In last week’s study (part 1), we looked at the foundation of receiving everything mentioned in Psalms 91, by looking at the first verse. If you have not yet seen part 1, I highly recommend that you view that study first as again, it lays the proper foundation for everything that we will be examining today in this study – the foundation of course, is Jesus Christ and His finished work; and the relationship that is possible because of it.
Today we examine the blessings themselves… and hold on tight, because this is a fantastic journey beyond even your wildest dreams. Ephesians 3:20, mentions that Christ is able to do exceedingly, abundantly far above all you can ever ask or imagine – by His power that works in us! And we are going to be seeing exactly what that looks like today, in Psalms 91.
Psalms 91 is one of the more well-known Psalms in the Bible… or I should say it has a well-known reputation. It is often thought of as a “Messianic” psalm, meaning that it applies to Jesus Christ Himself, and there is certainly that aspect to it. However, I believe that there is another layer to this Psalm; a layer that is in the text that has largely been forgotten in Christian circles today.
This layer, as you may have guessed from the title of today’s study, has to do with our position in Christ Jesus today, and the many blessing that come with that. There is an entire treasure-trove of blessings here that have for the most part, been left unclaimed, for no other reason than no-one is being told about them! An issue that I am going to solve today in this study.
As I’ve mentioned the last couple of weeks… I talk to a lot of people who claim to be believers in Christ, but seem to have more defeats than victories, They are constantly recounting the details of their latest trial, latest hardships or their latest burdens. From their perspective, the enemy is always on the offensive, and they are always on the defensive, struggling just to survive and make it through another day.
I see this quite often and it’s sad, it should not be. There are millions of people who have been deceived in the worst possible way, to quite literally spend their entire lives being subjugated by an already defeated fore. A foe who has been completely beaten and spoiled by Jesus Christ Himself.
Today what I want to share with you, is the victory (yes, victory!) that you have in Christ today, right now. Not sometime later when you get to heaven, but right now today in this world. And by seeing this, you will not need to live another single second in defeat. You will no longer be held hostage by a powerless enemy any longer.
All throughout scripture, we are encouraged to testify and rejoice for what God has done. We sing plenty of songs about it in church, and listen to others singing out it on radio and TV (some of the time!), but for many people it doesn’t really go any further beyond the weekly ritual of singing hymns or listening to Christian radio or TV. Think about it… when is the last time you actually rejoiced – even sang to God, personally for something He has done specifically for you? Not in a corporate church setting; not with a group… just you and God?
For most people, they can’t even remember that far back, and the question is, why is it so rare? For something that the scripture encourages us to do, why doesn’t it occur more often? Why do Christians spent more time complaining and depressed, instead of singing and rejoicing?
Personally, I believe they are not focused on the right thing. I believe that their vision is skewed and they are looking at themselves and their current circumstances instead of looking at Jesus and seeing the victory that He has already won – I know that I have lived that way for quite a long time, and I recognize the signs and symptoms of it very well. So today I want to share with you an encouraging study on seeing the mercy of Jesus, and how it causes you to overflow with genuine, real rejoicing.
Of the many lies that the enemy has spread about God, few are as varied, as widespread and as damaging as what I have come to call, the lie of “Almost.” In-fact this particular lie is so prevalent, and takes so many forms, I can say that it comes up in some fashion in almost every conversation that I encounter about the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Let me give you some examples of this Almost lie, and what it looks like:
You almost have your miracle, just keep persevering.
You almost conquered your sin, just try harder.
God is almost pleased, just keep at it.
Now all three of these may sound right, they may even seem encouraging… I mean, what’s wrong with telling someone to keep on trying, right? Well to use a colloquialism: The devil is in the details – which in this case is literally true. The lie, is in the “almost” part of it, implying that the things which Christ paid for on the cross have still been left undelivered, or that additional steps are required to attain them. And this lie has kept many people in bondage, some even for their entire lives.
So today, what I want to share with you, is what the scriptures say regarding what you have in Christ Jesus – not sometime later, not after jumping through religious hoops, but right now, this very moment.
