Lesson 8 The New Creation

     For years, the Church has been taught to see ourselves as merely forgiven sinners.  This has kept us more aware of who we were, rather than who the Father has made us to be.  We see ourselves as unworthy, unrighteous and never worthy to have God look down upon us or to speak or to act on our behalf.  We expected that everything good would happen only when we arrived in heaven.  I understand Christians wishing to be humble, but we've been so aware of being prideful, that we have walked in false humility instead.
     I'm not condoning arrogance or being puffed up, but I'm speaking about being honest.  If anyone outside of Sunday morning called you unworthy or a beggar, then there would a fight, but in the Church, we put on our "Christian face."  When I speak of being honest, I'm speaking of truth.  Jesus said that, "The Words I speak are Spirit and truth" in John 6:63.  Truth overcomes fact.  It is a fact that Jesus was crucified, died and was buried, but the truth is that He isn't dead.  Romans 3:4 (Amplified) says, "Let God be true, and every man a liar."
    2Corinthians 5:16-17 says that we are a "new creation."  We're not simply forgiven, but we're made a new creature altogether.  The Greek Concordance says we're "a new creature that never existed before."  Through faith in Jesus, we have been made a new creation, one that is righteous and in right standing with God.  We're a new creation that has been justified and made to be one with Jesus Himself.  We are something this planet has never before seen.
     In John 17:15-20 (Amplified), Jesus said, "I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world) (Just) as I am not of the world. Sanctify them (purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy) by the TRUTH; YOUR WORD IS TRUTH."  Verses 18-20 go on, "Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And so for their sake and on their behalf I sanctify (dedicate, consecrate) Myself, that they also may be sanctified (dedicated, consecrated, and made holy) in the truth. Neither for these alone do I pray (it is not for their sake only that I make this request) but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching."
     When Jesus made these statements in prayer to the Father, the Holy Spirit truthfully recorded what He said, "The Words are Spirit and Truth."  This truth says that we are not of this world, but a new creation people whom He sent to us as the Father had sent Him.  I refer to Romans 3:4 (Amplified) again, for those who do not believe this, "Let God be true, and every man a liar."
     I realize that this sort of teaching goes against most everything we've heard and learned in our Christian walk, but it is TRUTH.  This isn't something to puff us up or sacreligious, but is to raise up a Body of believers who will do what we were created to do in Jesus.  This might seem "out there" and not even something to consider, to some, but to those who dare believe in God's Word, it's simply God's family doing what He "birthed" us to do.
     You should read the entire chapter of Ephesians 3 through the Holy Spirit, but especially Verse 10 which says, "His purpose is that through the Church (the complicated, many-sided) wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere."
     This chapter tells us that it is through the Church, the world and satan will see what God has done and is doing now.  We've been leading people to salvation all over the world, but have raised up very few adult Christians who have "Made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in heavenly spheres."  Many Christians are unaware that these even exist.
     Acts 19:14-16 (Amplified) gives us the account of the seven sons-one named Sceva, "But (one) evil spirit retorted, Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you? Then the man in whom the evil spirit dwelt leaped upon them, mastering two of them, and was so violent against them that they dashed out of that house (in fear) stripped naked and wounded."
     Jesus and Paul were certainly made known to the "angelic authorities and the principalities and powers", because God was exalted through the Church in His wisdom and His Presence by this new creation people.  Satan recognized this new creation people as those to "obey" and have to "bow" the knees at the Name of Jesus.

Lesson 7 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amplified) tells us, "We are no longer seen as purely natural men any longer, but after the Spirit."  We have become a new creation in Christ Jesus.
     For years, many of us have believed that we will become a new creation, after we get to heaven.  God's Word says that we are now, no longer viewed as merely human people, but after the Spirit because the new birth has made us new creations.  We, the Church, are a new species of being that has never before existed.  We've been confirmed into the likeness of the Risen Christ and have actually become His Body here on earth.
      This understanding changes everything, because we are not of this world system and people, we have the God given ability to function on a much higher level of being.  Through the Holy Spirit, we have been delegated the power of attorney to operate in the very authority of Jesus' Name and standing with our Father.
     For centuries, satan has feared the time would come when God opens this revelation to His Church and the time of the End of Days would be upon this planet.  When this happens, satan wouldn't see just a mere handful of people walking in God's power, but a multitude of them.  Satan has fought hard from the Day of Pentecost until now, trying to keep this from being known.
     On the Day of Pentecost, satan witnessed one hundred and twenty people become something had had no power over, at all.  Miracles and wonders were seen throughout the land.  Demons trembles at the though of God's mighty Spirit born people being loosed on the earth.  Paul, Steven, Phillip, Peter and John, along with many others, were now doing the works Jesus Himself had done on earth as a Man.  Now the same Spirit was living in men, was set loose upon the world and satan couldn't stop it.
      Satan had tried killing off these new creation people before this truth could be known, but even while imprisoned, Paul wrote to the churches revealing this awesome truth.  He then had to use the very thing that always worked before, religion.  By turning truth into tradition, satan once again made God's Word to no affect.
     The Church struggled not only to grow, but to survive.  Satan had opened up his entire arsenal against God's children.  He murdered them at every opportunity and tried to "abort" the baby Christians, before they could reach maturity.  He had to prevent their growing up into maturity and strength.
     We were bringing people all over the world, to the Lord and getting them born again, but very few were living long enough to grow up.  Satan perverted the Truth through lies and tradition, in order to weaken the Body into futility.  The Kings and Priests of God's household, were nearly helpless under the assault of satan's lies.  Even when some would be raised up in truth, it seemed so far from what we thought was truth, that many looked upon them as deranged, like in Jesus' time.
     Saul of Tarsus was a very devoted Jew, who believed it was his calling to stop the movement Jesus began.  He was actually deceived into thinking that Jesus' message wasn't true.  When the Lord revealed the truth to him, satan could no longer use him to spread fear among the believers of the early Church.  Paul became satan's worst enemy, after learning the truth.  After receiving the revelation of the church, Paul set out to undo the damage he had done, before he knew about the new creation. 
     Satan tried everything to silence Paul, but nothing could stop him.  Even when Paul was thrown into prison, he sang praises to God loudly enough that "God inhabited the praises of His people" and the jail fell apart.  Satan pressed on in his attempt to silence Paul and finally he was imprisoned in Rome, so satan believed his troubles were over.
     Paul continued receiving revelation from God, even from his confinement, and sent letters to the churches about the truth of the new creation.  Satan, again, tried to bring revelation into religion, to make it powerless.  Paul wrote to the church in Galatia about this very thing in Galatians 3:1-3 (Amplified) saying, "O you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you, unto whom-right before your very eyes-Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was openly and graphically set forth and portrayed as crucified? Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing its works, or was it by hearing (the message of the Gospel) and believing (it)? (was it from observing a Law of rituals or from a message of faith?) Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun (your new life spiritually) with the Holy Spirit, are you now reaching perfection (by dependence) on the flesh?"
       The moment the people heard the truth of the new creation, satan tried bringing it back under his control into the flesh.  If the truth of the new creation entered into the spiritual revelation of God's new family, then it would no longer be a thing satan could control.  Because he is the god of this world system, satan could control the fleshly religion and man by the works of the flesh.  But,he had no control over the spiritual life that had now come upon mankind.
     The new creation was to be just like Jesus was on the earth, a flesh and blood temple of the Holy Spirit.  The new creation was where God Himself could now live and dwell in the midst of the earth and bring heaven to earth by His Presence here.  This was what satan was so fearful of.
     He couldn't control one Man (Jesus) Who was filled with the Holy Spirit of God, so how could he control millions of people who were just like Him?   From the Day of Pentecost until now, the devil has fought to keep this truth from being preached because "Faith comes by hearing the Word of God," according to Romans 10:17.  Whenever God's Word is preached, it brings forth (by faith in what was preached) a new creation people.
     The devil doesn't fear religion that he can control by the flesh.  There will be a remnant of people who will receive this truth and begin walking in it, so the earth will once again see the glory, power, mercy and the majesty of God displayed in the earth like never before.
     NO GRASSHOPPERS HERE!!!

