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."
1Corinthians 3:14-16 (Amplified) says, "In fact their minds were grown hard and calloused, they had become dull and had lost the power of understanding, for until this present day, when the old covenant is being read, that same veil still lies on their hearts, not being lifted to reveal that in Christ it is made void and done away. Yes, down to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their hearts and minds. But whenever a person turns in repentance to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away."
The veil spoken about in the above scripture, still lies on the hearts of many in today's Church. We don't understand the difference between the way our Heavenly Father disciplined those in the old covenant and the way He disciplines His family by His Word and His Spirit. We continue expecting Him to discipline us, like He did those who weren't born-again. The veil still lies over our hearts and minds, like we are under the old covenant, instead of being born-again, Spiritual being and God's family.
We don't need to work at obeying the Law, in order to qualify for the Blessing. We're qualified through the One and Only Sacrifice of Jesus. The Promises aren't based on our qualifications anymore, but on His. We've somehow allowed the veil to cover our hearts and minds, by the enemy's deceptions that tell us that we're "not worthy to accept what Jesus paid to give us." This is why faith is so important to today's Church. Romans 4:16 (Amplified) says, "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."
Through Jesus, we've already come into the inheritance of the Promise, but we've heard the Law of Moses preached for so long, that we still have a veil over our understanding. We continue expecting the Father to punish and correct us, by the same physical standards He used with those under the Law, instead of by our spirits, which are alive to Him through Jesus. Don't be misled. God still does correct and disciplines us, but He uses His Word and His Spirit to do so. That's why every Christian should understand 2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified), which says, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instructions, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in Righteousness, in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action. So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Why would we not adjust our lives by God's Word, instead of waiting until something happens to us physically and then believing "It was God's doing?" God speaks and corrects us by His Spirit and His Word, so we can avoid the pitfalls the enemy has laid before us and so we don't have to fall into them at the cost of our lives. Proverbs 17:10 (Amplified) says, "A reproof enters deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred lashes into a self-confident fool." Proverbs 15:5 (Amplified) says, "A fool despises his father's instruction and correction, but he who regards reproof acquires prudence."
The above scriptures aren't just "pretty words," but are for those of understanding. Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) tells us, "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."
For centuries, the Church has stumbled between the old and new covenants. Things don't work for God's family, because we cannot separate ourselves from the Law. The Law doesn't work for us, because we cannot keep it. Grace doesn't work for us, because we won't allow it to. We've mixed Law and Grace, thinking this is how it should be.
The Law operates by works, while Grace operates by faith. If we don't do everything the Law requires, then the Blessing is held back and if we try making Grace operate by works, then the Blessing is held back. It's either by Grace or not at all. Jesus paid an awesome price, in order to redeem us from the Curse of the Law. The Curse came when the people no longer did what the Law demanded. Grace has made the Law void and useless for the new creation child of God. The Blessing of God has already been made ours in Jesus. We don't operate by works any longer, but by Grace.
Our faith in the Finished Word of Jesus Christ, has already qualified us to the Blessing, because we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus. The things we're trying to make work, have already been done and made ours through Jesus, if we will simply accept them. This was the Father's idea, not your's. If God didn't intend for you to have them, then He would have simply left us under the Law. These things were conditional and no one could ever keep the conditions. God did away with these conditions and made it all by Grace, through faith. The only condition is that we receive Jesus and accept by faith, what He has already done.
Some might ask, "Don't we have to at least try to do the Law?" "No." As being one in Jesus and with Him, we've already fulfilled the Law and all the Blessing are already ours. Jesus says 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 fulfill them." Whether or not we see it, God sees us in Jesus, as having fulfilled all the Law and the prophets. In Jesus, our Heavenly Father you as never having violated any of His Words or commandments. You've been made perfect, in the perfection of Jesus.
Under the Law, "None were Righteous," but in Jesus, we have been made Righteous. This is an act of Grace and must be accepted by faith. If your deny His Righteousness and try to become righteous on your own, then you've put yourself back under the Law, which Jesus has already fulfilled for you. We've mixed Law and Grace, to a place where neither work like God intended.
The above scripture instructs us to, "With all you have gotten, get understanding." Without understanding, we've fallen into the same trap the enemy has used against the Church, for thousands of years. Man's idea of how to function in Spiritual understanding, is the same veil that covers and clouds the hearts and minds of believers. Law doesn't work by Grace and Grace cannot work by Law. One cancels the other out. You don't get your prayers answered, because you are good, but because God is good. We don't deserve anything, but God has just given it to us, by His Grace and Love.
In Hebrews 11 Paul writes about those of faith. Paul goes on in Hebrews 12:1 (Amplified) saying, "Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have borne testimony to the Truth, let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily and deftly and cleverly clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence, the appointed course of the race that is set before us."
I believe "that sin that deftly and cleverly clings to us and entangles us," is unbelief in what Grace has already done for us. We've limited the Holy One, like those in the Wilderness did, by our unbelief. We've accepted what we thought was correction by the flesh, without understanding that i the Father wasn't doing this, but the enemy. This has brought the Curse on those, who've been redeemed. We've staggered at the Promises through unbelief. We have allowed the enemy to have access, because we don't have understanding.
The Curse still is in the earth, but we have been exempted from the Curse, by faith in our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified) tells us, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. For the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus (the Law of our new being), has freed me from the Law of Sin and of Death." We must stay away from the dictates of the flesh. We must not allow our senses to bring unbelief and limit God in our lives.
Friday, June 28, 2019
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Lesson 212 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."
Hebrews 11:3 (KJV) says, "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed and put in order by the Word of God." Those without faith are still trying to understand the origins of the world and where mankind came from, by the carnal mind and science. One can't understand God's Truth of His Own creation, without having faith. The natural man can read and understand the words they're reading, but can't comprehend the Spiritual Wisdom and Revelation of the Truth. Paul writes in Colossians 1:9 (Amplified), "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom, in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and in understanding and discernment of Spiritual things."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) tells us, "The beginning of Wisdom is, get Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."
These scriptures from God's Word, must be received with the realization that natural man has no understanding of Spiritual things. They must be received into our spirit man, who knows God. Wisdom will guide you, understanding will bring Revelation and Revelation will bring faith. One can't read how the worlds were framed by God's Words, without Revelation. When Revelation comes, then we can "see" what the Word and God's Spirit is revealing to our spirit. Then, faith will come and we can walk in what we now "see."
Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified) says, "Where there is no vision, no redemptive Revelation of God, the people perish, but he who keeps the Law of God, which includes the law of man, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he." The Law of God for the new creation man, is to "Love God and Love our neighbors as ourselves." He's not talking about the Law of Moses, but the new covenant Law of Love here. Without redemptive Revelation and understanding, we keep trying to walk under the Law of Moses and miss the Revelation of full redemption. In order to understand by faith, we must first see Truth. Without having the Holy Spirit and understanding, it's difficult to see. Galatians 3:12-13 (Amplified) says, "But the Law does not rest on faith (does not require faith, has nothing to do with faith), for it itself says; He who does them (the things prescribed by the Law), shall live by them, not by faith. Christ purchased our freedom, redeeming us from the Curse (doom) of the Law and its condemnation by Himself becoming a Curse for us, for it is written in the Scriptures, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified)."
Can you see yourself by faith, not being under the Curse of the Law? By faith, we understand and not by the Law. Understanding brings the Revelation spoken of in Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified) which says, "Where there is no redemptive Revelation of God, the people perish." In John 6:63 (Amplified), Jesus says, "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver); the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it). The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
Many of those Jesus spoke to during His earthly ministry, received from Him by only seeing what He was doing, instead of by Spiritual understanding. Today's Church has resorted back to only believing what we can see with our natural eyes, instead of the Revelation by the eyes of faith in the Spirit. We say, "I didn't feel God in today's service." God says in His Word that, "He will never leave us or forsake us, but will be with us always." This is understanding by faith. It's the redemptive vision and that's what we've based our salvation on, not how we feel.
The Holy Spirit has been working to bring the Church to believe by faith. This doesn't mean we should stop doing right, but we're to let right do the work, by trust in God's Word. Jesus told His followers in Matthew 16:15-17,18 (Amplified), "But who do you yourselves say that I Am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate and to be envied) are you Simon Bar-Jonah. For the flesh and blood men have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in Heaven."
Revelation brought understanding to Peter. Even though no one else could see that Jesus was the Messiah, Revelation let Peter see. Jesus says in Verse 18 that "On this Revelation or understanding, the Church would be built and the powers of the enemy would not be strong enough to stop it." God's people still perish and receive the lies of the world, because they lack this Revelation and understanding of Who Jesus really is. We must, by the Revelation, see by faith. Do you see yourself as being redeemed from the Curse of the Law or do you see yourself as still be subject to it? Do you accept all the things under the Curse as "being part of life?" Or, do you resist them by faith in He Who redeemed us?
Hebrew 11:3 (Amplified) says, "By faith we understand. Without faith there is no Spiritual understanding, only intellectual understanding. The flesh profits nothing (there is no benefit in it at all), when it comes to Spiritual things." Proverbs 20:27 (Amplified) tells us, "The spirit of man, that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God, is the Lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts." The Light of God's Word illuminates our spirit, not our human personality. Revelation and understanding are Spiritual, not carnal. This is why we must renew our minds by God's Word. Without Revelation, our minds will only bring intellectual recognition and not the Revelation knowledge of Jesus or the Father.
We all had problems and handled them by the knowledge we held, before being saved. Even now, after being saved, we still have problems, but we can handle them from a different perspective. This doesn't mean that we won't have problems, but that God has provided a better way to handle them. Jesus had more problems than any of us have or will have. Jesus never dealt with those problems by the way of the world, but with God's way.
1Corinthians 10:13 (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 that has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience and 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."
James 1:2-4 (Amplified) says, "Consider it wholly joyful my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith brings out endurance and steadfastness and patience, have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be people perfectly and fully developed with no defects, lacking in nothing." God didn't bring the trials. He will deliver you out of them, by faith and His Word.
Hebrews 11:3 (KJV) says, "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed and put in order by the Word of God." Those without faith are still trying to understand the origins of the world and where mankind came from, by the carnal mind and science. One can't understand God's Truth of His Own creation, without having faith. The natural man can read and understand the words they're reading, but can't comprehend the Spiritual Wisdom and Revelation of the Truth. Paul writes in Colossians 1:9 (Amplified), "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom, in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and in understanding and discernment of Spiritual things."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) tells us, "The beginning of Wisdom is, get Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."
These scriptures from God's Word, must be received with the realization that natural man has no understanding of Spiritual things. They must be received into our spirit man, who knows God. Wisdom will guide you, understanding will bring Revelation and Revelation will bring faith. One can't read how the worlds were framed by God's Words, without Revelation. When Revelation comes, then we can "see" what the Word and God's Spirit is revealing to our spirit. Then, faith will come and we can walk in what we now "see."
Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified) says, "Where there is no vision, no redemptive Revelation of God, the people perish, but he who keeps the Law of God, which includes the law of man, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he." The Law of God for the new creation man, is to "Love God and Love our neighbors as ourselves." He's not talking about the Law of Moses, but the new covenant Law of Love here. Without redemptive Revelation and understanding, we keep trying to walk under the Law of Moses and miss the Revelation of full redemption. In order to understand by faith, we must first see Truth. Without having the Holy Spirit and understanding, it's difficult to see. Galatians 3:12-13 (Amplified) says, "But the Law does not rest on faith (does not require faith, has nothing to do with faith), for it itself says; He who does them (the things prescribed by the Law), shall live by them, not by faith. Christ purchased our freedom, redeeming us from the Curse (doom) of the Law and its condemnation by Himself becoming a Curse for us, for it is written in the Scriptures, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified)."
Can you see yourself by faith, not being under the Curse of the Law? By faith, we understand and not by the Law. Understanding brings the Revelation spoken of in Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified) which says, "Where there is no redemptive Revelation of God, the people perish." In John 6:63 (Amplified), Jesus says, "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver); the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it). The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
Many of those Jesus spoke to during His earthly ministry, received from Him by only seeing what He was doing, instead of by Spiritual understanding. Today's Church has resorted back to only believing what we can see with our natural eyes, instead of the Revelation by the eyes of faith in the Spirit. We say, "I didn't feel God in today's service." God says in His Word that, "He will never leave us or forsake us, but will be with us always." This is understanding by faith. It's the redemptive vision and that's what we've based our salvation on, not how we feel.
The Holy Spirit has been working to bring the Church to believe by faith. This doesn't mean we should stop doing right, but we're to let right do the work, by trust in God's Word. Jesus told His followers in Matthew 16:15-17,18 (Amplified), "But who do you yourselves say that I Am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate and to be envied) are you Simon Bar-Jonah. For the flesh and blood men have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in Heaven."
Revelation brought understanding to Peter. Even though no one else could see that Jesus was the Messiah, Revelation let Peter see. Jesus says in Verse 18 that "On this Revelation or understanding, the Church would be built and the powers of the enemy would not be strong enough to stop it." God's people still perish and receive the lies of the world, because they lack this Revelation and understanding of Who Jesus really is. We must, by the Revelation, see by faith. Do you see yourself as being redeemed from the Curse of the Law or do you see yourself as still be subject to it? Do you accept all the things under the Curse as "being part of life?" Or, do you resist them by faith in He Who redeemed us?
Hebrew 11:3 (Amplified) says, "By faith we understand. Without faith there is no Spiritual understanding, only intellectual understanding. The flesh profits nothing (there is no benefit in it at all), when it comes to Spiritual things." Proverbs 20:27 (Amplified) tells us, "The spirit of man, that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God, is the Lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts." The Light of God's Word illuminates our spirit, not our human personality. Revelation and understanding are Spiritual, not carnal. This is why we must renew our minds by God's Word. Without Revelation, our minds will only bring intellectual recognition and not the Revelation knowledge of Jesus or the Father.
We all had problems and handled them by the knowledge we held, before being saved. Even now, after being saved, we still have problems, but we can handle them from a different perspective. This doesn't mean that we won't have problems, but that God has provided a better way to handle them. Jesus had more problems than any of us have or will have. Jesus never dealt with those problems by the way of the world, but with God's way.
1Corinthians 10:13 (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 that has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience and 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."
James 1:2-4 (Amplified) says, "Consider it wholly joyful my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith brings out endurance and steadfastness and patience, have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be people perfectly and fully developed with no defects, lacking in nothing." God didn't bring the trials. He will deliver you out of them, by faith and His Word.
Monday, June 24, 2019
Lesson 211 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
God says that this will be the Year of Understanding.
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."
Immediately after Adam's fall in Genesis 3:7, the Father set about to bring His children back to Himself. Genesis 3:21 (Amplified) says, "For Adam also and for his wife the Lord God made long coats (tunics of skin) and clothed them." The Lord took the life and blood of animals and made clothes for both Adam and Eve, immediately after their fall. The clothing wasn't nearly as important as the blood, which was shed to cover their sin.
The Law wasn't in effect yet, so God could operate by Grace. God looked for someone who would have faith in Him, to rebuild the relationship He once had with mankind and the earth. We read that Adam and Eve recounted their transgression in the Garden of Eden and how they were now estranged from Father God, to their family. Genesis 4:26 (Amplified) says, "And to Seth also a son was born, whom he Enoch. At this time men began to call upon God by the Name of the Lord."
Genesis 6:5-7,8-9 (Amplified) goes on, "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart. So the Lord said; I will destroy (blot out) and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the face of the ground, not only man, but the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air-for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made them."
Because of sin, God was faced with the very destruction of His Own creation, unless He could once again find a way to reach man. Verses 8-9 continue, "But Noah found Grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord. This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a just and righteous man, blameless in his evil generation; Noah walked in habitual fellowship with God."
God could continue the Plan He had for His family, through Noah. God could bring mankind back unto Himself, through one man's faith. Hebrews 11:7 (Amplified) says, "Prompted by faith, Noah, being forewarned of God concerning events of which as yet there was no visible sign, took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared an 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 relation of being right into which God puts the person who has faith."
Many today, continue struggling with the Flood and storied of the old covenant. Many Christians still struggle with the Flood and the Israelite's deliverance out of Egypt. Let's reread Hebrews 11:3 (Amplified), which says, "BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND that the worlds were framed and put in order by the Word of God." We can only understand the Mysteries of God, by faith. 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."
The people had no faith and therefore lacked understanding, when Jesus taught His Parables. Even born-again persons today, struggled with The Parables, because they lack faith in God's Word. We understand God's Word by faith. This is still Truth and is still powerful. We understand by faith. We struggle with healing, tongues, Gifts and even righteous, because we don't put faith in God's Word. We began in faith, when we were born-again, but then left our faith in the infant stage of our walk with God. We don't have understanding of God's Promises, which are to be appropriated by faith.
Genesis 2:5-6 (Amplified) tells us that Noah had never seen rain before, saying, "When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprang up, for the Lord God had not yet caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till it (the ground). But there went up a mist (a fog, a vapor) from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground." Hebrews 11:7 (Amplified) says, "Noah put faith in God and did what God said even though there were no visible signs of the events that were to come."
We look for visible signs, instead of putting faith in God's Word. This is why by faith, we understand His Word. The natural mind and thoughts of mankind, even Christians, fight to understand God's Word, because we try to understand it without faith.
We've reduced God's Promises and His Gifts to man's understanding, instead of faith's understanding. As Christians, we're joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus and have all been given the same inheritance. Why then, do some Christians go on in God's Word, while others stay in the infant stage of the new birth? These blogs must be understood by faith, or they will simply become another source of division among the Church. Some dismiss them as being foolish, while others seek to understand them by faith and move into mature Christianity with the Father.
This doesn't separate God's family, when we arrive at our final place with Jesus. It does however, hold back God's will and His Plan in earth and for His people.
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."
Immediately after Adam's fall in Genesis 3:7, the Father set about to bring His children back to Himself. Genesis 3:21 (Amplified) says, "For Adam also and for his wife the Lord God made long coats (tunics of skin) and clothed them." The Lord took the life and blood of animals and made clothes for both Adam and Eve, immediately after their fall. The clothing wasn't nearly as important as the blood, which was shed to cover their sin.
The Law wasn't in effect yet, so God could operate by Grace. God looked for someone who would have faith in Him, to rebuild the relationship He once had with mankind and the earth. We read that Adam and Eve recounted their transgression in the Garden of Eden and how they were now estranged from Father God, to their family. Genesis 4:26 (Amplified) says, "And to Seth also a son was born, whom he Enoch. At this time men began to call upon God by the Name of the Lord."
Genesis 6:5-7,8-9 (Amplified) goes on, "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart. So the Lord said; I will destroy (blot out) and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the face of the ground, not only man, but the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air-for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made them."
Because of sin, God was faced with the very destruction of His Own creation, unless He could once again find a way to reach man. Verses 8-9 continue, "But Noah found Grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord. This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a just and righteous man, blameless in his evil generation; Noah walked in habitual fellowship with God."
God could continue the Plan He had for His family, through Noah. God could bring mankind back unto Himself, through one man's faith. Hebrews 11:7 (Amplified) says, "Prompted by faith, Noah, being forewarned of God concerning events of which as yet there was no visible sign, took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared an 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 relation of being right into which God puts the person who has faith."
Many today, continue struggling with the Flood and storied of the old covenant. Many Christians still struggle with the Flood and the Israelite's deliverance out of Egypt. Let's reread Hebrews 11:3 (Amplified), which says, "BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND that the worlds were framed and put in order by the Word of God." We can only understand the Mysteries of God, by faith. 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."
The people had no faith and therefore lacked understanding, when Jesus taught His Parables. Even born-again persons today, struggled with The Parables, because they lack faith in God's Word. We understand God's Word by faith. This is still Truth and is still powerful. We understand by faith. We struggle with healing, tongues, Gifts and even righteous, because we don't put faith in God's Word. We began in faith, when we were born-again, but then left our faith in the infant stage of our walk with God. We don't have understanding of God's Promises, which are to be appropriated by faith.
Genesis 2:5-6 (Amplified) tells us that Noah had never seen rain before, saying, "When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprang up, for the Lord God had not yet caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till it (the ground). But there went up a mist (a fog, a vapor) from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground." Hebrews 11:7 (Amplified) says, "Noah put faith in God and did what God said even though there were no visible signs of the events that were to come."
We look for visible signs, instead of putting faith in God's Word. This is why by faith, we understand His Word. The natural mind and thoughts of mankind, even Christians, fight to understand God's Word, because we try to understand it without faith.
We've reduced God's Promises and His Gifts to man's understanding, instead of faith's understanding. As Christians, we're joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus and have all been given the same inheritance. Why then, do some Christians go on in God's Word, while others stay in the infant stage of the new birth? These blogs must be understood by faith, or they will simply become another source of division among the Church. Some dismiss them as being foolish, while others seek to understand them by faith and move into mature Christianity with the Father.
This doesn't separate God's family, when we arrive at our final place with Jesus. It does however, hold back God's will and His Plan in earth and for His people.
Friday, June 21, 2019
Lesson 210 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 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."
Hebrews 11:3 (Amplified) tells us, "By faith we understand, that the worlds were framed by the Word of God."
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)."
We understand by faith and cannot understand the things of God, without faith. We don't by understand God's Word by some carnal ability or education of man; it takes faith to understand. Romans 4:16 (Amplified) says, "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 descendants, not only to the devotees of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is thus the father of us all."
