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 Body of Christ has been held back with indecision for centuries, because it lacks understanding. We've accepted the attitude of the world saying, "Whatever happens must be God's will for us." Many believers have been taught that "Everything is God's Plan and His will for the earth." Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified) saying, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." There isn't a single Christian today, who believes that the things happening in the world, are happening in Heaven."
It's obvious that God's will isn't being done, as it is in Heaven. It's God's will that people are being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, but the wars, death, hunger, child abuse and many such other things happening, are definitively NOT GOD'S WILL IN HEAVEN. During His earthly ministry, Jesus knew what was God's will in Heaven and on earth. Jesus brought God's will to pass, even here on this earth. Jesus healed and delivered so many people, bringing God's will to pass here on this earth. Sadly, there are so many things happening in the lives of Christians today, that were never God's will for us.
I'm always amazed to learn that so few Christians will actually study God's Word, in order to find what His will is. God has made His will known to the new creation family, but we just accept the words of others, over His Word. I'm not saying that bad things don't happen to good people, but God is faithful to His Word, to do what He says. 1Corinthians 10:13,14 (Amplified) says, "For no temptation, no trial regarded as enticing to sin, no matter how it comes or where it leads, has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man, that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and or adapted and belonging to human experience, such as man can bear. But God is faithful to His Word and to His compassionate nature, and He can be trusted not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will always also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently."
I've heard many quote this scriptures saying, "God will not put on you more than you can handle." This isn't what Paul is saying. He's telling us that, "God will not allow the devil to come with something new, for which we have no defense." The tricks, temptations, and trials that satan comes up with, are already common to man. God's Word has the answer and means of deliverance for these trials, temptations and tricks, if we will go to His Word in faith.
Paul writes about the trials and temptations in the previous Verse, and tells us that the devil (not God) has deceived and brought unbelief in the people. Paul reveals one of the ways God provides the means of escape, saying in Verse 14, "Therefore, my dearly beloved, shun (keep clear, away from, avoid by flight if need be), any sort of idolatry, of loving or venerating anything more than God."
The people Paul was speaking too, were God's people by covenant with Abraham. Paul lists one of the temptations that overthrew those in the wilderness in 1Corinthians 10:9-10 Amplified) which says, "We should not tempt the Lord (try His patience, become a trial to Him, critically appraise Him and exploit His Goodness as some of them did-and were killed by poisonous serpents (Numbers 21:5-6) Nor discontentedly complain as some of them did, and were put out of the way entirely by the destroyer (death)."
I know Christians who are upset with God, because things haven't gone right in their lives. We blame God for these things and complain that, "God is putting this on me" or "God is allowing this to come upon me." These are what those in the Wilderness said when they said, "God brought us out here to die. Why didn't He just leave us alone?"
God's will was to bring them out of bondage from Egypt and into the Promised Land. They didn't want to follow Him, by His Promise. They wanted to stay in the comfort of bondage, where they held no responsibility to follow God. They did what they wanted to do, thinking it was God's Plan and will for their lives. Why don't we go to His Word, discover what His Plan and will for us it, instead of accepting every hardship that comes against us as being God's will?
God provided for every need of the people in the wilderness, but they were never thankful or grateful for the Blessings of God. They believed God was testing them, but we know that they were testing God with their unbelief. We are God's children and His family. God doesn't love one person more than He loves another. Jesus prayed for us in John 17:23 (Amplified), "I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and definitely recognize that You sent Me and that You have Loved them even as You have Loved Me."
So many of God's children, seemingly lack a personal, intimate relationship with the Father. We're all one at church and are one in worship, but how much to we fellowship with Him on a one-to One basis in our daily lives? I've always been impressed with a man named Ananias in Acts 9:10. This isn't a man we previously read about or never hear about afterwards. He wasn't an Apostle or a man we'd probably consider to be great.
Ananias though, had a personal relationship with the Lord, so that the Lord called him by name. More importantly, Ananias knew the Voice of the Lord and answered His Voice. This man's relationship with God wasn't formed through Sunday service alone, but from spending time in fellowship with the Lord. God knew He could call on Ananias and that Ananias would answer His call. If God called on us today, then would we recognize His Voice and obey His will and purpose? Jesus said that, "My sheep knew My Voice." I hear many Christians saying, "God doesn't speak to me" or "I don't know whether it's God, myself or the devil, who is talking to me." We're supposed to know His Voice. He's always speaking to us, but we don't hear Him, like we should.
All the kids at daycare know their parent's voice. My daughter can go pick up her dog at the dog beauty parlor and recognize her dog's bark, without seeing her pup. Parents can tell whether it's their child crying or if it's another child crying. Do you think our Heavenly Father can't distinguish your voice from another? God wants to hear from you personally. He doesn't always want someone else to be praying for you. He doesn't want to hear from us, only when we need something.
I'm not what people call "a religious person," but I'm a real person in Christ Jesus. My relationship with the Father, is based on spending time with Him. I don't want to only know about Him, from the experience of others, but I want to know Him, from experience and personal fellowship with Him. Thank God for my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, but I don't want them to stand in my place. My wife and I raised eight children and we were all one family. Every child was different as knew me as "Dad," from a personal relationship with me. Each individual, made up our family.
We're not just someone in a crowd of faceless people, to God. Let's see ourselves as the individual, the Father made us to be and sees. You can know many things from God, that no one else knows. I've never been in the same place with God, that you've been. I can learn more about God from sharing with you.
It's easier for us to make excuses as to why prayer didn't work in our lives, than to learn His ways and His will. The Father has Spiritual Laws that govern the Kingdom. When we learn and understand these principals or Spiritual Laws, then we cannot fail. God's Kingdom is forever and is eternal.
We can't try making the Kingdom work by natural or carnal rules and traditions. That's a waste of time. Trying to live here as a citizen and child of God's Kingdom by man's natural law, doesn't work. Trying to make Kingdom Laws work without understanding, doesn't work either. Doing these things has resulted in a big dilemma in the lives of Christians.
Only God's Law and ways works in the Kingdom and they're the only way we can have authority over Spiritual things that function in this world. We make up excuses and explanations for why God's Word doesn't work for us. Satan only stop his assault against us, by the Kingdom Laws that govern Spiritual things. We must use the Spiritual Laws that govern that realm, so we can come against these things in our lives.
Friday, March 29, 2019
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Lesson 171 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
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."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is; get Wisdom, skillful and Godly Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."
Godly Wisdom is the most important piece of the things of God, that you have ever received in this world. 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him (God) that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God has made our Wisdom from God." If you're born-again, then you have Wisdom. Jesus has been made our Wisdom and the Holy Spirit, Who is actually God Himself, now lives in and through you. Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus told His followers in John 16:13 (Amplified), "But when He (the Spirit of Truth, the Truth Giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His Own Message (on His Own Authority), but He will tell whatever He hears from the Father; He will give the Message that has been given to Him, and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come (that will happen in the future)."
We've been given Wisdom from the Teacher, Who is the Holy Spirit Himself and we have the "Handbook," The Bible, which tells us how to live in God's Kingdom. Now, we must have understanding, on how to use Wisdom. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), "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."
We're now part of God's Kingdom and that Kingdom has a way of doing and being right, which are the Laws that govern Heaven (the Kingdom). It's crucial that we understand how we are to operate in these Laws. Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified), "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
Jesus taught us to pray that the will of God which governs Heaven or His Kingdom, be done this way on earth. How is God's will being done in the Kingdom of Heaven? We don't know how to apply Wisdom in our lives, without understanding what the Kingdom Laws are and what God's will is there.
Too many of God's children continue seeing themselves like they used to be before being saved, instead of who God has made them to be now. We must see ourselves through the Father's eyes and the the eyes of the world. The Holy Spirit tells us in James 1:22-26 (Amplified), "But be doers of the Word, obey the Message, and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his own natural face in the mirror for he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless Law (the Law of Liberty), and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer who obeys, he shall be Blessed in his doing his life of obedience. If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of external duties of his faith), and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religious service is worthless, futile, barren."
Jesus said in Matthew 12:37 (Amplified), "For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced." Does this still apply to today's Christian? I'm not talking about our being saved or saved, but about our being acquitted or sentenced. Let's go back to James 1:26 which says, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith), and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religious service is worthless, futile, barren."
What does this mean? If you go to the Mirror (God's Word) and find out who you are from the faultless Law of Liberty, but speak out contrary to your new citizenship, then you're deluding your own heart. Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:33 that "The things we receive or don't receive in our lives, come from a heart that is not deluded or double-minded." Jesus said that "A tree is known by it's fruit." What fruit of your lips are you revealing in the Kingdom?
Wisdom has spoke this entire universe into existence. God created everything we see and don't see, by His Words. We're born-again by confessing and believing God's Word. 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified) says, "You have been regenerated (born-again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from One that is Immortal, by the Ever Living and Lasting Word of God."
Wisdom has come, but understanding Wisdom has been slow in coming. We witness Jesus in His earthly ministry, doing almost everything we read about, by speaking Words. Jesus spoke to the dead, He spoke to the fig tree, He spoke to the storm, He spoke to demons, He spoke to sickness and disease, He spoke to the maimed, and He has spoken to us in these Last Days. Hebrews 1:1-2 (Amplified) says, "In many separate Revelations, each of which set forth a portion of the Truth, and in different ways God spoke of old to our forefathers in and by the prophets; But in the Last of these days He has spoken to as in the Person of a Son, Whom He appointed Heir and Lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the Worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time, He made, produced, built, operated and arranged them in order."
Everything came by Words that God spoke and sent into His Kingdom. Jesus understood the Laws of the Kingdom and how they operate and He only spoke God's Words or right Words. John 3:34 (Amplified) says, "For since He Whom God has sent speaks the Words of God (proclaims God's Own Message), God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the Gift God makes of His Spirit." When we read this scripture, without understanding it, we believe He is only talking about "being saved." God's Own Message goes much further than just our being born-again. Now that we are born-again and are part of God's new creation family, God has given us authority to speak His Own Message, over things. We can speak words of deliverance or we can speak words that keep us under condemnation. We can speak Words of the Kingdom or we can speak words that keep us in the natural realm and keep us deluding our own hearts.
The entire Kingdom is held in place, by the Word of His Power. We have looked into the perfect Law of Liberty and have seen that we are now sons and daughter of God. We've had a reflection of ourselves as the Father has made us to be, by His Own Word. We've seen the reflected righteousness that has made us new creation children of God, but then we've gone our own way and have forgotten what we looked like. We've deluded our own hearts and spoken words that hold back our own deliverance from a heart that has no understanding.
The Power of God's Word still holds the universe and everything in it, in place. God's Word has lost none of it's Power, we have just lost sight of His Word. Do we speak from who we are or do we speak from whom we were? Do we speak as the Righteousness of God or do we speak of ourselves from the condemnation the enemy, that held us captive? Do we quote the Law of Liberty, the Word of the Kingdom or do we speak the lies of the enemy, saying, "It doesn't matter what we say?" Do we have understanding or are we like those James speaks about and "deluding our own heart by not bridling our tongue?"
We became born-again believers by speaking and believing Romans 10:9,10 (Amplified) which says, "Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in and rely on) the Truth that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." We are saved because we believed and spoke from our hearts that, "Jesus Christ is Lord."
Now, let's go to the perfect Law of Liberty, the mirror that reflects back to us, who we are in Christ Jesus. Thus, Verse 10 says, "For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in and relies on) Christ and so is justified (declared righteous), acceptable to God, and with the mouth declares openly and speaks out freely his faith and confirms his salvation."
Do you see yourself as righteous, in this Law of Liberty? God's Word is a mirror that reflects who He has made you to be in Christ Jesus and liberates you from the condemnation of the world. You are righteous in the Father's eyes, because of Jesus, but do you see yourself like this? How does your tongue answer your heart and reflection? Have you bridled your tongue by the Word of God or have your deceived your own heart, saying, "It doesn't matter what I say?" Jesus said that, "It's by our words, we can either hope to be justified or acquitted, condemned or sentenced," in Matthew 12:37.
This doesn't mean that God will condemn or sentence you, but your words will do this if you're not using the Kingdom principal that sets you free. Isaiah 53:7 (Amplified) says this about Jesus, "He was oppressed, yet when He was afflicted, He was submissive and opened not His mouth; like a Lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth."
Have you ever wondered about what this scripture tells us? If Jesus had opened His mouth and spoke the Wisdom and Truth on His Own defense, then He would have been perfectly and completely exonerated. Jesus didn't speak on His Own defense and He was judged, condemned and sentenced because He chose not to speak His deliverance. Jesus chose to speak only God's Word and because of His being submissive, He was delivered over for our sake.
We are now "set free from the Law of Sin and of Death, according to Romans 8:2, into the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus."We have the ability to speak life or death, deliverance or captivity into our own lives. We must understand that the words we speak, do make a difference. The words we speak will change the outcome of either deliverance or bondage, in our lives. We are children of God, born of His Spirit and we have the ability and authority to speak God's Own Message, like Jesus, Paul, Peter and all who are born-again have. If the words we speak brought us to salvation, then why wouldn't the other words we speak, have the same power?
Jesus tells the Parable of "The Prodigal Son" in Luke 15:11-32. The prodigal son lost sight of who he was, by the circumstances of where he was. When he returned to the Father, he described himself as "not being worthy" and being "a simple servant." He had forgotten what he looked like in the Father's eyes and saw himself in the eyes of his circumstance. The Father however, still saw a son and loved him. We see ourselves too many times, in the mirror of the perfect Law of Liberty, but walk away and forget what we looked like. The Father never forgets. We must bridle our tongues to bring forth good fruit. We must hold onto the Words of justification and deliverance, allowing the Laws of the Kingdom to work on our behalf.
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is; get Wisdom, skillful and Godly Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."
Godly Wisdom is the most important piece of the things of God, that you have ever received in this world. 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him (God) that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God has made our Wisdom from God." If you're born-again, then you have Wisdom. Jesus has been made our Wisdom and the Holy Spirit, Who is actually God Himself, now lives in and through you. Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus told His followers in John 16:13 (Amplified), "But when He (the Spirit of Truth, the Truth Giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His Own Message (on His Own Authority), but He will tell whatever He hears from the Father; He will give the Message that has been given to Him, and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come (that will happen in the future)."