Lesson 6 The New Creation

As Christians, we have worked hard to become righteous and to be accepted by God, for many years.  We've struggled with our past and tried believing in heaven, for when we leave this earth.  If you asked my Mom (I led her to the Lord after I got saved) about going to heaven, then she would always say, "Oh! I hope so."  For some reason, we've found it difficult believing what we say we believe.
     The Word says in 2Corinthians 5:17 that those of us who are saved, are a "new creation."  We've not some recycled sinners, not are we somehow excluded from our Father because of imperfections in our performances.  I didn't have to do anything to become a human being, I simply had to be born.  I didn't have to be perfect, nor did I need worry about what I would be, I simply had to be born.
     The things that happened to me after I was born, made all the difference in what sort of person I would be, but I was still a person.  Many people were raised without a father or even a mother to guide them.  As they grew into adulthood, they were all faced with decisions that would form their lives, but they were still humans.  As Christian people, we merely had to receive Jesus to become born again into a new creation.  Everything you would be or hope to be, was already in your DNA.  We were slike a jar of Prego, "It's all in there."
     The things we were taught from God's Word or learned growing up, was based on what we would believe.  Many were raised and taught condemnation, along with a sense of always being unworthy in our Godly walk.  Many struggled their entire adult lives, trying to become righteous.  As we learn from God's Word in these Last Days, we know that we don't need to struggle with becoming righteous, because it came with the new birth and new creation through Jesus.
     Believing what we say we believe, frees us from striving to become what we were already made to be in Christ Jesus.  There have been few people in the Church's history, who simply believed they were righteous because the Word says they were.  We are always kept under the bondage of satan's deception, without understanding the new creation birth.  And, this deception prevents our being what God has already made us to be.
     There is nothing we can do to be made righteous and in right standing with God, except receive it by faith in Jesus.  Anything else is self righteousness.  When you realize who you really are now and know your Father is there to guide your walk with Him, you can be like Isaiah 54:13-14 (Amplified) says, "And all your (spiritual) children shall be disciples (taught by the Lord and obedient to His will) and great shall be the peace and undisturbed composure of your children."  Verse 14 says, "You shall establish yourself in righteousness (rightness, in conformity with God's will and order), you shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear and from terror, for it shall not come near you."
     God made you righteous.  God made you a new creation.  God made you fearless and now God says we "Shall be taught of the Lord."  If He is going to teach us and lead us in His paths of righteousness for His Name's sake, then He will do like Psalm 23:3 says, and will "mature" us into what He "birthed" us to be, a "new creation."  We're a people this planet has never seen before, nor dealt with before.  We're not old covenant sinners who must be forgiven over and over again by the sacrifice of bulls and goats, but we're a new creation who "died unto sin," because the "wages of sin is death."  Romans 6:4-5 (Amplified) says, "We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious (power) of the Father, so we too might (habitually) live and behave in newness of life For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be (one with Him in sharing) His resurrection (by a new life lived for God)."
     Romans 5:10 (Amplified) says, "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more (certain), now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin's dominion) through His (resurrection) life."  It's only when we we have revelation that we will have the boldness to become "mature" sons of God.  You're already God's son, all that was needed was for you to be born a new creation.
     Jesus was speaking about how a "House divided cannot stand," in Luke 11:17-22.  We believers and new creation people, have been divided in what we believe (on a personal level).  If I truly believe that I'm in right standing with my Heavenly Father and believe I'm truly a new creation in Him, then I will be able to stand in my day of trouble.  But, if my house is divided in my faith in His Word, then can I stand?
      Jesus spoke about satan's house or his control over men, in Verses 21-22 (Amplified), saying, "When the strongman, fully armed (from his courtyard) guards his own dwelling, his belongings are undisturbed (his property is at peace and is secure (satan's hold over man). But when one stronger than he attacks him and conquers him, he robs him of his whole armor on which he had relied and divides up and distributes all his good as plunder (spoil)."
     Jesus is the One Who is stronger and has already "spoiled" the once "strongman (satan)," as well as taken from him, the armor (guilt, shame, condemnation, sin and even death).  Satan no longer has anything he can trust in to "hold" his house or kingdom.  Satan was once the strongman who controlled mankind with sin and death, but now the One Who is stronger than he has come and satan's house has fallen for the believer.  This is why we must understand the new creation.
        

Lesson 5 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amplified) says, "We see no man after mere flesh, but after the spirit.  Even though we once did know Jesus as a Man, we know Him now as the Risen Lord and not a mere Man.  Verse 17 goes on, "We, through Jesus,have become a new creation."
     Satan has had us believing, for many years, that we "were only forgiven sinners," but this isn't true!  Jesus, by His Own sacrifice, did what the Law couldn't do.  We are not only covered by the blood of goats and bulls, but totally cleansed by the Blood of Jesus.  Jesus' Blood is on the Mercy Seat of the heavenly Holy of Holies and it forever speaks on our behalf.
     We have actually been born again into a new creation and have been translated into the very family of God by His Word.  1Peter 1-23 (Amplified) says, "Even though we are still housed in this body of flesh, we are eternally alive in Christ Jesus."  Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, (there is) now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live (and) walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (the law of our new being) has freed me from the law of sin and death."
     If we continue following the dictates of the flesh (the flesh continues telling us that we are only forgiven sinners), then we will continue living in a state of guilt and condemnation.  The flesh has to be brought into subjection to your new creation.  If we walk and live by the dictates of the Spirit, then we can actually live without the guilt and condemnation of the forgiven sinner.  2Corinthians 5:16 (Amplified) says, "We no longer see any man (including yourself) after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
     Once the truth of this is settled in your spirit, you can step out of the bondage that satan has held us in and walk in the fullness of our new creation.  The only thing satan has to hold us with is our past, this has been his greatest weapon against the Church for two thousand years.  He remembers who you were and fears who you have now become.  As long as satan can keep the memory of the new dead man in your conscience, he will hold back the power of who you have now become.
     This might seem like something well known to us, but really it isn't.  We might read it and acknowledge it as true, because it's God's Word, but the revelation of the truth has never really brought light into our minds.  We wouldn't dare say that God's Word isn't true, but still not have the revelation of it to bring full liberty to us.
     The new creation was born by God's Own Word, who is Jesus Himself.  We weren't halfway born or have become almost God's sons, but we are born again by His Own Word as new creations.  Just as He has created something from nothing in the beginning, He has done this in the spirit of every Christian.
     The sufferings we endure here on earth, are due to the fact that satan has pulled out all weapons in his arsenal, to prevent our seeing who we really are now.  We are still more involved with who we were before, that we fail seeing who we really are now.  Most church services still identify more with our problems in this body, rather than our identity in Christ.  Satan strategically kept us believing that the new birth is for when we get to heaven.
     When we see ourselves as going to be God's children when we get to heaven, we have held God back from using us here for the freedom of His Spirit.  We've been successfully bringing the unsaved to Christ and getting them born again, and this is the most pertinent thing, because they have gained eternal life in the power of Jesus' sacrifice.  Their eternal destiny has been sealed by the Blood of Jesus and His Spirit.  And, this is undoubtedly the most important thing we can do, but we're also instructed to grow up into mature sons of God.
     In these Last days before Jesus returns, it's become no longer an option to live by faith in His Word, it is essential.  War has been declared on the Church and simple religion will not suffice against a spiritual force of the enemy.  Satan has been at this a lot longer than any of us have been.  He's held back the dynamics of the Church, through lies, guilt and condemnation.  He has tried keeping the Light of the Gospel hidden by lies.
     We've been led to believe that our Heavenly Father has almost ceased in His super-natural power, through His people and we've tried combating satan in the flesh, but that won't work.  Jesus has delegated and authorized power to the Church, by the Holy Spirit, according to Acts 1:8 (Amplified) which says, "But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth."
     When we deny the Supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, we are relegated to an army with no weapons.  Satan has convinced many that tongues have ceased, miracles were only for the early Church and healings passed away with the Apostles.  The Gifts of the Spirit have become more a matter of history, rather than fact to today's Church.  God is raising up a Joshua and Caleb Generation, who still believe God is much bigger than the giants of the land.  These are a people who do not see themselves as grasshoppers.  Numbers 13:33 (Amplified) says, "There we saw the Nephilim (or giants), the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
     2Corinthians 5:16 (Amplified) says, "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a (purely) human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value) (No) even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a Man, yet now (we have such knowledge of Him that) we know Him no longer (in terms of the flesh)."
     We must have a vision of our being a new creation people raised into a mighty army to invade the giants, instead of a grasshopper vision.  Numbers 13:30 (Amplified) says, "Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it (the land) we are well able to conquer it."  Numbers 14:10 (Amplified) says, "But all the congregation said to stone (Joshua and Caleb) with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting before all the Israelites."
     Through Jesus, we are the Joshua and Caleb generation who will possess the land and bring down the giants.  Not everyone will agree with you and might wish to "stone" you for your boldness, but someone must stand up and possess the promise.  Numbers 14:30 (Amplified) tells us, "Surely none shall come into the land in which I swore to make you dwell, except Caleb, son of Jephunneh and Joshua, Son of Nun. But your little ones whom you said would be prey, them will I bring in and they shall know the land which you have despised and rejected."  

