Hank’s Place

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Matthew 22:39 records Jesus’ words, that we are to ‘love our neighbor as ourself.’

Yikes! What if you suffer from self-rejection? Hate who you are? Where does the strength come from to love one’s neighbor despite what they have done to you?

If you go to church, I’m sure you have been told to love your neighbor as yourself, since Jesus said it in Matthew. Ah, be careful there my friend. Remember, I’ve told you before to take a look at who is speaking, and who the audience is before you assume the words of the Gospel are for you to obey. Why? Because the New Covenant did not come in until Calvary. Most of the Gospel accounts record the time prior to Calvary, where Jesus spoke the Law to the legalists and grace to the humble.

In this case we find the Pharisees have banded together and sent one of their own, a lawyer, to question Jesus in an effort to trap Him. If we read it and think it is for us, we may believe we have to come up with the inner strength to love others. If we are even partially successful, it will likely feed our pride but more likely it will minister condemnation (that’s what the Law does) as we realize we cannot love that sinner.

And if you’ve been badly hurt by someone, being told you have to love the one who hurt you is well, next to impossible. You may try to forgive them, but find it is just too hard.

Thanks be to JESUS who ushered in a better way. The New Covenant way. At first it may sound even more impossible. John 13:34 reads, “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Jesus repeats this in John 15:12, saying, ““This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”

Yikes! Jesus loved us to the uttermost, the guttermost as preachers may say. He surrendered His innocent life to rescue us.

So what can we do? How about admitting we cannot love according to the new commandment. Then ask Jesus to help us to love others as He did. And ask Him to heal the hurts of our own heart. And that we may know the Father’s love for us.

As we receive the Father’s love, we will be healed, made whole, and empowered to love others, even those who have wronged us.

Yes, receive His love, then share it with others so they may — COME ALIVE!

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Paul Ellis in his Escape to Reality series, made the pithy observation,
“Religion says, “Make promises to God.”
But the Good News says, “Trust God’s promises to you!””

Awesome! In Deuteronomy 5:27 the people said to Moses, “Go near and listen to everything that the Lord our God says; then speak to us everything that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.” You could say the Old Covenant was — quite religious. Man was given rules to obey. Man promised to keep the rules. Man broke the rules. Repeatedly. Religion sets the framework for failure, for there is nothing in religion that empowers a person to fulfill its demands.

In Deuteronomy 5:28 and 9 the Lord responded, saying of the Israelites, “They have done well in all that they have spoken. If only they had such a heart in them, to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it would go well with them and with their sons forever!” God knew outward rules do not affect the heart, and what Israel needed was changed hearts. And that would only come later through Calvary and what Jesus did there — for us!

Thank God for the Good News! Jesus our sin bearer, punishment taker, heart transformer, new creation maker, and so much more!

Some of the ‘so much more’ is that God has made promises to us — our part is to believe God will KEEP those promises. That’s faith! Promises like eternal life, never to forsake us, to dwell in us forever, to give us an eternal home in heaven, to answer our prayers.

Here’s another promise: to keep us from the ‘hour of testing.’ That’s found in Revelation 3:10. The entirety of the Good News speaks of patient endurance in the face of trials. Even the coming of Jesus “in the fullness of time,” Galatians 4:4, implies patient endurance of sinners by God. And consider the patient endurance shown by Jesus in every step of His earthly ministry where He experienced opposition, resistance, rejection.

The Philadelphians continued to believe the Good News in spite of opposition and rejection. They ‘kept the word of His perseverance,’ continuing to persevere, trusting in Jesus regarding their salvation. No going back to avoid difficulties.

My friends, Jesus keeping us from that hour of testing is a powerful promise! Keep believing Jesus continued through and purchased salvation — for you!

Yes, continue in the faith — you’ll COME ALIVE!

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Welcome to Hank’s Place – 

Paul begins Romans chapter 8 with a revelation about the grace of God. “THEREFORE” he begins, “there IS NOW – NO CONDEMNATION – AT ALL – for those who are IN Christ Jesus.”

Talk about the Good News of God’s grace toward us, my dear friends! And it is all thanks to Jesus; not our feeble efforts to please God. Not us walking right or getting things right. Paul says it is for all who are IN Christ Jesus. That’s important. Since God the Father does not condemn Jesus, neither does the Father condemn those who are IN Jesus. Believers. You and me. We are not condemned by God; we will not be condemned. We just cannot be condemned for we’ve been placed IN Him.

