Category: Bible

Don’t all of us want to please God? I think even when I didn’t believe God existed, I would have wanted to please Him if He did. (Does that even make any sense?)

God has placed in us an inborn desire to please Him.

And yet, in our natural state, I find that we want to please Him by following some kind of list, by checking all the boxes, by doing all the right things and making ourselves acceptable to Him. This is rooted in PRIDE, sisters, and God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. No wonder He desires us to come to Him as little children.

Here is how God says you please Him — by FAITH, by BELIEVING that He exists and BELIEVING that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). But that is too simple for us. No. That is too extraordinary for us. That is too humbling for us.

Today I found myself diving into Galatians 3. I would encourage you to read the whole chapter – or several chapters – or the whole book today. (It would be profitable for each of us to make reading the book of Romans from beginning to end a regular part of our Bible reading time. But I find that Galatians is in many ways a condensed version of Romans, especially Galatians 3-5.)

I can’t get over Galatians 3:3 “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

When my old self died and I was born anew, this was a miraculous act of the Spirit. There was nothing I could DO to make myself righteous before God. Nothing. No single act or series of acts could cleanse me of a lifetime of sin. God gave me a new heart as I came to Him humbly and asked Him for it.

And yet, I find in myself, that now I somehow think that I can be “good enough,” that I CAN earn it.

O foolish Kim! Who has bewitched me? Having begun in the Spirit, am I now being perfected in the flesh? Does He who supplied the Spirit to me and who works miracles before my very eyes do so by works of the law???? Or by hearing with faith???

Please join me, sisters, in walking by the obedience of faith, submitting our lives to Him and His calling on us, not trying to earn salvation as our wages, but believing in Him who justifies the ungodly. (See my former posts related to Romans 4:4-5 on Wages Due)

Thank you, Lord, that You use all the junk and trials and pain and grief in our lives. Thank you for giving us beauty for ashes, that you work all things together for GOOD for those who LOVE you who have been called according to Your purpose.

Today I had the amazing experience of sharing at the Shine Women’s Conference in St. Charles, MO. I stand in awe at how the Lord uses a broken vessel like me to share stories of my own pain and His goodness in a way that I pray blesses those who hear.

I hope that the audio recording worked and that I will be able to post that for others to hear. I’ll keep you posted.

As I shared today – God is indeed REAL and He is indeed at work all around us.

May we have eyes to see Him, ears to hear Him, minds to understand Him and mouths to tell of Him. May we be His WITNESSES here on earth and proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of the darkness and into the glorious light. May we SHINE brightly, cities on a hill, pointing others to the grace and mercy found only at the foot of the cross.

No amount of work.
No amount of scrubbing.
No amount of sweat and effort on my part.
I can’t clean myself.
There is a way. Jesus has made a way. He, Himself, made the way by His own blood.

NOTHING BY THE BLOOD
What can wash away my sin
What can make me whole again
For my pardon this I see
For my cleansing this my plea

Oh, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know
Nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus

Nothing can for sin atone
Not of good that I have done
This is all my hope and peace
This is all my righteousness

Oh, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
And no other fount I know
Nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus
Nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus

Now by this I’ll overcome
Now by this I’ll reach my home
Glory, glory, this I see
All my praise for this I bring
All my praise for this I bring
All my praise for this I bring

Oh, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know
Nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus
Nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus

As we looked at yesterday, the wise woman builds her house, but the foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

The word translated “builds” in Hebrew is banah. This is the same word used in Psalm 127.

1 A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds (banah) the house, those who build (banah) it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. [Psa 127:1-5 ESV]

It is the LORD I want to build my house. If it’s me doing the work, then it is in vain. I am laboring in vain if I’m trying to build my own house.

The children in my house are a GIFT of the Lord. They are a reward. They are my inheritance. I am blessed by God when my house is full of them. They are a blessing. A gift. I cannot make myself have them. I have to receive them because they are from Him. If I work, strive, labor, connive to get them, I am laboring in vain.

If I am being anxious, toiling over my house, I am missing it. It is the Lord who is building my house, though YES, He is using me to do it. I work faithfully, by faith, through faith, to serve the Lord and the call He has laid on me and the blessings He has placed under my care.

Thank you, Father, for each of the children You have blessed me with. Thank You.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him (God) for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”

On October 13, I am going to be sharing my testimony and speaking on this verse at the Shine Ministries conference in St Louis. I am so excited.

In preparation, I have really been studying each word and that word REWARDS just keeps jumping out at me. I keep thinking, “So, if the wages of our sin is death (Romans 6:23), if to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due (Romans 4:4), then how does this all fit together? How am I to be rewarded if I really deserve death?”

The way I see it is this – the adoption piece is what’s missing. Our adoption in as sons and daughters is a gift. Our faith is a gift. Becoming children of the very real God, that’s a gift.

And yet, after becoming His children, He rewards us.

There are several Greek words that are translated as ‘reward’ but let’s focus on “misthos“.

This word is used in 1 Corinthians 3:14 “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward (misthos).”

Or how about Matthew 10:42, “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward (misthos).”

And Matthew 5:11-12, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward (misthos) is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

One last one, 2 John 1:8, “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward (misthos).”

I pray I haven’t lost you already, but do you see that each of these verses are promising a heavenly reward for the work that we have done on earth? This word misthos is translated as a REWARD.

But get this, look with me again at that amazing verse Romans 4:4, “Now to the one works, his wages (misthos) are not counted as a gift (charis) but as his due.”

Misthos is not only translated as reward, it is also translated as wages. This got me thinking — what really is a reward? Is it a gift?