Lesson 4 The New Creation

     Please, read 2Corinthians 5:16-17 for yourself.  Go to the Word of God and read the scriptures from this blog for yourself.  Once you've read them, allow the Holy Spirit to give you revelation on them.  Men have read and interpreted these scriptures in the light of reason and intellect, but not always by revelation by the Holy Spirit.  These scriptures are to a "NOW" people, not just for those who have gone on to be with the Father.
     There are many false teachings in today's world, so we must listen to the Holy Spirit for truth.  If you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you, then you will know the truth and "the truth will set you free."  The authority and power of the Name of Jesus is for the Church, here on this earth, now.  The entire world system is being manipulated by satan, whether or not people know it.
     Many of us have buried our heads in the sand and refused to accept the responsibility that was given to the Church.  We've all heard the old saying, "God is in control," for many years.  This is true to a certain point.  Things are going to be just as His Word has said it would be.  However, when it comes to a person's life, on an individual basis, there are things that we (the Church) are supposed to be doing.  Many incorrect sermons have been preached or simply ignored, about the authority of the believer.  As the Church, we have been given a responsibility to pray, loose the bound,and come "Boldly before God's Throne of Grace, by the very Power of Attorney in Jesus' Name.  We won't just receive mercy and grace for ourselves, but as intercessors for others too.
     We've been granted authority, through the power of our Risen Lord, over certain things in this world.  Sometimes, we forget what Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified) says, "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents) but against the despotisms, against the powers, against (the master spirits who are) the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (super-natural) sphere."
     In order to function like the Father intended His family to function, we must use spiritual weapons and authority in this present age.  We know that simply, natural authority doesn't move the spirit forces that are now governing this present age.  It doesn't require a genius to see how everything is totally askew and out of order, in this world.  There are wars, the martyrdom of our fellow Christians in the Middle East, the wiping away our heritage in God that guides our nation, and many of the demonic laws that have been passed in both local and federal factions, so it's easy to see that the satanic forces of evil are still very present.
     We have many baby Christians being born into God's Kingdom every day, but babies don't always have the ability to wage warfare.  I wrote a blog called, "Boot Camp for God's Army" about this very thing.  Many in the military come with no understanding of weapons or warfare.  Every soldier must be trained and taught how to use his weapons.  Many in today's Church, have no knowledge of what our weapons are or how we are to use them.
     We are both God's family and His Army.  He has given us the authority in the Name of Jesus, to "go forth into all the world."  We're not only called to bring new people into God's Kingdom, but to cast out demons, pray for the sick and walk in power in this world.  Jesus said, "We are in this world, but we are not of this world."  Our weapons and abilities are from the Kingdom of our Father and His Kingdom rules over everything.  It doesn't require all of God's children to complete the job, but it does require the Joshuas and Calebs to truth Him.
     Not everyone who enters into the military goes to war, but everyone entering the military must be trained for warfare...that's what Basic Training is about.  It doesn't matter how large the army might be, they still have to be trained and equipped.  The term "Lord of Hosts" is used very often in the Old Testament and translated means, "The God of Armies."
     Our Commander in Chief is Jesus and He knows how to wage warfare on the enemy.  Throughout the years, we've become a passive army, instead of an aggressive one.  We are called to be an "Invading Army" and not just one that is holding the fort.  When Jesus taught us to pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," He meant that we are to bring the forces of His Kingdom into play against the enemy forces.  Jesus meant it when He said, "The gates of hell cannot stand against" His army.
     As we go together through this series of teachings, know that they are not for the weak of heart.  They are like Jesus said, "For those who dare believe our God lives and is strong above all things."  We never have to be without Him and the power of His might.

Lesson 3 The New Creation

     We have seen ourselves, in our Christian walk, as "just forgiven sinners" for many years.  Because of this, we have identified more with Adam than with Jesus.  We've been very conscious of sin and not with being made righteous or in right standing with God.  2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amplified) plainly states that we don't look upon any Christian as being "Merely or purely in a human point of view, but after the spirit."
     Because of Jesus, we are now a "new creation," according to 2Corinthians 5:17.  As new creation people, we are translated by the Holy Spirit, into the Image and Likeness of our Father.  We were made brand new by being "ingrafted in Christ."  We were made to be righteous and in right standing with God, through and in Christ Jesus.  We try judging our own righteousness by our conduct, instead of judging our righteousness in Christ.  This great misunderstanding has hindered our entire Christian walk, as well as hindering everything God wants to do in our lives.
     Under our new covenant with God, He is no longer just God, but is now Father.  God's power or His nature haven't changed, but our relationship with Him has.  I can have a better relationship with my Father than I could with God, because we are now made family.  Barack Obama is probably the most powerful political figure in the world today.  People from all over the world are trying to lobby and petition him for his favor.  There are two girls who live in the White House with the him, who are his daughter.  These daughter can get more from Father than all the others will get from President.  His power or authority hasn't changed, only their relationship with him is closer.
     When we really begin to see God as our Father and stop trying to impress Him, we will find that we do not need to petition His attention, because everything has already been done to make Him available to us.  Because we have been made new creation people, we have a new way of life in this spirit realm.  We have always put off spiritual things for until we get to heaven, when what God has done is to make all spiritual blessings available to us now in Christ Jesus.
     Because of Jesus, we now have the best of both worlds.  We're still living in this natural earth, in a flesh and blood body, but are alive in Christ, to the Spirit and the realm of the heavenlies.  We have the ability and the privilege of conducting heavenly affairs in the natural world.  When Adam walked with God in the Garden, before the fall, he had spiritual authority over all the natural realm.  When Adam fell, the earth and everything in it came back under natural authority.  We have available to us, the power of heaven, through Jesus, to bring the natural back into dominion.
     Ephesians 2:5-6 (Amplified) says, "Even when we were dead (slain) by (our own) shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; (He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for) it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgement and made partakers of Christ's salvation). And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together (giving us joint seating with Him) in the heavenly sphere, (by virtue of us being) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
     We have somehow read the above scripture, but have failed to understand what it says.  We have been now been given, through Jesus, His authority from where we have been jointly seated together.  This isn't a "some day privilege," but is the state of affairs of the new creation people (us).  Jesus' Name, authority, power and favor have already been granted from His Kingly Status in heaven.  As new creation people, we have been granted His authority from heaven into earth as well.
     We've been left with Jesus' very Own Words on how to pray.  Jesus told His disciples to pray, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."  This was to be our quest, as new creation people, to bring what we've been granted in the heavenlies to pass on the earth.  We are in in the world, but are not of the world, according to 2Corinthians 5:16 (Amplified) which says, "We see no man any longer from just a purely natural point of view, but after the Spirit." 
     We are a new creation that never existed previously.  We are the people satan has been so afraid of since the Holy Spirit arrived in the Upper Room.  He has done everything he knows, to prevent our ever knowing these things.  Satan knows that once we begin functioning from where we have been raised and exalted by Jesus, then his reign is over.  We need to begin taking our Blood bought birth rights and bring God's will to earth, like Jesus did.  The Same Father Who did the work in Jesus, is the Same Father Who wants to do these things through us.  We've never dared believe these truths before, because of religious persecution, but the time is now for the Church to rise up and take its place in the earth.  The most powerful things on this planet, is the Church, the Body of Christ.  "No weapon formed against us will prosper and our righteousness is of our Father.
     Isaiah 54:14 (Amplified) tells us, "You shall establish yourself in righteousness (righteousness, in conformity with God's will and order); You shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you."  It seems difficult to see and read God's great promises to us, through Jesus, and still not know who or what we really are.  Have we held back because of peer pressure or fear of being left without fellowship?  The world and the Church, both have left everything up to "when we die."  Dead men don't change this world without God's life in them.  Stop just "being crucified with Christ" and begin living in the power of His resurrection.

Lesson 2 A New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amplified) says, "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a (purely) human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). (No) even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a Man, yet now (we have such knowledge of Him that) we know Him no longer (in terms of the flesh); Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!"
     In Romans 6:3-5 (Amplified) Paul also said, "Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious (power) of the Father, so we too might (habitually) live and behave in newness of life For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, We shall also be (one with Him in sharing) His resurrection (by a new life lived for God)."
     Many scriptures refer to the time we get to heaven and then we'll be like Jesus.  This, however, is not what the above scriptures are saying.  They say that we are now a new creation, made new in His Image and in His Own likeness.  We've been born again into what Adam was at the very beginning and into what the Last Adam is now.  We are no longer just human beings who will someday be like Him, but born again to be just as He is now.
     1John 3:1-2 (Amplified) tells us, "See what (an incredible) quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should (be permitted to) be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him. Beloved, we are (even here and) now God's children; it is not disclosed (made clear) what we shall be (hereafter), but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall (as God's children) resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him, Just as He (really) is."
     John said that "When He is manifested in His glorified state, we shall be manifested in this same glorious Image," because we are now God's Own children.  The only thing that will change about us, is the outward image.  It will be changed into what His outward or glorified Image is now.  We really don't know what He looks like now, but we will look like Him at that time.  We won't be more the children of God then, than we now are.  The only change will be our outward body or appearance.
     We are now the supernatural children of our Heavenly father.  We've somehow been deceived into believing that we will become sons of God, when we get to heaven.  If you're not born again while you're here on earth, then you won't get to heaven.  The Word tells us, "Beloved, Now are we God's children."  We've been taught throughout the years, to place more faith in what Adam did to bring about the fall of man, rather than what Jesus (the Last Adam) did to bring about the new creation.
     By our identifying more with Adam than with Jesus, we've pushed heavenly things into a "someday"  instead of a "Now" thought.  It's true that we will still have trials and tests while we're in this world, but Jesus endured those things too.  The difference is that Jesus used the Heavenly life that was in Him, to overcome the worldly things around Him.
     The very Person of God has come to live in us.  The same Father Who was living and working through Jesus, is living in us now and not only when we get to heaven.  We find the supernatural working more in the Book of Acts, than we do in today's modern Church.  The early Church members didn't have anything working for them, that we don't have today.  They weren't all Apostles and prophets who made up the early Church, many were just new creation men and women.  Phillip was a plain man and so was Stephen.  They simply believed what they heard and did it.  We have been talked into "putting it off" until we get to heaven.
     I've often wondered what we are to do with the Power of His Name, the Authority in Jesus, the casting out of devils, the laying on of hands, as well as all things of the Kingdom Authority when we get to heaven.  Who do you think will need to be healed in heaven?  How many devils will need to be cast out in heaven?  These are the characteristics of the new creation are commanded to do in this earth.  Jesus prayed, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
     We are a new creation, a supernatural being, that never was before.  We are God's Own children, who walk in His Spirit and in His Name.  We are the Light of the world and the Salt of the earth.  We've been placed here to bring Jesus to the forefront of the eyes of the world.  We're not here to compromise with the world, but to change it. 
     We cannot wage war with the devil for the souls of mankind on his terms.  He is the master over how to govern the natural, but is not equipped to handle the super-natural.  If we continue to wage ware in the flesh, then satan will always win, but "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God."
     Jesus lived in a human body, but walked in the Spirit.  He used the Spiritual power to overcome the natural things of the earth.  John said, "Beloved, Now are we children of God!"  He didn't know what we will look like when Jesus does return, but when Jesus does return, we will look like He is now.  This is the glorified body.  Without this glorified body, Jesus still was Master over the earthly things of satan.
     We've sadly seemed to have nearly lost all faith in the Spirit realm and simply have come to rely on the earthly elements and our own ability to overcome.  You are now a new creation, not when we get to heave, but when heaven was poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  This is God Himself Who is now living in us, not someday living in us, but today is living in us.
    
    

A NEW CREATION

     2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amplified) says, "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a (purely) human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). (No), even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now (we have such knowledge of Him that) we know Him no longer (in terms of the flesh).  Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation ( a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     Many Christians struggle today in their walk with the Father, because we have been taught more about who we were before being saved rather than on who Jesus has made us to be.  We've been preached to more about the outward weakness of our old man than on the holiness and power of our "new creation."  We're more conscience of the things we can see, instead of on the things "not seen" by faith in what God has done.
     Paul wrote, under the Holy Spirit's influence, in the above Verse, but we've somehow failed to place much faith in his words.  We continue viewing ourselves and others through the eyes of the flesh, instead of after the Spirit.  It's easier to see the outward man and our weaknesses, than seeing the new creation and our new strength and holiness in Christ.
     We try obtain righteousness by works, rather than receiving righteousness by faith.  Every time we fail to obtain what we believe is righteousness, we fail to understand what God has done in His Righteousness.  We've been taught to judge our own righteousness by works.  We must remember that is it His Righteousness and not our own.  We think once we're "saved by grace," we obtain our own righteousness by works.
     Paul spoke to the Church in Galatia about this very subject.  In Galatians 1:6 (Amplified) he says, "I am surprised and astonished that you are so quickly turning renegade and deserting Him Who invited and called you by the grace (unmerited favor) of Christ (the Messiah) (and that you are transferring you allegiance) to a different (even an opposition gospel)."  Paul went on in Verses 11-12, "For I want you to know, brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known to me is not man's gospel (a human invention, according to or patterned after any human standards). For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught, but (it came to me) through a (direct) revelation (given) by Christ Jesus (the Messiah)."
     Paul continued to admonish the Galatians in Galatians 3:1-3 (Amplified), "Oh you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you, unto whom right before you very eyes Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was openly and graphically set forth and portrayed as crucified?"  Verse 2 says, "Let me ask you this one question; Did you receive the (Holy) Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing its works, or was it by hearing (the message of the Gospel) and believing (it)? (Was i from observing a Law of rituals or from a message of faith)?"  Verse 3 goes on, "Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun (your new life spiritually) with the (Holy) Spirit, are you now reaching perfection (by dependence) on the flesh?"
     These are eye opening statements for the entire Church and should be read much in these last days.  We've been behaving like we placed our life into God's hand, were saved by grace and then God placed everything into our hands again.  Not so!  God has never set man as his own righteousness or as his own savior.
     It's unbelievable how we've allowed the devil to bring us back under the bondage of religion and Law.  I'm not sure how that happened, but it has.  We've taken what God gave by grace and have determined what we "think that means."  We get people born again "by grace and faith," like Ephesians 2:8 says, and then teach them that the works of man's laws will hold them in grace.  We've created a giant nurser of Baby Christians and have fed them entirely on skim milk, so that they do not grow up in Christ.
     We rarely hear teachings on righteousness, unless it's taught from the point of our sin.  We haven't overcome the flesh nature that was in the old man who is already dead and we judge God's righteousness from a purely human viewpoint.  We find ourselves doing what Paul cautioned us not to do in 2Corinthians 5:16 and see ourselves more from who we were, rather than who we are now.  A new creation doesn't mean we fix the old man, but it's making something new.
     We fail to teach about the new creation to the Church, while constantly reminding them who they used to be.  The term "just an old sinner, saved by grace" gives us insight into how we seem ourselves and others in the Church.  You were an old sinner.  By grace, you were saved and are now a new creation brought about by faith in Christ Jesus.  We've had split personalities in our walk with the Father, never knowing who we really are.  We've struggled with and Identity Crisis in our own lives and have been kept in bondage to condemnation and the world.
     It's difficult to see what God has done in us, when we know more about our past, rather than we do in our present.  This hinders our prayer life, our witness and our own acceptance in the Father's House.  We continue feeling unworthy in our own eyes and fail to see our worth in His eyes.  It required the greatest price ever paid for our ransom from death and satan.  The only way to judge something's worth, is by judging what it cost.  We cost God's Own Son and God's Own Blood, to ransom us back into His House.  Don't judge yourself based on what you think or what someone else thinks of you.  Judge your worth by what God paid to get you back.
     As I begin this new lesson on "Who we are to God in Christ Jesus," I will undoubtedly say something that religion will wish to argue about.  I'm not dealing with religion and man's doctrine, but with the message Jesus Himself taught Paul.  Since it was Jesus Who gave Paul this revelations of the new creation, surely He must know what it is about.  We're not going to deal with what man thinks about it, but only what the Father has done in Christ.
     This doesn't mean that we can "just live any way we want," but don't allow "Baby" mistakes disqualifying you and prevent you from being show God made you to be.  When you read God's Word, read it through the Holy Spirit and read it not as "a sinner," but as one who is a new creation.  Being born again is for the world, while being led by the Spirit, is for the born again.  Demonstrating that we were sinners is for the sake of the lost and showing them that Jesus has removed our sin.  Declaring that we are righteous through Jesus, is for those new creatures to grow in to maturity in Him.  We don't read the Word to reveal our old sin nature that is dead, but the new righteousness nature that is alive.  We're learning how to live in this new creation with Jesus.  