We've been given Wisdom from the Teacher, Who is the Holy Spirit Himself and we have the "Handbook," The Bible, which tells us how to live in God's Kingdom. Now, we must have understanding, on how to use Wisdom. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), "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."
We're now part of God's Kingdom and that Kingdom has a way of doing and being right, which are the Laws that govern Heaven (the Kingdom). It's crucial that we understand how we are to operate in these Laws. Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified), "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
Jesus taught us to pray that the will of God which governs Heaven or His Kingdom, be done this way on earth. How is God's will being done in the Kingdom of Heaven? We don't know how to apply Wisdom in our lives, without understanding what the Kingdom Laws are and what God's will is there.
Too many of God's children continue seeing themselves like they used to be before being saved, instead of who God has made them to be now. We must see ourselves through the Father's eyes and the the eyes of the world. The Holy Spirit tells us in James 1:22-26 (Amplified), "But be doers of the Word, obey the Message, and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his own natural face in the mirror for he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless Law (the Law of Liberty), and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer who obeys, he shall be Blessed in his doing his life of obedience. If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of external duties of his faith), and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religious service is worthless, futile, barren."
Jesus said in Matthew 12:37 (Amplified), "For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced." Does this still apply to today's Christian? I'm not talking about our being saved or saved, but about our being acquitted or sentenced. Let's go back to James 1:26 which says, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith), and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religious service is worthless, futile, barren."
What does this mean? If you go to the Mirror (God's Word) and find out who you are from the faultless Law of Liberty, but speak out contrary to your new citizenship, then you're deluding your own heart. Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:33 that "The things we receive or don't receive in our lives, come from a heart that is not deluded or double-minded." Jesus said that "A tree is known by it's fruit." What fruit of your lips are you revealing in the Kingdom?
Wisdom has spoke this entire universe into existence. God created everything we see and don't see, by His Words. We're born-again by confessing and believing God's Word. 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified) says, "You have been regenerated (born-again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from One that is Immortal, by the Ever Living and Lasting Word of God."
Wisdom has come, but understanding Wisdom has been slow in coming. We witness Jesus in His earthly ministry, doing almost everything we read about, by speaking Words. Jesus spoke to the dead, He spoke to the fig tree, He spoke to the storm, He spoke to demons, He spoke to sickness and disease, He spoke to the maimed, and He has spoken to us in these Last Days. Hebrews 1:1-2 (Amplified) says, "In many separate Revelations, each of which set forth a portion of the Truth, and in different ways God spoke of old to our forefathers in and by the prophets; But in the Last of these days He has spoken to as in the Person of a Son, Whom He appointed Heir and Lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the Worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time, He made, produced, built, operated and arranged them in order."
Everything came by Words that God spoke and sent into His Kingdom. Jesus understood the Laws of the Kingdom and how they operate and He only spoke God's Words or right Words. John 3:34 (Amplified) says, "For since He Whom God has sent speaks the Words of God (proclaims God's Own Message), God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the Gift God makes of His Spirit." When we read this scripture, without understanding it, we believe He is only talking about "being saved." God's Own Message goes much further than just our being born-again. Now that we are born-again and are part of God's new creation family, God has given us authority to speak His Own Message, over things. We can speak words of deliverance or we can speak words that keep us under condemnation. We can speak Words of the Kingdom or we can speak words that keep us in the natural realm and keep us deluding our own hearts.
The entire Kingdom is held in place, by the Word of His Power. We have looked into the perfect Law of Liberty and have seen that we are now sons and daughter of God. We've had a reflection of ourselves as the Father has made us to be, by His Own Word. We've seen the reflected righteousness that has made us new creation children of God, but then we've gone our own way and have forgotten what we looked like. We've deluded our own hearts and spoken words that hold back our own deliverance from a heart that has no understanding.
The Power of God's Word still holds the universe and everything in it, in place. God's Word has lost none of it's Power, we have just lost sight of His Word. Do we speak from who we are or do we speak from whom we were? Do we speak as the Righteousness of God or do we speak of ourselves from the condemnation the enemy, that held us captive? Do we quote the Law of Liberty, the Word of the Kingdom or do we speak the lies of the enemy, saying, "It doesn't matter what we say?" Do we have understanding or are we like those James speaks about and "deluding our own heart by not bridling our tongue?"
We became born-again believers by speaking and believing Romans 10:9,10 (Amplified) which says, "Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in and rely on) the Truth that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." We are saved because we believed and spoke from our hearts that, "Jesus Christ is Lord."
Now, let's go to the perfect Law of Liberty, the mirror that reflects back to us, who we are in Christ Jesus. Thus, Verse 10 says, "For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in and relies on) Christ and so is justified (declared righteous), acceptable to God, and with the mouth declares openly and speaks out freely his faith and confirms his salvation."
Do you see yourself as righteous, in this Law of Liberty? God's Word is a mirror that reflects who He has made you to be in Christ Jesus and liberates you from the condemnation of the world. You are righteous in the Father's eyes, because of Jesus, but do you see yourself like this? How does your tongue answer your heart and reflection? Have you bridled your tongue by the Word of God or have your deceived your own heart, saying, "It doesn't matter what I say?" Jesus said that, "It's by our words, we can either hope to be justified or acquitted, condemned or sentenced," in Matthew 12:37.
This doesn't mean that God will condemn or sentence you, but your words will do this if you're not using the Kingdom principal that sets you free. Isaiah 53:7 (Amplified) says this about Jesus, "He was oppressed, yet when He was afflicted, He was submissive and opened not His mouth; like a Lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth."
Have you ever wondered about what this scripture tells us? If Jesus had opened His mouth and spoke the Wisdom and Truth on His Own defense, then He would have been perfectly and completely exonerated. Jesus didn't speak on His Own defense and He was judged, condemned and sentenced because He chose not to speak His deliverance. Jesus chose to speak only God's Word and because of His being submissive, He was delivered over for our sake.
We are now "set free from the Law of Sin and of Death, according to Romans 8:2, into the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus."We have the ability to speak life or death, deliverance or captivity into our own lives. We must understand that the words we speak, do make a difference. The words we speak will change the outcome of either deliverance or bondage, in our lives. We are children of God, born of His Spirit and we have the ability and authority to speak God's Own Message, like Jesus, Paul, Peter and all who are born-again have. If the words we speak brought us to salvation, then why wouldn't the other words we speak, have the same power?
Jesus tells the Parable of "The Prodigal Son" in Luke 15:11-32. The prodigal son lost sight of who he was, by the circumstances of where he was. When he returned to the Father, he described himself as "not being worthy" and being "a simple servant." He had forgotten what he looked like in the Father's eyes and saw himself in the eyes of his circumstance. The Father however, still saw a son and loved him. We see ourselves too many times, in the mirror of the perfect Law of Liberty, but walk away and forget what we looked like. The Father never forgets. We must bridle our tongues to bring forth good fruit. We must hold onto the Words of justification and deliverance, allowing the Laws of the Kingdom to work on our behalf.
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Lesson 170 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
The believers Paul writes to in Corinth, had a problem with the things he said. The Revelation Paul was given by the Lord Jesus, was completely foreign to them at the time. We though, have an advantage that they did not. Many focus on Paul's thorn in the flesh, saying that it was "from God." Paul referred to it as "a messenger of satan, sent to buffet him and stop him from preaching and teaching God's Message of Grace and faith." Paul writes, "True, there is nothing to be gained by it, but as I am obliged to boast, I will go on to visions and Revelations of the Lord."
Paul taught from the Revelation he received from the Lord Jesus Personally. This is the same Revelation we're now able to understand, but only through the Holy Spirit. 1Corinthians 14:2,18-19 (Amplified) reveals how we now can understand the Revelation that Paul and Jesus were presenting to us. We can now know the secret Truths and hidden things that aren't obvious to the understanding, by the Holy Spirit.
Paul writes in Verse 19, "I would rather say five words with my understanding than ten thousand words in tongues." Many read this scripture and believe that Paul didn't believe in tongues. Paul writes in the previous Verse 18, "I thank God that I speak in strange tongues (languages), more than any of you or all of you put together." When we confuse Revelation with religion, we completely lose the understanding of Wisdom. Understanding Wisdom centers on God's Grace, while religion centers on the Law. Everything God has given or granted to us, comes by Grace. We accept what He has granted by Grace, by the same faith in which we received salvation.
Religion wants you to work, in order to earn God's Blessing, but Revelation simply asks you to believe what He has done, like you did when receiving salvation. It's wrong to think that you can "make God do things," by reading your Bible. Reading God's Word with understanding, will only reveal this Truth to you. I read my Bible every day, not because I feel "I have to," but because I want to know God and fellowship in the privilege we've been given by Grace.
God's Word was Wisdom before I was saved, but I couldn't relate to what it truly meant. Now that I'm born-again, I have understanding about Wisdom and I can walk by His statues in Grace. The only requirements God asks of me is, that I believe. This is simple God-given faith in His Grace and His Goodness. Walking with God is the easiest thing I've ever done. God helps me grow . What I know, He leads me in and what I am, He made me to be.
We don't read God's Word, in order to impress Him, but we read it, in order to learn and be impressed by Him. God has already done everything that is needed to bring us out in victory. We want to do it our way, so that we feel like "we deserve to be Blessed." We believe that "If I read God's Word more, pray more or go to church more, then God will increase His Blessing on my life." God can't increase it any more than He already has. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus. WE HAVE IT ALL NOW.
Without understanding, we feel like God is holding out on us, for one reason or another. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), "But seek (aim at, 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." Understanding God's way of doing and being right, comes through reading God's Word and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Seeking God's Kingdom first of all, leads to being saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. God's Kingdom and His Righteousness comes through your union with Jesus. Romans 1 :21-22 (Amplified) says, "But now the Righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the prophets Namely, the Righteousness of God which comes by believing with person trust (confidence and reliance) on Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and is meant for all who believe; For there is no distinction."
Faith in God's Grace, is what brought you to salvation, faith in His Christ is what makes you righteous and faith in God's Grace is what makes His Grace work in your life. This is why faith is so important in the believer's life. Don't stop believing after being born-again, because your faith in Jesus and His Finished Word is paramount in your life on earth. The same faith you put in Him for salvation, is the same faith you put in Him for the things your salvation has supplied in Him, by Grace.
We activate His Blessing and allow it to flow in our lives, by faith in His Finished Work. The harder we work to get it to work, the harder it is to allow Grace to perform it's function. It's by Grace that our walk with God is what He has determined, and not ourselves. We didn't do anything, to deserve salvation. Even when we came to Jesus, we knew we didn't deserve to be save, but we put our faith in His Grace. This is God's way of doing and being right. Salvation isn't a performance based religion, but it is Love and Grace.
This doesn't mean that we're to simply sit down and do nothing. We're to understand what Wisdom has made available to us and receive it by Grace. God's part was to give the Grace and our part is applying faith to His Promises and receive them. 2Corinthians 1:20 (Amplified) says, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes Answer in Him, Christ, for that 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."
God's Promises aren't conditional, but are now already ours through Jesus, to God's praise and Glory. Most of us have never seriously considered the fact that Jesus redeemed us from the Curse of the Law. We mostly still walk in what the world and unsaved walk in, as far as the Curse is concerned. The word "redeem," means "to pay for, buy back, purchase and restore." Jesus' Sacrifice paid the penalty for sin and purchased us back, so that the debt owed for our sins is no longer held against us. Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) says, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed), of the things we hope for being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality, faith, perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses."
If I paid your mortgage off in this sense realm, then you wouldn't continue making payments on that mortgage if the bank sent you a bill. You would have the title deed, to prove that you don't owe the debt any longer. We've failed to stand on the Truth of Grace that Jesus redeemed us from the Curse of the Law. Our children have gone into captivity, like the world. Our homes and families, crops and lives, cities and countries have all remained under the Curse and operate like the world. Redemption was bought for us, at the same time our sin was removed from us. We put faith in the salvation portion of God's Grace, but for some reason, we haven't applied faith in the Redemptive work of Jesus.
Some might say, "Well, it isn't important." Jesus didn't "have" to bear the Curse of the Law, to forgive our sin. He could have simply given Himself as the Sin Offering and left us under the Curse of the Law. Jesus didn't even have to bear the beatings He took, in order to forgive our sins. He did this for our healing. If healing, deliverance and being whole weren't God's will for us, then why would He allow Jesus to take our punishment? If God's will wasn't for us to be free from all the bondage of the enemy, then why would He allow Jesus to take our punishment? Satan has deceived us, and we've believed that "God does these things to us," instead of believing the Truth that Jesus bore these things on our behalf.
Do Christians still get sick? Do Christians still walk under the Curse and need to use faith to walk out our salvation? The answer is, "Yes, because without understanding Grace and having faith in God's way of doing and being right, satan will still operate as an outlaw spirit, opposing your right standing with God in Christ Jesus." We have Wisdom from God in Christ Jesus, but we've lacked understanding about our new creature Life in Him.
If a physician instructs you to "Take this pill daily, in order to be healthy and strong," then you would probably take that pill without thinking about it. God said in Proverbs 4:20-22,10 (Amplified), "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." Do we believe God, as much as we believe the doctor? This is another reason, why we should read God's Word on a daily basis. In Verse 10 God says, "Hear, O My son, and receive My Sayings, and the years of your life shall be many."
Proverbs 3:32 (Amplified) says, "The Curse of the Lord (Law) is in the house of the wicked, but He declares Blessed (joyful and favored with Blessing), the home of the just and constantly righteous." We've failed to apply faith in this portion of Grace for our lives. We've accepted the Curse, more than the Blessing, believing this was God's will for our lives. Grace is frustrated and can't do it's work, when we put faith and accept the Curse, instead of the Blessing. Romans 1:16 (Amplified) tells us, "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith and it depends entirely on faith in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor) to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his (Abraham's) descendants, not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is thus the father of us all."
Galatians 3:29 (Amplified) tells us, "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 Promise." Can we believe this Promise is for while we're here on earth? Or, is this Promise conditional and only for when we die and go to Heaven? What good is the Blessing of Abraham, when I'm in the Presence of the One Who is the Source of the Blessing? The Blessing is for here and it's ours through faith in God's Grace. Do I know anyone who is walking in it yet? No, but that doesn't mean that we can't walk in it by faith in the One Who did.
