Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Lesson 30 DOING HIS WILL AND WORKS

     Paul was preaching to the Church in Colossi ans 1:9 (Amplified) where he says, "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it (their love) 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."
     Our Heavenly Father desires that we know His will in all things.  Our faith won't operate in the way the Father intends, if we don't know God's will.  Not one person would want or expect God to do anything for him or her, if that wasn't God's will for them.  If we don't know God's will for His family or the world, then we cannot have faith, because we cannot place faith in that which we don't know.   We've been so unsure about what God's will is, that we pray, "If it be Thy will."  This might sound Spiritual, but it has no faith behind it, to bring that prayer to pass.  It's a "shot in the dark" and more guess-work than faith.
     We know God's will for the lost from John 3:16 (Amplified), which says, "For God so greatly Loved and dearly prized the world, that He even gave up His Only Begotten (Unique) Son, so whoever believes (trusts in, clings to, and relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal everlasting Life."
     Our faith in this open demonstration of God's will and the act of His sending His Only Begotten Son, has resulted in into a strong Message of salvation.  "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God," according to Romans 10:17.  We've preached this by faith, so the people have heard it preached and have put faith in what they've heard, which has expanded God's family for millennia.  The same thing is true for every other aspect of God's Word.  The faith only comes by hearing what is preached and so many things about God's will have been preached, that we're left unsure about what His will truly is.  Many are neglecting to preach about God's will, because of their being unsure what God's will is, which leads to the people "not hearing."  This results in our faith not rising to the level where we believe and receive all the things that are Truly God's will for His family.
     Galatians 3:29 (Amplified) 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 the Promise."  As Christians, we've not understood the full power of God's Promise, for our lives today.  Romans 4:21-22 (Amplified) tells us, "Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His Word and do what He had Promised That s why his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God)."
     We see the power of God's Promise given to Abraham in Exodus and see how He is still faithful to His Promise in Jesus, for our sake.  We know how the Israelites were slaves and in bondage to Egypt and we know that God raised up Moses to deliver them.  We might not know or have given thought to, why God did it.  Exodus 2:23-24 (Amplified) 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."
     Because of the covenant or Promise God made with Abraham, God raised a man up to deliver the Israelite people.  The Promise was given 430 years before the Law and was purely a covenant of Grace, faith and favor.  Paul writes in Galatians 3:17-18 (Amplified), "This is my argument; the Law, which began 430 years after the covenant concerning the coming Messiah, does not and cannot annul the covenant previously established (ratified), by God, so as to abolish the Promise and make it void. For if the inheritance of the Promise depends on observing the Law, as these false teachers would like you to believe, it no longer depends on the Promise; however, God gave it to Abraham as a free Gift solely by virtue of His Promise."
     The Promise and Blessing of Abraham that has come on today's Church through Christ Jesus, is solely by Grace, favor, faith, and encompasses much more than we've previously believed.  When God remembered His covenant, Promise to and through Abraham, He raised up Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.  When reading about the Great Exodus, we forget it was an act of Grace, that came from God's Promise to one man, Abraham.  This is the same mighty power that has come upon us through Jesus.
     God's act of Grace (not Law) and His Promised delivered 2-3 million people from the mightiest power on earth, at the time.  The Israelites didn't need to fight, they didn't have to be sick, die, work or do anything on their own, other than receive God's Promise to Abraham, by faith.  It was God's Grace and Promise to Abraham, that brought those people out of bondage and slavery.
     Psalm 105:6-10,41-43 (Amplified) says, "O you offspring of Abraham His servant, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones He is the Lord our God, His judgments are in all the earth. He is is earnestly mindful of  His covenant and forever it is imprinted on His heart, the Word which He commanded and established to a thousand generations The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His sworn Promise to Isaac Which He confirmed to Jacob as a statute to Israel as an everlasting covenant."
     Verses 41-43 continue, "He brought Israel forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. For He earnestly remembered His Holy Word and Promise to Abraham His servant. And He brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen ones with gladness and singing."  All of this as by Grace and faith on God's Promise to Abraham.  This Grace and faith and Promise to Abraham, has now come upon the Gentiles (us) through our faith in Christ Jesus.
     Don't cut short the Promise God has made to us through Abraham.  This is no longer just a Promise, because "Jesus fulfilled this Promise into an inheritance by faith, to those who believe," according to Galatians 3:28-29 which says, "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."
     When those who were delivered by Promise, stopped believing in Abraham's covenant of Grace and wished to establish their own ways, the Grace stopped and Law became a thing of works and fleshly order.  As long as they believed God's favor, mercy, Grace and Promise to them through Abraham, God furnished their every need.  This covenant of faith and Promise, is now ours through Jesus.  It only requires faith that, "God is able and mighty to keep His Word and do what He has Promised," according to Romans 4:21 (Amplified).
     When we maintain our faith in God's ability to keep His Word and do what He has Promised, this Blessing of Abraham through Jesus is ours "to enjoy with singing and joy."  God didn't bring us out to become victims again, but to become victors through Christ.  He didn't bring us out to be ruled over by the world, but to be kings and priests unto Him.  This Blessing God swore to Abraham is now activated by faith, in our lives today.
     
    

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