Have A Blessed New Year 2018

Lesson 13 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     We read in the Word about Jesus' birth, Who is the Promise of God and a Son born not of a man, but of the Spirit of God Himself.  God's Word is God's Seed and bring forth a new creation family of God.  Every desire, hope and intention God had for His family, was to be completely restored through Jesus' birth.  We can read every Promise from God, through the Old and New Testaments, but we fail to realize that Jesus is the Total Fulfillment of Every Promise of God.
     God's Promise to Adam, was brought into full view by Jesus.  Adam didn't only have healing, but he had Divine health.  Adam didn't only have prosperity, but he was given dominion over the entire earth from the beginning.  Adam didn't only have righteousness, but he was created righteous from the beginning.  Adam didn't only have access to the Father, but everything he ever learned or heard, came from God.  God raised him, taught him, walked with him, talked with him and was a Father to Adam.
     We've lost sight of what Jesus' birth really means.  Jesus was the Full Restoration for God's family.  We were to be as perfect as the One Who made us perfect and we were to have access into the Very Presence of God, like the first Adam did.  Now, we've been made into a new creation of righteousness, by the Last Adam Jesus.
     2Corinthians 1:18-22 (Amplified) tells us, "As surely as God is trustworthy and faithful and means what He says, our speech and Message to you have not been Yes, that might mean No. For the Son of God, Christ Jesus the Messiah, Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Sylvanus, and Timothy, was not Yes and No, but in Him is always the Divine Yes.  Verses 20-22 continue, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes answer in Him, Christ. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him (in His Person and by His Agency) to the Glory of God. For it is God Who confirms and makes us steadfast and establishes us in joint fellowship with you in Christ, and has consecrated and anointed us, enduing us with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. He has also appropriated and acknowledged us as His by putting His Seal upon us and given us His Holy Spirit in our hearts as the security deposit and guarantee of the fulfillment of His Promise."
     Jesus is the "Fulfillment of every Promise," that God's Word has set forth for His children.  Jesus' Redemption didn't just include our being forgiven and going to Heaven when we die, but includes our being restored to God's family once again, both on this earth and in His House.  Every Promise God uttered about His family through the Old and New Testament prophets, came to pass in Jesus, the Messiah, our Lord and Savior.
     Let's take time to truly unwrap our Christmas Gift of Jesus, this year.  Let's see what was wrapped in Flesh and discover the True Gift inside this beautiful, carefully wrapped Gift from God.  2Corinthians 1:20 (Amplified) says, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes Answer in Him, Christ."  Does God still heal?  The Answer to that Promise is "Yes, in Him."  Does God still make righteous?  The Answer to that is, "Yes."  Does God still proclaim His Blessing on us, today?  The Answer to this Promise is, "Yes."  Many are the Promises of God to and for us today and His Promises are "Yes and Amen," through Jesus.
     Everything Adam lost in the Garden, has now been redeemed and restored through God's Promise in Jesus.  Not one Promise has been unfulfilled in Jesus Christ our Lord.  We've failed to unwrap the Gift of God's Son and have failed to see what Promises God gave to us, through Jesus.  We've been far too careful, trying not to tear the wrapping paper and we've never truly seen inside the Gift of God's Promise.
     Reading through God's Word about Jesus, we can see that He is the Promise of God to all who've suffered at the hands of Adam's fall in the Garden.  Jesus tells us, in Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified), "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah) to preach the Good News (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed, who are down-trodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity. To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord, the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound."  Verse 21 says, "And He began to speak to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing."  This Promise (as well as all of God's Promises) are fulfilled in Jesus.  This doesn't mean simply the forgiveness of sin, but the complete removal of sin.  All God's Promises for His new creation family, were completed and fulfilled in this One Gift, Who is Jesus Christ our Lord.
     Merry Christ to everyone who has hears to hear and eyes to see the unwrapping of God's Gift of Love to you.  All God's Promises are "Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus."  Have you come upon a Promise of God, that you need in your life?  If you have, then remember what Paul says in 2Corinthians 1:19 (Amplified) says, "For the Son of God, Christ Jesus the Messiah; Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not Yes and No, but in Him it is always the Divine Yes."
       Merry Christmas, Love, Cowboy Jim

Lesson 12 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     In John 6:38-39 (Amplified) Jesus says, "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. And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new life and raise them all up at the last day."
     2Corinthians 5:17 tells us that this "new life" is a completely new creation, born from a Spiritual birth coming from the Father Himself.  Man was spiritually dead and separated from God, through Adam's transgression.  Jesus came so that by faith in Him, we could be restored back to God's will and Life.  This new Life is more than just being forgiven of sin.  It places us back into the very righteousness and Presence of God, without having even the appearance of trespass.
     For years, Christians have struggled about what things are God's will for us.  When we're proclaiming the Messiah's birth this Christmastime, we need to fully understand what has taken place for mankind, through Him.  We can actually witness Love in action, when reading about Jesus' earthly ministry.  Jesus was the Perfect will of God and He never did or said anything, that violated God's will.  Many have lost sight of this Truth.
     God set forth a Promise and plan to redeem man, immediately following Adam's giving his dominion over to satan, in the Garden.  Jesus was and is, God's Promise and plan and will.  Jesus is the Perfect plan and will of the Father, for all who will accept the Promise.  We've mostly seen that Promise as being forgiven, but the Father has restored mankind back to Himself and not only forgiven us.  Mankind was to be restored back into the Perfect will and plan of God since before the foundation of the world, through Jesus Christ.
     God's Word tells us that the entire creation was made for God's family to live in and enjoy.  God designed the whole of creation, for the co-habitation of His family and Himself, according to Genesis 1:27 (Amplified) which says, "So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them."  We know that God created mankind in His Image and Likeness.  In John 4:24 (Amplified), Jesus says, "God is a Spirit, a Spiritual Being and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in Truth or reality."
     God formed a house" or natural body for Adam to live in, on the earth.  Genesis 2:7 (Amplified) says, "Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of Life, and man became a living being."  God made man's natural body from the dust of the earth, which God created for His family.  God gave man the earth as his kingdom and place of dominion.  Genesis 3:8 (Amplified) says, "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in te Garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the Presence of the Lord God among the trees of the Garden."
     God created the Garden of Eden, as the starting place for His family to live in.  Man is a spirit, because he was made in the Image and Likeness of God (Who is a Spirit).  God made him a natural body (house) to dwell in and providing God access to man in man's dominion.  God and His family could dwell together in everything.  Adam would receive Wisdom and Counsel from God, into his spirit.  Adam would apply them to his natural surroundings, bringing forth God's Own children in the unity God planned before the foundation of the world.
     After Adam's transgression (fall), God lost fellowship and no longer had a place of "family" with His son, Adam.  God Promises of Jesus and satan's downfall, in Genesis 3:15 (Amplified) saying,"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring. He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel."  This was God's Promise of Restoration and His full plan and will.
     Every Promise God made after Adam's fall from Grace, had to do with the birth, death and resurrection of the Seed of the woman.  This didn't simply include forgiveness, but the total restoration into perfect fellowship with God as His Own children.  Satan couldn't comprehend God's plan, because he lacked Revelation knowledge.  Satan only had fallen knowledge, finding it impossible to fathom how God could bring another Adam (the Last Adam, Jesus) without the stain of sin in His Life.  Satan believed he had gained total control over God's family, because he knew what sin had done in the spirit of mankind.
     The "woman had no Seed," so how could the Sinless Seed be born from the loins of sinful man.  How could a such a man, be "Perfect" in the eyes of a Just and Holy God?  The stain of sin has been transferred from Adam, into every person ever born of a woman.  Man no longer inherited the Life of God by birth, as the Father planned, only spiritual death would be the result of natural and spiritual birth.  God couldn't overlook what had occurred, because He is a Just and Righteous God, so He needed to bring forth an entirely new creation.  How could any fallen, sinful man pay for Adam's transgression?  Death (separation from God's Life) had become the spiritual DNA of every man born of woman, so how could God's family be redeemed and restored into the place of right standing with God again?  This is the Mystery that was hid in God, through Christ Jesus.
     After God made His Promise of the Seed that was to come, satan instantly set out to prevent this from happening.  Satan believed that Able was the Seed, so satan had Cain murder him.  Satan thought he had stopped God's plan, but God didn't say, "The Seed of man."  God said, "The Seed of woman."  Adam took the whole of God's will for His family, down with him when he fell in the Garden.  The Father was without His family and the Curse of the Law of Sin and Death, with it's disease, death,  misery, brokenness, starvation, and total separation from God's Blessing had befell mankind.
     We hear much said today about God's will is to heal, bless, give dominion and give the Holy Spirit to mankind.  We've allowed satan to hold onto his authority, even over those who become God's new creation family.  When God Promised "the Seed" in Genesis, He wasn't Promising just forgiveness, but Redemption for His family.  God's Promise was to completely restore everything Adam lost to mankind, man to God and God to man.    
  
