A man without convictions is as weak as a door on one hinge.  In a postmodern world where everything is "true " or at least acceptable, convictions are becoming rarer.  But convictions give us a right perspective on life. Strangely, people have strong convictions about unimportant things like football and politics, but no convictions about the important things like the killing of unborn people or other plainly ethical issues of right and wrong. The people who make the greatest impact upon the world, are those with convictions. There’s was Paul, Jesus, Gandhi, Luther, Hitler and MauSetung.  When Jesus said “I must …..”  it was evidence of a conviction.  People can hold wrong or even evil convictions.  Therefore convictions like conscience, need to be informed by a reliable guide. The biblical definition of faith is an unshakable conviction that a thing is so.  So a person of true faith has convictions. Without a conviction about spiritual growth, people living through trials of faith, could give up.  No one stays on a task unless they are convinced it is important.  Convictions enable us to endure suffering for Christ and to reject sin and soft choices. Having convictions or true biblical faith helps us resist temptations.  We believe that the long-term consequences of sin, are greater that any short-term pleasure it provides.  We have a conviction that we are in the world to make it more like heaven, not to increase the culture and reach of hell.  We can see that the long-term blessings of obedience, are greater than any short term suffering we may experience as we obey now. These convictions come from understanding that all things work together for good, to those who love God.

Friends, when we don’t have our own convictions we are at the mercy of everyone else’s convictions.  Maybe a boyfriend who believes you belong to him or your boss who has a conviction, that he has first claim on your life 24 hours a day!  If our convictions don’t determine how we will live, others will determine it for us.  Can you list 10 things about which you have a solid conviction?

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the ass or donkey, just before the feast of Passover. It even had been prophesied "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Look, your king is coming to you! He is humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt of a donkey.'" Mat 21:5 

Jesus rode on a donkey because the ass in the Bible, is a symbol of the work of God or His Spirit in our lives.   Most of us are familiar with the horse representing man’s ability, or the work of the flesh. (Man without God).  Psalm 20 tells us “Some trust in chariots some in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord God”.  The horse is an impressive beast that man can trust in as a source of strength, in the time of battle.   God’s commentary on this is “A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither shall he deliver by his great strength (Psalm 33:17).    So where the horse is symbolic of works of the flesh, the donkey is symbolic of work of God, the work of Christ or the work of the Spirit.

In Numbers 22, the prophet Balaam got on his donkey to go on a disobedient mission. On his way, the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord who had come to kill Balaam and turned off the path. Balaam smote the donkey to get it back on track.  In the end, the donkey had to collapse under Balaam, to save the disobedient man from being killed. Balaam was angry at the donkey who protested his innocence.  Finally, the Angel of the Lord asked why he had been beating his donkey since the ass had been trying to save his life and assured Balaam that “if she had not gone to one side, I would certainly have put you to death and kept her safe.” Balaam represents all of mankind; we have made mistakes and disobeyed God. The donkey is a picture of Jesus and all that he did for us.   Jesus saw the judgement coming and acted to save mankind from the judgement of the Lord. He never did mankind any harm but like the donkey, Christ was misunderstood and punished unjustly.  He was an innocent sufferer and the persons he was seeking to save wanted to kill him.   The Jesus like the donkey asked “If I have done no wrong why you strike me? “(John 18.23). Jesus was willing to be struck wrongly in order to save man from death.

Friend, thank God for his love for sinful men.  If His “Humble Donkey” Christ hadn’t saved us by taking the punishment that we deserved, we would have met with the judgment we deserved, instead.

Sometimes we feel a little bit underpowered and think “shouldn’t I feel like a super hero. When I walk down the street shouldn't people fall under conviction and telephone poles melt into the pavement or shouldn't our day filled with miracles as the sheer power of our shadow falls upon broken people .We forget that Jesus divinity was veiled by His humanity. When Jesus walked along the street people couldn’t see obviously that he was the Son of God. Some people still thought he was the son of Mary and Joseph. He wasn’t glowing apart from on the Mount of transliteration. The rest of the time he just looked like everybody else and still needed to eat and rest. As a child he knew nothing and had to memorize the Torah by the age of 12. We can not know anybody after the flesh. Your humanity doesn’t matter;  it’s your divine nature inside that counts.  You don’t need to have a degree in order to pray for a doctor with a Ph.D.  You don’t need to have money to pray for a rich man; you have more resources than the U.N. you have the Holy Spirit. Jesus became a man, to win back that which was lost by men. What was lost by the first son (Adam) was won back by a Son of God and that dominion is now given back to the sons of God.   Jesus and us are brothers for we are both sons. The difference is that  Jesus was sinless and Jesus was the firstborn of the new creation. Col 1:15.  We are touched by sin and we are the second born.   The firstborn son in a Jewish family got the double portion because they were responsible to care for and provide for the rest of the family. It was a heavy responsibility. It was their responsibility to bear the judgement for all the other siblings’ errors and provide judgements were needed. When Joseph was about to be killed by his brothers, Rueben the firstborn said don’t kill him.   His firstborn responsibilities were kicking in.  You could say that the firstborn were liable for justice and judgement while the second borns receive mercy.  Jesus was the firstborn of the new creation. He was the one that received judgement. He was the one that brought justice so the second born (that’s all the rest of us sons and daughters) could receive mercy.

