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)."
Jesus is Skillful and Godly Wisdom to us. 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, Revealed to us knowledge of the Divine Plan of Salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption, providing our Ransom from eternal penalty for sin."
Much of God's Plan for us has never been accepted or preached in today's churches, because of traditions. Our lack of Wisdom in Jesus, has caused us to lose and know God's Original Intent for man. We've held onto the Truth that when we're saved, we'll spend eternity with the Lord, but we don't know what it's like to share in His Presence while here on earth. Many believe that the Super-natural things of God "have passed away" and "aren't for us today."
Man has been led by our senses for so long, that we filter the Wisdom of God, through our own ideas. Many believe that it's "over the top," to say we can live in the Original Intent and Plan God had for His family. What is there that God cannot do today, that He has done before? Are healing and deliverance lost to God's ability today?
Today's Church puts off the Super-natural intentions of God's Plan for His family, for being when we die and go to Heaven. Many view those who speak of these things and/or walk in them, with suspicion. The job of today's Church, is to do like Jesus did during His earthly ministry and deliver those who are still oppressed by the devil. In order to do this, we must embrace the Super-natural Presence of God and allow Him to live through us, like He did through Jesus.
Jesus said, "It's not Me, but the Father in Me, that does the work." This is still True for the Church today. It's not us who does the work, but it's the Father in us, Who will do the Super-natural work of setting the captives free. Jesus told His followers in Mark 16:17 (Amplified), "These attesting signs will accompany those who believe."
Believers have believed to the place of being born-again, but we've failed to believe in God's ability to do His work in us, while we're still on this earth. This isn't pride in ourselves, but is trust and faith in the Greater One Who lives within us, like He did in Jesus. We've inherited the very same Holy Spirit and the same Father, Who were present in Jesus. Romans 8:17 (Amplified) says, "And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His Glory."
Through the years, I've found that some of the suffering we share, is walking in the Very Presence of the Father and allowing Him to manifest Himself through us. Jesus wasn't speaking about the suffering He bore on Calvary, but about the suffering of the sense-ruled men, who came up against anything they didn't understand. God's Original Intent for His family, included our walking in His Own Super-natural ability that we inherited from our Heavenly Father. The result of Adam's transgression was that he transferred his ability of the Blessing and Super-natural ability, into the hands of God's enemy, which was used to destroy the family of men. Jesus restored that Super-natural Spiritual ability back to us, by His Sacrifice.
We cannot change this world back to what God intends, without having the ability of the Holy Spirit working in us. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified), "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending with physical opponents), but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural sphere."
We've been successful to lead others to salvation and get them born-again, but we've left most of those persons still in the physical realm of captivity by supernatural forces. Sickness, disease, despair, oppression and many of the same things that afflicted us before we were born-again, continue to plague God's family after being born-again. These can only be overcome by the Super-natural ability of the Father, Who does the work and is working through His Own family.
God hasn't lost any of His ability to set the captives free, but we've lost faith in His ability to do it through us. We stumble at this thought in our sense knowledge, but there are no limits in our born-again spirit. Your spirit is infused by the Holy Spirit and knows no fear, no limits and no retreat. The fear comes from the outside, not the inside. 2Timothy 1:7 (Amplified) says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear, but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self control."
This self control is something we've used to abstain from what we know is sin, but it's also used to prevent the world to control us by its standards. It's used to allow God to have control in our lives, by our not fearing reprisal from the world. A "well-balanced mind" is a renewed mind, which Paul writes about in Romans 12:2 (Amplified), saying, "Do not be conformed to this world (age), fashioned after and adapted to it's external, superficial customs, but be transformed, changed by the entire renewal of your mind, by its new ideals and attitude so you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God (even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you)."
We must live in this world, but Jesus said in John 17:16 (Amplified), "They are not of the world (worldly) belonging to the world, just as I am not of the world." The world doesn't understand the Super-natural things of the Spirit of God, but we're supposed to understand them and walk in them, like Jesus did. The Presence of God is the only thing that can break the bonds of the enemy over God's people. The principalities that keep mankind captive, can only be displaced and broken by God's Super-natural Presence, through His people. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified) that, "We are not fighting men, but spiritual forces of darkness and evil." This can't be removed by any other Source, except God's Presence through His Spirit which now lives in His people. Without the Super-natural, we are just a religion and not a living organism of God on this earth.
If Jesus hadn't healed and delivered the people like He did, then the people would have remained in the same bondage they were in before He came. Jesus was still the Son of God, but the people wouldn't have been delivered. Because He was the Son of God, though, He brought the Love of God into focus in people's lives. He Glorified the Father in the eyes of man and brought fear to the principalities and powers of darkness, Alleluia. People didn't understand this and rejected Jesus. This is the suffering He endured in His earthly ministry.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Lesson 21 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Ephesians 2:10,12,13 (Amplified) says, "For we are God's Own handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus (born anew) that we may do those Good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us, taking paths which He prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the Good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live."
Today's Church should realize just how awesome the above scripture is for us. God established a Plan for His children to walk in complete fellowship and Blessing with Him, both before the fall of Adam and now through His Son Jesus. This isn't just for when we leave this earth and go to Heaven, but is for the He planned for His children on earth. The Original Intent of God's heart has now come back into His Own Plan for us, in and before He created mankind.
Through Jesus, we (the Church of Gentiles) have been born into God's covenant and Promise of Blessing He made to Abraham. Paul continues writing to the Church in Verse 12, saying, "Remember that you were at that time separated, living apart from Christ, excluded from all part in Him, utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the Sacred Compacts of the Messianic Promise, with no knowledge of or right in God's agreements (His covenants), and you had no hope, no Promise, and you were in the world without God."
It strange to even think about being "in the world without God." Verse 13 says, "But now in Christ Jesus, you were once so far away, through, by and in the Blood of Christ, have been brought near." By the Blood of Jesus, we as Gentiles, have been made partakers of all God's Promises. We've been restored, bought back, and redeemed back to God's Original Intent for His family, through Jesus. This was God's Plan for His children, even before the fall of Adam. He wasn't prearranging paths for us to walk in Heaven, but made Plans before creating mankind, for us to walk in this earth.
As born-again people, we're destined to go to Heaven when we leave this planet, but this doesn't do away with His Plan for us now, on earth. God prearranged these Plans and paths as part of His Original Intent for His children and He is still carrying out these Plans on earth. Many stagger at the thought of God's Plan and Promise, believing there are "too much for us today." We've forgotten to bring God into the Plans for us. Without having God in these Plans, man can't understand His heart or how to walk in the paths He made for us.
God never intended for His family to walk in the Curse. There was no Curse, before Adam's fall. We've been brought back to God's Original Intent for His family, through Jesus. Jesus paid off our debt and made the Way for us to live in God's heart, Plan and Intent for His family from before time and before we were separated from His Plan. The Predestined Plan is still in the heart of God.