 

Christmas 2017

Have A Wonderful and Blessed Christmas!

Lesson 11 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     In John 6:38-39 (Amplified) Jesus says, "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. And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new Life and raise them all up at the last days."
     The will, the Word, the purpose of God and the plan of God, are all one and the same thing.  From the very beginning, God had planned for a family of His Own and that plan has not and will never change.  Ephesians 1:4-7 (Amplified) says, "Even as in His Love He chose us (actually picked us out for Himself as His Own in Christ before the foundation of the world), that we should be holy, consecrated and set apart for Him, and blameless in His sight, eve above reproach before Him in Love. For He fore-ordained us, destined us, planned in Love for us to be adopted, revealed as His Own children through Christ Jesus, in accordance with the purpose of His will, because it pleased Him and was His kind intent."  Verses 6-7 continue, "So that we might be to the praise and commendation of His Glorious Grace, favor and mercy, which He so freely bestowed us in the Beloved. In Him we have Redemption, deliverance, and salvation through His Blood, the remission, forgiveness of our offenses, short comings and trespasses in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His Gracious favor."
     We haven't reached back into the will, plan and Word of our Father, in order to see what His will for us really is.  We've misunderstood the plan, purpose and will of God's Own heart for mankind, because of natural men's ideas and teachings.  Some believe that God's plan was for Adam to fall in the Garden, so He could sent Jesus to save us.  If this was God's plan for mankind, then God has been responsible for every person who has been lost, tormented, abused, murdered, starved or grieved by the horrible plagues that have befell them.
     "God is Love," according to 1John 4:16 (Amplified) which says, "And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of by observation and experience, and believe, adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the Love God cherishes for us, GOD IS LOVE, and he who dwells and continues in Love dwells and continues in God and God dwells and continues in Him."  In order to learn the will, purpose, and plan God has for us today, we must first learn to understand His Love. 
     In Genesis 1:1-25, we see and learn, that before making man in His Own Image and Likeness, God created a beautiful place for him to live in and have dominion over.  God created everything His family would need to live in comfort and beauty.  God's children were predestined before the foundations of the world and we were the reason for the entire creation.
     Before the foundation of the world, God's will, plan and purpose was to have a family of His Own.  We were predestined to be His Own family, according to Ephesians 1:5 (Amplified) which tells us, "For He fore-ordained us, destined us, planned in Love for us, to be adopted, revealed as His Own children through Christ Jesus, in accordance with the purpose of His will, because it pleased Him and was His kind intent."
     No Loving parent has ever planned for his or her family to be tortured, starved, murdered, abused or tormented, because they love them.  If God is Love (and we know that He is), then do you honestly believe God's will is for His children to be these things?  God's will for His family has never changed.   From the time satan deceived Adam in the Garden, God's will, plan, purpose and intent was to bring His children back to Him.  But, as a Just and Righteous God, this had to be done according to His Own laws, that govern Heaven.  God is Just and True, so He couldn't (or wouldn't) ignore how Adam's transgression left man in the spiritual state of death.  God devised a way, to legally bring man back to His Own righteousness.  Adam made his own decision that led to transgression for mankind, so man must make his own decision to receive his salvation through Christ Jesus.
     The Father knew that man could never return on his own merits and He provided the way back, by His Own Blood.  This act of God's Love, has been misunderstood for centuries, causing some t believe God deliberately caused Adam to fall, so He could be the One to redeem him.  If man had never failed, then we would never have needed a Redeemer.  We sometimes forget that we have the "right of choice" and that even if we make the incorrect choice, God will always direct us back to Him, if we listen.  In His Word, God states His will for mankind.  If we will read God's Word by the Holy Spirit and not our own carnal understanding, then we can know His will.
     2Peter 3:9 (Amplified) says, "The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He Promises, according to some people's conception of slowness, but He is long suffering, extraordinarily patient toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance."  God's will is that, "All should repent and not perish," but we see how many will not receive or walk in God's will for themselves.  This doesn't change God's will or plan for man.  He has a plan, will and purpose for mankind, that He will not or cannot change.  There is no more sacrifice or other way to be reconciled back to Himself.  It's God's desire that everyone should be saved and come to the knowledge of Christ, Who was God's Perfect Sacrifice for mankind, but we continue to see those who are outside of God's will.
     God does not change, so it's up to us to change and let His will be done, instead of our own.  God planned for His family, before creating the Heavens and the earth.  We came into existence by God's will and He hasn't changed or deviated from that original plan.  We sometimes miss out on His original plan for man and man's place with and in God.  When thinking about God's will and His plan, we must always return to the original intent, because God's will, purpose, plan, Word and Love have never changed.  Everything Jesus did and stood for, was God's heart cry and Love's purpose to deliver man back to Himself.
      

