By now, those who do not wish to enter God’s promises while on earth are scratching their heads. We pause to address their concerns. Is God’s love conditional, dependent on the points we have made? Do you need to become acquainted with God, return to God, and receive instructions from Him for you to become His child? The answer is no. Not all believers will aim to be like Elijah. Their sole interest is in the “now hiring” sign on heaven’s gates.
They want to make it to Heaven and do not care much about the quality of the journey. While others may desire to travel in first class, they are happy with not being on the aircraft at all. They would gladly travel by road or rail, and if all else fails, they would walk. But for those who want to live in the abundance Jesus promised in John 10.10, the “now hiring” sign is just the beginning.
In the days when the economy was booming, you could see a now hiring sign hanging on almost every retail door. All you had to do to be accepted was to apply, and you were in. It is the same with God. On the gate of Heaven, there is a sign. God has filled the ‘store’ with all the good things of heaven, and has sent His only Son to hang up the now hiring sign.
All who see the sign and apply can get in. Salvation is as simple as that. Of course, unless you apply, you remain outside the grace and love of God. In that case, the now hiring sign is useless in your life. But all who apply, God will not reject. They come on board and start to enjoy the unconditional love of God the Father.
The Now Hiring Sign Represents Grace
Without that first step, hell is the goal. So, to avoid hell, we must ask God for His unconditional love. He accepts us just as we are. We must settle this concept of God’s unconditional love in our minds. Anything other than that makes us religious, which is the opposite of Christianity. You may already know that religion is man’s effort to please God, whereas Christianity is God looking for us.
God does not require works from us to love us. Believing that we need to do anything to earn God’s love and grace is like thinking you had a hand in setting up the store. That is what the Pharisee in Luke 18:11-13 believed. The bible says he was condemned. We must not get the impression that the steps we describe in this series on God’s promises are to get God to love and accept us.
God loved us so much that He sent Jesus to hang up the now hiring sign. Anyone who sees the sign and applies becomes a member. You may not know what the shop sells or who the other employees are. That will come later. I once had a job, and later discovered that the section head had forbidden any existing employee from moving up into the position. That boss claimed the office created that post for me. But I knew nothing of all that while I was on the outside. I applied. In the same way, we are to apply to God after seeing the now hiring sign.
Just as an employee does not have a hand in determining the products in the store, we did not have a hand in Jesus coming to save us.
From Clerk To Manager
God did it all by Himself and sent Jesus to hang up the now hiring sign as heaven’s way of finding us. If you respond, you are saved and on your way to Heaven. That is grace, pure and simple. You can remain on the shop floor and be regarded as a beginner, or aspire to become a manager. It is your choice. The way the bible puts this upward movement is in line with points we made already. You remember how we said we were in kindergarten? Well, the Bible encourages us to leave the discussion of elementary principles behind and go on to perfection. In other words, those who want to be managers cannot remain in kindergarten. Keep in mind, a baby cannot decree or give commands to others.
So, if your goal is the ability to command and direct others, you have to move from now hiring to the manager level. At that level, you may have the power to punish (the devil) if he fails to obey your commands.
To obtain such power, there are conditions, or what we refer to as triggers in this series. If your situation is satisfactory, where the devil laughs at you when you try to command, you can stop reading at this stage. Or you can proceed, like Jabez, and see God grant your requests.
If you keep firing the triggers, you may soon become the company CEO, where you have the power to hire and fire. At that stage, even the devil is afraid of you. If that describes you, pay attention to the steps that we are considering here. You will soon be able to decree and declare, and it shall be established to you. Stay tuned.
Maranatha!