Paul explains how and why he can say such thing about God's Prearranged Plan for the Gentiles, in Galatians 1:11-12 (Amplified), which says, "For I want you to know brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by one is not man's gospel (a human invention according to or patterned after any human standard). For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through a direct Revelation given by Jesus Christ (the Messiah)." Romans 10:17 (Amplified) says, "So faith comes by hearing what is told, and what is heard comes by the preaching of the Message that came from the lips of Christ the Messiah Himself."
Do you think that Jesus would say something that is different from the Gospel or Revelation that He gave Paul to preach? What has happened to us, is what Jesus revealed to Paul. Natural man believed it was "too far out," so we improvised, making the message something we could do on our own. The Promises were greater than natural man could do or even think, so we brought it down to man's invention and human standards.
Most of the Gospel we've heard preached today, leaves out the Super-natural intervention of God and His ability to bring it to pass. Natural man has removed God's part in His Promise, making it for only "when we die and go to Heaven." This has never been God's Original Intent. His Plan was for us to walk with Him here on earth, as well as in Heaven.
There's no way to walk in the Blessing of Abraham that is now ours through Jesus, without the Super-natural Presence of God bringing it to pass. The Blessing God Promised Abraham, was the Plan He had before Adam's fall in the Garden and still His Plan on earth today. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified), "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." There's no way for us to walk in Heaven's Blessing, without first knowing what God's will is for us here.
As the Last Adam, Jesus restored man back to Heaven's will, during His earthly walk. We can see the heart of God's Original Intent for His family, even here on earth, through Jesus' Example. During His earthly ministry, Jesus spoke the Blessing, healed the sick, delivered those who were possessed, and raised people from the dead and we're to follow His Example, but we can't do any of these things without the Super-natural move of God.
We've heard about the "faith movement" from many sources, but many dismiss it as "foolishness." Faith is simply another word for "trust." We've never learned to trust God with our healing or other Super-natural things. Man's gospel tells us that, "God doesn't do these things anymore." Without Him, everything the Gospel teaches is IMPOSSIBLE. We haven't dared believe in His Promises on earth, because we've never been taught to trust Him that far.
We've allowed ourselves to be brought back under man-made laws, so we could walk in them without God. Only God can bring His Promises to pass and that comes by having faith and trusting in God's Word. The people in the Wilderness limited God, by not trusting His Word and covenant. God wanted to meet their every need by Himself, but they held onto Egypt and its ways. 1John 3:16,17-18 (Amplified says, "And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of), by observation and experience and believe, adhere to and put faith in and rely on, the Love God cherishes for us. God is Love, and he who dwells in and continues in love, dwells and continues in God and God dwells in and continues in Him." We read about God's Love for us in Verses 17-18, which say, "In this union and communion with Him, Love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, with assurance and boldness to face Him, because as He is, so are we in this world. 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."
We read one of God's Promises for us, concerning fear and terror, in Isaiah 54:14 (Amplified), which says, "You shall establish yourself in Righteousness (in rightness, in conformity with God's will and order); you shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you." In order to walk free from fear or oppression and destruction and terror, you must trust in God and His Love for you. This faith or trust, is born out of knowing God's heart and His Love for you, for yourself. No one can put this into your heart, you must do it for yourself. You must know Him and His intention for you, as His child. If you don't have Revelation of Him for yourself and only know what others say about Him (the gospel of men), then you can't live out the Blessing.
Faith or trust comes only when you come to know Him for yourself, as a child of God. Many have come into the new birth or family with only the understanding of other men. Many know about God, but not many know God for themselves. We still walk in fear of the Law and our inability to walk in out, which leads us to expect God's punishment for our failures. God's the Only One Who can do the things we need done in our lives, but we've been afraid to trust Him for them. Our part of the covenant is to have faith and trust God. God's part is to fulfill what only He can do. ALL GOD ASKS OF US is to trust Him. God has already made our paths, preparing them ahead of time, and He has made them available to us. We can only walk them by faith, trusting Him while we're still here on earth.
This might seem like "hyper faith," or "foolish" to some, but God wants His children to walk in complete trust in Him. God prearranged paths for us to walk in before time existed. This is His Original Intent for His family.
Today's Church should realize just how awesome the above scripture is for us. God established a Plan for His children to walk in complete fellowship and Blessing with Him, both before the fall of Adam and now through His Son Jesus. This isn't just for when we leave this earth and go to Heaven, but is for the He planned for His children on earth. The Original Intent of God's heart has now come back into His Own Plan for us, in and before He created mankind.
Through Jesus, we (the Church of Gentiles) have been born into God's covenant and Promise of Blessing He made to Abraham. Paul continues writing to the Church in Verse 12, saying, "Remember that you were at that time separated, living apart from Christ, excluded from all part in Him, utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the Sacred Compacts of the Messianic Promise, with no knowledge of or right in God's agreements (His covenants), and you had no hope, no Promise, and you were in the world without God."
It strange to even think about being "in the world without God." Verse 13 says, "But now in Christ Jesus, you were once so far away, through, by and in the Blood of Christ, have been brought near." By the Blood of Jesus, we as Gentiles, have been made partakers of all God's Promises. We've been restored, bought back, and redeemed back to God's Original Intent for His family, through Jesus. This was God's Plan for His children, even before the fall of Adam. He wasn't prearranging paths for us to walk in Heaven, but made Plans before creating mankind, for us to walk in this earth.
As born-again people, we're destined to go to Heaven when we leave this planet, but this doesn't do away with His Plan for us now, on earth. God prearranged these Plans and paths as part of His Original Intent for His children and He is still carrying out these Plans on earth. Many stagger at the thought of God's Plan and Promise, believing there are "too much for us today." We've forgotten to bring God into the Plans for us. Without having God in these Plans, man can't understand His heart or how to walk in the paths He made for us.
God never intended for His family to walk in the Curse. There was no Curse, before Adam's fall. We've been brought back to God's Original Intent for His family, through Jesus. Jesus paid off our debt and made the Way for us to live in God's heart, Plan and Intent for His family from before time and before we were separated from His Plan. The Predestined Plan is still in the heart of God.
Paul explains how and why he can say such thing about God's Prearranged Plan for the Gentiles, in Galatians 1:11-12 (Amplified), which says, "For I want you to know brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by one is not man's gospel (a human invention according to or patterned after any human standard). For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through a direct Revelation given by Jesus Christ (the Messiah)." Romans 10:17 (Amplified) says, "So faith comes by hearing what is told, and what is heard comes by the preaching of the Message that came from the lips of Christ the Messiah Himself."
Do you think that Jesus would say something that is different from the Gospel or Revelation that He gave Paul to preach? What has happened to us, is what Jesus revealed to Paul. Natural man believed it was "too far out," so we improvised, making the message something we could do on our own. The Promises were greater than natural man could do or even think, so we brought it down to man's invention and human standards.
