John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
The Church has never realized most of the Blessings, favors and Gifts that we have all received through Jesus. The Spiritual Blessings don't relate to when we leave this earth at death, but were given to equip us to flow in God's Spirit, while on earth. The Body of Christ has a job and a responsibility to the world, through our union with the Father. We are called to a be a light and salt to the earth. We're to proclaim the Good News to the world.
We must accept and utilize the Spiritual Blessings we received at the new birth, in order to do what we were born to do. The battle for mankind is a spiritual battle and the Church cannot overcome the forces of darkness, using only carnal wisdom and ability. We can bring people to the new birth, using the same things we've been using for two thousand years, but we have yet to demonstrate the ability of our Living God to a dead world.
The Church has allowed the world to dictate just how far we can believe God, while remaining respectable. How trustworthy is our God? How far can you really trust Him? Can God still do what He says or is He now unable to still be God? We've set limits on God and how much He can do, just like those in the Wilderness. Everyone was excited when God brought them out of Egypt, but then they decided that "God couldn't take them through to the Promised Land, like He said He would do."
None of them would take responsibility for what was happening, so they turned their distrust against Moses and Aaron, saying "They're the source of all our troubles." Noah was probably one of the most ridiculed persons on the planet, when he spent 120 years building a boat and preparing for a flood, when it had never rained before. Genesis 2:5-6 (Amplified) says, "When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not yet caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground. But there went up a mist, (fog, vapor) from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground."
Noah must have looked foolish, when he spoke about "the Great Flood," to the people. He was outside the bounds that the world set for God and was mocked for this. Everyone in God's Word who went to the extreme in their faith, was mocked by both the unbeliever and those who called themselves, "believers." When the people of Jericho heard about the parting of the Red Sea, they were so awed by the reports of God, that their hearts "melted by fear of Him", according to Jericho 2:10-11 (Amplified) which says, "For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Ammorites who were on the east side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, Whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted, neither did spirit or courage remain any more in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in Heaven above and on earth beneath."
Numbers 14:10-11 (Amplified) tells us, "But all the congregation said to stone Joshua and Caleb with stones; But the Glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting before all the Israelites. And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people provoke (spurn, despise) Me? And how long will it be before they believe Me, trusting in, relying on, clinging to Me, for all the signs which I have performed among them?"
Circumstances determined how much they trusted the Lord and the opinions of the majority ruled, leaving the entire generation to die in the Wilderness. They never entered into God's Promise. The majority isn't always correct, when it comes to trusting God in your life. Many were caught up in the cry of the majority and perished, because some preached beyond the limits of others. The world has set limits on the Church, determining how far we can trust God and be acceptable to society. When the Church steps out into the Truth of the fullness we've received in Christ Jesus, then we will not be believed by the world. But, just because the world doesn't believe us, doesn't mean we're not walking in the Truth.
This is exactly what Paul spoke about nearly two-thousand years ago in Romans 12:2 (Amplified) where he wrote, "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 attitude so you may prove for yourselves what is the Good and acceptable and perfect will of God." The things that will deliver you from the hands of the enemy, will not be deemed as "acceptable," to the majority in the world and might not be considered "respectable," in the confines of the Church. This is exactly what Paul told the Church in Rome. Anything that threatens satan's domain, will be shouted down by the world. How can we expect the world who doesn't believe in Jesus, to set the standards for what the new creation people can believe and still be the Church?
Jesus told His followers in John 15:18-19 (Amplified), "If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would treat you with affection and would love you as its own, But because you are not of the world (no longer one with it), but I have chosen (selected) you out of the world, the world hates (detests) you."
We are chosen to be different from the world. That doesn't mean that we're to be superior in our attitudes and look down on others, but we're to be what God created us to be, in spite of how the world looks at us. We're to be the Answer to those in need, because we're the representatives of Jesus on earth. When we're just like the world and are acceptable and respectable to worldly standards, then we don't show the Light of Jesus into the darkness of the world. We can't be afraid or ashamed to show the Super-natural abilities of our Awesome God to the world, because they "hate to see it."
We must take the limits off from God and allow Him to part the Sea, destroy the giants, remove us from the fiery furnace, open the eyes of the blind and show forth His Presence. Then, the world will know Him, like He wants them to. John 3:1-2 (Amplified) says, "Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (a leader, an authority) among the Jews, Who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know and are certain that You have come from God as a Teacher; For no one can do these signs and wonder works, these miracles and produce the proofs that You do unless God is with him."
Nicodemus saw the works Jesus did and knew it was from God, but he still came to talk with Jesus at night, because it wasn't acceptable or deemed as being respectable by the old covenant people around him. The people had limits placed on them, which they couldn't exceed and remain acceptable by the standards of the worldly, religious people. How can the world know our Heavenly Father, if they only see larger church buildings and different denominations meeting on Sundays, but these look just like any other group of people? We must take the limits off of God. We can't remain acceptable in the world's eyes and display the Super-natural God Who loves the world, to them. We don't pray in school, read our Bibles in public, speak about Jesus to those around us and don't "push our religion on others," so we can remain at peace with the world. We're no threat to the powers of darkness, when we do this.
How many times have we been invited to open a public meeting with a prayer, but then are expected to "sit down and remain quiet," while the meeting is held? We've become window dressing, without having any effect at all. The sacred covenant of marriage has been violated by those who wish to be accepted. Just because the world says you should marry anyone to anyone, doesn't mean that God says this. What limits do we violate, when we choose to believe our God can still heal, deliver, Bless, move in Super-natural ways and people? When the world sees God as Who He is, their "hearts melt in fear at the One Who can still part the Red Sea."
Sadly, even some in the Church will look upon us with distrust and ridicule us, when we reach beyond the religious limits set on us. Even some in the Church, will look upon us as being fanatics and radicals, when we believe beyond the limits set on us. This is why the Gospel was taken to the Gentiles. The old covenant people wouldn't remove the limits from God. The Gentile Church has now become the ones placing limits and God hates this. We're told to observe this and not that, worship on this day and not that day. We've returned to being under the Law again, performing rituals in order to qualify in God's eyes.
Let's take off the limits and let God be God again. Let's see Him for Who He is/ Let's dare to believe, when others won't. If I need to be healed of a sickness, then I'm not going to allow someone else's opinion that, "God doesn't heal any longer," to keep me bound. I refuse to be limited by their unbelief. I will choose to receive from my Father, for myself. You can stay in the Wilderness with the others, if you choose. But, like Joshua and Caleb, we are all able to "take the Land."
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