Lesson 21 The Continual Fast

     The fast in Isaiah 58  is what God calls a "Chosen" fast unto Him.  God has declared it the way He chose for His people to live.  This is the very way Jesus Himself walked and taught the people to do.
     Ephesians 4:11-13 (Amplified) tells us, "And His gifts were (varied) (He Himself appointed and gave men to us) some to be apostles (special messengers) some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock), and teachers. His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people) (that they should do) the work of ministering toward building up Christ's Body (the Church) (That it might develop) until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the (full and accurate) knowledge of the Son of God, that (we might arrive) at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality, which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's Own perfection) the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him."
     The work of the five-fold ministry is teaching the people how to do the work of ministering and building towards Christ's Body (the Church).  For many this means we're to help others.  Of course, that's true, but it means to bring other people into the Church, by their work of love.
     This brings us back to the Isaiah 58 fast.  When we teach the people to go forth in this fast, we are actually showing the Love to the world in the very power of the Spirit.  We've been so intent on making certain denominations out of the world, that we forget that they are His sheep from other folds.
     The five-fold ministry isn't really the ministering to, but the means of teaching other what the ministry truly is.  I am a pastor and a teacher.  I have a calling from the Father to teach His family how to live.  The world system is trying to accomplish that which only God can do.  We try to create a government that will take care of everyone, without God.  We try, like satan has tried from the beginning, to take the place of God and become God.
     Men look to the government to take care of us from the womb to the tomb.  Without God, though, man can only govern with a system that has become a mask, covering the greed in the heart of man without God.  We discover that charities governed by men have been stealing the money donated and selling the goods acquired, while leaving the poor in as bad a state as before (if not worse).
     The Church has been so involved in the world system, instead of what was really our job to begin with, that we've all but lost our calling to do the ministry of building up the Church.  It's true that we have done it in ignorance of the truth, but we've done it.  In His grace and mercy, God has done all that He could do to bless what we've undertaken, even though it wasn't His way of doing it.  Satan has even successfully taught the Church that we are to be the recipients of charity, instead of the answer.
     God describes "charity" in 1Corinthians 13 as "a giving kind of Love."  When we walk in love, God's love, it is a love that gives.  It's not in pity, but in love.  When love is manifest to the world, they will be capable of plainly seeing the difference.  Satan is insane, but he's not stupid.  He knows how God's principles work, so he has counterfeited and copied God's system of gathering the people.
     God's Chosen fast is not some sort of world organization, but the purposeful function of the Body of Christ, to reveal the very heart of God to the world.  It's giving without expecting anything in return.  It's giving, even in our own need and trusting the Father to restore, replace and replenish from His covenant and His promise.
     When we "live" this Chosen fast as a lifestyle, we are "living" in His will, His purpose and His anointing.  When we live in His Presence through this fast, His Presence is in everything that we do.  The world wouldn't need Unicef and other organizations, if the Body of Christ had really taken God's Word from Isaiah 58 as an obedient surrender to the Father's will.
     I'm not implying that we stop helping our churches and other such organizations as The Red Cross or missions to the poor.  I am saying that we should not stop giving to these things, but that we should add to our giving on an individual fast unto God, on our own.  In every town, village, community and neighborhood, there is a place to take this personal fast.
     They might not need food, but might need to have the bonds of wickedness broken from them.  This is God moving, through us, to meet man's needs.  You've heard me say before, that "We need to stop living for God and start living through Him."  There is a vast difference in that kind of Christianity.  This is what Jesus meant when He said, "It is not Me, but the Father in Me Who does the work."  It was not living for God, but living through God.
     The anointing of the Holy Spirit moves greatly through those who will adopt this fast as a lifestyle for themselves.  You do these things out of love for God and God does these things through you, out of His love for mankind.  Because we are giving out His love, He will manifest His grace more and more in your life.
     God said that you will be called "The Repairer of the Breach," in Isaiah 58:12.  This doesn't mean only the breach between Him and mankind, but also the breach between you and perhaps even someone in your own family.  It might be that you have in your zeal, pushed instead of led one of your family members into your religion.  Some have rebelled because we ministered carnally instead of being led by the Holy Spirit.  God can and will repair even that breach, in His love.
     God's love will "Raise up the ancient ruins of building that have laid waste for many generations," according to Isaiah 58:12.  Psalm 127 (Amplified) tells us that, "Except the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain."
     We've tried building the house of the Lord, based on the ways of the world.  We have labored in vain, because this house of the Lord has become one without the supernatural Presence that separates God's house from the way the world operates.  We make up committees do all these things in our individual stead and have removed the personal ministry from the very people who are to be blessed in their doing and to be a blessing to those whom God would send them.
     There is no greater thing in this world than knowing you've done what God has called you to do.  The peace and thrill of being used by God to bless others, is the greatest thing on this earth.  Many have grown cold in today's Church, because we have left out teaching the adventure and excitement of being a vessel of honor used by the Father.  Being where God says to be, at the exact time He said to be there and see the look of wonder in the eyes of the one He sent you to and knowing it is Him doing the work is what it's all about.  Jesus is revealed in His love 