Most of the Gospel we've heard preached today, leaves out the Super-natural intervention of God and His ability to bring it to pass. Natural man has removed God's part in His Promise, making it for only "when we die and go to Heaven." This has never been God's Original Intent. His Plan was for us to walk with Him here on earth, as well as in Heaven.
There's no way to walk in the Blessing of Abraham that is now ours through Jesus, without the Super-natural Presence of God bringing it to pass. The Blessing God Promised Abraham, was the Plan He had before Adam's fall in the Garden and still His Plan on earth today. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified), "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." There's no way for us to walk in Heaven's Blessing, without first knowing what God's will is for us here.
As the Last Adam, Jesus restored man back to Heaven's will, during His earthly walk. We can see the heart of God's Original Intent for His family, even here on earth, through Jesus' Example. During His earthly ministry, Jesus spoke the Blessing, healed the sick, delivered those who were possessed, and raised people from the dead and we're to follow His Example, but we can't do any of these things without the Super-natural move of God.
We've heard about the "faith movement" from many sources, but many dismiss it as "foolishness." Faith is simply another word for "trust." We've never learned to trust God with our healing or other Super-natural things. Man's gospel tells us that, "God doesn't do these things anymore." Without Him, everything the Gospel teaches is IMPOSSIBLE. We haven't dared believe in His Promises on earth, because we've never been taught to trust Him that far.
We've allowed ourselves to be brought back under man-made laws, so we could walk in them without God. Only God can bring His Promises to pass and that comes by having faith and trusting in God's Word. The people in the Wilderness limited God, by not trusting His Word and covenant. God wanted to meet their every need by Himself, but they held onto Egypt and its ways. 1John 3:16,17-18 (Amplified says, "And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of), by observation and experience and believe, adhere to and put faith in and rely on, the Love God cherishes for us. God is Love, and he who dwells in and continues in love, dwells and continues in God and God dwells in and continues in Him." We read about God's Love for us in Verses 17-18, which say, "In this union and communion with Him, Love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, with assurance and boldness to face Him, because as He is, so are we in this world. 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."
We read one of God's Promises for us, concerning fear and terror, in Isaiah 54:14 (Amplified), which says, "You shall establish yourself in Righteousness (in rightness, in conformity with God's will and order); you shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you." In order to walk free from fear or oppression and destruction and terror, you must trust in God and His Love for you. This faith or trust, is born out of knowing God's heart and His Love for you, for yourself. No one can put this into your heart, you must do it for yourself. You must know Him and His intention for you, as His child. If you don't have Revelation of Him for yourself and only know what others say about Him (the gospel of men), then you can't live out the Blessing.
Faith or trust comes only when you come to know Him for yourself, as a child of God. Many have come into the new birth or family with only the understanding of other men. Many know about God, but not many know God for themselves. We still walk in fear of the Law and our inability to walk in out, which leads us to expect God's punishment for our failures. God's the Only One Who can do the things we need done in our lives, but we've been afraid to trust Him for them. Our part of the covenant is to have faith and trust God. God's part is to fulfill what only He can do. ALL GOD ASKS OF US is to trust Him. God has already made our paths, preparing them ahead of time, and He has made them available to us. We can only walk them by faith, trusting Him while we're still here on earth.
This might seem like "hyper faith," or "foolish" to some, but God wants His children to walk in complete trust in Him. God prearranged paths for us to walk in before time existed. This is His Original Intent for His family.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Lesson 20 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Romans 12:2 (Amplified) says, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind, by it's new ideals and it's new attitude, so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."
So many Christians say that bad things happening in their lives are, "Just the way things are" and/or "This is the new normal." I refuse to accept that what goes on now as being the new normal for my life and the lives of my family. The things happening in today's world are anything but "Good, acceptable and the perfect will of God," for His family. God's will is not to have Christians be afraid to allow their children to walk to school or have them in school. We've allowed ourselves to become conformed to the world and have accepted their customs and ideals.
When did God become unable to take care of His Own family? God is more than Able to watch over and care for us, but we've come to believe He can do so. We've adapted the modern theology which tells us that, "God doesn't do these things any longer" and we put up with what happens in our lives today. If we look at God's Original Intent for His family, then we won't find the fear and despair that plagues many of us today. Hebrews 4:2 (Amplified) says, "For indeed we have had the glad tidings (the Gospel) of God proclaimed to us just as truly as they, the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (the the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His Power, Wisdom and Goodness), by those who heard it, neither were they united in faith with the ones (Joshua and Caleb) who heard and did believe."
Was God able to take care of the Israelites who were delivered out of Egypt? Did God make good on His Promise to those who believed Him? Only those who accepted what Egypt had given them as being "the new normal," adapted to the Egyptian customs and remained in the Wilderness. God said that they "tempted and limited Him from doing what He said, by their unbelief." Have we, as His Own family, done the same and limited God from keeping His Promises to us in this age and time, by our unbelief? Hebrews 11:39-40 (Amplified) says, "And all of these, though they won Divine approval by means of their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was Promised Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, So that they, these heroes and heroines of faith should not come to perfection apart from us, before we could join them."
The heroes of faith that Paul writes about in the above scripture, weren't family yet, but were under the old covenant. Those heroes who were born-again under the new covenant, didn't have the Epistles and the Revelations Paul was given by Jesus Himself, compiled into one Book, like we have today. Many never read about God's Original Intent for His family. Some couldn't read Galatians 3:13-14 (Amplified) which says, "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 scripture, Cursed is everyone who hands on a tree (is crucified) To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."
When looking at the ministry of the Last Adam, Jesus, we understand that in Him, we've been delivered back to God's Original Intent for His children. We've become a new creation family, like before Adam's fall in the Garden. The First Adam had no customs of the world to adapt to, but was dependent only on his Father, like Jesus was. Jesus walked like we do today, simultaneously as the Son of man and the Son of God. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we walk in the same realm as Jesus did in His earthly ministry. We are sons and daughters of man, by our own natural birth and we are sons and daughters of God, by our new birth. We live in the flesh, but we war not after the flesh, according to 2Corinthians 10:3-4 (Amplified) which says, "For though we walk, live in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical (weapons of flesh and blood), but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and the destruction of strongholds."
We read about God's Original Intent in 1Corinthians 3:9 (Amplified), which says, "For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; You are God's garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, you are God's building." Genesis 2:8 (Amplified) tells us about God's Garden, saying, "And the Lord God planted a Garden toward the east in Eden (delight), and there He put the man whom He had formed (framed, constituted)." We've become that Garden, which was planted by God. We are His Own building or temple, that He dwells and lives in. 1Corinthians 3:16 (Amplified) says, "Do you not discern and understand that you the whole Church at Corinth are God's temple (His sanctuary) and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you to be at home in you, collectively as a Church and also individually?"
I'm very careful about what I write and say to the Church and God's people. My aim is to once again, bring us back to the faith that,"our God is still more than able to do more than we can ask or even think." Throughout the years, the enemy has caused us to believe that somehow, "God doesn't do these things anymore." The Super-natural works of God have all but been removed from our teaching, in the Church.
