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.
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