The Promise that we've inherited, is based simply on faith in Jesus Christ. We don't deserve the and can't earn the Promise by works or traditions. We've been taught that God will withhold His Blessing and Promise to us, because we don't deserve them. We don't ever deserve them, but God gives them by His Grace. If God's Word is only true when we deserve it, then we won't ever be able to be saved. We certainly didn't deserve salvation, when we asked God for it.
We understand by faith and not by reading His Word by our intellect. Many Christians struggle to believe that we've been made righteous in Jesus Christ. After being saved, we continue quoting Romans 3:10 (Amplified), saying "As it is written, None is righteous (just and truthful and upright and conscientious), no not one." This is a true statement about the unsaved in the world, because they haven't understood Romans 1:17 (Amplified), which says, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith, disclosed by the way of faith (understanding) that arouses to more faith; BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND."
The only way to understand God's Word is by faith. You only get from God, what you believe Him for, according to His will. When Jesus was accepted and sat down with the Father, everything He died for and rose again for, was already ours. Some believed for it, while others didn't. It was still available to them, by what they believed. Jesus took away the sins of the world and while this is true, we still had to believe it, in order to activate God's forgiveness and salvation in our lives. Even though salvation is true for everyone, but some will not believe for it. Their unbelief won't stop this Truth, for those who would believe.
Paul writes to the Church in Romans 12:2 (Amplified), "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to it's external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed( by the entire renewal of your mind, by it's new ideals and attitudes." The word "renewal," according to The Strong's Concordance #342, means "regeneration, restoration, newness, and renovation." The word "restoration" especially caught my eye, when reading Psalm 23:3 which says, "He restores my soul." Your mind is in your soulish realm and restoring it means, bringing it back to God's Original intent, before Adam's fall.
How long do you think Adam walked with God, before his transgression? One day, one year, or a million years? Both the first and Last Adam had the mind of Christ. The same mind that is in Jesus, is the same mine that was in Adam. Restoring the mind can only be done by God's Word and His Holy Spirit. These will cause us to think like God intended His children to think, in the beginning.
We've been trained by the world, to think and operate like it does, but this wasn't true in the beginning. The thoughts we hold today aren't the thoughts that were in the minds of God's family at the beginning. It took thousands of years to teach mankind to die, be sick, trust in works and rituals and distrust God's Word. We've become cautious about trusting God's Word, by reasonings and natural fears. These have made us cautious to truly believe God will do what He says.
The Israelites were faced by the Red Sea before them and Pharaoh's army behind them, when they asked Moses, "What is your strategy?" Mose's answer was to raise his staff over the water. The Israelites had been trained to think like the Egyptians and they asked, "What kind of answer is this?" Their minds had been trained and confomed to that age and that world. The Awesome God of Abraham had been diminished in their thinking like the world thought, instead of what God thought.
We don't see many miracles in today's Church in America, because we're trying to know how to do them. We should understand by faith and allow God to be God and be obedient to Him. When you get God figured out, then please let me know too. God works by our obedience to Him in faith and the only way to understand this, is by faith. Jesus said that it was "The Father in Him, Who did the works." The people didn't understand Jesus' walking on water, because it required faith to do so. Peter got out of the boat and started walking on water by faith, until he remembered that he couldn't walk in water. When he understood it by faith, he was fine and didn't sink. When Peter tried analyzing his actions, then he sank. We understand by faith. We must do what God says to do and walk by faith, as He instructs us to do.
Hebrews 11:3 (Amplified) tells us, "By faith we understand, that the worlds were framed by the Word of God."
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)."
We understand by faith and cannot understand the things of God, without faith. We don't by understand God's Word by some carnal ability or education of man; it takes faith to understand. Romans 4:16 (Amplified) says, "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 descendants, not only to the devotees of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is thus the father of us all."
The Promise that we've inherited, is based simply on faith in Jesus Christ. We don't deserve the and can't earn the Promise by works or traditions. We've been taught that God will withhold His Blessing and Promise to us, because we don't deserve them. We don't ever deserve them, but God gives them by His Grace. If God's Word is only true when we deserve it, then we won't ever be able to be saved. We certainly didn't deserve salvation, when we asked God for it.
We understand by faith and not by reading His Word by our intellect. Many Christians struggle to believe that we've been made righteous in Jesus Christ. After being saved, we continue quoting Romans 3:10 (Amplified), saying "As it is written, None is righteous (just and truthful and upright and conscientious), no not one." This is a true statement about the unsaved in the world, because they haven't understood Romans 1:17 (Amplified), which says, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith, disclosed by the way of faith (understanding) that arouses to more faith; BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND."
The only way to understand God's Word is by faith. You only get from God, what you believe Him for, according to His will. When Jesus was accepted and sat down with the Father, everything He died for and rose again for, was already ours. Some believed for it, while others didn't. It was still available to them, by what they believed. Jesus took away the sins of the world and while this is true, we still had to believe it, in order to activate God's forgiveness and salvation in our lives. Even though salvation is true for everyone, but some will not believe for it. Their unbelief won't stop this Truth, for those who would believe.
Paul writes to the Church in Romans 12:2 (Amplified), "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to it's external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed( by the entire renewal of your mind, by it's new ideals and attitudes." The word "renewal," according to The Strong's Concordance #342, means "regeneration, restoration, newness, and renovation." The word "restoration" especially caught my eye, when reading Psalm 23:3 which says, "He restores my soul." Your mind is in your soulish realm and restoring it means, bringing it back to God's Original intent, before Adam's fall.
How long do you think Adam walked with God, before his transgression? One day, one year, or a million years? Both the first and Last Adam had the mind of Christ. The same mind that is in Jesus, is the same mine that was in Adam. Restoring the mind can only be done by God's Word and His Holy Spirit. These will cause us to think like God intended His children to think, in the beginning.
We've been trained by the world, to think and operate like it does, but this wasn't true in the beginning. The thoughts we hold today aren't the thoughts that were in the minds of God's family at the beginning. It took thousands of years to teach mankind to die, be sick, trust in works and rituals and distrust God's Word. We've become cautious about trusting God's Word, by reasonings and natural fears. These have made us cautious to truly believe God will do what He says.
The Israelites were faced by the Red Sea before them and Pharaoh's army behind them, when they asked Moses, "What is your strategy?" Mose's answer was to raise his staff over the water. The Israelites had been trained to think like the Egyptians and they asked, "What kind of answer is this?" Their minds had been trained and confomed to that age and that world. The Awesome God of Abraham had been diminished in their thinking like the world thought, instead of what God thought.
We don't see many miracles in today's Church in America, because we're trying to know how to do them. We should understand by faith and allow God to be God and be obedient to Him. When you get God figured out, then please let me know too. God works by our obedience to Him in faith and the only way to understand this, is by faith. Jesus said that it was "The Father in Him, Who did the works." The people didn't understand Jesus' walking on water, because it required faith to do so. Peter got out of the boat and started walking on water by faith, until he remembered that he couldn't walk in water. When he understood it by faith, he was fine and didn't sink. When Peter tried analyzing his actions, then he sank. We understand by faith. We must do what God says to do and walk by faith, as He instructs us to do.
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Lesson 209 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 Grace heaped upon Grace. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
After speaking, Jesus asked those around Him whether the Words He spoke were God's will and they answered, "No!" Paul was tasked with ministering to the Gentiles, but no one understood that it was God's will to do so. If we know what God's will is and are seeking God's way of doing and being right, then you must continue doing so, without backing down. This is exactly what separated the early Christians in Hebrews 4 from those we read about in Hebrews 11. We must make sure it's God's will from His Word and then carry out His will in our lives. This doesn't mean we're "Lone Ranger Christians," but we can seek and walk with God as individuals.
We mustn't allow others to talk us out of our inheritance, with their unbelief. God will watch over His Word to perform it, even when others don't believe. We cannot give up our personal relationship with the Lord, in order to consolidate the majority. We can't lose out in what God desires to provide us in our lives and what He wants us to do. We must know God personally and not just by others.
Religion and tradition have taught us by what others believed and were taught. Not everything we've been taught has been wrong, but not all of it has been Truth either. God's Grace has provided us with the ability to know Him for ourselves and that's maybe the Greatest Gift He has given us. We've been taught so many different things, from the perspective of others. If we all had the same teaching, then we would all be of the same faith and unified.
Some believe one things, while other believers don't. Both groups might believe that Jesus is God's Son and has saved us from sin, but this is probably the only place there is agreement among the brethren. This is what is required for us to be saved, but what's your understanding about salvation? Does it just mean that our sin is forgiven and we're saved, or does His salvation include many other things as well? This seems to be the dividing line in Christianity.
Some believe that healing is for us today, while others don't believe it is. All believe that God can heal, but not all believe healing is God's will for everyone today. If you believe in God, then it would be foolish to believe that He cannot heal, so that's not the problem. The problem is whether you believe it's God's will to heal and that He will heal.
We understand healing, by faith and not by intellect. It's foolish and extreme to do what God calls us to do, by intellect. Moses understood by faith, that God could and would part the Red Sea. Many probably thought it seemed foolish when Moses pointed his staff at the waters, but Moses simply believed. I'm sure many believed it was foolish and the Wall of Jericho wouldn't fall down, by their simply walking around it and shouting. We understand by faith.
It's all about faith in God's ability to do what He says. We don't lean on our own understanding, but understand by faith. Moses didn't do anything, except believe God. God did the work, but we need faith to understand that. These men and women weren't great, but they understood faith. Faith doesn't make sense to the carnal mind. We keep trying to figure out how to do something, but our heads will never understand faith. Faith is a Spiritual force that is the ability to believe God at His Word. Even after you accomplish what God tells you to do, you cannot explain how it happened. How can pointing a stick at the Red Sea, make the waters part? We understand by faith that it's only God Who does the work. The free Gift of Righteousness comes only by faith. We can only truly receive, understand and appreciate what God has done, by faith.
We try to understand God's Word with our intellect and religious teachings. Then, when obstacles arise in our way, we say "It's God's will," instead of putting faith in His deliverance for us. The astronauts living on the International Space Station, can see the earth we live on and have sent us photos of the earth. We see that there is nothing holding it in place. It's only there, because God told it to be and we understand that by faith. Science has no explanation for why the earth is and what's holding it in place. They are trying to explain earth's existence without faith. We understand it by faith.
We read about those people of great faith in Hebrews 11. It required great faith in God, to do what they did. Moses didn't do anything, other than believing God and God parted the Red Sea, dropped Manna from Heaven, gave water from a rock, and delivered millions of people. All Moses did was trust God and understand God's Grace. Moses acted on God's instruction and when it was accomplished, the people failed to understand and have faith. Each time God moved, the people complained about the next move.