The Holy Spirit writes through Paul in 1Corinthians 3:17 (Amplified), "If anyone does hurt to God's temple or corrupts it with false doctrine or destroys it, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him. For the temple of God is holy (sacred to Him), and that temple you, the believing Church and its individual believer are." Teaching God's Church that, "God doesn't watch over, deliver, heal, speak or do mighty works anymore," is wrong and holds us back in unbelief. We limit the Holy One and grieve the Holy Spirit with our unbelief, like those in the Wilderness did.
This teaching is not designed to anger you or make you think you're not a good Christian. God never made anything, but good Christians. His work is perfection. We need to have vision and understanding, in order to trust Him beyond religion. We must seek Him for ourselves and don't simply rely on someone else's ideas.
So many Christians say that bad things happening in their lives are, "Just the way things are" and/or "This is the new normal." I refuse to accept that what goes on now as being the new normal for my life and the lives of my family. The things happening in today's world are anything but "Good, acceptable and the perfect will of God," for His family. God's will is not to have Christians be afraid to allow their children to walk to school or have them in school. We've allowed ourselves to become conformed to the world and have accepted their customs and ideals.
When did God become unable to take care of His Own family? God is more than Able to watch over and care for us, but we've come to believe He can do so. We've adapted the modern theology which tells us that, "God doesn't do these things any longer" and we put up with what happens in our lives today. If we look at God's Original Intent for His family, then we won't find the fear and despair that plagues many of us today. Hebrews 4:2 (Amplified) says, "For indeed we have had the glad tidings (the Gospel) of God proclaimed to us just as truly as they, the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (the the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His Power, Wisdom and Goodness), by those who heard it, neither were they united in faith with the ones (Joshua and Caleb) who heard and did believe."
Was God able to take care of the Israelites who were delivered out of Egypt? Did God make good on His Promise to those who believed Him? Only those who accepted what Egypt had given them as being "the new normal," adapted to the Egyptian customs and remained in the Wilderness. God said that they "tempted and limited Him from doing what He said, by their unbelief." Have we, as His Own family, done the same and limited God from keeping His Promises to us in this age and time, by our unbelief? Hebrews 11:39-40 (Amplified) says, "And all of these, though they won Divine approval by means of their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was Promised Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, So that they, these heroes and heroines of faith should not come to perfection apart from us, before we could join them."
The heroes of faith that Paul writes about in the above scripture, weren't family yet, but were under the old covenant. Those heroes who were born-again under the new covenant, didn't have the Epistles and the Revelations Paul was given by Jesus Himself, compiled into one Book, like we have today. Many never read about God's Original Intent for His family. Some couldn't read Galatians 3:13-14 (Amplified) which says, "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 scripture, Cursed is everyone who hands on a tree (is crucified) To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."
When looking at the ministry of the Last Adam, Jesus, we understand that in Him, we've been delivered back to God's Original Intent for His children. We've become a new creation family, like before Adam's fall in the Garden. The First Adam had no customs of the world to adapt to, but was dependent only on his Father, like Jesus was. Jesus walked like we do today, simultaneously as the Son of man and the Son of God. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we walk in the same realm as Jesus did in His earthly ministry. We are sons and daughters of man, by our own natural birth and we are sons and daughters of God, by our new birth. We live in the flesh, but we war not after the flesh, according to 2Corinthians 10:3-4 (Amplified) which says, "For though we walk, live in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical (weapons of flesh and blood), but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and the destruction of strongholds."
We read about God's Original Intent in 1Corinthians 3:9 (Amplified), which says, "For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; You are God's garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, you are God's building." Genesis 2:8 (Amplified) tells us about God's Garden, saying, "And the Lord God planted a Garden toward the east in Eden (delight), and there He put the man whom He had formed (framed, constituted)." We've become that Garden, which was planted by God. We are His Own building or temple, that He dwells and lives in. 1Corinthians 3:16 (Amplified) says, "Do you not discern and understand that you the whole Church at Corinth are God's temple (His sanctuary) and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you to be at home in you, collectively as a Church and also individually?"
I'm very careful about what I write and say to the Church and God's people. My aim is to once again, bring us back to the faith that,"our God is still more than able to do more than we can ask or even think." Throughout the years, the enemy has caused us to believe that somehow, "God doesn't do these things anymore." The Super-natural works of God have all but been removed from our teaching, in the Church.
The Holy Spirit writes through Paul in 1Corinthians 3:17 (Amplified), "If anyone does hurt to God's temple or corrupts it with false doctrine or destroys it, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him. For the temple of God is holy (sacred to Him), and that temple you, the believing Church and its individual believer are." Teaching God's Church that, "God doesn't watch over, deliver, heal, speak or do mighty works anymore," is wrong and holds us back in unbelief. We limit the Holy One and grieve the Holy Spirit with our unbelief, like those in the Wilderness did.
This teaching is not designed to anger you or make you think you're not a good Christian. God never made anything, but good Christians. His work is perfection. We need to have vision and understanding, in order to trust Him beyond religion. We must seek Him for ourselves and don't simply rely on someone else's ideas.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Lesson 16 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Have you heard the old saying, "Experience is a good teacher?" There's a better way to experience gravity, other than jumping off your rooftop. You can watch leaves fall from trees or watch raindrops fall from the sky or you can throw a ball into the air and watch it fall down again. The point is that they all fall down, because of gravity. One doesn't need step in front of a bus, in order to know that it will maim or kill you when it hits you. We can learn from watching the mistakes others have made and not repeating those same mistakes. If you listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His advice, then you will avoid a lot of misery.
I recall a drunk man, who approached me and asked for a dollar. I will never forget what he said to me, as I gave him a dollar. He said, "Son, don't drink and end up like me." That was good, wise advice, even though that man didn't look wise. Today, many seek counsel from the media and other such sources, but the Holy Spirit and God's Word are the One True Source for Wisdom and understanding.
Many Christians believe that trusting God for more than going to Heaven when they die, is "over-the-top." I don't know when God stopped being "I Am," and became "I Was." I'm going to trust God for my life, while I'm still here on earth, because that seems like Wisdom to me. We've misplaced trust for our live, believing it's only for when we die and go to Heaven. God created the earth for us to inhabit and He chose His children to inhabit it.
Jesus echoed the Father's Word and the Blessing He gave to the First Adam, when He said in Luke 10:9 (Amplified), "Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and physical and mental strength and ability over all the enemy possesses, and nothing shall in any way harm you." The restoration of the dominion and authority the Father pronounced on the First Adam, has now been restored to us, by the Last Adam, Jesus.
We've been taught, lived, and grown up in a world that has been governed by satan and fallen men for so long, that we don't understand who we really are in Christ Jesus. We are once again, God's Original Intent. Our problem isn't how we live when we are in Heaven, but how we're to live with Heaven living in us, while we're here on earth. We're ambassadors of God's Kingdom and we have diplomatic immunity from the Laws that govern the natural realm. Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5:20 (Amplified), "So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were, through us. We, as Christ's personal representatives beg you for His sake to lay hold of the Divine favor now offered you and be reconciled to God."
The above scripture isn't only for the Apostles (like some believe), but it's for those of the Kingdom, who are still here to proclaim Jesus to the world. The Great Ambassador Jesus, walked in diplomatic immunity in this realm of natural things, like the First Adam must have. Gravity couldn't stop Jesus from walking on the water. Weather couldn't compete in the face of His authority and Jesus calmed the storm and waves. Demons who'd been infecting mankind, had to leave in His Presence. The fish of the sea were subject to the Blessing Jesus pronounced, when He instructed Peter to cast his net on the other side of the boat. Peter's boat nearly collapsed from the weight of fish he caught.
The First Adam didn't need to heal and perform miracles, because these weren't needed until after his transgression. Jesus taught us to, "Tend the garden, so that nothing could creep in and pervert it." The same authority Jesus walked in, was the same authority God pronounced on Adam. Jesus simply displayed the Power of the Blessing that God pronounced on His family. This same Blessing is now ours again, by trust and accepting Jesus and becoming family again to God.
We've accept the world's idea of religion and have forgotten the Super-natural Power of the Blessing and the son-ship rights that have been restored to us again, through Jesus. We're double-minded and don't know whether God is testing us or satan is trying us. We fail to realize that the Holy Spirit is here to guide us, not stop us. When the Holy Spirit was poured out on us from Heaven, He came with the indwelling Power and Presence of God to live in us and carry out the mission Jesus commissioned us to do. 1Peter 2:2 tells us we need to read and understand God's Word, in order to nurture and feed our newborn spirit. Peter tells us that God's Word brings strength to our spirit, so we can overcome the natural outer-man of the flesh. Romans 8:5 (Amplified) says, "For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek after those things which gratify the Holy Spirit."
Now we can understand the heart of Paul, when he wrote to the Church in Rome. Thus, he writes in Romans 12;2 (Amplified), "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed), by the entire renewal of your mind, by its new ideals and its new attitude, So that you may prove to yourselves what is the Good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing that is Good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."
The old, unrenewed mind of even born-again Christians, still thinks, feels and walks by what it learned over the years before being saved. When we begin to see and accept God's Word as nourishment for our new spirit, then we can see the Truth that we're new creation children of God. Jesus said that, "The Words I speak to you are Spirit and Life." Trying to apply Spiritual Words to an unrenewed mind, will only create another religion, instead of a relationship with the Father. Jesus said that, "The Truth will make you free." Jesus said in John 8:31-32 (Amplified), "If you abide in My Word (hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them), you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free."
When we don't have understanding of the Spiritual Wisdom of God's Word, then we just apply it to the flesh man and establish another man-made law, like the Law of Moses. The flesh man couldn't keep the Law of Moses and the man of flesh cannot keep the new law that religion sets up for the Church. Making God's Word a "law," causes it to lose it's Power of Grace, so that it doesn't come to pass like it was intended to. Many have only accepted God's Word in their fleshly minds, without understanding, causing us to lose the Super-natural Power of it's Truth.
I recall a drunk man, who approached me and asked for a dollar. I will never forget what he said to me, as I gave him a dollar. He said, "Son, don't drink and end up like me." That was good, wise advice, even though that man didn't look wise. Today, many seek counsel from the media and other such sources, but the Holy Spirit and God's Word are the One True Source for Wisdom and understanding.
Many Christians believe that trusting God for more than going to Heaven when they die, is "over-the-top." I don't know when God stopped being "I Am," and became "I Was." I'm going to trust God for my life, while I'm still here on earth, because that seems like Wisdom to me. We've misplaced trust for our live, believing it's only for when we die and go to Heaven. God created the earth for us to inhabit and He chose His children to inhabit it.
Jesus echoed the Father's Word and the Blessing He gave to the First Adam, when He said in Luke 10:9 (Amplified), "Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and physical and mental strength and ability over all the enemy possesses, and nothing shall in any way harm you." The restoration of the dominion and authority the Father pronounced on the First Adam, has now been restored to us, by the Last Adam, Jesus.
We've been taught, lived, and grown up in a world that has been governed by satan and fallen men for so long, that we don't understand who we really are in Christ Jesus. We are once again, God's Original Intent. Our problem isn't how we live when we are in Heaven, but how we're to live with Heaven living in us, while we're here on earth. We're ambassadors of God's Kingdom and we have diplomatic immunity from the Laws that govern the natural realm. Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5:20 (Amplified), "So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were, through us. We, as Christ's personal representatives beg you for His sake to lay hold of the Divine favor now offered you and be reconciled to God."
The above scripture isn't only for the Apostles (like some believe), but it's for those of the Kingdom, who are still here to proclaim Jesus to the world. The Great Ambassador Jesus, walked in diplomatic immunity in this realm of natural things, like the First Adam must have. Gravity couldn't stop Jesus from walking on the water. Weather couldn't compete in the face of His authority and Jesus calmed the storm and waves. Demons who'd been infecting mankind, had to leave in His Presence. The fish of the sea were subject to the Blessing Jesus pronounced, when He instructed Peter to cast his net on the other side of the boat. Peter's boat nearly collapsed from the weight of fish he caught.
The First Adam didn't need to heal and perform miracles, because these weren't needed until after his transgression. Jesus taught us to, "Tend the garden, so that nothing could creep in and pervert it." The same authority Jesus walked in, was the same authority God pronounced on Adam. Jesus simply displayed the Power of the Blessing that God pronounced on His family. This same Blessing is now ours again, by trust and accepting Jesus and becoming family again to God.
We've accept the world's idea of religion and have forgotten the Super-natural Power of the Blessing and the son-ship rights that have been restored to us again, through Jesus. We're double-minded and don't know whether God is testing us or satan is trying us. We fail to realize that the Holy Spirit is here to guide us, not stop us. When the Holy Spirit was poured out on us from Heaven, He came with the indwelling Power and Presence of God to live in us and carry out the mission Jesus commissioned us to do. 1Peter 2:2 tells us we need to read and understand God's Word, in order to nurture and feed our newborn spirit. Peter tells us that God's Word brings strength to our spirit, so we can overcome the natural outer-man of the flesh. Romans 8:5 (Amplified) says, "For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek after those things which gratify the Holy Spirit."
Now we can understand the heart of Paul, when he wrote to the Church in Rome. Thus, he writes in Romans 12;2 (Amplified), "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed), by the entire renewal of your mind, by its new ideals and its new attitude, So that you may prove to yourselves what is the Good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing that is Good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."
The old, unrenewed mind of even born-again Christians, still thinks, feels and walks by what it learned over the years before being saved. When we begin to see and accept God's Word as nourishment for our new spirit, then we can see the Truth that we're new creation children of God. Jesus said that, "The Words I speak to you are Spirit and Life." Trying to apply Spiritual Words to an unrenewed mind, will only create another religion, instead of a relationship with the Father. Jesus said that, "The Truth will make you free." Jesus said in John 8:31-32 (Amplified), "If you abide in My Word (hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them), you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free."
