Isn’t He Wonderful?

The english word “wonderful” might be overused in our homes and not always without sarcasm. Example from my wife: “Brandon, the electric bill came in high this month.” Me: “Wonderful”. Yes that is how the word is often used in our sphere but the Hebrew word for “wonderful” is oh so much more!

Wonderful in the Hebrew can mean miraculous, amazing, marvelous, fabulous, gorgeous. So when the prophet Isaiah prophesied that a baby would be born some 500 years later radiating these things, some believed and others doubted. The ones that doubted weren’t sure about the virgin birth of the Holy Spirit forming Jesus in the womb of Mary. They doubted the “miraculous” and when they heard He was from the town of Nazareth, they doubted He was anything “amazing”.

The stories of Joseph and Mary fleeing with Jesus to Egypt to escape the death sentence of babies under two and they possibly thought, “surely this King is not “marvelous” relying on His parents.” Not one story of Jesus doing ministry or miracles until later in his life and His friends might have thought “fabulous” was a reach. Now the people close to Jesus who had heard from God and the angels carried spiritual eyes of faith to see Jesus as “gorgeous”. The King of Heaven wrapped in humanity to take away the sins of the world. Nothing is more beautiful than the One who gave us eternal peace with God.

Some Christians today are not impressed with the miraculous Holy Spirit that is inside of them or other believers. Because Jesus is wonderful, so are you in this world today. I pray you have eyes of faith to see the “wonderful” Savior inside of you and the family of God!

1 John 4:15-20 ¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Heal the Home, Heal the World

Brandon Pollard

http://www.graceforeternity.com

Wrapped Is A Love Sacrifice!

What if every wrapped gift comes with sacrifice? I believe that because it’s easier to throw a gift in a bag this time of year, there is a deeper respect for those who take the time and craftiness to neatly wrap a present under the tree. One takes more sacrifice.

Jesus wrapped himself in humanity from the King of Heaven to the frailty of a wrapped baby in a manger. The shepherds would have had to had faith hearing the testimony of the angels because there were no miracles this baby King was performing, no levitating over water, or healing of the blind. Fully God, fully baby with probable smells of a baby that were mistaken for barn smells.

Religion often desires the supernatural without embracing the humanity for the natural, wrapping the unseen supernatural. The fact that God loves to package our miracles in something that is so dismissive as humans is probably humorous to a Father that wants to see His children receive from each other.

When we became born again, we became co-laborers with Christ to be ambassadors for God’s design and plan for the earth. Our body is purchased and became the wrapping (temple) of the Holy Spirit. Which really is exciting when we enter a room with people that have been held captive under darkness, we unwrap the love of Jesus and set the captives free by binding up the broken hearted with the power of the Holy Spirit. How? We are a co-laborer so we can’t be surprised when the miracle is already in our hands, in our mouth and in our gifts. It may never look like it is enough in the natural, which is the humor God works with to take us on a journey to trust him for the supernatural. The wrapping of the baby would have looked unimpressive. The wrapping of His dead body would have been hope deflating. But God always takes the wrapping of the natural sacrifice and invites us to open our spiritual eyes to see what Heaven sees!

Heal the Home, Heal the World

Brandon Pollard

http://www.graceforeternity.com

You Have A Place Of Honor Always!

King David gives us a glimpse of the heart of Jesus when He honors the covenant between Jonathan and himself to Mephibosheth. David is looking to pour out his kindness on a family member of Saul and Jonathan not because of what they can bring to David’s kingdom but responds with what kindness can David’s kingdom bring to him. The young man was crippled from being dropped as a baby and was unable to even provide for his basic needs. King David makes the statement and declaration that Jesus is telling you and I today, : “…And you shall eat at my table always” (2 Samuel 9:7).

This young man cannot handle the basic functions of providing for himself in the same way we could not provide enough righteousness ourself to stand before God, more less sit at His table. Yet here is an invitation to receive the kindness of the King to have a place of honor “always” at the table because of a covenant that had nothing to do with us and everything to do with our Heavenly Father and Jesus. Mephibosheth answers the way many of us may have thought in our heart at one time,

⁸ ….“What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

If you ever have been around a dog at the table, we know that they are beggars for scraps. He described himself as one lowly dog who didn’t even have the strength to beg at the table because he wreaked of death. This is where all our self righteousness was without Jesus. The Father opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble because humility recognizes the need for Jesus. Today see yourself at the table of the King, where decisions of the growth of the kingdom are made, see yourself as royalty because of Jesus and the promise He made with the Father. The promise is eternal life at the table with the King and because you didn’t earn the seat with your strength, you can’t lose the place of honor with your weakness.

³⁹ And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. -John 6:39 NLT

Heal the Home, Heal the World

http://www.graceforeternity.com

Recognizing His Anointed Family!

History has shown us that over the centuries people have used God’s word and twisted it for their gain and other’s losses. Without a believer knowing the heart of God, people can pervert the word of God as a sword against the family of God. Remember when David had an opportunity to kill Saul, the men around David reminded him of God’s prophetic word for David.

‘Behold, I will give your enemy into 

your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’-1 Samuel 24:4

Wasn’t Saul an enemy of David because the king wanted to murder him? Interestingly enough, David didn’t see King Saul as an enemy but recognized him as God’s anointed. David knew the heart of God and recognized Saul as the family of God when the 400 men of Israel around him couldn’t.

6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord,

 the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.” 

7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul.

 And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

You might be thinking….”Hang on, ain’t nobody trying to hurt God’s anointed and I’m not trying to hurt God’s anointed…..So we good like David, right?” Well under the new covenant of grace we get to understand that every believer is now carrying the anointing (Jesus) and are called the family of God. Jesus always empowers us to love way richer and deeper under grace than the old covenant law…….

Old Covenant Law: “Don’t commit adultery (unless you give your wife a certificate of divorce)”,

New Covenant Grace: “Husbands lay your life down for your wife (she’s anointed) as Christ for the church (they are anointed).”

Old Covenant Law: “Set your tithe aside for His blessing/ anointing (unless you want to be cursed)”

New Covenant Grace: “You are already anointed and blessed from Jesus so be content and generous with His money”

Old Covenant Law: “Do not murder (unless they are your enemies)”

New Covenant Grace: “People are not your enemy. Do good to everyone, especially to those of the household of faith (the carriers of the Anointed One).”

Old Covenant Law: “You can be generous to God and have financial gain”

New Covenant Grace: “You are free to choose generosity to God’s (anointed) household so they have financial gain”

I’m going to say something that may shock you, “Giving to the household of faith (gathering of the anointed) financially is godly but it is not godly or love to give for our personal financial gain.” Believers are deprived of truth when they imagine that godliness is a means of gain. When believers discover they don’t gain financially from generosity to the church, sadly many are disobedient with generosity and stop giving and their heart is no longer for the local church because there is no longer a promise of gain. Jesus promised wherever our treasure is there our heart is. The greatest treasure in Heaven is always God’s people. And if in the past we have been giving to the local church for financial gain, we can ask Him to help us learn to give from a place of love and cheerfulness for His anointed people because we have contentment from the head of the church, Jesus.

³ If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, ⁴ he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. ⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 1 Timothy 6:3-9