We must allow God to restore our Spiritual minds through His Word and the Holy Spirit, then the things that once seemed impossible, will become common occurrences in our lives. Do you remember going through a refresher course, at the beginning of school each fall? These were meant to restore our minds about things we have previously learned. The Holy Spirit does the same work, restoring, refreshing and renewing our minds, if we allow Him to do so. He is refreshing the mind of the spirit, so that we think according to God's Original Intent. These were things mankind once knew, but had forgotten.
This is why it's paramount that we read and know God's Word. It's not a duty or sacrifice, but it's like a refresher course, bringing us back to God's Original Intent. This is how God's intended it to be at the beginning. Once the teachings of the world are replaced by the mind of Christ, then miracles and healings and the works of the Gospel will once again become common place to the Church. When the doubts and unbelief of the enemy and the world are cleansed by the washing away of water by God's Word, then the trust and belief of God will be restored by the Great Shepherd Who restores our soul.
This refresher course will bring back to our remembrance, things that are already in our born-again spirit. When we became born-again, we were brought back to what God always intended us to be and God's Wisdom and nature are already in our new creation spirit. The Holy Spirit inspired John to write in 1John 2:20 (Amplified), "But you have been anointed by, you hold a Sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from the Holy One and you all know the Truth, or you know all things." The Original Truth is already in your new creation spirit and is only restrained by an unrenewed mind and the world. We were made to trust the Father and contain His Wisdom and His Own way of thinking.
The Wisdom of God is already in our new creation spirit, but we need to restore what was lost at Adam's transgression, in our new man. The Same Teacher Who taught Adam and Jesus, now lives in our new creation spirit. We need to renovate and remove the clutter of the old man, in order to make clear the new man.
After speaking, Jesus asked those around Him whether the Words He spoke were God's will and they answered, "No!" Paul was tasked with ministering to the Gentiles, but no one understood that it was God's will to do so. If we know what God's will is and are seeking God's way of doing and being right, then you must continue doing so, without backing down. This is exactly what separated the early Christians in Hebrews 4 from those we read about in Hebrews 11. We must make sure it's God's will from His Word and then carry out His will in our lives. This doesn't mean we're "Lone Ranger Christians," but we can seek and walk with God as individuals.
We mustn't allow others to talk us out of our inheritance, with their unbelief. God will watch over His Word to perform it, even when others don't believe. We cannot give up our personal relationship with the Lord, in order to consolidate the majority. We can't lose out in what God desires to provide us in our lives and what He wants us to do. We must know God personally and not just by others.
Religion and tradition have taught us by what others believed and were taught. Not everything we've been taught has been wrong, but not all of it has been Truth either. God's Grace has provided us with the ability to know Him for ourselves and that's maybe the Greatest Gift He has given us. We've been taught so many different things, from the perspective of others. If we all had the same teaching, then we would all be of the same faith and unified.
Some believe one things, while other believers don't. Both groups might believe that Jesus is God's Son and has saved us from sin, but this is probably the only place there is agreement among the brethren. This is what is required for us to be saved, but what's your understanding about salvation? Does it just mean that our sin is forgiven and we're saved, or does His salvation include many other things as well? This seems to be the dividing line in Christianity.
Some believe that healing is for us today, while others don't believe it is. All believe that God can heal, but not all believe healing is God's will for everyone today. If you believe in God, then it would be foolish to believe that He cannot heal, so that's not the problem. The problem is whether you believe it's God's will to heal and that He will heal.
We understand healing, by faith and not by intellect. It's foolish and extreme to do what God calls us to do, by intellect. Moses understood by faith, that God could and would part the Red Sea. Many probably thought it seemed foolish when Moses pointed his staff at the waters, but Moses simply believed. I'm sure many believed it was foolish and the Wall of Jericho wouldn't fall down, by their simply walking around it and shouting. We understand by faith.
It's all about faith in God's ability to do what He says. We don't lean on our own understanding, but understand by faith. Moses didn't do anything, except believe God. God did the work, but we need faith to understand that. These men and women weren't great, but they understood faith. Faith doesn't make sense to the carnal mind. We keep trying to figure out how to do something, but our heads will never understand faith. Faith is a Spiritual force that is the ability to believe God at His Word. Even after you accomplish what God tells you to do, you cannot explain how it happened. How can pointing a stick at the Red Sea, make the waters part? We understand by faith that it's only God Who does the work. The free Gift of Righteousness comes only by faith. We can only truly receive, understand and appreciate what God has done, by faith.
We try to understand God's Word with our intellect and religious teachings. Then, when obstacles arise in our way, we say "It's God's will," instead of putting faith in His deliverance for us. The astronauts living on the International Space Station, can see the earth we live on and have sent us photos of the earth. We see that there is nothing holding it in place. It's only there, because God told it to be and we understand that by faith. Science has no explanation for why the earth is and what's holding it in place. They are trying to explain earth's existence without faith. We understand it by faith.
We read about those people of great faith in Hebrews 11. It required great faith in God, to do what they did. Moses didn't do anything, other than believing God and God parted the Red Sea, dropped Manna from Heaven, gave water from a rock, and delivered millions of people. All Moses did was trust God and understand God's Grace. Moses acted on God's instruction and when it was accomplished, the people failed to understand and have faith. Each time God moved, the people complained about the next move.
We must allow God to restore our Spiritual minds through His Word and the Holy Spirit, then the things that once seemed impossible, will become common occurrences in our lives. Do you remember going through a refresher course, at the beginning of school each fall? These were meant to restore our minds about things we have previously learned. The Holy Spirit does the same work, restoring, refreshing and renewing our minds, if we allow Him to do so. He is refreshing the mind of the spirit, so that we think according to God's Original Intent. These were things mankind once knew, but had forgotten.
This is why it's paramount that we read and know God's Word. It's not a duty or sacrifice, but it's like a refresher course, bringing us back to God's Original Intent. This is how God's intended it to be at the beginning. Once the teachings of the world are replaced by the mind of Christ, then miracles and healings and the works of the Gospel will once again become common place to the Church. When the doubts and unbelief of the enemy and the world are cleansed by the washing away of water by God's Word, then the trust and belief of God will be restored by the Great Shepherd Who restores our soul.
This refresher course will bring back to our remembrance, things that are already in our born-again spirit. When we became born-again, we were brought back to what God always intended us to be and God's Wisdom and nature are already in our new creation spirit. The Holy Spirit inspired John to write in 1John 2:20 (Amplified), "But you have been anointed by, you hold a Sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from the Holy One and you all know the Truth, or you know all things." The Original Truth is already in your new creation spirit and is only restrained by an unrenewed mind and the world. We were made to trust the Father and contain His Wisdom and His Own way of thinking.
The Wisdom of God is already in our new creation spirit, but we need to restore what was lost at Adam's transgression, in our new man. The Same Teacher Who taught Adam and Jesus, now lives in our new creation spirit. We need to renovate and remove the clutter of the old man, in order to make clear the new man.
Friday, June 7, 2019
Lesson 208 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."
Our Heavenly Father and the Kingdom function on a different level of Truth, than what we've been taught and followed. "God's Word is forever settled in Heaven and is exalted above God's Holy Name," according to Psalm 138:2 (Amplified), where the Psalmist says, "I will worship toward Your Holy Temple and praise Your Name for Your Loving-kindness and for Your Truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your Name and Your Word and You have magnified Your Word above all Your Name."
God will not violate His Word, not even for us. When do things that are contrary to His Word and even though He understands, God will not change. If the enemy could get God to violate His Word, then Truth would be unstable, for the entire universe and it would collapse. We must know God's Word and walk in His Truth, in order to see that it's upheld in our earthly lives. God's Word worked for us, when we acted on His Word about salvation, because it is Truth. When we acted on God's Truth, He could fulfill His Word on our behalf and we were born-again. After being born-again though, we've tried doing the rest of God's Promises on our own terms, causing them to not work for us.
Jesus instructs 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." God's way of doing and being right, are His Word and His Promises to and for us, in Jesus. All of thee things are "given us besides," when we take time to renew our mind by the Kingdom principles.
Many believers say, "I don't think we need to do all these things, in order to go to Heaven." It is true that we must only believe on the Son of God, as our Sacrifice and Savior, in order to be born-again. It wasn't only about going to Heaven though, but it's about Heaven coming back into this earth. God now has access into this earthly realm and into this world system by His Spirit, Who lives and moves through us, the Body of Christ.
God needs man, in order to operate in this earth. God gave dominion to man from the very beginning and because He honors His Word, man still has dominion. This is why it's paramount that mankind submits to the Spirit of God and follows Him. When we do our own thing after being saved, then we hinder the work of the Holy Spirit's carrying out God's will on earth.
There is no power in rituals and traditions, to set men free or deliver them. This is man's idea of how to serve God and isn't God's way of doing and being right. Many think they have no responsibility in our own salvation, but this isn't true. After being saved and becoming part of God's family, we are to submit to the Father in every respect and do as He says to do. We are to watch how Jesus walked in His earthly ministry. Jesus is our Example and He said, "I only do what I hear My Father tell Me to do, I only say what I hear My Father say, and I only go where My Father tells Me to go."
Jesus never go caught up in the rituals and traditions of men. If He had, then we wouldn't be saved today. Jesus preached and followed the instructions of God's Kingdom. We've never taken the time to study the Laws that govern the Kingdom, which are God's way of doing and being right. We're violating Truth, when we speak contrary to God's way and His Word. Jesus was very careful to keep His conversation in line with God's Word. John 3:34 (Amplified) tells us, "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."
Today's Church doesn't place much value on words. God says that we are now the righteous of God, but we declare that "None are righteous." It might sound "humble," but it's not God's Own Message to His family. God says that "the Blessings of Abraham have come upon us, through Jesus Christ," but we continue to speak the Curse upon ourselves, thinking that the Father puts things upon us, in order to teach us something. God says that we "live by Grace," but we try "being Blessed," by observing the Law and it's rituals. God's Word says that "Jesus is our Healer," but we fight for the right to be sick, thinking this part of God's Word "isn't for us today."
God has Laws that govern Heaven and His Kingdom and He will not and cannot, change them for any of us. We are the understand God's way, not the other way around. If God didn't think we could do it, then He would never have sent us into the world to preach it.
We're offended when someone tries teaching us, above our carnal and traditional manner. Many Christians believe that the Promise of the Holy Spirit and a new language "aren't important," and some Christian circles believe them to "be of the devil." Is is any wonder that God's family is struggling against and losing the fight of Spiritual warfare for mankind? We've centered more on what the enemy has done to torment us, instead of our having the Father's Word of deliverance. God didn't leave us helpless against this insane outlaw spirit, but He gave us the authority and Power of the Holy Spirit and the Name of Jesus Christ to defeat him.
Paul tells Timothy in 2Timothy 2:15 (Amplified), "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." This is what every believer has been called to do. We can't always rely on and live by the study of others. We are privileged to have the ability to come into God's Presence and learn. This is maybe the greatest part of Grace.