Paul taught from the Revelation he received from the Lord Jesus Personally. This is the same Revelation we're now able to understand, but only through the Holy Spirit. 1Corinthians 14:2,18-19 (Amplified) reveals how we now can understand the Revelation that Paul and Jesus were presenting to us. We can now know the secret Truths and hidden things that aren't obvious to the understanding, by the Holy Spirit.
Paul writes in Verse 19, "I would rather say five words with my understanding than ten thousand words in tongues." Many read this scripture and believe that Paul didn't believe in tongues. Paul writes in the previous Verse 18, "I thank God that I speak in strange tongues (languages), more than any of you or all of you put together." When we confuse Revelation with religion, we completely lose the understanding of Wisdom. Understanding Wisdom centers on God's Grace, while religion centers on the Law. Everything God has given or granted to us, comes by Grace. We accept what He has granted by Grace, by the same faith in which we received salvation.
Religion wants you to work, in order to earn God's Blessing, but Revelation simply asks you to believe what He has done, like you did when receiving salvation. It's wrong to think that you can "make God do things," by reading your Bible. Reading God's Word with understanding, will only reveal this Truth to you. I read my Bible every day, not because I feel "I have to," but because I want to know God and fellowship in the privilege we've been given by Grace.
God's Word was Wisdom before I was saved, but I couldn't relate to what it truly meant. Now that I'm born-again, I have understanding about Wisdom and I can walk by His statues in Grace. The only requirements God asks of me is, that I believe. This is simple God-given faith in His Grace and His Goodness. Walking with God is the easiest thing I've ever done. God helps me grow . What I know, He leads me in and what I am, He made me to be.
We don't read God's Word, in order to impress Him, but we read it, in order to learn and be impressed by Him. God has already done everything that is needed to bring us out in victory. We want to do it our way, so that we feel like "we deserve to be Blessed." We believe that "If I read God's Word more, pray more or go to church more, then God will increase His Blessing on my life." God can't increase it any more than He already has. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus. WE HAVE IT ALL NOW.
Without understanding, we feel like God is holding out on us, for one reason or another. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), "But seek (aim at, 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." Understanding God's way of doing and being right, comes through reading God's Word and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Seeking God's Kingdom first of all, leads to being saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. God's Kingdom and His Righteousness comes through your union with Jesus. Romans 1 :21-22 (Amplified) says, "But now the Righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the prophets Namely, the Righteousness of God which comes by believing with person trust (confidence and reliance) on Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and is meant for all who believe; For there is no distinction."
Faith in God's Grace, is what brought you to salvation, faith in His Christ is what makes you righteous and faith in God's Grace is what makes His Grace work in your life. This is why faith is so important in the believer's life. Don't stop believing after being born-again, because your faith in Jesus and His Finished Word is paramount in your life on earth. The same faith you put in Him for salvation, is the same faith you put in Him for the things your salvation has supplied in Him, by Grace.
We activate His Blessing and allow it to flow in our lives, by faith in His Finished Work. The harder we work to get it to work, the harder it is to allow Grace to perform it's function. It's by Grace that our walk with God is what He has determined, and not ourselves. We didn't do anything, to deserve salvation. Even when we came to Jesus, we knew we didn't deserve to be save, but we put our faith in His Grace. This is God's way of doing and being right. Salvation isn't a performance based religion, but it is Love and Grace.
This doesn't mean that we're to simply sit down and do nothing. We're to understand what Wisdom has made available to us and receive it by Grace. God's part was to give the Grace and our part is applying faith to His Promises and receive them. 2Corinthians 1:20 (Amplified) says, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes Answer in Him, Christ, for that 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."
God's Promises aren't conditional, but are now already ours through Jesus, to God's praise and Glory. Most of us have never seriously considered the fact that Jesus redeemed us from the Curse of the Law. We mostly still walk in what the world and unsaved walk in, as far as the Curse is concerned. The word "redeem," means "to pay for, buy back, purchase and restore." Jesus' Sacrifice paid the penalty for sin and purchased us back, so that the debt owed for our sins is no longer held against us. Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) says, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed), of the things we hope for being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality, faith, perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses."
If I paid your mortgage off in this sense realm, then you wouldn't continue making payments on that mortgage if the bank sent you a bill. You would have the title deed, to prove that you don't owe the debt any longer. We've failed to stand on the Truth of Grace that Jesus redeemed us from the Curse of the Law. Our children have gone into captivity, like the world. Our homes and families, crops and lives, cities and countries have all remained under the Curse and operate like the world. Redemption was bought for us, at the same time our sin was removed from us. We put faith in the salvation portion of God's Grace, but for some reason, we haven't applied faith in the Redemptive work of Jesus.
Some might say, "Well, it isn't important." Jesus didn't "have" to bear the Curse of the Law, to forgive our sin. He could have simply given Himself as the Sin Offering and left us under the Curse of the Law. Jesus didn't even have to bear the beatings He took, in order to forgive our sins. He did this for our healing. If healing, deliverance and being whole weren't God's will for us, then why would He allow Jesus to take our punishment? If God's will wasn't for us to be free from all the bondage of the enemy, then why would He allow Jesus to take our punishment? Satan has deceived us, and we've believed that "God does these things to us," instead of believing the Truth that Jesus bore these things on our behalf.
Do Christians still get sick? Do Christians still walk under the Curse and need to use faith to walk out our salvation? The answer is, "Yes, because without understanding Grace and having faith in God's way of doing and being right, satan will still operate as an outlaw spirit, opposing your right standing with God in Christ Jesus." We have Wisdom from God in Christ Jesus, but we've lacked understanding about our new creature Life in Him.
If a physician instructs you to "Take this pill daily, in order to be healthy and strong," then you would probably take that pill without thinking about it. God said in Proverbs 4:20-22,10 (Amplified), "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." Do we believe God, as much as we believe the doctor? This is another reason, why we should read God's Word on a daily basis. In Verse 10 God says, "Hear, O My son, and receive My Sayings, and the years of your life shall be many."
Proverbs 3:32 (Amplified) says, "The Curse of the Lord (Law) is in the house of the wicked, but He declares Blessed (joyful and favored with Blessing), the home of the just and constantly righteous." We've failed to apply faith in this portion of Grace for our lives. We've accepted the Curse, more than the Blessing, believing this was God's will for our lives. Grace is frustrated and can't do it's work, when we put faith and accept the Curse, instead of the Blessing. Romans 1:16 (Amplified) tells us, "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith and it depends entirely on faith in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor) to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his (Abraham's) descendants, not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is thus the father of us all."
Galatians 3:29 (Amplified) tells us, "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 Promise." Can we believe this Promise is for while we're here on earth? Or, is this Promise conditional and only for when we die and go to Heaven? What good is the Blessing of Abraham, when I'm in the Presence of the One Who is the Source of the Blessing? The Blessing is for here and it's ours through faith in God's Grace. Do I know anyone who is walking in it yet? No, but that doesn't mean that we can't walk in it by faith in the One Who did.
Monday, March 25, 2019
Lesson 169 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
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."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is; get Wisdom, skillful Godly Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing; and with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."
When we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have gotten the principal thing, according to 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified), which says, "But it is from Him (God) that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and in right standing with God; and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption, providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin."
Paul provides a short list of the Power of what God has done for us, through Grace in 1Corinthians 1:30. We've lacked understanding and have placed ourselves back under Law, refusing God's Gift of Grace. We've been moved more by man's interpretation, than that of God and we still live under a bondage that Grace delivered us from. We still live under man's idea of what Grace actually is and have decided to "do it our way."
Jesus told His followers in Matthew 5:17 (Amplified), "Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and to fulfill them." If you're in Jesus Christ, then God sees you as having perfectly fulfilled the Law and not subject to the penalty of the Law. When we don't understand this, we placed ourselves back under the bondage of the Law, disregarding Grace.
Grace has come through Jesus, but we have frustrated the Grace of God by our lack of faith in His Grace. Paul writes in Romans 4:16 (Amplified), "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith, and depends entirely on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor)." When we try to make it work, then it's not faith but is the work of men. This will stop Grace from working in your life. This doesn't mean that Grace isn't for you, but you must Rest in God's Grace and not the works of the flesh. Don't be misled about Grace. Grace doesn't mean that we can live any way we desire and Grace will cover us. Grace will provide us with all the Promises of god by His Goodness, when we live by the Word and the Spirit.
John 1:16-17 (Amplified) tells us that we have "All received, all have 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." These favors, Gifts, and Spiritual Blessings come by our faith in God's Grace. Faith doesn't "make" things work, but it allows them to work. When we put faith in God's Grace and His Promises, we can Rest from trying to make things work by our own ways.
Some believe that involving ourselves in God's Word is Law and we no longer need to do that. God says that His Word is "Spirit and Life" and it is "health and healing to all our flesh." God's Promises in His Word, are all by Grace and can only be appropriated by faith, in the Finished work of Jesus. If you broke one part of the Law, then you were guilty of breaking all of it and are subject to it's penalties. No one could keep it. Only Jesus could fulfill the Law and it's only by faith in what Jesus has done for us, that we're above the enemy's place to bring certain things to pass in our lives. The Law is still in effect, for those who are either outside the covenant of Grace through Jesus or are determined to fulfill the Law on their own.
We have failed to heed Jesus' instructions in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified) where He says, "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." We're to seek God's way of doing and being right, first of all. God has provided a way, by Grace and His Promises through Jesus, that can only be accomplished by faith in Him.
We've previously read about those in the Wilderness and how they limited God from His Promise, by their unbelief. The Law of Moses hadn't been given yet, and they were under Grace and Promise. Their unbelief stopped God's Grace from delivering them into the fullness of His Promise and Grace. Hebrews 4:1-2 (Amplified) says,"Therefore, while the Promise of entering His Rest still hold and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it, lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it."
I understand the human feelings today's Christians have, when they say, "None are righteous, no not one" and "I'm an old sinner saved by Grace" and "I'm unworthy." All these things might be true in yourself, but by Grace, you're no longer in yourself, but in Him.
We've been afraid to trust in what God's Grace has done and haven't put our faith in Him, to do what He Promised. We must Rest in Righteousness and have faith in His Grace to fulfill His Promise, in order to Rest in Righteousness. God gives His Promise of Jesus, in Isaiah 54:13-14 (Amplified) saying, "You shall establish yourself in Righteousness (rightness, in conformity to God's will and order); you shall be far from even the through of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Behold, they may gather together and stir up strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you."
This Promise is in the old covenant, but it's a Promise God made to His new covenant children by Grace. God is making this Promise about Jesus, our Redeemer in 2Corinthians 1:19-20 (Amplified), which says, "For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not Yes and No, but in Him us always the Divine Yes. 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."
Many have mistakenly transferred the punishments and calamities that befell some of the old covenant people, onto the new family of God. This isn't rightly dividing God's Word, like Paul instructs Timothy to do in 2Timothy 2:15 (Amplified) which says, "Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved, tested by trial, a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing, rightly handling and skillfully teaching the Word of Truth."
Grace was there, even when Law was there. It was by Grace, that God accepted and allowed them offer the blood of goats and bulls, instead of destroying them, because of the sin that was ever present in the people's lives. Now that Jesus has paid for and ransomed us by His Blood, why should we walk under the same penalties those in the old covenant did? Our sins weren't just covered by the Blood of Jesus, they were eradicated and totally removed. By faith in His Grace, we are now new creations, who have never sinned. 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
The only condition of Grace is that it must be received by faith. We know that of ourselves, we don't deserve to be called "the Righteousness of God." This is why it must be by faith in His Grace. Only His Grace through Jesus, can make us Righteous and in right standing before God. This Righteousness isn't or ourselves, but by Him. This is Grace.
Through Jesus, we're not the Righteousness or have right standing and can come into God's Holy Presence again, like the first Adam did. Don't throw away the privileges that Jesus purchased with His Blood. Don't reject God's Grace and His Promises, because of mere human understanding. We can do things our own way in our walk with God and by our own understanding, we can still be saved. I'm not speaking about losing your salvation, but about limiting it to only after we leave this planet.
It might not be easy to keep your eyes on Jesus, during the times when the enemy comes to discourage you. Jesus gives "The Parable of the Sower" in Mark 4:14-15 (Amplified) saying, "The Sower sows the Word. The ones along the path are those who have heard the Word sown in their hearts, but when they hear, satan comes at once and by force takes away the Message which is sown in them." The enemy doesn't want God's Church to know the Truth, because when we know the Truth, he loses his ability to still hold us in bondage and fear.
Many don't think it's important that we continuously feed on God's Word. Many are like those in Egypt were and are comfortable in their slavery. Exodus 14:12,13-14 (Amplified) says, "Did we not tell you in Egypt, let us alone? Let us serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than to die in the Wilderness."
God didn't bring them out of Egypt, to die in the Wilderness. They died in the Wilderness, because they lacked faith and didn't believe God's Promise to Abraham. Verses 13-14 tell us what Moses said to the people, saying, "Fear not; stand still (firm, confident, undismayed), and seek the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at Rest."
They murmured against God, every time the enemy came at them with trials. Christians today, still talk about their "Wilderness Experience." God didn't try the people in the Wilderness, but they tried God by their unbelief. Psalm 78:56-57 (Amplified) says, "But they turned back and dealt unfaithfully and treacherously like their fathers; they were twisted like a warped and deceitful bow that will not respond to the archer's arm. Yet they tempted and provoked and rebelled against the Most High God and kept not His testimonies."
The people tested God. God didn't test them. I hear Christians today, say, "God is testing me with this sickness or that experience." We must renew our minds to the Truth of the new family of God. The very prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, applies today. Thus, He prayed in Matthew 6:13 (Amplified), "And lead (bring us) not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory forever, Amen."
We've erroneously accepted that it's God Who is testing us, instead of realizing that satan comes at ones, to take away the Message sown in our hearts, like Jesus said in Mark 4:15 (Amplified). Again, Jesus said, "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."
We've heard many opinions, but they weren't Truth. God's opinion is the only one worth listening too. If it isn't from God's Word, then leave it alone. Satan has effectively kept the Church in a state of being indecisive and of two minds. When we don't know when to submit or resist, then we're left completely without purpose. We try mixing Law and Grace, to the point where neither can accomplish it's purpose. Fulfilling the Law would allow the Blessing, but no one except Jesus could do that. Our trying to fulfill the Law, is foolish and leaves us failing to put faith in Grace and the Blessing.
