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."
As part of God's family, we're not the ones He made covenant with. The covenant was cut between Jesus (Who is God in the flesh) and God Himself, according to Hebrews 6:13,18 (Amplified) which says, "For when God made His Promise to Abraham, He swore by Himself, since He had no One greater by Whom to swear." Verse 18 says, "This was 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 might indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before us."
We've entered into this Promise, by our faith in receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. There was nothing left for us to do, in order to validate this covenant, except to believe in God's Promise to and through Jesus. This isn't a Promise of works to make it true, but it's a Promise that is already done through Jesus. God only requires His family to believe in His Promise. It's not about dressing a certain way, worshiping on certain days, or any other works. It's not even about who we once were, but about who He has made us to be. IT IS FINISHED!
The Finished Work of Jesus is all that we're required to believe. Our healing, peace and righteousness has already been done and provided for God's family. He has left nothing out that was needed to make us "perfect," except to believe in His Finished Work. We continue trying to add to these Promises, in order to make them come to pass in our lives, when they're already been done. The more we add to them, the more they're not by Grace, but by works. Works only make them null and void. The harder we try, the more elusive they become, which leaves us feeling frustrated and feeling futile. Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) says, "But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come to Him must necessarily believe that God exists and that He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him out."
The harder we try to make God's Promises work, the less we believe His Promises are already True. This is a lack of faith or believe in what Jesus has already done and our adding to it by works, doesn't make it any more True. We can see why it's impossible to please God by what we do, instead of believing in what Jesus has already done for us.
This isn't like the Law, which needed to be ratified by our works, but it's Grace which has already done our part, through Jesus. Jesus' followers asked the same things we ask today, in John 6:28-29 (Amplified) which says, "Then they said, What are we to do, that we may habitually be working the works of God? What are we to do to carry out what God requires? Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you; That you believe in the One Whom He has sent, that you cleave to, trust in, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger."
We have believed, to some degree. We believe we are remitted of our sins and have become God's children, but we still refer to ourselves as "sinners." We believe that Jesus is our righteousness, but we refer to ourselves as being, "None are righteous, no not one." We confess that, "By Jesus' stripes we were healed," but then continue believing that healing was never part of God's Promise. Instead of admitting our unbelief in healing, we accuse God of using sickness to teach us a lesson. Or, we accuse God of not fulfilling His Promise and blame Him for the hardships and diseases that befall us.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam passed the Buck, saying "It was God's fault for giving him this woman." Neither Adam nor Eve could accept the blame for their transgression. We, somehow, blame God, saying "He is the One Who has brought sickness, hardship, calamity, sorrow, broken hearts, because He made us flesh." God said that He has already destroyed the flesh at the cross, when we were crucified with Christ. It's not a matter of being in this flesh and blood body, but it's a matter of our not believing in our new creation spirit man that Jesus created. It's a matter of our not learning who we really are in Him.
The most we've believed about our new creation man that God made us to be, is that someday we will live with Him in Heaven. I'm not making light of this Glorious Truth, but we are to believe in the rest of the things His Son has done for us. God didn't leave anything to change, when He sent Jesus. Jesus undid everything satan had brought on mankind, after Adam's fall. Although satan is still here, trying to discourage and accuse those in whom Jesus has already cleansed, we have to make the choice to either believe in what Jesus has done or believe satan's lies and accusations.
I'm not saying that we're perfect, but I'm saying that God declares you are perfect. We've become clean and perfect in His sight, through Jesus. 1Corinthians 6:19-20 (Amplified) says, "Do you not know that your body is the Temple, the very Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received as a Gift from God? You are not your own. You were bought with a Price, purchased with a Preciousness and paid for, made His Own. So then, honor God in bringing Glory to Him in your body."
How do we "honor and bring Glory to God in our bodies?" Be believing what Jesus has done for us and accepting His Sacrifice and believing in it. Stop looking at the flesh and seeing all its weaknesses. Begin looking at your new creation man and his/her strength. We must be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, because the more we believe in the One Whom He has sent, the less we'll depend on our own works, in make the flesh behave like it should.
We've spent much of our Christian walk, trying to make the flesh behave like it should. We minister mostly to the soulish part of our lives, instead of building up the new man or inner man of the new creation. The only way to tame the flesh (or senses),is by strengthening the inner-man by the Promises of God, until he is the stronger one. Trying to control the flesh (senses) without strengthening the spirit man, is an exercise in futility.
This is something that we must each do for ourselves. No one (not even your preacher) can do it for you. No one can walk with the Father for you. We're all His children, but we're not all walking in the Same Light of this Truth. The more we make excuses for the flesh (senses), the less we try strengthening the spirit. Of course we still make mistakes, but we can't simply declare "It's beyond our control" or blame God for "not doing everything that was needed through Jesus."
Everyone in the Body of Christ is working on some things in our lives. We don't all have the same weaknesses, but we all have some weaknesses. We're not to simply accept them, but we're to go to God's Word and find the answer to our weaknesses. We're to trust God, through Jesus, "To watch over His Word to perform it" in our lives.
Believing is a walk and journey, that we're all involved in. Even if it's not working in you, it's still True in Him. Many Christians continue to get sick and even die from diseases, but God's Word is still True that, "By Jesus' stripes you were healed." It doesn't matter what you're working on in your own life today, because John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says that, "We have all received, all had a share, and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing, and favor upon favor, and Gift heaped upon Gift." Everything that we will ever need in this earthly journey, has already been supplied through Jesus. Go to God's Word and find out what He has done for us, then believe that "It is finished." Stop trying to make it work and believe it already has worked. Remember, "All things are possible to him that believes."
You cannot make them work, you must believe the impossible. You must believe that in Him, it's not only possible, but it's already done. Proverbs 4:20-24 (Amplified) says, "My son, attend to My Words; consent and submit to My sayings. Let them not depart from your sight, keep them in the center of your heart. For they are Life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of Life (Mark 4:24). Put away from you false and dishonest speech and willful and contrary talk out them far from you."
False, willful and dishonest speech includes everything that is contrary to God's Word. God's Word is Truth. It doesn't matter what we think about it or what someone else says about it, God's Word is Truth and it doesn't change! If something isn't operating in your life, like the Word says it should, then it's not the Word that is wrong. It's us. God instructed us, in Proverbs 4:20 (Amplified), "Consent and submit to My Word." Our job (if you can call it that), is to "Consent and submit to God's Word." The only God requires us to do, is to Believe, that His Word is Truth.
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