Friend,  we are the sons and daughters of God  in the world.  The Son and the other sons have the same purpose.  “I came down no to do my own  will but the will of him who sent me.” John 6.38 .  Jesus said “as Father sent me so I send you into the world” John 17.

We may feel not much different but we are completely different. We are 100% human but with a divine nature. He is resident within us and that changes everything, every moment, and everywhere.

The Grace of God creates, empowers, equips and calls us for a purpose all by grace.  Paul said “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. (1Cor 3:10)  The Grace given to Paul enabled him in his ministry. He built according to the Grace he was given.  The Grace of God is a gift to everybody but when we receive the Grace of God, He gives something to each of us in a unique way as well, so that the Grace you get, is specific to you in some way.  Grace equips you for a specific task and ministry.  Paul said it enabled him to labour abundantly.   “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1Cor  15:10).  Paul said the Grace of God in him enabled him to be a church planter, a grace which not everybody has.   The Grace of God equipped Paul for his purpose. When you have received a Grace from God, you have received a gift to do something.   Everybody has received a Grace.   Gifts like our motivational gift are from Grace, so you can do that thing really easily.  A server will serve and enjoy it a lot.  An Administrator gift won’t get stressed out having to operate that gift because it is a Grace upon their life, yet somebody else who does not have that grace, could be stressed by it.   It is the difference between burning the oil in the lamp or burning the wick of the lamp. People burnout if they haven’t been using the oil or gift of the spirit so they have to do something they are not gifted to do and end up burning the wick.  So we need to find out what it is we are graced to do and do that.

Friend, Grace is not just a doctrine to be discussed; the Grace of God is something that can be experienced.  You have experienced the grace of God if you’ve experienced Jesus working in your life.

When we need something that we don’t have, it is time for Grace.  Grace is our Fathers gift to us, to make up the difference between our weaknesses and Christ’s completeness.  We notice every day the difference between having Grace and not having Grace in our lives.  I know when people start getting on my nerves it’s time to go back to the throne of Grace. When I’m getting uptight and stressed I’ve known I’m running on my own resources. Samson went into a deep sleep and Delilah gave Samson the most expensive haircut in history.  When we are in the “presence of Delilah” more than in His presence, the strength will drain out and it will need to be renewed.  The Holy Spirit doesn’t leave us but His influence can drain from our life because we are not drawing from Him.  Paul knew from his own experience that the only way to overcome abounding sin is abounding Grace. “Moreover, the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,” Rom 5:20  He also knows that the only way to overcome abounding troubles was also abounding grace.  “And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9  You don’t have to be a strong vessel so long as you have a strong treasure. Paul was seeking to convince the people in Corinth that he was a true apostle. He had a difficult life.  He was persecuted, stoned and shipwrecked; he was hated by both Jews and false Christians.  The Greeks at the time believed that if you went through difficult times God’s favour was not upon you, so Paul corrected their thinking by revelation rather than logic.  I am going through troubles in seeming weakness that in my weakness God’s power might be revealed. (Note: This doesn’t mean that our situations cannot be changed. Many times people sought Jesus and He delivered them or changed their situation. Your current situation is not an indication that God will not change it, however, while it is unchanged His Grace is sufficient for you)The Greek word sufficient was used to describe a man who had unlimited financial resources.  Imagine having a credit card with no limit which somebody else would pay off. That’s the idea of being sufficient so with Grace you can master the moment. You can’t exhaust Gods supply of strength to you; It’s just going to keep on coming.  Often we don’t come to the throne of Grace but we struggle on through the day by ourselves.  So whether we need to overcome sin or troubles, we are designed for Grace to empower us.   The Power of the Spirit of grace was so important to believers that Jesus said wait in Jerusalem till you get it.

Friend, don’t leave home without the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

God is righteous and heaven is for the righteousness; therefore everybody in heaven must be righteous. Under the law people had to be righteous to enter paradise. Under Grace, people still have to be righteous to enter heaven.  There is no change.  In fact Jesus said except your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees you could never enter the kingdom of heaven. The only thing that has changed is how we become righteous; how it is obtained.    We can now be righteous before God by faith.  It is not a lesser righteousness, but a different means to being right before God. Jesus is the righteousness of God and if you have Jesus you have righteousness.   God demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Rom 3:26   God is not indifferent to sin in fact He is holy and must condemn sin. This is the reason Jesus was punished for our unrighteousness. Now our faith in the Savior is accounted for righteousness.  Our faith justifies us – or declares us to be as if we had never sinned.

