PODCAST: Not Your Pastor's Pulpit - Keith Giles

Take 11 minutes and listen to a short but profound "sermon" for Not Your Pastor's Pulpit podcast.

LET'S PRAY ONE MORE TIME

I couldn't be more proud of our house church family. A few weeks ago, all on their own, they took the initiative to reach out to the people living in the Tent City that has built up along the Santa Ana River next to Angel's Stadium.

One brother, David, bought a case of emergency thermal blankets from Amazon to pass out to the people there. Another sister helped coordinate the time to meet - about an hour before our Sunday gathering - and suddenly we had a little team of people ready and willing to go and serve.

That morning there were six of us standing on the sidewalk and praying for God to lead us to the people He wanted us to minister to.

Right off the bat we got to pray for a couple who eagerly accepted the blankets and a handful of batteries. We even got to pray for them as they faced the uncertainty about where they might go next, as the County of Orange had recently brought in large rocks to store for flood control purposes [and coincidentally to displace everyone living there along the river bed].

Our next tent was "Louis" who was cheerful and smiling, even though he had been hit by a car trying to cross the street a few days earlier. We got to lay hands on him and to pray for him, which he gladly received. He let us know he had just been reading the Gospel of John before we arrived. It was still sitting there beside his lawn chair on a box.

Soon, we were praying for "Christopher" who received prayer for employment. When we finished he said, "I know prayer works. I used to walk with the Holy Spirit for about 3 years, but then I messed up so I know He's not very happy with me right now."

Wendy spoke up first and said, "I think we need to pray again."

So, once more, we all laid our hands on Chris and reminded him that God will never leave or forsake his children. We reminded Chris that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We reminded him that nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ - not death, or life, or height or depth, or the present or the future, not angels or demons...nothing.

As we prayed for Chris I could sense his body relax. When we said "amen" I saw a look of relief and peace in his face. "Thank you," he said quietly. I knew those words of truth had penetrated his heart and exposed the lies of the enemy.

"God hasn't forgotten you, Chris," Wendy said. "He still loves you so much," another sister said to him.

"Thank you," Chris said again.

We all need reminding sometimes, I think. We need to remember that God is for us, not against us. We need to accept that He has accepted us, and that His love endures forever, and that His mercies are new every morning.

If you know someone who needs reminding of that, please share this post with them. They might need it more than you think.

Peace,
Keith
**

"Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you." - Ps. 63:3

CRIMINAL MINDS

All of us struggle with this.

We know that God has forgiven us. We’ve read the verses. We’ve even quoted them to other people. But sometimes, in the darkness, when we’re all alone, we start to lose touch with who we are and fall back into that old pattern of thinking.

“I’m a loser,” we whisper to ourselves. “I’m a failure,” we say.

Maybe we blew it. Maybe we said something, or did something, that we regret.

Maybe it was yesterday. Maybe it was ten years ago. It doesn’t matter how long ago it was, we drag it back up. We dig up old bones and we reenact the crime, playing it over again in slow motion within our memory.

We just wish God would fix us, but what we’ve forgotten is that God is already fixing us. In fact, He tells us that we’re new creatures who are in the process of being made into His image.

When God looks at us, He doesn’t see someone who needs to be fixed. He sees someone who is a new creation in Christ; someone so dearly loved and fully accepted.

We might feel like we’re not even worthy to ask for help, but we don’t need to be worthy. He is worthy and that’s all that matters.

If we’re in Him then we’re promised:

*There is no condemnation

*Nothing can separate us from His love

*We are new creatures

*We are His children

The next time you find yourself in this place, try reminding yourself of who you are now, not who you used to be.

Focus on drawing nearer and nearer to Jesus and not on how far apart you feel from Him.

As Paul reminds us, "Think on these things...":

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things" [Phil. 4:8]

Going forward, it's important not to dwell on the past. As Paul also reminds us, 

"Forget the past and reach towards what lies ahead of you. Press on towards the goal which is Christ Jesus" [See Phil. 3:13]

Resist the temptation to return to the scene of the crime.

You were found innocent. Washed clean forever of all guilt by Jesus, two thousand years ago.

Your debt is paid in full. You are free to go.

All charges against you have been dropped.

We’ve checked with the Judge and you have no criminal record on file.

Keep reminding yourself of who you are now, not who you once were long ago.

Today you are free. There is no condemnation against you. There is nothing in this universe strong enough to separate you from God’s love.

Case dismissed.

-kg

Shameless

 

 

I’ve noticed something lately that has been disturbing me. Not that the behavior itself is anything new – it’s certainly not – but that I am now beginning to notice it and react in a different way.

