Guilt by association…
John 14:27 NKJ
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
When you rely on the grace that God gives, the grace Jesus is talking about here.
When it becomes heart knowledge instead of head knowledge and just words
on a piece of paper. There is a peace of mind that comes with it, that there's
nothing in this world that can even compare with it.
There is comfort and security in knowing that no matter what.
God always in every situation has your best interest at heart. And it only
comes by trusting God with everything you have and once you get there,
you don't want to leave,
Who wouldn't want someone who was capable of everything
and could do anything for you, watching out for their best interest?
Who wouldn't want a relationship like that?
The whole world whether they will admit it or not is looking for that type
of situation. However in their self effort to find it, they usually end up putting
there trust in everything else.
Stocks, riches, material items
Drugs, booze and who knows what?
People, will let you down every time
Self effort, always comes up short
So many people around the world just want to escape mediocrity.
Responsibility is at an all time low, know one wants to cope with reality.
There's a lot of scary stuff that happens out there in the world. Stop it if I had to face it on my own without God in my life I would want to face it either.
With so many options where do they turn too, anywhere but the one
place they should be turning for help and instruction, God!
2 Timothy 3:1-5 MSG
3 1-5 Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.
Society lives, acts and is ruled by what happens in their lives by what they
see on the TV and the news.
Their afraid of this and that. What will happen, what might happen, what won’t happen and what someone might think may happen.
If you watch the news all the time, it’s enough to depress you and it will, if you let it.
The accuser doesn't care what he uses to get to a person.
he is a slick salesman and he will use everything and anything to get you
to buy the load of garbage he is trying to unload.
You have to really use discernment and trust the Lord and let Him be
in control of every situation no matter what the news says, or anyone
else for that matter!
Jeremiah 20:11 KJ
11 But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
MSG. But God, a most fierce warrior, is at my side.
Those who are after me will be sent sprawling—
Slapstick buffoons falling all over themselves,
a spectacle of humiliation no one will ever forget.
All the time we all need to be reminded, because that's how often the
accuser attacks. That as long as God is on our side, there is nothing that
come against us, no matter how bad it may seem.
We are in a continual need of hearts knowledge, not head knowledge.
We have all heard of the old saying guilt by association. And that's when
you're seen standing with a group of people. And by standing there it's
automatically assumed that you are either doing what their doing. Or
you belong and believe in what they stand for.
It's time that we quit letting others make assumptions about us. We all
know what happens when we let people assumptions about us.
We need to let the world around us and everyone know. That it's not guilt by association, it's 100% association with the things of God in our relationship with his son Jesus Christ!
And no matter what it may say on the news, or what our friends may say;
Not revolts or uprisings in other lands like isis,
not government misspending,
Or a supreme court ruling,
or a slick talking politician,
Anything physical, or anything that hasn't been thought of yet
God has already provided for every situation that we will ever come up against.
and we need to grasp hold of the grace and peace of God and hang on to it all times.
It's by that association with God that produces the peace that passes all understanding. It's the constant that sustains us through the roller coasters of life
The devil doesn’t want us to know it, or remember it, or the least of all,
Experience it! Because he knows better than anyone it's real!
he knows, its the only place that peace and comfort can be truly found,
that’s why he’s been fighting it for 2,000 plus years.
The answer to your problems, to my problems and the whole worlds problems,
is found in Jesus and the miraculous Grace, life changing message that He
introduced to the world.
When He died on the cross and conquered sin, death and everything else
that the devil would ever come up with once and for all!
Hebrews 13:9
9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
There are a lot of different ways and things out there and people who will try to tell you how to live and why you should live that way,
God says: the heart should be established by grace.
That's the way it becomes real to you!
When your heart is established by grace, then you know, that you know,
that you know. That no matter what happens, you can trust God with every
facet of your being.
Guilt by association will not get it done for you! Only complete association with
heart knowledge of God's grace will see you through to the peace that passes all understanding.
And once you get there, you realize how amazing it is and what a great
place it is to live in.
God doesn’t want you to be fearful and worried by everything you see on the news,
He wants your heart to be at rest and established by His grace toward you.
When you make it about what you think you can do. Life is chaotic
at best, full of one disappointment after another. Why? Because you could never do enough on your own to achieve what you truly desire.
Remember your desire and ambition is something that God created in you
and you will never be able to fulfill it with out His Help. One moment in Gods
favor is worth more than a 1,000,000 lifetimes of labor.
But when you set self effort aside and depend on God’s grace. On His
undeserved, unmerited favor the opposite happens. That's when your heart
becomes established by it!
Then, you will walk without the fear. How do I know this? Because
I've experienced it and I've experienced His peace that passes understanding.
Are there times that I'm tested? You bet there's times when I'm tested!
The devil is always coming up with new temptations to cause someone to sin.
However, I want to tell you that being tempted is not a sin. the accuser
Would like you to think it is, but it's not. Only acting on temptation is sin!
If we will let it, our head knowledge will tell us every time that were condemned.
But that's when our heart knowledge takes over and rejoices! And it tells me
that I'm forgiven and that there is nothing greater than Gods Grace!
God wants you to know and realize on a continuous basis and get this down
in your heart! He wants there to be no question, no doubt! He wants you to know!
His righteousness, healing, protection and prosperity, Grace and Favor
are yours all the time and that they are inexhaustible all paid for by Jesus,
finished work at the cross.
Illustration.
There was a college professor who gave a test and it was a hard test that no one
Could pass. But if the students managed to get through it and went all the way to the back page,
they saw a place where they could just sign their name and receive an A.
Some of them gladly signed their name and received an A
Some of them gave up and turned the test in blank.
Some of them tried to take the test and turned it in complete.
Some of them saw the opportunity and refused to take anything for free, Took the test and failed it anyways.
While this is only a story it does represent how God's grace works. God's grace is a free gift, free to anyone who will believe it and receive it.
To some it's a no-brainer,
to some they can't believe it,
To others they cant see themselves worthy of receiving it.
Hebrews 8:12The Voice (VOICE)
12 I will be merciful when they fail,
and I will erase their sins and wicked acts out of My memory
as though they had never existed.
That's how powerful God's grace!
That shows how much He wants you to experience His Grace.
The fact that He is willing to Forgive and set everything aside that
you've ever done and never remember it again.
So let your heart and the way that you live your life be saturated by God’s grace.
Because of His grace, you can rest on His ability instead of your own
and know you have full access to His blessings.
You don’t have to worry about whether you are worthy to receive them,
because through your association and relationship with Jesus you are qualified.
You can stand firm on the promises made in His Word and enjoy His blessings today because Jesus has paid the price.
Your part is only to trust with the faith of a child!
Don’t look to you faith and understanding, look to Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2
2. looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...
Don’t ask, “Do I have enough faith, or the right kind of faith to be healed, or to have this need met?
Don’t do that, because when you do that, You are focusing on yourself and your faith, instead of Christ and His finished work
When you ask yourself, “Do I have enough faith?” Simply trust God and believe that you do! Because His word says that you do!
TBS. To everyone is allotted a measure of faith, you already have enough faith.
The more you focus on your faith, the more faith slips away.
But if you focus on the finished work of Christ and see God’s grace toward you, God sees that as faith!
Without realizing it, faith is there in your heart to believe that you will have all your needs, physical, spiritual, financial, whatever they are met,
Because Jesus conquered everyone of them completely at the cross!