Lesson 20 The Continual Fast

     There are many voices sounding in today's world and to many, I'm just another such voice.  Many would consider me foolish, some would think I'm irreverent, but to God, I am His son.  When Paul initially preached salvation for the Gentiles, many refused to accept what he said as truth.  Paul knew what he was called to do and he knew Who it was Who called him.  Paul didn't change his method or his message, but continued doing what God called him to do.
     I might be called bold, foolish or plain crazy, but I am what I am.  I believe that God will make His will and His wisdom known to all who will seek Him out.  He never intended that we go through this world without a road map and the hope that we will end up in the right location.  The will of God and the wisdom of God are both available to all those who want it.
     Don't leave it to the politicians to tell you how to walk with Him.  Don't leave it up to your pastor or anyone else.  Listen to your pastor, but also listen to the Holy Spirit, study the Word at home and make the Father part of your everyday life.  If you "seek, then you will find.  If you knock, then the door will be opened and if you ask, then it will be given you."  He didn't say that, "If I ask, then it would be given to you."  God said that "If you ask, then it would be given to you."  God didn't say that, "If your pastor seeks, then you will find," but "If you seek, then you will find."  I am a pastor and I do seek, but if the people aren't seeking and asking, then many times what God has shone me, falls on deaf ears.
     We need to take the Isaiah 58 fast as part of our everyday communing with the Father.  Don't stop going to church, like you already know it all.  Don't stop giving to charitable organizations and start your own.  God to church, listen and rightly divide the Word, give to what your church is giving to, but make the Isaiah 58 Fast, your own personal walk with the Father.  Don't do it as a duty to God, but as your own relationship with the Father.
     Listen to and for the Voice of God's Spirit and let Him direct your steps.  He will lead you into "paths of righteousness for His Namesake."  You are called by His Name.  Don't get foolish and begin looking for some "far out" revelation, but allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into the fullness of the revelation He has already given you.  Don't go off on your own, like you've already "arrived," but don't just be who everybody expects you to be.  You are unique in who God made you to be...be that.
     Don't try being like everyone else, but be who God called you to be.  Every part of the Body is important, so be what He made you to be with everything you have.  Every part of the Body of Christ is all important.  Everyone believes that the heart is the most important, but it cannot function if one small blood vessel shuts down.  Without each of us doing our uniquely established function in the Body, the whole Body is dysfunctional.
     You must listen and still judge if it is truly God's Word.  Many well-meaning people are preaching their opinion about what they believe the Word says.  Our opinions do not count, if they are not God's opinions.  The main differences in our denominations arise over the opinions of men.  We call all agree that Jesus died for us, took our sin and made it possible for us to go to heaven.  We can all agree in this one aspect, but beyond that, we begin preaching opinion instead of the Word.
     Each of us must learn to hear the Voice of the Shepherd for himself.  God doesn't only speak to the pastor, but "His sheep know His Voice."  God doesn't have anyone in His family who is not of equal importance to Him.  Each child of God has a role in His family.  Don't allow the world, religion, politics or any other outside pressures be what determines your relationship with your Father.
     We believe that there is Only One God, One Savior Who is Christ the Lord and only One Way to get to heaven.  The world and opinions will tell you that we're wrong.  They are trying to get along with everybody without making waves.  "Why not, they will ask, Can't other people have their own way of reaching god?"  They will say, "There are many ways, not just your way."  First of all, this isn't just my way.  This is The Way.  Jesus said that, "The Only Way to the Father is through Me."
     The carnally minded will view us as being intolerant, but for God, it shows truth and faith in His love by sending Jesus for us.  Neither Mohammad or Buddha or any other "god" has ever died for me or took my penalty and shed their own blood for my new birth.  Even if they had tried, it wouldn't have succeeded, because Jesus was the Only One Who was without sin and could be the Lamb of God without sin.  It had to be a sinless sacrifice, but until Jesus, "All had sinned and come short of the glory of God."

Lesson 19 The Continual Fast

     When we read Isaiah 58, is there any doubt about who we're to feed and clothe?  Is there any doubt about who who we are to loose from the bonds of wickedness?  Is there any doubt about whether we should be freeing the oppressed and breaking the enslaving yoke of bondage?  Isaiah 58 is what God calls His "Chosen" fast and is His will for this earth, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  I cannot believe that God's will in heaven, is for us to be tempted, tried, sick, hungry, naked, afraid or oppressed.
     Jesus taught us to pray that way.  We must first watch and believe that Jesus is and was the Perfect Will of God.  No one on this earth is exempted from God's grace and mercy, if they will receive it.  We can only get in this mess if we "choose to," whether ignorantly or by choice.  It's time for God's children to recognize Who their Father is and learn to know Him as "Father."
      Matthew 4:6-7 (Amplified) says, "And he (the devil) said to Jesus, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, He will give His angels charge over You, and they will bear you up on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, On the other hand, It is written also, You shall not tempt (test thoroughly or try exceedingly), the Lord your God."
     Jesus knew the difference between a truth and THE TRUTH.  Jesus knew the will of God and couldn't be tempted by the carnal way of reading or interpreting the Living Word of God.  We read the Word with our intellect, more often than through the Spirit.  John 7:16-17 (Amplified) says, "Jesus answered them by saying, My teaching is not My Own, but His Who sent Me. If any man desires to do His will (God's pleasure) he will know (have the needed illumination to recognize, and can tell for himself) whether the teaching is from God or whether I Am speaking from Myself and of My Own authority."
     In these last days, we must learn to know the will of God, so that we can reveal Him to the Church and the world, as He really is.  The world hasn't seen the heart or grace or the power of God for a long, long time.  God said in Isaiah 58:12 (Amplified), "And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; You shall raise up the foundations of (buildings that have laid waste) for many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to dwell in."
     I believe that the "buildings" are the Temple of God, the Body of Christ, and those who are saved and those who will be saved.  I also believe that the "Repairer of the Breach" is the restoration of the True Will of God as seen in the form of Jesus on this earth.  "The Streets to Dwell in" will be those God has prepared for His children to walk in, both here and when we get home to heaven.
     The greatest things the Church can walk in, is God's Love.  We're no here to express our ideas about why someone is sick (judgement) or to tell them why certain things happen to them, but our job it to allow the Father in us, to do the work.  A crowd brought an adulterous women before Jesus in John 8,  (Notice that they didn't bring the adulterous male) and asked what should be done with her.  If Jesus answered that she should be stoned according to the Law, then He would violate His Own teaching.  If Jesus didn't stone her, then He would violate the Law, so they believed they had trapped Him.  By placing this same Law upon all who were present, Jesus could judge righteously and in mercy and loose the woman from the sin she was accused of.
     Can we walk in righteousness and still walk in love, so as not to judge, but be able to loose those who are bound?  Can we still accept the person without having to embrace the sin as well?  Can we still know how to do like Jesus, when it comes to sin?  Jesus loosed that woman, but judged the sin when He said, "Go on your way, and from now on sin no more."
     Jesus didn't say that adultery was acceptable in the Church, but that an adulterer could be set free to be in the Church.  We've been made to feel like it's alright to bring the sin into the Church, but that's not so according to Isaiah 58:6 (Amplified) which tells us to, "Undo the yoke and bands and break every enslaving yoke and loose the bonds of wickedness."
     There are times when this involves casting out a spirit.  There are other times when it simply takes the power of loving someone.  there are things in today's world that are influenced by unclean spirits and must be cast out.  We need to know when, why, where and how to minister the will of God.
     Grace doesn't mean living any way you wish to, while remaining in right standing with God.  Grace means that anyway you were, can now be done away with and then you're alright with God.  This is not an all accepting kind of family.  Jesus is still the Only Way to the Father.  He is not a way, but The Way.  This isn't a religion that can leavened into the loaf, but one of unleavened in Jesus.
     Anyone can be saved, but there is still Only One Way to be saved.  Jesus is still the Only Savior.  Even the love of God is still based on the will of God.  We must understand His will, even in His love.  God still loves the sinner, but His will is still "Believe on the Lord Jesus" and you will be saved.
      Satan will use many things today like politics, carnality, along with misunderstanding in the world, to leaven the Church.  Pressure has been applied to make the Church appear as being intolerant of others.  We might have many denominations and our own way of thinking, but all those who truly know the Lord, agree on the fact that you cannot be the way you were and still be the way you are in Christ.  When you get born again, there is a change that occurs in your spirit that will separate you from the person you used to be.  It might take some time for the entire transformation to be completed, but there must be a change.
     Jesus told the woman in John 8:11 (Amplified), "I do not condemn you either. Go on your way and from now on sin no more."  He didn't condemn her for what she had been doing, but He didn't intend for her to continue in her old ways either.  In today's Church, we seem to believe it's okay to have open sin in our lives and still be "washed in the Blood," have other gods as our lords and continue in the Church.
     Politicians and fools make it sound like there are many way to God and there are many names, but we all serve the same God.  This is one of the most outlandish lies satan has propagated in these last days for the Church.  We're not the ones who made requirements of salvation and we cannot be the one who changes them.  What we think should be, doesn't change the way it will be.
     The age of deception has come into a new boldness and openness in these last days.  We see things in our social media that are so anti-Christ and blasphemous, but people don't seem to notice them.  The time to know God's will for us is paramount in this day and age.  Many new translations of the Bible have been rewritten to appease those who want to go to heaven by their own ways and means.  We have Bibles have now been written to leave out the Second part of the Trinity of God, Jesus and without saying that He is the Son of God/.  We now have Bibles written that say God is a woman, in order to appease the feminists.  We also have Bibles that declare Jesus was nothing more than "a prophet."  We don't want to leave anyone out.  It's all politically correct.
     Do not leave it up to your pastor to read the Word for you.  Don't even decide that you you're better than others because you at least didn't do what they did.  Make it your quest to know God, not only as God, but as Father.  You might ask, "Aren't they the same?"  Yes, but your relationship and your understanding will change the way you see and approach Him.  I've said previously that Barack Obama is probably the most powerful political figure in the world today (or at least he thinks he is) and people all over the world are trying to obtain favor and power through him.  They lobby him in the White House, trying to get all they can from him.  They push to get bills passed and legislation put into place, by cajoling and puffing him up with praise and flattery.  There are two girls living in the White House with him and Michelle, his daughters.  Even though he is President of the United States and perhaps the most powerful man in the world, his daughters do not address him as "Mister Presidents, nor do they need lobby for his favor.  They approach him as Dad or Father, without diminishing his power or his title or his prominence.  He is still President, the only difference being the relationship of the girls.
     We can undoubtedly have a better audience and relationship with Father, than you can from God.  He is the same, but you're knowing Who He is to you, that makes the difference.  The Obama girls will obtain more from their father, than you ever will from Mr. President.  We, in the Church, need to not only call Him "Father," but know Him as Father.
     We've spent so much wasted time trying to "lobby" our way into getting something from God, when all the time Father has already lavished all those things on His children.  We seek ways and means to get God to hear us, when all the time Jesus said, "Whatever you ask the Father, in My Name, He will give it to you."
     Religion has separated us from relation in so many ways.  Walking with my Heavenly Father is the easiest things I've ever done.  His great love has accepted me.  His grace and mercy protect me and His Holy Spirit and His Word direct me.  If I do mess up (and I do), then He will forgive me and help me overcome.  We are family. 

