Lesson 26 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Colossi ans 1:9 (Amplified) says, "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom (in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and in understanding and discernment of Spiritual things)."
     Romans 1:17 (Amplified) 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."
     God's will for each and everyone of us is, that we grow and mature in our faith in Him.  The children of God's family (as in any other family) are individual beings, with our own personality and rate of progress in our faith.  We've put off the maturing of our faith, as being for when we go to Heaven to be with the Lord.  We've been taught about abstaining from sin and walking morally upright, but haven't yet trusted in walking in growing faith.  Every baby born in the natural or spirit, begins in full trust and assurance of those who brought us into life.  We're initially unaware of "who" the caretaker is in our lives, but we know they are there.  As we grow and mature, we come to know our parents as individuals and to distinguish them from all others around us.  The training we go through during our growing period, isn't solely based on us, but on the time, love and devotion of our parents.
     We can witness how the amount of time and devotion of the parents, determines the growth and maturity of children.  We see children in the natural world, who've been neglected and even abused and grow into maturity with different standards than other children.  Sadly, it's difficult for many of these children to know how to love or trust others, because they don't dare to trust or expect anything other than their experience.
     Much of this has been carried over to our new creation man and we're reluctant to turn our earthly lives over to trust in our Spiritual Father.  Our trust and faith in Him has been a fear of being disappointed or deserted, if we turn loose of our own control and fully place ourselves in His hands.  This has been transferred in our loves as pride, as we try to retain control of our own destiny.
     We've limited and restricted the amount of faith and trust, we place in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  We've maintained control and trust in our own selves, in case God's Promises don't work.  Many rely on the misguided personal testimony and experience that others have given, but each of God's children have been given the same Promises and have the same family relationship with our Father.  We've learned to trust or distrust Him, because we've listened more to what others have declared instead of what God says.
     We've based our faith on disappointed statements and religious experiences of others, instead of pursuing our own faith and His fellowship.  Such statements as, "Well, you never know what God will do" and "It might not be His will," or "This isn't for everyone," have resulted in our being uneasy, cautious and left without assurance of our faith.  We've believed that the trials of life are God's will and plan for our lives, so that we've moved faith into a place of simply "holding on 'til Jesus comes."
     Faith must grow and mature in every one of us, at the pace we embrace it.  Jesus never allowed circumstances to determine His faith.  Jesus allowed His faith to remain strong in the Promises of God, in order to overcome circumstances.  If one person doesn't believe in something the Lord has said, then it doesn't mean God's Words aren't True for someone who will believe.  This is what distinguishes such men of faith like Paul and the Apostles, from others.
     Many great men and women have been distinguished from other Christians, by their quest for faith in our Super-natural Father and His Word.  In the faith of opposition, they've moved from faith to faith and brought God's Presence to bear on mankind, in a great and mighty way.  I don't believe that God intended for only a few of His children to walk in His ability, but that He made it available to all who would believe.  As a believer in your home and church family, you're not limited to circumstances like others are.  You can make the choice to go from faith to faith.
     Things will always arise in the lives of every believer, but not all believers will rise to meet the challenge, by the same standards of faith.  Don't allow the faith of others, to set the standards for all, but pursue God on your own life and don't be limited by what the majority tells you.  Like in every family, God's children each have the right to choose how or if, we will heed the Words of our Teacher.  "All scripture is given by Inspiration of God, is God-Breathed and is given for instruction in righteousness (for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error, and discipline in obedience, and for righteousness) and training in holy living in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action," according to 2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified).
     It's obvious that not everyone in God's family observe and appropriate His Word with the same degree of understanding.  This doesn't change the will of God for each one, but each has his own will to accept or not accept the Words in faith, as being necessary for his life.  God's Word doesn't change and His will doesn't change, from one son or daughter to another.  God's will being done in our lives, mostly depends on our faith in His Word growing from one degree to a higher degree.
     Our faith began as a Gift of God that was given by Grace, according to Ephesians 2:18 (Amplified) which says, "For it is by free Grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved, delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation through your faith. And this salvation is not of yourselves (of your own doing), it came not through your striving, but is the Gift of God."
     The faith by which we were saved, was a Gift from God that was received by His Grace  Every other thing that Grace has provided, comes by the same receiving by faith.  Some apply their "faith to faith, by faith, that leads to more faith," like Romans 1:17 says.  Some don't allow their faith to lead them into a deeper knowledge of God's will for their lives.  God gave the Gift of free will to every person on earth, both saved and unsaved.  The depth of your walk and understanding is based on your seeking the Father for yourself.
     If someone doesn't believe, then this doesn't mean "it's not God's will", but that person's faith hasn't risen to that level of understanding.  God has given us the right and will to grow to our level of faith in His Word and Promises. We've all been given "The measure of faith" required to believe unto salvation.  Some have used or sown this faith, becoming God's children, while others haven't.  There are many, differing views and degrees of our Father's Image, in the Church today.  Each may be a portion of the Truth, but only to the limit you allow your faith in Him to take you.
     This encompasses a great and higher level of knowing our Father and the Love of His will in the things He placed in Jesus, for all who will believe.  Just because you don't believe it, doesn't mean it isn't still yours by faith to enjoy, if you will.
      

Lesson 25 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Colossi ans 1:9-10 (Amplified) says, "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep, clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things-That you may walk live and conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Lord (fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every Good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God, with full and deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance and recognition)."
     For some reason, this prayer is still available to all who will believe it, but has been passed over as though it was for only the Colossi an Church and it's remained a mystery to God's people, concerning His will and instructions for His family.  If we were to speak with twenty different Christians concerning God's will and the way He chastises His children, then we would probably hear twenty different opinions.  The opinions we have about God's way of doing or being right, doesn't change God's ways of doing and being right.
     The Church has struggled with this for so long, based on traditions of early Christian teachings.  Somehow, we've believed more in physical chastisement and the Curse to teach us, instead of Spiritual correction and the Blessing that came upon us, through Jesus.  We've taken vows of poverty and have accepted sickness and disease as being God's will for His children.
     We read about discipline, correction, training and discipline in Hebrews 12:5-11(Amplified).  Verse 9 makes the distinction between "earthly fathers" and our "Spiritual Father."  God dealt with the old covenant people, by the dealings of the Law and the flesh.  They had become spiritually dead and were separated from the Spiritual Life of God through Adam, so the Father couldn't deal with them as spirit.  In Romans 7:6 (Amplified) Paul says, "But now we are discharged from the Law and have terminated all intercourse with it, having died to what once restrained and held us captive. So now we serve not under obedience to the old code of written regulations, but under obedience to the promptings of the Spirit in newness of Life."
     Paul also writes in 1Corinthians 2:13 (Amplified), "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."  Paul goes on to speak about the carnal minded and the spiritually minded, saying, "One listens to the Word and the Spirit, and governs and disciplines himself by the Word as an obedient child of God, while the other goes on their way until the enemy gets them into a place he can work his will in their life."  Thus, he writes in Romans 8:14 (Amplified), "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."  This implies maturity in son-ship and the obedience of children to their parents.
     Ephesians 6:1-4 (Amplified) says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord as His representatives, for this is just and right. Honor esteem and value as precious your father and your mother, this is the first commandment with a Promise That all may live long on the earth. Fathers, do not irritate and provoke your children to anger, do not exasperate them to resentment, but rear them tenderly in the training and discipline and the counsel and admonition of the Lord."
     Listen carefully to these instructions Paul gave to the Church in Ephesus and then ask, "Would the Lord instruct us to do something, that He Himself would violate?"  I hear many people who are in trouble, say that "God is testing them."  They don't know what or why the test came and they don't know if and when they will pass the test.
     One would think that if God was testing a person, then He would at least let that person know what the test was for, so it could be corrected.  If God was teaching us by sickness or hardship, then wouldn't you learn in what area He was teaching us in, so we could learn from the lesson and move on?  I've known too Christians who have "been tested by God" for many years and are "being taught by the Father."  Either God is a poor Teacher or the student isn't capable of easily and readiling receiving His teachings.
     We're equating earthly fathers of the flesh, to the Father of Spirits.  When our Father of Spirits deals with His children, He deals with our spirit.  Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), "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."  One teaches, corrects, develops and disciplines a spirit, by Spiritual things and not with physical things.
     The Father wants His children to govern our lives by His Word and His Holy Spirit.  He wants us to want to hear and respond to Him in Love and grow by trusting the instructions He has given to us.  We find what Jesus said about the "Word being Spirit and Truth," is what the Father expects of obedient children, in 2Timothy 3:16-17 (Amplified) which says, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instructions, for reproof and conviction of sin (for correction of error and discipline in obedience), and for training in righteousness, in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action. So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and equipped for every Good work."
     Paul tells us, that if a believer will "rightly divide the work and study to show themselves approved," then "God's Word and Spirit will guide, correct and discipline His children," without the Curse of the Law to come upon them.  The Father expects us to heed His Word and walk in it.  God Promises in Deuteronomy 30:19 (Amplified) is, "I call Heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you Life and death, the Blessing and the Curse, therefore choose Life that you and your descendants may live."
     When we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we chose to walk in Life and Blessing, so why would we ever expect God to bring a curse on His Own for correction?  Galatians 3:27 (Amplified) says, "But the scripture picture all mankind as sinners, shut up and imprisoned by sin, so that the inheritance (Blessing) which was Promised through faith in Jesus Christ (the Messiah) might be given, released, delivered and committed to all those who believe (who adhere to, and trust in and rely on Him)."
 

Lesson 24 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified) saying, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
     I cannot fathom how anyone belonging to the Body of Christ, believes that the things happening around the world are the very things that are happening in Heaven.  Jesus not only prayed the above prayer, but He taught us to pray that way too.  Many things happen on this earth, that are not God's will.  It would be a marvelous thing, if we actually witnessed the will that governs Heaven, be manifested here on earth!  One of the awesome things about God's Word and His will, is that it will work here, just like it works in Heaven.
     In Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), Jesus also said to His disciples and those listening, "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."  God has a way of doing and being right or righteous.  His way of being right, comes by faith in our righteousness in Jesus.  If we try to be righteous through our own religious way and self effort, then we are already out of God's will.
     God's way of doing and being right or righteous, has already been granted us by Grace and was made available through faith in Jesus Christ.  This is God's way of doing things.  He didn't give us a long "To Do List," but a record of things already done.  God never said we're to do things that would merit us His Grace, but only said we're to believe the things that Grace has already given and made available to "whosoever would believe them."
     We continue trying to earn by our own behavior, what God has already bequeathed to us in His Last Will and Testament.  Our righteousness, justification, sanctification, Blessing, healing and the complete removal of sin and guilt, was left to us in His will.  If these things were bequeathed to us, then we only need to receive them, by faith in His will.  We're still expecting God to deal with us, like He did the Old Testament saints, because we've been taught that "all things that came upon them, are the things He will place on us."  Proverbs 17:10 (Amplified) says, "A reproof enters deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred lashes into a self-confident fool."
     2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified) tells us that, "God's Word is for reproof, conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and training in righteousness, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action."  If we heed God's Word for reproof, then we will be conformed to His will.  A fool, though, "needs to have a hundred lashes."  If we'll heed the Word, then we won't find ourselves in the enemy territory, where physical and deadly mishaps await us.  I strive to be a man of understanding and one who heeds the Word.  Satan loves having those who believe God still disciplines with physical chastisement, because this gives him consent to place things on God's people by their own permission.  Those who expect God to deal with them in this manner, have exchanged the Teacher, Who is Holy Spirit for an infirm spirit, as their teacher.  This is a dangerous place for a believer to be in, because it makes for his/her being double-minded and unstable and dubious in everything he or she does.  James 1:8 (Amplified) says, "For being as he is, a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides."
     Well meaning men have taught God's people in error, for centuries.  Most of us have heard this preached so much, that we've taken the preacher's word over God's Word.  This has caused both the teachers and believers, to be deceived into a place of consent.  There's an old saying, "He has told that lie for so long, he believes it."  Romans 10:17 tells us that, "Faith comes by hearing" and we must understand this spiritual principle.  Faith in God's Word, comes from hearing God's Word.  Faith in anything else heard, comes by the same principle.  What we're hearing enough, builds faith in what we're hearing.  The people of Jesus' time had more faith in their traditions and rituals, than the did in Him.  They heard Law preached (although not always correctly) for so long, that when Jesus preached "Grace," they wouldn't believe it.  Jesus gave the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4:24 (Amplified), saying, "Be careful what you are hearing, The measure of thought and study you give to the truth you hear will be the measure of virtue and knowledge that comes back to you, and more besides will be given to you who hear."
     Education will make it possible for you to read God's Word, while revelation will show you how to see the Word.   Most anyone can read the Word, but because there's no revelation, it's been interpreted by a mostly carnal mind.  This has kept God's people in bondage to the flesh.  If it hadn't been God's will to send Jesus to set us free, then He wouldn't have sent Him.  The Very same Man, on the same cross, on the same day, Who bore our sin, also bore the Curse of the Law of Sin and Death, spiritual death, man's unrighteousness, our sickness and disease , the Chastisement of our peace, our physical chastisement and our separation from God in complete totality, for those who will believe it.  It's all theirs, as heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ Jesus.
     The only thing Jesus left for us to do, was to take God's Word and believe it and allow it to govern our new lives.  The enemy we're at war with, has no defense against faith in God's Word.  If we try combating him by religion or flesh, then we're on the losing end of the battle.  Paul told Timothy in 1Timothy 6:12 (Amplified), "Fight the Good fight of the faith, lay hold of the Eternal Life to which you were summoned and for which you confessed the Goof confession of faith before many witnesses."
     When we keep our warfare in the Spirit realm, we are "more than conquerors."  But, when we fall into the trap of the flesh, we reason by a carnal mind and are easily defeated.  Satan might be insane, but, he's not stupid.  In the carnal realm of the natural man, he's a master deceiver.  It's only by revelation, the Holy Spirit's guiding, and allowing God's Word to correct and discipline us, that we can ever walk in what Jesus gave us, as an inheritance.  Jesus was and is, God's Perfect will for mankind.  When we see Him, we see God.  Don't allow yourself to become double-minded and  fall back into believing, that God deals with His family like He did with the old covenant people.

Lesson 23 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Paul writes inn Hebrews 10:9-10 (Amplified), "Jesus then went on to say, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will. Thus He does away with and annuls the first (former) order as a means of expiating sin, so that He might inaugurate and establish the second, latter order. And in accordance with this will of God, we have been made holy, consecrated and sanctified through the Offering made once and for all of the Body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One)."
     We read about God's will for the new creation family in Galatians 3:14-16, 28-29 (Amplified), "To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit To speak in terms of human relations, brethren, If even a man makes a last will and testament (a merely human covenant), no one sets it aside or makes it void or adds to it when once it has been drawn up and signed (ratified confirmed). Now the Promises (covenant, agreements) were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his heir)."  God Promises weren't made to "Seeds, descendants or heirs," as if referring to many persons, but to "your Seed, your descendant, your Heir," which obviously refers to One Individual, Who is none other than Christ, the Messiah.
     We read about God's Last Will and Testament through Jesus, in Verse 28-29 which say, "There is now no distinction, neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus And if you belong to Christ (are in Him Who is Abraham's Seed), then you are Abraham's offspring and spiritual heirs according to the Promise."
     We've vacillated from whether we're under Law or Grace and are we in the old or new covenant for so long, that we've forgotten (or perhaps have never known the True Will and Testament of God.  We wish to walk in the Blessing and Grace of God's covenant as His children, but we try receiving them by observing the Law, instead of the Promise.  We still expect the Father to deal with,correct, and direct us according to the Law, instead of having the Holy Spirit do these by Grace.
     God made His Promise to Abraham, before the Law was established.  God delivered all of the Hebrew children out of Egypt, because He remembered His covenant and Promise to Abraham, according to Exodus 2:23-24 (Amplified) which says, "However, after a long time, nearly forty years, the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites were sighing and groaning (because of the bondage they kept crying, and their cry because of slavery ascended to God. And God heard their sighing and groaning and earnestly remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob."  God didn't deliver those people by the Law, because the Law didn't happen until a later time.  God protected, delivered, fed and watered, covered them with a cloud by day, to shade them from the sun and fire by night, to keep them warm at night.  There were no feeble or sickly among them and even their clothes didn't wear out.  This was all done by God's Grace.  Psalm 105:42 (Amplified) tells us that God did all these things because, "God earnestly remembered His Holy Word and Promise to Abraham His servant."
     If God's Promise to Abraham was that strong then, is it any less strong for us who are in Christ Jesus, to Whom this Promise was made?  The Israelites frustrated God's Grace in the Wilderness, because they wouldn't believe His Promise to Abraham.  They continually complained, forgetting God's Mighty Hand of deliverance.  Many Christians talk about our "Wilderness Experience," as though it's a trial that God's putting us through.  The Wilderness Experience was a result of their own doing and the trial wasn't God testing them, but them testing God, according to Hebrews 3:7-12 (Amplified), where Paul writes, "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you will hear His Voice Do not harden your hearts, as happened in the rebellion of Israel, and their provocation and embitterment of Me in the day of testing in the Wilderness, Where your fathers tried My patience and tested My forbearance and found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years. And so I was provoked, displeased and sorely grieved with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts, and they have not perceived or recognized My ways and became progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them. Accordingly, I swore in My wrath and indignation, They shall not enter into My rest."  Verse 12 ends, "Therefore beware, brethren, take care lest there be anyone of you a wicked, unbelieving heart that refuses to cleave to (trust in, and rely on Him), leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the Living God."
    It wasn't God's Promise that failed, but it was the people's unbelieving the Promise, that failed.  The above scripture tells us that, "They tested God."  It wasn't God testing them.  God's Promise to Abraham was the Promise that brought them out from bondage and it was by Grace that His Promise worked , not by Law.  All God requires of us, is all He required of them and that is that we simply believe His Promise to us, through Jesus.  When we try going back under the old covenant and try performing good works, in order to receive the Blessing, is like those in the Wilderness who provoked Him.  Paul speaks about God's rest, in Hebrews 4:9-11 (Amplified) saying, "So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for the true people of God. For he who has once entered God's rest also has ceased from weariness and pain of human labors, just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His Own. 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."
     The deliverance of those Israelites came by God's Grace and His Promise to Abraham and his Seed.  The Promise was made to Jesus and God has fulfilled it, in Him.  By faith, we've entered into this Promise and must maintain it by faith in the Finished Word of Jesus.  The only thing that is left for us to do, is to believe.  God says in Isaiah 55:10-11 (Amplified), "For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and spout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater So shall My Word be that goes forth out of My Mouth; It will not return to Me void (without producing any effect, useless), but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."
    John 1:14 (Amplified) tells us, "And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human,incarnate), and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile among us) and we actually saw His Glory, His honor, His Majesty, such Glory as an Only Begotten Son receives from His Father (full of Grace, favor, Loving kindness and Truth)."
     This Word didn't return unto the Father "void" and without producing and accomplishing the things which God pleased and purposed.  This Word, Who is Jesus Christ, did prospered and continues prospering in the things for which He was sent to do.  The Word is True and the Promise is sure, through the Seed and the Word.
    
    

Lesson 22 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     John 6:29 (Amplified) tells us, "Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God ask of you: that you believe in the One Whom He sent, that you cleave to,trust in, rely on and have faith in His Messenger."
     Jesus told those following Him (and us too) that "Doing the will of God, is imply believing in Him."  Jesus didn't tell them to sacrifice, work, observe certain day, abstain from certain things according to the Law, but He simply told them to "Believe in the One Whom God sent to fulfill all things."  We've been taught to believe certain scriptures, but have had little experience concerning others.  Romans 10:17 (Amplified) says, "So faith comes by hearing what is told, and what is heard comes by the preaching of the Message that came from the lips of Christ, the Messiah Himself."
     In Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified), Jesus said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah) to preach the Good News (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed, who are down trodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord, the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound."
     Jesus didn't come to preach the Law, but to fulfill the Law, according to Matthew 5:7 (Amplified), where He says, "Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo BUT to complete and fulfill them."  We sometimes find ourselves, coming back to the teachings of the Law and relating more the Law, rather than to Grace.  Much of today's teachings, are based on how God dealt with those under the Law.  We still observe the old customs of the old covenant and have all but lost out on what Jesus actually preached.
     During His earthly ministry, Jesus was dealing with those who were still under the Law and couldn't yet see or understand the new covenant that was to come.  They had served God for four thousand years, by these Laws and amendments and now Jesus was preaching Grace and deliverance to them.  He wasn't only preaching release from the traditions, but from the condemnation of a never ending place of trying to receive the Blessing that had been Promised to them.  Even those under the Law, weren't considered "righteous" before God.
     Paul tells us in Romans 3:9-10 (Amplified), "Well then, are we Jews superior or better off than they? No, not at all/ We have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), are under sin (held down by and subject to its power and control As it is written, None is righteous (just and truthful and upright and conscientious) no, not one."  Under the Law, righteousness depended on man's ability to be righteous.  Under Grace, this is no longer true, according to Romans 3:21-24 (Amplified), which says, "But now the righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the Prophets. Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah), And it is meant for all who believe. For there is no distinction Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and Glory which God bestows and receives All are justified and made upright and made in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His Grace (His unmerited favor and mercy) through the redemption which is provided in Christ Jesus."
     With this scripture, we can better understand  John 6:29 (Amplified), where Jesus said, "This is the work (service) that God asks of you; that you cleave to (trust in, rely on and have faith in) His Messenger."  This is the only way to obtain righteousness in God's eyes.  The Law could never make a man righteous, because the sin was still always present.
     Paul writes in Romans 4:13-16 (Amplified), "For the Promise to Abraham or his posterity, that he should inherit the world, did not come through observing the commandments of the Law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the Law who are to be heirs, then faith is made futile and empty of all meaning and the Promise of God is made void (is annulled and has no power). For the Law results in Divine wrath, but where there is no Law, There is no transgression of it either."  Verse 16 goes on, "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith and depends entirely on faith in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor) to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is thus the father of us all."
     The Promise of righteousness through Jesus, is a Gift of Love that moved Grace to the cross, so that we too (through faith in Him) could obtain the place in God's right standing.  The only thing required of us today, to received the Promise God gave to Abraham, is that we believe in Jesus.  Everything has been done, that was needed for us to be given "the right to stand in God's Presence as clean, holy, and accepted" by faith.
     Most of us think about the word "salvation," in terms of being born-again and going to be with God when we leave this earth.  This is part of what salvation means, but the Promise God gave to Abraham, dealt with his life on earth, as well has his eternal life with God.  Luke 3:6 (Amplified) says, "And all mankind shall see, behold and understand and at last acknowledge the salvation of God (the deliverance from eternal death decreed by God)."  The Strong's Exhaustive Concordance tells us that the word "salvation," from the above scripture mean more than deliverance of eternal death and going to Heaven.  Without deliverance from eternal death through the new creation provided by Christ Jesus, man could never reap the whole of the Promise, because sin still stood in God's way.
     Thus, Strong's #4982 tells us, that "salvation" means "Safe, to save, i.e. deliver, or protect, (lit. or fig.) heal, preserve, save (self) do well, be (make) whole."  #4983 adds, "The body as a sound whole, used in a very wide application (lit. or fig.) bodily, body, slave."  #4984-#4992 say, "Salvation" means, "Corporeal or physical body bodily, as a safe Father, safe, strength, a Deliverer, i.e. God or Christ-Savior, rescue or safety, deliver, health, salvation, save, saving, defender, and defense."
     