Our Heavenly Father and the Kingdom function on a different level of Truth, than what we've been taught and followed. "God's Word is forever settled in Heaven and is exalted above God's Holy Name," according to Psalm 138:2 (Amplified), where the Psalmist says, "I will worship toward Your Holy Temple and praise Your Name for Your Loving-kindness and for Your Truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your Name and Your Word and You have magnified Your Word above all Your Name."
God will not violate His Word, not even for us. When do things that are contrary to His Word and even though He understands, God will not change. If the enemy could get God to violate His Word, then Truth would be unstable, for the entire universe and it would collapse. We must know God's Word and walk in His Truth, in order to see that it's upheld in our earthly lives. God's Word worked for us, when we acted on His Word about salvation, because it is Truth. When we acted on God's Truth, He could fulfill His Word on our behalf and we were born-again. After being born-again though, we've tried doing the rest of God's Promises on our own terms, causing them to not work for us.
Jesus instructs 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." God's way of doing and being right, are His Word and His Promises to and for us, in Jesus. All of thee things are "given us besides," when we take time to renew our mind by the Kingdom principles.
Many believers say, "I don't think we need to do all these things, in order to go to Heaven." It is true that we must only believe on the Son of God, as our Sacrifice and Savior, in order to be born-again. It wasn't only about going to Heaven though, but it's about Heaven coming back into this earth. God now has access into this earthly realm and into this world system by His Spirit, Who lives and moves through us, the Body of Christ.
God needs man, in order to operate in this earth. God gave dominion to man from the very beginning and because He honors His Word, man still has dominion. This is why it's paramount that mankind submits to the Spirit of God and follows Him. When we do our own thing after being saved, then we hinder the work of the Holy Spirit's carrying out God's will on earth.
There is no power in rituals and traditions, to set men free or deliver them. This is man's idea of how to serve God and isn't God's way of doing and being right. Many think they have no responsibility in our own salvation, but this isn't true. After being saved and becoming part of God's family, we are to submit to the Father in every respect and do as He says to do. We are to watch how Jesus walked in His earthly ministry. Jesus is our Example and He said, "I only do what I hear My Father tell Me to do, I only say what I hear My Father say, and I only go where My Father tells Me to go."
Jesus never go caught up in the rituals and traditions of men. If He had, then we wouldn't be saved today. Jesus preached and followed the instructions of God's Kingdom. We've never taken the time to study the Laws that govern the Kingdom, which are God's way of doing and being right. We're violating Truth, when we speak contrary to God's way and His Word. Jesus was very careful to keep His conversation in line with God's Word. John 3:34 (Amplified) tells us, "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."
Today's Church doesn't place much value on words. God says that we are now the righteous of God, but we declare that "None are righteous." It might sound "humble," but it's not God's Own Message to His family. God says that "the Blessings of Abraham have come upon us, through Jesus Christ," but we continue to speak the Curse upon ourselves, thinking that the Father puts things upon us, in order to teach us something. God says that we "live by Grace," but we try "being Blessed," by observing the Law and it's rituals. God's Word says that "Jesus is our Healer," but we fight for the right to be sick, thinking this part of God's Word "isn't for us today."
God has Laws that govern Heaven and His Kingdom and He will not and cannot, change them for any of us. We are the understand God's way, not the other way around. If God didn't think we could do it, then He would never have sent us into the world to preach it.
We're offended when someone tries teaching us, above our carnal and traditional manner. Many Christians believe that the Promise of the Holy Spirit and a new language "aren't important," and some Christian circles believe them to "be of the devil." Is is any wonder that God's family is struggling against and losing the fight of Spiritual warfare for mankind? We've centered more on what the enemy has done to torment us, instead of our having the Father's Word of deliverance. God didn't leave us helpless against this insane outlaw spirit, but He gave us the authority and Power of the Holy Spirit and the Name of Jesus Christ to defeat him.
Paul tells Timothy in 2Timothy 2:15 (Amplified), "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." This is what every believer has been called to do. We can't always rely on and live by the study of others. We are privileged to have the ability to come into God's Presence and learn. This is maybe the greatest part of Grace.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Lesson 207 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."
It makes the inheritance, Blessing and favor that we've received in Jesus useless, if we believe they're only for when we die and go to Heaven and not for while we're here on earth. When we arrive in the full Presence of the Father, we don't need anything else. It's Grace that has given the honor of being accepted to the Father, but when I'm in His full Presence, then I won't have to try being accepted, because He's accepted me into His Presence. Most of what Jesus left us in His will, is to be used and operated during our earthly life.
What will you do with the ability to pray for the sick, when you're in Heaven? How many sick people do you think there are in Heaven? Having the commission to cast out devils, will be of no use in Heaven, because there aren't any devils in Heaven. Even the Blessing we've received, will be of no avail in Heaven, because all who are in the Father's Kingdom have no needs.
We won't need the Promises made to us through Jesus throughout God's Word, when we're in Heaven, because no on there will have any needs. I'm not sure when God's people came to believe that these Spiritual Blessings were for when we go to Heaven. These Spiritual Blessings are the Gift of God's Spirit poured out upon us and in us, while we're here. We're to use them, in order to set mankind free. We cannot free mankind on our own, but only through the Spiritual Blessing of God, on and in our lives.
In Ephesians 6, Paul tells us that we are in a Spiritual battle and how we're to stand in that battle. Our opponent isn't man, but are the spiritual forces of the enemy. We're useless in this battle for mankind, unless we have the Spiritual Blessings and Gift to fight with. Our being nice, doesn't discourage or dismiss the forces of darkness, we need the Spiritual Blessing of the Holy Spirit and the Blood and Name of Jesus Christ to do so. We sometimes forget that we are in warfare with a spiritual outlaw who has nothing but contempt for mankind and who refuses to abide by anything other than the Power of God in our lives.
Satan isn't the "boogeyman" and he can't be dismissed by anything, but the Power of the Name and Blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus has delegated the authority to use His Name in combat, to the Church, His Body. Jesus has given us the Power of Attorney to use His Name and He will back it up by the Word and Spirit of God!
The Spiritual Blessings are backed by the entire force of Heaven, God, the Holy Spirit, the angels and the Power of His Word, in order to do what He sent us here to do on earth. Not one believer has been left without all it takes to set the captives free. We've been commissioned to cast out devils and we've been supplied with the Spiritual Blessings to do this and set someone free. If it takes cleansing a leper, then we've been commissioned to do so. We have the Spiritual Blessing to do whatever is needed to bring mankind out of captivity. God has supplied all of Heaven's resources to us, in order to do what He's commissioned us to do.
If we lead people to salvation, but don't teach them about who they are in Christ Jesus, then we're leaving them babies who are in danger of being tormented by spiritual forces, but without any idea how to stand against those forces. We don't dare say that "You have victory in Jesus, while you're on this side of Heaven," but we tell them that, "These are the troubles of being saved." We center more on the tribulations, instead of the triumphs. We are not victims, but we God's Own family. We were never left to be defeated by an enemy who has already been rendered helpless, by Jesus' Sacrifice. We must stop with the "grasshoppers in the sight of giants" mentality and look up unto Jesus, Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Satan's influence over the minds of men, could ever convince God's children that we're to be bullied and run over by the foe Jesus defeated and whose power, Jesus complete broke. The only weapon satan now has over God's children, is deception. If he can deceive us into thinking it's God's will for us to be sick, suffer and die prematurely, then we will be subject to what he designs for us.
While carefully reading Paul's Letters to the Church, you'll find that he never quit when things were tough. Paul continued on, until he had finished the course God set before him. If Paul had not been so determined to do God's will and finish the course, then we wouldn't know the full extent of what Jesus did and who we are in Him. Thankfully, Paul didn't stop teaching the Revelation Jesus gave him.
Paul writes in Philippians 4:13 (Amplified), "I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me (I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me); I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency." This is the Spiritual Blessing we share in the Body of Christ. His sufficiency is infused in us and is flowing through us, for His Glory. We would only be mere men and women, if we didn't have the Spiritual Blessing which is "Christ in us, our hope of Glory."
We're born-again from on High, by the Holy Spirit, Who now lives in and through us. This Spiritual Blessing has not only given us new Life, but also bring new Life to others. Ephesians 6:11 (Amplified) instructs us to, "Put on God's whole armor (the armor of a heavily-armed soldier which God supplies), that we may be able to successfully stand up against all the strategies and the deceits of the devil."
Notice that we are to put it on and God is to supply it. He has done His part by supplying it, but we've been slow in putting it on. We cannot successfully stand, without the full armor. Satan is insane, but he's not stupid and he knows what has been working for him for centuries. The things he's been using, are all that he still has to use, according to 1Corinthians 10:13 (Amplified) which 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 adapted and belonging to human experience and 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."
Many Christians read the above scripture and believe it means, "God will not put more on you, than you can bear." This isn't what it says though. This scripture never tells us that, "God put it on you," but it does say that, "God will not allow the enemy to introduce some new and different trials and temptations that aren't already common to man." There is nothing new under the sun. Whatever comes, God is faithful and can be trusted. Through Jesus, God has already supplied everything we need to stand the tests and be victorious in it. This is why we must "Put on the armor." God doesn't put it on us, but He supplies it for us to put on.
Many might reply, "None are Righteous, no not one." When we deny that we've been made righteous, by faith in Christ Jesus, then we've failed to put on the breastplate of righteousness that Paul writes about in Ephesians 6:14. If you don't believe in this faith teaching, then you don't have the shield of faith that quenches the flaming missiles of the wicked one. The Armor of God is for battle. The first thing we learned in Boot Camp, was what our armor is and how to put it on. Then, we were ready to battle. The only piece that is for offense, is the sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word. If you don't know God's Word, then you don't have a weapon of offense, so you're only defending yourself and not advancing.
It makes the inheritance, Blessing and favor that we've received in Jesus useless, if we believe they're only for when we die and go to Heaven and not for while we're here on earth. When we arrive in the full Presence of the Father, we don't need anything else. It's Grace that has given the honor of being accepted to the Father, but when I'm in His full Presence, then I won't have to try being accepted, because He's accepted me into His Presence. Most of what Jesus left us in His will, is to be used and operated during our earthly life.
What will you do with the ability to pray for the sick, when you're in Heaven? How many sick people do you think there are in Heaven? Having the commission to cast out devils, will be of no use in Heaven, because there aren't any devils in Heaven. Even the Blessing we've received, will be of no avail in Heaven, because all who are in the Father's Kingdom have no needs.
We won't need the Promises made to us through Jesus throughout God's Word, when we're in Heaven, because no on there will have any needs. I'm not sure when God's people came to believe that these Spiritual Blessings were for when we go to Heaven. These Spiritual Blessings are the Gift of God's Spirit poured out upon us and in us, while we're here. We're to use them, in order to set mankind free. We cannot free mankind on our own, but only through the Spiritual Blessing of God, on and in our lives.