If we've been redeemed from the Curse of the Law, then we must know what we've been redeemed from. We must put faith in God's Grace and received what God Promised in the Blessing. Many are like those in Egypt, who wanted to stay in the bondage of Egypt, instead of trusting in God's Grace to bring us out of Egypt.
Have you heard of "The Stockholm Syndrome?" This is when someone who's been kidnapped and held, begins identifying with their captors, until they're comfortable in captivity. We've walked in this state for so long, that we no longer see it as being captivity. Paul wrote about this in Romans 12:2 (Amplified) saying, "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 ideals and its new attitude, so that you may prove for yourselves what is that 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 will for those in the Wilderness, wasn't what they thought, but what He wanted for them, which was much more than they could imagine. They refused to bring their minds into God's will and could only see and adapt to the present age. Of course, Heaven is real and we will be fully in God's Presence one day, whether or not you adapt to God's idea His will for you is here. Jesus has taken care of our future and all eternity, on our behalf. I'm not talking about your being a Good or bad Christian, like some would believe this message is about. If we are created anew and born of God's Word as His children, then there's no such thing as a "bad" Christian.
I'm speaking to the Church as individuals in the Body of Christ. The Father still deals with us as individuals and not just as a group of people. We don't have to rely on the word of ten spies, like those in the Wilderness did. I don't have to take their word about what God's Promise is. I can go to my Heavenly Father to find His Promise and His Grace. Just because some don't believe that God is still a Healer today, doesn't mean that I have to remain sick.
We all know Christians who don't believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the speaking in tongues. We probably know other Christians who do believe in these things. Should we miss out on such a Blessing of Grace, which allows us to pray in other tongues and speak to the Father in such a Glorious manner, just because some don't believe in that? 1Corinthians 14:2 (Amplified) tells us, "For one who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning because in the Holy Spirit he utters secret Truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding."
I can put faith in God's Promise and receive the Holy Spirit, even though others believe, "These things have passed away." Do I have the right in Jesus, to pursue this Promise by faith? Or, should I listen to those who don't believe? It's God's will that we have the ability to choose whether or not to believe. I'm not staying in the Wilderness, just because others said we are "grasshoppers in the sight of the giants who live in the Promised Land." I have a God-given right to the Mysteries of the Kingdom, by and through the Holy Spirit. I have a direct line to the Father and can know the Secret Truth and hidden things not obvious to the understanding. Does this make me a "good Christian or a bad Christian? It makes me a Christian who refuses to have someone else tell me, "Who I am in Christ."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is; get Wisdom, skillful Godly Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing; and with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."
When we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have gotten the principal thing, according to 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified), which says, "But it is from Him (God) that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and in right standing with God; and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption, providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin."
Paul provides a short list of the Power of what God has done for us, through Grace in 1Corinthians 1:30. We've lacked understanding and have placed ourselves back under Law, refusing God's Gift of Grace. We've been moved more by man's interpretation, than that of God and we still live under a bondage that Grace delivered us from. We still live under man's idea of what Grace actually is and have decided to "do it our way."
Jesus told His followers in Matthew 5:17 (Amplified), "Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and to fulfill them." If you're in Jesus Christ, then God sees you as having perfectly fulfilled the Law and not subject to the penalty of the Law. When we don't understand this, we placed ourselves back under the bondage of the Law, disregarding Grace.
Grace has come through Jesus, but we have frustrated the Grace of God by our lack of faith in His Grace. Paul writes in Romans 4:16 (Amplified), "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith, and depends entirely on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor)." When we try to make it work, then it's not faith but is the work of men. This will stop Grace from working in your life. This doesn't mean that Grace isn't for you, but you must Rest in God's Grace and not the works of the flesh. Don't be misled about Grace. Grace doesn't mean that we can live any way we desire and Grace will cover us. Grace will provide us with all the Promises of god by His Goodness, when we live by the Word and the Spirit.
John 1:16-17 (Amplified) tells us that we have "All received, all have 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." These favors, Gifts, and Spiritual Blessings come by our faith in God's Grace. Faith doesn't "make" things work, but it allows them to work. When we put faith in God's Grace and His Promises, we can Rest from trying to make things work by our own ways.
Some believe that involving ourselves in God's Word is Law and we no longer need to do that. God says that His Word is "Spirit and Life" and it is "health and healing to all our flesh." God's Promises in His Word, are all by Grace and can only be appropriated by faith, in the Finished work of Jesus. If you broke one part of the Law, then you were guilty of breaking all of it and are subject to it's penalties. No one could keep it. Only Jesus could fulfill the Law and it's only by faith in what Jesus has done for us, that we're above the enemy's place to bring certain things to pass in our lives. The Law is still in effect, for those who are either outside the covenant of Grace through Jesus or are determined to fulfill the Law on their own.
We have failed to heed Jesus' instructions in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified) where He says, "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." We're to seek God's way of doing and being right, first of all. God has provided a way, by Grace and His Promises through Jesus, that can only be accomplished by faith in Him.
We've previously read about those in the Wilderness and how they limited God from His Promise, by their unbelief. The Law of Moses hadn't been given yet, and they were under Grace and Promise. Their unbelief stopped God's Grace from delivering them into the fullness of His Promise and Grace. Hebrews 4:1-2 (Amplified) says,"Therefore, while the Promise of entering His Rest still hold and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it, lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it."
I understand the human feelings today's Christians have, when they say, "None are righteous, no not one" and "I'm an old sinner saved by Grace" and "I'm unworthy." All these things might be true in yourself, but by Grace, you're no longer in yourself, but in Him.
We've been afraid to trust in what God's Grace has done and haven't put our faith in Him, to do what He Promised. We must Rest in Righteousness and have faith in His Grace to fulfill His Promise, in order to Rest in Righteousness. God gives His Promise of Jesus, in Isaiah 54:13-14 (Amplified) saying, "You shall establish yourself in Righteousness (rightness, in conformity to God's will and order); you shall be far from even the through of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Behold, they may gather together and stir up strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you."
This Promise is in the old covenant, but it's a Promise God made to His new covenant children by Grace. God is making this Promise about Jesus, our Redeemer in 2Corinthians 1:19-20 (Amplified), which says, "For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not Yes and No, but in Him us always the Divine Yes. 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."
Many have mistakenly transferred the punishments and calamities that befell some of the old covenant people, onto the new family of God. This isn't rightly dividing God's Word, like Paul instructs Timothy to do in 2Timothy 2:15 (Amplified) which says, "Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved, tested by trial, a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing, rightly handling and skillfully teaching the Word of Truth."
Grace was there, even when Law was there. It was by Grace, that God accepted and allowed them offer the blood of goats and bulls, instead of destroying them, because of the sin that was ever present in the people's lives. Now that Jesus has paid for and ransomed us by His Blood, why should we walk under the same penalties those in the old covenant did? Our sins weren't just covered by the Blood of Jesus, they were eradicated and totally removed. By faith in His Grace, we are now new creations, who have never sinned. 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
The only condition of Grace is that it must be received by faith. We know that of ourselves, we don't deserve to be called "the Righteousness of God." This is why it must be by faith in His Grace. Only His Grace through Jesus, can make us Righteous and in right standing before God. This Righteousness isn't or ourselves, but by Him. This is Grace.
Through Jesus, we're not the Righteousness or have right standing and can come into God's Holy Presence again, like the first Adam did. Don't throw away the privileges that Jesus purchased with His Blood. Don't reject God's Grace and His Promises, because of mere human understanding. We can do things our own way in our walk with God and by our own understanding, we can still be saved. I'm not speaking about losing your salvation, but about limiting it to only after we leave this planet.
It might not be easy to keep your eyes on Jesus, during the times when the enemy comes to discourage you. Jesus gives "The Parable of the Sower" in Mark 4:14-15 (Amplified) saying, "The Sower sows the Word. The ones along the path are those who have heard the Word sown in their hearts, but when they hear, satan comes at once and by force takes away the Message which is sown in them." The enemy doesn't want God's Church to know the Truth, because when we know the Truth, he loses his ability to still hold us in bondage and fear.
Many don't think it's important that we continuously feed on God's Word. Many are like those in Egypt were and are comfortable in their slavery. Exodus 14:12,13-14 (Amplified) says, "Did we not tell you in Egypt, let us alone? Let us serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than to die in the Wilderness."
God didn't bring them out of Egypt, to die in the Wilderness. They died in the Wilderness, because they lacked faith and didn't believe God's Promise to Abraham. Verses 13-14 tell us what Moses said to the people, saying, "Fear not; stand still (firm, confident, undismayed), and seek the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at Rest."
They murmured against God, every time the enemy came at them with trials. Christians today, still talk about their "Wilderness Experience." God didn't try the people in the Wilderness, but they tried God by their unbelief. Psalm 78:56-57 (Amplified) says, "But they turned back and dealt unfaithfully and treacherously like their fathers; they were twisted like a warped and deceitful bow that will not respond to the archer's arm. Yet they tempted and provoked and rebelled against the Most High God and kept not His testimonies."
The people tested God. God didn't test them. I hear Christians today, say, "God is testing me with this sickness or that experience." We must renew our minds to the Truth of the new family of God. The very prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, applies today. Thus, He prayed in Matthew 6:13 (Amplified), "And lead (bring us) not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory forever, Amen."
We've erroneously accepted that it's God Who is testing us, instead of realizing that satan comes at ones, to take away the Message sown in our hearts, like Jesus said in Mark 4:15 (Amplified). Again, Jesus said, "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."
We've heard many opinions, but they weren't Truth. God's opinion is the only one worth listening too. If it isn't from God's Word, then leave it alone. Satan has effectively kept the Church in a state of being indecisive and of two minds. When we don't know when to submit or resist, then we're left completely without purpose. We try mixing Law and Grace, to the point where neither can accomplish it's purpose. Fulfilling the Law would allow the Blessing, but no one except Jesus could do that. Our trying to fulfill the Law, is foolish and leaves us failing to put faith in Grace and the Blessing.
If we've been redeemed from the Curse of the Law, then we must know what we've been redeemed from. We must put faith in God's Grace and received what God Promised in the Blessing. Many are like those in Egypt, who wanted to stay in the bondage of Egypt, instead of trusting in God's Grace to bring us out of Egypt.
Have you heard of "The Stockholm Syndrome?" This is when someone who's been kidnapped and held, begins identifying with their captors, until they're comfortable in captivity. We've walked in this state for so long, that we no longer see it as being captivity. Paul wrote about this in Romans 12:2 (Amplified) saying, "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 ideals and its new attitude, so that you may prove for yourselves what is that 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 will for those in the Wilderness, wasn't what they thought, but what He wanted for them, which was much more than they could imagine. They refused to bring their minds into God's will and could only see and adapt to the present age. Of course, Heaven is real and we will be fully in God's Presence one day, whether or not you adapt to God's idea His will for you is here. Jesus has taken care of our future and all eternity, on our behalf. I'm not talking about your being a Good or bad Christian, like some would believe this message is about. If we are created anew and born of God's Word as His children, then there's no such thing as a "bad" Christian.
I'm speaking to the Church as individuals in the Body of Christ. The Father still deals with us as individuals and not just as a group of people. We don't have to rely on the word of ten spies, like those in the Wilderness did. I don't have to take their word about what God's Promise is. I can go to my Heavenly Father to find His Promise and His Grace. Just because some don't believe that God is still a Healer today, doesn't mean that I have to remain sick.
We all know Christians who don't believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the speaking in tongues. We probably know other Christians who do believe in these things. Should we miss out on such a Blessing of Grace, which allows us to pray in other tongues and speak to the Father in such a Glorious manner, just because some don't believe in that? 1Corinthians 14:2 (Amplified) tells us, "For one who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning because in the Holy Spirit he utters secret Truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding."
I can put faith in God's Promise and receive the Holy Spirit, even though others believe, "These things have passed away." Do I have the right in Jesus, to pursue this Promise by faith? Or, should I listen to those who don't believe? It's God's will that we have the ability to choose whether or not to believe. I'm not staying in the Wilderness, just because others said we are "grasshoppers in the sight of the giants who live in the Promised Land." I have a God-given right to the Mysteries of the Kingdom, by and through the Holy Spirit. I have a direct line to the Father and can know the Secret Truth and hidden things not obvious to the understanding. Does this make me a "good Christian or a bad Christian? It makes me a Christian who refuses to have someone else tell me, "Who I am in Christ."
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Lesson 168 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
FAITH DOESN'T MAKE THINGS HAPPEN, FAITH ALLOWS GRACE TO DO THE WORK. We need only to put faith in God's Promises and Grace will fulfill His Word. The work of Grace is that we don't have to make it work, but by faith, we believe it and Grace fulfills every Promise of God. Psalm 85:10-11 (Amplified) says, "Mercy and Loving-kindness and Truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other Truth shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall look down from Heaven."
The above scripture prophesies the peace covenant and the Truth of God's Grace and mercy in Jesus, for this time of the children of God. It says, "Truth has sprung up from the earth and righteousness has looked down from Heaven." Those in the old covenant, walked in only a portion of Truth. They had Promises that hadn't come to pass yet and the Words of Peace were still in the making. Today, Jesus is our Peace with God, He is our Righteousness with God, He is the Promise of Grace and Rest, He is our healer, sin bearer, sanctification, Redeemer and our Deliverer, by the delegated Power of His Name. We are living in the Promises, that others could only read about and look forward to happening.
We read about a sick man who was lowered down from the roof, in order to reach Jesus in Luke 5:18-24 (Amplified). Jesus said to the man in Verse 20, "Man, your sins are forgiven you!" Verses 21-24 go on, "And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason and to question and argue, saying; Who is this Man Who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus said, Which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise, Take up your bed and walk about? Jesus said, but that you may know that the Son of Man has the Power of Authority and right on earth to forgive sin, He said to the paralyzed man, I say to you, arise, pack up your litter (stretcher), and go to your own house."