    

Lesson 21 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     John 8:19 (Amplified) tells us, "Then they said to Him; Where is this Father of Yours? Jesus answered, you know My Father as little as you know Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also."
     Jesus said in John 12:45 (Amplified), "Whoever sees Me sees Him Who sent Me."
     In John 14:7 (Amplified) He said, "If you had known Me (had learned to recognize Me), you would also have known My Father. From now on, you know Him and have seen Him."
     Hebrews 1:3 (Amplified) says, "He (Jesus) is the Sole Expression of the Glory of God (the Light Being, the out-raying or radiance of the Divine and He is the Very Image of GOd's nature), upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty Word of power. When He had by offering Himself (accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt), He sat down at the right hand of the Divine Majesty on High."
     Isaiah 9:6 (Amplified) foretells Jesus' birth, saying, "For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace."
     Jesus was the Very Manifestation born in the Flesh, walking as a Man on earth and there are many scriptures that bear out this Truth.  Jesus reiterated many times that, "I and the Father are One" and "When we see Him, we see the Father."  Jesus also said, "I only do what I see the Father do" and "It's not Me, but the Father in Me Who does the work."
     How can we know Jesus and not know the Father?  Jesus asked those of His day, the same question?  Today's Church still seems to separate Who and what Jesus did and said, from the will of the Father.  For many years we've heard and accepted that "God's will is being done on earth" and that "He is in control."  This is true, to some extent.  People are being born-again throughout this earth today and we know that's God's will.  There are multitudes of people who are "Going out into all the world, preaching the Gospel" and we know this too, is God's will.  There are miracles and healings taking place around the earth and we also know this is God's will.
     Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified) saying, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."  Jesus' Words here, should give us some idea about what God's will on earth truly is and is not.  Everything occurring on this earth is God's will, either for mankind or even in your own life, all the time.
    We've been lulled into a complacency, accepting that whatever happens to us is God's will and there's nothing we can do about it.  We've accepted sickness, disease, divorce, abortion, murder, mayhem, terrorism and many other lies of the devil as being "God's will."  1Peter 5:8-9 (Amplified) says, "Be well-balanced (temperate, sober of mind, be vigilant and cautious at all times); for that enemy of yours (the devil), roams around like a lion roaring in fierce hunger, seeking someone to seize up on and devour Withstand him (be firm in faith against his onset-rooted, established, strong, immovable and determined) knowing that the same identical sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole Body of Christians throughout the world)."
     Peter directs us to "withstand" the onset of the devil and resist him, in faith.  James 4:7 (Amplified) says, "So be subject to God. Resist the devil (stand firm against him) and he will flee from you."  The King James Version says, "Submit yourselves unto God and resist the devil and he will flee from you."  Remember what James 1:8 (Amplified) says about receiving Wisdom from God.  Thus, it says, "For being as he is, a man of two minds (double minded, hesitating, dubious, irresolute), he is unstable (unreliable and uncertain) about everything he thinks, feels and decides."  Jesus said that, "A house divided cannot stand."  If we don't know where our troubles derive from, the how do we know when to submit to God or resist the devil?  This is the double-minded man, that James speaks about.
     If it's God Who is bringing sickness of calamity upon us, then we are to submit.  If it's the devil bringing sickness or calamity upon us, then we are to resist.  If we don't know who or where it comes from, then what do you do?  James 1:16-18 (Amplified) says, "Do not be misled, my beloved brethren, Every good gift and perfect (free, large) is from Above; it comes down from the Father of all that gives Light, in the shining of Whom there can be no variation (rising or setting or shadow cast by His turning as in an eclipse). And it was of His Own free will that He gave us birth as sons by His Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures (a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself)."
     So long as the enemy can deceive us and make us believe that all our problems stem from God, then there is no resistance or limit to what we've allowed the enemy to do in our lives.  We've allowed the hedge of the Blessing and have chosen to live by the Curse, that continues to cover the land.
      We trusted God's Promised that, "He would saved us from sin and make us His children" and we were saved.  We trusted God's Promise that, "He would impart unto us righteousness" and He did that.  Is there any part of God's Promise, that He gave to us through Jesus, has God not made good on?  Have we just stopped "going from faith to faith" and sat down before we should have?  Romans 1:17 (Amplified) 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."
     Do we believe that we already got all God has and can do?  Could it be that we no longer believe that God moves in this earth Super-naturally?  Have we limited God, like those in the Wilderness, until it angered God and He couldn't do what He wanted to do for them?  Hebrews 4:1-2 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, while the Promise of entering into His rest still holds and is offered, Today, let us be afraid to distrust it lest any of you should think he has come short of reaching it. For indeed we have had the glad tidings, Gospel of God proclaimed to us just as truly as they, the Israelites of old did when the Good News of deliverance from bondage came to them; but the Message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith, with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, Wisdom and goodness by those who heard it, neither were they united in faith with the ones (Joshua and Caleb) who heard and did beleive."
     Surely, those of us who are born-again, must know that our Father can and still do all things.  I'm not saying that you don't believe.  I'm saying that we should believe further and higher, than just "Heaven when we die."  We should believe that He is revealed to the world now, while we're still here on earth.  God is Almighty, so is there anything He cannot do, if we will only believe Him?  Let us go from faith to faith and not stop at being saved.  Let's seek God out, as silver and gold.

Lesson 20 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Romans 1:17 (Amplified) 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 Apostle Paul speaks about our faith in what God has done for us in Jesus, in the above scripture.  As God's children, we're to simply believe and have faith, in what He has done for us through Christ.  We're righteous, because He made us righteous by faith and believing in what He has done.  It had nothing to do with what we think or have done, but it comes from believing in what He has done for us.
     Many in today's Church, still struggle with this simple Truth in their salvation.  We're trying to become righteous, instead of receiving righteousness, by believing in what Jesus has done for us.  Your righteousness doesn't depend on you, but on Him.  Once your faith will accept the Truth concerning your righteousness or right standing with God, your faith will grow in many other areas of life.
     If you knew that you're righteous in God's eyes, then would it enhance your faith in what and how you pray and then believe in your prayers?  We don't have complete control over some areas of our lives, which places us under condemnation and has held us back from receiving the Truth that we have right standing before God, through Jesus.  Mistakes we've made while maturing in our new creation being, have overshadowed our faith in what He has done.  When we first received Jesus into our heart, we were accounted righteous in God's eyes.  It doesn't matter where we were, what we've done.  By faith in Him, we were made righteous.
     We've walked more by our feelings, than we have by faith in God's Word.  Our feelings or our soulish nature is still unrenewed and has dictated our faith, more than His Word.  You're not righteous, because you feel righteous.  You are righteous, because you're a new creation and were created or made righteous in Jesus.
     Paul speaks about our "springing from faith and leading to faith, disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith."  When your faith accepts the Truth that you're already in right standing with God, then your faith to do and received what He has done for you, will begin to grow.  You have more faith in what and how you pray, because you have now received the righteousness that was imparted to you in Jesus, in your heart.  This is what Grace and mercy have transmitted unto you in Christ Jesus.  This righteousness is a Gift of God and has nothing to do with the old man and who he was.  It has everything to do with the new creation man, who was born-again.
     I'm not saying that we're to continue living the life of the old man, but we are to go from faith to faith.  When your faith has accepted His righteousness, your new creation man can begin revealing His righteousness into your actions and purposes.  These are deeds of righteousness and not deeds to become righteous.  Aren't they the same thing?  No!  One is because you are righteous, while the other is trying to become righteous by our own actions.
     In Romans 1:17 (Amplified), Paul tells us that "The just (or justified, the righteous man) shall live by faith."   "We were crucified with Christ, yet nevertheless I live; The Life that I now live is the Life of Christ within me, according to Galatians 2:20 (Amplified), "I have been crucified with Christ, in Him I have shared His crucifixion; It is no longer I who live, but Christ the Messiah lives in me; and the Life I now live in the body, I live by faith in (adherence and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
     The above scripture tells us that, "The just shall live and shall live by faith."  You're already living by faith, if you've received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  You might not realize that you're already dead to the old man and are living in your new creation man, but you must receive and understand this by faith.  You keep trying to "die to ourselves," which is like trying to resurrect the old, fleshly man, because you cannot do or receive your god by your own efforts.  We must receive by faith, what God has already done on our behalf, through Jesus.
     You can't become righteous by your deeds.  You can only receive righteousness by faith.  When you understand that God has made you righteous, then you can begin living in and by the Son of God.  He has already done everything that was ever needed, to make you righteous and in right standing with the Father.  The old ways will cease to operate in you, as you renew your mind (the soulish part of you) by receiving the Truth of your salvation.
     Paul says in Romans 12:2-3 (Amplified), "Do not be conformed to this world (this age) (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs), but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your 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)."
     If you don't want to be in His will for you, then you must renew your mind by God's Word and receive what He has done for you, instead of what the world (or age) thinks you must do to become righteous and acceptable to Him.  Paul continues in Verse 3, "For by Grace (unmerited favor of God given to me), I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought (not to have exaggerated opinion of his own importance), but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith appointed by God to him."
     When you say, "I'm not righteous," when God has made you righteous in Christ Jesus, you've thought of yourself with an "exaggerated opinion of self importance."  When you say you're not righteous, when God said that He has made your righteous, is placing opinion over the Truth of God's Word.  If you cannot be made righteous or in right standing before God by receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then what can "make" you righteous?  God has no other sacrifice to cleanse you and make you righteous.  Telling God that "Jesus' Sacrifice wasn't enough to make me righteous," borders on foolishness and is based on prideful self opinion.  The customs of this world and age, make us seem religious, when we say these things, but God hears it as unbelief in His ability to accomplish what He has done in Jesus.
     Many are called into different parts of the Body of Christ, but we shouldn't think that one part is more important than another.  Your faith in your Savior, is more than enough to accomplish whatever God has placed you in the Body to do.  Don't become envious of another person's calling, but simply do what God tells you to do.  We view certain parts of the natural body, as being more important than other parts.  Many view the heart as being the most important part of their body, but when a small artery closes off the blood flow, the heart can stop beating and kill off the entire body.  Everyone is important and is made in right standing in favor with the Father.  Don't allow someone to tell you that one part of the Body of Christ is more important than another.  You are where God has placed you in the Body and your righteousness is of Him, by faith.
     In Romans 4:21-22 (Amplified), Paul writes about the Father of our faith (Abraham), saying, "Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His Word and do what He had Promised; that is why his faith was credited to him as righteousness, right standing with God."  Paul writes in 2Corinthians 10:3-4 (Amplified), "For though we walk, live in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrown and destruction of strongholds."
     Abraham believed God was able and mighty to keep His Promises.  We should stand in faith to believe that God is able and mighty to fulfill His Promises for us today, just like Abraham did.  God's ability and might are determined by our faith in His might and ability to perform what He has Promised.  One of God's Promises was that, "He would cleanse us from all unrighteousness and would grant unto righteousness, in Jesus."  God is still able and mighty to fulfill His Promises.  We must believe that His Promises are still mighty through Him for the destruction of strongholds and receive them by faith and use them for our lives.  We must learn to think by His Promises.  We must renew our minds to what God says, instead of what the world and the age tells us. 

Lesson 19 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Matthew 8:1-3 (Amplified) says, "When Jesus came down from the mountain, great throngs followed Him. And behold, a leper came up to Him and prostrating himself, worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cleanse me by curing me. And He reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing, be cleansed by being cured. And instantly his leprosy was cured and cleansed."
     We've heard so many things about what is God's will, which has left us confused to where the only thing we know with certainty is, that it's God's will for us to be born-again.  There are some, who even today, don't believe that His salvation is for "all who will believe."  Many Christians don't know whether it's God moving in their lives or the devil.
      Even in the natural world, if someone tells you that your earthly father had been molesting children for many years, then you would become indignant and enraged at the accusation.  But, even some of God's Own family, believe He is the One Who is tormenting mankind.  We continuously hear that, "God does these things for our own good."  I haven't seen any good come from abuse, cancer, drugs, murder, disease or divorce, that would cause me to believe that my Heavenly Father's trying to teach people with them.  James 1:17 (Amplified) says, "Every good gift and every perfect, free, large, full gift is from Above; it comes down from the Father of all that gives Light, in the shining of Whom there can be no variation (rising or setting, or shadow cast by His turnings as in an eclipse)."
     The above scripture tells us that, "God only bring good and perfect gifts" and there's no change that He has or will change.  We refer to such men of Old, as David or Job, but we don't remember they weren't under the new creation covenant and were still dead in their spirit.  God's will for His family is to teach, lead and fellowship with them, by their new creation spirit man who is alive unto Him, through our union with Jesus.
     We've been taught many things by traditional and carnal thinking, that sound "right," but these things aren't the Wisdom or will of God.  Before bringing accusations against God for all of our troubles, we should first delve into His Word and discover who our real enemy is.  It's not God.  God is our Answer and not our problem, according to James 1:13-14 (Amplified) which says, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tested from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by what is evil and He Himself tempts no one. But ever person is tempted when he is drawn away (enticed and baited) by his own evil desire (lust and passions)."
     It's easier to say, "God is the One doing these things," instead of finding out what is happening and then disciplining ourselves by God's Word and His Spirit.  Through Jesus, we've been granted the responsibility to hear and obey God's Word and "keep ourselves from the evil one."  1John 5:18 (Amplified) says, "We know absolutely that anyone born of God does not deliberately and knowingly practice committing sin, but the One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him, Christ's Divine Presence within him preserves him against the evil, and the wicked on does not lay hold, get a drip on him or touch him."
     2Timothy 3:16-17 (Amplified) says, "Every scripture is God-breathed, given by His inspiration and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience and for training in righteousness, in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action. So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work."  God has given us the liberty to govern ourselves, by His Word and His Spirit.  If we obey and listen to the Holy Spirit living in us, then the wicked one cannot lay hold on us.
     God trains and disciplines His family, by His Word and His Spirit.  If we yield to His leading, then we can keep ourselves from most of the mess, that we get into.  Because things don't always go perfectly in our lives, doesn't mean that we're out of God's will.  Jesus gives "The Parable of the Sower" in Mark 4:15,17 (Amplified) saying, "The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown in their hearts, but when they hear, satan comes at once, and by force takes away the Message which is sown in them."
     A Christian who doesn't have God's Word sown in them, poses no danger to the devil's realm.  Through persecution and affliction, satan can cause those Christians to stumble and fall away.  Jesus goes on in Verse 17, saying, "This comes on account of the Word in them."  Every believer should know that God wouldn't have the Message of deliverance and salvation preached, in order to set His children free and then determine to take these things from us, by trial and tribulation.
     Any person who thinks like this, is a "double-minded man," according to James 1:7-8 (Amplified) which says, "Truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything he asks for from the Lord. For being as he is a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides."  If we don't know whether trials are from the Father or the enemy, then how do we know what to do, when they come?
     1Peter 5:8-9 (Amplified) says, "Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind) be vigilant and cautious at all times, for that enemy of yours (the devil) roams around like a lion roaring in fierce hunger, seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him (be firm in faith against his onset, rooted and established, strong, immovable and determined) knowing that the same identical sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole Body of Christians) throughout the world."
     The above scripture informs us that, "Satan is the one bringing the problem," not God.  We are to withstand satan, by faith in God's deliverance and not yield to him, believing "it's God testing us."  If we don't know whether it's God testing us or the devil seeking to devour us, then we will undoubtedly be devoured.  Jesus described those persons in Mark 4:17 (Amplified) saying, "And they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away."
     God's Word never said that, "Trials won't come," but it's important for us to know who sends them.  If we are double-minded, concerning the trials and tests of life, then we will fall into a place where we have no resistance whatsoever.  Jesus endured many trials and tests, during His Own ministry, but He always knew who was testing Him.  Not one time did Jesus ever suspect that it was the Father behind it.  We must have assurance in God's Word and the teachings of Jesus.  In Matthew 6:13 (Amplified), Jesus taught us to pray this way, "And lead, bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; for Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the Glory forever. Amen."