When we don't have understanding of the Spiritual Wisdom of God's Word, then we just apply it to the flesh man and establish another man-made law, like the Law of Moses. The flesh man couldn't keep the Law of Moses and the man of flesh cannot keep the new law that religion sets up for the Church. Making God's Word a "law," causes it to lose it's Power of Grace, so that it doesn't come to pass like it was intended to. Many have only accepted God's Word in their fleshly minds, without understanding, causing us to lose the Super-natural Power of it's Truth.
Lesson 19 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Acts 10:38 (Amplified) says, "How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by the power of the devil, for God was with Him."
During Jesus' earthly ministry, He went about restoring the Original Intent God had from the beginning for His family, back to mankind. The Last Adam, Jesus went into His ministry, to restore all things that were out-of-order with God's Original Plan and bring them into wholeness again. This was God's Plan for the First Adam, from the beginning. We don't read about how God dealt with man before the fall, but we can watch as Jesus brought back God's heart to a fallen people.
Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified), saying, "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." We've lost sight of God's will in Heaven by only seeing the move of the Holy Spirit on a fallen people. Some believe that the results of Adam's fall, was God's will for man and must be what the will is for His Kingdom. It's unthinkable to me, that Christians believe that the things we're witnessing around the world are how Heaven will be too.
As we watch Jesus bring things on earth back into Heaven's way of working, we can understand why God has anointed His people to restore mankind back by the Holy Spirit. Many believe that just getting people saved and born-again, is the only thing required of us. This is truly the greatest thing for mankind, but we were never to leave them in their present state of misery. Jesus wasn't only concerned with the Spiritual condition of those He ministered to, but he deliverance and healing of the physical body and mind were also greatly important to Him.
The people Jesus ministered to weren't born-again yet, but they were still covenant, by the same covenant God made with Abraham and weren't to be under bondage to satan. Jesus approached a woman who was completely bent forward and unable to straighten herself, because she had an infirmity caused by a spirit (a demon of sickness), in Luke 13:6-14,15,16,17 (Amplified). Verse 16 says, "Jesus said, And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom satan has kept bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
This woman was covenant, by the Abrahamic covenant, but satan had bound her. This wasn't God's intent, even under the old covenant. Jesus restored her to, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." It wasn't God's will for her to be in this condition. Verse 14 tells us, "But the leader of the Synagogue, indignant because Jesus healed her on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, There are six days on which work ought to be done, so come on those days and be cured and not on the Sabbath days."
This woman had been bound for eighteen years, so the leader of the Synagogue had the opportunity to heal her on many "Sabbath days." They lost sight of God's Intent and Purpose for His family and had accepted whatever happened to them as being, "God's will for us." Verse 15 says, "But the Lord replied to him, saying, You play actors (hypocrites)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it out to water?"
After Jesus loosed the woman, Verse 17 tells us, "All His opponents were put to shame, and all the people were rejoicing over all the Glorious things that were being done by Him." Religion limits the reality of God's intention for His family. God has no limits for us. If it's not God's will in Heaven, then it's not His will here on earth and visa versa. I find it impossible to believe that there are sick, blind, hungry and bound people in Heaven and therefore, it's not God's will that these things are for these to be on earth either---Sabbath or not.
Many Christians believe that "Healing isn't God's will for us today" and/or "It's too far out, to believe these things." The Church has limited God even farther, than the Israelites in the Wilderness. Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified) says, "So we see that they [the Israelites] were not able to enter into His Rest, because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God, unbelief had shut them out." In Hebrews 4:1 (Amplified), God says to us, "Therefore, While the Promise of entering His Rest still holds and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it."
Our Heavenly Father is waiting for His family to allow Him to do what His Original Intent was for us, at the beginning. We've limited Him and He can only reach us in the place where we have faith for Him to reach us. Many have accepted the enemy's attacks as being God's will for our lives. James 1:8 (Amplified) says, "For being as he is, a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides."
God isn't your problem, He is your Answer and if you're double-minded in your walk with Him, then you've limited the Holy One of Israel, like those in the Wilderness and God can't do what He wants to do in your life. His Rest is still offered today, for all who will believe in the Promises He made to and for us, through Jesus. This isn't just the Promise of going to Heaven when we die, but it's the Promise of Heaven coming to live in us, while we're still here on earth. This is God's Original Intent.
Genesis 3:8 (Amplified) tells us that, "God was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day, and Adam heard Him walking." This was the relationship the Father had with His son Adam and His daughter Eve, before the fall. God walked, talked and taught His children by such fellowship. They walked together in the Garden all the time. Jesus said, "I will come and manifest Myself to you and the Father." He was speaking about the unbroken fellowship that was God's heart from the beginning.
Don't limit God, just because someone else doesn't believe, but enter into His Rest and allow Him to be what He always intended to be to and for His children.
During Jesus' earthly ministry, He went about restoring the Original Intent God had from the beginning for His family, back to mankind. The Last Adam, Jesus went into His ministry, to restore all things that were out-of-order with God's Original Plan and bring them into wholeness again. This was God's Plan for the First Adam, from the beginning. We don't read about how God dealt with man before the fall, but we can watch as Jesus brought back God's heart to a fallen people.
Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified), saying, "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." We've lost sight of God's will in Heaven by only seeing the move of the Holy Spirit on a fallen people. Some believe that the results of Adam's fall, was God's will for man and must be what the will is for His Kingdom. It's unthinkable to me, that Christians believe that the things we're witnessing around the world are how Heaven will be too.
As we watch Jesus bring things on earth back into Heaven's way of working, we can understand why God has anointed His people to restore mankind back by the Holy Spirit. Many believe that just getting people saved and born-again, is the only thing required of us. This is truly the greatest thing for mankind, but we were never to leave them in their present state of misery. Jesus wasn't only concerned with the Spiritual condition of those He ministered to, but he deliverance and healing of the physical body and mind were also greatly important to Him.
The people Jesus ministered to weren't born-again yet, but they were still covenant, by the same covenant God made with Abraham and weren't to be under bondage to satan. Jesus approached a woman who was completely bent forward and unable to straighten herself, because she had an infirmity caused by a spirit (a demon of sickness), in Luke 13:6-14,15,16,17 (Amplified). Verse 16 says, "Jesus said, And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom satan has kept bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
This woman was covenant, by the Abrahamic covenant, but satan had bound her. This wasn't God's intent, even under the old covenant. Jesus restored her to, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." It wasn't God's will for her to be in this condition. Verse 14 tells us, "But the leader of the Synagogue, indignant because Jesus healed her on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, There are six days on which work ought to be done, so come on those days and be cured and not on the Sabbath days."
This woman had been bound for eighteen years, so the leader of the Synagogue had the opportunity to heal her on many "Sabbath days." They lost sight of God's Intent and Purpose for His family and had accepted whatever happened to them as being, "God's will for us." Verse 15 says, "But the Lord replied to him, saying, You play actors (hypocrites)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it out to water?"
After Jesus loosed the woman, Verse 17 tells us, "All His opponents were put to shame, and all the people were rejoicing over all the Glorious things that were being done by Him." Religion limits the reality of God's intention for His family. God has no limits for us. If it's not God's will in Heaven, then it's not His will here on earth and visa versa. I find it impossible to believe that there are sick, blind, hungry and bound people in Heaven and therefore, it's not God's will that these things are for these to be on earth either---Sabbath or not.
Many Christians believe that "Healing isn't God's will for us today" and/or "It's too far out, to believe these things." The Church has limited God even farther, than the Israelites in the Wilderness. Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified) says, "So we see that they [the Israelites] were not able to enter into His Rest, because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God, unbelief had shut them out." In Hebrews 4:1 (Amplified), God says to us, "Therefore, While the Promise of entering His Rest still holds and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it."
Our Heavenly Father is waiting for His family to allow Him to do what His Original Intent was for us, at the beginning. We've limited Him and He can only reach us in the place where we have faith for Him to reach us. Many have accepted the enemy's attacks as being God's will for our lives. James 1:8 (Amplified) says, "For being as he is, a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides."
God isn't your problem, He is your Answer and if you're double-minded in your walk with Him, then you've limited the Holy One of Israel, like those in the Wilderness and God can't do what He wants to do in your life. His Rest is still offered today, for all who will believe in the Promises He made to and for us, through Jesus. This isn't just the Promise of going to Heaven when we die, but it's the Promise of Heaven coming to live in us, while we're still here on earth. This is God's Original Intent.
Genesis 3:8 (Amplified) tells us that, "God was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day, and Adam heard Him walking." This was the relationship the Father had with His son Adam and His daughter Eve, before the fall. God walked, talked and taught His children by such fellowship. They walked together in the Garden all the time. Jesus said, "I will come and manifest Myself to you and the Father." He was speaking about the unbroken fellowship that was God's heart from the beginning.
Don't limit God, just because someone else doesn't believe, but enter into His Rest and allow Him to be what He always intended to be to and for His children.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Lesson 18 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
We've been discussing the Original Intent God had for His family, before the fall of Adam. We know very little about Adam's life prior to the fall and we've lost sight of what our Heavenly Father had in His heart for us. Jesus is the Last Adam and we can see how He mostly restored God's Original Intent and the Blessing God pronounced on His children
Jesus stated several times that, "I came to do the Father's will" and "When you see Me, you see the Father." Jesus healed many sick people, so it must have been the Father's will that He did so. It must also have been the Father's will for Jesus to make the lame to walk, the blind to see and the deaf to hear. Jesus never taught Law, but He taught Grace. Jesus never taught the Curse, but the Blessing. His entire earthly ministry was to bring mankind back to the Father's Original Intent.
In Jesus' Resurrection, He brought the new creation family back into the Father's House, like it was in the beginning. We've been taught the Law and were told that God deals with us, the same as He dealt with the old covenant people. We've failed to see the difference between the covenant made with men who were dead in trespass and sin and the new covenant family who were raised in the Spirit into Righteousness in Jesus Christ. We've never been taught the fact and Truth, that sin no longer has dominion over us, because of Him. Romans 8:2,3-4 (Amplified) says, "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've been taught that these things haven't happened yet and will only happen after we die and leave this earth. Paul goes onto explain and expound on the great Truth he writes about in the above scripture, saying in Verses 3-4, "For God has done what the Law could not do, its power being weakened by the flesh (the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit); Sending His Own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an Offering for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh (subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that Sacrifice, So that the righteous and just requirements of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh, but in the ways of the Spirit, our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit."
Through Jesus, God's children are received as "Just, righteous, sanctified and pure in God's eyes, through Jesus. We are now heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus. We somehow still expect God to deal with us, like He did with those in the old covenant, instead of dealing with us by His Holy Spirit as new covenant children. Paul writes to the Church about this very thing in Romans 8:6 (Amplified) saying, "Now the mind of the flesh, which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit is death (death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter); But the mind of the Holy Spirit is Life and soul peace both now and forever."
We see God's children living in shame and condemnation from past sin (which Jesus has removed) and this holds them back. This is the minds of the flesh, without the Truth that comes by and through the Holy Spirit. We hear the lamenting of Christians who confess, "I'm still an old sinner saved by Grace." We mostly see ourselves as who we once were before receiving Jesus as our Lord, instead of who He has made us to be. In so doing, we hold back the fullness of God's Blessing and accept what the Curse has become for sinners. We don't see that God sees us now, like He saw the first Adam before the fall. We fail to see that God now sees us, like He saw Jesus after His Resurrection.
The enemy has deceived so many of God's children in the area of condemnation, leading them to lose faith in God's ability to do what He wants to do in our lives, because they believe, "We are sinners." We've not sinners in the Father's eyes, but we're new creation people who are begotten of God and are pure and holy in His family. This has been so hidden from God's family, so we don't come boldly to His Throne of Grace. We must renew our minds by God's Word and His Spirit, so we don't accept the lies of the enemy and the condemnation he brings.
So many believers don't have the faith for miracles and God's Blessings in our lives, because we've been taught that, "God no longer does these things." 1John 3:20-22 (Amplified) says, "Whenever our hearts in tormenting self accusations make us feel guilty and condemn us, For we are in God's hands. For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows, perceives and understands everything (nothing is hidden from Him) And beloved, if our hearts (consciences) do not accuse us, if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us, we have confidence, complete assurance and boldness before God And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we watchfully obey His orders, observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His Plan for us and habitually practice what is pleasing to Him."
The "tormenting, self accusation and guilt," that John writes about, abounds in someone who still sees him/herself more by our old flesh and through a sin conscience and not from someone who understands the Truth of who God has now created us to be, in Jesus. Being carnally minded, instead of being Spiritually minded, stops the Blessing from doing what God Originally Intended it to do in our lives. The strategy that satan has used for centuries, to control God's people---STOPS TODAY!
Jesus stated several times that, "I came to do the Father's will" and "When you see Me, you see the Father." Jesus healed many sick people, so it must have been the Father's will that He did so. It must also have been the Father's will for Jesus to make the lame to walk, the blind to see and the deaf to hear. Jesus never taught Law, but He taught Grace. Jesus never taught the Curse, but the Blessing. His entire earthly ministry was to bring mankind back to the Father's Original Intent.
