DIG for Wednesday the 26th of October…..only sing good words, sing New Covenant words…..Proverbs 18 v 21

I’ve written before about how certain worship songs impact on my life, and these are always songs with appropriate lyrics.

I say this as the tune, the chords and melody should not ‘make’ a good worship song.

It is the words that are important, we should be singing Biblical lyrics or at least words that are uplifting and encouraging.

Take my latest ‘favourite’ for example…

Sickness can’t stay any longer, Your perfect long is casting out fear

You are the God of all power, And it is Your will that my life is healed (Healing is Here by Deluge)

These are good words; these are from the Word of God.

Perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4 v 18) and it is the will of God that we live a life of healing (3 John 2).

These are good words to sing out over your life; remember death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18 v 21).

These are good words to sing out over the lives of others.

I know of some lovely tunes that are used in church but they have lyrics that should not be uttered by a New Covenant believer.

Surround yourself with good worship songs, with New Covenant lyrics that will edify, exhort and encourage.

It is important what we say, so it is important what we sing in worship.

Don’t sing nonsense and don’t sing about old covenant principles that are now passed away!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that death and life are in the power of my tongue and thank you that I can choose to only sing appropriate words”.

Proverbs 18 v 21…..Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof

DIG for Tuesday the 25th of October…..do not be formed by a con, be transformed by the truth…..Romans 12 v 2

Romans 12 v 2 is a foundational truth for every born again believer; it is the verse that describes how we can be changed (or transformed) for the better.

We are transformed by the renewing of our mind.

The verse however also gives us a warning, telling us not to be conformed to this world, not to be molded or shaped by the natural and physical things around us.

Whenever we take in information through hearing, seeing etc. we are taking the opportunity to be either conformed or transformed.

Things of the world can conform us and things of the Lord can transform us.

We decide what we input into our minds, we decide the process that we take part in.

We decide whether to listen to the truth or to lies.

In church the other day I was preaching on this, about being conformed or being transformed and a friend had a real insight; she said, being conformed is when we are ‘formed’ by a ‘con’.

This is very true, as the things of this world are contrary to the Word of God and are therefore lies or cons.

The Word of God is the truth and it is the knowledge of this that will see our minds renewed and see us transformed.

If we know the truth we will be made free (John 8 v 32).

It is knowledge of Jesus that will lead us into life and godliness (2 Peter 1 v 3).

It is the understanding of Scripture that will lead us towards perfection in our mind, will, emotions and body (2 Timothy 3 v 16 and 17).

Feed your self with truth today and not the lies of this world; reading this DIG is a good start!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and for the marvellous truths held within”.

Romans 12 v 2…..And be ye not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind

DIG for Monday the 24th of October…..don’t worry if people laugh at you…..Matthew 9 v 24 and 25

Jesus didn’t really care what people thought of Him; He did what the father wanted Him to do and did not bother about public opinion.

We should also live our lives with this mindset.

I have to be honest and say that, due to where I live in the world, I have never felt in physical danger or at harm due to my faith.

I have however had people laugh at me and make fun of me.

Again being honest, this used to bother me and hold me back from sharing and expressing my faith.

In Romans 1 v 16 Paul writes that he is not ashamed of the gospel, this also needs to be what we say and think.

Who cares what men say and think about us?

Who cares who laughs at us?

Who cares what men say about us behind our backs or to our faces?

God loves us, God accepts us and God approves of us; I don’t know about you but this is enough for me.

The world may see us as fools but God sees us as His sons and daughters.

That is nothing to be ashamed of, and men can laugh at me all they wish.

The world laughed at Jesus, just accept that they are going to laugh at you; and love them and bless them!

Speak this out today……”Thank you Lord that in your eyes I am righteous (accepted and approved) holy and perfect”.

Matthew 9 v 24 and 25…..He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose

DIG for Sunday the 23rd of October…..the important thing is what you know, not what you do…..2 Peter 1 v 3

Many people in church are striving to be ‘better’ people, trying to sin less and really pushing to live more holy lives.