Suddenly, I understood. A reward is not a gift. A reward is actually something you earn. Something you merit. Something you deserve.

I’ve won my share of awards over the years, and been rewarded with my share of plaques. Whether in debate or art contests or science fairs or school competitions (no sporting events, mind you) but every single time I have earned those prizes. I wasn’t just a spectator in the audience who was chosen at random.

In fact, just last week we went on a tour of the Memphis Metal Museum and I won this cool hook.

But this was my REWARD, my wages earned because the tour guide asked, “What are the three things a blacksmith needs?” And I shot my hand up in the air faster than anyone else and she chose me to answer and I got it right: a hammer, an anvil and a forge. And because of that work, I earned the reward of the very hook we had just watched the blacksmith create.

God is our good father who blesses His children with rewards for our deeds done in this life, in this body, but salvation is not one of those rewards. Salvation is a gift. Charis. Grace. Favor.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace (charis) you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift (doron) of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

I urge you to go grab your Bible right now and read Ephesians 2 in its entirety. You won’t be disappointed!

And if you’d like more on this topic, you might enjoy this article. (Click on that blue word. It’s a link.)

Maybe tomorrow we will dig into this new word, doron. Stay tuned.

TWIG

Psalm 103:8-13
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

This morning join me in praising God that He does not deal with me according to my sins. That His love is steadfast. That His steadfast love is as great as the heavens are high above the earth.
And yet He is as full of justice as He is love. So He sent His own Son to remove my transgressions from me. That by His Son my transgressions have been removed from me as far as the east is from the west.
Thank you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
TWIG

Let’s look one more time at Romans 4:3-5
“For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,”

Abraham BELIEVED God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

What did his belief entail? Action. His belief resulted in what Paul calls the “obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26).
His faith resulted in action. Our faith, too, must result in action.

You say you believe? You do well. Even the demons believe, and shudder.

When you believe in God, you will hear from Him, by His Word and by His Holy Spirit and He will show you what He desires from you. By faith in Him, you will indeed be led to follow His law, but that law-following will be driven by faith in the one true God.

To make sure we are all on the same page –
1. None of us can EARN our salvation by our deeds.
2. Everyone is SAVED by faith, not by works.
3. Our faith will result in WORKS motivated by FAITH.

Interestingly, I still haven’t even gotten to my big ‘aha’ in reading Romans 4:4-5. But, before I could get there, we had to go through these other foundational ideas.

Back on the idea of wages and earning, I was thinking about how many Christians live their lives as though they can EARN, MERIT, WORK for God’s favor. This is why it’s so important to understand that our salvation is by our faith, but every time I say that, I just cannot help to think of Romans 6:23. Here it is:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

Do you see it? Does it jump out at you like it did to me? Did you catch it?

What are our wages due? What do we deserve? What are we really earning? Death. Truly. The wages of our sin, past, present and future is DEATH. That is what I am due. That is what I deserve. That is what I have earned. Death.

But God has given me the GIFT of eternal life by the blood of Jesus, who paid my debt by His death on the cross. This is a gift. It is NOT what I am due. Remember, Romans 4:4-5 “Now to the one who WORKS, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.”

Do you see how offensive us trying to work to merit our salvation must be to God? Every day I choose to wake up and thank God for His GIFT, it humbles me. In my flesh, I deserve death, yet thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. His gift of salvation, by His gift of faith, in His Son whom He sent as a gift.

Thank you, Father, for giving me that which I did not deserve. Thank you for showing your love for me in that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me, the ungodly.

TWIG

Yes, there might be more. I’ve been doing a whole word study on ‘wages.’ Stay tuned for that!

Yesterday I looked at Romans 4:3-5. Let’s read that again.

3 “For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness”

Wow. So Abraham BELIEVED God and what did he earn from that? He earned righteousness. How did he earn that? By BELIEVING God.

Here is one place where, as I see it, the ‘Christian world’ is really stumbling today. We are all mixed up about what ‘works’ are. We hear ‘faith without works is dead’ (James 2:17) and think we need to do something to earn, to deserve, to merit our salvation

That is not it at all.

Once again, we have got to study the whole context of a passage. Read on after that James 2:17 to the following verses.

James 2:18-25
18 “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

I think the root issue is that there is a confusion in our minds between “works of the law” and “works of faith.”

If I told you that you had to be circumcised, keep the Ten Commandments, and not eat anything unclean and you obeyed me to the best of your human ability, you might think that DOING these things would earn you entrance into Heaven. No!

You could help every orphan, every little old lady, every blind beggar, every disabled veteran, every single time for the rest of your life, and you would never be good enough to deserve God’s favor. Never.

Do any of you think of offering your son as a sacrifice to God as a *good deed*? No?

How about circumcision? Do any of you think of circumcision as a good work? No?

Me neither. No. Abraham offered Isaac up to God by faith. Circumcision, as well, was given as a work driven by faith. It was ‘faith with shoe leather.’ It was an outward symbol of an inward conversion of the heart. An outward symbol of inward faith.

Abraham believed God and it was credited Him as righteousness. His deeds were not what saved him, but they were evidence of his faith. If we copy his DEEDS, but not his FAITH, we are still lost.

If you say you have faith, but are not living and walking by faith, I would question the genuineness of that faith. Remember, Abraham’s faith was completed by his deeds.

Do you believe in Him who justifies the UNgodly?

What impact is that faith having on your everyday life?

What is God calling you to do by faith?

How are you living as though you can earn salvation by your works?

Part three – tomorrow, God willing. Stay tuned.

TWIG