Whenever someone says or does something that the other person finds objectionable, there is an automatic reply of “Shame on you!”

I used to write this off as simply one way to respond to someone you disagree with. But lately I’ve started to realize that it’s quite inappropriate. Especially from one Christian to another.

Here’s why.

Jesus came to remove our shame. On the cross he took all of our shame upon us. He suffered, bled and died to wash away all of our shame. When it was all done, he threw back his head and shouted, “It is finished!”

Now, when another Christian expresses an opinion you disagree with, is it appropriate to smear that shame back on them once again?

Absolutely not.

We are free from shame. We should not place shame back on one another, nor should we allow another person to place shame back on our shoulders now that Christ has washed us clean.

No shame on me. No shame on you. No shame on anyone.

There is no shame.

Just look at the way Jesus interacted with the people in his day who were considered shameful and you’ll see that shame is not something Jesus ever recognizes.

 

He sees no shame in the Samaritan woman at the well, even though she had many husbands.

 

He sees no shame in the face of the woman with the issue of blood who was too afraid to even approach him and ask for healing.

 

He sees no shame in the Roman centurion who didn’t consider himself worthy to come to Jesus in person when his servant was sick.

 

Jesus treats zealots, and prostitutes, and drunkards, and lepers, and everyone else whom that society saw as shameful with complete dignity and respect and love.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)

Disagree if you want. But do not attempt to put shame on one another. Jesus washed that off long ago and we stand now as those who have been made whole, and clean, and totally free.

No shame.

-kg

 

 

UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH #7 – Jesus Sets Us Free From Every Sin

My internet friend, Brant Hansen, said something the other day that inspired me to write today’s blog.

What Brant noted was that we tend draw the line between good people and bad people. If we do good things, God will accept and love us, but if we do bad things then God will hate us and punish us. But, as he wisely pointed out, Jesus never drew those distinctions between good people and bad people. Instead, Jesus seemed to always draw a distinction between proud people and humble people.

Humble people receive God’s mercy and grace, but God opposes proud people. (See James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5, Proverbs 3:34)

What matters, then, is not “being good” or “being bad” but coming to God with humility.

See, God isn’t looking for a few good men. He already knows there aren’t any. Instead, God is looking for humble people who are willing to receive His wonderful gift of life and justification through faith.

I was also looking again at a series of verses in Acts 13:38-41 where Paul affirms something equally amazing, saying:

“Through Jesus, the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you…everyone who believes is set free from every sin – a justification you were not able to obtain under the Law of Moses.”

Most of us don’t really get that. In fact, that’s why Paul goes on to quote Habakkuk 1:5:

“I am doing something that you will not believe, even when someone explains it to you!” (quoted in Acts 13:41)

What’s the thing that we cannot believe? It’s the idea that Jesus has “set (us) free from every sin” and that we are now fully and totally justified under the Law of Moses – AS IF WE KEPT THE LAW PERFECTLY. Even though we don’t keep the Law perfectly (because we can’t), Jesus DID keep the Law of Moses perfectly and then (get this) He transferred that justification to every single one of those who put their trust in Him.

Wow.

What if we actually believed this message? Well, if we did it would mean that we would live like people who were not condemned for their failures. We would live like people who really believed this:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4)

Over the weekend I was sharing this exact verse with a brother in Christ and after we were finished he said something like this:

"How awful to miss what Jesus has done for us on the cross."

That is exactly what someone might say who hasn’t yet understood Romans 8, and Acts 13 because after hearing this truth our first reaction is to put ourselves right back under condemnation again.

Don’t do that.

The point for us is that Jesus has set us free from every sin and has justified us "as if we kept the Law of Moses perfectly" because Jesus DID do that in our place, and then He shared that work with all of us.

So, rather than being down on yourself for not seeing it - just see it and accept it and start walking in the light of a new day, rejoicing in the freedom that Jesus has given you and the FACT that you are set free from sin and from condemnation!

Go ahead and say, "Woo-hoo!"

You might even want to jump for joy. I'm serious. Find a private place where no one is around and jump into the air and say "Praise God!" because that's an appropriate response.

Try it! And then make it your mission to daily wake up and remind yourself of the Truth: I am set free to live without condemnation from God because Jesus has done what I could never do – kept the Law of Moses perfectly – and now I live in the reality of God’s Grace as if I had kept the Law perfectly. Not because I have, but because Jesus did and He gave that gift to me.

Keep saying it until you really believe it. Then spread the Good News.

-kg