Goodness & Love - Part 2, Psalm 23

This excerpt continues from "The Skill Saw Father" excerpt and is taken from a message I gave on 5-13-11 at Christ Community Church near Atlanta. This message launched a four week mens study group around the S&U film guidebook.

In this excerpt I delve into Psalm 23 and Davids revelation of an always good and loving Father. To hear or download the message in it's entirety CLICK HERE

The message is titled "Goodness and Love."


I also have a blog that delves deeper into this revelation. To read CLICK HERE

Goodness & Love - Part 1, The Skill Saw Father

This excerpt is taken from a message I gave on 5-13-11 at Christ Community Church near Atlanta. This message launched a four week mens study group around the S&U film guidebook.

In this excerpt I explain how important it is to understand the nature of our heavenly Father. To hear or download the message in it's entirety CLICK HERE

The message is titled "Goodness and Love."

Its a powerful message that the church is growing in today. One that will set us free to become world changers!



I also have a three part series on this blog that delve deeper into this revelation. To read part one CLICK HERE
Part two CLICK HERE
Part three CLICK HERE

Prone to Love (6) - Zacchaeus

Zacchaeus was short and he was also a sinner – no relation. Zacchaeus was a man who was unfamiliar with Love - mostly because as I just stated, he was a sinner, but also because he was a chief tax collector. It’s assumed that he used his position of power to steal from, and cheat the people in his hometown of Jericho.

One day, while sitting in a tree in order to catch a glimpse of the arriving famous fella from Nazareth, Zacchaeus encountered the good news. He met Jesus, who loves both sinners and apparently even tax collectors.

I imagine you know the story. It’s found in Luke. It’s also been wonderfully preserved in a children’s song that employs the words wee and little. As Jesus is walking through the crowded street past Zacchaeus’ tree, he looks up and by name he greets the short fella. “Zacchaeus, I must come to your house tonight!” He says. And then Jesus, Love in human form, the Son of God, goes to the wee little sinner’s place for dinner.

Now I want to point something out that is absolutely stunning. Not once does Jesus mention Zacchaeus’ sinful ways. Not once did He chastise him, correct him, or challenge him. There was not even insinuation or eye rolling. No suggestive mothering tone in Jesus voice, quite the opposite. Jesus actions are loud and clear. “I love you and I am going to treat you the way my Father see’s you. He value’s you, He see’s goodness in you, and I will celebrate you.” Jesus honors Zacchaeus. There was no shame, no condemnation. There was only Love.

Then the coolest thing happens; Zacchaeus is transformed. Where just moments earlier we had a sinner, now suddenly we have a saint. The old sinner, now saint, declares that he will give half of what he owns to the poor and return four times what he stole.

How did this happen? Jesus was the Father revealed. Zacchaeus saw his Father and then himself from his Fathers perspective. Zacchaeus was living in one reality when he was introduced to a greater revelation – Love. From his Fathers perspective, Zacchaeus was supernaturally generous, he was prone to love. Zacchaeus encountered Love, saw Himself from Loves perspective, and decided to agree with how Love saw him.

I would like to suggest that this is how our heavenly Father always interacts with us. He determines to see us through the heart of Love. Every encounter I have ever had with God has been this way. He is intent on me knowing He loves me. And it is His greatest desire that I believe Him. When I meet with Him, there is never condemnation, shame, or guilt. He never seems interested in bringing up my past weaknesses or failures. Instead, when I find myself in his presence, I am simply humbled by His good love.

Hear me, I am not saying I am unaware of where I’ve failed, it’s just that I am infinitely more aware of who He is and that He dwells in me. I am not belittling sin; I am praising His love. I am not ignoring evil, I am celebrating His goodness.

I am convinced that God so desires us to know and believe His love simply because in doing so we are set free to become saints.

The bible makes it clear, Zacchaeus was a thief and a liar, he had a sinful nature, he was prone to wander. But one encounter with Love changed everything. In the natural, Zacchaeus was a sinner, but when he saw and encountered Love, he was transformed into a saint. It’s not in the nature of a sinner to give like he gave. But it is in the nature of a saint. Saints are generous. And saints have the capacity to give supernaturally.

As a believer I am learning that what I think about me should always be determined by what my heavenly Father thinks about me. I so want to see myself from my His perspective. You see, through Gods eyes, Zacchaeus wasn’t a self-centered, small-minded, thieving, liar; he was a generous large-hearted believer who was capable of giving more than half of what he owned away. When we see ourselves through Gods eyes, we become saints, capable of all the things that sinners aren’t.

The moment Zacchaeus realized God saw him as generous he became generous. It’s that simple. I would like to suggest that this is how we become world changers. We simply encounter Gods nature and agree with it. We simply experience a revelation of our Fathers love and live in agreement with it. In His love I am a generous man! I am kind, and patient, and merciful, I’m full of grace. In His love, I am prone to love... and so are you!

Prone to Love (5) - From Sinner to Saint

The power of the song “Come Thou Fount” is the revelation that we can always know His Love. The song is about a journey to the cross. It is the good news that just keeps getting better. But the song is the begging of a story, not the end. You see, the cross is the launching pad, the foundation, the slingshot that propels us into the victorious, miraculous, greater works existence Jesus modeled and told us we had access to. The cross is only beautiful because of the empty tomb. We celebrate his death because of His resurrection. The power of Love is perfected when sinners become saints. That was the whole point of Jesus death and resurrection - that we would encounter Love and become love.

Jesus never once was “prone to wander” or “prone to leave the God He loved.” He came earth to settle that exact issue once and for all. He came to set us free that we too might see, encounter, and become love; that we might be transformed from prone to wander, to prone to love Him!