In Ephesians 6, Paul tells us that we are in a Spiritual battle and how we're to stand in that battle. Our opponent isn't man, but are the spiritual forces of the enemy. We're useless in this battle for mankind, unless we have the Spiritual Blessings and Gift to fight with. Our being nice, doesn't discourage or dismiss the forces of darkness, we need the Spiritual Blessing of the Holy Spirit and the Blood and Name of Jesus Christ to do so. We sometimes forget that we are in warfare with a spiritual outlaw who has nothing but contempt for mankind and who refuses to abide by anything other than the Power of God in our lives.
Satan isn't the "boogeyman" and he can't be dismissed by anything, but the Power of the Name and Blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus has delegated the authority to use His Name in combat, to the Church, His Body. Jesus has given us the Power of Attorney to use His Name and He will back it up by the Word and Spirit of God!
The Spiritual Blessings are backed by the entire force of Heaven, God, the Holy Spirit, the angels and the Power of His Word, in order to do what He sent us here to do on earth. Not one believer has been left without all it takes to set the captives free. We've been commissioned to cast out devils and we've been supplied with the Spiritual Blessings to do this and set someone free. If it takes cleansing a leper, then we've been commissioned to do so. We have the Spiritual Blessing to do whatever is needed to bring mankind out of captivity. God has supplied all of Heaven's resources to us, in order to do what He's commissioned us to do.
If we lead people to salvation, but don't teach them about who they are in Christ Jesus, then we're leaving them babies who are in danger of being tormented by spiritual forces, but without any idea how to stand against those forces. We don't dare say that "You have victory in Jesus, while you're on this side of Heaven," but we tell them that, "These are the troubles of being saved." We center more on the tribulations, instead of the triumphs. We are not victims, but we God's Own family. We were never left to be defeated by an enemy who has already been rendered helpless, by Jesus' Sacrifice. We must stop with the "grasshoppers in the sight of giants" mentality and look up unto Jesus, Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Satan's influence over the minds of men, could ever convince God's children that we're to be bullied and run over by the foe Jesus defeated and whose power, Jesus complete broke. The only weapon satan now has over God's children, is deception. If he can deceive us into thinking it's God's will for us to be sick, suffer and die prematurely, then we will be subject to what he designs for us.
While carefully reading Paul's Letters to the Church, you'll find that he never quit when things were tough. Paul continued on, until he had finished the course God set before him. If Paul had not been so determined to do God's will and finish the course, then we wouldn't know the full extent of what Jesus did and who we are in Him. Thankfully, Paul didn't stop teaching the Revelation Jesus gave him.
Paul writes in Philippians 4:13 (Amplified), "I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me (I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me); I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency." This is the Spiritual Blessing we share in the Body of Christ. His sufficiency is infused in us and is flowing through us, for His Glory. We would only be mere men and women, if we didn't have the Spiritual Blessing which is "Christ in us, our hope of Glory."
We're born-again from on High, by the Holy Spirit, Who now lives in and through us. This Spiritual Blessing has not only given us new Life, but also bring new Life to others. Ephesians 6:11 (Amplified) instructs us to, "Put on God's whole armor (the armor of a heavily-armed soldier which God supplies), that we may be able to successfully stand up against all the strategies and the deceits of the devil."
Notice that we are to put it on and God is to supply it. He has done His part by supplying it, but we've been slow in putting it on. We cannot successfully stand, without the full armor. Satan is insane, but he's not stupid and he knows what has been working for him for centuries. The things he's been using, are all that he still has to use, according to 1Corinthians 10:13 (Amplified) which 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 adapted and belonging to human experience and 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."
Many Christians read the above scripture and believe it means, "God will not put more on you, than you can bear." This isn't what it says though. This scripture never tells us that, "God put it on you," but it does say that, "God will not allow the enemy to introduce some new and different trials and temptations that aren't already common to man." There is nothing new under the sun. Whatever comes, God is faithful and can be trusted. Through Jesus, God has already supplied everything we need to stand the tests and be victorious in it. This is why we must "Put on the armor." God doesn't put it on us, but He supplies it for us to put on.
Many might reply, "None are Righteous, no not one." When we deny that we've been made righteous, by faith in Christ Jesus, then we've failed to put on the breastplate of righteousness that Paul writes about in Ephesians 6:14. If you don't believe in this faith teaching, then you don't have the shield of faith that quenches the flaming missiles of the wicked one. The Armor of God is for battle. The first thing we learned in Boot Camp, was what our armor is and how to put it on. Then, we were ready to battle. The only piece that is for offense, is the sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word. If you don't know God's Word, then you don't have a weapon of offense, so you're only defending yourself and not advancing.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Lesson 206 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
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."
Christians have been taught and many believe that, "Whatever happens, good or bad, it is always God's will." Starvation, war, child abuse, death and heartache are prevalent in today's world, so it's no wonder it's hard to accept and believe that the Blessing of Abraham has been made ours through Jesus, when we think these things are God's Plan and will for mankind. The people in Jesus' time had only heard preaching about the Curse and punishment, so they didn't know what to think of Him and we seem to be like them.
Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 in Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified), saying, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because he has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah) to preach the Good News (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed (who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed and broken down by calamity), To proclaim the accepted and acceptable Year of the Lord (the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound)" God made a time for the accepted and acceptable Year of the Lord in Leviticus 25:10-13, which is the Year of Jubilee, the time when all things are to be restored back to their rightful owner and all debt was cancelled. Verse 13 says, "In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his ancestral property."
As the Last Adam, Jesus redeemed us and all of our debt and the penalty from the first Adam's transgression. Jesus restored these things back to God's Original intent, as His family. Galatians 4:4-7 (Amplified) says, "But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to the regulations of the Law To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for), those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us and be recognized as God's Sons. And because you really are His sons, God has sent the Holy Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying Abba, Father, Father! Therefore you are no longer a slave (bond servant), but a son, and if a son, then if follows that you are an heir and by the aid of God through Jesus Christ."
Remember, Leviticus 25:13 says, "In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his ancestral property." This is the property God gave to the first Adam, which was our ancestral property. The Spiritual Blessing that was on Adam has been restored back to God's Own family, through Jesus, as our Jubilee.
There was no Curse, no sickness, no death and no person left out, in our ancestral property. This inheritance was for God's Own family to enjoy. This was the acceptable and the accepted will of God for His family. Jesus instructed us to pray in Matthew 6:8-13 (Amplified) saying, "Do not be like them (hypocrites) For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray therefore like this, Our Father Who is in Heaven, Hallowed (kept Holy), be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive (left remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment) against our debtors. 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 (So be it)."
How can anyone read Jesus' Prayer and then believe that God is the One Who brings us into temptations, trials and tests? Why would Jesus teach us to pray this way, if it was God Who was leading us into these tests? God's Word tells us that, "A house divided cannot stand." If God was testing us and Jesus was teaching us to pray against God's will, then that would be a house divided. Carnal knowledge and human understanding has led us into the enemy's trap and we don't know whether to resist or submit to these things. We don't know whether God is trying to test us or the enemy is trying to destroy us. The world is a dangerous place to walk in, when we don't know what God's will is.
Jesus knew God's will exactly and He never told anyone to "Keep your sickness, because it might be God's will for you." Jesus knew these things were the results of Adam's fall and the enemy and He set them all free. John 8:19 (Amplified) tells us, "And they said to Him [Jesus], Where is this Father of Yours? Jesus answered, You know My Father as little as you know Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also."
We confess that we "know the Father," but the way we know Him, isn't the way Jesus portrayed Him, in His ministry. Jesus never placed disease or allowed sickness to remain of any person. He was always the Healer and Deliverer. Don't confuse the old covenant, with the new covenant of Jubilee and restoration and son ship.
If you really want to know God as your Father, then watch Jesus. If Jesus didn't do it, then God doesn't do it. If Jesus does do it, then God does it too. Hebrews 1:3 (Amplified) says, "He (Jesus) is the Sole Expression of the Glory of God, the Light Being, the outraying or radiance of the Divine and He is the Perfect Imprint and Very Image of God's nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His Mighty Word of Power." In the Words of Jesus, "When you see Me, you have seen the Father. The Father and I are One."
We must not confuse the God of the Law and the Father of Grace. You're not under Law and you're not longer dead in trespass and sin. You have become a new creation child of God, an heir of God and fellow heir with Jesus Christ. Jesus is your Jubilee and Redeemer. Almighty God is now your Father and He is for you all the way. We can't become double-minded and blinded by the idea of man's religion. If God was your problem, then you don't have any answer. If you think that God allowed something to come upon you, in order to teach you something, then you must either enjoy it as His will or you must quickly learn what God wants you to learn, in order to get out of the problem. If you think it's God's will, then you must not complain.
Christians have been taught and many believe that, "Whatever happens, good or bad, it is always God's will." Starvation, war, child abuse, death and heartache are prevalent in today's world, so it's no wonder it's hard to accept and believe that the Blessing of Abraham has been made ours through Jesus, when we think these things are God's Plan and will for mankind. The people in Jesus' time had only heard preaching about the Curse and punishment, so they didn't know what to think of Him and we seem to be like them.
Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 in Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified), saying, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because he has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah) to preach the Good News (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed (who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed and broken down by calamity), To proclaim the accepted and acceptable Year of the Lord (the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound)" God made a time for the accepted and acceptable Year of the Lord in Leviticus 25:10-13, which is the Year of Jubilee, the time when all things are to be restored back to their rightful owner and all debt was cancelled. Verse 13 says, "In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his ancestral property."
As the Last Adam, Jesus redeemed us and all of our debt and the penalty from the first Adam's transgression. Jesus restored these things back to God's Original intent, as His family. Galatians 4:4-7 (Amplified) says, "But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to the regulations of the Law To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for), those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us and be recognized as God's Sons. And because you really are His sons, God has sent the Holy Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying Abba, Father, Father! Therefore you are no longer a slave (bond servant), but a son, and if a son, then if follows that you are an heir and by the aid of God through Jesus Christ."
Remember, Leviticus 25:13 says, "In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his ancestral property." This is the property God gave to the first Adam, which was our ancestral property. The Spiritual Blessing that was on Adam has been restored back to God's Own family, through Jesus, as our Jubilee.
There was no Curse, no sickness, no death and no person left out, in our ancestral property. This inheritance was for God's Own family to enjoy. This was the acceptable and the accepted will of God for His family. Jesus instructed us to pray in Matthew 6:8-13 (Amplified) saying, "Do not be like them (hypocrites) For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray therefore like this, Our Father Who is in Heaven, Hallowed (kept Holy), be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive (left remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment) against our debtors. 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 (So be it)."