This is admirable, however it is not possible to change in this way.

I am not saying that I don’t want to see people sin less and have more righteous and holy actions; I just believe that most people are going about this the wrong way.

The way to see less sin and to see more holy and righteous actions (what we could call godliness) is through knowledge (2 Peter 1 v 3).

The way to a godly life is to increase your knowledge about Jesus; this is what that verse says.

As you increase in knowledge, or ‘knowledge gained trough first hand experience’ as a biblical dictionary quotes this word, we will be changed.

We are transformed (or changed) by the renewing of our mind, by increasing our knowledge base about Jesus.

Put more simply as you increase what you know your actions will change for the better.

You see the important thing is not what you do it is what you know, because as you know more (about Jesus) this will change what you do!

Did you get that?

Read that again if you are not sure!

As you learn more about what Jesus did for you and what you were made as a gift of grace through faith you will be changed; that is a Biblical promise!

Speak this out today….”Thank you Lord for your Word, thank you that this is what I can use to increase my knowledge of Jesus”.

2 Peter 1 v 3…..According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue

DIG for Saturday the 22nd of October…..the first healing school…..Mark 3 v 14 and 15

I have just had the awesome privilege of teaching at the regular healing school at Charis Bible College in Belfast.

While looking at what I had prepared for the session the Lord said, “Look at Matthew chapters 8 and 9 again, do you see what Jesus is doing?”

I looked as I was teaching from this passage.

The Lord then said, “This was the first healing school”.

Wow I thought, of course it was!

Jesus was gathering His disciples around Himself and then teaching them how to heal, how to raise the dead and how to release the Kingdom here on earth.

Jesus gathered twelve disciples together to spend time with Him, in order so that He could teach them how to do what He was doing.

Once they had been taught He sent them out.

I saw what the Lord was telling me, that the students here were carrying on in this teaching process and that I was to encourage them with this.

Jesus taught the disciples who taught others who taught others who taught others etc etc.

This is of course similar to the process Paul taught Timothy about (2 Timothy 2 v 2).

We are at the current end of a long line of people who have been taught to heal but we are not the end of this line, as we are to carry this on.

And it was an absolute delight to be in a school today where these truths are being taught!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that healing is for today and that there are people being taught on how to minister this healing”.

Mark 3 v 14 and 15…..And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send forth to preach. And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils

DIG for Friday the 21st of October…..build up your foundations to keep your building strong…..2 Timothy 2 v 15

I am currently having the pleasure of being at Charis Bible College in Belfast, seeing how a college is run and meeting the leaders and students.

The director picked me up from the airport and we drove through the city centre, where I saw the Albert Memorial Clock Tower.

This had started to lean in the past, so the foundations were built up to strengthen the building and ensure that it did not collapse.

This is a great picture of what Bible study can do in the life of the believer.

As we study the Word and develop good understanding of fundamental truths we build up our foundations.

In another picture we could say this helps us develop a good root system

A plant cannot produce good fruit unless it has a good root system.

A building cannot stand tall unless it has good foundations.

A believer cannot progress and develop in their faith unless they know the foundational and fundamental truths of the Word.

They need to know the truths about complete forgiveness, about that God has provided all the healing and abundance we need and about justification through faith for example.

We need good foundations, a good root system, so that we can stand against the struggles of life and produce fruit.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and thank you for the fundamental and foundational truths held within”.

2 Timothy 3 v 15…..Study to hew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth

DIG for Thursday the 20th of October…..what saith the Scriptures…..Romans 4 v 3

When I was preparing for my last message at MGF I was reading through the start of Romans 4 with regards to righteousness through faith, but something else caught my attention.

Paul seemed to be asking some questions in Romans 4 verses 1 and 2.

He then said something wonderful, he wrote, “For what saith the scripture?” (Romans 4 v 3).

In order to answer his questions he said we should look in the Word.

That is a wonderful piece of advice that we should all take on board.

If we have a question tonight we should say, “Well, what does the Bible say about this?”

The Bible in fact should be our first port of call with regards to every question of note that we have.