Lesson 10 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     In John 6:38-39 (Amplified), Jesus tells His followers, "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. And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new Life and raise them all up at the last day."
     The above scripture clearly tells us that Jesus came to give us new Life and that He will raise us up at the Last day.  We've been confused about what this new Life is, though.  Jesus' entire ministry was restoring earth to what Heaven's will is.  Jesus performed miracles and healings, in order to restore to man, the things that were lost from Adam's fall.  He couldn't fulfill all of His ministry, as the Sacrifice of God, while He was still alive.  In His earthly form, Jesus could only completely fulfill the things He was sent to do, after His death and resurrection.  Jesus could bring man's natural bodies, back into God's will for mankind, though.
     The teachings from natural man's concepts of the Word and God's will, were taken from the old covenant and how God dealt with natural men.  The teachings that, "God is responsible for making men sick" or that "Sickness and disease are God's will for teachings His children," are derived from carnal minded men and the Law.  Much of the Church have been taught that sickness and hardship, are how God teaches and disciplines His children.
     As new covenant, new creation children of God, we see that God put all of this on Jesus, in order for us to be made righteous, which was God's Own will for His family.  This isn't something that we had to do, but was something Jesus did, as an act of completing God's will for us.  We were made righteous, justified, consecrated and sanctified, by an act of His Own will.  Even before men could be saved, Jesus healed their natural bodies during His earthly ministry.  Jesus healed them and brought them back to meet God's will for mankind.
     In this time of Grace, much has been said about God's will and plan for mankind.  Grace has been extended to both the lost and the saved.  The difference is that those who are saved, have received God's Grace by faith and have accepted the Offer of God, while others ignored this Offer of Grace.
     The Church has been taught and trained to see ourselves after the old covenant Law.  Paul taught in Galatians 5;4-6 (Amplified), "If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed from Christ). You have fallen away from Grace (from God's gracious favor and unmerited Blessing). For we, not relying on the Law but through the Holy Spirit's help, by faith anticipate and wait for the Blessing and good for which our righteousness and right standing with God, our conformity to His will in purpose, thought and action, causes us to hope. For is we are in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through Love."
     This faith works by Love and it's really our faith that grows into mature faith.  This faith is always activated, energized and expressed in us, when we understand God's Love for us.  When we truly understand the real power of His Love towards us, our faith in Him will bring us to a place where we cannot only know God's will, but we will walk in His will without fear of anything.  When we don't fully understand God's Love, we don't have a full understanding of His will.
     We console ourselves by saying, "It's must be God's will," when we see good Christian people suffering from sickness and disease.  The Truth is that it's not God's will for us to be sick or die from sickness.  We assume it must be God's will, because we don't understand why Christians still get sick.  I know people, who today, believe the things occurring around the globe, are God's will and plan.  Many of them will misquote Romans 8:28 saying, "All things work together for our good."
     This isn't what the Verse says or what it means.  It doesn't mean that the hell, heartache, misery, sickness, death, rape, drugs and the terrible things satan has done, are "for our good."  If we read the Word and understand it by the Holy Spirit, then we would know that everything going on around us, is not God's will.  In Galatians 5:6 (Amplified), Paul explains how our absence of faith in God's will, comes from our lack of understanding His Love, because our faith in Him comes by knowing His Love for us.
     1John 4:16-18 (Amplified) says, "And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience, and believe, adhere to and put faith in and rely on, THE LOVE GOD HAS FOR US. God is Love and he who dwells and continues in Love, dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him. In this union and communion with Him, Love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us; that we may have confidence for the day of judgment with assurance and boldness to face Him, because as He is, so are we in this world."  Verse 18 tells us, "There is no fear in Love (dread does not exist,) but full-grown, complete, Perfect Love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror. For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and so he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of Love (is not yet grown into Love's complete Perfection)."
     If we believe that God brings sickness, disease and hardship upon us, as punishment for our wrongdoing and failures, then we are not "made Perfect in Love."  We are still walking in fear and lack of knowledge, where our covenant and family relationship with God is concerned.  We can't seem to get beyond how God dealt with man under the Law and understand that we're under a completely new family covenant.  When we don't understand Love, we don't know the Father.  When we don't know the Father, we don't know His will.
     Sickness and disease are from the devil.  God doesn't have the devil help Him with disciplining His Own children.  I don't know why some people get sick or leave this planet ahead of their time, but I do know that "It's not my Father's doing."  I've heard some say, "I know Christians who are sick, so healing must not be God's will to heal everyone."  That's like saying, "I know people who aren't saved, so it must not be God's will for everyone to be saved."  We've seemed to have forgotten that every individual plays a part in receiving or rejecting anything that God has offered us.
     Some don't believe that God gave us a free will, to choose or reject what comes in life.  If this was true, then why even preach the Message of salvation?  In the Garden of Gethsemane, as an act of His Own will, even Jesus surrendered His will to the will of the Father.  It was Jesus' choice to be obedient to the Father's will.  He knew what the Father's will was and Jesus chose to do God's will, over His Own
     We've surrendered our will over to some pretty foolish things, believing we were being obedient to God's will.  Many been deceived by satan, to believe something was God's will, which led to their befalling many things that weren't God's will at all.  In His great Grace, mercy and Love, God has delivered us, in spite of our wrong thinking.  God judges the heart and knows our reason for doing things.  When we fail to understand His will, we give the enemy place in our lives and this leads to our enduring things that were never God's will for us.
     We're entering into the great day of deliverance, by revelation knowledge of His Love and will for His family, in these last days.  There is a day coming soon, where recompense will happen for all who have suffered persecution at the hands of the enemy.  We've almost come to believing it's God's will  that some are tortured and burned at the stake.  Just because God receives them into Heaven, doesn't mean that God took them.
    

Lesson 9 DOING HIS WILL AND HIS WORKS

     In John 6:38 (Amplified), Jesus said, "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 was the Perfect will of God, in everything He said and did.  We can see and know what God's will truly is for mankind, by watching Jesus' earthly ministry.  It should be obvious to everyone, that God's will is for all to be saved.  Jesus said in John 3:16 (Amplified), "For God so greatly Loved and dearly prized the world that He even gave up His Only Begotten, Unique Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, and relies on Him) shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost), but have eternal, everlasting life."
     2Peter 3:9 (Amplified) says, "The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He Promises (according to some people's conception of slowness), but He is long-suffering, extraordinarily patient toward you, not desiring any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance."
     The above scriptures tell us, that it's God's will for all to be saved.  Revelations 21:8 (Amplified) also says, "But as for the cowards and the ignoble and the contemptible and the cravenly lacking in courage and the cowardly submissive, and as for the unbelieving and faithless, and as for the depraved and defiled with abominations, and as for murderers and the lewd and adulterous and the practice rs of magic arts and the idolators (those who give supreme devotion to anyone or anything other than God), and all liars (those who knowingly convey untruth by word or deed), all of these shall have their part in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone, this is the second death."
     Can it truly be, that there are those who will oppose God's will, even to their own destruction?  We know it's God's will that, "All should be saved," but we have a choice to make, in order to be in His will.  We've been taught that everything that's occurring around the world is God's will, but nothing can be further from the Truth.  Jesus didn't accept everything that was occurring around Him.  He changed the things that weren't God's, in order to meet God's will.
     We witnessed Jesus bringing "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven."  Jesus healed the sick, because sickness isn't God's will in Heaven.  Jesus cleansed the leper, because leprosy isn't God's will in Heaven.  Jesus gave sight to the blind, because blindness isn't God's will in Heaven.  Jesus' entire ministry restoring God's will for mankind on earth.  This was God's will.  God never intended for mankind to be sick, blind, diseased or lame, but for us to be Blessed and walk in His Presence.  This is why Jesus taught us to pray, "THY WILL be done on earth, as it is in Heaven."  God wants us to live in His will, as though sin had never caused mankind to be destroyed.
     When looking to our Redeemer, Jesus, we need to understand what we've been redeemed from.  Jesus redeemed us from everything that was lost to us, through Adam, including our fellowship with the Father, the Blessing that was turned in the Curse, the authority and dominion God gave to mankind in the beginning, and our justification and righteousness in which man was created.  This is and always has been, God's will for us.  We've been redeemed, ransomed and returned to God by the Sacrifice of Jesus.
     During His earthly ministry, Jesus could only do God's will, in the place where He currently was.  He could only hear those who were in His Presence and deliver those who were at hand.  Through His Heavenly ministry as Lord and through the authority He has delegated to His Church, He can now do God's will universally.  When we read God's Word and witness the things Jesus did during His earthly ministry, we should be able to understand what God's will for mankind is.  As new creation beings, we've been given the Holy Spirit to empower us, making it possible to do God's will on earth, as it is in Heaven.  We are "Seated together with Jesus in the Heavenlies" and should know what God's will is for the earth.  Ephesians 2:6 (Amplified) says, "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 our being in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
     Notice how it was God Who raised us up together with Jesus and gave us joint seating with Him.  We weren't the ones who did this, but God Who did this.  This is God's will for the Church.  We have many facets of God's will being done, even now.  God has a will for mankind, He has a will for the Church, He has a will for Israel, and He has a will for the individuals who make up the Church.  Paul writes in Romans 12:2 (Amplified), "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed by the entire renewal of your minds, by its new ideals and its new attitude) so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable, and perfect will of God. Even the thing which is good, and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."
     The facets of God's will, should be known by His children.  God might simply be calling you to pray His will for the nations or He might give some special knowledge concerning His will for Israel.  God's will might be for you to listen and heed His will, in the lives of others or in our own lives.  These are all God's will, but not all of His will can be done by one individual.  It requires the entire Body of Christ, to fulfill His will on earth.
     Some parts of God's good will concern our individual, personal relationship with Him, while other parts of His will are our being acceptable to praying for the nations and others.  The Perfect will of God will come to pass, as we fulfill all those things together, as the Spirit direct us.  Contrary to common belief, God doesn't just come down from Heaven and force His will on anyone.  He moves through the prayer and obedience of His children, in order to accomplish His will on earth.
     There wouldn't be a need for prayer, if God was simply going to come down from Heaven and do whatever He wished to do anyway.  Right?  Why pray for others to be saved, if God was "going to save them anyway?"  Why preach the Gospel to others, if there was no need to preach it?  Why would Jesus command us to lay hands on the sick, if God had no intention of healing them?  We seemingly forget, that we are His Body.  We are Jesus' hands, His feet, His voice, His arms and His legs, to go and do His will.  If we don't understand God's will for the world, for the Israelites (the seed of Abraham), for healing and deliverance, and His will for our own personal lives, then how can God's will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven?  We must know how God's will is done in Heaven, in order to know how to walk and minister His will on earth.
     Pray and seek God for understanding, concerning His will for your life and when you know what it is, then do it.  We're all called to pray for the Church, for our leaders, for the nations, and for our own lives and families.  God's will is the same for all, if you look at it.  He wants everyone to be saved and led by His Spirit.  And He wants everyone who is led by His Spirit, to be obedient to Him.
     Paul prayed on behalf of the church in Colossus, but he didn't only pray for those in that specific church, he prayed for the entire Church, in Colossians 1:9-10 (Amplified) saying, "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it (your love) have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep, clear knowledge of His will in all spiritual Wisdom (in all comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things), That you may walk, live, and conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God, with fuller, deeper and clear insight, acquaintance and recognition."

Lesson 8 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     In John 6:18-19 (Amplified) Jesus tells His followers, "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. And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me; but that I should give new life and raise them all up at the last day."
     The Father's will is portrayed by the life and obedience of His Son Jesus.  The new life that Jesus spoke about, is the same new creation man that Paul writes about in 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified), where he says "it's more than just going to Heaven," because Heaven now lives in the new man.  For many years, we've been taught that Jesus "took our sin" and that we are "forgiven," but many don't clearly understand what this means for the new man.
     There was a very clear purpose, the Father sent Jesus to be our Sin-Bearer.  So long as man was under the Law of Sin and Death, God remained on the outside and not as our Father.  We were under the blood of bulls and goats, as a temporary covering.  The Blood of Jesus didn't cover our sins, but removed them forever, from the old man.  Once the penalty for sin was paid and the Sacrifice was accepted before God, the Law of Sin and Death had been ratified.  Those who received Grace through Jesus, were no longer responsible for meeting the price by works, but were made clean by faith in Jesus.
     We see the Revelation that Jesus bestowed to Paul in Romans 8:1-3,4 (Amplified), which 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 which is in Christ Jesus (the Law of our new being) has freed me from the Law of Sin and of Death. For God has done what the Law could not do, its power being weakened by the flesh, the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit; Sending His Own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an Offering for sin. God condemned sin in the flesh (subdued it, overcame and deprived it of its power over all who accept that Sacrifice)."  Verse 4 goes further telling us about His will was, in what He was doing.  Thus it says, "So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit, our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit."
     It was (and still is) God's will for all of us to be made not only clean from sin and the Law, but to be redeemed from every aspect of Adam's fall from Grace.  God wishes to restore us back, to His original plan for His children from before the foundation of the earth.  Especially as we approach Christmas and celebrate the Gift of God's Love in the birth of His Son Jesus, let's finally open that Gift, remove the wrappings and see inside the Package of His Love.
     Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5:15-16 (Amplified), "And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake. 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 still see Jesus more in terms of the flesh, instead of the Spirit.  We see Jesus as the Baby in a manger or as the Man from Galilee, more than the Risen Christ.  This keeps us having the Christmas Gift with the wrappings unopened.  The "wrapping" on this Gift, is the flesh.  When we allow the Holy Spirit to unwrap this Gift of Love, we can see what was inside the Gift.
     Many of us have shaken the Gift and tried determining "what's inside," but few have allowed the Holy Spirit to unwrap it and truly see what's inside.  The Holy Spirit unwraps the flesh covering and reveals our Father's Gift to us, in Hebrews 10:19-20 (Amplified) saying, "Therefore brethren, since we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the Holy of Holies by the power and virtue in the Blood of Jesus. By this fresh and new and Living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies) that is through His flesh."
     The veil or curtain that prevented our seeing and entering into the Holy of Holies, was His flesh, which is the outer wrappings of the Precious Gift God sent to us.  If we only see the outer-man or wrappings that cover the Gift, then we miss out on what's inside the Package.  The ribbons, bows and festive paper on a gift are the appealing covering of the true present inside.
     After Jesus' resurrection, the veil or covering was parted, revealing the Awesome Beauty of this Gift.  Jesus didn't just cover sin, but He paid for the entire Law of Sin and Death that came upon mankind after Adam's transgression in the Garden of Eden.  When we see the fullness of this Gift, we realize that Jesus paid the complete bill, by His Just and Righteous Ransom.  This redemption was full restoration back unto the Father, as though Adam's transgression never occurred.
     The veil or the flesh that wrapped the Gift, has been removed and the Gift has been opened, according to Romans 5:1-2 (Amplified) which says, "Therefore, since we are justified, acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God through faith, let us grasp the fact that we have the peace of reconciliation, to hold and enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) Through Him also we have our access, entrance, introduction, by faith into this Grace (state of God's favor in which we firmly and safely stand), And let us rejoice and exalt in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the Glory of God."
     Many of us have looked with awe and wonder, at this Wrapped Gift, trying not to disturb the beauty of the way it's wrapped.  Once the outer wrappings of the flesh are opened, then we see that the fullness of God's Gift involves more than forgiveness of sin.  Removing the outer wrapping, reveals the entrance into the Father's House as His Own children, who are without spot or wrinkle or the stain of sin, in our lives.
     God's Gift is complete and total restoration to God's will and heart, He had for His children from the beginning.  Too many have never enjoyed the fullness of what we call "Christmas" and the Wonderful Child given to us.  Isaiah 9:6 (Amplified) says, "This was God's Own Word of Redemption wrapped in flesh and unto us a Child is born, and unto us a Son is given."  We must unwrap and open God's Gift of Love.  We must fully adore and see it through the eyes of our new creation being. Through Jesus, we are once again home in our Father's House, as family.

Lesson 7 DOING HIS WILL AND HIS WORKS

     Jesus told His followers 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 stated that the things He said and did, were "God's will."  These things weren't God's will for only Himself, but for all those He healed, gave sight to, restored back to wholeness and raised from the dead.  If Jesus had been able to go beyond Jerusalem and the regions of Galilee, then He would have done the very same things there.  Every Word in the Gospels that we read about Jesus, was and is God's will for all of mankind.
     Those of us today, have lost sight of the fact that we can know God's will, by first watching the actions of Jesus.  When we see Jesus, we see God in action.  The most obvious thing we see Jesus doing during His earthly ministry, is healing the sick.  We've nearly lost sight of what God's will is, but we can all agree that "It is God's will to save the lost."  Do you realize that Jesus never got anyone born-again, during His earthly ministry?
     No one could be born-again, until after Jesus was raised from the dead and presented before the Father with His Blood.  We all agree though, that it's God's will for everyone to be born-again.  Right?  Jesus spoke about His being glorified, His sending the Holy Spirit and about how He would give us Life in John 6:40 (Amplified).  At that time, the Holy Spirit had only come into Jesus.  Jesus went on His discourse, speaking about the Father's will, saying, "For this is My Father's will and His purpose, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in (and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Him) should have eternal life; and I will raise him up from the dead at the last day."
     If we believe in what Jesus said and did, then we must also believe that the things Jesus was doing, are still God's will for today.  Many of us have given up on the Super-natural work of God, today.  We confess that we believe "God can do these things," but have given up on the Truth that "He will do them."  Many people with good intentions, have told us that this isn't so, but if it was God's will to do them then, it's still His will to do them today.
     John 5:19 (Amplified) says, "So Jesus answered them by saying; I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the Son is able to do nothing of Himself (of His Own accord), but He is able to do only what He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does is what the Son does (in the same way, in His turn)."  Whatever Jesus sees the Father doing, is what He does.  Obviously, Jesus not only did the will of God, but He was actually the Personification of God's will, in the Flesh.
     We've heard Jesus' Words, but haven't believed in what Jesus said and did, as being the things we're supposed to do (as believers).  It was God's will to heal and deliver through Jesus and as believers, we're supposed to do what Jesus did.  We're not only supposed to believe that God will heal us, but we're to "lay hands on the sick and they will be healed," according to Mark 16:17-18 (Amplified) where Jesus says, "And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe; in My Name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up serpents, and even if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well."
     Jesus didn't say, "The early Church" or "such-and-such denomination" will do these things.  He said, "Those who believe, will do these things."  Either we have stopped short in our believing, or Jesus made a mistake about those who could "do these things."  We've all believed for eternal life, but have mostly stopped short at believing, when it comes to the Super-natural things of God being for here and now.  This isn't an indictment.  It's a challenge, to move us on in our faith. 
     We've seen diseases (some more ominous than others) in the Church today.  The survival rate is very low among some churches and is very high in others.  We've been trained by the world that, "Healing doesn't work in all diseases."  Others have asked me, "What if it doesn't work?" They're not asking this due to the seriousness of the disease, but because they lack faith in the laying on of hands.  Asking the question, displays our unbelief in what the Word says about it.
     Of course, we are not Jesus, but we all have professed our believe in Him and what He says.  Could it be that we need to expand and grow more in our faith as a personal things, instead of stopping where everyone else is?  What possible damage could laying our hands on and praying for the sick do?  I've heard people say, "It's giving them false hope."  I respond with Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) saying, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for."  Without hope, faith has no goal or vision to bring to pass, anything to the natural man.
     Jesus said that it was "The Father in Him, Who was doing the work."  We're not required to heal anyone, but only to believe that "the Father in us, will do the work."  Mark 16:20 (Amplified) says, "The Lord working with them [His followers], confirming His Word by the signs following."  
     The disciples preached and obeyed the Word and Jesus confirmed His Word, by performing it.  They didn't have to do anything, but believe what Jesus said to do.  We've been pressed into a mold, of what the world thinks about the Father.  The only things the world sees as supernatural, are ghost storied and other such foolishness, as seen on TV.  They'll watch stories about the paranormal and believe that, but if we speak about angels or the Holy Spirit, then they laugh in ridicule.  There are some who don't believe that satan is real.
  Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified), "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 supernatural sphere."  If these supernatural things are "real" in this world, then doesn't it make sense that the Super-natural Spirit of God and His angelic forces are real?  We must learn to trust in, have faith in and believe on the Super-natural Spirit and Word of our Lord and Father, in order to take this warfare into the heavenlies and do the work that needs to be done.

Lesson 6 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Jesus 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."
     We see Jesus carrying out the Father's will in the Gospels and we see the Father's will being carried out in the Epistles.  Paul writes in Galatians 1:11-12 (Amplified), "For I want you to know brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by me is not a man's gospel (a human invention according to or patterned after any human standard). For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through a direct revelation given by Jesus Christ (the Messiah)."
     Man has put his own ideas and interpretations, into God's revelations that He gave to man.  Paul said, "This Gospel was not patterned after any human standards."  Men have patterned the Gospel after the Law and human ideas that meet their own ideas.  Much of what is being preached in today's churches, is man's ideas of what he thinks God said through Jesus.  Most of this has to do with still trying to be pleasing to God.  We continue to look at ourselves through man's ideas of righteousness and justification.  We fail, because our righteousness and justification comes by Jesus Christ our Lord.
     No matter how hard we try or how much we do, we can never be righteous or justified, without placing our faith in the Finished Word of Jesus.  We can be saved and not understand this revelation of the Gospel.  It seems difficult for some to believe that Jesus has already done everything needed to make us in right standing with the Father.  And, because of this, we still struggle to operate in the way of the new creation people of God.
     I've heard Christians say, "If only I could be righteous and just in God's eyes, then God might heal me or answer my prayers."  Many in the Church have thought this way for centuries.  Many feel it's sacrilegious or blasphemous, to say "we are in right standing with God or righteous in God's eyes," even though this is what the Word says.  It seems too easy for us to simply believe and accept what the Father says about us, in His Word.
     Even though Paul's words aren't written in red (like in some Bibles), but they are Jesus speaking to us from His place in glory with the Father, according to 2Corinthians 5:16 (Amplified) which 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."
     In other words, what Jesus was preaching while He was here, was only a part of what was to come after His resurrection.  Satan and mankind had no idea of what was to come after Jesus' resurrection and thus, that was the Mystery.  1Corinthians 2:8 (Amplified) says, "None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory."  Jesus could only reveal a small part of the plan of redemption to His disciples and He did much of this through Parables.
     While reading the Gospels, we must know and remember that these weren't born-again men, but those who were still under the Law of Sin and of Death.  The shadow of death, hung over them like a cloud and only their obedience to the Law, could keep them standing in God's mercy.  Under the new covenant family, we live in the Grace that the old covenant people could only obtain under their obedience to the Law.  We are required to keep God's Word and standards, but not in order to obtain His Grace or mercy, but because He has given us grace and mercy to do so.
     The Holy Spirit doesn't just come down on us for a short time (like in the old covenant), but He lives within us, in order to direct and guide us.  This is a concept that those in the Gospels couldn't see by the natural human standards of a Holy God.  God was just "God," to the people of the old covenant.  He is "Father God," to us.  They were a "chosen" people, but we are "family."  We've somehow missed this Truth, by trying to become what Jesus has already made us to be.
     When we understand this righteousness by faith, we gain the boldness and assurance to come before God, without doubt or reservation.  We don't do this with arrogance, but in faith of what Jesus has already done for and to us.  Somehow, this doesn't come to us in the way the Holy Spirit has reveled it through the Word and our lack of faith in what Jesus has done, leaves us trying to get close to God.  We try dressing the way we believe will get us into God's good graces.
     This leads us to the bondage of man-made laws, instead of allowing the Spirit to make us free.  We've actually bound ourselves with our own laws and haven't entered into our Blood bought liberty in Christ Jesus.  We are to have restraint in what the flesh is doing, but not to the point of law, but by His Spirit.  We're left under guilt and self-condemnation.  We continue struggling with the old sin in our lives and the condemnation of the past, instead of entering into the Liberty of our new found Hope in Christ Jesus.
     This condemnation and self-guilt, results in our lack of ability to set the captives free and do the things of the Spirit.  We feel unworthy to be able to lay hands on the sick and believe God cannot use us, because of who we once were.  We don't feel like deserving to be used of God.  This is a purely human point of view and holds us back from allowing God to be shown Alive to the world.
     The world needs to see the Super-natural things of God (especially in this time of Jesus' soon returning), but we lack faith in what Jesus has already done for us and we're not going into the world.  Jesus has already made us acceptable and clean in the Father's sight.  We can't do it, only believe it.  When we do simply believe it, we are doing God's will on this earth.  God's will is that each person will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and walk by faith in what Jesus has done for us, not what we have done.  This sounds simply, but it's the most crucial thing in the New Testament.
    It's hard to make your mind to accept and believe you are righteous, knowing the things you've done, without renewing it by the Word and the Holy Spirit.  Every time we change churches, we come under a new set of rules and laws.  Some churches even require us to be baptized again, by their laws.  Baptism is a form of the burial of the old man and most people only need to be buried once.  Many churches require filling out a card and joining their church.  No one can "join" the Church by signing a card.  You must be born into the Church.  We've divided the family of God, by our own customs, instead of enjoying the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in other congregations.
     Isn't Jesus Lord over ALL the Church?  Why do we make it a personal thing of rituals and laws then?  Some in the Church are newborn babies in Christ, while others are more mature.  We stunt the growth of many, by teaching God's Word on an infant degree.  1Peter 2:2 (Amplified) says, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure unadulterated spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto completed salvation."  This growing process can only come by seeking Truth and fellowship of Truth, through the revealed Word by the Holy Spirit.  There is so much that our Father wants to do in and through us, but we're not allowing Him to do so.  We're not like the early Church and we should be doing things the early Church didn't even know was available to us. 

