October 2018 Partner Letter

Dear Partner,

You and I know that the world of religion has portrayed God as heartless and untouchable. I remember a song from many years ago titled, “God’s Gonna Getcha for That.”1 If God were out to “getcha,” then you’d already be “got.” If we got what we deserved, we would all be in hell. Oh, thank God for His wonderful grace!

What is He really like? What is the truth about Him? The simple answer to these questions is: “Look at Jesus.” Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). In John 1:14, the apostle said,

And The WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The word grace in that verse comes from the Greek word charis, which means “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, goodwill, lovingkindness and favor.” Now, let’s parallel that with some Old Testament verses about God our Father. Let’s start with Psalm 145:8:

The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

Look at that: FULL of compassion and GREAT mercy! Psalm 100:5 says,

For The LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth
endureth to all generations.

In Psalm 136, we read over and over that God is good and His mercy endures forever! How long? FOREVER! Jesus was the mercy of God in action.

Listen to what He said in John 6:38:

For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Jesus was, and still is, the will of God in action. Or, we could say He was God’s compassion going somewhere to happen.

In many instances in the New Testament, the word translated mercy is also translated compassion. The two blind men in Matthew 20:30-34 cried out for mercy, and in verse 32, we read where Jesus stopped. He stood still! Those cries for mercy got His attention.

Let’s look at verses 32-34:

And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?
They say unto him, LORD, that our eyes may be opened.
So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

Remember, the Father is full of compassion and mercy. Therefore, so is Jesus.

What is all this? It’s grace. It’s the undeserved favor of God. It’s God’s overwhelming desire to treat us as though sin had never happened. According to 1 Timothy 2:4, God’s will is that all men, every living person, be saved. The Greek word there is sozo. What all does that word involve or mean? It means “save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction, injury or peril.” It also means “to save a suffering one from disease, to make well, to heal, restore to health.”

In English, we’ve thought of the word save or the phrase to be saved as referring to being born again, and that’s true. But your heavenly Father doesn’t want you sick, injured or suffering, any more than He wants you to go to hell. You can see where a lack of knowledge can get things all twisted in people’s thinking. Grace and favor, like righteousness, have come upon all men through Jesus and the new birth.

Let’s read Romans 10:9-10, but let’s include the meanings of the words sozo (verse 9) and soteria (verse 10) so the scripture reads the way a Greek reader would read and understand it:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth The LORD Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved [delivered or protected; healed; preserved; do well; be (made) whole].
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation [rescue or safety; deliver; health; salvation; save; saving].

Wow! If that doesn’t set you on fire, your wood is wet!

The favor of God (FOG) is here. Get in it. How? By faith. Begin seeing yourself the way your merciful, good, loving, compassionate, heavenly Father sees you. In His mind, you’re healed. He laid your sickness, disease, poverty and peril on Jesus. Then, when you received Him as your LORD, you were SAVED!

Begin calling those things which be not as though they were. Start today, right now, while you’re reading this letter. In your mind’s eye, see yourself saved according to sozo. Make yourself a list out of that definition and check each item off one by one. You’re not, for instance, the sick trying to get healed. No, you are the healed, and satan is trying to take your health away from you. YOU ARE THE SAVED!

Oh, yeah! That’s the FOG rolling in now. His favor is in you, on you, and for you. All just because He loves you so much. Take hold of that love with your faith, and don’t let go for any reason. The devil will try his utmost to divert your attention with feelings of discouragement and the cares of this world. But put your foot down—HARD—and don’t give an inch. Say, “No sir, mister devil, I’m SAVED!” Then read him the whole list. Tell him, “That’s not just who I am, that’s what I am!”

As I’m writing this, I see you holding your BLESSING seed in your hand and praising God because you are SAVED. BLESS your whole family by calling them saved according to sozo. Apply the whole list to each of them. Remember, that’s what strong faith in God does. It calls things that be not as though they were until they are! Stand strong.

You and I have a big assignment to get the message of salvation, in the full sense of the word, not only to the Body of Christ but also to this sick and dying world. It’s a huge job but, together, along with the grace and favor of God, we can and will get it done.

You’re very special, you know. You’re one in a million!

Gloria and I love you very much. We, and a lot of other people around here, pray for you every day.

Love,