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Added Note: This is the first section of the last chapter of Book 10, Living in the Power of God’s Word, Vol. 2. The title for the chapter is “Living in the Power of God’s Kindness—OR—Believing the Promises". Book 10 is now available at this website (http://www.biblestudiesforchristith.com).
God wants us, as believers, to know who we are…so that we can recognize our dependence on Him…and He wants us to acknowledge who He is…He is our God. In all the techniques He gives us for getting closer to Him, there is a kind of humility that He is asking from us, a clear vision of our smallness next to His greatness. This is an awareness that we are not divine, and that He is. He is the creator, planner, and sustainer of all that exists, and we are His creation. Yet He is good and kind and loving toward us, something that may get lost in all the talk of our being incessantly sinful and on stand-by for discipline.
Even “mercy” and “forgiveness” have an undertone that suggests our failure. We have seen the side of God that deals mostly with our need to be “processed” to make us suitable for His family, and continually “updated” to help us become productive family members. But we want to understand a side of God that we have perhaps not emphasized sufficiently.
What we want to establish is that God is characterized by GRACE. Grace is defined as “undeserved favor”, which is expressed as mercy and forgiveness, for sure, but also as “kindness”. Because of God’s “kindness”, often translated as “love”, everything that happens to us as believers is designed to draw us deeper into His grace, and to get us to accept what He wants to give us. It’s not as though we have to talk God into giving us what we need…it’s already available…what we must do is learn to allow God to give it to us. It is this quality of divine generosity that we will emphasize in this chapter.
We want to look at the specific things that God gives, as we focus our attention on His love. We have studied…pretty much for ten books now…the techniques that grace provides to help us get ready to receive what He offers. The techniques have been encapsulated in the following categories: confession of sins, prayer, learning the Word, believing God and His Word, and growing through testing and trials. When we use these techniques, a growth process takes place that equips us to focus on God, walk in the Spirit, walk by faith, walk in the truth, and produce fruit. When we learn and use the techniques, fellowship prevails, wisdom dominates, and the Holy Spirit controls. God’s “techniques for living” are wonderful “grace” assets, even with “discipline” looming nearby.
As we look deeper into God’s gracious qualities, we see a prevailing kindness that assures us of this: When we faithfully use the “techniques”, God qualifies us for something special: blessings and provision. For us to know His kindness and access these gifts, we must understand His promises, and know what He guarantees to us. It is reassuring to discover that everything God does with and for us is based on His core character trait, which is “love”. Discipline is even included as an expression of this love…since God—like any loving parent—will caringly and purposefully train us, and punish us, as needed, to improve our “behavior”.
When we understand God’s nature, we will trust His techniques to improve us, and then we will embrace the gifts He wants to give us, so that we can operate fully in grace and receive its full “favor”. We use the “techniques” because we know them, and believe them, and—by the same token—we can enjoy the benefits of His promises, when we know them and believe them. Our objective is to learn how to extract from the promises all that God wants us to have. We must know three things to do this, as follows: 1) how to qualify for the promises, 2) how to claim the promises, and 3) what the promises are, so we will know what to claim. These will all be presented in this chapter.
Even the techniques come with promises, and—like most promises—there is a contingency in them, which is this: We must use the methods specified in the techniques, for the promises to be effective. Note the following conditions which precede blessings and provision: “if we confess”, “if they will heed My Word”, “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray”, and “if you believe”. Do you see the techniques suggested in these "if" clauses...confess, study, pray, and trust? These are followed by promises (not quoted here) that God will extend His hand of grace in some way…“if” we do what is called for.
We will see that most promises come with contingencies…or conditions that must be fulfilled beforehand for a promise to be activated. But—assuming that we are ready (because techniques have been followed)—we will be qualified to go further…deeper. We want to find the treasure room, where all the promised blessings are accessed, and where we can discover and possess the “fullness of God”, and the “more abundant life”. [Father, help us see how to reach the depths of your grace, for our benefit as your servants, and for your glory as our God. Amen.]