Lesson 5 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     In John 8:19 (Amplified) Jesus is asked, "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."
     Jesus is our Only Living Testimony our our Heavenly Father.  Under the old covenant, people couldn't know or see God and they couldn't see Him as "Father."  They could only know Him by the Law and their own obedience to it.  They had no relationship with Him as Father and very little relationship with Him even as God.  The old covenant people could only hear from the prophets, the way and Word of God.  That was only when a prophet was sent.  The people didn't trust the words of the prophets and failed to walk in what they were told.
     Today, many still cannot see or hear the Father's Voice by His Spirit and they continue struggling to know and understand the Father's will for the Church, the world and Israel.  God has shown mankind what His will is, through Jesus.  God has a will for mankind and He has a will for the Church and He has a will for Israel.  These may differ, but they are for "all to be saved."  God has a plan and will, for each of our individual lives.
     It might be the hardest things for the Church to do, but we must understand God's will for His Body and for the personal life He has given each of us.  Many have mistaken the Law and the old covenant, as being God's plan and will for this age and mankind.  We've been taught that the old covenant Law is still "God's way of doing things in this age."  We assumed this was true, because we were taught by man, instead of the Word.
     Many believe God teaches and disciplines us, by trials and sickness, but nothing can be further from the TRUTH, according to John 8:31-32 (Amplified) which says, "So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My Word (hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them(, you are truly My disciples."  Verse 32 says, "And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free."
     Many have quoted the 32nd Verse, without paying much attention to the previous one.  Jesus said, "If we hold fast to His teachings, then we will know the Truth and the Truth will set us free."  We've listened to the teachings of men and what they think the Word says, instead of the teachings of Jesus and this has kept us in bondage to man's religion.  So, we're not as free, like Jesus said, because "the Truth (God's Word) will set us free."
     When we don't use Jesus as our Example and follow the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, then we return to being under the Law.  Paul writes in Galatians 5:4 (Amplified), "If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated severed from Christ. You have fallen away from Grace, from God's gracious favor and unmerited blessing."
     Jesus told His followers in John 5:19 (Amplified), "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the Son is able to do nothing of Himself (of His Own accord), but He is able to do only what He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does is what the Son does in the same way (in His turn)."  Jesus told us that, "If I don't do something, then the Father doesn't do it" and "If I'm doing it, then it's the Father doing it."  If you truly want to know God's will for mankind, then watch Jesus.
     If Jesus healed the sick, then it was God's will.  If Jesus made someone sick, then that would have been God's will.  Did you ever read in the Word, where Jesus made someone sick or refused to heal someone?  No.  Why didn't this never happen?  Because, this isn't God's will.  I challenge you with Jesus' Words, to show me in the new covenant, where it was God's will for us to be sick or made sick, in order to teach us something?
     Do people (including God's people) still get sick?  Of course they do, but mostly from what the Word says is the Curse that came from the first Adam's fall; not the LAST ADAM.  Jesus came to heal the sick.  Was Jesus doing God's will or was He just operating on His Own?  Jesus wouldn't have healed them, if it wasn't the Father's will.
     Before ascending to Heaven, Jesus spoke to His followers about sin, judgment, righteousness, Himself and satan, in John 16:7-11 (Amplified).  Listen carefully to what He says, "However, I am telling you nothing but the Truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not god away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Stand-by) will not come to you, into close fellowship with you; but if I god away, I will send Him to you, to be in close fellowship with you. And when He comes, He will convict and convince the world and bring demonstration to it about sin and about righteousness, uprightness of heart and right standing with God, and about judgment."  Verses 9-11 go on, "About sin, because they do not believe in Me (trust in, rely on, and adhere to Me) About righteousness and uprightness of heart and right standing with God, Because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no more.  About judgment, because the ruler, evil genius, prince of this world, satan, is judged and condemned and sentence is passed on him already."
     Jesus was speaking, what the Father says about sin, righteousness and judgment.  Part of this is for you or for the Church, and the other is for satan and the unsaved.  Judgment is for satan, while righteousness is for those who believe in Jesus as their Sin Bearer.  As children on God, we were "judged, declared righteous and without sin and made free already," by Jesus' Sacrifice.  Where is sickness, disease, calamity and terrible trials, listed as being God's will for us, in the new covenant family?
     God isn't judging the earth or those on the earth and He won't do so, until the appointed time (which is not yet).  The only one who's been judged already, is satan.  Sickness, trouble, and calamity, are not God's judgment or how He disciplines His children.  These are not God's will for the world or for His children.  1Timothy 2:4-6 (Amplified) says, "God, Who wishes all men to be saved and increasingly to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the Divine Truth. For there is only One God, and Only One Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. Who gave Himself as a Ransom for all people, a fact that was well attested to at the right and proper time."
     If you truly want to know God's will and nature, then listen to what the Holy Spirit writes about Jesus, in Hebrews 1:2 (Amplified), "He (Jesus) is the Sole Expression of the Glory of God, the Light-Being, the Outraying or radiance of the Divine and He is the Perfect Imprint and Very Image of God's nature, upholding and propelling the universe by His mighty Word of power, when He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins, and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the Divine Majesty on High."
     When we see the Man Christ Jesus, we see the very will and nature of our Heavenly Father.  Don't allow men and religion, to give you a false outlook on the Father.  When we walk in what man and religion says about the Father, instead of the Truth of God's Word, we place ourselves back into satan's bondage and the world's idea of the new creation being, we've become in Christ Jesus.
    

Lesson 4 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Jesus said in John 14:7 (Amplified), "If you had known Me, had learn ed to recognize Me, you would also have known My Father. From now on, you know Him and have seen Him."
     We must first know and understand Jesus, in order the understand the will of God.  Jesus said, "The Father and I are One."  Religion has taught that God's will is for the Church to pattern itself after the Law and the old covenant.  It was always God's will to bless, prosper, and move on behalf of His people.  It was more difficult to do this under the Law, because the people in the old covenant, were dead to Him in spirit.  God had to rely on their outward deeds, rituals, feast observance, daily sacrifices of goats and bulls and their total obedience to the Law, in order to perform His will in their lives.
     Under the new covenant, we no longer need to obey the rituals and sacrifices that those people did, in order to walk in the Blessing and Presence of God.  God's will hasn't changed, only His covenant and His people have changed.  It's was always God's will to bless His people, but it wasn't always His right to bless them.  God's right to bless the people, depended upon the people's being in right standing with Him through sacrifices and rituals.  God has now created the new creation people, in the new covenant, who are righteous and in right standing through Jesus' Sacrifice for us.  This is how God has blessed us.
     The only way to know the Father and His will for you, is to know Jesus and His very Own Words and works.  When we see Jesus the Man, in His earthly, bodily ministry, we actually see God walking among us in a visible and tangible Truth.  Hebrews 1:3 (Amplified) tells us, "Jesus is the Sole Expression of the Glory of God (the Light Being, the Out-Raying or Radiance of the Divine) and He is the Perfect Imprint and Very Image of God's nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty Word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the Divine Majesty on High."
     Jesus was Emmanuel, "God with us."  We can see the historical figure of the Man Jesus and determine God's will from His ministry and Presence.  Jesus even said that, "It's not Me, but the Father in Me Who does the works."  If will watch Jesus' earthly ministry and determine God's will from it, then we can understand the will of God for our own lives.  The great debate and disagreements over whether or not it's God's will to heal, should be settle forever, when we simply watch how Jesus dealt with the sick.
     Did you ever read Jesus declare, "It's God's will to leave this person or that person sick?"  Did you ever read Jesus saying, "It's the Father's will for Me to leave these people sick or lame?"  Did Jesus ever turn away anyone who needed Him?  Of course not, because it never happened.  We make up lame excuses for sickness and blame God for "putting sickness on us, in order to teach us something."  I've heard some Christians proclaim, "God has chosen me, to bear this sickness for His Glory."  Luke 13:11-13,16 (Amplified) says, "There was a woman there who for eighteen years had had an infirmity caused by a spirit (a demon of sickness); She was bent completely forward and utterly unable to straighten herself up or look forward. And when Jesus saw her, He called to her, Woman, you are released from your infirmity. Then He laid His hands on her, and instantly she was made straight and she recognized and thanked and praised God."  Jesus says this about her sickness in Verse 16,  "And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom satan has kept bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath Day?"
     Satan was the one, who bound this woman.  It was God's will to set her free.  According to the above scripture, this woman Jesus healed was only a "daughter of Abraham."  How much more will He do for a daughter or son of the Almighty God Himself?  I've never read about God making anyone in the new creation family of God and in His new covenant, sick.  I've never read about it being "God's will to make anyone in His new creation family, sick."  Before ascending to the Father, Jesus commanded us to "Go into all the world, proclaiming the Gospel, healing the sick, and casting out demons."  This Great Commission was not only for Jesus' apostles, but was for all those who believe in Him.
     The new creation family of God's Household, are supposed to know what His will is for mankind.  His will for your personal life or ministry, might differ from someone else's, but His over all will hasn't changed.  God's will for your own personal ministry, whether it's the five-fold ministry or whatever else, is based on being in Christ Jesus and it hasn't changed.  God's will for you is healing, joy, life, and prosperity.  These are His will for all of His children.
     1John 5:14 (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."  This scripture indicates that we are to know God's will, before we ask for something.
     We have the Teacher, the Holy Spirit, living in us, in order to reveal the Father to us.  We have the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus.  Jesus is our Example of how God lives in us.  We have the insight of the Holy Spirit, if we will hear His Voice, according to 1John 2:20,27 (Amplified) which says, "But you have been anointed by (you hold a sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from) the Holy One, and you know all the Truth, or you know all things."  Verse 27 continues, "But as for you, the anointing, the sacred appointment, the unction, which you received from Him abides permanently in you, so then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is True and is no falsehood, so you must abide in Him; knit to Him, just as His anointing has taught you to do."
     How do we know what God's will is and how can we walk in it?  In Matthew 6:9-13 (Amplified), Jesus taught His disciples to pray in this manner, "Our Father Who is in Heaven, Hallowed (kept holy) be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against our debtors) And lead us (bring us not) into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Your's is the Kingdom and the power and the Glory forever. AMEN (so be it)."
      Would Jesus have taught us to pray, "His will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven," if this wasn't the will of the Father?  Ask yourself, or better yet, ask God, "How His will if for those who are in Heaven."  Ask the Father if there are any sick, lame, diseased, depressed, or blind people in Heaven, where His will is ALWAYS being done.  Now, ask yourself or the Father, whether this is His will for those of us on earth?  This is what Jesus taught us to pray and He wouldn't have taught us to pray something, that wasn't the Father's will.  James 1:5 (Amplified) says, "If any of you is deficient in Wisdom, let him ask of the Giving God, Who gives to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or fault finding, and IT WILL BE GIVEN HIM."
     We must put aside religion's teachings that, "We never know what God is going to do" and discover what God says He will do,  from His Word and His Holy Spirit.  We must discover what God's will is for our lives and how to do God's will in the lives of others, by doing the works of God through Jesus.  We would never go against God's will, but because we haven't known His will, we've violated it many times.

Lesson 3 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Jesus' followers asked Him, in John 6:28-29 (Amplified), "What are we to do, that we may habitually be working the works of God? What are we to do to carry out what God requires? Jesus replied, This is the work, service that God asks of you; that you believe in the One Whom He sent, that you cleave to, trust in, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger."
     There are probably dozens of views, concerning the above scripture and probably most of these are true to one degree or another.  Some believe that, "Trusting in God's Messenger (Jesus)," means being saved and born-again.  This is most certainly true, but without faith in Jesus for salvation, all is lost.  In order to be able to trust Jesus for other needs that He paid for with His Sacrifice, we must trust Him for salvation,  We have all believed Jesus, to different degrees.
     Jesus spoke about those who believed and those who didn't believe and in the above scripture, He said that doing the works of God was "to believe in the One Whom He had sent."  Some have believed in Jesus,  in order to receive salvation and be born-again.  Others have believed further, and have received the Holy Spirit and His speaking in new tongues.  Some have believed and have gone into the world, preaching the Good News.  Most of us, though, have never really thought of ourselves as being Ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.  2Corinthians 5:20 (Amplified) says, "So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were, through us. We as Christ's Personal representatives beg you for His sake to lay hold of the Divine favor now offered you and be reconciled to God."
     The Holy Spirit speaks through Paul in 2Corinthians 5:18 (Amplified) saying, "But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself) and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."  Jesus has now reconciled us to Himself, but there are many who haven't received the Gift of reconciliation to Him.
     We've been taught that we're not fully forgiven or cleansed and that we need to do works, in order to be reconciled to God.  Jesus said that we're to "believe on the One Whom God has sent."  Jesus was sent to preach and demonstrate God's Kingdom on earth.  We've been faithful to preach the salvation message and lead others to being born-again, but we haven't truly been faithful to establish God's Kingdom here on earth.  John writes in Revelations 11:15 (Amplified), "The seventh angel then blew his trumpet, and there were mighty voices in Heaven shouting, The dominion, Kingdom, sovereignty, rule of the world has now come into the possession and become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (the Messiah) and He shall reign forever and ever (for the eternities of the eternities)."
     Jesus came to establish a new Kingdom and rule and to displace the kingdom satan had set up.  Jesus came to set the captives free.  Matthew 4:8-9 (Amplified) tells us, "Again, the devil took [Jesus] up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory, splendor, magnificence, pre-eminence and excellence of them. And he said to Him, You will prostrate Yourself before me and do homage and worship me."
     The Kingdom of God is to be preached to all who will hear.  Then through the Holy Spirit, those people will take back the people who are held captive by satan's kingdom, that satan stole from Adam in the Garden of Eden, through deception.  Jesus sent His disciples out to preach and demonstrate the Kingdom of God, in Luke 10:8-9 (Amplified) saying, "Whenever you go into a town and they receive and accept and welcome you, eat what is set before you. And heal the sick in it and say to them, The Kingdom of God has come close to you."
     The Kingdom of God was being glimpsed through the authority and command of Jesus, by those who believed in Him.  These people weren't born-again yet, but they were obedient to His Word and the Kingdom had come close to them.  Through Jesus, we now have the Holy Spirit abiding in our new creation spirits.  The same thing that Jesus told His followers that God required of them, is the very same thing He requires of us now.  Jesus didn't just preach, but He demonstrated the new authority of the Kingdom of God, in power and signs and wonders.
     Jesus prayed in John 17:18 (Amplified). "Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."  Jesus gave the purpose for His being sent here, in Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified) where He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah) to preach the Good News (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed, who are down trodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity. To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord, the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound."
     This is what and how the Father sent Jesus into the world.  And, just like God sent Jesus, He has sent us.  Jesus said in John 10:37-38 (Amplified), "If I am not doing the works (performing the deeds) of My Father, then do not believe Me (do not adhere to Me and trust Me and rely on Me). But if I do them, even though you do not believe Me or have faith in Me, at least believe the works and have faith in what I do, in order that you may know and understand clearly, that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father, One with Him."
     We are not the Messiah, but we have the Messiah living inside of us.  Jesus brought the Message of the Kingdom not only in Word, but in deed also.  Jesus didn't only teach and preach deliverance, but He demonstrated it by signs and wonders.  Jesus told the Father, "Just as You have sent Me into the world, I have also sent them."  Most of us haven't considered these things, in this light, but it is nonetheless Truth.  The effects of Jesus' Words in John 14:12 (Amplified) to the people of His day, must have had the same effect that it has on us today.  Thus, He said, "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father."
     Today, when the Truth of this Word and the demonstration of God's Kingdom operates like it was intended, then we will truly see the deliverance of the nations, being manifested.  Before His Ascension to the Father, Jesus told His disciples in Acts 1:8 (Amplified), "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."  This is the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer in John 17.  Just like the Father sent Him (with the same ability, anointing and purpose), Jesus has sent us.
     In Luke 10:9 (Amplified), Jesus says, "Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and physical and mental strength and ability overall the power that the enemy possesses, and nothing shall in any way harm you."  This authority and power comes by the Holy Spirit, but it's not just authority.  It's the ability and power to back it up even to the physical and mental ability to renew our minds by God' Word, becoming Kingdom minded.  No King will send his army forth to conquer an enemy's territory, without first equipping them with everything necessary to overcome that enemy.
     Again, let's read Mark 16:15-20 (Amplified) where Jesus tells His followers, "Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the Good News (the Gospel) to every creature of the whole human race. He who believes (who adheres to and trust in and relies on) the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth, and is baptized will be saved from the penalty of eternal death, but he who does not believe (who does not adhere to, and trust in, and rely on) the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth will be condemned. And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe; in My Name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new languages, they will pick up serpents, and even if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them, they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well. So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the Message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied it. Amen (so be it)."
     Just as Jesus was sent by the Father, He sends us.  Jesus said in Verse 17, "These attesting signs will accompany those who believe."  Paul writes in Romans 1:17 (Amplified), "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith, and leading to faith, disclosed through the way of faith, that arouses to more faith, as it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."  We are to be growing our faith, in order to proclaim the Kingdom of God, in power and authority in His Name.  We're supposed to demonstrate God's Kingdom and power and set the captives free.
    