In chapter 7 Paul described the predicament that came with being told the right thing to do. Even if he wanted to do right, he found he could not. His flesh successfully resisted. In himself he stood condemned, and so do we. We all have need of a Savior! And our Savior has placed us IN Himself.

That first word, “Therefore,” speaks of a logical conclusion. And that is, if we are IN Christ Jesus, then we are ONE with Him. He is the head of the body, we fit in the body. Since He is not condemned; neither can we be condemned.

Notice Paul writes “NO condemnation,” not “less condemnation.” That’s where many believe they are – thinking their standing has improved in Jesus. It has not been improved, it’s been COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED, changed to a status of “no condemnation.”

This place of confidence and peace with God comes after the confusion and conflict we found in Romans 7. Notice that our position in Jesus Christ is the reason for no condemnation. We believed in Jesus, He forgave our sins, took our punishment, made us Come Alive to God with new natures. If we walk according to the Spirit or waver according to the flesh, it does NOT affect our status of “no condemnation.” The blood of Jesus has taken care of us, not our walk.

Verse 1 shows we are free from the GUILT of sin. And what about verse 2? It tells us we are free from the POWER of sin. It reads, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

The law of sin and death was a strong and seemingly absolute law. Every sin we commit and every graveyard proves it. But the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is stronger still, and this law of the Spirit has FREED US from the law of sin and death. Although we may sin, we don’t have to sin; we have been freed from sin’s dominion. We are also free from the law of death; death no longer has any lasting power against the believer.

My believing friend, see today that God has placed you IN Christ Jesus where there is no condemnation. You are free from the law of sin and death. So rebuke that spirit of condemnation that’s been hounding you, or hovering over you — and COME ALIVE!

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Welcome to Hank’s Place –

Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 writes, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty IN GOD for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, bringing every thought into captivity to the OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST.”

This is really awesome dear friends. Paul is writing to Christians, Christians who, like us, are tempted to think in a worldly manner and to employ worldly methods in an effort to accomplish God’s purposes. Paul reminds them, and us, that we are different; we live in a different kingdom, God’s kingdom, ruled by King Jesus, and that our weapons are NOT like those of the world. We have spiritual weapons — and it is those spiritual weapons that are needed for the spiritual warfare that surrounds us all.

Most people think of carnal worldly weapons as things like guns and swords, but Paul was referring to the world’s manipulative and deceitful practices.

In Ephesians 6, Paul listed the spiritual weapons he used: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. When the voices around us all shout “Do something! Act! Smear your opponents! Tell lies, bully, coerce, manipulate,” we instead rely on these spiritual weapons — and that takes faith in God. Paul reminds us they are mighty in God; they work!

David Guzik, author of the Enduring Word Commentary, points out that Christians often rely on and admire carnal weapons for the Christian battle.
The belt of truth? Nope. Use manipulation.
The breastplate of righteousness? Nope. How about the image of success.
Shoes of the gospel? Nope. Use smooth words.
Shield of faith? Nope. How about the perception of power.
The helmet of salvation? Nope. How about lording it over others.
The sword of the Spirit?Nope. Use human schemes and programs.

Remember, these Corinthian Christians had the strongholds in their own minds. They made the arguments against God’s mind and methods. They held on to every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We miss it if we think the love of manipulation, the image of success, smooth words, the perception of power, lording over authority, and human schemes and programs are just problems among unbelievers.

The carnal, human way is to overpower, dominate, manipulate, and out-maneuver. The spiritual, Jesus way is to humble ourselves, cease being “I” centered, and let God demonstrate His resurrection power through us.

When we fight with our spiritual weapons, we cannot be defeated; in fact we — COME ALIVE!

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Recently I’ve been thinking about LIGHT and ETERNITY, SPACE-TIME, Albert Einstein’s theories of general and special relativity. And the BIBLE — and GOD. While not a science book, everything the Bible has to say scientifically — is true. God authored the Bible, and God does not lie.