Lesson 18 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Hebrews 10:9-10 (Amplified) says, "He then went on to say, "Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will; Thus He does away with and annuls the first former order as a means of expiating sin, so that He might inaugurate and establish the second (latter order) And in accordance with this will of God, we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified through the Offering made once for all of the Body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One)."
     Hebrews 6:18 (Amplified) says, "This is so that by two unchangeable things, His Promise and His oath in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled to Him for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before us."
     God didn't make covenant with us, He made covenant with Himself through Jesus.  Man could never uphold his end of the first covenant, so God made covenant with Himself.  This is an unbreakable and unchangeable covenant, that was made by His Own Blood and oath.  By accepting Jesus as our Sacrifice and Substitute, we have now not only entered into this covenant, but much more, we have entered now as His children.  This new and everlasting covenant is the Last will and Testament of Jesus Christ, on our behalf.  In Galatians 3:15-16,29 (Amplified) Paul says, "To speak in terms of human relations, brethren, if even a man makes a Last will and Testament (a merely human covenant), no one sets it aside or makes it void or adds to it when once it has been drawn up and signed (ratified, confirmed). Now the Promises (covenants, agreements) were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his Heir)."  The Holy Spirit didn't inspire Paul to write, "And to seeds, descendants and heirs," as if referring to many persons, but to write, "And to your Seed, your Descendant, your Heir," obviously referring to One Individual, Who is none other than Christ, the Messiah.  The Holy Spirit inspires Paul to write further in Verse 29, which says, "And if you belong to Christ (are in Him Who is Abraham's Seed), then you are Abraham's offspring and spiritual heirs according to Promise."
     Many believe this is a Promise that will be fulfilled only when we arrive in Heaven or in God's Presence after leaving earth.  For Abraham, this was a temporal Promise, as well as an eternal Promise.  God blessed Abraham while he was still here on earth, as well as the Promise to his heirs, while they were born here and living here on earth.
     The covenant God made with Abraham was based on God's Grace and the fulfillment of Abraham's faith.  It came 430 years before the Law of Moses and remains forever, by the entering into it through Jesus as our Sacrifice.  The new covenant wasn't based on our merits or works, but by the total submission of Jesus, on our behalf.
     The only God requires of us under the new covenant, is that we believe in the covenant He made to us through Abraham and his Heir, Jesus.  Romans 4:21-24 (Amplified) says, "Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His Word and do what He had Promised. That is why his faith was credited to him as righteousness or right standing with God. But the words, it was credited to him, were not for his sake alone But they were written for our sake's too. Righteousness (standing acceptable to God) will be granted and credited to us also who believe in (trust in, adhere to, and rely on) God, Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."
     Under the new covenant and our entrance into God's family as His children, all we're to do to walk it, is believe God can make and fulfill what He has Promised, through Jesus.  Our salvation was based on simply believing we would be saved and accepted through Jesus.  We had absolutely nothing to do with entering into the family of God, except believing in God's Word and Promise.  In everything involved in God's Promise (like it was with Abraham), all that God requires of us is to believe what He Promised.
     Throughout the years, we've been taught many things that are required for us to be healed, Baptized in the Holy Spirit, receive a new language or be holy and sanctified to God.  We haven't been taught that God only requires us to believe His Promises and be assured that "He is also able and mighty to do what He has Promised."
     I suppose this seems too simple to be true, so we set out to make a way to earn our way into His Promise.  We witness one person being healed, while another isn't healed and determine that "It must be God's will."  The truth though, is that one person believed the Promise and one didn't.  We see the same truth occurring in those who hear the Word of salvation and believe it, while some hear the Word of salvation and do not believe it or accept it.
     We have limited our believing, to believing the Promise of salvation.  In all actuality, all the Promises are received the same way.  We've heard the Word preached about being saved by believing, but we haven't heard about believing the other Promises to us as heirs of Abraham through Jesus.  God didn't only Promise that, "He would no longer remember our sins and iniquity," but that "By His stripes we are healed."  God Promised the Gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:29 (Amplified), saying, "The Promise of the Holy Spirit is to and for you and your children and to and for all that are far away, even to and for as many as the Lord our God invites and bids to come to Himself."
     We've been taught we must tarry and cry, remove any make-up, and do many such other things.  Jesus said in Luke 11:13 (Amplified), "If you then, being evil as you are, know how to give good gifts (gifts that are to their advantage) to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him."  All we're required to do after receiving Jesus, is believe God's Promise and then ask to receive.
     For centuries, much of what Jesus bequeathed to us in His Last will and Testament, has been hidden because we've had earthly lawyers trying to "break" the will.  Having knowledge of God's Word and faith in His Promises, are all that is required for us.  It was by His Own will and Promise to and for us, to walk in His family and His Blessing. 
     Many of us have never read this New Testament, as being not only a will, but as God's will to and for us.  Galatians 3:6-7 (Amplified) says, "And because you really are His sons, God has sent the Holy Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying Abba, Father, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant), but a son, and if a son, then it follows that you are an heir, by the aid of God through Christ."
     When you're left something in a will, you're only required to accept it.  You didn't work for it, earn it, or even have a right to it.  It was a gift that was left to you, from the labor of some else.  It was left to you from the work of someone else, because that person loved you and wanted you to enjoy it.  The will of God was ,and is, the Promise of Jesus and we've inherited it by simply believing what He left us in His will.  It's ours to receive and enjoy, not only when we leave this earth, but while we're still here on earth. 
     If you've received the Promise of salvation through Jesus, then the whole Promise of Jesus that God made to Abraham, is your's.  Just believe in His Promises, like you did for your forgiveness of sin.  They are already yours from Him, to enjoy.  Romans 8:17 (Amplified) tells us, "And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ sharing His inheritance with Him. Only we are to share His suffering if we share His Glory."
    