The above scripture tells us that the man stood up, picked up his bed and walked out praising God. Today, we see the same thing happening in reverse. We seemingly believe God can forgive sin, but that He isn't able to heal. Jesus asked, "Which is the easier? To forgive sin or heal the sick?" Do you believe He has forgiven your sins? If so, then why wouldn't you believe that He has healed your body? Which is easier? The enemy has caused us to dilute the Truth and receive only a partial Truth. Jesus didn't say, "I am a Truth." He said, "I AM THE TRUTH." Jesus is the Whole Truth of God's Promise, for here and hereafter. It's true, that when we go to be with Him, we will be healed, but that doesn't negate His Promise to us now which says, "By His striped we are healed." God's Word hasn't been working for us, because we've been heeding the voice to the ten spies, instead of God's Promises, like those in the Wilderness. We've been listening to those who bring reports about the giants and our being grasshoppers in their eyes, instead of heeding God's report.
There are still giants in the land, but the One Who we serve is a giant killer. David didn't have a problem with his eyesight, when approaching Goliath. David saw how big the giant was, but he also saw how big his God is. The soldiers in Israel's army saw how big Goliath was and were too afraid to fight him. Any of those soldiers could have done what David did. They were all covenant people and served the same God as David did. The difference was that David had built a relationship with the Father and had faith in His Promises.
Grace has always been God's heart and His nature. He knew we would need to grow and develop into who He made us to be and He knew it would take Grace to do that. Faith doesn't make God's Word work. Father in His Word allows His Grace to do what He Promised. Our salvation was paid for, before we were born. Our sins were washed away by Jesus, two-thousand years ago. Grace had already been set into motion, by the Father's Love. My sins had already been forgiven and removed from me, two-thousand years before I was born. Grace had already provided my forgiveness and righteousness before God, by Jesus on the cross.
Grace made all the things necessary for my new birth and standing with God, but until I put faith in God's Promise, Grace wasn't activated in my life. When by faith, I called and believed in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord, His Grace worked instantaneously in my life and I became a new creation. Grace had always been there, but I hadn't activated it on my behalf, until I called on His Name by faith.
The Same Man Jesus, on the same day, in the same Body and Spirit, took my sin, the Curse of the Law, sickness and disease, the punishment and sorrow, the penalty of separation, the Spiritual death that held me and the fear of death. Jesus redeemed me and paid the Price that was owed against me and made me free. If one part of the redemption is true, then all of it is true. My problem has been like it was with those in the Wilderness...unbelief. We're still in unbelief in many areas of our relationship with God and that needs to change.
Are there things that can be improved on your behalf, in the area of salvation? Jesus doesn't need any improvement on His behalf of the covenant, but we still have many things we don't believe. We've done away with the outward sins of life and it's natural appetites. We've stopped drinking, cussing, committing adultery and many such things, which is very good, but we now need to improve on our personal relationship with the Father. We're the only ones who can do this. No one else can build our relationship with Him.
God's Word teaches many things about prayer. Prayer was to be Grace activated by faith, to meet every need in our lives. God's heart says that our prayers are a "Done deal." We've lost faith in prayer over the years and have mostly decided that "Prayer doesn't work." We might not openly say this or tell others this, but we can see it in our lives, our families and our country. How many people attend intercessory prayer meetings in your church? If we really put faith into the Grace offered to us in prayer, then those prayer meetings would overflow the church, into the parking lot.
Paul writes about faith and Grace in the believer's lives, in Romans 4:16 (Amplified) saying, "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith and depends entirely on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his (Abraham's) descendants, not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham who is thus the father of us all."
When God approached Abraham, it was an act of Grace that set him apart. The Promise of God's Grace included a son, who would be born to an old man and his barren, elderly wife. They had no hope at ever having a child, but Grace said it would happen. God Promised this to Abraham and when he believed and put faith in God's Grace and Promise, the line from which our faith in that Promise was born and now stands. This was all done by God's Grace and by one man's putting his faith in God's Grace.
Grace had to supply this child, because natural child bearing was impossible for 100 year old Abraham and his barren wife. Our position with Jesus today, all happened because of Abraham's faith in God's Grace. We read about Noah's finding Grace in God's eyes and his faith in God's Promise, in Hebrews 11:7 (Amplified) which says, "Prompted by faith, Noah, being forewarned by God concerning events of which as yet there was no visible sign, took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared and Ark, for the deliverance of his own family, By this, his faith which relied on God, he passed judgment and sentence on the world's unbelief and became an heir and possessor of righteousness, that relationship of being right into which God puts the person who has faith."
God's Promise of Grace has stood the test of time for all men, but only some have put faith in those Promises, that would bring forth manifestation to the world. Jesus brought forth the manifestation of Grace and truth, for the whole world to see and believe. John 1:16-17 (Amplified) tells us, "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."
All these things are by Grace and only faith in His Grace will bring them into your life. Grace has come and the invitation to be reconciled to God has been made through Jesus, two-thousand years ago. Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) says, "For it is by free Grace (God's unmerited favor), that you are saved (delivered from judgment) and made partakers of Christ's salvation through your faith; And this salvation is not of yourselves (of your own doing), it came not through your own striving, but is the Gift of God."
There are many things about Grace and faith, in the above scripture. It tells us that Grace has always been here and that Grace delivered us from judgment and has made us partakers of Christ's salvation. It tells us that this salvation "is not of our own doing or striving, but IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD."
This Gift is Jesus and is Grace and Truth. Grace encompasses the Promises of God and restores all things back into His Plan for man from the beginning. The Gifts, Spiritual Blessing and Truth found in John 1:16-17 couldn't come upon us, while we were still dead in trespasses and sin. When Life came through Jesus, Grace made these things available to all who would believe. Grace restored the Plan God held for man, from the beginning. Grace is and was, God's original Plan and purpose for His children.
So many of us have limited God in our walk with Him, because of holding onto traditions and customs of the church, instead of having a personal relationship with Him. We read about those who had faith in God's Grace and His Promises, in Hebrews 11. There are many names that have become familiar to us and are in God's Hall of Fame. Verses 35-38, 39-40 grabbed my attention, because we read about those who stood in their faith of God, but we don't know their names. Thus, we read, "Some women received again their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured to death by clubs, refusing to accept release offered on the terms of denying their faith so that they might be resurrected to a better life. Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and souring and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were lured with tempting offers to renounce their faith, they were slaughtered by the sword whiled they were still alive, they were sown asunder, they had to go about wrapped in skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, crudely treated Men of whom the world was not worthy-roaming over the desolate places and the mountains, and living in caves and caverns and holes in the earth." These weren't those whose names we know, but they were ones God placed in His Hall of Fame.
Verses 39-40 go on, "And all of these, though they won Divine approval by means of their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was Promised Because God has us in mined and had something better and greater in view for us, so that these heroes and heroins of faith should not come to perfection apart from us before we could join them."
As I read about such faith in the old covenant people, I wonder what and how these heroes would act in the fulfillment of what was Promised. How would they act today, in the Light of what we have through Jesus? People didn't have access to God and the son-ship righteousness, like those of us in God's family do today. How would they act in one of our church services, where the fulfillment of God's Promise has come?
God's Promises are Truth today. They're no longer just Promises, but are fact and truth, on behalf of the believer. What would those heroes do with the ability and Blood bought privilege of "Coming boldly to God's Throne of Grace and favor to receive help and Grace," like we have today? God gave me a Message several years ago saying, "My Grace has provided much more than My children's faith has ever received yet." Have we limited our Father's Grace and His favor, by our unbelief, like those in the Wilderness who didn't enter into His Rest?
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Lesson 167 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
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."
There have been those who have gone beyond the standard Christianity set by tradition, over the centuries. We've heard about men and women who walked a Super-natural walk with God and sadly, we've followed after these people, instead of developing our own personal relationship with God. Many thousands of people came from miles around to see Oral Roberts and attend his revivals. This was great for many who were sick or diseased, but why wouldn't we stand on the same Promise and Word that Oral Roberts did, receiving from the same Heavenly Father?
Multitudes followed Jesus, because they could see a man and put their faith in that. Only certain people could walk in the Anointing and do miracles in the days of old. In this day and age, we're all anointed by and through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We've become the temple of the Holy Spirit, but it seems like we've given over having a personal relationship with Him, to others. We're not laboring to develop a personal relationship with God, on our own and rely on others to do that for us.
I understand that we don't all have the same calling, as far as ministry and I know that we're not all set in places of the five-fold ministry. But, we are all God's children and He wants to have a personal relationship with each of us. We've relied on others to develop our relationship with God, by their knowledge, instead of laboring to develop our own relationship with Him. We've made up excuses for why prayer doesn't work and accepted them as being Truth.
Prayer isn't something like playing the lottery, but it's a place of Rest in God. When we have the certainty of our needs being met by the Father, then we can Rest. 1John 5:14-15 (Amplified) says, "And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) we have in Him; we are sure that if we ask anything, make our request according to His will (in agreement with His Own Plan), He listens to and hears us. And if, since we positively know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know with settled and absolute knowledge, that we have granted us as our present possessions, the requests made of Him."
How long has it been since you have had the confidence, assurance, and the privilege of boldness to have settled and absolute confidence that your request will be granted to you? We've devised a myriad of answers and excuses for why our prayer life falls short of help from God. Many have simply stopped praying altogether, because it seems like nothing was happening. We've done like those in the Wilderness did. We read in Exodus 14:12 about their finding it much easier to stay in Egypt, rather than to labor to enter into God's Rest and trust in Him. This happened, even after they witnessed everything God did for them. We've not supposed to depend on a Moses, Joshua or Caleb to lead the way, because we have God's Own Spirit and assurance through Jesus, that "He will never leave us, nor forsake us, but will be with us always till the end of the world."
This isn't just a Promise God makes to the Church, but for each individual in the Church. Just because the majority wishes to stay in bondage and stay in Egypt, doesn't mean we have to stay there too. We must develop our own relationship with Jesus, by spending time with Him. We must learn to hear His Voice and not follow the voice of a stranger. Prayer was supposed to be a two-way source of communion with God. We were supposed to hear from On High and bring God's Presence into the life of men and women here on earth.
If you belong to the Father through Jesus, then these Promises are yours, even if others don't believe in them. If you're part of a fellowship that doesn't believe that God is still a Healer and you're sick, then do you have to remain sick because they say, "God doesn't heal any longer" or can you trust God for yourself? Romans 3:3-4 (Amplified) says, "What if some did not believe and were without faith? Does their lack of faith and their faithlessness nullify and make ineffective and void the faithfulness of God and His fidelity to His Word? By no means! Let God be found True though every human being is false and a liar, as it is written, that you may be justified and shown to be upright in what you say, and prevail when you are judged by sinful men."
The Israelites in the Wilderness from Numbers 13, listened more to ten men who didn't believe God was able to fulfill His Word, which resulted in their dying in the Wilderness. Only two men (Joshua and Caleb) believed God's Promise. The majority is not always right. Hebrews 4:2 (Amplified) says, "For indeed we have had the glad tidings (Gospel of God), proclaimed to us just as the Good News of deliverance from bondage came to [those in the wilderness]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith, with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His Power, Wisdom, and Goodness, by those who heard it, neither were they united in faith with the ones, Joshua and Caleb, who heard and did believe."
This wasn't God's choice or His Plan for the people He freed from the bondage of Egypt. God wanted the people to enter into His Rest and the Promised Land, but only Joshua and Caleb believed Him. The people chose not to believe Him and they were each responsible for their decision.
The "Wilderness Journey" being preached today in the Church, is false and shouldn't be accepted by God's people. We're being taught that, "We must all have our wilderness experience." The thing we call the wilderness experience, was of their own doing and not God's. They chose not to believe God and His deliverance for them. It might surprise you to know that not everything happening in your life is God's Plan or purpose for you.
Hebrews 4:2 tells us that the people didn't trust God and died in the Wilderness. We should focus on Verse 1, where Paul writes, "Therefore, while the Promise of entering His rest still holds today and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it, lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it." Some have already chosen to distrust it and are still in bondage, but for those who choose to do like Joshua and Caleb did, the Promise is still valid.
The Promise was made for everyone, but only some choose to believe. The people in the Wilderness were all God's children, but they didn't all enjoy the Fruit of the Promise or the Promised Land. God has many things in His Promise for us today, that are really not part of just going to Heaven when we die. His Promises are for us, while we're still here in these earthly bodies, as well as when we leave these bodies. Psalm 78:40-42 (KJV) says, "How oft did they provoke Him in the Wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert? Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel They remembered not His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy."
How many times have those of us in the Church Age, "temped and limited" our Heavenly Father? What sort of limits have we placed on Him with our saying, "God no longer does these things" or "Those things were for another time" or "God's Promises aren't for everyone." These things angered God and limited Him, when the people in the Wilderness said them. How much do you think we limit God in the "new and better covenant that is established on better Promises and all of these Promises are now Yes and Amen to the Glory of God in Christ Jesus," according to 2Corinthians 1:19-20.
Even if God's Promise wasn't fulfilled in my life, I would rather die going into the Promised Land, than to die in unbelief, in the Wilderness. We've made God's Promises, hard to walk in, by our own unbelief. God called it a Rest. We don't have to earn it or make it come to pass, we only need to trust in Him and His Word. Grace will do the rest.
There have been those who have gone beyond the standard Christianity set by tradition, over the centuries. We've heard about men and women who walked a Super-natural walk with God and sadly, we've followed after these people, instead of developing our own personal relationship with God. Many thousands of people came from miles around to see Oral Roberts and attend his revivals. This was great for many who were sick or diseased, but why wouldn't we stand on the same Promise and Word that Oral Roberts did, receiving from the same Heavenly Father?
Multitudes followed Jesus, because they could see a man and put their faith in that. Only certain people could walk in the Anointing and do miracles in the days of old. In this day and age, we're all anointed by and through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We've become the temple of the Holy Spirit, but it seems like we've given over having a personal relationship with Him, to others. We're not laboring to develop a personal relationship with God, on our own and rely on others to do that for us.
I understand that we don't all have the same calling, as far as ministry and I know that we're not all set in places of the five-fold ministry. But, we are all God's children and He wants to have a personal relationship with each of us. We've relied on others to develop our relationship with God, by their knowledge, instead of laboring to develop our own relationship with Him. We've made up excuses for why prayer doesn't work and accepted them as being Truth.
Prayer isn't something like playing the lottery, but it's a place of Rest in God. When we have the certainty of our needs being met by the Father, then we can Rest. 1John 5:14-15 (Amplified) says, "And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) we have in Him; we are sure that if we ask anything, make our request according to His will (in agreement with His Own Plan), He listens to and hears us. And if, since we positively know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know with settled and absolute knowledge, that we have granted us as our present possessions, the requests made of Him."
