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sermon 7
"A Dogs Life"
I am sure some of you are wondering why I have chosen a title such as this. Well, as you read I believe it will be self explanatory. Lately, God has been dealing with me concerning the Church's lack of knowledge on their Son ship and inheritance. Most people believe that they are not worthy enough to receive anything from God nor does God hear them when they pray. So God has been dealing with me concerning "GRACE". Thousands of years religion has taught people that man must live a certain standard to receive anything from God; and I want you to know that is false. If that was so, then Jesus Christ Himself left a Kingdom in Heaven, came to this earth, suffered as a man, was crucified on a cross, died a horrible death and was raised on the third day for absolutely no reason at all. Matter of a fact, man has made the Word of God of no affect because of their religion. And I believe that the true Born Again Believers have brought this doctrine into their new life when they accepted Jesus into their hearts. They might have the assurance of their salvation, but believe that they cannot receive anything else from God. And that is such a tragic because God has so much more for them.
We will first be reading the scriptures in Matthew 15:22-28, "And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." Here was a woman from Canaan came to Jesus for help. No doubt she heard of Him how he had done many miracles and had cast out many devils and brought about deliverances to many people; and so knowing this, came to Jesus with a need she had for her own. Well, according to Jewish Law, the Jews were not to have anything to do with gentiles. According to the Jews, all gentiles were unclean with their worshiping other gods and paganism towards idols.
Now this woman was determined to get her miracle. No doubt her daughter was vexed by this devil because of a door that was opened to satan from their pagan lifestyle. But she knew that this man was no ordinary man, that He had supernatural power to bring about miracles and that there was no other that can help but Him. Sometimes we are put in situations where the only one to turn to is Jesus to get us out.
Well, Jesus gave the explanation of what the Law (RELIGION), says. That it is not meet to cast the Children's bread to the dogs. Satan is a liar; he will come into your mind and cause you to believe that you cannot receive from God because you are a dog or not worthy enough to receive from God. In fact, that is true; non of us are worthy to receive anything from God because of sin: Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" But we cannot leave the next verse out; Romans 3:22-25, "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;" See Jesus looks upon the heart and not on the outward works of man. This woman believed on Jesus and that He was the answer to her problem and Jesus knew this. When a person gets saved, that person does not have to get their life in order to do so. All they have to do is call on Jesus to come into their life. Then afterwards Christ will change all that needs to be changed in their life. The same is true concerning all the promises of God: Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"
Jesus did not answer this woman's prayer because of any works she had done, she was a cold rank sinner. He told her afterwards: O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. It was her faith which caused Jesus to give her the miracle which was needed. How much more would God give to them who have accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Too often what happens when a person comes into the household of faith is that they begin to judge others of sin and shortcomings. This will cause them to never have a clear conscience for their own selves because they are always trying to justify their own lives by passing judgment on others. Matthew 7:1-2, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." By judging others, you will always find shortcomings in your own life because non is perfect, only through Jesus Christ are we made clean. Don't get me wrong, we should strive to be Holy as God is Holy, but we cannot look towards our own righteousness to justify ourselves before the Face of God to receive all He has for us. In knowing that it is by the Blood of Jesus and His sacrifice for us, we can have that clear conscience before God, and knowing this we can have this promise: 1 Peter 3:21, "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" Hebrews 10:22, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
It is the blood of Jesus which gives us this clear conscience and not of our own selves. And if we know that we have a clear conscience, then we know that we can approach the Throne Room of God and petition Him concerning our needs and know that God will answer those things which we have asked of Him. We can have a clear conscience that we are the children of God and not just dogs as this poor gentile woman was referred to by the Jewish people. And we can have assurance that if this gentile woman who was not in the family of believers yet, and received her miracle; that we who are Born Again into the household of faith can claim all that God promises His children, and know God will bring it to pass.
When you pray, know that God is able to do all things. There is nothing that is impossible with God. Or should I say that there is one thing we know that He is unable to do and that is lie: Titus 1, "...which God, that cannot lie, ". And come to Him in the Name of Jesus. Do not try to approach Him in your own righteousness, but come to Him according to what Jesus did for you. Get you scripture and verse of what you are believing God for, and remind God of His promises: Psalms 25:6, "Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old." David reminded God on many occasions of His promises. And then thank God and believe (KNOW) that He heard you and will answer you: Mark 11:24, "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
You can have assurance that God hears you and loves you. Not only does God desire to give to us our petitions out of love; but also to prove to the world that He is a God of Truth and His Word is Truth. You should come to a place in God where you receive a miracle every day of your life. That is just one way of Glorifying our Heavenly Father.
By Guy Manuel
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