Lesson 18 The Continual Fast

     We've read Paul's testimony in his letter to the Church in Corinth and about his ministry and the revelation that God,the Father, personally gave to him.  In this revelation, we learned letter by letter, what the Father told Paul and as he began walking in this knowledge, Paul continued growing from "faith to faith."  He was more mature in his last days than in his first days.  Paul told of the times when the devil tried to stop him and to shut him up about the revelation God gave him, about the Church.  He said in 2Corinthians 12:1 (Amplified), "I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord."
     There have been many instances where we focus more on Paul's trials than on the revelations that he received from God.  We've even come to the place where we thought all the problems that became him, came from God Who was testing and afflicting Paul.  Can you imagine how God gave him the revelations about being the righteousness of God, as well as the knowledge of God, the Gifts of the Spirit, the sonship relationship, the knowledge of being made to sit together with Jesus in heavenly places.  God gave him the mandate and the commission to teach these things to the Church.  And, then God put all these different things on Paul, in order to prevent his doing what God called him to do?    
     If God didn't want us to know all these things, then He could have withheld them from Paul in the first place.  Can you imagine that God gave Paul these revelations about the new covenant, told Paul to go and reveal them to the Church, and then did everything to prevent Paul from accomplishing this?  Paul was growing in wisdom and favor, just like Jesus did, from the knowledge of God.  He didn't understand (like many of us today) the meaning of God's grace (His unmerited favor).
     Some things Paul taught have been misconstrued by carnally minded people.  He said in 2Corinthians 12:7-9 (Amplified), "And to keep me from being puffed up and to much elated by these exceeding greatness (preeminence) of these revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh (a splinter) a messenger of satan, to rack and buffet and harass me, to keep me from being excessively exalted. Three times I called upon the Lord and besought (Him) about this and begged that it might depart from me. But He said to Me, My grace (My favor and loving kindness and mercy) is enough for you (sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully) For My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in (your) weakness."
     God gave Paul the revelation and the calling, while satan tried his best to stop it, leaving Paul not understanding why if he was doing what God told him to do, why am I having all this trouble?  Then Paul received the revelation again about the very power of God's grace and mercy.  It wasn't God feeling sorry for him, it was God's power being made manifest through him.
     We've been taught that it was our Heavenly Father making it tough on Paul, to keep him humble.  Paul, though, said it was a "messenger of satan" who was sent to stop him.  Which is true?  1Peter 5:6 (Amplified) says, "Therefore humble yourselves (demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation) under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you."  Peter, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, said we must "Humble ourselves."  He never said that God was going to do it for us.  Peter also said that when we did humble ourselves, God would exalt us in due time.  Was the Apostle Paul not exalted by God?  He was the one God used to write two-thirds of the New Testament.  Did God exalt him?  Yes, He did, according to Peter, who said in 1Peter 5:8-9 (Amplified), "Be well balanced [this doesn't mean equally in unbelief and in true belief] (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant, and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil roams around like a lion roaring (in fierce hunger) seeking someone to seize upon and devour."  Verse 9 goes on, "Withstand him; be firm in faith (against his onset-rooted, established, strong, immovable and determined) knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world."
     If God sent satan to afflict us, then are you withstanding him in faith?  When do you know whether to submit or withstand?  If it's God, then we are to submit and if it is the devil, then we are to withstand him.  How are to ever supposed to know what to do to have faith against the onset of the devil?
     When we read the Word with carnal minds and don't know what the true will of God is for His family, we have shifted our faith into neutral and are simply revving our engines.  We can't go forward or backwards.  We are simply in neutral.
     We've somehow confused our Heavenly Father with the enemy and cannot distinguish between the two.  Peter goes onto say in 1Peter 5:10 (Amplified), "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace (Who imparts all blessing and favor) Who has called you to His (Own) glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you."
     God Himself will deliver us "out of afflictions of the devil,"  by His grace and mercy.  Each of us will suffer trials and afflictions as we strive to go on from infancy to adulthood.  We have an enemy who wants us to stay babies.  There are responsibilities that come with adulthood, as we grow into mature sons of God.  These things come with growth.  Once we learn to trust in God's grace and mercy, we walk above these things and simply go on from "faith to faith."
     We must never allow satan to put us into a place of being in neutral, in our walk with God.  If you truly wish to know God's will, then simply watch Jesus.  He said in John 6:38 (Amplified), "For I have come down from heaven not to do My Own will and purpose, but to do the will and purpose of Him Who sent Me."  Jesus also said in John 18:9 (Amplified) that, "Then they said to Him, Where is this Father of Yours? Jesus answered, You know My Father as little as you know Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also."
     If Jesus was healing the sick and God was making them sick, then are they of the same will?  If God was binding them and Jesus was loosing them, then are they in the same accord?  If God was their problem, then Jesus couldn't have been the answer to their problems.  God sent Jesus to "undo" the problems they had gotten themselves into, through their failing to walk in the covenant God told them to walk in.  They couldn't get out of their problems by themselves, so God had to do it for them.  God didn't need to be their problem, because they had already done it by choice, according to Deuteronomy 30:19 (Amplified), "I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live."
     We have unknowingly made some very wrong choices, by being carnally minded.  We have negated our prayers by repeating the old prayer of, "If it be Thy will."  We don't want to pray outside God's will and He isn't obligated to answer prayers outside of His will.  Jesus came so that we wouldn't only know God's will, but so we could actually see God's will.
     1John 5:14-15 (Amplified)says, "And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him; (we are sure) that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His Own plan) He listens to and hears us."  Verse 15 goes on, "And if (since) we (positively) know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know (with settled and absolute knowledge) that we have (granted us as our present possessions) the requests made to Him."
     Jesus never prayed for the sick saying, "If it be Thy will Father."  He knew that it was the Father's will for them to be whole.  He never asked if it was the Father's will for someone to be healed of leprosy or some other crippling disease.  Jesus knew God's heart and His will for us.  