How can anyone read Jesus' Prayer and then believe that God is the One Who brings us into temptations, trials and tests? Why would Jesus teach us to pray this way, if it was God Who was leading us into these tests? God's Word tells us that, "A house divided cannot stand." If God was testing us and Jesus was teaching us to pray against God's will, then that would be a house divided. Carnal knowledge and human understanding has led us into the enemy's trap and we don't know whether to resist or submit to these things. We don't know whether God is trying to test us or the enemy is trying to destroy us. The world is a dangerous place to walk in, when we don't know what God's will is.
Jesus knew God's will exactly and He never told anyone to "Keep your sickness, because it might be God's will for you." Jesus knew these things were the results of Adam's fall and the enemy and He set them all free. John 8:19 (Amplified) tells us, "And they said to Him [Jesus], Where is this Father of Yours? Jesus answered, You know My Father as little as you know Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also."
We confess that we "know the Father," but the way we know Him, isn't the way Jesus portrayed Him, in His ministry. Jesus never placed disease or allowed sickness to remain of any person. He was always the Healer and Deliverer. Don't confuse the old covenant, with the new covenant of Jubilee and restoration and son ship.
If you really want to know God as your Father, then watch Jesus. If Jesus didn't do it, then God doesn't do it. If Jesus does do it, then God does it too. Hebrews 1:3 (Amplified) says, "He (Jesus) is the Sole Expression of the Glory of God, the Light Being, the outraying or radiance of the Divine and He is the Perfect Imprint and Very Image of God's nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His Mighty Word of Power." In the Words of Jesus, "When you see Me, you have seen the Father. The Father and I are One."
We must not confuse the God of the Law and the Father of Grace. You're not under Law and you're not longer dead in trespass and sin. You have become a new creation child of God, an heir of God and fellow heir with Jesus Christ. Jesus is your Jubilee and Redeemer. Almighty God is now your Father and He is for you all the way. We can't become double-minded and blinded by the idea of man's religion. If God was your problem, then you don't have any answer. If you think that God allowed something to come upon you, in order to teach you something, then you must either enjoy it as His will or you must quickly learn what God wants you to learn, in order to get out of the problem. If you think it's God's will, then you must not complain.
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Lesson 205 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."
Do we truly understand the full impact of what the Father is saying to us in the above scripture, about the Spiritual Blessings we've received through Jesus? How many think that these things are for when we die and go to Heaven? This is a truth, but it's not the Truth. The fullness of these Blessings won't be received until we arrive in Heaven, but most of them are already available to us here, now. We see the Blessings working through Jesus' earthly ministry and life.
We understand our Heavenly Father through Jesus. Jesus was our Example and we're to appropreate this same Blessing in our lives, through Him. The Blessing that Jesus, Who was the Last Adam, walked in, was the same Blessing that was supposed to have been for the first Adam. This was and still is, God's will for His family. We've somehow overlooked the place God intended to have in our lives. Hebrews 10:35-36 (Amplified) says, "Do not therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away and enjoy to the full what is Promised."
Hebrews 7:22 (Amplified) says, "In keeping with the oaths greater strength and force, Jesus has become the Guarantee of a better, stronger agreement, a more excellent and more advantageous covenant." Paul also writes in Hebrews 8:6 (Amplified), "But as it now is, He (Christ) has acquired a Priestly ministry which is as much superior and more excellent than the old as the covenant (agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is superior and more excellent, because it is enacted and rests upon more important (sublimer, higher and nobler) Promises."
2Corinthians 1:19-20 (Amplified) 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 it is 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."
These Spiritual Blessings don't refer only to when we die and go to Heaven. The Truth is that we've now become citizens of Heaven and God's Kingdom, through our union with Jesus Christ. All of Heaven has been made ours and is available to us, as joint heirs with Jesus. The Spiritual Blessings came to us and in us, by the Holy Spirit, at our new creation birth into God's family.
These Blessings aren't for us to simply enjoy, but are to set free all who are still in captivity. Jesus walked in the Blessing and those Spiritual Blessings set a liberty those around Him. Without the Blessing, we're no more than just forgiven people. The Blessing is the Power of God, through Love, that sets others free. We have been Blessed, to be a Blessing. Jesus used the Blessing to break the bondage of those who were still under the Law and the Curse. He used the Blessing to preach deliverance to the captives.
We must first believe in who Jesus has made us to be and not what the world and carnal men tell us we still are, in order to walk in the Promise and the Blessing. Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified) tells us that, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against Spiritual forces." We must use the Spiritual Blessing and Spiritual Gifts, to break down the Spiritual forces around us. All these things have been placed in our new creation spirit man, in order to bring deliverance and salvation to those around us.
We continue to struggle with the old man and the life we had before Jesus. We continue focusing on our house of flesh and it's imperfections, which leaves us feeling unworthy in God's sight. This is what Paul calls "the sin that so readily and deftly and cleverly clings to and entangles us," in Hebrews 12:1. We can only receive the Truth of who we really are now in Christ Jesus, BY FAITH. Thus, Hebrews 1:2 (Amplified) says, "Looking away from all that will distract TO JESUS."
We're afraid to see ourselves the way God's Word tell us we are now, because of carnal teachings. We are still unrighteous and unworthy in ourselves, but we are no longer in ourselves-we are IN HIM. The only way the Promises work in our lives, is by faith in Him, according to Romans 4:16 (Amplified) which says, "Therefore, inheiriting 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)."
The more we "try to be good, so we might feel like we might deserve God's Grace by our works," the further we move away from faith in God providing His Grace. This sounds contrary to everything we've learned and been taught for centuries. I don't mean to imply that you don't need to clean up your live, but don't depend on yourself to become righteous. You were Blessed, because of Jesus and you must accept it and put faith in Him, for His Promises.
We've been reluctant to accept what God has given us through Jesus, for fear of looking deserving and greedy. God gave us what His will had always wanted us to have from the beginning, when He created mankind. We've been taught that God still deals with us, like He did with those under the old covenant. We're afraid that when we fail, then God will send lightning from Heaven or strike us with sickness or deal with us like He did under the Law. We forget who Jesus has made us to be.
When the Father of Spirits, deals with the children of spirits, He deals in a Spiritual manner. God couldn't deal with the spirits of old covenant people, because they were still dead in their spirits. God was forced to deal with their fleshly man, but that's not how He deals with us. God's Word is Spirit, we are spirit, the Teacher is Spirit and God's Kingdom is Spirit. Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified) says, "For the Word that God speaks is Alive and full of Power, making it activer (operative, enrgizing and effective); it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of Life, soul, and the immportance Spirit, and the joints and marrow of the deepest parts of our nature, exposign and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart." The Father disciples His children by His Word and His Spirit. 2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified) says, "Every scripture is God-breathed, given by His Inspirtation and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin (for correction of error and discipline in obedience), for training in Righteousness, in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action."
This is what Hebrews 12 speaks about, when it says that God' disciplines and cleanses every sin. We are to learn by God's Word and His Spirit. Believing that "God uses hard times, sickness, and other such things to teach us," leaves you open to the destroyer's destruction. Listen to the Holy Spirit and God's Word, for instruction and Promises.
The enemy doesn't want you to enter into God's Rest or know about that Rest. God's Word will lead you away from the pitfalls the enemy lays before you and "will lead you in paths of Righteousness for His Sake." God's leadership will take you "beside still waters and lush grass" and not sickness and calamity. We're going to have to learn to trust the Good Shepherd and follow Him.
Do we truly understand the full impact of what the Father is saying to us in the above scripture, about the Spiritual Blessings we've received through Jesus? How many think that these things are for when we die and go to Heaven? This is a truth, but it's not the Truth. The fullness of these Blessings won't be received until we arrive in Heaven, but most of them are already available to us here, now. We see the Blessings working through Jesus' earthly ministry and life.
We understand our Heavenly Father through Jesus. Jesus was our Example and we're to appropreate this same Blessing in our lives, through Him. The Blessing that Jesus, Who was the Last Adam, walked in, was the same Blessing that was supposed to have been for the first Adam. This was and still is, God's will for His family. We've somehow overlooked the place God intended to have in our lives. Hebrews 10:35-36 (Amplified) says, "Do not therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away and enjoy to the full what is Promised."
Hebrews 7:22 (Amplified) says, "In keeping with the oaths greater strength and force, Jesus has become the Guarantee of a better, stronger agreement, a more excellent and more advantageous covenant." Paul also writes in Hebrews 8:6 (Amplified), "But as it now is, He (Christ) has acquired a Priestly ministry which is as much superior and more excellent than the old as the covenant (agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is superior and more excellent, because it is enacted and rests upon more important (sublimer, higher and nobler) Promises."
2Corinthians 1:19-20 (Amplified) 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 it is 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."
These Spiritual Blessings don't refer only to when we die and go to Heaven. The Truth is that we've now become citizens of Heaven and God's Kingdom, through our union with Jesus Christ. All of Heaven has been made ours and is available to us, as joint heirs with Jesus. The Spiritual Blessings came to us and in us, by the Holy Spirit, at our new creation birth into God's family.
These Blessings aren't for us to simply enjoy, but are to set free all who are still in captivity. Jesus walked in the Blessing and those Spiritual Blessings set a liberty those around Him. Without the Blessing, we're no more than just forgiven people. The Blessing is the Power of God, through Love, that sets others free. We have been Blessed, to be a Blessing. Jesus used the Blessing to break the bondage of those who were still under the Law and the Curse. He used the Blessing to preach deliverance to the captives.
We must first believe in who Jesus has made us to be and not what the world and carnal men tell us we still are, in order to walk in the Promise and the Blessing. Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified) tells us that, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against Spiritual forces." We must use the Spiritual Blessing and Spiritual Gifts, to break down the Spiritual forces around us. All these things have been placed in our new creation spirit man, in order to bring deliverance and salvation to those around us.
We continue to struggle with the old man and the life we had before Jesus. We continue focusing on our house of flesh and it's imperfections, which leaves us feeling unworthy in God's sight. This is what Paul calls "the sin that so readily and deftly and cleverly clings to and entangles us," in Hebrews 12:1. We can only receive the Truth of who we really are now in Christ Jesus, BY FAITH. Thus, Hebrews 1:2 (Amplified) says, "Looking away from all that will distract TO JESUS."
We're afraid to see ourselves the way God's Word tell us we are now, because of carnal teachings. We are still unrighteous and unworthy in ourselves, but we are no longer in ourselves-we are IN HIM. The only way the Promises work in our lives, is by faith in Him, according to Romans 4:16 (Amplified) which says, "Therefore, inheiriting 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)."
The more we "try to be good, so we might feel like we might deserve God's Grace by our works," the further we move away from faith in God providing His Grace. This sounds contrary to everything we've learned and been taught for centuries. I don't mean to imply that you don't need to clean up your live, but don't depend on yourself to become righteous. You were Blessed, because of Jesus and you must accept it and put faith in Him, for His Promises.