How long has it been since you have had the confidence, assurance, and the privilege of boldness to have settled and absolute confidence that your request will be granted to you? We've devised a myriad of answers and excuses for why our prayer life falls short of help from God. Many have simply stopped praying altogether, because it seems like nothing was happening. We've done like those in the Wilderness did. We read in Exodus 14:12 about their finding it much easier to stay in Egypt, rather than to labor to enter into God's Rest and trust in Him. This happened, even after they witnessed everything God did for them. We've not supposed to depend on a Moses, Joshua or Caleb to lead the way, because we have God's Own Spirit and assurance through Jesus, that "He will never leave us, nor forsake us, but will be with us always till the end of the world."
This isn't just a Promise God makes to the Church, but for each individual in the Church. Just because the majority wishes to stay in bondage and stay in Egypt, doesn't mean we have to stay there too. We must develop our own relationship with Jesus, by spending time with Him. We must learn to hear His Voice and not follow the voice of a stranger. Prayer was supposed to be a two-way source of communion with God. We were supposed to hear from On High and bring God's Presence into the life of men and women here on earth.
If you belong to the Father through Jesus, then these Promises are yours, even if others don't believe in them. If you're part of a fellowship that doesn't believe that God is still a Healer and you're sick, then do you have to remain sick because they say, "God doesn't heal any longer" or can you trust God for yourself? Romans 3:3-4 (Amplified) says, "What if some did not believe and were without faith? Does their lack of faith and their faithlessness nullify and make ineffective and void the faithfulness of God and His fidelity to His Word? By no means! Let God be found True though every human being is false and a liar, as it is written, that you may be justified and shown to be upright in what you say, and prevail when you are judged by sinful men."
The Israelites in the Wilderness from Numbers 13, listened more to ten men who didn't believe God was able to fulfill His Word, which resulted in their dying in the Wilderness. Only two men (Joshua and Caleb) believed God's Promise. The majority is not always right. Hebrews 4:2 (Amplified) says, "For indeed we have had the glad tidings (Gospel of God), proclaimed to us just as the Good News of deliverance from bondage came to [those in the wilderness]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith, with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His Power, Wisdom, and Goodness, by those who heard it, neither were they united in faith with the ones, Joshua and Caleb, who heard and did believe."
This wasn't God's choice or His Plan for the people He freed from the bondage of Egypt. God wanted the people to enter into His Rest and the Promised Land, but only Joshua and Caleb believed Him. The people chose not to believe Him and they were each responsible for their decision.
The "Wilderness Journey" being preached today in the Church, is false and shouldn't be accepted by God's people. We're being taught that, "We must all have our wilderness experience." The thing we call the wilderness experience, was of their own doing and not God's. They chose not to believe God and His deliverance for them. It might surprise you to know that not everything happening in your life is God's Plan or purpose for you.
Hebrews 4:2 tells us that the people didn't trust God and died in the Wilderness. We should focus on Verse 1, where Paul writes, "Therefore, while the Promise of entering His rest still holds today and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it, lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it." Some have already chosen to distrust it and are still in bondage, but for those who choose to do like Joshua and Caleb did, the Promise is still valid.
The Promise was made for everyone, but only some choose to believe. The people in the Wilderness were all God's children, but they didn't all enjoy the Fruit of the Promise or the Promised Land. God has many things in His Promise for us today, that are really not part of just going to Heaven when we die. His Promises are for us, while we're still here in these earthly bodies, as well as when we leave these bodies. Psalm 78:40-42 (KJV) says, "How oft did they provoke Him in the Wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert? Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel They remembered not His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy."
How many times have those of us in the Church Age, "temped and limited" our Heavenly Father? What sort of limits have we placed on Him with our saying, "God no longer does these things" or "Those things were for another time" or "God's Promises aren't for everyone." These things angered God and limited Him, when the people in the Wilderness said them. How much do you think we limit God in the "new and better covenant that is established on better Promises and all of these Promises are now Yes and Amen to the Glory of God in Christ Jesus," according to 2Corinthians 1:19-20.
Even if God's Promise wasn't fulfilled in my life, I would rather die going into the Promised Land, than to die in unbelief, in the Wilderness. We've made God's Promises, hard to walk in, by our own unbelief. God called it a Rest. We don't have to earn it or make it come to pass, we only need to trust in Him and His Word. Grace will do the rest.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Lesson 166 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
It seems as though we've mistaken Grace, for what we now see as "we can do whatever we want to do, without being responsible." God has given us Grace through Jesus, but we must learn about His Grace and Rest and labor to enter into them. Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified) said, "So we see that [those in the Wilderness] were not able to enter into His Rest, because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on god, unbelief had shut them out." Hebrews 4:1 (Amplified) goes on, "Therefore, while the Promise of entering His Rest still holds and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it, lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it."
Hebrews 4:11-12 (Amplified) says, "Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that Rest of God, to know and experience it for ourselves, that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience into which those in the Wilderness fell." After reading this scripture about "exerting ourselves and striving diligently to enter," we've believed we must work to get that Rest. We don't labor to get the Rest, but through diligence, we can know what the Rest is and apply our faith to it. Grace has already made God's Rest available to us, but we must receive it by faith. It's difficult to accept the Promise, if we don't know what the Promise is.
Hebrews 4:11 (King James Version) says this, "Let us labour therefore to enter into that Rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." This might sound contradictory to say, "Labour to Rest," sounding like we must enter the Rest by works.
Psalm 23:3 (KJV) tells us that,"Jesus restores our soul." The word "soul," according to the Strong's Concordance means, "your mind, will and emotions." Mankind lived by the dictate of his soul from the fall of Adam, until Jesus' Resurrection. Man's soul was cut-off from God, upon Adam's fall in the Garden and man lived only by his natural emotions. The Church and the world, still live this way today. We've never truly allowed the Lord to restore our soul.
We've allowed our emotions to drive our emotions and our natural lives. We've never "laboured" to understand God's Word from a Spirit viewpoint and have interpreted it by our own intellect and what we've thought about what God's Word means. Our soul or emotions and thoughts about God's Word, have determined what we will believe or won't believe, based on how we feel about it.
It's important that we labor to enter God's Rest. We Rest in God's Promises, when we labor in His Word. If we don't know God's Promise, then we're always trying to make things work by our own efforts. It's only by faith, that we can rest and it's only by His Word, that we can know God's will and Promises to us, in His Grace.
Most of us have never given thought to our soul, in our Christian walk. So much of our faith is determined by restoring our soul. Hebrews 11:12 (Amplified) tells us, "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power, making it active, operative, energizing, and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the Breath of Life, soul and the immortal spirit, and the joints and marrow of the deepest parts of our nature, exposing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart."
Only God's Word can separate and divide the thoughts, purposes, soul from the spirit and the very flesh and blood of the mortal body. Your soul (mind, will and emotions) might be taking you in a direction that the Holy Spirit doesn't desire for you. It will require labour and effort on your behalf, to bring your emotions and thoughts into order by God's Word and His Spirit. You cannot know what is the Truth, unless you know the Truth.
Paul speaks about your carnal mind (soul) leading your life. Your soul determines which way you will go in life, because it tells your mind where to go. Your mind receives directions from your soul (emotions) and trusts your soul for guidance. Through the new birth, you have received Life again in your spirit, which contradicts your soulish intellect. Your mind is now divided or as James says, "double-minded." Your spirit is listening to the Word of God, your soul is listening to the five senses, leaving your mind confused about which way to go. Your body is perplexed by having so many different inputs, which brings emotional stress on the body. This leads to guilt, condemnation, resentment, depression and/or oppression. The body then requires outside help from a counselor, in order to set the correct course.
We must control our mind, because it's capable of doing dumb things when it's out of control. The Holy Spirit inspires Paul in Romans 12:2 (Amplified), saying, "Do not be conformed to this present age (world), but be transformed by the renewing of your minds." Paul writes about the carnal minded man, who receives all his information from the world and senses. He also writes about being Spiritually minded. As Christians, we should receive our information from God's Word and His Spirit. Part of labouring to rest, is renewing our mind by studying God's Word and listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Many Christians only hear sermons on Sunday, read short Verses from a Promise Box or know regulations their denomination sets forth. Many have stopped sinning, which is great and many have reached out to others, which is also good. But, many Christians still battle the thoughts of the world, the condemnation of the past and struggle under the pressures of the world, just like we did before being saved.
Many Christians view those who spend time fellow shipping with God and reading His Word as "fanatic" or "extreme." I often hear Christians say, "I don't believe I need to do these things, in order to be saved." It's true that you can get to Heaven, without spending time in God's Word, but how can we have "too much God" in our lives? Is having a little bit of God all that's required or should you have more of God in your life? Is it wrong to reach into the Promises or should we simply remain as God's children were and stay in Egypt?
Even though they were in Egypt, they were still God's people, though Abraham. When God tried bringing them out of Egypt thought, they said to Moses in Exodus 14:12 (Amplified), "Did we not tell you in Egypt, let us alone; let us serve the Egyptians? for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the Wilderness."
The Israelites had accepted being in bondage and they lost faith that God could bring them our of the bondage. This mindset followed them all the way to the Promised Land and prevented their entering into God's Rest. Their soul (mind, will and emotions) began to control them, to the point where they wanted to stone Moses, deny God and return to Egypt. They murmured against God, until He gave them over to their own endeavors. God won't make anyone walk in the Promise and Rest. We must enter in. Even though God's Promise and Rest are available to all, only a few will receive them.
There is no place on this side of God's Promise that those who have a zeal for God, will find is acceptable to stop at. Paul writes about those people in Romans 1:17 (Amplified), saying, "For in the Gospel a Righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith, disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith, as it is written; the man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith." There is no place to stop, when faith moves you. You will continue, until you enter into the fullness of God's Presence.
Hebrews 4:11-12 (Amplified) says, "Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that Rest of God, to know and experience it for ourselves, that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience into which those in the Wilderness fell." After reading this scripture about "exerting ourselves and striving diligently to enter," we've believed we must work to get that Rest. We don't labor to get the Rest, but through diligence, we can know what the Rest is and apply our faith to it. Grace has already made God's Rest available to us, but we must receive it by faith. It's difficult to accept the Promise, if we don't know what the Promise is.
Hebrews 4:11 (King James Version) says this, "Let us labour therefore to enter into that Rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." This might sound contradictory to say, "Labour to Rest," sounding like we must enter the Rest by works.
Psalm 23:3 (KJV) tells us that,"Jesus restores our soul." The word "soul," according to the Strong's Concordance means, "your mind, will and emotions." Mankind lived by the dictate of his soul from the fall of Adam, until Jesus' Resurrection. Man's soul was cut-off from God, upon Adam's fall in the Garden and man lived only by his natural emotions. The Church and the world, still live this way today. We've never truly allowed the Lord to restore our soul.
We've allowed our emotions to drive our emotions and our natural lives. We've never "laboured" to understand God's Word from a Spirit viewpoint and have interpreted it by our own intellect and what we've thought about what God's Word means. Our soul or emotions and thoughts about God's Word, have determined what we will believe or won't believe, based on how we feel about it.
It's important that we labor to enter God's Rest. We Rest in God's Promises, when we labor in His Word. If we don't know God's Promise, then we're always trying to make things work by our own efforts. It's only by faith, that we can rest and it's only by His Word, that we can know God's will and Promises to us, in His Grace.
Most of us have never given thought to our soul, in our Christian walk. So much of our faith is determined by restoring our soul. Hebrews 11:12 (Amplified) tells us, "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power, making it active, operative, energizing, and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the Breath of Life, soul and the immortal spirit, and the joints and marrow of the deepest parts of our nature, exposing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart."
Only God's Word can separate and divide the thoughts, purposes, soul from the spirit and the very flesh and blood of the mortal body. Your soul (mind, will and emotions) might be taking you in a direction that the Holy Spirit doesn't desire for you. It will require labour and effort on your behalf, to bring your emotions and thoughts into order by God's Word and His Spirit. You cannot know what is the Truth, unless you know the Truth.
Paul speaks about your carnal mind (soul) leading your life. Your soul determines which way you will go in life, because it tells your mind where to go. Your mind receives directions from your soul (emotions) and trusts your soul for guidance. Through the new birth, you have received Life again in your spirit, which contradicts your soulish intellect. Your mind is now divided or as James says, "double-minded." Your spirit is listening to the Word of God, your soul is listening to the five senses, leaving your mind confused about which way to go. Your body is perplexed by having so many different inputs, which brings emotional stress on the body. This leads to guilt, condemnation, resentment, depression and/or oppression. The body then requires outside help from a counselor, in order to set the correct course.
We must control our mind, because it's capable of doing dumb things when it's out of control. The Holy Spirit inspires Paul in Romans 12:2 (Amplified), saying, "Do not be conformed to this present age (world), but be transformed by the renewing of your minds." Paul writes about the carnal minded man, who receives all his information from the world and senses. He also writes about being Spiritually minded. As Christians, we should receive our information from God's Word and His Spirit. Part of labouring to rest, is renewing our mind by studying God's Word and listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Many Christians only hear sermons on Sunday, read short Verses from a Promise Box or know regulations their denomination sets forth. Many have stopped sinning, which is great and many have reached out to others, which is also good. But, many Christians still battle the thoughts of the world, the condemnation of the past and struggle under the pressures of the world, just like we did before being saved.
Many Christians view those who spend time fellow shipping with God and reading His Word as "fanatic" or "extreme." I often hear Christians say, "I don't believe I need to do these things, in order to be saved." It's true that you can get to Heaven, without spending time in God's Word, but how can we have "too much God" in our lives? Is having a little bit of God all that's required or should you have more of God in your life? Is it wrong to reach into the Promises or should we simply remain as God's children were and stay in Egypt?
Even though they were in Egypt, they were still God's people, though Abraham. When God tried bringing them out of Egypt thought, they said to Moses in Exodus 14:12 (Amplified), "Did we not tell you in Egypt, let us alone; let us serve the Egyptians? for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the Wilderness."
The Israelites had accepted being in bondage and they lost faith that God could bring them our of the bondage. This mindset followed them all the way to the Promised Land and prevented their entering into God's Rest. Their soul (mind, will and emotions) began to control them, to the point where they wanted to stone Moses, deny God and return to Egypt. They murmured against God, until He gave them over to their own endeavors. God won't make anyone walk in the Promise and Rest. We must enter in. Even though God's Promise and Rest are available to all, only a few will receive them.
There is no place on this side of God's Promise that those who have a zeal for God, will find is acceptable to stop at. Paul writes about those people in Romans 1:17 (Amplified), saying, "For in the Gospel a Righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith, disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith, as it is written; the man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith." There is no place to stop, when faith moves you. You will continue, until you enter into the fullness of God's Presence.
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Lesson 165 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
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."
We've been learning about the difference between the soulish parts and the Spiritual part of us. Through the Holy Spirit, James writes about the soulish portion of the Spiritual, new creature in Christ Jesus and about the things of the past that man must deal with every day in James 1:13-15 (Amplified) saying, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by what is evil, and He Himself tempts no one But every person is tempted when he is drawn away (enticed and baited) by his own evil desire, lust, passions. Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death."
Many Christians don't know whether God or the devil is testing them. The above scripture tells us that we are really being "drawn away, enticed and baited, by our own lusts, evil desires and passions." James isn't simply referring to "sexual lusts," but he's advising us not to allow our deep-seated emotions to remain and dominate our new creation man. The Father designed mankind to have emotions, but we weren't designed to be ruled by those emotions. Many of today's Christians are depressed by their deep-seated emotions from the past. Satan keeps God's children from maturing to adulthood in Christ Jesus, by using this weapon against us.
Many hurtful and oppressive things happen in the lives of both saved and unsaved. These things hold us back from having personal fellowship and relationship with the Father. These emotions bring guilt, condemnation, anger, suicide and other such terrible things, in our lives. Even after we're born-again, these emotions drive us away from the way and will of God in our lives.
Feeling unworthy even keeps us from believing in the Righteousness that our Lord Jesus Christ has given us. Many of the religious denials about God's healing and God's Blessing us today, originate from teachings of an unrenewed mind. How we think, determines how we feel and how we feel, determines what we do and don't do. What we do or don't do, determines the directions we take in our lives. We all experience emotions. Emotions were Gifts God gave to mankind, in order to bring joy and understanding to our natural bodies. Like everything else that was twisted by Adam's fall, our soul, mind, will and emotions were also twisted and took control, when our spirits became dead in sin and trespass.
Our Spiritual lives will be constantly in disorder and disarray, when we're ruled by our soul or emotions. When we "feel good," then our faith is high, but when we "feel bad," our faith seems to go that way too. When leaving the church, I've overheard believers say, "I didn't feel God in the service" or "I don't believe God is here in this church." Christians aren't called to base whether God is here or not, based on how we feel. God is here, because He said, "Where two or more gather in My Name, I will be in their midst." God's Word doesn't work, based on how we feel, but it works by faith in what God has said. If we allowed our soulish natures and emotions to rule our Christian lives, then most of us wouldn't even believe that we are saved.
For those who are serious about their walk with God, it's essential that we bring our soul into submission to the Spirit. Paul wrote about being carnal minded, speaking about Christians who are still walking in the sense realm or soulish realm. Our Heavenly Father designed mankin to be a three part being, just like He is. We are a spirit, we have or possess a soul and the "real" you, who is the spirit man, lives in a body. The body allows us to live in this natural realm, the soul is to teach and train the body to see, hear, feel, smell, touch and know how to live on this earth. The spirit (the real you) is to show and train the soul how to function. The spirit (the real you) was to be taught and trained by the Spirit of God Himself, the Father.
We have a three part man, who has all his faculties taught by One Source, God. This is how the first Adam walked and this is how the Last Adam walked. Jesus never allowed His soul or emotions to rule Him, even in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus never allowed His Own will or emotions to turn Him back from going to the cross, according to Luke 22:42 (Amplified), where Jesus prayed, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but always Yours be done." The human side or natural man and His emotions, didn't want to go through with the cross, but Jesus' Spirit was ruled by God's Word and the Spirit of God, gave Him the strength to go on.
We sometimes fail to recognize that Jesus was a real flesh and blood Man. He was Lord of All, but He had to walk this world with a flesh, soul, and spirit, just like we do today. If Jesus could only do what He did, because of Who He was, then He couldn't expect us to do this. Jesus was the Perfect Example of how we're to walk with our Heavenly Father. When God created all that He did for us, He never intended for anything to rule over us. He expected us to reigns as kings in life.
Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit in Romans 12:1-2, saying we're to renew our minds by God's Word. This wasn't just a suggestion for those who are "radical" Christians, but was for all who are saved. Many believe these things aren't necessary to do, but are for the radical Christians only. This isn't true though. This is how ALL of God's children are supposed to walk, in control of the flesh and soul. We're not supposed to throw tantrums, like toddlers and do whatever we want too.
When Christians are easily offended, it's because someone preached something that upset their emotions or soul. This soulish pride causes them to place blame for everything, on the Father. We've failed to accept responsibility for our own emotions and soulish man, saying, "If my prayer doesn't work, then it must be God's will." God's Grace brought fellowship into the Throne of Grace and God's Presence, so we could obtain mercy and Grace when we needed it. Praying isn't like playing the lottery, but it's an assurance, privilege of boldness and confidence of having those prayers answered.
Prayer has nothing to do with how we feel, but is, as God's Presence in your spirit, a matter of faith in God's Word. Such sayings as, "I don't feel like God heard me" or "Maybe God held my prayer back, for my own good," come from the soul of a Christian, who is still ruled by his senses. I don't always "feel" like God has made my body the Temple of the Holy Spirit, but I do believe, that no matter how I feel, that He is always there.
God says in Hebrews 13:5, "I will come and make My Abode within you and sup with you, I will never leave you or forsake you, I am with you always to the end of the age." If we don't allow Jesus to restore our soul (like in Psalm 23), then our emotions will continue to drive and direct our Christian walk. Jesus will restore our soul, if we allow Him to do so. He will bring our soul back to the place of innocence, where it started in Eden and led by His Spirit.
This has been the most neglected part of our new creation being. For some reason, we've thought it made no difference how we walk with God. Your body can only do what your head tells it to do. If your head, with an unrenewed mind, or soul, the mind, will and emotions doesn't give the correct directions, then you will have the same mindset as the world does. Paul admonished in Romans 12:2 (Amplified), "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."
We have tried walking in the Spirit, by the external and superficial customs and thoughts of the flesh. The mind, will, and emotions that foster your decisions and beliefs of the world, are from your soul. We will either lead the body by the Spirit or by the world and this age. The body will only go where the mind, will, and emotions direct it. Your body has been trained by the soul and the soul has been trained by the world, so it doesn't know any other way. Christians must renew our minds by God's Word. We must allow Jesus to restore the flow of submission and anointing from our spirits, back to our flesh. Our physical flesh and blood bodies allow us to believe and lay hands on the sick. Our body cannot go, until our minds tell it to and our carnal mind will never do it, until it is renewed by God's Word and His Spirit. Acts 10:38 (Amplified) tells us, "God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and Power and He went about doing Good and in particular curing all who were harassed and oppressed by the power of the devil, for God was with Him."
Oppression is a mental and physical burden that puts pressure on our minds, trying to push us in one direction or another. Some have been pushed over the edge, leading to drug use, divorce and even to suicide, because of having unchecked emotions, minds and wills.
We've been learning about the difference between the soulish parts and the Spiritual part of us. Through the Holy Spirit, James writes about the soulish portion of the Spiritual, new creature in Christ Jesus and about the things of the past that man must deal with every day in James 1:13-15 (Amplified) saying, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by what is evil, and He Himself tempts no one But every person is tempted when he is drawn away (enticed and baited) by his own evil desire, lust, passions. Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death."
Many Christians don't know whether God or the devil is testing them. The above scripture tells us that we are really being "drawn away, enticed and baited, by our own lusts, evil desires and passions." James isn't simply referring to "sexual lusts," but he's advising us not to allow our deep-seated emotions to remain and dominate our new creation man. The Father designed mankind to have emotions, but we weren't designed to be ruled by those emotions. Many of today's Christians are depressed by their deep-seated emotions from the past. Satan keeps God's children from maturing to adulthood in Christ Jesus, by using this weapon against us.
Many hurtful and oppressive things happen in the lives of both saved and unsaved. These things hold us back from having personal fellowship and relationship with the Father. These emotions bring guilt, condemnation, anger, suicide and other such terrible things, in our lives. Even after we're born-again, these emotions drive us away from the way and will of God in our lives.
Feeling unworthy even keeps us from believing in the Righteousness that our Lord Jesus Christ has given us. Many of the religious denials about God's healing and God's Blessing us today, originate from teachings of an unrenewed mind. How we think, determines how we feel and how we feel, determines what we do and don't do. What we do or don't do, determines the directions we take in our lives. We all experience emotions. Emotions were Gifts God gave to mankind, in order to bring joy and understanding to our natural bodies. Like everything else that was twisted by Adam's fall, our soul, mind, will and emotions were also twisted and took control, when our spirits became dead in sin and trespass.
Our Spiritual lives will be constantly in disorder and disarray, when we're ruled by our soul or emotions. When we "feel good," then our faith is high, but when we "feel bad," our faith seems to go that way too. When leaving the church, I've overheard believers say, "I didn't feel God in the service" or "I don't believe God is here in this church." Christians aren't called to base whether God is here or not, based on how we feel. God is here, because He said, "Where two or more gather in My Name, I will be in their midst." God's Word doesn't work, based on how we feel, but it works by faith in what God has said. If we allowed our soulish natures and emotions to rule our Christian lives, then most of us wouldn't even believe that we are saved.
For those who are serious about their walk with God, it's essential that we bring our soul into submission to the Spirit. Paul wrote about being carnal minded, speaking about Christians who are still walking in the sense realm or soulish realm. Our Heavenly Father designed mankin to be a three part being, just like He is. We are a spirit, we have or possess a soul and the "real" you, who is the spirit man, lives in a body. The body allows us to live in this natural realm, the soul is to teach and train the body to see, hear, feel, smell, touch and know how to live on this earth. The spirit (the real you) is to show and train the soul how to function. The spirit (the real you) was to be taught and trained by the Spirit of God Himself, the Father.
We have a three part man, who has all his faculties taught by One Source, God. This is how the first Adam walked and this is how the Last Adam walked. Jesus never allowed His soul or emotions to rule Him, even in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus never allowed His Own will or emotions to turn Him back from going to the cross, according to Luke 22:42 (Amplified), where Jesus prayed, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but always Yours be done." The human side or natural man and His emotions, didn't want to go through with the cross, but Jesus' Spirit was ruled by God's Word and the Spirit of God, gave Him the strength to go on.
We sometimes fail to recognize that Jesus was a real flesh and blood Man. He was Lord of All, but He had to walk this world with a flesh, soul, and spirit, just like we do today. If Jesus could only do what He did, because of Who He was, then He couldn't expect us to do this. Jesus was the Perfect Example of how we're to walk with our Heavenly Father. When God created all that He did for us, He never intended for anything to rule over us. He expected us to reigns as kings in life.
Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit in Romans 12:1-2, saying we're to renew our minds by God's Word. This wasn't just a suggestion for those who are "radical" Christians, but was for all who are saved. Many believe these things aren't necessary to do, but are for the radical Christians only. This isn't true though. This is how ALL of God's children are supposed to walk, in control of the flesh and soul. We're not supposed to throw tantrums, like toddlers and do whatever we want too.
When Christians are easily offended, it's because someone preached something that upset their emotions or soul. This soulish pride causes them to place blame for everything, on the Father. We've failed to accept responsibility for our own emotions and soulish man, saying, "If my prayer doesn't work, then it must be God's will." God's Grace brought fellowship into the Throne of Grace and God's Presence, so we could obtain mercy and Grace when we needed it. Praying isn't like playing the lottery, but it's an assurance, privilege of boldness and confidence of having those prayers answered.
Prayer has nothing to do with how we feel, but is, as God's Presence in your spirit, a matter of faith in God's Word. Such sayings as, "I don't feel like God heard me" or "Maybe God held my prayer back, for my own good," come from the soul of a Christian, who is still ruled by his senses. I don't always "feel" like God has made my body the Temple of the Holy Spirit, but I do believe, that no matter how I feel, that He is always there.
God says in Hebrews 13:5, "I will come and make My Abode within you and sup with you, I will never leave you or forsake you, I am with you always to the end of the age." If we don't allow Jesus to restore our soul (like in Psalm 23), then our emotions will continue to drive and direct our Christian walk. Jesus will restore our soul, if we allow Him to do so. He will bring our soul back to the place of innocence, where it started in Eden and led by His Spirit.
This has been the most neglected part of our new creation being. For some reason, we've thought it made no difference how we walk with God. Your body can only do what your head tells it to do. If your head, with an unrenewed mind, or soul, the mind, will and emotions doesn't give the correct directions, then you will have the same mindset as the world does. Paul admonished in Romans 12:2 (Amplified), "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."
We have tried walking in the Spirit, by the external and superficial customs and thoughts of the flesh. The mind, will, and emotions that foster your decisions and beliefs of the world, are from your soul. We will either lead the body by the Spirit or by the world and this age. The body will only go where the mind, will, and emotions direct it. Your body has been trained by the soul and the soul has been trained by the world, so it doesn't know any other way. Christians must renew our minds by God's Word. We must allow Jesus to restore the flow of submission and anointing from our spirits, back to our flesh. Our physical flesh and blood bodies allow us to believe and lay hands on the sick. Our body cannot go, until our minds tell it to and our carnal mind will never do it, until it is renewed by God's Word and His Spirit. Acts 10:38 (Amplified) tells us, "God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and Power and He went about doing Good and in particular curing all who were harassed and oppressed by the power of the devil, for God was with Him."
Oppression is a mental and physical burden that puts pressure on our minds, trying to push us in one direction or another. Some have been pushed over the edge, leading to drug use, divorce and even to suicide, because of having unchecked emotions, minds and wills.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Lesson 164 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
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."
Psalm 23:3 (KJV) says, "He restores my soul." Psalm 23:3 (Amplified) says it this way, "He refreshes and restores my life (my self), He leads me in paths of righteousness, uprightness and right standing with Him-not for my earning it, but for His Name's sake." Many haven't paid much attention to our soul, not realizing that our souls have driven us for most of our lives. Our troubles as Christians, isn't because Jesus wasn't enough to deliver us, but we've never continued to allow His Word to restore our soul.
