onsdag 2. september 2009

"Destined to reign"

As I am flying from Frankfurt to New York, I am reading a book a very good friend of mine gave me as a "goodbye gift". That book is "Destined to reign" by Joseph Prince- pastor of an enormous community/church in Singapore.
The book is about how we as humans, (and unfortunately many Christians), want to make us worthy of Gods love through our acts and duties. Almost everything that I read, I´ve thought so much about myself lately. And I have wanted to say this to so many people, especially those who have a twisted and wrong picture of Christianity. Unfortunately, a lot of Christians have this picture of Christianity too.
Therefore, I feel like sharing some of what Prince says in his book as I am sitting here, waiting for my next flight... :-)
"God is not interested in mere obedience and submission- He is a God of love and longs to have an intimate relationship with you"
- " Christianity is not a religion, it´s a relationship. It is about having a relationship with Almighty God".

Stay with me - I will continue on this later, and run to my flight now;)

.... Okey.. So many people have experienced Christians as condemning towards them. Christians who condemns and point their finger at people.. Personally.. I get so mad that I become extremely HOT on the inside when I hear about Christians that condemns and look down at what they consider "sinful" or "fallen" persons. In many cases, you can become a "fallen person" if you do not attend church as much as you maybe did before or if you do not read your Bible as much as before.. People that condemns pull humans further away from God, becuase people end up wanting nothing to to with God nor the "crazy- fault-finding - holy Christian people". (please be patient with me:p)
Some Christians are living only after what is stated in the old testament. The old testament is fine, but not at all if you only consider the Old testament and exclude the new one! Because, as Prince says in his book too: We have to read the Old testament with the eyes of the new one. Why? Cause in the new testament God shows his great love and grace for us, by sending Jesus to die for all of our sins and mistakes, so we don´t have to bear the burden ourself.
Here is a Bible verse that confirm this very clearly:

John 1.17: "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ".

God gave us the law (the ten commandments) for our own good- not for us to use against ourself or other people.

Jesus says in the Bible: "I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it"
So He did not not erase it, cause we still need it to see right from wrong. But we are all just as holy, special and precious in Gods eyes no matter what we have ever done. Because we are his children, and he is our Heavenly Father.
Why keep focusing on what we regret about in life or all the mistakes that we´ve done. -So what?! We ALL have done mistakes and stuff we regret! - Cause we are humans! What more to expect from us?! haha..
Prince states: "God is not interested in mere obedience and submission- He is a God of LOVE and longs to have an intimate relationship with us."

The devil was armed with the ten commandments (the law). He took advantage of the law and has been using it against man. But instead of resting in God´s disarment (He disarmed principalities and powers when Jesus died), people are rearming and remilitarizing the power of darkness.
prince continues: "The devil has erected many obstacles and fences around the gospel of grace. He is well aware that the moment you learn to receive grace, you will start to reign in life. The Devils strategy is to surround the truths of God with controversies. To prevent God´s people from benefiting from the fullness of Gods promises, he erects controversies as fences around these truths."
This is seriously nothing to be worried about. the more we worry of the Devil, the more He can do. If we don´t give Him any power, he does not have any power. But this can give us a picture of why many people have defensive reactions towards Gods grace.
Prince says: "Our part today is just to believe in our Saviour and receive from him the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness."

A lof of people are saying: "I can not believe in a good God, because there is so much evil in the world." Okey, this is very important that we grasp: God is NOT causing the evil things in the world to happen. People are evil, and they cause it themselves. God do not force himelf on us and control us, we have to come to him...

Oh, some heavy parts here:p Guys, the most important thing is for you and me to live IN Gods amazingly love and let him in to your life and your heart. Believe me- God´s love heals- cause his love is bigger and greater than anything else:)