Added Note: This is the first section of the last chapter of Book 10, Living in the Power of God’s Word, Vol. 2. The title for the chapter is “Living in the Power of God’s Kindness—OR—Believing the Promises". Book 10 is now available at this website (http://www.biblestudiesforchristith.com).
God wants us, as believers, to know who we are…so that we can recognize our dependence on Him…and He wants us to acknowledge who He is…He is our God. In all the techniques He gives us for getting closer to Him, there is a kind of humility that He is asking from us, a clear vision of our smallness next to His greatness. This is an awareness that we are not divine, and that He is. He is the creator, planner, and sustainer of all that exists, and we are His creation. Yet He is good and kind and loving toward us, something that may get lost in all the talk of our being incessantly sinful and on stand-by for discipline.
Even “mercy” and “forgiveness” have an undertone that suggests our failure. We have seen the side of God that deals mostly with our need to be “processed” to make us suitable for His family, and continually “updated” to help us become productive family members. But we want to understand a side of God that we have perhaps not emphasized sufficiently.
What we want to establish is that God is characterized by GRACE. Grace is defined as “undeserved favor”, which is expressed as mercy and forgiveness, for sure, but also as “kindness”. Because of God’s “kindness”, often translated as “love”, everything that happens to us as believers is designed to draw us deeper into His grace, and to get us to accept what He wants to give us. It’s not as though we have to talk God into giving us what we need…it’s already available…what we must do is learn to allow God to give it to us. It is this quality of divine generosity that we will emphasize in this chapter.
We want to look at the specific things that God gives, as we focus our attention on His love. We have studied…pretty much for ten books now…the techniques that grace provides to help us get ready to receive what He offers. The techniques have been encapsulated in the following categories: confession of sins, prayer, learning the Word, believing God and His Word, and growing through testing and trials. When we use these techniques, a growth process takes place that equips us to focus on God, walk in the Spirit, walk by faith, walk in the truth, and produce fruit. When we learn and use the techniques, fellowship prevails, wisdom dominates, and the Holy Spirit controls. God’s “techniques for living” are wonderful “grace” assets, even with “discipline” looming nearby.
As we look deeper into God’s gracious qualities, we see a prevailing kindness that assures us of this: When we faithfully use the “techniques”, God qualifies us for something special: blessings and provision. For us to know His kindness and access these gifts, we must understand His promises, and know what He guarantees to us. It is reassuring to discover that everything God does with and for us is based on His core character trait, which is “love”. Discipline is even included as an expression of this love…since God—like any loving parent—will caringly and purposefully train us, and punish us, as needed, to improve our “behavior”.
When we understand God’s nature, we will trust His techniques to improve us, and then we will embrace the gifts He wants to give us, so that we can operate fully in grace and receive its full “favor”. We use the “techniques” because we know them, and believe them, and—by the same token—we can enjoy the benefits of His promises, when we know them and believe them. Our objective is to learn how to extract from the promises all that God wants us to have. We must know three things to do this, as follows: 1) how to qualify for the promises, 2) how to claim the promises, and 3) what the promises are, so we will know what to claim. These will all be presented in this chapter.
Even the techniques come with promises, and—like most promises—there is a contingency in them, which is this: We must use the methods specified in the techniques, for the promises to be effective. Note the following conditions which precede blessings and provision: “if we confess”, “if they will heed My Word”, “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray”, and “if you believe”. Do you see the techniques suggested in these "if" clauses...confess, study, pray, and trust? These are followed by promises (not quoted here) that God will extend His hand of grace in some way…“if” we do what is called for.
We will see that most promises come with contingencies…or conditions that must be fulfilled beforehand for a promise to be activated. But—assuming that we are ready (because techniques have been followed)—we will be qualified to go further…deeper. We want to find the treasure room, where all the promised blessings are accessed, and where we can discover and possess the “fullness of God”, and the “more abundant life”. [Father, help us see how to reach the depths of your grace, for our benefit as your servants, and for your glory as our God. Amen.]
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