Once Upon A Time…

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Once Upon a Time… Such were some of you… 

and me… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

But… you were washed – you were sanctified – you were justified

If… you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

Change… from unrighteous

To…

 

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Through nothing we have done… through nothing we have deserved… through nothing we can offer…

We are changed!

Therefore… from now on we recognize NO ONE according to the flesh; (saint or sinner) … if anyone is in Christ, HE IS a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5;16-17)

It all seems soooo EASY… It all seems sooooo IMPOSSIBLE… It all seems sooooo MAGICAL… sooooo Bewitching…

Galatians 3:1-3 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

We begin to believe that WE are the author and perfecter of our faith. We begin to believe that WE have become experts in SIN(and sinners) DETECTION.

We begin to believe we were NEVER Once Upon A Time like THOSE PEOPLE!

We become JUDGES instead of PRIESTS! We become LEGAL EXPERTS at what is or is not the “proper” works of the Law instead of PROCLAIMERS of the excellencies of Him who has called you.

We do indeed live in a world that specializes in judgement. There isn’t a moment when we are not being told the lies of our enemy that we not only have a RIGHT to judge but we are HIGHLY QUALIFIED!

Genesis 3:4-5 “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.”

We are tempted!

Did you know that being tempted is NOT a sin… at least not OUR sin.

We have an enemy and he is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) In every area, in every venue he is actively pursuing hatred of God and hatred of each other. He encourages accusations because he IS the accuser of the brethren.

We are tempted to become an accuser like him! We are tempted to make ourselves a “higher” creation by tearing down God’s greatest creation – our fellow human.

We are tempted to answer his call to war by retaliating with his kind of weaponry.

We try to legitimize the temptation (like Eve) by seeing the VALUE of it… good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that it was desirable to make one wise (Genesis 3:4)

Once Upon A Time we could have easily justified EATING OF THE FRUIT of temptation.

But now… it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13)

We desperately need to let God work!

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. 

Once Upon A Time we FOUGHT God like some in our world do today. Once Upon A Time we were one of them… the worst of the worst… destined for eternal destruction.

John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

Surely, the world still operates the same old way, but inside us new things have come… a new name… CHILD OF GOD!

We have been set free from the old things! But we still live in our Once Upon A Time world that is hurtling toward destruction.

We cannot escape the violence and hatred, we cannot ignore the devastation happening around us.

We have no right to judge, though it is a human trait to try to find the cause of our misery and destroy it before it destroys us. But I ask you, what exactly does judging accomplish?

Does it promote unity which will allow us to join together in building up rather than tearing down?

Does it keep evil away? Not even for a minute!

Does judgement fulfill anything except a momentary desire to pound the gavel so that we might pretend to be in control?

We are far from the rule of law in our country, which is meant to produce safety and peace and freedom. We are a country built on freedom – freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. I am ALL IN!

I believe in the law… but… I believe there is only ONE LAW by which we can learn the art of living abundantly for now and eternity… the law of LOVE! Not the human brand – the  “Idiot’s Guide to Love”. God’s love!

John 3:16-19 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son go God. This is the judgement, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light

We, who are saved by Jesus, and have become children of God, have to live in this playground of bullying and bullies. Once Upon A Time we were the bullies doing the bullying… but today, the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. 

I bet you know some people who are just like you were – Once Upon A Time! I bet some are even your neighbors!

Once Upon A Time you might have hated them…

Today, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18)

New things have come… it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13)

Our Once Upon A Time has now become… A Time Such As This…

God doing His work in each of His possessions!

There is a training manual for playing the game of life His Way… it’s called the Bible.

But don’t try life-training by yourself! Join all of God’s children for Family Game Day/Night, happening now in His Throne Room… “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am in their midst.” (Matthew 18:19)

Not a minute of time spent in the presence of God will be waisted. Whether for conversation, training or communion, God’s Words spoken into our lives by Him, will ALWAYS accomplish what He sends them to do!

God is good all the time… AND ALL THE TiME… God is good!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible