2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who Jesus Christ has 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)."
The things we're learning about who we are in Christ Jesus, are not just new things to preach about, but are raising up a people who will do the work of the covenant. We are to pray and do "His will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven." There are so many things that have been lost to God's children throughout the years, and we are ignorant of who He has made us to be.
I know there will be a time when this physical body will cease to live and our spirit will be set free to return to the Father, but there is a way we are to die. We're not to die because of ravaging diseases and sickness, but Psalm 91:16 (Amplified) says, "With long life will He satisfy you, and show you His salvation."
There was an anointing and a knowing in the early Church, that seems to have been lost to today's Church. We've taught salvation to the lost and this is our primary mission, but we seem to have ability to do the things we should, for those who are here. Jesus and the Apostles didn't only preach the Kingdom, they demonstrated it by their actions. Everyone that Jesus healed during His earthly ministry, ultimately died. It wasn't that they would live forever after being healed by Him, but they would fulfill the days of their natural lives, bringing comfort and hope to others.
Today, I lost a friend and part of our my life as a pastor. I know that it's far better where she now is, than where we live. It's not that I don't believe she is better off with the Father, but her family and loved ones are left mourning. Her life was cut short by a disease that should never have been in her body at all. We've made excuses for why some people haven't been healed or delivered, because we know they should never have left this world in the manner they did.
My reason for teaching some of the things I teach, is to bring the Church into a place in Jesus where they can live and bring comfort to those who remain here and not just "wait until we get to Heaven." God has made Promises in His Word, that are just as true now, as they ever were. We've been so out of touch with His will and ways, that most of these Promises have never been revealed to the world or the Church.
Psalm 91 tells us that God's Word is still true today, but we don't see it being fulfilled in the lives of most of God's covenant family. God is not slack concerning His covenant and He cannot lie, which only leaves one reason why His Word isn't working like He said it would. The reason is because we've lost sight of what He said.
We were Blessed, in order to be a blessing to others. We were to understand God's will and His Promises, so that we can walk in His healing and Blessings and so we can bring these things to others. Even though I prayed over and for my friend, she went home to the Father. It wasn't because "it was her time," but because disease evicted her spirit from her body, before it was time
Jesus understood the Father and His will better than anyone has ever done before or since. This wasn't simply because "He was Jesus," but because He understood His Fathers heart and His will. My desire is to encourage more and more people, to delve deeper into their walk with the Father and manifest Heaven in the earth, instead of just "waiting until they go to Heaven." No disease could stand before the Presence of the anointing, either then or now. If only we could understand our Father, more than we do now.
I will have the task of ministering both as a pastor and friend, to the loved ones who are left to carry-on here. Even though I can see their despair and loss here, I can comfort them with the surety of being together again in the Kingdom of Heaven. But, the question of "Why did she go so early?" is still left unanswered.
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the pat answers of religion and I seek to know the truth. As new creation people, we are supposed to know the answer and through Him, we're to be the answer. This isn't for "only a few people," but for all who will believe. Today's Church is suppose to raise our expectations to a much higher level, and expand our beliefs t include this earth, as well as Heaven.
Healing doesn't need to be preached in Heaven, because there are no sick people there. Disease and death don't reside there either and this is God's will for earth "as it is in Heaven." As the Body of Christ, we are to bring that will and manifestation of our Father, into this realm and to the world. Even though I can find comfort in the fact that my friend is in Heaven, I still feel like I am to seek out God's Wisdom, so that others don't leave here prematurely.
I've buried too many people who left prematurely, leaving sorrow and heartache for their loved ones. I'm not doubting the glory of the Father's House, nor am I reluctant to go there, but only when both He and I are ready and not when our enemy (death) decides. I refuse to be governed by death and will only be governed by Life. God has not called us to allow the enemy to drive Life out of a body that doesn't belong to him.
John 10:10 says we are to, "Have an abundance and an overflow of Life within us." This is more Life, than we will ever use up, because this is God's Life within us and not the world's life to extinguish when it wants. This Life isn't only to live in me, but is supposed to overflow from me and bring Life to the sick, as well as the lost. In these Last Days, before Jesus' return, I believe there is going to be a people, who will finish the Book of Acts of the Apostles. We only saw the beginning of the Church in it. The conclusion of the Church should be (and will be) much more glorious than its start.
God is still searching for a remnant of people, like Joshua and Caleb, who will enter into this rest and not be detained by unbelief. I for one, am seeking not only Wisdom, but understanding. Wisdom is the principle thing, according to Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) which says, "Get Wisdom and with all of your getting, get understanding."
1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says "We have Wisdom, But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus. Whom God made our Wisdom from God, (revealing) to us a knowledge of the Divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting (itself) as our righteousness (thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God), and our consecration (making us pure and holy) and our redemption (providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin)."
We haven't only been given Wisdom, but we now possess the "Spirit of Wisdom," Who is the Spirit of God Himself. Many of us in God's Church love God and have a zeal for Him, but we are sometimes like the Church before us. Paul writes to those people in Romans 10:2 (Amplified), "I bear them witness that they have a (certain) zeal and enthusiasm for God, but it is not enlightened and according to (correct and vital) knowledge." Could it be that we too, "have a zeal for God", but are not walking in "correct and vital knowledge of Him?" I believe we would win more lost to the Lord, by raising one person from the dead, then by burying a dozen.
Friday, March 31, 2017
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Lesson 193 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. 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 said in John 10:10 (Amplified) that, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
We've read the above scripture many times, and probably never gave a second thought to the importance of what Jesus said. Paul says in 1Corinthians 15:21-22 (Amplified), "For since (it was) through a man that death (came into the world, it is) also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead (has come). For just as (because of their union of nature) in Adam all people die, so also (by the virtue of their union of nature) shall all in Christ be made alive." The death Paul spoke about, is the spiritual death that separated mankind from the Life in God.
The problem with our Christian walk with God, doesn't come from our spirit, but from our soul (our senses) that were deadened to the union with God's Life. Since the fall of Adam, man was directed completely by his senses, instead of by his spirit. Our brain is the greatest computer ever created and was fed information from only our five senses. Our brain controls our physical being and was fed only with the knowledge and wisdom gained from our earthly existence, and not from the Spirit of Life, but of death. Your brain was your guidance center of our physical life and was constructed for only natural information, instead of spiritual information. We were guided only by the five senses, before being born-again.
When we were born-again, we became new creations, and created in union with the Spirit realm of God Himself. The spiritual knowledge had been deleted, because of Adam's transgression and it only had access to what it was programmed in, the natural man. Now, we receive knowledge into our soulish man from our spirit. This process is totally incompatible to the brain, which is programmed against this new information. 1Corinthians 2:14 (Amplified) says, "But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him, and he is incapable of knowing them (of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them) because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated)."
Your senses have been programming your natural brain, for all of your non-saved life. Your soul (senses) were meant to receive from your spirit, which was to be directed from God's Spirit. Your soul (senses) were then supposed to program your brain, to operate on the level of your spirit. After man was separated from the Spirit of God, the soul (senses) received only from the earthly realm and programmed the brain to reject anything the senses couldn't detect. If we couldn't feel, smell, touch, taste, or hear it, then it wasn't "real."
Now we are born-again and instructed to "walk by faith" in God's Word. The brain which was programmed by the five senses, cannot see, hear, touch, smell or taste faith, because it is a spiritual force. The brain denies the existence of faith, in the earthly realm. We are now instructed to be "transformed by the renewing of our mind (senses)," in Romans 12:2 (Amplified) which says, "Do not be conformed to this age (this world) (fashioned after and adapted to its external superficial customs), but be transformed (changed) by the (entire) renewal of your mind (senses) (by its new ideals and its new attitude)." This is what God made the senses for, when He created man in the beginning.
There are certainly benefits of having our sense teach us how to function in this body, while we are in this world. Our bodies were made to function in this natural realm, but were to be led and instructed by our spirit. Our wisdom and knowledge was to have come from God's Life and His Spirit, which would be fed into our spirit, in order to instruct our soul (senses). Our brains would have been schooled by God's Wisdom and could teach our bodies, to live by the Spirit (even in this natural world).
We watched Jesus do exactly this, in His earthly ministry. He had a flesh and Blood Body that was not held back by His senses. His senses were controlled by His Spirit. Jesus knew and heard from God in His Spirit, and didn't allow His soul (senses) to dictate what was "impossible," according to what He saw around Him. This is how man was made to be from the beginning, just like our Last Adam (Jesus).
We are to see, hear, smell, touch and feel the things around us, without having them control us. We were put in dominion over them, not under them. God created the beauty of this planet for us to enjoy, but not to control us. What good would it have done for God to create the fragrance of the flowers, if we couldn't smell them? Or the beauty of them, if we couldn't see it? The senses were to deliver to the brain in our spiritual capacity, to understand and walk in. If the spirit wasn't in control, then the brain could only learn and catalog and walk in the natural things. Your brain is the highest form of computer, which creates super computers that exponentially double their knowledge.
The Word tells us to "be transformed," which is where we derive the word "metamorphosis." A caterpillar transforms or completely changes during its metamorphosis, becoming a beautiful butterfly. That's what God did for the new creation, by totally changing who we were and making us into something beautiful, a child of His. This is a process that requires time and study. The more time we spend in His Word, the sooner the transformation. Your senses, which are now being renewed by our "ingrafted" spirit with the Holy Spirit, now begin transmitting new information to the brain (the control center of the body) and its begins to renew itself with new data.
Romans 8:11-12,13 (Amplified) says, "And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, (then) He Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh (senses) we are no obligated to our carnal nature (senses) to live (a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates) of the flesh (senses)." Paul goes on in Verse 13 saying, "For if you live according to the dictates of the flesh (senses) you will surely die, but if through the power of the Holy Spirit you are habitually putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the (evil) deeds prompted by the body (senses) you shall (really and genuinely) live forever."
When we set out to believe God's Word, which our senses cannot conceive of, then the senses immediately deny access to our reprogrammed brain, in order to reject it. The brain can't conceive "faith," because faith is a spiritual force. After undergoing all its pre-saved programming, the brain finds that faith isn't part of its programming, distrusts it, and rejects it. The brain has been so perfectly designed, that is not supposed to forget anything. God made it to be progressively gaining more information, but He designed it to get its information from the Spirit of God and not from the world.
It seems like, the more we learn in and from this world, the harder it is to believe the things from God. The greatest minds of men and women are trying to figure out where we came from, and what's in the Universe around us. The natural trained mind (senses) cannot contact the Truth of Creation and God, because this is outside the realm of our sense ruled brain. The brain is still doing what God intended it to do, which is receive information. That information though, comes from the world and not the Holy Spirit. When you are born-again, it seems like God and Creation are the simplest things to believe in. When you're not yet born-again, this seems impossible for the senses to grasp.
We still need the senses, because they are tools in this life. We must renew them though, so they are a successful tool and so they won't block our spirit man. As new creation people, we have once again been given authority and power through our new creation spirit, in order to bring the senses under dominion and control. We can now tell our senses "how to be," instead of our senses telling us "how to be." People asked Smith Wigglesworth how he felt and he answered them, saying, "I never ask Smith Wigglesworth how he feels, I tell him how to feel." This is the place our senses were created to be in, subordinated to our spirit.
Jesus said in John 10:10 (Amplified) that, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
We've read the above scripture many times, and probably never gave a second thought to the importance of what Jesus said. Paul says in 1Corinthians 15:21-22 (Amplified), "For since (it was) through a man that death (came into the world, it is) also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead (has come). For just as (because of their union of nature) in Adam all people die, so also (by the virtue of their union of nature) shall all in Christ be made alive." The death Paul spoke about, is the spiritual death that separated mankind from the Life in God.
The problem with our Christian walk with God, doesn't come from our spirit, but from our soul (our senses) that were deadened to the union with God's Life. Since the fall of Adam, man was directed completely by his senses, instead of by his spirit. Our brain is the greatest computer ever created and was fed information from only our five senses. Our brain controls our physical being and was fed only with the knowledge and wisdom gained from our earthly existence, and not from the Spirit of Life, but of death. Your brain was your guidance center of our physical life and was constructed for only natural information, instead of spiritual information. We were guided only by the five senses, before being born-again.
When we were born-again, we became new creations, and created in union with the Spirit realm of God Himself. The spiritual knowledge had been deleted, because of Adam's transgression and it only had access to what it was programmed in, the natural man. Now, we receive knowledge into our soulish man from our spirit. This process is totally incompatible to the brain, which is programmed against this new information. 1Corinthians 2:14 (Amplified) says, "But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him, and he is incapable of knowing them (of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them) because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated)."
Your senses have been programming your natural brain, for all of your non-saved life. Your soul (senses) were meant to receive from your spirit, which was to be directed from God's Spirit. Your soul (senses) were then supposed to program your brain, to operate on the level of your spirit. After man was separated from the Spirit of God, the soul (senses) received only from the earthly realm and programmed the brain to reject anything the senses couldn't detect. If we couldn't feel, smell, touch, taste, or hear it, then it wasn't "real."
Now we are born-again and instructed to "walk by faith" in God's Word. The brain which was programmed by the five senses, cannot see, hear, touch, smell or taste faith, because it is a spiritual force. The brain denies the existence of faith, in the earthly realm. We are now instructed to be "transformed by the renewing of our mind (senses)," in Romans 12:2 (Amplified) which says, "Do not be conformed to this age (this world) (fashioned after and adapted to its external superficial customs), but be transformed (changed) by the (entire) renewal of your mind (senses) (by its new ideals and its new attitude)." This is what God made the senses for, when He created man in the beginning.
There are certainly benefits of having our sense teach us how to function in this body, while we are in this world. Our bodies were made to function in this natural realm, but were to be led and instructed by our spirit. Our wisdom and knowledge was to have come from God's Life and His Spirit, which would be fed into our spirit, in order to instruct our soul (senses). Our brains would have been schooled by God's Wisdom and could teach our bodies, to live by the Spirit (even in this natural world).
We watched Jesus do exactly this, in His earthly ministry. He had a flesh and Blood Body that was not held back by His senses. His senses were controlled by His Spirit. Jesus knew and heard from God in His Spirit, and didn't allow His soul (senses) to dictate what was "impossible," according to what He saw around Him. This is how man was made to be from the beginning, just like our Last Adam (Jesus).
We are to see, hear, smell, touch and feel the things around us, without having them control us. We were put in dominion over them, not under them. God created the beauty of this planet for us to enjoy, but not to control us. What good would it have done for God to create the fragrance of the flowers, if we couldn't smell them? Or the beauty of them, if we couldn't see it? The senses were to deliver to the brain in our spiritual capacity, to understand and walk in. If the spirit wasn't in control, then the brain could only learn and catalog and walk in the natural things. Your brain is the highest form of computer, which creates super computers that exponentially double their knowledge.
The Word tells us to "be transformed," which is where we derive the word "metamorphosis." A caterpillar transforms or completely changes during its metamorphosis, becoming a beautiful butterfly. That's what God did for the new creation, by totally changing who we were and making us into something beautiful, a child of His. This is a process that requires time and study. The more time we spend in His Word, the sooner the transformation. Your senses, which are now being renewed by our "ingrafted" spirit with the Holy Spirit, now begin transmitting new information to the brain (the control center of the body) and its begins to renew itself with new data.
Romans 8:11-12,13 (Amplified) says, "And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, (then) He Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh (senses) we are no obligated to our carnal nature (senses) to live (a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates) of the flesh (senses)." Paul goes on in Verse 13 saying, "For if you live according to the dictates of the flesh (senses) you will surely die, but if through the power of the Holy Spirit you are habitually putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the (evil) deeds prompted by the body (senses) you shall (really and genuinely) live forever."
When we set out to believe God's Word, which our senses cannot conceive of, then the senses immediately deny access to our reprogrammed brain, in order to reject it. The brain can't conceive "faith," because faith is a spiritual force. After undergoing all its pre-saved programming, the brain finds that faith isn't part of its programming, distrusts it, and rejects it. The brain has been so perfectly designed, that is not supposed to forget anything. God made it to be progressively gaining more information, but He designed it to get its information from the Spirit of God and not from the world.
It seems like, the more we learn in and from this world, the harder it is to believe the things from God. The greatest minds of men and women are trying to figure out where we came from, and what's in the Universe around us. The natural trained mind (senses) cannot contact the Truth of Creation and God, because this is outside the realm of our sense ruled brain. The brain is still doing what God intended it to do, which is receive information. That information though, comes from the world and not the Holy Spirit. When you are born-again, it seems like God and Creation are the simplest things to believe in. When you're not yet born-again, this seems impossible for the senses to grasp.
We still need the senses, because they are tools in this life. We must renew them though, so they are a successful tool and so they won't block our spirit man. As new creation people, we have once again been given authority and power through our new creation spirit, in order to bring the senses under dominion and control. We can now tell our senses "how to be," instead of our senses telling us "how to be." People asked Smith Wigglesworth how he felt and he answered them, saying, "I never ask Smith Wigglesworth how he feels, I tell him how to feel." This is the place our senses were created to be in, subordinated to our spirit.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Lesson 192 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) into Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. 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)."
Proverbs 20:27 (Amplified) says, "The spirit of man (that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God) is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts."
Proverbs 21:30 (Amplified) says, "There is no (human) wisdom or understanding or counsel (that can prevail) against the Lord."
Revelation knowledge comes into our spirit, by the Word and the Holy Spirit, according to the above scripture. All of the human wisdom, counsel, and understanding cannot stand against God's Wisdom. All of our human knowledge comes from our five senses and not our spirit. When we try to understand spiritual things in the sense realm, our senses will deny that the spiritual things are real. Our human wisdom (sense knowledge) cannot stand against God's Wisdom.
God created the new creation man by and in His Spirit. We are created to be led by His Wisdom and to hear from the Holy Spirit. Our sense rebel against the Super-natural things of God, because they cannot understand. It's only in our spirit, that we can get True Wisdom and counsel from God. We were created by faith in Jesus, and this is the Spiritual connection we receive from God through. When Jesus gave the "Parable of the Mustard Seed," He said we should have "Faith as a mustard seed." The mustard seed is very, very small, but if it is planted in good soil, then it will grow into something much larger.
As new creation, we are created as fertile soil for the Seed of the Word, by the Holy Spirit. All words are seeds, not just the Word of God. Your spirit is now alive to God and is "fertile soil." We know that "faith comes by hearing." Romans 10:17 (Amplified) says, "Faith in God, comes by hearing the Word of God." Faith in any other thing comes the exact same way, by hearing. This is why Proverbs 4:23 (Amplified) admonishes, "Keep and guard your heart (spirit) with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it (your spirit) flow the springs of life."
As a new creation, you have the ability to hear, know, understand and to walk in the spirit realm, in a way that no other being on this planet has ever done. Your old man (the senses) has guided your whole unsaved life, has never been renewed. You still understand the Word by your old sense realm when you read it, but it stays in the sense realm (like reading a story). When we came into the Body of Christ (the Church), we probably didn't know much of God's Word and we didn't know how to walk in our new born-again life. We've mostly receive information in the Church still, based on the senses and not the spirit. Much of our learning has come from the intellectual realm of the senses. And, we've placed the spiritual, Super-natural into a time for the future ("when we get to Heaven...) and the past ("those things have passed away"). This is because your flesh (senses) cannot accept the Word as being "Truth."
We continue to teach, move, walk and talk like we did before being saved. This seed of faith was sown into our spirit (fertile soil) and was crowded out by the sense realm (knowledge) that previously guided our unsaved lives. Learning to understand and adapt our new spirit man to the realm of God's Word, is not been taught to God's people. Faith comes by hearing. If we've hearing isn't Truth, then it remains in the senses and our faith grows in that realm.
When the Wisdom of God instructed the Church about "having what you say," many rejected the teaching because of what was being ministered about it. We begin hearing that it was "foolishness" and then put our faith in that, because "faith comes by hearing." We continue speaking like we always did, because it "makes sense" in the natural realm. Even though we read in the Word about the power of spoken words, our faith never developed in it, because of what we heard preached. There is ample proof in the Bible that we can "have what we say," our senses couldn't grasp the revelation of it. Our speech mostly remained like it was before we were born-again. We had more faith in the sense knowledge speech, than we had in the Word, because of the world we spent our old life.
Many in the Church, consider Jesus' Words in Mark 11:23 (Amplified) as being "metaphorical." They reject this being Jesus speaking literally, because the senses tell us "You can't move a mountain." When we read this scripture carefully, we realize Jesus wasn't simply speaking about moving a mountain, but about believing and having what you say. Jesus said we're to "believe in our hearts, without doubting and to believe what we say, and then He said, "We can have whatever we say." Our words of belief will work for or against you.
We talk contrary to the Blessing, healing, prosperity, hearing God and many other things that are spirit and then we wonder why these things don't work for us. God calls this, "wicked speech," in Proverbs 18:20 (Amplified) saying, "A mans (moral) self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth, and with the consequences of his words he must be satisfied (whether good or evil)." Jesus said in Matthew 12:37 (Amplified), "For by your words you will condemned and sentenced."
Romans 10:10 tells us that it was "what we believed and what we said," that made us "justified and acquitted through Jesus." You confessed and believed "Jesus was your Lord and Savior," which led to your being saved and not being condemned and sentenced. Does what we say and believe make a difference in our lives? Yes, of course. If this principle works towards our salvation, then why wouldn't it work for other things after we're saved?
God created our new creation, we believe His Word and bring the senses into submission to the Word, by faith. We've been created to "speak" with creative power and to believe the impossible. But, if it's not preached, then it cannot be heard. If we don't hear it preached, then faith for it doesn't come. We read about the woman with the issue of blood, in Mark 5:27-28 (Amplified) which says, "When she heard the reports concerning Jesus, she came up behind Him in the throng and touched His garment." Verse 28 says, "For she kept saying, If I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health." This woman was gaining faith by what she heard Jesus preach. She build faith by what she then said. And, she had what she said and believed. She was cured.
Proverbs 20:27 (Amplified) says, "The spirit of man (that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God) is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts."
Proverbs 21:30 (Amplified) says, "There is no (human) wisdom or understanding or counsel (that can prevail) against the Lord."
Revelation knowledge comes into our spirit, by the Word and the Holy Spirit, according to the above scripture. All of the human wisdom, counsel, and understanding cannot stand against God's Wisdom. All of our human knowledge comes from our five senses and not our spirit. When we try to understand spiritual things in the sense realm, our senses will deny that the spiritual things are real. Our human wisdom (sense knowledge) cannot stand against God's Wisdom.
God created the new creation man by and in His Spirit. We are created to be led by His Wisdom and to hear from the Holy Spirit. Our sense rebel against the Super-natural things of God, because they cannot understand. It's only in our spirit, that we can get True Wisdom and counsel from God. We were created by faith in Jesus, and this is the Spiritual connection we receive from God through. When Jesus gave the "Parable of the Mustard Seed," He said we should have "Faith as a mustard seed." The mustard seed is very, very small, but if it is planted in good soil, then it will grow into something much larger.
As new creation, we are created as fertile soil for the Seed of the Word, by the Holy Spirit. All words are seeds, not just the Word of God. Your spirit is now alive to God and is "fertile soil." We know that "faith comes by hearing." Romans 10:17 (Amplified) says, "Faith in God, comes by hearing the Word of God." Faith in any other thing comes the exact same way, by hearing. This is why Proverbs 4:23 (Amplified) admonishes, "Keep and guard your heart (spirit) with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it (your spirit) flow the springs of life."
As a new creation, you have the ability to hear, know, understand and to walk in the spirit realm, in a way that no other being on this planet has ever done. Your old man (the senses) has guided your whole unsaved life, has never been renewed. You still understand the Word by your old sense realm when you read it, but it stays in the sense realm (like reading a story). When we came into the Body of Christ (the Church), we probably didn't know much of God's Word and we didn't know how to walk in our new born-again life. We've mostly receive information in the Church still, based on the senses and not the spirit. Much of our learning has come from the intellectual realm of the senses. And, we've placed the spiritual, Super-natural into a time for the future ("when we get to Heaven...) and the past ("those things have passed away"). This is because your flesh (senses) cannot accept the Word as being "Truth."
We continue to teach, move, walk and talk like we did before being saved. This seed of faith was sown into our spirit (fertile soil) and was crowded out by the sense realm (knowledge) that previously guided our unsaved lives. Learning to understand and adapt our new spirit man to the realm of God's Word, is not been taught to God's people. Faith comes by hearing. If we've hearing isn't Truth, then it remains in the senses and our faith grows in that realm.
When the Wisdom of God instructed the Church about "having what you say," many rejected the teaching because of what was being ministered about it. We begin hearing that it was "foolishness" and then put our faith in that, because "faith comes by hearing." We continue speaking like we always did, because it "makes sense" in the natural realm. Even though we read in the Word about the power of spoken words, our faith never developed in it, because of what we heard preached. There is ample proof in the Bible that we can "have what we say," our senses couldn't grasp the revelation of it. Our speech mostly remained like it was before we were born-again. We had more faith in the sense knowledge speech, than we had in the Word, because of the world we spent our old life.
Many in the Church, consider Jesus' Words in Mark 11:23 (Amplified) as being "metaphorical." They reject this being Jesus speaking literally, because the senses tell us "You can't move a mountain." When we read this scripture carefully, we realize Jesus wasn't simply speaking about moving a mountain, but about believing and having what you say. Jesus said we're to "believe in our hearts, without doubting and to believe what we say, and then He said, "We can have whatever we say." Our words of belief will work for or against you.
We talk contrary to the Blessing, healing, prosperity, hearing God and many other things that are spirit and then we wonder why these things don't work for us. God calls this, "wicked speech," in Proverbs 18:20 (Amplified) saying, "A mans (moral) self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth, and with the consequences of his words he must be satisfied (whether good or evil)." Jesus said in Matthew 12:37 (Amplified), "For by your words you will condemned and sentenced."
Romans 10:10 tells us that it was "what we believed and what we said," that made us "justified and acquitted through Jesus." You confessed and believed "Jesus was your Lord and Savior," which led to your being saved and not being condemned and sentenced. Does what we say and believe make a difference in our lives? Yes, of course. If this principle works towards our salvation, then why wouldn't it work for other things after we're saved?
God created our new creation, we believe His Word and bring the senses into submission to the Word, by faith. We've been created to "speak" with creative power and to believe the impossible. But, if it's not preached, then it cannot be heard. If we don't hear it preached, then faith for it doesn't come. We read about the woman with the issue of blood, in Mark 5:27-28 (Amplified) which says, "When she heard the reports concerning Jesus, she came up behind Him in the throng and touched His garment." Verse 28 says, "For she kept saying, If I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health." This woman was gaining faith by what she heard Jesus preach. She build faith by what she then said. And, she had what she said and believed. She was cured.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Lesson 191 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. 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)."
In Romans 10:14 (Amplified), Paul speaks about receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior. When people hear this Word about salvation, they get faith to receive salvation and become born-again into the family of God. Thus, Verse 14 says, "But how are people to call upon Him Whom they have not believed (in Whom they have no faith, on Whom they have no reliance?) And how are they to believe in Him (adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him) of Whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?"
What we have been preaching is producing results and faith has been forthcoming. It wasn't that we weren't preaching before, but what we were isn't all that salvation includes. Faith has been coming to those who are hearing, but the faith hasn't been according to the new creation people. We've been preaching the Law, which doesn't apply to the new creation. We've been preaching that "God uses sickness and hardship to teach and deal with His children." Faith is coming by what we are hearing, but it's faith in the wrong things.
No one needs to go to God's Word, in order to find out how to be sick, broke, oppressed, divorced or a failure. One only needs to live the same way he did under the the old creation and accept all the things the world wants to bring on us.
We've come to a place where we seemingly need to apologize, for preaching that "God isn't your problem...He is your answer." Many frown upon our preaching the Blessing, instead of embracing it. And, many are left feeling like they should repent for telling people that "God's Word is true." We've tried living the new creation life, under the same standards of religion we had before knowing about the new creation.
Paul says in Roans 10:9 (Amplified), "Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, rely on the Truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." This is not the only part of the Word that is true to the believer. Romans 1:17 (Amplified) is another scripture that we have to hear, in order to believe. It says, "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."
The last scripture above, is just as true as the salvation scripture. We don't hear a lot of preaching on being made righteous in Him, only about our going to Heaven by Him. We've taught more about the weaknesses of the men in scripture, instead of the victories of men in scripture. By our carnal minds, we have identified more with the natural man and his religious ideas, instead of the Truth of our new creation identity.
Why would we ever feel the need to apologize for saying that "Jesus is still a Healer" or that "Blessing still works?" Simply because these parts of this new creation inheritance are not working for the believer, doesn't mean that they aren't true. It just means they're not being preached. If "faith comes by hearing," then how will we ever have faith to lay hands on the sick, stand on the Blessing, cast out devils, or do the things we are called to do, without a preacher?
We've had faith in what we've been hearing, but we haven't been hearing the Truth of the new creation. If we are preaching salvation and it's working, then if we preached the rest of God's Word, won't that work too? If faith comes by hearing, then what is being preached is where our faith begins and ends.
If speaking in tongues and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit isn't being preached, then how can the people have faith for it, in their lives? I've heard more preaching against these things, than I've heard preached for them. We find the same thing occurring through the Word, concerning this principle. Numbers 13:32-33 (Amplified) says, "So they brought the Israelites and evil report of the Land which they scouted out, saying, the Land through which we went to spy it out is a Land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilium (or giants) the sons of Anak, who comes from the giants, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
Faith comes from what they heard preached and faith for fear and failure came from the preacher, not from God. What we preach brings faith to those who hear and we're responsible for preaching the new creation, instead of the failure of the old man. We're to preach about the victory we received from the Last Adam (Jesus), and not the failure of the first Adam. We don't live in the past, but always in Christ Jesus.
If we preach what we think, instead of what the Word says, then God calls that "an evil report." This might be popular, might be accepted, might be what you want to believe and might even be what you see (like the giants above), but it's not what God said and is therefore, "an evil report." It takes time to teach people how to walk in this new creation and not all of them will like what you say, but without preaching it, we remain in the Wilderness (like the Israelites did) and like we were before being born-again.
Just because we teach healing, doesn't mean that everyone will believe it (anymore than if we preach salvation, everyone will be saved). If we don't plant or sow the Seed, then we will not get a harvest, according to Hebrews 4:11 (Amplified) which says, "Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest (of God, to know and experience it for ourselves) that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience (into which those in the wilderness fell)."
Only a few of the Israelites believed the good report that Joshua and Caleb preached, because it took faith to look past the giants and see the victory. Nearly all of the large congregation (the Israelites) stayed in the Wilderness where they felt safe and they died there. They still belonged to God and He continued to care for them, even though they remained in the Wilderness. God took care of them for forty more years in the Wilderness, until they died off. The Promise of God's Word still came to those who would believe what God, Joshua and Caleb preached. Just because some don't believe it, doesn't mean we shouldn't preach it. Their faith will never rise higher than the Word they hear.
God's Word says we're new creation. We weren't only created new, but we have the capacity to believe and walk in things the world cannot believe. We've been blessed with the Blessing of Abraham, whether or not we ever have faith to believe it. Only what we put faith in, is manifested in our lives. And, we only have faith in, what is preached. The Word says, "How will they hear without a preacher?" and how will they have a preacher, "unless he is sent?" Jesus was sent to preach the things He preached and we were likewise, sent to preach what He preached.
Of course, preaching the new birth is the foundation of the Gospel, but bringing the new birth into the maturity of the new creation should be what we preach too, because "Faith comes by hearing." We will never mature beyond what we hear. We much preach salvation and then preach about growing in this new creation.
In Romans 10:14 (Amplified), Paul speaks about receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior. When people hear this Word about salvation, they get faith to receive salvation and become born-again into the family of God. Thus, Verse 14 says, "But how are people to call upon Him Whom they have not believed (in Whom they have no faith, on Whom they have no reliance?) And how are they to believe in Him (adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him) of Whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?"
What we have been preaching is producing results and faith has been forthcoming. It wasn't that we weren't preaching before, but what we were isn't all that salvation includes. Faith has been coming to those who are hearing, but the faith hasn't been according to the new creation people. We've been preaching the Law, which doesn't apply to the new creation. We've been preaching that "God uses sickness and hardship to teach and deal with His children." Faith is coming by what we are hearing, but it's faith in the wrong things.
No one needs to go to God's Word, in order to find out how to be sick, broke, oppressed, divorced or a failure. One only needs to live the same way he did under the the old creation and accept all the things the world wants to bring on us.
We've come to a place where we seemingly need to apologize, for preaching that "God isn't your problem...He is your answer." Many frown upon our preaching the Blessing, instead of embracing it. And, many are left feeling like they should repent for telling people that "God's Word is true." We've tried living the new creation life, under the same standards of religion we had before knowing about the new creation.
Paul says in Roans 10:9 (Amplified), "Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, rely on the Truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." This is not the only part of the Word that is true to the believer. Romans 1:17 (Amplified) is another scripture that we have to hear, in order to believe. It says, "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."
The last scripture above, is just as true as the salvation scripture. We don't hear a lot of preaching on being made righteous in Him, only about our going to Heaven by Him. We've taught more about the weaknesses of the men in scripture, instead of the victories of men in scripture. By our carnal minds, we have identified more with the natural man and his religious ideas, instead of the Truth of our new creation identity.
Why would we ever feel the need to apologize for saying that "Jesus is still a Healer" or that "Blessing still works?" Simply because these parts of this new creation inheritance are not working for the believer, doesn't mean that they aren't true. It just means they're not being preached. If "faith comes by hearing," then how will we ever have faith to lay hands on the sick, stand on the Blessing, cast out devils, or do the things we are called to do, without a preacher?
We've had faith in what we've been hearing, but we haven't been hearing the Truth of the new creation. If we are preaching salvation and it's working, then if we preached the rest of God's Word, won't that work too? If faith comes by hearing, then what is being preached is where our faith begins and ends.
If speaking in tongues and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit isn't being preached, then how can the people have faith for it, in their lives? I've heard more preaching against these things, than I've heard preached for them. We find the same thing occurring through the Word, concerning this principle. Numbers 13:32-33 (Amplified) says, "So they brought the Israelites and evil report of the Land which they scouted out, saying, the Land through which we went to spy it out is a Land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilium (or giants) the sons of Anak, who comes from the giants, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
Faith comes from what they heard preached and faith for fear and failure came from the preacher, not from God. What we preach brings faith to those who hear and we're responsible for preaching the new creation, instead of the failure of the old man. We're to preach about the victory we received from the Last Adam (Jesus), and not the failure of the first Adam. We don't live in the past, but always in Christ Jesus.
If we preach what we think, instead of what the Word says, then God calls that "an evil report." This might be popular, might be accepted, might be what you want to believe and might even be what you see (like the giants above), but it's not what God said and is therefore, "an evil report." It takes time to teach people how to walk in this new creation and not all of them will like what you say, but without preaching it, we remain in the Wilderness (like the Israelites did) and like we were before being born-again.
Just because we teach healing, doesn't mean that everyone will believe it (anymore than if we preach salvation, everyone will be saved). If we don't plant or sow the Seed, then we will not get a harvest, according to Hebrews 4:11 (Amplified) which says, "Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest (of God, to know and experience it for ourselves) that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience (into which those in the wilderness fell)."
Only a few of the Israelites believed the good report that Joshua and Caleb preached, because it took faith to look past the giants and see the victory. Nearly all of the large congregation (the Israelites) stayed in the Wilderness where they felt safe and they died there. They still belonged to God and He continued to care for them, even though they remained in the Wilderness. God took care of them for forty more years in the Wilderness, until they died off. The Promise of God's Word still came to those who would believe what God, Joshua and Caleb preached. Just because some don't believe it, doesn't mean we shouldn't preach it. Their faith will never rise higher than the Word they hear.
God's Word says we're new creation. We weren't only created new, but we have the capacity to believe and walk in things the world cannot believe. We've been blessed with the Blessing of Abraham, whether or not we ever have faith to believe it. Only what we put faith in, is manifested in our lives. And, we only have faith in, what is preached. The Word says, "How will they hear without a preacher?" and how will they have a preacher, "unless he is sent?" Jesus was sent to preach the things He preached and we were likewise, sent to preach what He preached.
Of course, preaching the new birth is the foundation of the Gospel, but bringing the new birth into the maturity of the new creation should be what we preach too, because "Faith comes by hearing." We will never mature beyond what we hear. We much preach salvation and then preach about growing in this new creation.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Lesson 190 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ has 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)."
Seeking God's Wisdom through the Holy Spirit, brings revelation to the way that Kingdom principles function. Collectively, we viewed the spirit realm (Super-natural) as belonging to the world of Pixie dust and magic wands. If God truly wishes for us to do something for Him, then He will "touch" you with Super-natural power for it.
God's Kingdom (the Kingdom of Heaven) functions on very precise Laws of the Spirit and walking contrary to these Laws will result in their not working for us. When Jesus walked as a Man on earth, He didn't walk in anything that isn't available to the new creation man, because "we are in Him," according to Ephesians 2:4-8 (Amplified) which says, "His Spirit, His Wisdom, His righteousness, His Very Life, is imparted to us by His resurrection, and we have even been seated together with Him in Heavenly places."
The biggest reason we struggle with the Super-natural, is not that the Father is holding-out on us, but that we don't know how to function in the Kingdom we are now part of. We've been waiting for "when we get to Heaven," to receive this anointing, instead of realizing the Kingdom of Heaven is now with us. We don't understand or strive to discern those Laws, but establish our own way of doing things. 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." Jesus' disciples were discussing material things like what they should eat, what they should wear, what they should drink and where they should live. Jesus told them that, "If they would seek God's way of doing and being right, then all these material things would be added to them, along with the spiritual things we are seeking as well."
God provided everything the Israelites needed in the Wilderness. He met all their needs, including what they wore, what they ate, drank and His Presence was in their midst continuously. He didn't do these things because of law, but because of the same grace we now live under with Him. These people were spiritually dead and not new creation people. We have so many more advantages over them, because we are born-again. We not only have access to the Father, but we actually have His Spirit living within our new creation spirit.
God's ways of doing and being right, are the Kingdom Laws or principles. We entered into His righteousness, when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We became the righteousness of God, in Him. Jesus spoke about His ascension and told His followers that He would send the Holy Spirit to take His place in their lives, in John 16:13-15 (Amplified) saying "But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth Giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth) For He will not speak His Own Message (on His Own authority) but will tell whatsoever He hears (from the Father, He will give the Message that has been given to Him), and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come (that will happen in the future). He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take care of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine, and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you. Everything the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He (the Spirit) will take the things that are Mind and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you."
If Jesus meant what He said to them, then we are not only able to receive Wisdom on how to operate in God's Kingdom, but when we receive Wisdom, then the entire Kingdom will back us up. We've interpreted God's Word using man's carnal wisdom, instead of listening to the Voice of the Holy Spirit and His teaching. How else could the things Jesus said in John 14:12 (Amplified) be true? 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."
We've never seriously strove to do things His way, but have relied and walked in our own interpretation of doing things. The Laws governing Heaven are unchangeable, because "His Word is forever settled in Heaven." God's Word is unchangeable and will only operate by His Own righteous Spiritual Laws, by which it stands. The Laws governing God's Kingdom, supersede the natural laws that govern earth. When we operate in "His way of doing and being right," then they will override the natural things.
We read in Luke 2:52 (Amplified), "And Jesus increased in Wisdom (in broad and full understanding) and in stature and years, and in favor with God and man." Jesus Himself, studied the Word daily and "increased in Wisdom and favor with God," because of this. If Jesus needed to "increase in Wisdom," then doesn't it make sense that we should study God's Word and increase in Wisdom too? We have the Holy Spirit living in us and have access to this Wisdom, so why haven't we increased in it, like Jesus did? We must know how to walk in the Spirit, in order to do and reveal Jesus to a dying world. The whole earth is presently awaiting this manifestation of Him.
Seeking God's Wisdom through the Holy Spirit, brings revelation to the way that Kingdom principles function. Collectively, we viewed the spirit realm (Super-natural) as belonging to the world of Pixie dust and magic wands. If God truly wishes for us to do something for Him, then He will "touch" you with Super-natural power for it.
God's Kingdom (the Kingdom of Heaven) functions on very precise Laws of the Spirit and walking contrary to these Laws will result in their not working for us. When Jesus walked as a Man on earth, He didn't walk in anything that isn't available to the new creation man, because "we are in Him," according to Ephesians 2:4-8 (Amplified) which says, "His Spirit, His Wisdom, His righteousness, His Very Life, is imparted to us by His resurrection, and we have even been seated together with Him in Heavenly places."
The biggest reason we struggle with the Super-natural, is not that the Father is holding-out on us, but that we don't know how to function in the Kingdom we are now part of. We've been waiting for "when we get to Heaven," to receive this anointing, instead of realizing the Kingdom of Heaven is now with us. We don't understand or strive to discern those Laws, but establish our own way of doing things. 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." Jesus' disciples were discussing material things like what they should eat, what they should wear, what they should drink and where they should live. Jesus told them that, "If they would seek God's way of doing and being right, then all these material things would be added to them, along with the spiritual things we are seeking as well."
God provided everything the Israelites needed in the Wilderness. He met all their needs, including what they wore, what they ate, drank and His Presence was in their midst continuously. He didn't do these things because of law, but because of the same grace we now live under with Him. These people were spiritually dead and not new creation people. We have so many more advantages over them, because we are born-again. We not only have access to the Father, but we actually have His Spirit living within our new creation spirit.
God's ways of doing and being right, are the Kingdom Laws or principles. We entered into His righteousness, when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We became the righteousness of God, in Him. Jesus spoke about His ascension and told His followers that He would send the Holy Spirit to take His place in their lives, in John 16:13-15 (Amplified) saying "But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth Giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth) For He will not speak His Own Message (on His Own authority) but will tell whatsoever He hears (from the Father, He will give the Message that has been given to Him), and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come (that will happen in the future). He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take care of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine, and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you. Everything the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He (the Spirit) will take the things that are Mind and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you."
If Jesus meant what He said to them, then we are not only able to receive Wisdom on how to operate in God's Kingdom, but when we receive Wisdom, then the entire Kingdom will back us up. We've interpreted God's Word using man's carnal wisdom, instead of listening to the Voice of the Holy Spirit and His teaching. How else could the things Jesus said in John 14:12 (Amplified) be true? 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."
We've never seriously strove to do things His way, but have relied and walked in our own interpretation of doing things. The Laws governing Heaven are unchangeable, because "His Word is forever settled in Heaven." God's Word is unchangeable and will only operate by His Own righteous Spiritual Laws, by which it stands. The Laws governing God's Kingdom, supersede the natural laws that govern earth. When we operate in "His way of doing and being right," then they will override the natural things.
We read in Luke 2:52 (Amplified), "And Jesus increased in Wisdom (in broad and full understanding) and in stature and years, and in favor with God and man." Jesus Himself, studied the Word daily and "increased in Wisdom and favor with God," because of this. If Jesus needed to "increase in Wisdom," then doesn't it make sense that we should study God's Word and increase in Wisdom too? We have the Holy Spirit living in us and have access to this Wisdom, so why haven't we increased in it, like Jesus did? We must know how to walk in the Spirit, in order to do and reveal Jesus to a dying world. The whole earth is presently awaiting this manifestation of Him.
Lesson 189 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. 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)."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is, get Wisdom (skillful and Godly Wisdom) (For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing) and with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation)."
The new creation family endured struggles and trials, trying to understand who we are and what we are. Many Christians who truly love God, have struggled to understand the reality of our salvation and what it really means, on this side of death. In this natural realm, it's been difficult to understand some of the things we read in the Word or hear from the pulpit. Many differing ideas and opinions have been preached, written and determined by many well meaning people.
We've come up with our own ideas of God and His plan for His family, because of a lack of wisdom and the discernment of spiritual things. Having little understanding of Who He is and His view of who He has made us to be, we've mostly failed in our understanding of the new creation. We've tried applying man's wisdom to spiritual things and have come up empty in that learning. Our natural (carnal) way of thinking and our not understanding of the renewing of our minds, has led to failure so many times, that many have simply stopped trying.
When airplanes were first introduced into the world, many believed it could never work and laughed at their creator's failed attempts to fly. The components and elements used in the creation of airplanes were always here in the earth, but we never had the wisdom needed to make them work. Airplanes could have flown in the eighteen hundreds or the nineteen hundreds, if someone had dreamed it and held the determination to accomplish that dream.
When we're birthed into our natural lives, we have no understanding of the natural things in life. We couldn't talk, walk, dress or feed ourselves, drive a car of count to ten. It required understanding, earthly wisdom and plenty of determination, to become the persons we are today. We failed time after time when learning to walk, but we were determined to accomplish this task and it's now a simple part of life we take for granted. At one time though, this was a great challenge for us. We proceeded to learn one thing at a time, about our natural lives. We passed things we learned onto our family and they progressed into even more learning and wisdom. We've gone from the telegraph that seemed unfathomable to many in their day, to today's smart phones. All this came from wisdom and not always the wisdom of man, but the emergence of God's Wisdom through man. This Wisdom was mostly kept in the natural realm of our lives and was used to enhance the way we now live.
For those who are unable to accept the way man's determined our spiritual lives to be, this Wisdom is still available. Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) tells us, "Get Wisdom, and get understanding." We have Wisdom in Christ Jesus, made available to us, according to 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) which says, "But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God (revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as) our righteousness (thus making us in right standing with God); and our consecration (making us pure and holy) and our Redemption (providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin)."
By grace in Christ Jesus, we've been granted this Proverbs kind of Wisdom and by the Holy Spirit, we also have access to the understanding of this Wisdom. If the new creation could be determined to discern the things of the Spirit, as the natural man has been to learn the things of the natural world, then we could and will grow in the understanding our our new creation life in Christ.
We came to an understanding by man's wisdom, that "God doesn't want us to know the secret things of the Kingdom," and we stopped trying to grow in Wisdom. If we had done this in the natural realm, then we would still be living in the Dark Ages and we wouldn't have the modern day things we take for granted. Men who invented electricity, space travel, cures for deadly diseases were mocked and ridiculed by others around them, but once their inventions were proven to the people, they became part of our everyday life. Man was created to excel and grow and create, as was the first Adam and the Last Adam.
When we become determined to know God and the new Life in the Spirit, like we have been in the natural, then we will can can step into a reality that will set mankind free. That's what the new creation were called and born to do. We can't set the spirits free with carnal wisdom and might, but only by God's Wisdom and might.
Proverbs 3:15-21 (Amplified) says, "Skillful and Godly Wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you can wish for is to be compared to her. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are highways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of Life to those who lay hold of her and (happy, blessed, fortunate, to be envied) is everyone who holds her fast." Verses 19-21 go on, "The Lord by skillful and Godly Wisdom has founded the earth, by understanding He has established the Heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up, the skies distill the dew. My Son, let them not escape from your sight, but keep sound and Godly Wisdom and discernment."
This Wisdom, is the same Wisdom that has been granted to us in Christ Jesus, the Word. We might never create another world or universe by this Wisdom, but we can certainly change the course of our lives and the lives of others by it. Of course, we will make mistakes while we're learning how to walk in this new creation and we will meet opposition, but the first airplane didn't fly, the first light bulb didn't work...they were starting points to grow from. It might not work the first time you lay hands on someone for healing, but we must try again and listen for Wisdom to guide us. You probably weren't successful at tying your shoes initially either When we become as determined and constant in our discerning of our new creation, as we are in the natural, then "All things are possible for those who believe." We've settled for less than our Father created us to be and mankind has suffered because of it. If we've been as determined to seek His Wisdom as we have been at seeking man's wisdom, then we would certainly know much more about who we are, than we currently do.
God has made secret things known to us and we need His understanding of His Wisdom, in order to operate in them. Everything we know in this natural realm, we came to do so by constantly trying, until we were successful. Why then, do we stop at the first failure in the new Kingdom attempt? This is a maturing process in the new creation. We begin as babies, but we don't remain babies. Toddlers fall and sometimes get discouraged, when they're learning to walk, but they don't quit.
We will become more confident in our ability in Him and will become more bold in our new life. After all, it is "He Who leads us in these paths of righteousness." He has invested His Own Life and Spirit in us, so how can we fail? Jesus said it "Is the Father in Me, Who does the work."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is, get Wisdom (skillful and Godly Wisdom) (For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing) and with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation)."
The new creation family endured struggles and trials, trying to understand who we are and what we are. Many Christians who truly love God, have struggled to understand the reality of our salvation and what it really means, on this side of death. In this natural realm, it's been difficult to understand some of the things we read in the Word or hear from the pulpit. Many differing ideas and opinions have been preached, written and determined by many well meaning people.
We've come up with our own ideas of God and His plan for His family, because of a lack of wisdom and the discernment of spiritual things. Having little understanding of Who He is and His view of who He has made us to be, we've mostly failed in our understanding of the new creation. We've tried applying man's wisdom to spiritual things and have come up empty in that learning. Our natural (carnal) way of thinking and our not understanding of the renewing of our minds, has led to failure so many times, that many have simply stopped trying.
When airplanes were first introduced into the world, many believed it could never work and laughed at their creator's failed attempts to fly. The components and elements used in the creation of airplanes were always here in the earth, but we never had the wisdom needed to make them work. Airplanes could have flown in the eighteen hundreds or the nineteen hundreds, if someone had dreamed it and held the determination to accomplish that dream.
When we're birthed into our natural lives, we have no understanding of the natural things in life. We couldn't talk, walk, dress or feed ourselves, drive a car of count to ten. It required understanding, earthly wisdom and plenty of determination, to become the persons we are today. We failed time after time when learning to walk, but we were determined to accomplish this task and it's now a simple part of life we take for granted. At one time though, this was a great challenge for us. We proceeded to learn one thing at a time, about our natural lives. We passed things we learned onto our family and they progressed into even more learning and wisdom. We've gone from the telegraph that seemed unfathomable to many in their day, to today's smart phones. All this came from wisdom and not always the wisdom of man, but the emergence of God's Wisdom through man. This Wisdom was mostly kept in the natural realm of our lives and was used to enhance the way we now live.
For those who are unable to accept the way man's determined our spiritual lives to be, this Wisdom is still available. Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) tells us, "Get Wisdom, and get understanding." We have Wisdom in Christ Jesus, made available to us, according to 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) which says, "But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God (revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as) our righteousness (thus making us in right standing with God); and our consecration (making us pure and holy) and our Redemption (providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin)."
By grace in Christ Jesus, we've been granted this Proverbs kind of Wisdom and by the Holy Spirit, we also have access to the understanding of this Wisdom. If the new creation could be determined to discern the things of the Spirit, as the natural man has been to learn the things of the natural world, then we could and will grow in the understanding our our new creation life in Christ.
We came to an understanding by man's wisdom, that "God doesn't want us to know the secret things of the Kingdom," and we stopped trying to grow in Wisdom. If we had done this in the natural realm, then we would still be living in the Dark Ages and we wouldn't have the modern day things we take for granted. Men who invented electricity, space travel, cures for deadly diseases were mocked and ridiculed by others around them, but once their inventions were proven to the people, they became part of our everyday life. Man was created to excel and grow and create, as was the first Adam and the Last Adam.
When we become determined to know God and the new Life in the Spirit, like we have been in the natural, then we will can can step into a reality that will set mankind free. That's what the new creation were called and born to do. We can't set the spirits free with carnal wisdom and might, but only by God's Wisdom and might.
Proverbs 3:15-21 (Amplified) says, "Skillful and Godly Wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you can wish for is to be compared to her. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are highways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of Life to those who lay hold of her and (happy, blessed, fortunate, to be envied) is everyone who holds her fast." Verses 19-21 go on, "The Lord by skillful and Godly Wisdom has founded the earth, by understanding He has established the Heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up, the skies distill the dew. My Son, let them not escape from your sight, but keep sound and Godly Wisdom and discernment."
This Wisdom, is the same Wisdom that has been granted to us in Christ Jesus, the Word. We might never create another world or universe by this Wisdom, but we can certainly change the course of our lives and the lives of others by it. Of course, we will make mistakes while we're learning how to walk in this new creation and we will meet opposition, but the first airplane didn't fly, the first light bulb didn't work...they were starting points to grow from. It might not work the first time you lay hands on someone for healing, but we must try again and listen for Wisdom to guide us. You probably weren't successful at tying your shoes initially either When we become as determined and constant in our discerning of our new creation, as we are in the natural, then "All things are possible for those who believe." We've settled for less than our Father created us to be and mankind has suffered because of it. If we've been as determined to seek His Wisdom as we have been at seeking man's wisdom, then we would certainly know much more about who we are, than we currently do.
God has made secret things known to us and we need His understanding of His Wisdom, in order to operate in them. Everything we know in this natural realm, we came to do so by constantly trying, until we were successful. Why then, do we stop at the first failure in the new Kingdom attempt? This is a maturing process in the new creation. We begin as babies, but we don't remain babies. Toddlers fall and sometimes get discouraged, when they're learning to walk, but they don't quit.
We will become more confident in our ability in Him and will become more bold in our new life. After all, it is "He Who leads us in these paths of righteousness." He has invested His Own Life and Spirit in us, so how can we fail? Jesus said it "Is the Father in Me, Who does the work."
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Lesson 188 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. 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)."
In the new creation, our spirit was created new in Christ Jesus and connected back unto the Father. The very Life of God has been generated in our now living spirit and the new creation man has regained access to the wisdom and counsel of Almighty God Himself. The problem with God's family (the Church) isn't that the new birth didn't work or that the children don't love the Lord, but they don't understand the new Life in the Spirit.
When you're born-again, your spirit is now recreated and receives the nature and Life of the Father, but the mind has held your spirit in captivity by the same carnal thinking. The only knowledge your mind has had, comes from your senses and cannot be renewed, because they are part of the physical body. They can be brought into subjection and they can be controlled, but they cannot be renewed. The spirit is recreated. Our minds (or brains) receive their knowledge from the senses, can though, be brought into subjection by the Word of God.
Paul says in Romans 12:1-2 (Amplified), "I appeal to you therefore brethren, and beg of you in view of (all) the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies (presenting all your members and faculties) as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted,consecrated) and well pleasing unto God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. 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 mind (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)."
Paul says we must "present" our body (which holds the five senses), as a "living sacrifice to God." They are the most important part of the body, the seeing part, the hearing part, the feeling part, the tasting and smelling parts. The five senses are the five channels, where the impulses flow to the brain and teaching all the brain knows. Paul implores us to give the home of our five senses, over to the Lord. He tells us to lay our body on the altar, like the old covenant people laid the lamb as an offering on the altar. We're to lay this body down as a dedication and give it over the Lordship of God's Word. Paul goes on, directing us to "be transformed by the renewing of our minds." Before being born-again, our minds were fashioned after the things of the world and this has been the only form of information, your body could receive until then. Now, your mind must come under the dominion of your new creation spirit, through the Word of God
As new creation people, we must renew our minds to recognize the Lordship of the Word, the Lordship of Jesus and the commandment of Love. All these things were previously foreign to our carnal mind, because everything it knew came from the world and the five senses. Faith, love and revelation knowledge from our new creation spirits are learned from God, His Word and His Spirit. Things that cannot be seen, touched, smelled, felt, heard or tasted are fighting against the things of God.
The thing that has guided your body throughout your life, is now the enemy of your born-again man. Being led by the Holy Spirit, is contrary to everything your body (senses) has previously known. This is the thing which has hindered God's people, for so very long. Your spirit man is in direct conflict with the senses and it cannot be reconciled to it. Your senses have to be renewed. You must take the Word of God and train the senses, in order to limit them to the natural things they were made for.
The senses were to be servant to the spirit and not the master. God placed them in the body of Adam, so he could contact the natural world (or earth) God designed for him. The senses could determine the natural sounds of the earth, but couldn't contact God. Adam could hear the wind, the birds, the voice of his wife Eve, but the instruction of Life came from his Father, into his spirit. Adam's spirit could then relay God's instructions to his mind.
After his transgression, Adam could no longer receive instructions from God and needed to rely on only the natural (carnal) instructions of his five senses. It was like disconnecting your computer from the internet and trying to receive information from the web. You could continue doing a minute amount of tasks on that computer, but not the endless amount of things before severing the Internet connection. You can reconnect your computer to the Internet, but must program or renew contacts to receive information again.
When we become born-again and our mind (or computer) is reconnected to all the information made available to us, we need God's Word to direct us into the new source of information. Your computer will still put things in front of you for saving or deleting and these decisions continually need to be made.
As we are renewing our minds (our senses), there are things that pop-up and must be deleted. The only source for flagging these things is the Word of God, which is Spirit. There are always words written or spoken that arise against God's Word, but they're prevented from entering or remaining in your mind, when it's renewed with God's Word and led by God's Spirit. It doesn't matter what men might say, if their words don't line up with God's Words, then you must build a firewall against them.
Revelation will always come come into your spirit and then must be reloaded into your mind. What comes from the outside, isn't always reliable Truth. A mind that is renewed, will always check to see whether or not the outside information should be received, but an unrenewed mind will grab hold of the old things of the world and rebel against revelation knowledge of the Spirit. This worldly wisdom is always in opposition to anything that doesn't come from the five senses. If I cannot feel, see, hear, taste or smell something, then my unrenewed mind will not believe it.
This has been and still is, the greatest enemy to our maturing in the Lord. We're still trying to "feel" the Presence of the Lord, in order to believe He is here. We're still saying, "If only I could touch the hem of His garment" or "If only I could see the glory of the Lord, then I would believe." If the only time we believe God is there, is when we "feel" Him, then we must not believe He is present very often, because we rarely "feel" Him in our lives. I don't want Jesus to be Lord only when I "feel" like He is here. I want to have faith and believe "He will never leave me or forsake me, but be with me always to the end of the age."
If you can only believe in the Holy Spirit when you can see Him, then you will miss Him altogether. I have never seen the wind, but I have seen the results of the wind. I have seen cities that were devastated by the wind, but I have never seen the wind. I know that the leaves are being blown around my yard by the wind, but I cannot see the wind. I have seen the results of the Holy Spirit in healings, miracles and the glory reflected on the people, but I still haven't seen the Holy Spirit. This is faith, which is born of a renewed mind.
In the new creation, our spirit was created new in Christ Jesus and connected back unto the Father. The very Life of God has been generated in our now living spirit and the new creation man has regained access to the wisdom and counsel of Almighty God Himself. The problem with God's family (the Church) isn't that the new birth didn't work or that the children don't love the Lord, but they don't understand the new Life in the Spirit.
When you're born-again, your spirit is now recreated and receives the nature and Life of the Father, but the mind has held your spirit in captivity by the same carnal thinking. The only knowledge your mind has had, comes from your senses and cannot be renewed, because they are part of the physical body. They can be brought into subjection and they can be controlled, but they cannot be renewed. The spirit is recreated. Our minds (or brains) receive their knowledge from the senses, can though, be brought into subjection by the Word of God.
Paul says in Romans 12:1-2 (Amplified), "I appeal to you therefore brethren, and beg of you in view of (all) the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies (presenting all your members and faculties) as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted,consecrated) and well pleasing unto God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. 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 mind (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)."
Paul says we must "present" our body (which holds the five senses), as a "living sacrifice to God." They are the most important part of the body, the seeing part, the hearing part, the feeling part, the tasting and smelling parts. The five senses are the five channels, where the impulses flow to the brain and teaching all the brain knows. Paul implores us to give the home of our five senses, over to the Lord. He tells us to lay our body on the altar, like the old covenant people laid the lamb as an offering on the altar. We're to lay this body down as a dedication and give it over the Lordship of God's Word. Paul goes on, directing us to "be transformed by the renewing of our minds." Before being born-again, our minds were fashioned after the things of the world and this has been the only form of information, your body could receive until then. Now, your mind must come under the dominion of your new creation spirit, through the Word of God
As new creation people, we must renew our minds to recognize the Lordship of the Word, the Lordship of Jesus and the commandment of Love. All these things were previously foreign to our carnal mind, because everything it knew came from the world and the five senses. Faith, love and revelation knowledge from our new creation spirits are learned from God, His Word and His Spirit. Things that cannot be seen, touched, smelled, felt, heard or tasted are fighting against the things of God.
The thing that has guided your body throughout your life, is now the enemy of your born-again man. Being led by the Holy Spirit, is contrary to everything your body (senses) has previously known. This is the thing which has hindered God's people, for so very long. Your spirit man is in direct conflict with the senses and it cannot be reconciled to it. Your senses have to be renewed. You must take the Word of God and train the senses, in order to limit them to the natural things they were made for.
The senses were to be servant to the spirit and not the master. God placed them in the body of Adam, so he could contact the natural world (or earth) God designed for him. The senses could determine the natural sounds of the earth, but couldn't contact God. Adam could hear the wind, the birds, the voice of his wife Eve, but the instruction of Life came from his Father, into his spirit. Adam's spirit could then relay God's instructions to his mind.
After his transgression, Adam could no longer receive instructions from God and needed to rely on only the natural (carnal) instructions of his five senses. It was like disconnecting your computer from the internet and trying to receive information from the web. You could continue doing a minute amount of tasks on that computer, but not the endless amount of things before severing the Internet connection. You can reconnect your computer to the Internet, but must program or renew contacts to receive information again.
When we become born-again and our mind (or computer) is reconnected to all the information made available to us, we need God's Word to direct us into the new source of information. Your computer will still put things in front of you for saving or deleting and these decisions continually need to be made.
As we are renewing our minds (our senses), there are things that pop-up and must be deleted. The only source for flagging these things is the Word of God, which is Spirit. There are always words written or spoken that arise against God's Word, but they're prevented from entering or remaining in your mind, when it's renewed with God's Word and led by God's Spirit. It doesn't matter what men might say, if their words don't line up with God's Words, then you must build a firewall against them.
Revelation will always come come into your spirit and then must be reloaded into your mind. What comes from the outside, isn't always reliable Truth. A mind that is renewed, will always check to see whether or not the outside information should be received, but an unrenewed mind will grab hold of the old things of the world and rebel against revelation knowledge of the Spirit. This worldly wisdom is always in opposition to anything that doesn't come from the five senses. If I cannot feel, see, hear, taste or smell something, then my unrenewed mind will not believe it.
This has been and still is, the greatest enemy to our maturing in the Lord. We're still trying to "feel" the Presence of the Lord, in order to believe He is here. We're still saying, "If only I could touch the hem of His garment" or "If only I could see the glory of the Lord, then I would believe." If the only time we believe God is there, is when we "feel" Him, then we must not believe He is present very often, because we rarely "feel" Him in our lives. I don't want Jesus to be Lord only when I "feel" like He is here. I want to have faith and believe "He will never leave me or forsake me, but be with me always to the end of the age."
If you can only believe in the Holy Spirit when you can see Him, then you will miss Him altogether. I have never seen the wind, but I have seen the results of the wind. I have seen cities that were devastated by the wind, but I have never seen the wind. I know that the leaves are being blown around my yard by the wind, but I cannot see the wind. I have seen the results of the Holy Spirit in healings, miracles and the glory reflected on the people, but I still haven't seen the Holy Spirit. This is faith, which is born of a renewed mind.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Lesson 187 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. 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)."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of wisdom is, get wisdom (skillful and Godly wisdom) (For skillful and Godly wisdom is the principal thing). And with all you have gotten get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation)."
Paul says in James 1:5 (Amplified), "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 faultfinding and it will be given him."
In our new creation identity through the new birth and the indwelling of the Spirit of God Himself, we have access to God's Own wisdom and knowledge, according to 1Corinthians 2:9-10 (Amplified) which says, "But on the contrary, as the scripture says, what eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man (all that) God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him (who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed)." Verse 10 goes on, "Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the Holy Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the Divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny)."
Before the new creation man came into being, man's understanding of God was limited to only carnal knowledge. Man could learn, but not discern. They could read and hear the Words of the covenant, but still not discern the Truth and depth of wisdom. Man could fulfill the physical requirements of the Law, but not the spirit depth of why and what it was all about.
In today's Church, the family of the new creation children of God, we have access to the very wisdom and understanding of the Father Himself. 1Corinthians 2:13 (Amplified) says, "And we are setting these truths forth in Words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Holy Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual Truths with spiritual language (to those who possess the Holy Spirit)."
"Spiritual Truth in spiritual language" is given to those who will allow the Holy Spirit to interpret and reveal it to their spirit. This Spiritual Word and Truth can be received into a renewed mind and even the physical man can be brought under the new revelation of wisdom. Jesus kept His Body under the dominion of this Wisdom and Truth and the Apostle Paul did so too. While Paul was being in the process of walking out this revelation, he "kept his body under his, and did not allow the carnal knowledge of the Law, determine the outcome of what he was revealing to those who were hearing the Spiritual truth and spiritual language."
We can learn and memorize the Bible, but still not "discern the Truth and wisdom of the Spiritual Truths" that it has hidden for us. Memorizing your car's drivers manual, doesn't mean that you can drive a car. You must take time to discern or train your senses to maneuver the vehicle in traffic. We can memorize scriptures, but still not receive any benefit from the revealed Truth of God's Promises.
In the above scripture, Paul (through the Holy Spirit) speaks about how carnal man doesn't understand "all that God has prepared, made ready and keeps ready for those who love Him." These things have been made ready for all those who "love Him" but not all those who love Him have the revelation of what these things mean in our lives, while we're still in this physical body. This spiritual understanding can come only in your spirit, by the Holy Spirit. We can all read the same scripture and come away with "understanding of this wisdom, by revelation through the Holy Spirit."
It's up to the individual person to seek this out on his/her own. This doesn't mean we're to discard everything that we've learned, but we're to meditate on the words and go from "learning to discerning." I heard many different preachers and teachers of the Gospel, when I first got saved. They were all saved men and were reading the same Word of God, but I held lingering questions in my heart about why we had so many varying interpretations of what God's Word was saying.
Instead of determining that all of them "were wrong" and I was the only on who "was right," I asked God for wisdom in understanding Truth," quoting James 1:5. I knew God's Word is Truth, because of John 6:63 (Amplified) where Jesus said, "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver) the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it) The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
Even though many of the preachers were using scriptures in their teachings, it came from the learning of the carnal mind. Because it was the Word of God, it was Truth. But, since it came from the flesh, there was no Life and understanding coming forth to me. Even though the Word is Truth, the Truth of it in our lives, is revealed as "spiritual language and Truth." The Spirit gives Life (He is the Life-Giver) and He is "combining and interpreting spiritual Truths with spiritual language.
When we are in a situation of trial or lack of understanding, we must ask God for wisdom, according to James 1:5. God has promised that He will give us wisdom, if we ask. When God gives this wisdom, we are responsible to either receive this wisdom or wonder "Is this from God?" You are the one who will determine whether you will receive it or be double-minded" about it. You are the only one, who through the Holy Spirit can come to the "knowledge of Truth" in your spirit. Romans 8:14 (Amplified) says, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." Paul is speaking about mature sons of God and not simply born-again infants who are still on milk.
All babies need milk and all babies are required to grow and mature into eating the solid food of God's Word and becoming mature sons of God. We can only grow into mature sons and daughters of God, by allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal "Spiritual Truth and spiritual language." Both sinners and Christians can read the Bible. The Words are the same, but their understanding of them are different. The same is true for different Christians, who read the Word. If the only way you get the Word is from someone else, you only know what they have to say and not necessarily what the Spirit of God has to say. It's not just education, but revelation. It's the same Word, with different results.
When we were in school, our teacher taught the same thing to all the students. You weren't responsible and neither was the teacher, to "make" you understand. Only you could be responsible to receive what was being taught. Likewise, in today's Church, it's not the preacher's job to "make you believe," and it's not the congregation's responsibility to do so. It's the individual person's responsibility to "heed what you hear." Jesus said in Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified), "If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend. And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. For 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."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of wisdom is, get wisdom (skillful and Godly wisdom) (For skillful and Godly wisdom is the principal thing). And with all you have gotten get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation)."
Paul says in James 1:5 (Amplified), "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 faultfinding and it will be given him."
In our new creation identity through the new birth and the indwelling of the Spirit of God Himself, we have access to God's Own wisdom and knowledge, according to 1Corinthians 2:9-10 (Amplified) which says, "But on the contrary, as the scripture says, what eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man (all that) God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him (who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed)." Verse 10 goes on, "Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the Holy Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the Divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny)."
Before the new creation man came into being, man's understanding of God was limited to only carnal knowledge. Man could learn, but not discern. They could read and hear the Words of the covenant, but still not discern the Truth and depth of wisdom. Man could fulfill the physical requirements of the Law, but not the spirit depth of why and what it was all about.
In today's Church, the family of the new creation children of God, we have access to the very wisdom and understanding of the Father Himself. 1Corinthians 2:13 (Amplified) says, "And we are setting these truths forth in Words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Holy Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual Truths with spiritual language (to those who possess the Holy Spirit)."
"Spiritual Truth in spiritual language" is given to those who will allow the Holy Spirit to interpret and reveal it to their spirit. This Spiritual Word and Truth can be received into a renewed mind and even the physical man can be brought under the new revelation of wisdom. Jesus kept His Body under the dominion of this Wisdom and Truth and the Apostle Paul did so too. While Paul was being in the process of walking out this revelation, he "kept his body under his, and did not allow the carnal knowledge of the Law, determine the outcome of what he was revealing to those who were hearing the Spiritual truth and spiritual language."
We can learn and memorize the Bible, but still not "discern the Truth and wisdom of the Spiritual Truths" that it has hidden for us. Memorizing your car's drivers manual, doesn't mean that you can drive a car. You must take time to discern or train your senses to maneuver the vehicle in traffic. We can memorize scriptures, but still not receive any benefit from the revealed Truth of God's Promises.
In the above scripture, Paul (through the Holy Spirit) speaks about how carnal man doesn't understand "all that God has prepared, made ready and keeps ready for those who love Him." These things have been made ready for all those who "love Him" but not all those who love Him have the revelation of what these things mean in our lives, while we're still in this physical body. This spiritual understanding can come only in your spirit, by the Holy Spirit. We can all read the same scripture and come away with "understanding of this wisdom, by revelation through the Holy Spirit."
It's up to the individual person to seek this out on his/her own. This doesn't mean we're to discard everything that we've learned, but we're to meditate on the words and go from "learning to discerning." I heard many different preachers and teachers of the Gospel, when I first got saved. They were all saved men and were reading the same Word of God, but I held lingering questions in my heart about why we had so many varying interpretations of what God's Word was saying.
Instead of determining that all of them "were wrong" and I was the only on who "was right," I asked God for wisdom in understanding Truth," quoting James 1:5. I knew God's Word is Truth, because of John 6:63 (Amplified) where Jesus said, "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver) the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it) The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
Even though many of the preachers were using scriptures in their teachings, it came from the learning of the carnal mind. Because it was the Word of God, it was Truth. But, since it came from the flesh, there was no Life and understanding coming forth to me. Even though the Word is Truth, the Truth of it in our lives, is revealed as "spiritual language and Truth." The Spirit gives Life (He is the Life-Giver) and He is "combining and interpreting spiritual Truths with spiritual language.
When we are in a situation of trial or lack of understanding, we must ask God for wisdom, according to James 1:5. God has promised that He will give us wisdom, if we ask. When God gives this wisdom, we are responsible to either receive this wisdom or wonder "Is this from God?" You are the one who will determine whether you will receive it or be double-minded" about it. You are the only one, who through the Holy Spirit can come to the "knowledge of Truth" in your spirit. Romans 8:14 (Amplified) says, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." Paul is speaking about mature sons of God and not simply born-again infants who are still on milk.
All babies need milk and all babies are required to grow and mature into eating the solid food of God's Word and becoming mature sons of God. We can only grow into mature sons and daughters of God, by allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal "Spiritual Truth and spiritual language." Both sinners and Christians can read the Bible. The Words are the same, but their understanding of them are different. The same is true for different Christians, who read the Word. If the only way you get the Word is from someone else, you only know what they have to say and not necessarily what the Spirit of God has to say. It's not just education, but revelation. It's the same Word, with different results.
When we were in school, our teacher taught the same thing to all the students. You weren't responsible and neither was the teacher, to "make" you understand. Only you could be responsible to receive what was being taught. Likewise, in today's Church, it's not the preacher's job to "make you believe," and it's not the congregation's responsibility to do so. It's the individual person's responsibility to "heed what you hear." Jesus said in Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified), "If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend. And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. For 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."
Monday, March 20, 2017
Lesson 186 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. 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)."
We were created a new creation, a spirit man who was not only made alive by God's Own Spirit, but one that was joined to Life by God's Own Spirit living in us. We're not just a spirit (like Adam was), but a spirit born of Life by God's Spirit indwelling in or blended with our own spirit when we were born-again. The new creation isn't only joined together with the Holy Spirit of God, but is now through Jesus, in direct communication with the Father (just like Jesus was in His earthly Body).
Romans 10:17 tells us that, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Paul continues with asking, "How shall they hear without a preacher?" Our faith in God's Word diminished over the years, because we haven't "heard" what the Word says from many of our traditional preachers. Faith in God comes by hearing what God says and preachers are supposed to preach what He says and not just what they've heard from men.
If what we hear is, "Those things have passed away," "Those things are for other people," and "You never know what God's will is," then this is what we will build our faith on. Since "faith comes by hearing," it doesn't matter whether or not it's God Word, what we hear most often is what we will put our faith in. If we hear the wrong things taught about God, then our faith will be placed in those wrong things about Him.
We were created to believe. We not only have a living spirit, but we have God's Spirit indwelling within us. Jesus called Him the "Holy Spirit" and the "Spirit of Truth" and Jesus says "He will never speak anything into our spirit, that is not Truth." The people under the old covenant (the people Jesus preached to) were not born-again and believed by what they could see and from the testimony of others who saw. Today, we struggle to understand whether it's God's will to heal or do the other things Jesus did. We want to believe, but we've heard so many different things preached against the Word, that it becomes nearly impossible to believe.
We believe that God can do anything, so it's not a question whether or not God can do it, but will He do it. This is where our faith meets the wall of doubt. It's not only unbelief, but doubt that restricts our belief. We can only receive from God, what we believe and put faith in. In Mark 16, Jesus commanded us to "preach the Gospel to every creature, those that would believe would be saved and those who wouldn't believe, would be lost." It didn't depend on God's Word, according to John 3:16 (Amplified) which says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son that whosoever would believe should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Our walk with the Heavenly Father and His Word, doesn't depend on God, His Word, because "His Word is forever settled in Heaven" and "God cannot lie." Our walk with God, depends on us believing what we hear and hearing the right Word from and of Him.
Many base their belief on healing, testimonies and/or experiences with others. They know someone who believed God for healing and they died, thus leaving them to believe "it must not be God's will to heal." First of all, you don't know whether or not, they believed God and His Word. You only have what they said, to weigh against what God says. Some say, "I know Christians who are sick" and those people judge the Word of healing on this, determining that "God no longer heals." I might respond to this, saying, "I know people who are not saved," but does this mean that He is no longer a Savior? God forbid.
It's not only a matter of what God said, but a matter of believing what He said. We read in the Word, that Jesus healed everyone who would believe and said that "He came to do the Father's will." Was it the Father's will to heal? Yes, but only those who believed what Jesus was preaching were healed. Many heard what He preached and were offended by His Word. Some argued about the "Gentiles" who believed and were healed, while the Jews were not. Who decided which ones would be healed? Not God. He sent His Word to "heal and to deliver from destruction," according to Psalm 107:19-20 (Amplified) which says, "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivers them out of their distress. He sends forth His Word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction." According to Mark 6:5-6, Jesus "could do no mighty work" in His hometown of Nazareth, because of "their unbelief." This is Jesus Himself and not some preacher or pastor. He was God's Only Begotten Son and still He could do no mighty work, because of their unbelief.
It's not that you don't have faith, because you wouldn't even have been born-again. It's a matter of growing in your faith, by what you hear. You are more in charge of your healing, than God is. It's already His will to heal, when we are subject to believing what His Word says about it. We read about the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:52-30 (Amplified), who, "When she heard the reports concerning Jesus, she said 'If I can only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health." In Verse 30, Jesus "felt the power flow out of Him, and stopped to see who had touched Him."
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. This woman not only heard what Jesus had done, but had undoubtedly heard of what He preached. When Jesus said, I came to do the will of the Father" and "It's not Me, but the Father in Me Who does the work,"this woman put faith in what He said and believed for her healing. She stopped Jesus, He didn't stop her. She believed what she heard Jesus preach.
Healing came through Jesus by the Father, but the healing was always present through faith. The believing people drew healings and miracles from Jesus, by their faith. By her believing, the woman with the issue of blood drew healing and restoration into herself. When she came to know through Jesus' preaching, that it was always God's will to heal, believing was not a problem for her.
We've heard so many different things preached, that it's become difficult to believe much of anything at all. This is why we were filled with God's Own Spirit of Truth. We must believe for ourselves, in order to receive. The woman in the above scripture, didn't rely on what her neighbors said, or on what others might have told her. There were people around her, who called Jesus "demon possessed," and "a phony," but she used her own faith to believe unto health. I've made a decision to allow God to teach me Truth. I've decided not to put others down in their belief. I've also decided that I will not be swayed by every wind of doctrine and will only be led by the Spirit of Truth.
I hear good preachers, from many different churches, who are men and woman of God and integrity and who love God teach various opinions of the Word of God. All of these preachers seem sincere and believe what they're teaching, but because the things they're saying isn't always the same, they cannot all be correct. If one man teaches one things and another teaches the opposite, then either one or both are wrong. It comes down to "Whose report will you believe?" Will you believe God's report or your report? We are all called to seek the Truth and the Word, for ourselves. This isn't to say that we have no need for the five-fold ministry, but we are all called to seek and discern for ourselves.
This isn't to puff you up with pride in your revelation, but to strengthen you in your walk with the Lord. We've never been called to "believe whatever is said," but to meditate and listen to the Voice of the Spirit. If Paul had gone with what everyone around him said, instead of what the Lord said, then only the Jew would have been saved and the Gentile would still be lost. This isn't a democracy, where the majority rules. This is God rules and He is always right. If something isn't working according to the Word, then we should be smart enough to know that when it comes down to who missed it (God or us), it wasn't Him.
We were created a new creation, a spirit man who was not only made alive by God's Own Spirit, but one that was joined to Life by God's Own Spirit living in us. We're not just a spirit (like Adam was), but a spirit born of Life by God's Spirit indwelling in or blended with our own spirit when we were born-again. The new creation isn't only joined together with the Holy Spirit of God, but is now through Jesus, in direct communication with the Father (just like Jesus was in His earthly Body).
Romans 10:17 tells us that, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Paul continues with asking, "How shall they hear without a preacher?" Our faith in God's Word diminished over the years, because we haven't "heard" what the Word says from many of our traditional preachers. Faith in God comes by hearing what God says and preachers are supposed to preach what He says and not just what they've heard from men.
If what we hear is, "Those things have passed away," "Those things are for other people," and "You never know what God's will is," then this is what we will build our faith on. Since "faith comes by hearing," it doesn't matter whether or not it's God Word, what we hear most often is what we will put our faith in. If we hear the wrong things taught about God, then our faith will be placed in those wrong things about Him.
We were created to believe. We not only have a living spirit, but we have God's Spirit indwelling within us. Jesus called Him the "Holy Spirit" and the "Spirit of Truth" and Jesus says "He will never speak anything into our spirit, that is not Truth." The people under the old covenant (the people Jesus preached to) were not born-again and believed by what they could see and from the testimony of others who saw. Today, we struggle to understand whether it's God's will to heal or do the other things Jesus did. We want to believe, but we've heard so many different things preached against the Word, that it becomes nearly impossible to believe.
We believe that God can do anything, so it's not a question whether or not God can do it, but will He do it. This is where our faith meets the wall of doubt. It's not only unbelief, but doubt that restricts our belief. We can only receive from God, what we believe and put faith in. In Mark 16, Jesus commanded us to "preach the Gospel to every creature, those that would believe would be saved and those who wouldn't believe, would be lost." It didn't depend on God's Word, according to John 3:16 (Amplified) which says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son that whosoever would believe should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Our walk with the Heavenly Father and His Word, doesn't depend on God, His Word, because "His Word is forever settled in Heaven" and "God cannot lie." Our walk with God, depends on us believing what we hear and hearing the right Word from and of Him.
Many base their belief on healing, testimonies and/or experiences with others. They know someone who believed God for healing and they died, thus leaving them to believe "it must not be God's will to heal." First of all, you don't know whether or not, they believed God and His Word. You only have what they said, to weigh against what God says. Some say, "I know Christians who are sick" and those people judge the Word of healing on this, determining that "God no longer heals." I might respond to this, saying, "I know people who are not saved," but does this mean that He is no longer a Savior? God forbid.
It's not only a matter of what God said, but a matter of believing what He said. We read in the Word, that Jesus healed everyone who would believe and said that "He came to do the Father's will." Was it the Father's will to heal? Yes, but only those who believed what Jesus was preaching were healed. Many heard what He preached and were offended by His Word. Some argued about the "Gentiles" who believed and were healed, while the Jews were not. Who decided which ones would be healed? Not God. He sent His Word to "heal and to deliver from destruction," according to Psalm 107:19-20 (Amplified) which says, "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivers them out of their distress. He sends forth His Word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction." According to Mark 6:5-6, Jesus "could do no mighty work" in His hometown of Nazareth, because of "their unbelief." This is Jesus Himself and not some preacher or pastor. He was God's Only Begotten Son and still He could do no mighty work, because of their unbelief.
It's not that you don't have faith, because you wouldn't even have been born-again. It's a matter of growing in your faith, by what you hear. You are more in charge of your healing, than God is. It's already His will to heal, when we are subject to believing what His Word says about it. We read about the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:52-30 (Amplified), who, "When she heard the reports concerning Jesus, she said 'If I can only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health." In Verse 30, Jesus "felt the power flow out of Him, and stopped to see who had touched Him."
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. This woman not only heard what Jesus had done, but had undoubtedly heard of what He preached. When Jesus said, I came to do the will of the Father" and "It's not Me, but the Father in Me Who does the work,"this woman put faith in what He said and believed for her healing. She stopped Jesus, He didn't stop her. She believed what she heard Jesus preach.
Healing came through Jesus by the Father, but the healing was always present through faith. The believing people drew healings and miracles from Jesus, by their faith. By her believing, the woman with the issue of blood drew healing and restoration into herself. When she came to know through Jesus' preaching, that it was always God's will to heal, believing was not a problem for her.
We've heard so many different things preached, that it's become difficult to believe much of anything at all. This is why we were filled with God's Own Spirit of Truth. We must believe for ourselves, in order to receive. The woman in the above scripture, didn't rely on what her neighbors said, or on what others might have told her. There were people around her, who called Jesus "demon possessed," and "a phony," but she used her own faith to believe unto health. I've made a decision to allow God to teach me Truth. I've decided not to put others down in their belief. I've also decided that I will not be swayed by every wind of doctrine and will only be led by the Spirit of Truth.
I hear good preachers, from many different churches, who are men and woman of God and integrity and who love God teach various opinions of the Word of God. All of these preachers seem sincere and believe what they're teaching, but because the things they're saying isn't always the same, they cannot all be correct. If one man teaches one things and another teaches the opposite, then either one or both are wrong. It comes down to "Whose report will you believe?" Will you believe God's report or your report? We are all called to seek the Truth and the Word, for ourselves. This isn't to say that we have no need for the five-fold ministry, but we are all called to seek and discern for ourselves.
This isn't to puff you up with pride in your revelation, but to strengthen you in your walk with the Lord. We've never been called to "believe whatever is said," but to meditate and listen to the Voice of the Spirit. If Paul had gone with what everyone around him said, instead of what the Lord said, then only the Jew would have been saved and the Gentile would still be lost. This isn't a democracy, where the majority rules. This is God rules and He is always right. If something isn't working according to the Word, then we should be smart enough to know that when it comes down to who missed it (God or us), it wasn't Him.
Friday, March 17, 2017
Lesson 185 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. 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)."
When joining the Army in St. Louis, Missouri, all of us gathered there lifted our hands and pledged and oath to serve and protect our country. We became soldiers and the property of the U.S. Army at that moment. We were far from fighting men, at that time. We had no training, uniforms, weapons training or discipline. We were, however, pledge as soldiers of the Army. If we were sent into battle at that time, then we would surely have been easy prey for a trained enemy army.
The Church is the Army of God and I find it has much in common with the Army I served. As Christians, we made a pledge of honor, to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. We became the "property" of Christ Jesus and were bought and paid for by His Own Blood. We entered warfare against an unscrupulous enemy, who is holding millions captive under his own unlawful reign. Like the new soldiers I pledged with, we had no training, uniforms, understanding of what was expected of us and no unity, in order to operate like a disciplined soldier of Christ.
When I first got saved, I went around like a recruiter trying to bring more soldiers into God's Army. They had no training or knowledge of weapons or spiritual warfare. We began building camps or forts, where we could all gather.
Our drill instructors were the five-fold ministry and they didn't have much more training than the new recruits. Our instructors in God's Army began teaching us to submit to sickness and disease, poverty and to "just hang on until we get to Heaven," which for them meant we would die and then go to Heaven. We weren't taught what how weapons were or how to use them. This effort became a futile assault on a stronger army.
This isn't the victorious Army and family of God, my brethren. The Word says, "Greater is He Who is in us, than he tat is in the world" and "All power was given to our General and Commander-in-Chief. With the victory of Jesus, He delegated His Own power and authority over to the hands of His Army, in order to trample underfoot the strongholds of the enemy. Even the Gates of Hell, were no longer able to hold back this invading Army.
Boot camp would be where we were taught and trained to overcome. The only way to bring peace sometimes, is to defeat the oppressor. In WWII, we had an oppressor that was determined to ruled the entire world and bring it under his rule. America didn't join the other Armies in fighting this enemy initially, and many died and much was destroyed. Finally, we relinquished after Pearl Harbor, and decided we must engage in this war. We weren't prepared with equipment or weaponry to fight at that time, but we began building up our forces. This resulted in hardship for our citizenry as a Nation, as well as the sacrifice of many fighting men. But, the result was that we helped release says, many more from captivity, than were lost.
There are many people in the world, who are still in captivity of the enemy and will not be released from that captivity, until we rise up from our own comfort zone and take this warfare to the enemy. We have witnessed the enemy arrive at our shores, with ungodly laws and restraints against God's Church. Our children have been taken into the captivity of drugs and lawlessness, while we build bigger buildings for our Army to sit quietly and be safe in.
When will our spiritual leaders rise up and teach our Army how to conduct a war against an outlaw spirit who refuses to stop, until he is overrun. The "weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but might through God to the pulling down of strongholds." The carnal teachings and training in the world, won't defeat a spiritual enemy. We must fight a spiritual battle against a spiritual enemy, with spiritual weapons and knowledge. We have a mighty Army in Christ Jesus, but we lack the wisdom and spiritual understanding to do what's necessary to "set the captives free."
We've been taught that the way to overcome, is to hope in and for Heaven when we die. Even though this is a True hope, it doesn't take the place of "taking the Land," that has been delivered to our hands. Joshua and Caleb saw the giants, saw the walled cities, and saw the enemy armies, but they still believed God would do like He said and "Bring the Land into their hands." Their faith in a Mighty God and His Spiritual weaponry, was greater than the enemy.
Marching around a walled city, while blowing trumpets and shouting doesn't make sense in carnal thinking, but this is spiritual wisdom for spiritual warfare. This is foolishness to a natural Army, but it was victory for God's Army. The weapons of warfare we use, might look foolish to the world, but in God's eyes, they are the ability to overcome all other armies. God's Word, the Blood, the armor, the right standing and the Promise of our God, all make prayer and wisdom weapons that are invincible.
I was officially a soldier, when I raised my hand and pledged in St. Louis. I found out when I got to Fort Leonard Wood, though, that I had no idea what a soldier really was or what that truly meant. They trained us how to protect ourselves and fellow soldier first, using our weapons and equipment. We were all trained to do this, despite what our service in the Army was.
We have different callings in the Body of Christ, but we must all still go through the basic training of how to use our weapons. Romans 12:2 (Amplified) says that, "The renewing of our minds" is a mighty weapon and one that hasn't been taught much, in God's Army. As new soldiers, we were trained to get our minds off from who we were and concentrate on who we now were. In the Church, we seem to be reminded more of who we were, instead of who Christ made us to be.
We were reminded that when we entered the Army, we were new creatures (not like the Word teaches, but in the eyes of the Army). We were never anything other than a soldier. We had no post to hold onto, but were to serve the one who enlisted us, with singleness of mind.
In Ephesians 6:10-18 (Amplified), God explains the fight we have entered and how we are to conduct this warfare. He first tells us about the Armor of God we are to wear, in Verses 13-16 and then He shows us that His Word is an offensive weapon against the enemy. Jesus used the Sword of the Spirit with skill and in victory for His deliverance, when He was tempted by the enemy in Luke. Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified) says, "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents) but 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."
Renewing our minds means learning to think in the super-natural spirit world and realizing that our warfare is spiritual. We've thought so much about the comfort of our troops in the Church, that we haven't been taught the hardships of battle and how to defeat them. Everything I learned in the Army, was essential. Paul says in 2Timothy 2:3-4 (Amplified), "Take (with me) your share of the hardships and suffering (which you are called to endure) as a good (first class) soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of (civilian) life; his aim is to satisfy and please the One Who enlisted him."
When joining the Army in St. Louis, Missouri, all of us gathered there lifted our hands and pledged and oath to serve and protect our country. We became soldiers and the property of the U.S. Army at that moment. We were far from fighting men, at that time. We had no training, uniforms, weapons training or discipline. We were, however, pledge as soldiers of the Army. If we were sent into battle at that time, then we would surely have been easy prey for a trained enemy army.
The Church is the Army of God and I find it has much in common with the Army I served. As Christians, we made a pledge of honor, to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. We became the "property" of Christ Jesus and were bought and paid for by His Own Blood. We entered warfare against an unscrupulous enemy, who is holding millions captive under his own unlawful reign. Like the new soldiers I pledged with, we had no training, uniforms, understanding of what was expected of us and no unity, in order to operate like a disciplined soldier of Christ.
When I first got saved, I went around like a recruiter trying to bring more soldiers into God's Army. They had no training or knowledge of weapons or spiritual warfare. We began building camps or forts, where we could all gather.
Our drill instructors were the five-fold ministry and they didn't have much more training than the new recruits. Our instructors in God's Army began teaching us to submit to sickness and disease, poverty and to "just hang on until we get to Heaven," which for them meant we would die and then go to Heaven. We weren't taught what how weapons were or how to use them. This effort became a futile assault on a stronger army.
This isn't the victorious Army and family of God, my brethren. The Word says, "Greater is He Who is in us, than he tat is in the world" and "All power was given to our General and Commander-in-Chief. With the victory of Jesus, He delegated His Own power and authority over to the hands of His Army, in order to trample underfoot the strongholds of the enemy. Even the Gates of Hell, were no longer able to hold back this invading Army.
Boot camp would be where we were taught and trained to overcome. The only way to bring peace sometimes, is to defeat the oppressor. In WWII, we had an oppressor that was determined to ruled the entire world and bring it under his rule. America didn't join the other Armies in fighting this enemy initially, and many died and much was destroyed. Finally, we relinquished after Pearl Harbor, and decided we must engage in this war. We weren't prepared with equipment or weaponry to fight at that time, but we began building up our forces. This resulted in hardship for our citizenry as a Nation, as well as the sacrifice of many fighting men. But, the result was that we helped release says, many more from captivity, than were lost.
There are many people in the world, who are still in captivity of the enemy and will not be released from that captivity, until we rise up from our own comfort zone and take this warfare to the enemy. We have witnessed the enemy arrive at our shores, with ungodly laws and restraints against God's Church. Our children have been taken into the captivity of drugs and lawlessness, while we build bigger buildings for our Army to sit quietly and be safe in.
When will our spiritual leaders rise up and teach our Army how to conduct a war against an outlaw spirit who refuses to stop, until he is overrun. The "weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but might through God to the pulling down of strongholds." The carnal teachings and training in the world, won't defeat a spiritual enemy. We must fight a spiritual battle against a spiritual enemy, with spiritual weapons and knowledge. We have a mighty Army in Christ Jesus, but we lack the wisdom and spiritual understanding to do what's necessary to "set the captives free."
We've been taught that the way to overcome, is to hope in and for Heaven when we die. Even though this is a True hope, it doesn't take the place of "taking the Land," that has been delivered to our hands. Joshua and Caleb saw the giants, saw the walled cities, and saw the enemy armies, but they still believed God would do like He said and "Bring the Land into their hands." Their faith in a Mighty God and His Spiritual weaponry, was greater than the enemy.
Marching around a walled city, while blowing trumpets and shouting doesn't make sense in carnal thinking, but this is spiritual wisdom for spiritual warfare. This is foolishness to a natural Army, but it was victory for God's Army. The weapons of warfare we use, might look foolish to the world, but in God's eyes, they are the ability to overcome all other armies. God's Word, the Blood, the armor, the right standing and the Promise of our God, all make prayer and wisdom weapons that are invincible.
I was officially a soldier, when I raised my hand and pledged in St. Louis. I found out when I got to Fort Leonard Wood, though, that I had no idea what a soldier really was or what that truly meant. They trained us how to protect ourselves and fellow soldier first, using our weapons and equipment. We were all trained to do this, despite what our service in the Army was.
We have different callings in the Body of Christ, but we must all still go through the basic training of how to use our weapons. Romans 12:2 (Amplified) says that, "The renewing of our minds" is a mighty weapon and one that hasn't been taught much, in God's Army. As new soldiers, we were trained to get our minds off from who we were and concentrate on who we now were. In the Church, we seem to be reminded more of who we were, instead of who Christ made us to be.
We were reminded that when we entered the Army, we were new creatures (not like the Word teaches, but in the eyes of the Army). We were never anything other than a soldier. We had no post to hold onto, but were to serve the one who enlisted us, with singleness of mind.
In Ephesians 6:10-18 (Amplified), God explains the fight we have entered and how we are to conduct this warfare. He first tells us about the Armor of God we are to wear, in Verses 13-16 and then He shows us that His Word is an offensive weapon against the enemy. Jesus used the Sword of the Spirit with skill and in victory for His deliverance, when He was tempted by the enemy in Luke. Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified) says, "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents) but 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."
Renewing our minds means learning to think in the super-natural spirit world and realizing that our warfare is spiritual. We've thought so much about the comfort of our troops in the Church, that we haven't been taught the hardships of battle and how to defeat them. Everything I learned in the Army, was essential. Paul says in 2Timothy 2:3-4 (Amplified), "Take (with me) your share of the hardships and suffering (which you are called to endure) as a good (first class) soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of (civilian) life; his aim is to satisfy and please the One Who enlisted him."
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Lesson 184 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. 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)."
Just as God created man in the Garden as His Own son (Adam) and family, He creation a new creation in Christ Jesus. The first Adam was to "father" a family, in the household and the Kingdom of God. God's Kingdom was to be populated with son and daughters who would be blessed, taught, provided for and cherished by the Lord God Himself. When God brought mankind into existence, He took all responsibility for His Own children to raise and provide for them, in His union through the spirit in which they were created.
Man was created a spirit like God is a Spirit, he was to indwell a natural body in order to function in the natural or earthly realm. Man was to rule by and through his spirit and the natural sense realm was to be subject to the spirit, which was to be led by the Spirit of God Himself. God's plan for His family, was in His heart before He created the Heavens and the earth. Man was the reason fro the creation altogether. God created or formed a home for His family to reside, before He created man.
When the home for His family was complete and God approved of it, then He planted a Garden in the midst of what He created for them. Not only was this earth and all it contained created by God for His children, but even in the beauty of His creation, He planted a special place for His family. It was in this "hand planted Garden," that God placed His greatest and most loved part of creation, which was His son Adam and the companion and fulfillment for him, his wife Eve.
Now, all was complete in God's plan for fellowship and a recipient of His love. God had already laid the plan for His creation and the plans for His family, in this earth. There was nothing man would need, that the love of his Father hadn't already foreseen and provided for. The Father gave this Kingdom or earthly creation over into the hands of His family, for them to rule and have dominion over. This was supposed to be "God and sons" or "God and family", running creation. As the Head of all things, the Father was to teach and train up His family, to rule over everything created for them.
Satan was never to be a problem, because God had already given His man complete authority over everything that creeps upon the earth. As an outlaw spirit, satan had been dismissed and cast out of the Kingdom of God. Satan took many of the angelic hosts of Heaven with him, when they rebelled against God with him. Adam had been given complete dominion and the authority of God, in order to rule and keep the Garden and to expand it to cover the whole earth. Since God had given him complete authority, Adam tried redeeming his wife through a diplomatic trade for Eve. In this temptation or negotiation, Adam not only traded his life, but the life of every child birthed of his seed the Law of sin and death entered into God's most highly loved creation.
Adam not only lost his dominion and authority, but his very life was separated from His God, Who is his Life and the "Length of his days." I don't believe that Adam foresaw the fullness of his transgression, but was only thinking of the loss of his wife. The damage was done, nonetheless, and the earth was now under the dominion of an outlaw spirit, satan. We almost immediately see the spirit of death, begin making its mark on the perfect home (earth), that Love had prepared for His family.
God was unwilling to give up the Love He had for His family and began setting up a way to gain His family back. God couldn't return to the contaminated dust of the earth that was under satan's control, in order to form another man. God needed to created another Man Who wasn't contaminated. So, God used the very thing He created everything with in the beginning and that was His Word, Jesus.
Immediately following Adam's treason, God began to form this Man, by His Word. He began by speaking of "the seed of a woman." God speaks the new Man into the form of His Perfect Man of the redemption, in every book of the old covenant. God's Perfect Man was brought into into existence in John 1:14 (Amplified), which says, "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Everything needed for the new creation man, was formed by God's Word, which was "Spirit and Life," according to John 6:63.