Friend, it doesn’t mean we are righteous in our self nor is it legal fiction where God says we are righteousness when we are not. But we are actually righteous in Christ or because Christ is within us, we truly are righteous.

Singer Lorde said that you’d never be Royal but she wrong! We were born royal.  A royal priesthood meaning a family of kings and priests under the King of Kings.  This is important because our identity determines how we live. A postman gets up every day pulls on his postie uniform and goes to the post office or gets on his bike every day because he knows he is a postman.  The policeman and the accountant live out their identity too. If you know you are a son you will act like one too. After the resurrection, Jesus said, "Mary don’t cling to me but go to my brethren...".     Brothers are family!   "Tell them I am ascending to your father my father My God your God. Jn20;17 .  Let them know we are in the same family. Through the resurrection, something absolutely astounding happened.  God Almighty increased the size of His family.  He had one Son, Jesus Christ but now his family is Jesus, Peter, Andrew, Mary, Bartholomew and you! We are brothers of Jesus - we are from the same Father.  The same way the Holy Spirit came over Mary and Christ was born in her, the Spirit of God came over us and Christ was “born” in our spirit. Christ is now in us and our hope of glory. Both Jesus and all other sons are born from above.  You are born again of incorruptible seed. (1 Peter 1.23 ) A father sheep has a baby sheep, a human father has a human baby, so if the Father is eternal and his seed is eternal then the new creation born, is eternal.  We are conceived from above and birthed from heaven. We also have the same Spirit that Jesus had.   “The son gave his spirit to all the sons” (Galatians 4.6)

Friend, we are truly children of God both literally and spiritually; so let's act out of our true identity  

Corinthians tells us that we are new creatures. A brand new species and this new creation potential is totally different from all your family before you.   It's not your haircut, clothes or address that changes but you. You will see differently at every level so all of life is new. Your perception of God, others and yourself is changed. How you see yourself is more important than how you see your future. You can be told of a great Promised Land and future but if you don’t see yourself as able to enter in, you won’t be able to enter it. We can’t take the Promised Land with the mindset of a slave. And people don’t get what could be theirs, they only get what they think they deserve or that they are capable of possessing.   The most important vision is not what you see ahead of you but what you see inside yourself. Israel had trouble in their thinking.  "To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.   Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us," Eph 3: 19-20 God is able to do exceeding above what we can think.   The problem is not with God, the problem is with us- where is the limit of what we can think.   Can we think about ourselves differently and what God can do in us?  We may leave a ministry or dream or idea to somebody else because we can’t think that we are capable. To see yourself rightly is more important that seeing your future rightly.  In fact if you see yourself rightly a new future will appear.   There is a small future for the small self that you see yourself as now and a bigger future for the you, you really are.

Friend, there is a "smaller" future for the small self that you might see yourself as now and a bigger future for the you, you really are. 

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.   Abraham his 60-year-old wife and travelled south to Egypt. The Faroe noticed her and took her into his house. Jewish legends say that in comparison to Sarai, all other women looked like monkeys. She was even more beautiful than Eve.  As people get older they are attracted to people of similar age, so maybe pharaoh was quite old.  Either way, Sarah was beautiful. However God had said go into the land I will show you he never said to leave even if there was a famine so when Abraham left the land of promise, he was in effect saying that he believed God could not keep  him in the land promise. The walk of faith is all about us learning to give the word of God authority in our lives; more authority than what we see or feel. His disobedience threatened his posterity; the nation that would come from him.  Sarah’s womb from whom the Messiah descendant would come could have been defiled by a gentile king. It was difficult to live in the land of God’s promise but we can be in the will of God and have troubles and testing. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.   And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Jas 1:2-4  The devils temptation is to not trust God to meet your need and to go back to Egypt and there will be consequences.  Abraham picked up Hagar in Egypt, God forgave him but there were still consequences. Abram was not wrong for being concerned about famine and feeding his family, but Abram was wrong in thinking God would not provide for his needs in the place where God called him to live. After all, God called Abram to Canaan, not to Egypt.  Abram, like most of us, found it hard to not let what he saw and heard on the TV and in the paper  affect his faith in God’s word. Yet, God sovereignty acted to save him. He did not even awaken Abram to repentance before he did so. He just moved in and said, "I will put the story right again." It ought to be encouraging to us to see that even this big failure was not too great for God to overcome. The Lord sent Abram back to the land he should never have left and continued the story.

Friends, God is committed to helping us live in his promises. Thank God is not three strike and you’re out.  He is our father he’s trying to help us learn to live by faith.  He knows it’s to our advantage for us to learn to live by faith and He is not put off by our weakness or failure.