      

Lesson 2 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     James 1:5-8 (Amplified) says, "If any of you is deficient in Wisdom, let him ask of the Giving God Who gives to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproach or fault finding, and it will be given him. Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitation, no doubting); For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything he asks for from the Lord. For being as he is a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute) he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides."
     The Holy Spirit assures us in the above scripture, that if we lack Wisdom concerning what we're to do or what God's will is, then we are to ask Him for Wisdom.  Paul prayed for the Church (the Church in Colossians, as well as all brethren who love the Lord) in Colossians 1:9 (Amplified),where the Holy Spirit inspired him, saying, "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it (our love) have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep, clear, knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom, in comprehension into the ways and purposes of God, and in understanding and discernment of Spiritual things."
    The largest display of the Church's being double-minded today, is our not knowing where the trials we face come from and from Whom our blessings flow from.  The deceiver has brought doubt and indecision into the Church, leaving us being like James says, "Blown hither and thither, like waves at sea in the wind."  Most of the new creation believers I've spoken with, have been indoctrinated with a religious and worldly Image of our Heavenly Father.  That leaves them not knowing how to react, when trails come their way.
     If it comes from God, then we're supposed to submit to it.  If it comes from the devil, then we are supposed to resist it.  If we don't know where it comes from, then we're left open to the deceiver.  God wants us to know His will on earth.  Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven."  Even if we didn't know whether or not something was "God's will," then we could surely say whether or not that's how Heaven operates.  Right?  How many sick people, do you think there are in Heaven?  How many lame, blind, sick, depressed, hungry, homeless, or naked people do you think there are in Heaven?
     Do you believe that your loved ones, who have gone before you into God's Presence, are sick, homeless or hungry?  It's easier to say, "It must be God's will for me to be sick in this life," than to walk in faith.  Satan goes about "as a roaring lion, seeking to devour" and he does it with lies.  Staying outside the Truth of God's Word, leaves people with no defense against satan's lies.
     Just because you have trials and trouble, doesn't mean you are out of God's will.  It certainly doesn't mean that God is testing your faith, like some would say.  Jesus singularly met more trouble, than the combined Church has endured.  Jesus didn't have trials, because "He was out of God's will!"  Satan brought these things against Him, in order to deceive Jesus into destruction.  When facing these strategies of satan, Jesus didn't sit down and wonder, "Are these from God or satan?"  Jesus simply answered, "IT IS WRITTEN."
     We are supposed to know God's will.  This is Truth.  I might not know what God's Personal will is for each individual, but I do know it's not for that person's destruction.  Every person in the Body of Christ, is part of God's new creation family, but we're each individually unique, in our lives and ministry.  It was God's will for me to move my family from Illinois to New York, but that might not be His will for you.  God's will for you might be to come to the place He called me to build and learn what His will is for you.  The one thing I know about God's will for all of us is, we are to ask the Holy Spirit for Wisdom to walk in His Presence, in liberty and at all times.
     Jesus didn't die and be raised from the dead for only "some of us," but for "all of us."  If Jesus took my sin, then He also took yours.  If Jesus healed my body by His stripes, then He did this for you too.  If Jesus bore the Curse of the Law for me, then He did it for you too.  Jesus didn't do these things for "certain people."  He did these things for everyone.  When we are double-minded, believing Jesus did these for some and not for others, that doesn't change the fact that this has always been God's will for all His children.  Jesus died so that, "All may live."  Everything Jesus did was for all of us, but some don't understand (or might not know) this and are double-minded concerning this, because of errant teaching and doctrine.  James 1:7 says, "Let not this man think he will receive anything from the Lord."
     Many of the teachers coming from seminary and Bible colleges, have learned from denominational teachings.  Generations have been taught from these people and have only learned from them.  The denominations have been built from the differing teachings.  Many times, people who wish to teach from revelation knowledge that is contrary to denominational teachings, are asked to step down from their position in the church.
     Satan has held on tight to what is believed, by what is being taught.  Romans 10:17 (Amplified) says, "So faith comes by hearing what is told, and what is heard comes by the preaching of the Message that came from the lips of Christ, the Messiah Himself."
     Faith comes by hearing, so if satan can determine what's being preached, then he can determine how much faith people can come into, in their redemption.  If we hear something long enough (whether or not it's correct), then we will put our faith in it.  If you're being taught that, "God is using trials and tribulations to teach you," then you will place your faith in that and believe it.  Faith comes by hearing.
     Did you ever wonder why Jesus said in Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified) that, "If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him comprehend. And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing, The measure of thought and study you give to the Truth you hear, will be the measure of virtue and knowledge that comes back to you-and more besides will be given to you who hear."
     Notice that, the only measure that God will bring back to you, is according to the Truth you hear."  He won't measure virtue and knowledge to you, according to anything else you're hearing.  If you're hearing doctrines of carnal-minded men, then there is no virtue and knowledge in it to "measure back."
     Jesus preached in parables in Mark 4:11 (Amplified) saying, "To you has been entrusted the Mystery of the Kingdom of God, that is the secret counsels of God which are hidden to the ungodly, but for those outside of our circle, everything becomes a parable."  Some will read this parable, without seeing or hearing the secret counsel and the hidden Mystery of the Kingdom of God.  
     It's nearly impossible to walk in the ways of God, in the manner most believers wish to, without knowing the will of God.  If you believe that God puts sickness on you, in order to teach you something, then you're on your own and limited to only the world's way of dealing.  If you truly believe a sickness was God's will for you, then why would you visit the doctor and try to get out of God's will for your life?  This might be the zenith of being double-minded.  If it's God's will, then why would you even take medicine or go to the doctor to get well?
     We truthfully, don't believe this, but it's the path of least resistance.  Of course, go to the doctors and take the prescribed medicine.  Don't just suffer or die.  But, while you're recovering, get into God's Word, seek God's will and Wisdom for your life.  Get into the real will of God, for your life.  Sickness and disease came with the devil.  Healing comes from Jesus.  When we don't understand God's will and the depth of His Love for us through Jesus, we get caught up in the affairs of the world.  There are some who would reject any teaching about "healing," because they believe we're saying, "They're not good Christians or don't love God."
     I'm not questioning their love and devotion for the Lord, only what they're hearing and putting their faith in.  Most of us didn't know there was so many differences in preaching, when we got saved and born-again.  Otherwise, we would have heeded Jesus' Word to "Be careful what we were hearing."  We were babies, who didn't know "what we were hearing."  Having grown-up in a certain teaching, it was hard for us to train our faith in the Truth of the Word.
     Jesus dealt with this in His ministry.  The people were trained under the Law and didn't want to hear His Words of Grace.  Satan's used this since the beginning and it continues to work.  Our pride gets bruised and our egos hurt, when someone tells us something that goes against our faith.  Our pride doesn't want us to turn loose of the things we've heard and been taught.  The teachers of Jesus' time fought so diligently to hold onto their faith in the Law, that they killed anyone who opposed it.  Religion and traditions are hard to oppose, even by Truth.
     These teachers loved God (like many today) and were Loved by God, but they simply didn't heed what they heard.  Today, we're seemingly always searching for new revelation, without always searching out where it came from.