Lesson 17 The Continual Fast

   In Isaiah 58, as we watch the unfolding of what God calls His "Chosen" fast, we see the same instructions given to the people by the Lord Jesus in His teachings.  When we look through the Gospels and listen to the Holy Spirit's Words for today's Church, we realize that this is God's will for the earth and mankind.
     As covenant children, the family of God must see how we no longer need to "wait and see"what God's going to do, but wait for the manifestation of what He has already done. We've been taught for many years, that everything God promised is for the future time when we get to heaven.  We must remember that Jesus is always, "The same yesterday, today, and yes, even tomorrow," according to Hebrews 13:8.
    Jesus told His disciples to "Go out into the surrounding homes and villages to heal the sick, feed the hungry, bring comfort to the brokenhearted and proclaim the Good News that deliverance is Now here," in Luke 10.  They returned with the announcement that, "Even the demons are subject to us in Your Name," in Luke 10:17 (Amplified).  Many of us today, have given up on having authority over demons.  Even if we do not believe that demons exist, we have given over the authority into the enemy's hands.
     We've been successfully getting new believers born again into God's Kingdom, but haven't been good at bringing these "babies" into adulthood.  Paul wrote in 1Timothy 1:2 (Amplified), "To Timothy, my true Son in the faith; Grace (Spiritual blessing and favor), mercy, and (heart) peace (be yours) from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."
     Paul was responsible for leading Timothy to the Lord, by the preaching of the Gospel.  He never left Timothy at the new born-again Christian, but raised him as a son, in the faith of the Lord Jesus.  Paul raised the newly born-again Timothy into a mature man of the faith, who went forth doing like he witnessed Paul doing.
     Too many times, we have simply put off "maturity" in the new life as being something that would happen in heaven.  Jesus told us that we were Now to have dominion and the authority back that Adam once had and He said we would have His Name to do it in.
     We've been like the Israelites God brought out of Egypt, they came out, but they wouldn't "come in."  We came out of death, but refuse to enter into life.  We didn't get born again only to go to heaven when we die.  If this was true, then God would simply take us out of here when we get saved.  We, the Church of the Lord Jesus, have a job to do here on this earth, that only the power of God can accomplish.
     We've tried doing it by the world's standards and have mostly been overrun by that way of doing things.  There was a man named Ananias in Acts 9:8-15 who God called to pray for Saul.  I cannot find him anywhere else in the Word, either before or after this.  Whoever this man was, he knew God and God knew him.  He wasn't a great Apostle or a leader of the Church, but this man walked in power by faith in the "Now" presence of the Spirit.
     Ananias might have only gotten one man saved in his entire walk, but the man who received this miracle of supernatural sight was the great Apostle Paul.  Paul didn't just go sit down in some congregation and wait to go to heaven, but brought down the "Now" Word of heaven to earth.  It was through His ministry we learned to grow into adulthood in our faith.  Jesus Himself taught Paul how the new children of the Father were supposed to be, as well as who they are now, even in this world.
     Paul didn't putt off being in right standing with God until he got to heaven, but declared that NOW the righteousness of God has come upon the believer.  Paul taught that we didn't wait to get to heaven in order to become sons of God, but that we are NOW sons of God.  He taught us how to grow into mature sons and not to remain in the infant stage.
     We've looked upon many in the Church as being "crazy," because they believe God still heals, speaks, directs and lives in man today.  Some in the Church become upset if someone says that God speaks to them.  How can we ever hope to bring God's Presence to the people, if we cannot even acknowledge His Presence in us?  Jesus gave us a mandate to put the devil under our feet and proclaim liberty to the captives. 
     I'm not saying that what the Church has accomplished until now hasn't been important or of God.  What I am saying is that it is now time for the infant Church to become adult and mature in its faith in God the Father.  Any father expects his children to grow and become fruitful in their own lives. 
     We, as the family of God, are still trying to decide what the Father really wants or Who He really is.  We've almost viewed Him like some sort of "Cosmic Cop" who is lurking with a speed trap to ticket us with.  If God was going to "get" you for every little mistake, then we would never have lived long enough to get saved.  Like any other Father, He expects us to make mistakes as we grow into adulthood.  This isn't to say this is good, but it is true.
     Our first child began walking at ten months old.  She spent more time falling down, than she did walking.  But as her confidence and balance grew, she didn't make as many mistakes or didn't fall nearly as much.  She continued in her ventures until she got it down.  When she initially began walking, my wife and I would reach out to her and encourage her to take another step.  We cheered her on in her first steps to maturity. 
     This same daughter is grown and we don't get excited when she takes a step, because that's what happens when we grow.  There are still times when we encourage her, now that she's a mother and grandmother.  There are still areas in her life where she's growing in and both her mother and I, encourage her to "step out" into them.
     Our lives in Christ have been a lifetime of growing.  There is no place in Him, where we have arrived at the full maturity as sons of God.  We are to grow up into Him, as part of His family.  Paul wrote in 2Corinthians 6:4-13 about the things that he and the other apostles, had gone through to grow up into they were and to bring the Word of growth and faith to the Church. 
     When the Father sent Jesus into the world, He never intended for Jesus to remain as a little baby.  Mary and Joseph were looking for Jesus in Luke 2:49-52 (Amplified) when Jesus said to them, "How is it that you had to look for Me?  Did you not know that it is necessary (as a duty) for Me to be in My Father's house and (occupied) about My Father's business? But they did not comprehend what He was saying to them. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was (habitually) obedient to them; and His mother kept closely and persistently guarded all those things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom (in broad and full understanding) and in stature and years, and in favor with God and man."
    

Lesson 16 The Continual Fast

     Proverbs 22:7 (Amplified) says that, "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."  Proverbs 19:17 (Amplified) says, "He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and that which he has given He will repay to him."
     When reviewing God's promises in Isaiah 58, we find that the Lord has made promises to the one who will take the time and do as God calls His "Chosen" fast.  Giving to the poor, homes to the homeless and feeding the hungry are the things God has Chosen for us to do.  We find in the two verses above that giving to the poor is "lending to the Lord" and that "the borrower is servant to the lender."  God isn't going to the "borrower" nor the "servant" to anyone.
     God says in Isaiah 58:8 (Amplified), "Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (restoration and the power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness (your rightness, your justice, and your right relationship with God) shall go before you (conducting you to peace and prosperity) and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard."
     God isn't going to put Himself in a position of being servant to the lender.  When we give to the poor (or lend to the Lord), we've placed ourselves in the exact place that the Father has wished us to be in.  We sometimes forget that we're in a different Kingdom now, through Jesus.  In God's Kingdom, things or spiritual laws work in a different manner.  We've been trying to work the laws of the Spirit by earthly, carnal means.
     Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), "But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right) and then all these things taken together will be given you besides."  The laws governing heaven are different from the laws that govern earth.  God's laws are much higher and more powerful than the laws we've been striving to live by.
     When Jesus calmed the storm, raised the dead to life, and multiplied the loaves and fishes, He operated in the higher laws of God.  We, too, have been raised into this heavenly Kingdom with Christ Jesus.  Our problem is that we don't know how to function there yet.  We keep waiting until we get to heaven to make or receive what God has promised.  God has already given us the Spirit to teach us the Word and to direct us and to fulfill His promises in us.
     We manage to see our prayer life more through carnal eyes than with the eyes of our new life.  We're still petitioning heaven by the lower laws of the earth, instead of the higher laws that are available to us now, through Jesus.  Different laws govern the citizens of the United States than the laws governing Italy.  One law that's different is that we drive on the right hand side of the road in America.  Driving on the left hand side of the road here, could result in catastrophe.  We've tried living in the Kingdom of God, by the laws we lived by in our old life.
     The Isaiah 58 fast is one of the laws that governs heaven.  This is "near and dear" to our Father's heart.  The world doesn't have the resources to take care of all the poor.  Only God's Kingdom has enough resources to do this.  The only way that we can do it, is to believe that our God will supply what we need to give.  If we keep giving without receiving what God has promised, then we too will run out of anything to give.  Only God can supply our needs and the needs of others.
     God purposely placed these things in order, so that we would look to Him as our supply and not the world.  The laws that govern the world will not supply enough for us to take care of the poor.  With God, we can feed five thousand men, plus women, along with the children, with five loaves and two fishes.
     Learning to trust God at His Word and believe He "will supply all our needs by His riches in glory by and through the Lord Jesus," is a new way of thinking for our lives.  The Apostle Paul could write this to the Philippians because they were givers.  We cannot simply give to some organization, without taking this as a personal calling too.
     It's wonderful to give to other ministries that go out into the world teaching Jesus.  We might never go to Africa or some other country to do this, but we can support ministries that do.  We might never get the opportunity to personally give food, medicine or clothing to famine and disease ridden countries, but we can give to organizations that do.  But, we should not neglect helping those who are close at hand, in our personal walk with God.
     This is a personal fast, between you and your Heavenly Father.  The Red Cross might never come to meet your neighbor's needs, but you can.  Don't just given to an organization and then fail to take personal responsibility for helping those close by.  Failing to help them, doesn't coincide with what God has called us to do.  We appoint people to visit such communities as jails, nursing homes, street ministries and other ministries in the church.  We've generously given money and goods to supply the needs of these ministries.  This, still, doesn't replace our own personal fast with God for our neighbors and others.