We've been reluctant to accept what God has given us through Jesus, for fear of looking deserving and greedy. God gave us what His will had always wanted us to have from the beginning, when He created mankind. We've been taught that God still deals with us, like He did with those under the old covenant. We're afraid that when we fail, then God will send lightning from Heaven or strike us with sickness or deal with us like He did under the Law. We forget who Jesus has made us to be.
When the Father of Spirits, deals with the children of spirits, He deals in a Spiritual manner. God couldn't deal with the spirits of old covenant people, because they were still dead in their spirits. God was forced to deal with their fleshly man, but that's not how He deals with us. God's Word is Spirit, we are spirit, the Teacher is Spirit and God's Kingdom is Spirit. Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified) says, "For the Word that God speaks is Alive and full of Power, making it activer (operative, enrgizing and effective); it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of Life, soul, and the immportance Spirit, and the joints and marrow of the deepest parts of our nature, exposign and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart." The Father disciples His children by His Word and His Spirit. 2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified) says, "Every scripture is God-breathed, given by His Inspirtation and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin (for correction of error and discipline in obedience), for training in Righteousness, in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action."
This is what Hebrews 12 speaks about, when it says that God' disciplines and cleanses every sin. We are to learn by God's Word and His Spirit. Believing that "God uses hard times, sickness, and other such things to teach us," leaves you open to the destroyer's destruction. Listen to the Holy Spirit and God's Word, for instruction and Promises.
The enemy doesn't want you to enter into God's Rest or know about that Rest. God's Word will lead you away from the pitfalls the enemy lays before you and "will lead you in paths of Righteousness for His Sake." God's leadership will take you "beside still waters and lush grass" and not sickness and calamity. We're going to have to learn to trust the Good Shepherd and follow Him.
Monday, June 3, 2019
Lesson 204 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
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."
Throughout Christianity's history, much misunderstanding has developed about Truth and Grace. We've heard and believed many things that haven't always been Truth or Grace. Even the Truth about Love has been misconstrued. The world's idea of love and God's idea of Love aren't always the same thing. Grace wasn't to mean that, "You can do anything you wish to do and still be alright with God" Grace was meant to cover the mistakes we make, while growing and learning in our walk with God.
Truth is as it always has been from the very beginning and Grace was always God's intent. Law was brought in, because of God, but because of man. God still exercised Grace that now had to come by the Law, in order to be able to Bless and move in men's lives. It was actually by Grace, that God gave the Law, because without His Grace of accepting sacrifices, Law would exclude man from God's Blessing altogether. Many couldn't and didn't keep the Law. Without Grace to accept sacrifice for failure, man had no way to walk with God.
God no longer needed to depend on man because of Jesus' Sacrifice and Grace could once again do what God had intended it to do from the beginning. The Word tells us that the Law was simply a "Guide" to lead men to Christ, until His Sacrifice could be made, which would fulfill the Law in Galatians 3:25 (Amplified) which says, "But now that the faith has come, we are no longer under a trainer, the guardian of our childhood."
In the beginning, there was no Curse, no sickness, no death, but only Blessing and Grace by Truth. There was no Law to be "guardian" over God's family. God's Presence and Wisdom by His Grace, brought all His children into maturity, like He intended. When God brought His family into the earth, they didn't know "how" they were to walk before Him like they should. They had never anything about life, until God gave them life. The Father intended to raise His family in life, as they grew into maturity.
It's a lie from the enemy, that "God planned from the beginning, to bring His family to transgress, die and under the Curse." Those who believe that God deliberately and purposefully designed the fall of His children in the Garden, have no understanding of God at all.
When we read and hear about faith today, we associate it with only a certain crowd of Christians, whom we view suspiciously. All of humanity was to walk by faith and in association with The One in Whom our faith was to be in. Our faith was never to be in ourselves, but in Him. Our faith was to be an expression of knowing God's Love and our depending on His Love to provide everything we would ever need. This is faith. Paul speaks clearly about this in Galatians 5:6 (Amplified), saying, "But if we are in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through Love."
Our faith is to be in Him and our understanding of His Love for us, is what makes it work. If you don't understand God's full Love, then your faith can only work to the point of your understanding. If you don't believe that God's Love for you includes healing for your body, then your "faith can only work by Love," NOT HIS LOVE, but your understanding of His Love. How far do you trust in the Love, God has for you? Your faith will work to that extent, by knowing His Heart. We've been taught from the old covenant and believe that was God's Original Plan A. God's Plan was always Grace and Truth, by Love.
We've come back to God's Original Intent through Jesus. He brought family into God's Kingdom of Love. Adam's transgression resulted in man's growing up in disobedience and without understanding God's Love and provision. God's family today, no longer needs or requires the Law to teach us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit Who guides and brings us into maturity, by Grace and Truth. If we try walking with God by the Law, then that reveals how we don't understand Grace and Truth.
Carnal thinking has led to man-made laws for walking with God. They're external customs and rituals that remove Grace from it's full purpose. If we believe we can do it our way, then Grace doesn't work like it should in our lives. We then, become dependent on ourselves, instead of having faith in God's Grace. Remember, FAITH WORKS BY LOVE. 1John 4:18 (Amplified) says, "There is no fear in Love (dread does not exist), but full grown (complete, perfect) Love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and so he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of Love (is not yet grown into Love's complete perfection)." Faith works by Love. When we're in fear of punishment, then we're not yet in the perfection of Love and Who Love is.
Love isn't a feeling. Feelings change in a second. Love is God Himself and God isn't out to punish us, but to save us from punishment. Fear won't hold you to God, only His Love will do that. When you love God and understand His Love for you, then you'll never think of leaving Him for anything. Paul wrote about the husband and wife relationship and the Great Mystery of Christ and the Church in Ephesians 5:32. The wife doesn't stay with her husband because she "has to," but because she chooses to. This is a choice of Love and not fear. No one has ever made my wife of 58 years to stay married to me. I can trust her to be there at home, because she chooses to remain with me. She chooses this because she loves me and not because she'd afraid to leave home.
Coming to understand God's Love, might be one of the great Revelations to come to the Church today. When the Truth of God's Love is made known to His family, the entire world will see His Glory in and on and through His family. You can't express the fullness of God, until you know the fullness of God and that God is Love. When you know His Love for you, like Jesus did, then you'll not only be fearless, but you can allow Him to live through you in this Love.
Throughout Christianity's history, much misunderstanding has developed about Truth and Grace. We've heard and believed many things that haven't always been Truth or Grace. Even the Truth about Love has been misconstrued. The world's idea of love and God's idea of Love aren't always the same thing. Grace wasn't to mean that, "You can do anything you wish to do and still be alright with God" Grace was meant to cover the mistakes we make, while growing and learning in our walk with God.
Truth is as it always has been from the very beginning and Grace was always God's intent. Law was brought in, because of God, but because of man. God still exercised Grace that now had to come by the Law, in order to be able to Bless and move in men's lives. It was actually by Grace, that God gave the Law, because without His Grace of accepting sacrifices, Law would exclude man from God's Blessing altogether. Many couldn't and didn't keep the Law. Without Grace to accept sacrifice for failure, man had no way to walk with God.
God no longer needed to depend on man because of Jesus' Sacrifice and Grace could once again do what God had intended it to do from the beginning. The Word tells us that the Law was simply a "Guide" to lead men to Christ, until His Sacrifice could be made, which would fulfill the Law in Galatians 3:25 (Amplified) which says, "But now that the faith has come, we are no longer under a trainer, the guardian of our childhood."
In the beginning, there was no Curse, no sickness, no death, but only Blessing and Grace by Truth. There was no Law to be "guardian" over God's family. God's Presence and Wisdom by His Grace, brought all His children into maturity, like He intended. When God brought His family into the earth, they didn't know "how" they were to walk before Him like they should. They had never anything about life, until God gave them life. The Father intended to raise His family in life, as they grew into maturity.
It's a lie from the enemy, that "God planned from the beginning, to bring His family to transgress, die and under the Curse." Those who believe that God deliberately and purposefully designed the fall of His children in the Garden, have no understanding of God at all.
When we read and hear about faith today, we associate it with only a certain crowd of Christians, whom we view suspiciously. All of humanity was to walk by faith and in association with The One in Whom our faith was to be in. Our faith was never to be in ourselves, but in Him. Our faith was to be an expression of knowing God's Love and our depending on His Love to provide everything we would ever need. This is faith. Paul speaks clearly about this in Galatians 5:6 (Amplified), saying, "But if we are in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through Love."
Our faith is to be in Him and our understanding of His Love for us, is what makes it work. If you don't understand God's full Love, then your faith can only work to the point of your understanding. If you don't believe that God's Love for you includes healing for your body, then your "faith can only work by Love," NOT HIS LOVE, but your understanding of His Love. How far do you trust in the Love, God has for you? Your faith will work to that extent, by knowing His Heart. We've been taught from the old covenant and believe that was God's Original Plan A. God's Plan was always Grace and Truth, by Love.
We've come back to God's Original Intent through Jesus. He brought family into God's Kingdom of Love. Adam's transgression resulted in man's growing up in disobedience and without understanding God's Love and provision. God's family today, no longer needs or requires the Law to teach us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit Who guides and brings us into maturity, by Grace and Truth. If we try walking with God by the Law, then that reveals how we don't understand Grace and Truth.
Carnal thinking has led to man-made laws for walking with God. They're external customs and rituals that remove Grace from it's full purpose. If we believe we can do it our way, then Grace doesn't work like it should in our lives. We then, become dependent on ourselves, instead of having faith in God's Grace. Remember, FAITH WORKS BY LOVE. 1John 4:18 (Amplified) says, "There is no fear in Love (dread does not exist), but full grown (complete, perfect) Love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and so he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of Love (is not yet grown into Love's complete perfection)." Faith works by Love. When we're in fear of punishment, then we're not yet in the perfection of Love and Who Love is.
Love isn't a feeling. Feelings change in a second. Love is God Himself and God isn't out to punish us, but to save us from punishment. Fear won't hold you to God, only His Love will do that. When you love God and understand His Love for you, then you'll never think of leaving Him for anything. Paul wrote about the husband and wife relationship and the Great Mystery of Christ and the Church in Ephesians 5:32. The wife doesn't stay with her husband because she "has to," but because she chooses to. This is a choice of Love and not fear. No one has ever made my wife of 58 years to stay married to me. I can trust her to be there at home, because she chooses to remain with me. She chooses this because she loves me and not because she'd afraid to leave home.
Coming to understand God's Love, might be one of the great Revelations to come to the Church today. When the Truth of God's Love is made known to His family, the entire world will see His Glory in and on and through His family. You can't express the fullness of God, until you know the fullness of God and that God is Love. When you know His Love for you, like Jesus did, then you'll not only be fearless, but you can allow Him to live through you in this Love.
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