I’m not saying look in the Bible for what to eat tonight or what to wear tomorrow, however it is there for important questions.

Of course, we may not get a direct and obvious answer, but we will see guidelines and counsel and advice that we can use.

The Bible is there for us to know and use and follow, it is a help that we should utilise more.

When Jesus was being tempted by the devil he said, “It is written”.

Three times He fought off the devil with the Word, maybe we should be using it in our life as well?

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and thank you for the guidance and wisdom within”.

Romans 4 v 3…..For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness

DIG for Wednesday the 19th of October…..same truth again and again…..Titus 3 v 8

If you read my DIG on a regular basis you may think that I am rather repetitive.

Looking back at recent DIGs I have regularly written on righteousness, a truth that I firmly believed every believer should fully understand.

This repetition however is Biblical.

While writing to a pastor called Titus, Paul wrote that the fundamental truth of justification by grace should be a truth to ‘constantly affirm’ (Titus 3 v 7 and 8).

Men are justified, or made righteous, as a gift of grace through faith, faith in Jesus and His finished work.

The verses also tell us why as pastors, we should affirm constantly this truth.

The Word says we do this to help people maintain good works.

This seems the opposite of what many of us hear in church, being told to do this and do that, stop this and stop that.

Preaching law does not promote or maintain good works, in fact preaching law pushes believers into more sin (1 Corinthians 15 v 56).

Telling people about the finished work of Jesus, and that they have been justified as a gift of grace through faith, promotes more holy and righteous actions (Titus 3 v 8, and 2 Peter 1 v 3).

Grace promotes holy actions while law promotes sin, and that is what the Word of God says.

So if you read my DIGs in the future do not be surprised when I ‘affirm constantly’ that you have been justified by grace through faith.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have been justified by grace through faith in Jesus and His finished work”.

Titus 3 v 8…..This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men

DIG for Tuesday the 18th of October…..but surely we need to ask for forgiveness…..Ephesians 1 v 7

I have been known to preach about forgiveness once or twice!

My usual point is that we have all already been completely and unconditionally forgiven for all our sins.

I can say this, as this is my understating of Scripture.

We are told we have already been forgiven through the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

We are told Jesus dealt with all sin for all time once and for all at the cross (Hebrews 10 v 12 and 14).

Now, nearly every time I preach this I hear the same comment, and that is, “are you telling me I do not need to ask for forgiveness anymore?”

The answer to this is yes!

You do not need to ask for something you have already received.

Every man has been forgiven for every sin.

I am not saying every man has been saved, but all have been forgiven (and reconciled) thus opening the way for salvation.

So, we do not need to ask God for forgiveness, it is a done deal and something we already have.

We should thank Him and enjoy our forgiveness!

Speak this out today….”Thank you Lord that I have already been forgiven for all my sins through the shed blood of Jesus”.

Ephesians 1 v 7…..In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his glory

DIG for Monday the 17th of October…..get the foundations strong before you build your building…..2 Timothy 2 v 15

At conference last week I heard a phrase that my wife had used in a sermon a number of years ago.

I want to share this with you tonight, as it is a phrase of real wisdom.

“The depth of your foundations will determine the height of your building”.

What this is saying is that if you want to really grow and develop in your Christian walk you need to put in place good fundamental teachings.

In order to grow you really need to understand the basic truths of the faith.

You need to know you have been unconditionally and completely forgiven through the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

You need to know that you have been reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5 v 18).

You need to know that as a believer you have complete acceptance from God and the unconditional approval of God; in other words you need to know that you are righteous.

And you need to know that were made righteousness as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus and not through your own works (Romans 3 v 28 and 2 Corinthians 5 v 21).

You need to know that God loves you unconditionally (1 John 4 v 10).

As you will see all the truths mentioned above have Scripture references, this tells us that all the fundamental and foundational truths we need to know are to be found in God’s Word.

Our responsibility is to find these truths, study and meditate upon them and then believe that they are relevant for us.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and thank you for the many truths held within”.

2 Timothy 2 v 15…..Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth