Power Of "IF"

 Key Scripture: “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5,6

Power Point:

     I always cringe a little when people become Christians and then begin reading the Old Testament.  It always raises difficult questions. Life seemed to be very “iffy”.

     Fortunately, for us, Jesus did away with the “if”! Sometimes we continue to live as if the “if” still applies.  In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit had not yet descended because Jesus had not yet died and been resurrected. Things were definitely “iffy”! 

IF you were obedient you would be blessed. IF you did only what God said, He would have favor on you. You really can begin to understand the dilemma of the Pharisees and perhaps even have a bit of sympathy for them.

They lived in a world, and had always lived in a world where obedience to the law was the only way for God to bless them. The Holy Spirit, the Power of God, appeared for brief moments.  You probably remember King David, in Psalm 51:11, begging the Lord not to take His Holy Spirit away from him. That’s how they lived.  Fearful, confused, and set apart from the Lord.

IF they were obedient then God would smile on them. And if they weren’t-well, who knew what would happen.  The truth is I can understand why they used the words “FEAR GOD” a lot.  You can see that the Pharisees were so dedicated to be being in God’s good favor that they tried to make enough laws so that they would measure up. It was a pretty big yardstick because they were never sure of themselves or of God.

When Jesus came, you can imagine their shock at His words of grace and mercy. When He said, “I have come to fulfill the law”,  it must have been inconceivable to them. When He died for every sin, He released every grace that God had for us.  Those ten commandments were fulfilled because the sin that separated us was gone and the Holy Spirit descended to actually live IN us to take out the “iffy” things.

All the power of God has come to live in us and work in our lives, bringing grace, and mercy, and working every thing out for good. He came with a flood of promises. And He came to stay. It’s so sad that we sometimes choose to live thinking “iffy” thoughts isn’t it?  There are still those niggling little questions about ‘have I done enough good things to make God show up or have I fallen short?”

Beloved, the extraordinary thing about Jesus is He set us free from all the “ifs”.  Once sin was dealt with, once and for all, we were invited to come and stay in God’s open arms.  

     Galatians 6:9, is a kingdom principle. It says that “if” you sow something in your life, you will reap it.  How about sowing faith in God’s goodness and His promises to NEVER leave you or forsake you?  How about believing that you have received all the power you need to make your life an abundant one? How about declaring that He is a “very present Help."  Beloved, we need to realize that all the “ifs” are gone now.  You still have a choice to be blessed or not, but you are always in position to be blessed if you are His child. That's the only "if" that remains.

     Will you break that measuring stick in two and throw it on the fire. You are PERFECT for Him when you are in Christ. There are no conditions on His love for you, and no limits on His grace and mercy and kindness towards You. He IS a very present Helper, in the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself promised that things would be different for us because He takes our sins and sends the Holy Spirit to be with us always.

     What a way to live! What a glorious way to live! Secure, filled with faith, hope, and definitely, consistently loved. Beloved, God has always known you wouldn’t make it on your own. He knew you would fall short of His glory. He sent Jesus and Jesus sent Holy Spirit to take the “if” out of Christianity.

Don’t go back into bondage of believing you need to measure up. Jesus made you perfect. I know-I don’t understand it either but I love the thought.  Today I’m going to live like that; secure, blessed, full of faith for my future, and very, very grateful.

How about you?

Power Thought:

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. His anointing abides in you, whether you feel like it or not. there are no "ifs" about it.  If that's true how will you live differently?