I think that if a person sings the line “prone to wander” as a testimony, it is stunning, powerful, life-changing revelation. But when a Christian, as a proclamation, sings those lyrics, they are debilitating and destructive. While the song is brilliant theology for the sinner, it is devastating theology for the saint.

I no longer sing “prone to wander.” I can’t, it’s not true; my Dad said so. Instead, when I sing this beautiful hymn, by faith I agree with how my Father see’s me. I sing, “prone to love you Lord I feel it, prone to serve the God I love.” And I can't help but cry tears of joy while I sing this. Why? Because not only is it the cry of my heart, but because of my beautiful best friend Jesus, it's true!

My journey is a headlong discovery of my Fathers love. There is no greater discovery ever made and I am learning like my grandmother, the discovery of His love sets me free to become love. In fact, my revelation of my Fathers love is what transforms me…

Prone to Love (4) - Faith

Ethan recently got a brand new Buffalo Bills jersey. When he walked into the room wearing it, he was smiling ear to ear. Then he asked me an awesome question, “Dad, do I look as good as I feel?” I laughed, “Son, you look even better than you feel!”

I think the reason it is so easy to believe we are prone to wander is because we have all done some wandering. We have all turned our backs on Love; we have all sinned. I get it. I have lived with me my whole life. I have had a front row seat to my failures. I’ve been there when I did something that I am not proud of.”

That said, this whole “prone to love Him” thing, it’s about faith. Faith is not discovered in our feelings, it’s not determined by our surroundings, and it’s not controlled by our past. Faith is birthed in the discovery of our Fathers nature. And it’s always about a future and a hope. In fact, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” I would like to suggest that while it takes no faith to believe we are prone to wander, it takes great faith to believe we are prone to love Him.

Jesus told us that without faith, we can’t please God. It’s a leap of amazing faith to agree with our Father regarding our righteous nature when there is plenty of evidence to prove otherwise. And I’m convinced this is the “faith” that truly pleases Him.

You see, faith is the currency of Gods Kingdom and what we spend our faith on determines how we live. If I believe I am evil, then every bad thought confirms it. If I believe I am unholy, then every failure confirms it. If I believe I am unworthy, then instead of running to Love in the midst of temptation, or hardship, I hide. If I believe I am prone to wander simply because I have, then I have determined that my past is more powerful than Gods Love. If I believe I am prone to leave God because I feel like it, then my feelings might as well be my gospel.

I am on an amazing journey in which I am discovering the same thing my grandmother discovered. Because of Jesus life, death, and resurrection, I am no longer prone to wander. Just the opposite, I am prone to love Him! The moment I said yes to Jesus, my very nature underwent a radical transformation.

I am growing in my Fathers love. I am growing in faith. I am choosing to believe that what Jesus did at the cross was enough and in Him, well, I look good! I am choosing to see myself from my Fathers perspective and agree with Him. And every time I see myself from Dad’s perspective, I hear Dad say, “Son, you look even better than you feel!”

Dear church, I would like to suggest that we are holy by nature. Our DNA changed the moment we said yes to Jesus and we are now righteous. We are saints. Our heavenly Father sees us through the love of His Son as powerful, and with all His authority. He sees the goodness in our hearts. He sees the love that we have for others. He sees world changing generosity, mercy, grace, and kindness. He see’s spiritual giants who will transform the world with His love - if we would just take the leap of faith and agree with Him...

Prone to Love (3) - The Conversation

I ran into a friend the other day at Starbucks. I was leaving and she was just arriving. It didn’t take long however, before we both found a seat, as our conversation was invaded by Gods always good love.

After quick hellos, our discussion stumbled into a topic much debated at church water coolers across the US. She wanted to know my thoughts regarding a controversial Christian book that had recently released. I hadn’t read the book at the time, so I had no opinion on its content. But I sure loved the title…

I told her so. Then, almost as an aside, she asked, “Are you writing anything controversial these days?”

“Not in my opinion.” I laughed, “That said, I have discovered that many Christians find one of my messages to be controversial.” Having missed out on the first controversy she was game for a new one. “What is it,” she asked smiling.

"Did you know that both you and I are prone to love Him, we are righteous, we are inherently good, holiness is in our DNA?”

I watched her face as I spoke. By the time I was finished telling her how amazing we were, I could tell that we had found something “controversial” to talk about. I was excited, its always fun to tell someone how God sees them.

I laughed, “You don’t believe me, do you?”

She smiled, “Well, I guess… I have always been taught that we have a sinful nature… What do you mean by prone to love Him?”

That’s when I told her about my grandmother. Then, because she didn’t know my grandmother, I threw a few scriptures in to make it legal.

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Cor. 5:17)”

And

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)

And

“Anyone who is a child of God does no sin, because he still has God's seed in him; he is not able to be a sinner, because God is his Father.” (1st John 3:9)

And

…put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

I continued, “When we said yes to Jesus, our old sinful nature died with Him on the cross. The old self, or the old things, has passed away; they’re dead. We are now new creations in Christ; we are “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Over the next half hour I shared about how our heavenly Father always looks at us through the lens of Jesus’ death and resurrection and therefore He always likes what He sees. Not only does He look at us through His Son, He has invited us to agree with Him regarding how He sees us.

While we may often feel like spirituals dwarfs, He sees us as spiritual giants. While we may occasionally act like sinners, He still treats us like saints. While we may be convinced we are prone to wander, He believes we are prone to love. I think the journey all believers are on is a journey like that of my grandmother. We live to discover our Fathers love and become transformed until one day we can agree with
God not just about His nature but also about our own.

I could see as I talked that she was becoming both excited and also a little nervous. She was excited because just maybe it was true, and if so, it was wonderfully good news. She was nervous because, well, she has lived a long time with herself…