Let’s take light. God did. Genesis 1 says He first created the heavens and the earth. Perhaps that means space-time and placed the earth in it. Then He commanded light to be, and light was. And light was — that means instantly. From earth we measure light at a constant 186,282 miles per second. Nothing can exceed the speed of light, even light. If you were moving at nearly the speed of light and turned on a flashlight in the direction you’re heading, the light from the flashlight would still be measured at 186,282 miles per second.

Back to Genesis 1. In verses :14-17 God placed the sun, planets, moons into the great expanse. And I love how simply Genesis 1:16 states, “He made the stars also.”

The James Webb space telescope is finding hundreds of billions of galaxies beyond what we could measure before. Stars beyond our ability to count, but God even calls them out by name. Scientists claim the far distant galaxies are over 13 billion light years away, and claim therefore the earth and this universe cannot be a mere 6,000 years old. A slam dunk, right? Not so fast….

Perhaps you have seen science fiction movies where space travelers go far away at near the speed of light and return to earth a short time later by their clocks, to find the earth has aged decades, even millennia. The movies are relating a true, proven phenomenon. As an object’s speed increases toward the speed of light, an external observer will measure that object’s time clock as slowing down, although if a person were on that object they would not be aware of that. Time dilation it’s called. Time slows down as you approach the speed of light. Isn’t that fantastic? There’s something else, called the Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction, where the apparent length of an object, or distances between objects, shrink as the speed of light is approached. The foot long ruler in the spaceman’s hand still measures a foot by him, but an external observer finds it shorter.

What’s this got to do with far away galaxies? Their light, moving at the ACTUAL speed of light, is getting to their destinations, planet earth in this case, INSTANTLY, for there is NO TIME and NO DISTANCE at the speed of light. This agrees with Genesis 1:15 where God placed bodies in the heavenlies to serve as lights in the expanse of the heavens — to give light on the earth; AND IT WAS SO says verse :17. Distant starlight reached earth instantly, not in billions of years.

We believers in Jesus are children of the light. One day He will catch us up to be with Him. Snatched away. How long will it take? The speed of light: instantly, no time at all. One moment we are here, the next we are with God. We dwell in the light, a different place from any place in space and time. Our mortal bodies put on immortality as we fully become citizens of heaven, of eternity, eternally!

Think of it, living at the speed of light, with no time, no aging, seeing Him just as He is. WOW – at that moment, truly, we’ll have fully COME ALIVE!

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Welcome to Hank’s Place —

Is the Great Commission getting you depressed? Do you see yourself as pretty wimpy when it comes to sharing the Good News? You’ve barely gotten a Good News sentence or two out in the past week? Month? Year?

Well, you might just need a reminder on what it is you are sharing. Words from GOD. Mark in the 4th chapter of his gospel records Jesus’ words when He’s drawing farming parallels to the word of God and people’s hearts. There we find 3 parables, that of the sower and the soils, the seed sprouting, and the mustard seed.

Jesus explains that the seed in these parables is the word of God. Jesus makes clear that the word of God itself is both ALIVE and POWERFUL! In one parable, the farmer sows his seed. Then in ways mysterious to the farmer, the seed takes root, sprouts and grows. The farmer doesn’t make it grow; he sows it and the seed, being alive, takes root and grows. 

We sow God’s word. ALIVE words. These ALIVE words are able to take root and sprout and come to maturity in the lives of those who hear it. We don’t have to understand how, for this is God’s doing – and it is marvelous!

And how about the mustard seed parable? It shows that even if what we share is tiny, almost nothing, what counts is not the amount we shared but WHAT it is: the LIVING and ACTIVE word of God. The parable shows that that little bit can grow hugely in a person’s life!

Feeling better? How about the sower and the seeds? That parable begins with “Listen!” and ends with “If anyone has ears to hear….” How important it is for us to listen for what God is speaking! The soils make that clear. 

‘Why speak in parables?’ asked the disciples. In response Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:12, where it sounds like God doesn’t want people to understand Kingdom truths lest they repent and He will begrudgingly have to forgive them. 

Confused? Don’t be. Isaiah penned those words when Israel was in great rebellion against God. If God spoke clearly, in black and white to them at that time, say with a few lightning bolts and singed bodies, they would have turned back to God, outwardly, to avoid judgment, but their hearts would not have changed in the least. And God would have had to forgive them. 

