The devil's gospel.

The last 4 years of my life have been spent largely in retraining my mind: Since I started listening to Rob Rufus' message on the Grace of God, I have been in a non stop process of seeing Truth revealed and then re-aligning my thinking. So many (probably most) of my assumptions about things have been based on erroneous or incomplete data and although it has been hard to see the huge, gaping holes in the foundations of my life, it has been wonderful to see them being filled in.Even the word for this process, "repentance" has had to be redefined in me!

Everything we think or do has been learnt somewhere. We either picked it up from our parents, friends, family, a book, TV, music, etc.  The scary thing is that we don't realise how much of our ways are programmed by things like TV shows and adverts which are written by completely dysfunctional people. It's even worse if we consider that all this "programming" (because that is what it does to us) is based on the wisdom of man. It definitely isn't based on the wisdom of God because the underlying principles easily uncovered in this constant stream of propaganda are so contrary to the nature of God: Take a few moments and think about the kind of advertising you see around you all the time: Most of it promises to make you better in some way (inferring you are not good enough) or to come to your rescue in some way (inferring that you are on your own and no one is there to help you if you don't). Think about the average advert; whether it be for medicine or insurance or a car or a new toy. Their message is contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ!

One of the most prevalent propositions we are bombarded with these days is also one of the most deadly to the Christian, and I'd love to hear your comments on this.
"Buy now, pay later" is the dogma of the current age. We see it all the time, all around us. The current world financial system is built on it. Economists have been so drawn into this stupid way of thinking that they call it the lifeblood of any economy. "Credit Rating", "Credit Line", "out of credit", "Credit Card", credit, credit, credit. Governments depend on it, people are slaves to it, it's all "buy now, pay later". This has become the mantra of our daily life. Even in a spiritual way, many would rather "sin now, pay later". How sad.

We've so been programmed into this way of thinking, relying on credit to make ends meet. (I know, I still have debt to repay.) Have we thought about it though?  Have you noticed how if you don't have enough money to buy something you say: "I'll put it on my visa, I'll work out how to pay it later."

I realised that "the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion." and reading the rest of Isaiah 30 and 31 makes it clear that it hurts Him when we don't trust in Him. All over the bible it talks about God making himself known by his mighty hand, of saving his people from a terrible fate so that all may see he is God. God loves it when we look to Him for provision and just like any good father, he loves giving his children good things.

When God showed me how I trust my visa card for provision more than him, I was so trapped in the way of the world that I couldn't possibly just cut it up and close the account even though I wanted to. That revelation was a difficult one to deal with. Besides, the system had done it's work on me and accomplished what it was designed to do; to get me into debt. I wasn't set free from it in a moment, but that was the beginning of our journey to freedom. Freedom from the financial system designed from the ground up to make slaves of all men and to kill the fruit of those who have a destiny and a purpose in Christ. (Mark 4v18) 

This is where coming to Hong Kong has been so good for us. It has provided a break from the situation we were in, to be able to get perspective. We could get out of the pressure of the situation in Ireland and seek God for his solution, his will and his provision. The wonderful environment of grace in the church here has lifted the burdens of religiosity and we have been letting a continuous diet of the goodness of God slowly but surely transform our minds.

As I write this we don't have all the provision we need yet and we haven't yet seen the manifestation of the provision of God according to his riches in glory, but I now know he is for me. I am expecting goodness and mercy to pursue me, and I know it's only a matter of time before the rain. Finally, like Elijah, a cloud is beginning to form in the vast blue sky and I am getting ready for a flood. Today I am looking at Jesus, the provision from God and I know that in Him, all things are possible. Today, even as everything around me says PANIC, I am finally able to, to rest in the finished work and to trust my dear Father in heaven, who desires good things for his children. Today, I can laugh at the wisdom of the world which would have me die of a heart attack and whisper to my Father as I sit comfortably on his lap how glad I am that he is able!

You see, the "buy now, pay later" mantra has one key deception (actually many, but we'll only discuss one now) built in. The deception is the assumption that you have to pay. We can see how well the master of spin has sold his message because all religion has this lie at its root: "YOU HAVE TO PAY."

The reason it is so deceptive is because it isn't a total lie, but a twisting of the truth. God does desire payment for all transgressions, that is true, but it is only half the story. "Buy now, pay later" draws us to look at our own strength and abilities when it comes to making the payments to service the debt that we have so skillfully accumulated. It is the mindset of an orphan.

Thankfully, the rest of the story changes everything: You see, at just the right time, while we were hopelessly in debt and completely unable to even start repayments, God the Father arranged for his own son to settle all our debts out of his love for us! What is even more astounding is that he didn't just pay all the debt, he actually bought EVERYTHING! "Buy now, pay later" loses its meaning because there's nothing left to buy! Once we understand that Jesus also made a way for us to become adopted into the Father's family as heirs alongside Jesus, and that everything belongs to this family now anyway, we realize that we only need to ask the Father for whatever it is we need or want. There is nothing left to be paid for! We are family and our family owns everything. "Buy now, pay later" becomes "Paid for in full". This is the mindset of a son.