I’m writing you this morning just before Brenda and I hop in the car to make a run to Texas. As much as I dread the drive, there are two incredibly positive factors in the forefront of my mind: first, I always love the time Brenda and I share when we travel. We turn our road trips into a long date! Secondly, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the health and energy to be able to give myself fully to my call.
I want to remind you that every victory and loss is important in ways you may not realize for your long term well-being. In my last letter I shared the principle that you always get more of what you have unless you change the beliefs of your heart, which is part of the primary message of the Parable of the Sower (the Heart Physics® parable). For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him (Mark 4:25). I want to help you turn the tide so you are constantly getting more of what you want instead of more of what you don’t want.
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There are so many factors that can influence the beliefs of the heart. In the beginning the person who experiences disappointment or failure in a certain area will have negative feelings about the failure or loss. But if that feeling of failure continues, in time they will pass judgments about themselves. Now they no longer feel bad about the failure, they feel bad about themselves. When this happens they are influencing their heart concerning their ability, worthiness and other areas that result in an identity shift.
This is why it is important to repeatedly experience small, daily victories. Every victory in any area is part of changing your course and making this Heart Physics® law work for you instead of against you! Two core concepts in what I call the hierarchy of the heart are self-worth and self-confidence. Self-worth is totally based on faith. Do I believe God is who He says He is and do I believe I am who He says I am? These are the core beliefs that sculpt our self-worth. These two realities connect us to the love of God, which is the absolute core of self-worth, i.e. self-value.
Self-confidence is totally based on our behavior. To the legalistic this is unconceivable. The “law-legalist” makes performance about earning righteousness and favor from God. The “grace legalist” thinks any consideration of behavior is dead works. They are both wrong!
We have two inner voices or witnesses, both of which speak in our heart: the Spirit of God and our own mind. These two sources of input comprise what the Bible calls the “conscience.” The word “conscience” means (among other things) “self-awareness, shared knowledge, co-perception, or to see.” In other words, we see and perceive based on what God’s witness is saying, but then that information is colored by what our own soul is feeling or saying. This is particularly true in the area of self-awareness. Our knowledge of self, i.e. our perceived identity is a mixture of what God says about us and what our behavior says about us.
Since we are created in the likeness and image of God our greatest call in life (in fact, it is the one thing for which we have been predestined) is to be like Jesus (Romans 8:29). Since God is love and Jesus is the express image of God (identical in nature) our highest calling is to express the love of God to the world around us. (Remember, when the Bible talks about love it is talking about God’s definition of love.) The one true fruit of our personal growth is our capacity and willingness to walk in God’s love. This is the measurement of maturity.
The Apostle John warns of the consequences of not walking in love. This is another passage that legalists of any type cannot grasp.
My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight (1 John 3:18-22).
Walking in love is the one thing that assures, persuades and convinces our hearts that we are, in fact, sons and heirs of God! Any person who struggles with the assurance of salvation is usually struggling with a conscience that condemns their heart because of their behavior.
The great thing about this verse is that God is greater than our heart. Just because my heart finds fault with me and attempts to convince me that I am not a child and heir of God, is no indication of how God sees me. So, many “grace legalists” dismiss this verse and the idea that our behavior matters.
But John goes beyond the mere legal application of this verse to the practical, applicable factor. We must always identify the basic meaning of any truth but we should then always determine how this affects us in daily life. When our heart condemns us we lose confidence toward God. As dual conscience is when the eye is not “single,” our perception of God and ourselves is skewed because we have two conflicting voices (feelings) in our heart.
When these conflicting factors are activated we no longer see clearly. This shared view is like having good vision in one eye and bad vision in the other. It distorts our perception of everything we view, but the most devastating occurrence is my loss of confidence before God!
When I lose confidence before God I cannot receive (take hold of and bring to myself) the things for which I pray. This does not say or imply that God is withholding anything from us. It is purely an issue with my heart. This is the primary cause of wavering in our faith, i.e. shifting from believing and trusting to not feeling sure.
Few people ever grasp verse 22. It is the reason many self-enlightened people reject John’s writings. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. This sounds like absolute dead works… when you interpret it out of context and apart from the full body of truth.
God’s love is laid out in the Commandments. The Commandments don’t tell us how to earn righteousness, they tell us how to walk in love one toward another. If I walk in love I pay my debts, I avoid slander, I keep my word and I am faithful to my spouse. This passage started by reminding us of the benefit of walking in love: our heart is persuaded that we are children and heirs of God. What happens if we don’t walk in love? Our heart condemns us and we waver so much we can’t receive from God! Then it brings us back to the biblical basis for love: the Commandments. By walking in love based on God’s definition and not Humanism our heart assures us and we have the capacity to receive (take hold of and bring to ourselves) the things of God!
Giving so others can hear the Gospel of the Kingdom is an incredible act of love. Because of what you have received in your own life you have chosen to make it possible for others to share this same experience.
Each time you contributed or purchased material you made it possible for millions to hear the message of grace, peace, faith righteousness and unconditional love. You helped marriages heal. You made it possible for leaders around the globe to be trained. You put teaching materials in prisons. You made it possible for people in secret home churches in hostile, antichrist nations to hear this message. You helped equip believers for the dark days that are coming on the world. You helped take the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth! Thank you so much for your generosity.
In 2016 we will reach farther than ever before. In the upcoming days and weeks I will share many of our plans for expanding our outreach. Together we will continue working as one and…
Together will continue changing the way the world sees God! Be sure to check the new section on our website we are developing for our World Changers Family. Over the next few weeks we will populate this area with more and more tools, resources and personal connections.
Blessings,
Jim & Brenda Richards
PS Brenda and I are traveling but we will have the February World Changers’ Message posted before the 5th.