But — with parables, those refusing to listen, and learn, would continue their rebellious way, while those who did listen would learn, understand, repent from the heart and be forgiven. Clever, hmm? 

So dear friends, share some Good News. Perhaps you are planting a seed. Or seeds. Or watering. Even one seed can change lives! So share. You’ll be helping others — COME ALIVE!

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Welcome to Hank’s Place — 

The other day in a quiet moment, my mind began drifting to thoughts of God. I was seeing in a sense the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and I became aware of their boundless, infinite love for all of their creation.

It seemed I could feel something of God’s heart, and His yearning to lift us up and have us become like Him, that we might gaze into His eyes and He into ours and share — in one another. Like what a husband who truly loves his wife may do and the wife with her husband. No barriers, no obstacles, no limitations, no focus on faults or issues of life: there simply aren’t any in the relationship!

But how could this happen with creatures having free will and bound to fall short of His glory? Well, as you know, the Son came to earth, dwelling in bodily form, Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:19 says the fullness of the godhead dwelt in Him. The Son took the punishment for everyone’s sins and transgressions, for all time – Isaiah 53:6. 

Because God is a just God, our sin, rebellion, and transgressions required this punishment, and Jesus took that punishment upon Himself, even for people who refused to repent and receive their forgiveness, that all be without excuse.

But we, who have turned to Him, having made Jesus our Savior and Lord, are transformed into new creations. God actually comes to take up residency within us. He fills us – with Himself. That’s according to Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:19.

We new creations are sealed by the Holy Spirit; a down payment of what we are headed toward, of what we will fully be. It is 1 John 3:1-2 that says, “See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we ARE children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

What I’m saying is that God has set in motion His plan that we should be united with Him eternally. It sounds preposterous, God united with His created beings, but remember Ephesians 5:31 and 2, where Paul writes, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.”

My friend, in some marvelous unfathomable way, Jesus chose to be united with His bride, the Church, you and me – and everyone who is born again. It is an eternal union, for it is God who has done the joining together.

This is beyond amazing! Meditate on it – you’ll COME ALIVE!

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Welcome to Hank’s Place — Updated Classics (Epilogue)

I’ve just concluded the series “The Cross Changes Everything.” Hopefully it has been a life-changing series for you!

The last episode touched on the challenges the Galatians faced. Law, rules, obedience to the Judaizers — versus Grace. Many of US today are experiencing the same struggle the Galatians encountered. We were doing fine until those Law adhering Christians showed up from somewhere. They were telling us, like the Galatians, that faith in Jesus was only the start of a new life and keeping the Laws of the Old Covenant, or the Church, or their group, was more necessary now than ever.

But how WRONG they were! Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of ALL things, including our relationship with God. Revelation 22:13.

Paul wrote them, “You foolish Galatians….” You saw Christ crucified for you. Then you received the Spirit of the Living God — how? By works of the Law; or by HEARING WITH FAITH? Paul’s argument is exactly the same for you and me. Having begun, being born again, by the SPIRIT of God, are we now being perfected by the rules we keep? Through our fleshly efforts? The check boxes we tick off? Does God provide us with His Spirit by OUR own efforts? Does God perform miracles in our midst by OUR adherence to the Law? Or ANY church laws — or by HEARING WITH FAITH?

If you think blessings come your way because of your prayer life, think again. If you think you are missing out on blessings because of your lack of a prayer life, think again. It’s HEARING WITH FAITH. Check out Galatians 3:2, Galatians 3:4, Galatians 3:9, and Galatians 3:14. HEARING WITH FAITH my dear friend. Abraham heard God. Abraham believed God when He promised Him heirs, and it was counted as righteousness to him.

The promise has come to us as well, LIFE that is found only in Christ Jesus! Hallelujah! If you think healing comes your way through your positive confessions, think again. HEARING WITH FAITH. If you think prosperity comes your way through tithing, think again: HEARING WITH FAITH.

Our prayer life, sacrificial giving, our faith confessions, whatever our activities may be, do not earn us blessings. What matters is faith in Him.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us ALL things?” Romans 8:32. All of God’s gifts come to us freely by His grace. A God who gave us His greatest treasure – His Son – will withhold nothing from us. By faith. 

