“Exit Strategy” (seen below) is now available at most e-book venues.

 Through the abundance of grace I have needed and received, I have come to believe that the gift of righteousness is God’s real instrument of change. I was forgiven but forgiveness was just the beginning, forgiveness did not change me. Forgiveness put me in touch with Righteousness. Forgiveness, made it possible for me to change. The gift of righteousness changed me!

“…much more, those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, they shall reign in life through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 5:17 NAS)

 Righteousness is the hyper-positive power of God. He is the Creator of the Universe. If He says you are…then you are! If I immerse myself in His loving descriptive words of righteousness, I will become what He says. As I become what He says, I am no longer what I was. He is the Word made flesh. I am the flesh made Word, as His Word defines me anew. 

 Eternal life is found through grace and righteousness. (Romans 5:21) The “Gift of Righteousness” (Romans 5:17 NAS) comes wrapped in the “Abundance of Grace.” Not just more than enough grace to cleanse our hearts; enough to grant all the grace that anybody else needs, qualifying us, through the resulting righteousness, for eternal life. That is why we must continue in grace. Grace maintains our righteousness which maintains our eternal life. “…even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:21 NAS)

The Lord spoke to my heart several years ago, while in Pskov, Russia on a mission (teaching) trip. It was cold and snowing. We all had settled in for the night, going to our rooms early because we got up at 5:30 AM to go teach in the Bible College. To me, our early evening retreat meant “Word time.”

 I really wanted to serve something fresh in a sermon I was going to preach the next Sunday at a distant satellite church. Alexe’, the young pastor, was a previous graduate of the college where we were teaching. The service was to be held in his church. How cool. It was a former missile factory. Church was in the (Communist) political auditorium!

This particular night, as I sought inspiration, the Lord took me back to Romans 5:17, a favorite verse of mine. The core of the verse says, “much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through Christ Jesus.” I paused for a moment, God was getting my attention.

A realization came to me. Success in life and in eternity is dependent upon receiving BOTH the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. I know what you are thinking. I was too. “We all receive His righteousness.” Do we or is it a separate item on God’s agenda? It is separate in the verse. It was only a moment later, as I contemplated this dual approach, that God spoke to my heart and said something very simple but to me profound. He said, “You are saved by grace but you are changed by the gift of righteousness.” Another thought came. “…those who receive…(will let)…the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness REIGN in life through Christ Jesus.”  

 Addressing the first inspiration I thought, many confessing Christians never seem to get far in the changing of their lives. They continue in struggles that are tied to their old man, they are not changing the way they had hoped they would, the way they were told they would. With sincere determination they go to church, believing for something to change, but with little or less than apparent results. The second inspiration explained why.

In that distant wonderful place, in the cold of night, with the windows frosted over and the wind whispering a high C through the cracks in the 1950’s wooden window frame, I was ensconced in an old armchair, my used and abused bible in my lap. I was joined by Catherine the Great, as she looked down from her picture on the wall. Maybe she was there to observe this pilgrim, a stranger in a strange land. Along with her kind but reserved gaze, I was warmed by the soft yellowish red glow of the simple shaded lamp by my side, but that was not all that warmed me.

That night, His presence by distraction or miracle had robbed the dark, blustery, cold and snowy Russian winter of its chill, warming my heart by the grace of His inspiration. Understanding had come to me. God had answered my prayer. It was His wisdom that, when shared with His anointing, would offer amazing opportunity for change to many Followers. “…much more those who receive…”

It now seemed clear to me why Christians all over the world were not changing, why some were to varying extent and why some were not at all. Many had only received grace, one half of what was required for their lives to truly change and that grace only on a limited scale. Neither grace nor righteousness were reigning in their lives…or mine?

We want to go to heaven but we do not understand the nature and the power of the gifts of Grace and Righteousness here in this life. Here prepares us for there! We were to have received both and they were to reign in our lives abundantly! They still can!

He waits,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world.

“Exit Strategy” (seen below) is now available at most e-book venues.

 How dare we call obedience “works” as we emulate Christ, His commands and His glorious example of forgiveness? Christ’s assension depended on His obedience. Like Jesus, our future salvation depends on our obedience, from our heart, toward others and God. Our success is first made possible when God draws us, through Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit. In the depth of our first wonderful experience in Christ, we find a new heart that likes what it has just experienced. At least we should. Seeking the same, we hear and obey. We sincerely and voluntarily act, obediently exerting our will. THAT is what God is waiting for. It is evidence of our transformation. Each heart exam takes time, a life-time. Even Jesus had to wait extra hours on the Cross. That too was a test, not of the Son of God but the Son of Man.