This new creation man was without sin and death and He wasn't only created by the Word, but He was the Word of God. He was spoken out of God's Own Spirit and formed by His Word, just like the Light, universe and everything else was created. John 1:1-5 (Amplified) says, "In the beginning (before all time) was the Word (Christ) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He (the Word) was present originally with God, All things were made and came into existence through Him' and without Him was not anything made that has come into being. In Him was Life and the Life that was the Light of men And the Light shine on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it (put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it)."
The one thing God needed to form (a new creation man) was the thing that created all things, which was His Word. God's Word is Life and Light and Truth and it created the Perfect Man. God did something that changed everything forever, when He filled this new creation Man with His very Own Self in the Holy Spirit. The connection to Himself was complete. Man again became a living and being and could again hear instructions from the Father. The new creation man in Christ Jesus, was a being who was "free from the Law of sin and death," according to Romans 8:2 (Amplified) which says, "For the Law of the Spirit of Life (which is) in Christ Jesus, has freed me from the Law of sin and death."
Paul says in Romans 8:3-4 (Amplified), "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, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that Sacrifice) So that the righteous and Just requirements 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."
This new creation is "dead" in the flesh (dead men don't sin) and is made alive again in "righteous and justice" by Jesus. The new creation is once again alive, "not only in the spirit, but alive unto the Spirit." The new creation is now created by the Word and is held in place by the Word, just like everything the Word has created are held in place. The "Just shall live by faith" and our faith in Jesus has made us alive, "who were dead in trespass ad sin." As the new creation, we are living by faith already.
Let's reread Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified), "For we are God's (Own) handiwork (His workmanship) recreated in Christ Jesus, (born anew) that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time) that we should walk in them (living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live)." Simply said, the things God prepared for His family from the very beginning, has now been put back into the will and order of the Father. Everything God had in His heart for man from the first of creation, He has now, through the new creation, has been restored like nothing had ever happened.
Now we can understand 1Corinthians 2:10 (Amplified), which says, "Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them (the things that God has prepared, made and keeps ready for those who love Him)--through His Spirit, for the Holy Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny)." As new creation people, we have access to the things natural man could never see or know, the secret things and divine counsels. This was God's plan for man, from the beginning.
These things were predestinated and put in place beforehand and are the paths, which God prepared ahead of time for His family. This is a continuation of God's will from the beginning and we were put in the blessing He held in His heart for His children, before He created the Heavens and earth. Everything God held in His heart then, is ours NOW.
Just as God created man in the Garden as His Own son (Adam) and family, He creation a new creation in Christ Jesus. The first Adam was to "father" a family, in the household and the Kingdom of God. God's Kingdom was to be populated with son and daughters who would be blessed, taught, provided for and cherished by the Lord God Himself. When God brought mankind into existence, He took all responsibility for His Own children to raise and provide for them, in His union through the spirit in which they were created.
Man was created a spirit like God is a Spirit, he was to indwell a natural body in order to function in the natural or earthly realm. Man was to rule by and through his spirit and the natural sense realm was to be subject to the spirit, which was to be led by the Spirit of God Himself. God's plan for His family, was in His heart before He created the Heavens and the earth. Man was the reason fro the creation altogether. God created or formed a home for His family to reside, before He created man.
When the home for His family was complete and God approved of it, then He planted a Garden in the midst of what He created for them. Not only was this earth and all it contained created by God for His children, but even in the beauty of His creation, He planted a special place for His family. It was in this "hand planted Garden," that God placed His greatest and most loved part of creation, which was His son Adam and the companion and fulfillment for him, his wife Eve.
Now, all was complete in God's plan for fellowship and a recipient of His love. God had already laid the plan for His creation and the plans for His family, in this earth. There was nothing man would need, that the love of his Father hadn't already foreseen and provided for. The Father gave this Kingdom or earthly creation over into the hands of His family, for them to rule and have dominion over. This was supposed to be "God and sons" or "God and family", running creation. As the Head of all things, the Father was to teach and train up His family, to rule over everything created for them.
Satan was never to be a problem, because God had already given His man complete authority over everything that creeps upon the earth. As an outlaw spirit, satan had been dismissed and cast out of the Kingdom of God. Satan took many of the angelic hosts of Heaven with him, when they rebelled against God with him. Adam had been given complete dominion and the authority of God, in order to rule and keep the Garden and to expand it to cover the whole earth. Since God had given him complete authority, Adam tried redeeming his wife through a diplomatic trade for Eve. In this temptation or negotiation, Adam not only traded his life, but the life of every child birthed of his seed the Law of sin and death entered into God's most highly loved creation.
Adam not only lost his dominion and authority, but his very life was separated from His God, Who is his Life and the "Length of his days." I don't believe that Adam foresaw the fullness of his transgression, but was only thinking of the loss of his wife. The damage was done, nonetheless, and the earth was now under the dominion of an outlaw spirit, satan. We almost immediately see the spirit of death, begin making its mark on the perfect home (earth), that Love had prepared for His family.
God was unwilling to give up the Love He had for His family and began setting up a way to gain His family back. God couldn't return to the contaminated dust of the earth that was under satan's control, in order to form another man. God needed to created another Man Who wasn't contaminated. So, God used the very thing He created everything with in the beginning and that was His Word, Jesus.
Immediately following Adam's treason, God began to form this Man, by His Word. He began by speaking of "the seed of a woman." God speaks the new Man into the form of His Perfect Man of the redemption, in every book of the old covenant. God's Perfect Man was brought into into existence in John 1:14 (Amplified), which says, "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Everything needed for the new creation man, was formed by God's Word, which was "Spirit and Life," according to John 6:63.
This new creation man was without sin and death and He wasn't only created by the Word, but He was the Word of God. He was spoken out of God's Own Spirit and formed by His Word, just like the Light, universe and everything else was created. John 1:1-5 (Amplified) says, "In the beginning (before all time) was the Word (Christ) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He (the Word) was present originally with God, All things were made and came into existence through Him' and without Him was not anything made that has come into being. In Him was Life and the Life that was the Light of men And the Light shine on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it (put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it)."
The one thing God needed to form (a new creation man) was the thing that created all things, which was His Word. God's Word is Life and Light and Truth and it created the Perfect Man. God did something that changed everything forever, when He filled this new creation Man with His very Own Self in the Holy Spirit. The connection to Himself was complete. Man again became a living and being and could again hear instructions from the Father. The new creation man in Christ Jesus, was a being who was "free from the Law of sin and death," according to Romans 8:2 (Amplified) which says, "For the Law of the Spirit of Life (which is) in Christ Jesus, has freed me from the Law of sin and death."
Paul says in Romans 8:3-4 (Amplified), "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, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that Sacrifice) So that the righteous and Just requirements 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."
This new creation is "dead" in the flesh (dead men don't sin) and is made alive again in "righteous and justice" by Jesus. The new creation is once again alive, "not only in the spirit, but alive unto the Spirit." The new creation is now created by the Word and is held in place by the Word, just like everything the Word has created are held in place. The "Just shall live by faith" and our faith in Jesus has made us alive, "who were dead in trespass ad sin." As the new creation, we are living by faith already.
Let's reread Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified), "For we are God's (Own) handiwork (His workmanship) recreated in Christ Jesus, (born anew) that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time) that we should walk in them (living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live)." Simply said, the things God prepared for His family from the very beginning, has now been put back into the will and order of the Father. Everything God had in His heart for man from the first of creation, He has now, through the new creation, has been restored like nothing had ever happened.
Now we can understand 1Corinthians 2:10 (Amplified), which says, "Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them (the things that God has prepared, made and keeps ready for those who love Him)--through His Spirit, for the Holy Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny)." As new creation people, we have access to the things natural man could never see or know, the secret things and divine counsels. This was God's plan for man, from the beginning.
These things were predestinated and put in place beforehand and are the paths, which God prepared ahead of time for His family. This is a continuation of God's will from the beginning and we were put in the blessing He held in His heart for His children, before He created the Heavens and earth. Everything God held in His heart then, is ours NOW.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Lesson 183 The New Creation
2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Christ Jesus 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)."
God had predetermined paths that His children were to live on earth, when He first created them. God had predestined every child born from the loins of Adam, to live and dominate the earth as His children. This was His plan for His family. Man was never to endure anything beyond Eden, which He designed to be a Paradise. Their Heavenly Father would meet their every need and they would be co-laborers together with Him.
The miracle ministry of Jesus, was no more than what He taught us to pray in, "The Lord's Prayer." When Jesus taught us to pray in that manner, this was not what we think in religious terms today. This was a commitment in prayer, that we were to "do here, as if it was there." Jesus simply complied with the way the Kingdom was intended by God's will and He restored everything back to its order.
Sickness, disease, disability or death, were never the predestined plan of the Father's will for His family. Jesus knew what God's will in Heaven was and He went "doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him," according to Acts 10:38 (KJV). The Amplified Bible says, "How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with strength and ability, and power, how He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by (the power of) the devil, for God was with Him."
God's anointing on Jesus' life, was to restore God's will on earth again and this is the commission of the new creation people of God. Sickness and disease were never in the plan or "predestined paths," that God had in mind for His family. Jesus was "Kingdom minded" and knew that these things were completely out-of-line with God's will. Many in today's Church are so double-minded about what God's will is, that it's difficult to pray in faith or with believing in our hearts.
We've been so double-minded (even about the predestination plan of God), that we've lost credibility even in that. The devil and his carnal minded teachings that have crept in the Church, are the only things that could mess things up so horribly. Jesus sent His disciples into the world and instructed them to do like He did, in Luke 10:8-19 (Amplified) saying, "Whenever you go into a town and they receive you and accept and welcome you, eat what is set before you (this removed the Law about unclean food) And heal the sick in it, and say to them, The Kingdom of God has come close to you." He gave the same conditions in Mark 16:20 (Amplified) saying, "And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the Message by attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied (it) Amen (So be it)."
This commission wasn't only for the disciples and Apostles, but for everyone who would believe. This was like Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done here as it is in the Kingdom." Everything that was out of line with God's will for the Kingdom, was subject to change here on earth. Many witness the things occurring around the world today and believe it's God's will being done, because God is in control. It's difficult to understand, how we could believe that the things going on around us, are "God's will in Heaven (in His Kingdom)."
God's plan for His children has never changed, from the first inclination to make them in His Image and give them dominion here. When we hear the Kingdom teaching about the words of our mouth, do we understand what we are hearing? The Kingdom rules by God's Word and the words we speak as new creation people, either designates power our new being or releases power to the devil, like it did with Adam. We were born of God to create and bring everything that's out of order, back to order, like Jesus said, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." If you're unsure about what God's will is, then look at Jesus, because He only did the will of God. Imagine how Heaven or God's Kingdom is doing and ask yourself whether the things occurring here, are what is happening there. If Heaven and God's will is being done here and God is completely in control, then the Kingdom is going to be the same chaos we see here.
Our commission is the restore what has been lost in the first Adam, by doing what the Last Adam restored back to us. This is God's will, the predestined paths, the predetermined life for His family and the restored authority and dominion that our Last Adam returned for us, in His resurrection. You are truly in this world, but you certainly are not of this world, anymore than Jesus is not of this world. We are children of the Kingdom and children of the King of Kings.
God had predetermined paths that His children were to live on earth, when He first created them. God had predestined every child born from the loins of Adam, to live and dominate the earth as His children. This was His plan for His family. Man was never to endure anything beyond Eden, which He designed to be a Paradise. Their Heavenly Father would meet their every need and they would be co-laborers together with Him.
The miracle ministry of Jesus, was no more than what He taught us to pray in, "The Lord's Prayer." When Jesus taught us to pray in that manner, this was not what we think in religious terms today. This was a commitment in prayer, that we were to "do here, as if it was there." Jesus simply complied with the way the Kingdom was intended by God's will and He restored everything back to its order.
Sickness, disease, disability or death, were never the predestined plan of the Father's will for His family. Jesus knew what God's will in Heaven was and He went "doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him," according to Acts 10:38 (KJV). The Amplified Bible says, "How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with strength and ability, and power, how He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by (the power of) the devil, for God was with Him."
God's anointing on Jesus' life, was to restore God's will on earth again and this is the commission of the new creation people of God. Sickness and disease were never in the plan or "predestined paths," that God had in mind for His family. Jesus was "Kingdom minded" and knew that these things were completely out-of-line with God's will. Many in today's Church are so double-minded about what God's will is, that it's difficult to pray in faith or with believing in our hearts.
We've been so double-minded (even about the predestination plan of God), that we've lost credibility even in that. The devil and his carnal minded teachings that have crept in the Church, are the only things that could mess things up so horribly. Jesus sent His disciples into the world and instructed them to do like He did, in Luke 10:8-19 (Amplified) saying, "Whenever you go into a town and they receive you and accept and welcome you, eat what is set before you (this removed the Law about unclean food) And heal the sick in it, and say to them, The Kingdom of God has come close to you." He gave the same conditions in Mark 16:20 (Amplified) saying, "And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the Message by attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied (it) Amen (So be it)."
This commission wasn't only for the disciples and Apostles, but for everyone who would believe. This was like Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done here as it is in the Kingdom." Everything that was out of line with God's will for the Kingdom, was subject to change here on earth. Many witness the things occurring around the world today and believe it's God's will being done, because God is in control. It's difficult to understand, how we could believe that the things going on around us, are "God's will in Heaven (in His Kingdom)."
God's plan for His children has never changed, from the first inclination to make them in His Image and give them dominion here. When we hear the Kingdom teaching about the words of our mouth, do we understand what we are hearing? The Kingdom rules by God's Word and the words we speak as new creation people, either designates power our new being or releases power to the devil, like it did with Adam. We were born of God to create and bring everything that's out of order, back to order, like Jesus said, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." If you're unsure about what God's will is, then look at Jesus, because He only did the will of God. Imagine how Heaven or God's Kingdom is doing and ask yourself whether the things occurring here, are what is happening there. If Heaven and God's will is being done here and God is completely in control, then the Kingdom is going to be the same chaos we see here.
Our commission is the restore what has been lost in the first Adam, by doing what the Last Adam restored back to us. This is God's will, the predestined paths, the predetermined life for His family and the restored authority and dominion that our Last Adam returned for us, in His resurrection. You are truly in this world, but you certainly are not of this world, anymore than Jesus is not of this world. We are children of the Kingdom and children of the King of Kings.
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