Hear the word concerning Jesus. Hear all that He is. Savior. Healer. Deliverer. Protector. Life Giver. And more.

HEAR that word. Receive that Good Word today by FAITH — you’ll COME ALIVE!

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Welcome to Hank’s Place — Updated Classics

Paul in Colossians 1:27 tells us of a rich and glorious mystery, Christ, the Anointed One, God Himself, was LIVING IN the Colossian believers. How can that be? They were Gentiles, and ignorant of the Mosaic Covenant and all that people must do to be acceptable to God. As Gentiles they had no covenant with God. No Ten Commandments. No rites, rituals and observations. So what did they DO to EARN the right to have God Himself living IN them, making them complete in Him, and blessing them with every spiritual blessing?

The simple answer: THEY DID NOTHING. OBEYED NOTHING. They BELIEVED the Good News, that GOD had accomplished salvation, and offers it freely to everyone. Forgiveness of sins. Justification. Righteousness. Eternal life. Thanks to the BLOOD of the CROSS, people without a clue to the ways of the Living God found this Living God—LIVING IN THEM!

A few miles to the east of Colossae, the Galatians found themselves in a touchy situation. Some law-abiding Jewish believers had come by to try to get them to obey all the Jewish Laws in order to be ‘proper’ Christians. ‘Authentic’ Christians.

Paul corrected them. That’s found in Galatians chapter 3. Verses 2 and 3: “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? Verse 5: “…does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”

Then Paul reminds them, and us, that Abraham BELIEVED GOD, and God counted him RIGHTEOUS. He quotes from  the Old Testament, reminding them we can’t obey just some of the law, but we must obey ALL the rules or we put ourselves under a curse! He boldly declares that the Righteous live by faith and that focusing on keeping the rules is NOT of Faith.

If you have been trying to be a good, obedient, rule keeping Christian, one that God can be proud of, well, your thinking is Old Covenant. Your striving has been in vain.

We were made to live by the Spirit. DON’T GO BACK to observing rules, even perfect rules like the Ten Commandments. Don’t look back. Stay on this side of the CROSS — keep looking to Jesus, and live by the Spirit. That’s how we COME ALIVE and STAY ALIVE!

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Welcome to Hank’s Place — Updated Classics

In Moses’ day, people were afraid of God, and rightly so! In Exodus 19:8 they asked Moses to bring down instructions for living from God’s mountain, and it says that all that God says, they promised to do. The 10 Commandments were among all the rules. All required strict adherence, through the power of the flesh. But flesh is weak, so although the commandments appeared to be rules to keep, they were in fact a mirror – to point out our shortcomings. And they were perfect at it.

Fast forward to Jesus’ day, a perfect time, for it was the fullness of time. For over a 1,000 years the Jewish leaders had opportunity to learn that mankind cannot obey God’s rules – that we needed a Savior. By this time Israel should have or certainly could have, been ready to receive Jesus as that Savior.

But the Pharisees and teachers of the Law placed their traditions and interpretations AHEAD of God’s Laws. They emptied the Law of its power to condemn. The Law’s perfect purpose was thwarted: sin was not being named as sin. Like clever lawyers the leaders found ways to excuse sin and promote self-righteousness.

Today we often hear a mixed message of Law and Grace. Law – just listen for the “if’s” – “if you do this, then God will do…” or, “you need to do this before God will do…” And the message is mixed with GRACE. When we hear what God has done, especially concerning Calvary, we are hearing grace. Acts 20:24 says the Gospel is the Good News of His GRACE. 

We may hear that God gave us the Holy Spirit to help us keep the 10 Commandments. This is incorrect! Galatians 3:12 says, “But the Law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”” The Law is a “to do” list. It is NOT of faith, but it is faith that pleases God. It is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:27. And, “…without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6.

Here’s our point: the Holy Spirit is NOT GOING TO HELP US KEEP A SET OF RULES, for rules are NOT of Faith. It is having faith in GOD that pleases God.

There are a lot of voices out there, a lot of confusion when Law and Grace are mixed. I pray you not be confused my dear friend. Simply walk in the Spirit, live in the Spirit. Hearken to the Spirit. Find true LIFE and FREEDOM by simple faith in the Living God. Cease striving – enter His rest. It’s your day — to COME ALIVE!

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