Page 7 - lifeandgrace
P. 7
has already dealt with sin for all time. Jesus gave His Life, shed His innocent blood, to pay for the sins of
the whole world. (1 John 2:2 RSV) "and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also
for the sins of the whole world."
God’s focus is not on our sins. God is not angry at us! God is not somewhere in the sky thinking of
how to deal with our sins! Sins were dealt with on the cross! God’s eternal purpose concerns relationship.
He desires sons and daughters. And in the death of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, He made
provision to have sons and daughters. You do not have to worry about sin. If the Holy Spirit living within
you convicts you of sin, repent! Turn away from the sin! (Forgiveness was already purchased on the cross
for every sin you will ever commit! You do not need more forgiveness! Everything that could ever be
forgiven you has been forgiven!) In His power, turn from the sin. Remember this: Christians do not have
to sin! They have a choice. (Rom 6:14 RSV) "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not
under law but under grace." So long as we are willing to live in the grace of God and not resort to the law
as our way of relating to Him, we do not have to sin! Sin will have no power over us! But law empowers
sin so we need to reside in the grace of God in order to be free of sin. (1 Cor 15:56 NNAS) "The sting of
death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;"
So, are we to just sit down and wait until Christ in us does something? Not at all. We get up every
day believing that He is in us and is working through us. That is where faith comes in - we totally trust
our lives to God, trust that He is living His life in us, through us and as us, and then we go about our daily
business. We fully expect Him to speak to our hearts. We expect thoughts to come that are from Him -
thoughts that suggest what we are to do. We receive these, examine these, test these by the scriptures.
And we begin to walk in that direction, trusting in God who is in us and loves us. Yes, we read the
scriptures. Yes, we pray - in fact our life is one long “prayer” or ongoing communion with God (more
listening than speaking!) We simply believe that the Christ living in us will cause us to sense the things
of God and what God is doing. What He is doing, that is what we do. We do not wring our hands trying
to find out what He wants. We rest in the thought that as our spirits commune with Him, we will think on
the things God is doing in us and through us and as us. Things will come to mind; we will have a sense
we should do something or write someone or call someone or read a particular scripture. Or along more
everyday lines, we might be reminded to purchase a loaf of bread on our way home so our wife will not
have to go out later and do it. We might be reminded to say something to our children. Or to complement
our wife in love. To call a friend with encouraging words. Do these things seem too simple for God to
dwell on? Not at all. If Jesus is going to live His life in me, through me, as me, it has to be this way. I
cannot be concerned about one thing and Him another no matter how simple it is. Life is mostly made up
of thousands of simple things. He wants to be part of them all.
For those in ministry, what about great ministry projects? If He wants them, He will bring them up in
your thought life. Remember that you are following the word in Romans: (Rom 12:1 RSV) “I appeal to
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." You have given yourself over to Him. He can do
with you what He wants.
You may ask me, “Brother, how does this work out in your own ministry in Africa?” How do you
know when you are doing God’s will? Let me say that I am on a journey in this resting in the Lord. I
confess I have not arrived! Something inside me is always very concerned about what God wants me to
do in Africa. Where does He want me to go? Whom does He want me to work with on a particular trip?
Whom should I ask to go with me from America? I realized long ago that one cannot even begin to
decide things based on need. Need is everywhere all over the world. Since my focus is on the Continent
of Africa, I tend to see the need there - both spiritual and physical. Knowing need does not help me at all
in determining what God is doing through me at any moment in time. Need is always all around me. I
could go to virtually any nation in Africa where I was allowed and find people to teach and people to
the whole world. (1 John 2:2 RSV) "and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also
for the sins of the whole world."
God’s focus is not on our sins. God is not angry at us! God is not somewhere in the sky thinking of
how to deal with our sins! Sins were dealt with on the cross! God’s eternal purpose concerns relationship.
He desires sons and daughters. And in the death of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, He made
provision to have sons and daughters. You do not have to worry about sin. If the Holy Spirit living within
you convicts you of sin, repent! Turn away from the sin! (Forgiveness was already purchased on the cross
for every sin you will ever commit! You do not need more forgiveness! Everything that could ever be
forgiven you has been forgiven!) In His power, turn from the sin. Remember this: Christians do not have
to sin! They have a choice. (Rom 6:14 RSV) "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not
under law but under grace." So long as we are willing to live in the grace of God and not resort to the law
as our way of relating to Him, we do not have to sin! Sin will have no power over us! But law empowers
sin so we need to reside in the grace of God in order to be free of sin. (1 Cor 15:56 NNAS) "The sting of
death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;"
So, are we to just sit down and wait until Christ in us does something? Not at all. We get up every
day believing that He is in us and is working through us. That is where faith comes in - we totally trust
our lives to God, trust that He is living His life in us, through us and as us, and then we go about our daily
business. We fully expect Him to speak to our hearts. We expect thoughts to come that are from Him -
thoughts that suggest what we are to do. We receive these, examine these, test these by the scriptures.
And we begin to walk in that direction, trusting in God who is in us and loves us. Yes, we read the
scriptures. Yes, we pray - in fact our life is one long “prayer” or ongoing communion with God (more
listening than speaking!) We simply believe that the Christ living in us will cause us to sense the things
of God and what God is doing. What He is doing, that is what we do. We do not wring our hands trying
to find out what He wants. We rest in the thought that as our spirits commune with Him, we will think on
the things God is doing in us and through us and as us. Things will come to mind; we will have a sense
we should do something or write someone or call someone or read a particular scripture. Or along more
everyday lines, we might be reminded to purchase a loaf of bread on our way home so our wife will not
have to go out later and do it. We might be reminded to say something to our children. Or to complement
our wife in love. To call a friend with encouraging words. Do these things seem too simple for God to
dwell on? Not at all. If Jesus is going to live His life in me, through me, as me, it has to be this way. I
cannot be concerned about one thing and Him another no matter how simple it is. Life is mostly made up
of thousands of simple things. He wants to be part of them all.
For those in ministry, what about great ministry projects? If He wants them, He will bring them up in
your thought life. Remember that you are following the word in Romans: (Rom 12:1 RSV) “I appeal to
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." You have given yourself over to Him. He can do
with you what He wants.
You may ask me, “Brother, how does this work out in your own ministry in Africa?” How do you
know when you are doing God’s will? Let me say that I am on a journey in this resting in the Lord. I
confess I have not arrived! Something inside me is always very concerned about what God wants me to
do in Africa. Where does He want me to go? Whom does He want me to work with on a particular trip?
Whom should I ask to go with me from America? I realized long ago that one cannot even begin to
decide things based on need. Need is everywhere all over the world. Since my focus is on the Continent
of Africa, I tend to see the need there - both spiritual and physical. Knowing need does not help me at all
in determining what God is doing through me at any moment in time. Need is always all around me. I
could go to virtually any nation in Africa where I was allowed and find people to teach and people to