Lesson 17 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     In John 16:15 (Amplified), prior to His Ascension, Jesus said, "Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He (the Spirit) will take the things that are Mine and will reveal them (declare them, disclose and transmit it) to you."
     Jesus' statement included God's will for His family, the world, and for as many who will believe.  People have preached for centuries, that "not everyone can do these things" or that "only certain people have this power to heal and perform miracles."  The Truth is that nobody can do these things.  Even Jesus said, "It's not Me, but the Father in Me that does the work."  We've allowed the world to determine the full ability of the Father in us.
     We've somehow accepted that He can only do things after we physically die and leave this earth.  We view God's doing things in our lives, while we're still on earth, as lottery like.  Years ago, someone said to me, "Faith begins where the will of God is known."  If we don't know what God's will is, then it's difficult to have faith for Him to do it.  Jesus' earthly ministry was (and is) the perfect will of God for mankind.  Jesus said that, "When we see Him, we've seen the Father" and He never did anything that wasn't God's will.
     John 12:44-45 (Amplified) says, "But Jesus loudly declared, The one who believes in Me does not only believe in and trust in and rely on Me, but in believing in Me he believes in Him Who sent Me. And whoever sees Me see Him Who sent Me."  We clearly see God's will concerning the sick, the lost, the poor, the outsider, the blind and for those who are tormented by the devil, from this scripture.  We've somehow lost sight and faith, in the Super-natural ability of God that now lives in us, just like He did in Jesus.
     This is a challenge to those who believe and not a put-down towards those who don't believe.  Romans 10:17 (Amplified) tells us, "So faith comes by hearing what is told, and what is heard comes by the preaching of the Message that came from the lips of Christ, the Messiah Himself."  Much of what is being preached, isn't the Message that Jesus came to preach, but is what man thinks about what Jesus preached.  Our faith in God has been limited to what we've heard from, instead of from the Holy Spirit.
     If all the things that we've discarded aren't the will of God, then Jesus never did walk in His will.  We no longer consider the commands Jesus gave to the Church in Mark 16:15-18,20 (Amplified), to be in God's will.  Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the Good News (the Gospel) to every creature of the whole human race. He who believes (who adheres to and trusts in and relies on) the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth and is baptized will be saved from the penalty of eternal death, but he who does not adhere to (trust in and rely on) the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth will be condemned. And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe; In My Name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up serpents and even if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get healed."
     Verse 20 testifies, "And they (those who believed what He said) went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the Message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied it. Amen (so be it)."
     Jesus said that "these signs will follow those who believed what He told them to preach and for those who would accept what He said."  It was Jesus Who confirmed His Word, by the signs following."
     We've believed what is being preached, but what is being preached must not be the same things that Jesus' followers preached.  These signs of the move and will of God that followed the Message Jesus' disciples preached, haven't accompanied the preaching we've heard.  Jesus said, "These signs will accompany those who believe."  I don't believe that God's will has changed and I don't think that we don't have believers.  I do believe that we have only believed like we have heard and what we've heard isn't what Jesus told us to preach or believe.
     We've been faithful to preach our faith in what we do believe, which is mostly the new birth and the cleansing of sin.  This is certainly the Truth of the Gospel and Jesus has confirmed this part of the Message, worldwide.  "Faith comes by hearing," and those we've heard the new birth preached and have believed it, are now saved.  The Lord is confirming what is preached and believed.  We've fallen short, though, of preaching the whole Gospel.  We either don't believe it and don't preach the whole Gospel, which leaves the world not believing, because they haven't heard it.
     Jesus is the Perfect will of God and He only said "what the Father tells Him to say."  Would Jesus tell us to preach it, if it wasn't the will of God?  No.  We've tried reconciling this to ourselves by reasoning among ourselves and we always foster reasons why it "doesn't work today."  God and Jesus are always the Same and God's will for people hasn't changed.  We have.  Many of today's mainstream denominations preach differing things and some aren't preaching the same Gospel.  Most have determined that salvation and being born-again are God's will, so they preach these things and God confirms the Message.  God is only obligated to confirm what is being preached.  If we fail to preach it, then the people don't hear it.  If the people don't hear it, then they don't have faith in it.  If they don't put faith in it and don't believe, then God doesn't confirm it.
     I've previously said that, "Not everyone can do these things."  Nobody can do these things.  The Lord works with us and confirms and accompanying His Word with signs and miracles.  We are only called to preach it and believe it.  God is the One Who confirms it by His Holy Spirit, Who lives and abides within us. 
    

Lesson 16 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Jesus was speaking in John 8:19 (Amplified) which says, "Then they said to Him, Where is this Father of Yours? Jesus answered, You know My Father as little as you know Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also."
     Jesus' statement is true for us, today.  In John 12:44-45 (Amplified), Jesus spoke to the religious people of His day, who were always questioning His teachings and His manner.  Thus, He says, "The one who believes in Me does not only believe in and trust in and rely on Me, but in believing in Me he believes in Him Who sent Me. And whoever sees Me sees Him Who sent Me."
     When we see Jesus, we see the Father's will being carried out in His every move.  Although we didn't see the new birth during Jesus' earthly ministry, we did see and hear from Him about the Promise of the new birth.  No one could be born-again, until after Jesus' ascension to the Father, where Jesus became the "First Born from the dead,"  Colossi ans 1:18 (Amplified) which says, "Jesus also is the Head of His Body (the Church); seeing He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, so that He alone in everything and in every respect might occupy the Chief Place, stand First and be Pre-eminent."
     We confess that "we believe the Word and in Jesus as our Lord and Savior" and we even declare "we believe He is God with us," but then we try making God's will different than what we see and know about Jesus Himself.  Jesus and the Father are One, but we still try to make God's will different than what we see Jesus doing and saying.
     Much of what we've been taught about God's will, comes from the example of the Law and the old covenant.  Those who have been saved and received Jesus' Sacrifice are under the new covenant or family of God.  God deals with us as His Own children and by our new creation spirit.  The Holy Spirit gave Revelation to Paul in Hebrews 12, where we see the difference between the earthly or natural father and the Spiritual Father.  Both Fathers corrected and disciplined their children.  One thought, did so in the flesh, while the other in the Spirit.
     The old covenant people weren't yet "made alive" in spirit, like the new covenant people of today. The only way the Lord could deal and discipline the old covenant people, was by the Law and the flesh.  We however, are crucified to the flesh and made alive in the Spirit.  The Father can teach, guide, correct and chastise by His Spirit, according to 2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified), which says, "Every scripture is God-breathed, given by His inspiration, and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience and for training in righteousness, in holy living, in conformity to God's will, in thought, purpose and action. So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work."
     There's no hint about sickness, calamity or physical hardship concerning God's will for His children, mentioned in the above scripture.  I continually hear Christians talk about God's allowing or bringing certain things upon David, Job and the Old Testament saints, but these men were still dead in their spirit and had to be led by their flesh.  Romans 8:14 (Amplified) says, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."  If we're truly God's sons and daughters, then why must we still believe that He corrects by our flesh and not by our spirit?  Are we still so spiritually dense and immature?  Haven't we grown in the new creation family anymore than this?
     We almost insist that "God deals with us, like He did with those who were spiritually dead in the old covenant."  What good is the Holy Spirit and God's Word, in the lives of His children?  Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver), the flesh conveys no benefit whatsoever (there is no profit in it). The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
     Just before ascending to Heaven, Jesus said in John 16:13-15 (Amplified), "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 He will tell whatever 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."  Jesus goes on in Verse 15, saying, "Everything that the Father has is Mine, that is what I meant when I said that He, the Spirit, will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you."
     Why would any new creation child of God, be so spiritually dense that the only way we could hear the Father of Spirits, is by the flesh?  He has given us His Life, His Spirit, His Word and His Own Presence, but we still need to be led by calamity and the curse.  It's shameful that we haven't learned enough about our own Heavenly Father, that we need the world and the flesh to direct and teach us, instead of allowing His Word and His Love to show us the way and will of the Father.
   