Over the years, I have had many discussions with people about the devil… mostly regarding ways that they are fighting against him, or resisting him. I have heard of many different methods, from arguing with him, ignoring him, screaming at him, performing deliverance rituals. There are literally hundreds of unique ways in which people have come up with over the years to resist the devil.
The scriptures however, do not leave us guessing about the way in which to do so. You may be surprised that the many methods I have mentioned, have all been heard inside of Christian communities, and none of them have any real foundation in scripture. So what I want to share with you today, is what the scripture actually says regarding resisting the devil. And by seeing this, you can resist him with absolute confidence knowing that you already have victory in Christ Jesus.
At one time or another, most of us have probably heard at least one sermon preached on the famous verse of 1st Thessalonians 5:18. This well-known verse says that we are supposed to “give thanks in all things.” It’s a tough pill to swallow for many people – not because the instruction itself is difficult, but rather because our interpretation of it makes it harder than it actually is.
You see, what I was taught long ago, and what many people still believe today, is that this famous verse says that we must “give thanks for all things”, when in-fact it doesn’t say that at all. And what I want to share with you today, is what this verse actually is saying, and why this in itself is a testament to Jesus Christ and your relationship with Him.
One of the most often recurring objections to the Gospel message is that people say that it lowers God’s standard, or that God has somehow “gone soft” on sin. They say that the Gospel message of Grace is an affront to God’s holiness, and they say because of these things, that it must be a false message, and that the Gospel of Grace must therefore be rejected.
You may be surprised how often I hear these things, and whenever I hear them, I respond with a simple statement: that no, the Gospel doesn’t lower God’s standard, in-fact His standard has never changed.
This doesn’t negate the Gospel message in any way, in-fact it strengthens the Gospel message one-hundred fold.
What I want to share with you today, is how the fact that God’s unchanging and perfect standard is actually a testament to His marvelous grace, and how in Christ Jesus today, you don’t need to be afraid of His standard, but you can honestly rejoice in it.
The book of Proverbs is many things to many people. Some see it as a book of wisdom. Others see it as poetry. From one standpoint, it is both a book containing wisdom and poetry; many of the wisdom verses are written using Hebrew poetry. However while all of that may be nice, in the long-run, to be quite honest, it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t save anyone, or change anyone’s life, to know that Proverbs is considered a “wisdom book” or a “poetry book” – at the end of the day, it is just an interesting fact, just another piece of what I call Bible trivia.
Reading the Bible is more than just absorbing facts, scriptural knowledge or Bible trivia. The focus should never be on raw data retention or interesting tidbits . It’s not a what that we should be focusing on, but rather a who… it is Jesus. All of the scripture reading in the world, is all meaningless if we do not see Jesus in it; because He is the one who gives it meaning.
So today, I want to share with you, some beautiful aspects of Jesus, directly from Proverbs 15, and by seeing Him, you have a new way to appreciate and savor Jesus, in the book of Proverbs.
Anyone who visits here, or has listened to me teach before, has probably heard me mention our identity in Christ. I speak about our identity more than any other topic, simply because it is so very vital to understanding our relationship with Jesus Christ. Nearly every day, I end up meeting someone, or having a discussion with someone who fails to understand the reality of who they truly are in Jesus, and who He has made them to be. This literally breaks my heart to see people in such a state, because I know the pain of living that way far too well. I was stuck in that same spot for many years, and there was no one around to help me through it.
So whenever I encounter someone who needs to know this truth, I don’t hesitate to share it with them – and so I end-up talking about it quite a lot here as well in our studies. Yet I don’t always explain exactly why it is true. Most of the time, I mention it in passing, or as an aside to whatever topic we may be studying in-particular, and this sometimes leaves people wondering where exactly I am getting it from, or if I just made it up!
In light of this, today I want to share with you, how we are to truly see ourselves in Christ Jesus, and why it is true. And by seeing this, it is my wish (and God’s wish) for you to stand on the solid foundation of the finished work of Jesus Christ, for you.