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 we unwrap Christmas this year, let's see what was delivered to us, through this Gift of salvation. We read the phrase, "In Him," many times throughout the New Testament, so let's see exactly what we received In Him. If God's Word is true (and we know that it is), then let's look into what the Father Promised to us, In Him. 2Corinthians 1:20 (Amplified) tells us, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes answer in Him (Christ). For this reason we also utter the Amen (So be it), to God through Him, in His Person and by His Agency, to the Glory of God."
The above scripture shows us the fulfillment of all God's Promises to us, came to us in Christ Jesus. This leaves nothing out, that God Promised to us from Genesis to Revelations. These Promises aren't contingent on the Law, performance or works, but on faith and trust in God's Word through Jesus. This is why faith is so important to the child of God today. We've learned so many errant things and unlearning them can be difficult. Paul tells us we must renew our minds, in Romans 12:2 (Amplified) saying, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to it's 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 yourself 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."
God's Good will is that everyone should be saved and none should perish. His acceptable will is that we're perfect or mature, like He is perfect or mature. If you're born-again, then you're in the will of God. In Him now, we're called to grow up into the place where we know His will for our lives. You can't do this for another person, but you can do it for yourself and prove for yourself what is His will for you.
It's God's will that, "Whosoever believes in and trusts in Jesus should not perish, but have eternal Life," according to John 3:16. This is God's will for the world. 1Peter 2:2 (Amplified) says, "Like newborn babies you should crave, thirst for, earnestly desire, the pure unadulterated Spiritual milk (the Word) that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto complete salvation."
Many Christians have never developed beyond the baby stage, because we've been content to let someone else prepare our bottles and feed us, instead of earnestly desiring the Spiritual milk for ourselves. Every baby needs someone to care for and nurture them into maturity, but every baby will grow into adulthood and bring forth responsibility of their own. Thank God for the five-fold ministry that Jesus gave to the Church, but Paul writes in Ephesians 4:12-13,14 (Amplified), "His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), that they should do the work of ministering toward building up Christ's Body (the Church) that it might develop until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the full, accurate knowledge of the Son of God, that we might arrive at really mature manhood, the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's Own perfection, the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him." Paul goes on in Verse 14, saying, "So then, we may no longer be children, tossed like ships, to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, the prey of the cunning and cleverness of unscrupulous men, gamblers engaged in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead."
Since God gave us teachers, I assume He intends for us to learn. Since we're to learn, like our school days, our teachers assigned homework. In other words, the teachers weren't going to do this for us. Many today only learn from Sunday morning services and have never studied to show themselves approved. They don't know whether the teaching is right or wrong. The five-fold ministry doesn't take the place of the Holy Spirit as our Teacher.
Teachers in school can only teach a class in general. They cannot teach each student according to their vocation in life. It's left up to each student to pursue his or her education, as they progress in life. Many choose to continue their education, beyond high school, to prepare for their future careers. The Church has pastors and teachers who can bring us to a place in God, that is His Good and even acceptable will. We're the only ones who can bring ourselves to the place of being in God's perfect will. When we learn to listen to the Voice of the Holy Spirit and walk in His Wisdom, we can become vessels to be used by the Master. God would use anyone and everyone, if we would only learn to hear His Voice.
We read about a man named Ananias in Acts 9:10-11 (Amplified) which says, "Now there was in Damascus a disciple named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias, and he answered; Here am I Lord. And the Lord said to him, Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying there."
We don't read anything about Ananias before or after this meeting with God, but he was obviously a man who spent time with the Master. He didn't just hear God, but he obeyed God. This didn't come from just going to Church on Sundays, but came from spending time and doing his homework. I don't know who Ananias was, but God knew him and he knew God. If was the only time God used Ananias, then he was instrumental in bringing the greatest Apostle and writer of the New Testament into the Church. The above scripture doesn't tell us that Ananias was an apostle or pastor, but this man spent enough time with the Lord, that he knew and obeyed His Voice.
If you've been reading the beginning scripture of John 1:16-17, then you know that, "we were all given, granted, and Blessed with and supplied with favor, Grace, Truth and Gifts." These things weren't supplied with just "some people," but were supplied to "all" and "all have received these things." What you do with what God has supplied you with, is up to you. God wants to use you in a way you can't even imagine, but He has left that in your hands.
There are many doctrines in today's Church and in the land, with some being right and some not so much. When you know God's Word and His Holy Spirit, then you're responsible to know the real things from the false. 1John 2:27 (Amplified) says, "But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction which you received from Him, abides in you permanently, so then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is True and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in), never depart from Him, being rooted in Him, knit to Him just as His anointing has taught you to do." This doesn't mean you don't need a teacher, but the anointing that you've received from Him, will tell you whether what you're being taught is Truth or it's conformity to this age and world.
Ananias was able to determine if he was hearing from God or not, because of the Anointing of the Holy Spirit. Our spirit, through the Holy Spirit, bears witness to the Truth. Much of what we're hearing today from the world and religion, is conformity and compromise. You're called by the Holy Spirit to know the difference. No preacher can take the place of our individual fellowship with the Father and the Word. We must let Him teach and determine what we hear and accept. This doesn't mean you're to be a "Lone Ranger Christian," but you don't have to follow the broad and wide patch that leads to destruction either. You've part of the Body of Christ and each part has a place in which to operate, as it's called. You might not think you're an important part of the Body, like the heart, but it only takes one tiny vein or artery to become plugged and stop the heart. Be who God has called you to be and you'll be in the perfect will of God.
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