A Right Standing with God

A deeper look at Deuteronomy 9:4 and it might begin to look scary. "After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself 'the Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness'. No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you." Deut 9:4 (NIV). That was Moses warning the Israelites not to think they could possess the promised land because of their righteousness. He told the Israelites in verse 6 that they were in fact a stiff-necked people.

This implies that miracles don't mean a right standing with God. God would help Israel conquer the promised land and its not because Israel was righteous - as a matter of fact, the israelites wwere obstinate. The amount of miracles aman performs does not tell how righteous he is.

After Peter and John had just healed the cripple at the beautiful gate in Acts 3, Peter asked the surprised on-lookers "why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" (Acts 3:12). So the man got healed and it wasn't because of Peter or John's righteousness.

My point? Miracles don't mean a right standing with God

The gifts and promises of God

It amazes me that we try to 'deserve' God's gifts and promises we try to earn them. God gives us something good, something wonderful - something that dazes us. Because these things are too good for us we then try to deserve them.
The Bible says that our righteousness are like filthy rags. It doesn't matter how much we try to be righteous, its not our righteousness that earns us God's love, gifts, and promises (in fact, our righteousness is of God i.e.God gives us the power to live right!).
Its like a friend buys us a birthday gift and then we hand him/her a piece of rag "here, take this, for the gift you bought me". When God gives us anything He's not giving us those things so we can pay Him back. He's not "using what He has to get what He wants" cos actualy He owns everything. What God wants is our appreciation and gratitude. Our heartfelt 'thank you' for everything He has done.
sometimes God makes us a promise and we make the mistake of thinking "if I don't give God this or that, He might change His mind". No, no, no!He will not change His mind. There is nothing we can give Him to make Him not want to change His mind.

Purpose

Purpose. I've read so many books about success, motivation and - purpose. Most of the authors, however, get it wrong when it comes to the issue of purpose. Most of them will tell you that, to discover your purpose, you should look inside yourself first. Then, they give you a list of other things, and then, they tell you to look up to God - usually as an afterthought! Nothing could be more erroneous. That's the wrong order of things. The first step towards discovery of purpose is not to look inside, but to look up to God. When it comes to finding your purpose, God is the first - and not last - person you must turn to. Why? Because, in the first place, God knows you better than anyone else does - even you. That's right, God knows you better than you know yourself. In the second place, God made you and He knows the reason why He made you. It's ridiculous to ask a thing why it was made. You'd have to ask the maker of that thing why he made it. God alone knows what He had in mind when He made you. You have to ask Him what He had in mind when He made you. It would be silly of me to ask my computer why it was made, it would be silly of me to ask my pen why it was made, it would be silly of me to ask my chair why it was made. To know the purpose for those things, I would have to ask their manufacturers. So you see, the first step towards finding your purpose is not to 'know thyself' but to 'know thy maker.'

Message 5

How so very often we pray to God for us to reach our set goals and yet, how so very often we set the wrong goals. Some people don't even set goals at all and they pray to God to reach these goals! Many times, we don't even know what we want, and we pray to God for those things!

Message 4

There is one law of success that we usually overlook. I've read so many books on success and other motivational books but they don't mention anythin about this law. Even though the law is contained right there in the Bible, even christians don't usually point it out as a law of success. The law is contained in the book of Joshua 1:8 which reads.

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then, thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then, thou shalt have good success.
Joshua 1:8

That is the law! Read your Bible everyday, meditate on the word of God, and obey everything that is written in it. Only then would we be able to prosper and be successful. Throughout the Bible, nothing is more directly related to success than this! yet, how so very often we over look this very vital law.

Read the word of God everyday and everytime, meditate on it, and obey everything that is in it. It is a law and it has its own consequence; prosperity and success.

A message from TWFT Sun, Feb 10, 2008.

The Bible doesn't tell us to rejoice when we mess up and get into trouble. God can certainly use our mistakes to teach us, but that's not what James has in mind. Some of our trials just come from 'living.' Things aren't going right. Usually it's not one big thing but a lot of little things. We encounter physical, financial, relational or emotional trials that knock us for a loop. Peter calls this 'the trial of our faith (1 Peter 1: 7). What's on trial? Your faith! Whatever the size or length of our trial, there's nowhere we can go to escape the trial of our faith. Trying to avoid it is like changing schools in hopes of avoiding a test you don't want to take. But the next school will have tests too, probably harder than the ones in the school you just left, and now you're that much further behind in your studies and preparation. You can't outrun God-ordained trials. He knows where to find you!

The Good news is, there's no such thing as a purposeless trial! Each trial is designed to launch us to a new spiritual level. The interesting thing about our trials is, they're custom made; they have our name on them. Paul discovered 2 things about his trials: (a) the reason for the trial. 'To keep me from becoming conceited' (2 Cor 12:7). (b) The result trial. 'That Christ's power may rest on me' (2 Cor 12:9). Like a tailor measuring you for a new suit that will fit perfectly, the Holy Spirit customizes the trials we encounter to meet our spiritual need, to mould us, and to make us more like Jesus.

A message from TWFT Sun, Feb 17, 2008.

Before David became qualified to rule as King in Zion, he first had to be found faithful in 3 places. Examine them carefully, for you too must pass these 3 tests.

(1) At home in Bethlehem: That's where David learned to be responsible, to earn living and support his family, to develop his relationship with God, and to overcome resentment of others because of God's favour on his life. 'Charity begins at home.' It's here you become qualified to handle bigger assignments by being faithful in smaller ones. It's here your character is developed and your dependability proven.

(2) In the cave of Adullam: By living among the misfits and rejects of society David learned to give himself to others without expecting anything in return; to love and serve others even when his own life was under attack. 'Adullam' is where our kingdom dies and God's kingdom is showcased through us. It's here that God deals with every self-seeking, self-serving motive in our hearts. Sadly, some of us never make it out of this cave.

(3) On Mount Hebron: The word Hebron means 'covenant.' It was the highest mountain in Israel and there was no easy road to the top; it was uphill all the way. And it's that way with cvenant relationships! They require loyalty regardless of circumstance, truthfulness, regardless of cost, and forgiveness regardless of pain. When we begin to live this way the world will look again to Zion (the Church) for answers, because they'll see God working in us.