Forsaking obedience, many declare, “This couldn’t be God, it is too painful,” or “there is nothing I can do to “get” saved, it is a free gift.” That is true. Getting saved is free. Maintaining my “saved” condition IS my responsibility and is maintained by what Jesus taught me. Many have believed life with Jesus is not supposed to hurt. Jesus said the opposite when He said, “You must pick up your cross daily.” We confuse “heaven on earth” with the real heaven we look for. Of all the object lessons to use, it was His willing obedience to go to the cross and His then saying we must pick up our cross “Daily” that takes us beyond our salvation / reconciliation experience into a life experience of obedience in Him. Keys to the kingdom means keys are required. Forgive to be forgiven means forgivness is required. WE are to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. It does not say WAIT until they do something nice, then do something nice for them.  

When we run from this cross of ours or fight being put upon it by our persecutors, instead of volunteering to mount our cross for the sake of others, we are forsaking ourselves and our reward, our continued reconciliation and our eternal life. We can not afford to self-excuse our resistance to Gods instructions. We fool only ourselves by calling them “works”, rejecting God’s action orders as not being of Him. There is only One who can call our efforts “works.”

 ”For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 NASB77)

Obedience must be evident in us IF we are the workmanship of God. The “works” are of His design and to His credit. Our will, with our obedience, allows (yes allows) His works to be accomplished through us. One who is owned is expected to obey.

So that we do not exalt ourselves in our obedience, we must remember, even if we were to literally die for our faith, we will not have purchased anything. Our life is not our own. We have already been bought with a price. (1 Corinthians 6: 20 and 7:23) Our new self does not belong to us. Our obedience is intended to prove that. We really have nothing of our own to offer God or His effort that does not already belong to Him. Physical death, as a willing witness for Christ is a great act of sacrifice to us, but it is also expenditure, an investment on His part, for the sake of the still unsaved. That may sound hard but we are an asset, a treasured asset of His having great value to the Lord. Our obedience mirrors Christ and His preciousness; or is our mirror broken?

This book is pointing to what may be our greatest value in this life. As an asset of His, as a child of the Most High God, this might be a final Christ-like witness to unbelievers, who in their ignorance are terminating us. They will see Christ in us, in our interceding departure. We will remain a child of God, and gain an honor shared with Jesus.

None of us rejoice over our possible demise. Jesus did not either. (Matthew 26:39 YLT) Christ went to the Garden knowing, prepared in advance for the prophesied events. It will be a fearful challenge, and God will understand as He did with Jesus; but let us seek to understand it now, and the fullness of its glory, so we are prepared to endure it gloriously should it come. Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. (Hebrews 12:2 NAS) We are that joy. Do we have a joy to envision? Is Christ our joy?

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. ¹¹“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

Our obedience leads to His return!

He waits,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world.

“Exit Strategy” (seen below) is now available at most e-book venues. 

Because bad things are happening in front of our eyes and to us, those lawless and offensive things are like a “tractor beam” attaching to our soul, (forgive the Star Trek reference). The offenses we receive, wound our heart, clamp on to our will. Our minds are molested. It becomes post traumatic stress. We can become stuck or even buried in the mire of our world, being rooted and grounded in the mire instead of God’s love. We must be rooted and grounded in God’s love to be able to put away all bitterness and malice, forgiving one another, to become a bride without spot or blemish, holy and blameless. (Ephesians 3:17,4:30-32, 5:25-27)

We have loved this world and life too much. Almost all of us have. Maybe if it gets bad enough, we will hate this life. Maybe we will finally seek the next life? Almost sounds like a plan; but whose? We can hate the person or persons who have destroyed our life. These days, the list of offenders is long, but it had to be for the enemy’s plan to be carried out against so “many” of us. The list of offenders will grow longer. The “many” will become more. On the other hand, God warned us. So who will just get angry and who will spot the plot and cast off the anger in exchange for eternal life?

 “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ¹⁶For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. ¹⁷And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” (1 John 2:15-17 NAS) 

Don’t get me wrong. We all have loved life and the beauty of this world, especially when our faith was pointed at prosperity and living like heaven on earth. It was so appealing, but I see what the Lord is saying. I personally experienced this prosperity like I had never known it before. Now, with all that is happening today, that prosperity has fled away and the mire of God’s plan, (it is His plan) is troubling everyone. I say God’s plan because nothing the enemy does can supersede God’s plan. God is allowing it. We might ask, “Why would God allow such things? My reply would be, He warned us and also, God is not being tested, we are! Some will reject God over this. Others will reject Christianity when being asked to die for their faith. Some however will put all the pieces together and recognize how red God has made our sails these mornings.

