Bible says the old has passed away. When you became a part of His kingdom, you received a new identity. God says, “You are now my child!”

What is a child of God? A child of God is holy and righteous!

During the Passover, God caused diseases and plagues that afflicted everyone, except for those who lived where the blood of the lamb was over the door. Unless you were protected by the blood, you were punished. Today, our fear comes from the fact that we still believe in a God who punishes. But He doesn’t punish us. The crucifixion changed everything, because the blood of Christ was meant for everybody.

Jesus says, “Your identity has changed. This is the reason I was crucified. If nothing is changed, if nothing is renewed, if you don’t receive a new identity, if you are still under the law, then my crucifixion was pointless. If nothing changed, then what was the point? If nothing changed, then there was no power in my blood.” But there is power in His blood. Those who came and believed are now protected by it. There is no more punishment.

The Bible says the power of the cross is meaningless to those that don’t believe, because they don’t understand the freedom that it gives them. Fear is gone!

“Well,” you ask, “what if I sin?” What if you do? You are still holy and righteous. That identity does not change. Once you are in His Kingdom, you don’t get kicked out. You don’t! That’s a lie, and it’s bad theology. It really is.

Your identity is that you are loved by the Almighty God. Your identity is that you’re in His Kingdom. There is no leaving that place, man. He loves you. He brought you in. The fear that God doesn’t want you doesn’t come from Him. That fear is man-made.

As someone told me the other day, if your theology doesn’t meet your reality, it’s bad theology. Is it your theology that you’ll get punished if you sin? Do you really think that God only loves you and wants you if you’re perfect? How does that meet your reality? Perfection is not a reality for you, nor is it a reality for me. This is bad theology!

My theology is that I have a loving and unbelievable God who sent His son to die for me and rise three days later, conquering death and saying, “Now whoever accepts me as Christ will come into the Kingdom of Heaven and live as a holy and righteous person — regardless of your mistakes!”

You might mess up. You will mess up! And God still brings you back to the feast. God says, “I’ll bring you back to the table every single day. Tomorrow you’re going to mess up, and I’m still going to invite you to my dinner. I’m going to invite you back to the feast and you’re going to come. And you’re going to dine with me. You have the blood of my Son on your life, and I see Him in you. You are always welcome at my table.”

“Well,” you might say, “but I had a lustful thought today. Or I was greedy. Or I was envious.” “I know you did,” God says. “We’ll work through it. You are always welcome here. You will always be welcome to the feast. You are always wanted at the table of the King.”

You are the child of the Most High God. You believed and were adopted into the Kingdom of Heaven. Live in your new identity. Believe in Him, for you are holy and righteous. See you Thursday.

The Royal Law, Part 2

Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well…James 2:5, 8

Love your neighbor as yourself. That is the royal law, the commandment of the Kingdom of God. The trumpets sound, and the King says, “Go and love.” That’s the warriors’ command from the King. The trumpets sound, and Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself, and then love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.”

Alright! So go love your neighbor. That’s your war cry. Go out of the Kingdom’s gates, figure out what is wrong with your neighbors, and love on them. Don’t worry about having the means to help your neighbor. Trust God for that! When you need help, send word to the King. Tell Him, “We’re filling a need here, and we need more resources.” He’ll provide what He needs to provide.

Imagine this as if it were a movie about medieval Europe. The King’s forces have gone to war, and there’s a moment when the tide of battle seems to be turning against them. They realize, “We need more men!” What do they do? They send word to the King that they need more men. What does the King do? He provides more men!

We can use the same mentality, and show the same trust for our King. We are His children! And as members of His family, we say, “I am a part of God’s Kingdom. I am going to go forth to fulfill the royal law. I’m going to get on my horse and go out of that gate and into the world. I’m going to love my neighbor, and when I do that, I’m going to represent the Kingdom of God.”

You do this whether you already have the resources lined up or not. You begin even if you don’t have any money. Just send word to God. Pray. Tell Him, “I need a way to get more money.” He will give it to you. Jobs will open up. Maybe a donor will come along and offer to help you. Trust God in this. He will provide what He needs to provide.

The Bible says we’re all royalty now. This is what it means to be holy and righteous. This is what God means when He says, “You are mine now.” You are His child. And as a child of the King, you are a prince or princess of the Kingdom.

More on this next time. See you Monday.