Lesson 15 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Jesus said in John 14:11 (Amplified), "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the sake of the very works themselves. If you cannot trust Me at least let these works that I do in My Father's Name convince you."
     The will and works of Jesus, were and still are the will and works of the Father.  It is and was God's will for every one of the miracles, healings and deliverances Jesus performed to be done.  It was and still is God's will for every man and woman on this planet, to be saved.
     What did you have to do, in order to be saved and became a child of God?  The Truth is, you had to do nothing except believe and accept His Gift of salvation, that God offered to "all who will believe."  God's Gift of salvation was for all men, but see how many haven't believed and accepted His offer.  God's will for salvation is also His will for healing, deliverance, temporal and eternal.  It has never changed.
     What proof did you have that His Word of salvation was true, anymore than His Word of healing or deliverance?  I know that God has offered the same will and Grace to all men through Jesus.  We've been taught to separate God's will into different categories.  Many believed, "Thy will be done" and see the Truth of God's will is like a lottery system.  They wait to see if their number will "come up."
     Much of this has come about, because we fear our prayers won't be answered and we will look foolish.  We've acted like God is unpredictable and we can "never know His will."  The Holy Spirit gives us a prayer in Colossi ans 1:9 (Amplified), saying, "For this reason we also from the day we heard of it (their Love in the Holy Spirit) Love not ceased to pray and make special request for you, as King that you may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all spiritual Wisdom, in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things."
     The above scripture shows that God is clearly not hiding or covering up His will for us, but is inviting us to know, learn and have an understanding of His will.  We haven't been strong on God's Promises of healing and deliverance, because we've mostly been taught about how to lead others to salvation.  We read about the woman with the issue of blood, in Mark 5:25-34 (Amplified), which says, "For she kept saying, If I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health. And immediately her flow of blood was dried up at the source, and suddenly she felt in her body that she was healed of her distressing ailment."
     This woman had no proof of God's will to heal her, except she had heard about Jesus.  Her faith in what she heard, moved this woman to believe.  When she touched Jesus, the proof of His will to heal her, became a tangible thing in her body.  We had no more proof of our salvation, when we first called out to Him.  It was more hope, than feeling.  Proof still hasn't come for many who struggle to get forgiven," even after they receive forgiveness.
     There has never been a breach in the will of God, but only a breach between God's will and our knowledge of His will.  How can we see Jesus as being the Manifestation of God in our midst, while doubting God's will for mankind?  The problem has never been with God and His will, but in us and our faith in His will.  Ephesians 1:17-18 (Amplified) tells us, "For I always pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, that He may grant you a spirit of Wisdom and revelation (of insight into mysteries and secrets in the deep and intimate knowledge of Him), by having the eyes of your heart flooded with Light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His Glorious inheritance in the saints (His set apart ones)."
     God isn't trying to keep His will a secret, but He is actually inviting us into a place of fellowship and knowledge of Himself.  Jesus preached a Message from Isaiah 61, in Luke 4:18-19.  This was confirmed again in Acts 10:38 (Amplified) which 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."
     Jesus' entire ministry was the open and revealed will of God, for mankind.  It included salvation for mankind (spirit, soul and body).  It included Life again into the spirit, healing to the body and deliverance to the soul, which is and will always be God's will for us.  Many haven't partaken of this will of God for the soul and body, just like many haven't partaken of God's Offer of Life.  It is still God's will, nonetheless.
     I understand that God also has a plan for us as individuals, but it doesn't change His will for all mankind in general.  God's will has never been for us to suffer sickness, disease, oppression, early death, abuse or starvation.  These things are brought about by satan, according to Acts 10:38.  If these things were God's will, then Jesus was working in total disobedience to the Father.  This sounds foreign to us today, because we've been taught and learned from man's opinion of God.
     Much of the foolishness we've learned, has been based on man's reading of the Old Testament, which he carried into the New Testament.  This results in man's believing God still deals with mankind by our actions, instead of the Sacrifice of Jesus.  The only thing we needed to do, in order to be saved, was to believe what God said.  God's Grace has already made it available to us, from two thousand years prior.  The Same Sacrifice that brought salvation, also offered healing and deliverance.  If one part if true, then it is all true.  Grace has provided it already and only faith is how it's obtained.  Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) says, "For it is by free Grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved, delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation, through your faith. And this salvation is not of yourselves (of your own doing, it came not through your own striving), but IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD." 
    
    

Lesson 14 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     John 12:44-45 (Amplified) says, "But Jesus loudly declared, The one who believes in Me does not only believe in and trust in and rely on Me, but in believing in Me, he believes in Him Who sent Me. And whoever sees Me sees Him Who sent Me."
     Through Jesus' above statement, we can actually see, know and observe God's will for mankind.  Jesus also says in John 5:30 (Amplified), "I am able to do nothing from Myself, independently of My Own accord, but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders. Even as I hear, I judge, I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the Voice comes to Me, so I give a decision, and My judgment is right (just, righteous) because I do not seek or consult My Own will, I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself (My Own aim, My Own purpose), but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me."
     In John 6:38-39 (Amplified) Jesus tells us, "For I have come down from Heaven not to do My Own will and purpose but to do the will and purpose of Him Who sent Me. And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new Life and raise them all up at the last day."
     Just before ascending to Heaven, Jesus proves He was doing God's will, when He prayed in John 17:12 (Amplified), "While I was with them, I kept and preserved them in Your Name, in the knowledge and worship of You. Those You have given Me I guarded and protected, and not one of them has perished or is lost except the son of perdition (Judas Iscariot), the one who is now doomed to destruction (destined to be lost that the scripture might be fulfilled)."
     The Church has been erroneously taught to believe that the chaos and misery abounding in the earth, is God's will.  Galatians 5:6 (Amplified) tells us, "For if we are in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through Love."  It's difficult for us to trust even those we know in this worldly realm.  We might say that we "love them," but we still don't fully trust them.
     The above scripture tells us that "faith works through Love."  When we fully understand God's Love for us, then our faith is made perfect in Love.  1John 4:16-17 (Amplified) says, "And we know, understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience, and believe, adhere to and put faith in and rely on the Love God cherishes for us. GOD IS LOVE and he who dwells and continues in Love dwells and continues in God and God dwells and continues in him. In this union and communion with Him, Love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us that we may have confidence for the day of judgment with assurance and boldness to face Him, because as He is, so are we in this world."
     For millennia, we've been taught and have believed that "no one can ever know the will of God."  Many have taken certain "half-truths" from the Word and used them to cement our beliefs.  Many quote, "All things work for the good of those who love God" and teach that this means "Whether things happening are good or bad, it's God's will and it's for our good."  This leaves satan "who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour," the opportunity to do so.  If we don't whether or not something is God's will or if it's satan, then how can we "resist the devil" with any amount of faith in our resistance?
     When we don't understand God's Love for and to us, we are afraid to step out in our faith and in His Promises to us.  1John 4:18 (Amplified) says, "There is no fear in Love (dread does not exist) but full grown (complete, perfect) Love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment and so he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of Love (is not yet grown into complete perfection)."
     Let's bring this scripture into the light of today's Church.  If you are afraid that God is going to break your leg, give you a cancer, or even take your life or the life of a loved one, all as a way of punishing you, then you do not know or have become acquainted with Love.  If you still have doubt about God's operation through the Church and you're expecting His punishment, then you are in fear.  The only way for you to have peace and faith, is by understanding God's Love for you.
     Much has been taught about faith, but Galatians 5:6 (Amplified) tells us that, "Faith works by Love."  If we don't know God's will concerning His Love, then how can our faith in His Love ever be "complete?"  James 1:5-8 (Amplified) talks about how a "double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."  A person cannot get more double-minded than not knowing whether it's God punishing you or satan trying to kill him or her.  One cannot have faith, without trust and that comes with understanding God's Love for us.
     We must know what God's will for us is.  We've assumed that the way God dealt with those in the old covenant, is how He works with us.  This has led us to mix our faith in two different operations of how God moves in the family.  The most simple and primary way of knowing God's will for us, is watching Jesus.
     We read God's will, His purpose, His Word His heart and His Love towards us in Hebrews 1:1-3 (Amplified) which says, "In many separate revelations, each of which set forth a portion of the Truth, and in different way, God spoke of old to our forefathers in and by the prophets. BUT in the last of these days HE HAS SPOKEN TO US IN THE PERSON OF A SON Whom He appointed Heir and Lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and reaches of space and the ages of time. He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order. He is the Sole Expression of the Glory of God (the Light Being, the Out-Raying or Radiance of the Divine), and He is the Perfect Imprint and Very Image of God's nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty Word (power) When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the Divine Majesty on High."
     In John 5:19 (Amplified), Jesus told His followers, "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the Son is able to do nothing of Himself (of His Own accord), but He is able to do only what He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does is what the Son does in the same way (in His turn)."
     When we witness Jesus healing the sick, then we know and see that it's God's will to heal the sick.  When we witness Jesus delivering those who were bound, then we know it's God's will they are delivered.  In other words, if you really want to know God's will for your own life (as well as others), then you only need to watch Jesus.  We argue whether "it's God's will to heal certain people."  Jesus healed them all!  It's unfathomable how we ever allowed ourselves to be "talked out" of knowing God's will.
     This is how we don't understand and believe in God's Love that John speaks about in 1John 4:17.   When we don't believe that faith which works by Love, then we don't receive the results of the Word.  We are no longer just covenant people, but we are God's Own family.  We don't function by laws and rituals, but by faith in God's Love for us.  We must allow the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus in His human form as being the Light of God and then we can know His will for mankind.  Jesus never did anything that was out of God's will and God's will hasn't changed from where Jesus is now.  As a matter of fact, when Jesus sat down at God's right hand, the will of God was settled for all time.