 “So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. ²⁵And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.” (1^st John 2:18-25 NAS)

Where it says, “from the beginning” it means from what Jesus said which I (John) delivered to you as a first hand witness to Christ’s Words. It does not mean from the beginning of your personal walk. Your walk, like mine, has included teachings steeped in traditional understanding.   

What Jesus taught us, if obeyed and followed faithfully, is what keeps us in fellowship with He and Father God. This fellowship via His Words, is eternal life. So, with such an important reward for our obedience, what has He taught us? Are we obeying?

He waits,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world.

“Exit Strategy” (seen below) is now available at most e-book venues.

 If I am saved by Jesus’ death, as my sin substitute, why was all the other teaching necessary? Why all the warnings spoken by Him? Why teach us behavior choices? Why give us “The Way” if He accomplished it for us? In fact He showed us, what we must become, to enter the kingdom. For many this will be distressing.

God spoke through His Son, to teach us. He taught about more than our asking Himself to be Lord. Jesus expected us to believe Him to the point of entrusting obedience, making Him Lord. As we covered earlier, believe means to entrust. (John 3:36)

Mankind really did not know for sure who Jesus was until He was resurrected. That which man had sought access to, life after death, Jesus proved possible. Why did Jesus teach all that He did if our salvation was achieved when Jesus died for us, when we asked Him to be Lord of our lives and be our savior? Paul says His teachings hold our salvation as Christ likeness becomes us.

Jesus was the Word made flesh. We are to be flesh made Word. Our image and likeness to God waits while our flesh hinders us. We, first dominated by our flesh, become Word via our obedience to His teachings. His life and Words are to take dominion and redefine us.

Paul answers the salvation question this way. Romans 5:10  ” For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”  Paul separates salvation into two events. The beginning and the end! The Alpha and the Omega! In between times, we must maintain what we have received freely.

The preparations Jesus made for Himself as the Son of Man will also prepare us. These preparations were to qualify us for final access to the kingdom. Immigrant’s once had to know some English, some history, about some laws, the ways, the truths and the life of the United States, to be allowed into citizenship. Heaven is no different. This is why Jesus and the disciples taught “the kingdom of God.”

They taught the Way to the kingdom, the Truth of the kingdom, the Life of the kingdom! “Wait a minute Mike that is not what Jesus said.” Yes it is. Jesus spoke it to Thomas in John 14:4, “And you know the way where I am going.” “I am…the way, the truth, the life…” Jesus is saying God (I AM) is the way. He is saying I am teaching the way, the truth, the life, I and the Father are One. If you had known Me you would have known the Father (because I represent Him exactly!) From now on you know Him… Jesus showed us the “way” of the kingdom. That is why He said to Thomas, “You know the “way” where I am going.”  The phrasing seemed strange to us until we realize what Jesus was saying. The early church was known as followers of “The Way,” Acts 9:2. Thomas did not get it initially. Have we?

“Wait a minute Mike, Jesus qualified us!” No, He made reconciliation to God possible by His death and through our recognition that we need Him as a Savior and Lord. Once He is (declared) Lord by us, our Lord Jesus makes possible our future actual and final salvation. Our actual obedience to His teachings, His commands, His life examples, must follow. He has given us “the keys of the reign of the kingdom.” (Original text Matthew 16:19, Young’s Literal Translation) These keys reign over the kingdom. We must be in submission to these keys or it will be seen as rebellion in heaven. We remember what happened to the rebellious in heaven. Why talk about keys if they are not required? How can we not seek to know what they are? They are in His Words, the way, truth and life of His existence as the Word shares. This is a distressing message but it is life-giving to those who receive and impliment it.

If I am to be saved by Jesus, the combination of His death and His Life according to Paul, am I not also saved by the Word? (John 1:1-14) The two cannot be separated! What Jesus did by dying for us opened the door to eternal possibilities through what He taught us, through Him. In His final hours the two were combined. As He was dying, He taught.

The church world is in jeopardy until a specific teaching is preached. Jesus said it shall be preached. “It” is not about getting saved. It is about staying saved and how to do so. It is not about a day or an hour. It is about an event that Jesus prophesied and followers will initiate when understanding fills our hearts and obedience grips our souls. It will rush across the earth as the sunrise, birthing new followers from believers, all declaring their readiness to God. We will then know what only God has known because only He knows US! He knew when we would understand and respond and prepare for darkness! The end will begin with darkness. The return of Christ will be set in motion. No man will know the day or hour. Followers however will not fret. Our confidence in Him will set our heart on eternity and not on this life. “for whoever may will to save his life shall lose it; and whoever may lose his life for my sake and for the good news sake he shall save it.” (Mark 8:35 Young’s Literal Translation)

See post six. We have a message to preach and…

He waits,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world.