It doesn't matter how much you think you're allowing God to change you, you must still submit to the change or stay the same in your soul. Many don't realize there's a difference between our soul and our spirit, thinking they're the same thing. Our soul is our emotions, our thinking and our feelings. These things make us who we are. We are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body. Everyone on this planet is and has, all these same qualities.
Our soul directed our lives, before we were born-again. Before being born-again, we were separated from God because of Adam's transgressions and we were no longer led by our spirit, but by our soulish drive and emotions. Whether or not we knew it, before being born-again, Satan was in the control seat and was the driving force in our lives, directing our emotions into chaos and rebellion against God.
Man's unchecked emotions have been the driving force causing divorce, wars, greed and all the other ungodly things at work in today's world. The Church in Corinth had all the Gifts of the Spirit working in it, but it didn't check their emotions or soulish parts. Paul wrote to them in 1Corinthians 3:1-3 (Amplified) saying, "However, Brethren, I could not talk to you as to Spiritual men, but as to non-Spiritual (men of the flesh, in whom the carnal nature predominates), as to mere infants in the new Life in Christ, unable to talk yet. I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you were not yet strong enough to be ready for it, but even yet you are not strong enough to be ready for it. For you are still unSpiritual, having the nature of the flesh (under the control of ordinary impulses). For as long as there are envying and jealousy and wrong doings and factions among you, are you not unSpiritual and of the flesh (behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere unchanged men."
The Church in Corinth was walking in Spiritual Gifts, but they were still controlled by their natural emotions, which were left unchecked by self-control. They still operated in the soulish realm of Christianity. This is happening in today's Church too. There have been many splits happening in churches throughout the world today, because a Word is given that offends man's carnal nature. In defense of our emotions and pride, we fail to accept the Truth, even when it seems to be correct.
Paul tells us that, "It's futile and only brings division, when we teach the things of the Word, to mere men." Teachers are forced to either give "infant" teachings, so we don't offend emotions or risk being rejected by teaching mature things in the Truth. 2Peter 1:5-10 (Amplified) says, "For this reason, adding your diligence to the Divine Promises, employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue, excellence, resolution, Christian energy, and in exercising virtue, develop knowledge, intelligence and in exercising knowledge, develop self-control and in exercising self-control develop steadfastness, patience, endurance, and in exercising steadfastness, develop Godliness, piety, and in exercising Godliness develop brotherly affection, and in exercising brotherly affection develop Christian Love. For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful unto the full personal knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). For whoever lacks these qualities is blind (Spiritually shortsighted, seeing only what is near to him), and has become oblivious to the fact that he was cleansed from his old sins. Because of this, brethren, be all the more solicitous and eager to make sure (to ratify, to strengthen, to make steadfast your calling and election); for if you do this, you will never stumble or fall."
We've somehow concluded that, "God will simply change the way I feel." This would be marvelous, but it's not true. We're responsible for controlling our own emotions and feelings, according to the Truth of God's Word. Unchecked emotions have destroyed homes, families and even nations for centuries and will do the same even in Christian lives. We don't study God's Word, because we have to, but because it's the only thing that will change the way we conduct our lives.
Paul writes in Romans 8:12-14 (Amplified), "So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh, we are not obligated to our carnal nature, to live a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates of the flesh. For if you live according to the dictates of the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the Power of the Holy Spirit you are habitually putting to death (making extinct, deadening), the evil deeds prompted by the body, you shall really and genuinely live forever For all that are led by the Spirit of God as sons of God."
Paul fought this very same battle for his emotions or soulish impulses, in his own life. His emotions and bodily teachings tried drawing him back into the customs of the Law. Paul was raised in the Law and loved it, according to Romans 7:20 (Amplified), where Paul brings his emotions and soul into this fight, saying, "Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it (it is not myself that acts), but the sin principle which dwells withing me, fixed and operating in my soul."
Every person who has been born-again in Christ Jesus, fights the same battle. If we don't renew our minds, our soul and our way of thinking, then our soul will continue ruling over our new creation spirit man. Our body didn't get saved, when we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but our spirits. Your body has been trained by your soul and emotions, to live like the world lives. Before being saved, your soul was leading you, in the same way the world leads. Even though you're born of the Spirit of God and belong to Him, you soul and body are still habitually trying to live in the same way they did, before you were saved.
Paul struggled with this very thing, even though he knew and was shown the covenant and family of God and he knew it was no longer by Law but by Grace. Paul's flesh was still drawn to the rituals, traditions and ceremonies that ministered to his soul and emotions. Paul knew better in his spirit, but his soul or emotions missed the old ways and habits of the Law. Paul wrote and taught about renewing our minds and emotions, not as someone who was exempt from the pull of the carnal mind and emotions, but as someone who fought the Good fight of faith to hold to the Truth.
We have all been imprinted by the world and its way of doing things, according to Romans 8:7 (Amplified), where Paul writes, "That is because the mind of the flesh, with its carnal thoughts and purposes, is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot." Our flesh doesn't and cannot submit itself to God. We must take authority over our soulish part of us and bring our thoughts (soul) into subjection to God's Word.
Your mind will not give up the things the world has trained it with, unless you become responsible to endeavor and renew it by the Word of God. The same tempter and deceiver who was there before your being saved, it still there. The same jealousy and anger and way of doing, we had been trained and programmed in all natural lives before being saved, are still there. This the natural man that Paul writes about.
We didn't forget the profanity we used before being saved, we just brought that part of our soul into subjection to our new spirit. The same thing will bring your emotions under the control of your spirit, through the Holy Spirit. We've simply continued with the things we used to know and walk in. We say, "I can't help the way I feel." Through God's Word and His Holy Spirit, we can help the way we feel. Then we will rule them, instead of letting our emotions rule us.
This is the stronghold the enemy has held over the Church for two-thousand years. It has broken down revivals that God meant to go on, it has discouraged great men and women of God in Revelation Knowledge and it has caused us to be content with where we are, instead of going on into God's Promised Rest.
We are made in the Image and Likeness of our Heavenly Father. He has emotions, just like we do. We find that God has compassion, generosity, joy, Grace and all the same things He has Blessed us with. We also find that He controls His emotions, by His Own Word. Jesus was and in the Perfect will and the Image of the Father. Jesus dealt with all of the same things we deal with, and more, but He was without sin. It wasn't easy for Jesus. He just made it look easy, because He didn't allow His Own emotions to cloud His Spirit.
We know that we have to control our emotions and find that we can control them, when we want to. You know better than to jump up in the face of a police officer and cursing at him/her, when you're pulled over. You might want to do this, but you control your emotions instead and don't do so. You know better than to tell your boss what you think of him/her, but you don't do this because you know what will happen. We control our emotions, when we think it will benefit us and we allow them to control us, when we don't really care who is being hurt as a result of them.
Lust doesn't always include just sex and sexual things. Lust is an emotion that is deep-seated in our soul and emotions, which can drive us towards drugs, suicide, anger, or murder, if it reaches a point of supremacy in our lives.
Psalm 23:3 (KJV) says, "He restores my soul." Psalm 23:3 (Amplified) says it this way, "He refreshes and restores my life (my self), He leads me in paths of righteousness, uprightness and right standing with Him-not for my earning it, but for His Name's sake." Many haven't paid much attention to our soul, not realizing that our souls have driven us for most of our lives. Our troubles as Christians, isn't because Jesus wasn't enough to deliver us, but we've never continued to allow His Word to restore our soul.
It doesn't matter how much you think you're allowing God to change you, you must still submit to the change or stay the same in your soul. Many don't realize there's a difference between our soul and our spirit, thinking they're the same thing. Our soul is our emotions, our thinking and our feelings. These things make us who we are. We are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body. Everyone on this planet is and has, all these same qualities.
Our soul directed our lives, before we were born-again. Before being born-again, we were separated from God because of Adam's transgressions and we were no longer led by our spirit, but by our soulish drive and emotions. Whether or not we knew it, before being born-again, Satan was in the control seat and was the driving force in our lives, directing our emotions into chaos and rebellion against God.
Man's unchecked emotions have been the driving force causing divorce, wars, greed and all the other ungodly things at work in today's world. The Church in Corinth had all the Gifts of the Spirit working in it, but it didn't check their emotions or soulish parts. Paul wrote to them in 1Corinthians 3:1-3 (Amplified) saying, "However, Brethren, I could not talk to you as to Spiritual men, but as to non-Spiritual (men of the flesh, in whom the carnal nature predominates), as to mere infants in the new Life in Christ, unable to talk yet. I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you were not yet strong enough to be ready for it, but even yet you are not strong enough to be ready for it. For you are still unSpiritual, having the nature of the flesh (under the control of ordinary impulses). For as long as there are envying and jealousy and wrong doings and factions among you, are you not unSpiritual and of the flesh (behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere unchanged men."
The Church in Corinth was walking in Spiritual Gifts, but they were still controlled by their natural emotions, which were left unchecked by self-control. They still operated in the soulish realm of Christianity. This is happening in today's Church too. There have been many splits happening in churches throughout the world today, because a Word is given that offends man's carnal nature. In defense of our emotions and pride, we fail to accept the Truth, even when it seems to be correct.
Paul tells us that, "It's futile and only brings division, when we teach the things of the Word, to mere men." Teachers are forced to either give "infant" teachings, so we don't offend emotions or risk being rejected by teaching mature things in the Truth. 2Peter 1:5-10 (Amplified) says, "For this reason, adding your diligence to the Divine Promises, employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue, excellence, resolution, Christian energy, and in exercising virtue, develop knowledge, intelligence and in exercising knowledge, develop self-control and in exercising self-control develop steadfastness, patience, endurance, and in exercising steadfastness, develop Godliness, piety, and in exercising Godliness develop brotherly affection, and in exercising brotherly affection develop Christian Love. For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful unto the full personal knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). For whoever lacks these qualities is blind (Spiritually shortsighted, seeing only what is near to him), and has become oblivious to the fact that he was cleansed from his old sins. Because of this, brethren, be all the more solicitous and eager to make sure (to ratify, to strengthen, to make steadfast your calling and election); for if you do this, you will never stumble or fall."
We've somehow concluded that, "God will simply change the way I feel." This would be marvelous, but it's not true. We're responsible for controlling our own emotions and feelings, according to the Truth of God's Word. Unchecked emotions have destroyed homes, families and even nations for centuries and will do the same even in Christian lives. We don't study God's Word, because we have to, but because it's the only thing that will change the way we conduct our lives.
Paul writes in Romans 8:12-14 (Amplified), "So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh, we are not obligated to our carnal nature, to live a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates of the flesh. For if you live according to the dictates of the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the Power of the Holy Spirit you are habitually putting to death (making extinct, deadening), the evil deeds prompted by the body, you shall really and genuinely live forever For all that are led by the Spirit of God as sons of God."
Paul fought this very same battle for his emotions or soulish impulses, in his own life. His emotions and bodily teachings tried drawing him back into the customs of the Law. Paul was raised in the Law and loved it, according to Romans 7:20 (Amplified), where Paul brings his emotions and soul into this fight, saying, "Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it (it is not myself that acts), but the sin principle which dwells withing me, fixed and operating in my soul."
Every person who has been born-again in Christ Jesus, fights the same battle. If we don't renew our minds, our soul and our way of thinking, then our soul will continue ruling over our new creation spirit man. Our body didn't get saved, when we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but our spirits. Your body has been trained by your soul and emotions, to live like the world lives. Before being saved, your soul was leading you, in the same way the world leads. Even though you're born of the Spirit of God and belong to Him, you soul and body are still habitually trying to live in the same way they did, before you were saved.
Paul struggled with this very thing, even though he knew and was shown the covenant and family of God and he knew it was no longer by Law but by Grace. Paul's flesh was still drawn to the rituals, traditions and ceremonies that ministered to his soul and emotions. Paul knew better in his spirit, but his soul or emotions missed the old ways and habits of the Law. Paul wrote and taught about renewing our minds and emotions, not as someone who was exempt from the pull of the carnal mind and emotions, but as someone who fought the Good fight of faith to hold to the Truth.
We have all been imprinted by the world and its way of doing things, according to Romans 8:7 (Amplified), where Paul writes, "That is because the mind of the flesh, with its carnal thoughts and purposes, is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot." Our flesh doesn't and cannot submit itself to God. We must take authority over our soulish part of us and bring our thoughts (soul) into subjection to God's Word.
Your mind will not give up the things the world has trained it with, unless you become responsible to endeavor and renew it by the Word of God. The same tempter and deceiver who was there before your being saved, it still there. The same jealousy and anger and way of doing, we had been trained and programmed in all natural lives before being saved, are still there. This the natural man that Paul writes about.
We didn't forget the profanity we used before being saved, we just brought that part of our soul into subjection to our new spirit. The same thing will bring your emotions under the control of your spirit, through the Holy Spirit. We've simply continued with the things we used to know and walk in. We say, "I can't help the way I feel." Through God's Word and His Holy Spirit, we can help the way we feel. Then we will rule them, instead of letting our emotions rule us.
This is the stronghold the enemy has held over the Church for two-thousand years. It has broken down revivals that God meant to go on, it has discouraged great men and women of God in Revelation Knowledge and it has caused us to be content with where we are, instead of going on into God's Promised Rest.
We are made in the Image and Likeness of our Heavenly Father. He has emotions, just like we do. We find that God has compassion, generosity, joy, Grace and all the same things He has Blessed us with. We also find that He controls His emotions, by His Own Word. Jesus was and in the Perfect will and the Image of the Father. Jesus dealt with all of the same things we deal with, and more, but He was without sin. It wasn't easy for Jesus. He just made it look easy, because He didn't allow His Own emotions to cloud His Spirit.
We know that we have to control our emotions and find that we can control them, when we want to. You know better than to jump up in the face of a police officer and cursing at him/her, when you're pulled over. You might want to do this, but you control your emotions instead and don't do so. You know better than to tell your boss what you think of him/her, but you don't do this because you know what will happen. We control our emotions, when we think it will benefit us and we allow them to control us, when we don't really care who is being hurt as a result of them.
Lust doesn't always include just sex and sexual things. Lust is an emotion that is deep-seated in our soul and emotions, which can drive us towards drugs, suicide, anger, or murder, if it reaches a point of supremacy in our lives.
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