In Jesus' Resurrection, He brought the new creation family back into the Father's House, like it was in the beginning. We've been taught the Law and were told that God deals with us, the same as He dealt with the old covenant people. We've failed to see the difference between the covenant made with men who were dead in trespass and sin and the new covenant family who were raised in the Spirit into Righteousness in Jesus Christ. We've never been taught the fact and Truth, that sin no longer has dominion over us, because of Him. Romans 8:2,3-4 (Amplified) says, "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've been taught that these things haven't happened yet and will only happen after we die and leave this earth. Paul goes onto explain and expound on the great Truth he writes about in the above scripture, saying in Verses 3-4, "For God has done what the Law could not do, its power being weakened by the flesh (the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit); Sending His Own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an Offering for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh (subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that Sacrifice, So that the righteous and just requirements of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh, but in the ways of the Spirit, our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit."
Through Jesus, God's children are received as "Just, righteous, sanctified and pure in God's eyes, through Jesus. We are now heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus. We somehow still expect God to deal with us, like He did with those in the old covenant, instead of dealing with us by His Holy Spirit as new covenant children. Paul writes to the Church about this very thing in Romans 8:6 (Amplified) saying, "Now the mind of the flesh, which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit is death (death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter); But the mind of the Holy Spirit is Life and soul peace both now and forever."
We see God's children living in shame and condemnation from past sin (which Jesus has removed) and this holds them back. This is the minds of the flesh, without the Truth that comes by and through the Holy Spirit. We hear the lamenting of Christians who confess, "I'm still an old sinner saved by Grace." We mostly see ourselves as who we once were before receiving Jesus as our Lord, instead of who He has made us to be. In so doing, we hold back the fullness of God's Blessing and accept what the Curse has become for sinners. We don't see that God sees us now, like He saw the first Adam before the fall. We fail to see that God now sees us, like He saw Jesus after His Resurrection.
The enemy has deceived so many of God's children in the area of condemnation, leading them to lose faith in God's ability to do what He wants to do in our lives, because they believe, "We are sinners." We've not sinners in the Father's eyes, but we're new creation people who are begotten of God and are pure and holy in His family. This has been so hidden from God's family, so we don't come boldly to His Throne of Grace. We must renew our minds by God's Word and His Spirit, so we don't accept the lies of the enemy and the condemnation he brings.
So many believers don't have the faith for miracles and God's Blessings in our lives, because we've been taught that, "God no longer does these things." 1John 3:20-22 (Amplified) says, "Whenever our hearts in tormenting self accusations make us feel guilty and condemn us, For we are in God's hands. For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows, perceives and understands everything (nothing is hidden from Him) And beloved, if our hearts (consciences) do not accuse us, if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us, we have confidence, complete assurance and boldness before God And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we watchfully obey His orders, observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His Plan for us and habitually practice what is pleasing to Him."
The "tormenting, self accusation and guilt," that John writes about, abounds in someone who still sees him/herself more by our old flesh and through a sin conscience and not from someone who understands the Truth of who God has now created us to be, in Jesus. Being carnally minded, instead of being Spiritually minded, stops the Blessing from doing what God Originally Intended it to do in our lives. The strategy that satan has used for centuries, to control God's people---STOPS TODAY!
Monday, October 7, 2019
Lesson 17 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
We see lots of people who have low self-esteem, in this natural realm. Many feel like they're not worthy of life and living. We can suffer the same thing in our new creation man, when we don't accept what Jesus paid for, in order to make us the Righteousness of God. God's Original Intent was that mankind would never have lost our Righteousness, but would have the privilege of right standing with Him, from the beginning.
All of mankind lost our right to come into God's Presence, after Adam's transgression in the Garden. Our Heavenly Father, Who is Love, never faltered for a moment and began to set the way of bringing us back to Him in motion. Through the Sacrifice of Jesus, we've been restored back into right standing or Righteousness. We've sadly accepted the same attitude in the spirit, as those in the world has, about our place in God. Denying what Jesus did to bring us back to the father, is saying that what Jesus did "isn't enough." This spirit of unbelief is the same spirit that kept Israel out of the Rest, that God Promised them. Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified) says, "So we see that they were not able to enter into His Rest because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God, unbelief had shut them out."
Many continue struggling with unbelief, shutting themselves from having unbroken fellowship with the Father, because they don't accept the Righteousness that Jesus bought and paid for by His Sacrifice. If you deny your Righteousness through Jesus, then you're telling God that He "must do more to gain us back" and that "Jesus wasn't enough to do the job." If Jesus wasn't enough to restore us to Righteousness or right standing with the Father, then God has nothing left to redeem us.
When God created man, He created him in Righteousness. Adam and Eve walked with God in perfect fellowship, as His children. Jesus restored us back to God's Original Intent for His family, by giving Himself as our Sacrifice. We don't become God's family when we die and go to Heaven, but we're His children now. 1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved we are even here and now God's children." God never left anything to change, but was Perfect in His Plan of redemption for us. This time, we will never be separated from Him for eternity.
We seem to misunderstand the place we've been restored to, in Jesus. The world and carnal thinking have reduced God to being what other gods are to people. They serve them, worship them and fear them, but their gods do nothing for them. They've given themselves over to their own idea of god and haven't believed the One True and Living God.
Many Christians have allowed themselves to be brought into the same belief, by the world's ideas of who they think our God really is. He is not "I was," but He still is the "I Am," that he told Moses He was. We've nearly discarded the Truth of His healing and the Super-natural works of the Spirit realm, to which we were birthed into by Jesus' Sacrifice. Many in the Christian circles, consider anyone who trusts in God in the Super-natural realm, as being "over the top."
I love the account of Elijah in 1Kings 18:21, 37-39 (Amplified), where he set up two offerings, one for Baal and one for the Lord. Thus it says, "Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you half between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word." In Verses 37-39 we see Who is Lord, when Elijah continues, "Hear me O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You, the Lord, are god; and have turned their hearts back to You. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and also licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" Of course, when the people cried to Baal asking him to burn their sacrifice, nothing happened. Elijah even poured water on the wood offered to God and God burnt that too. Nothing was left.
The Church and many in the world are still awaiting for the Super-natural manifestation of our God to be revealed, but we still seem to "half and limp between two opinions." The same spirit of unbelief that kept the Israelites from entering into His Rest, still holds us back today. We truly have no idea what God is wanting to do, in our lives today. Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified) says, "For we are God's Own handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus (born anew), that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand, His Original Intent) for us, taking paths which He prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live."
The fall of Adam might have delayed God's Plan, but the rise of the Last Adam, Jesus, has restored us back to God's Original Intent for His children. The Curse that is in the world by Adam, has been overthrown by the Blessing that Jesus restored to us. We've now been recreated by God's Own spirit and have been restored to God's Original Intent, so we can walk in "paths prearranged and prepared ahead of time for us."
We still see ourselves as being "fallen men and women" and as "sinners." God doesn't see us that way any longer, but sees us through Jesus. Our low self-esteem has kept us back from not knowing who Jesus has made us to be, in our Heavenly Father. We still see ourselves as being "unworthy" and "out of touch" by our past, the old man. God doesn't see or accept you this way, any longer.
2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) tells us, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold! the fresh and new has come." In Jesus, we've become what was the Father's heart and intent, before the foundation of the world. God's intent for His family, before He even created the heavens and the earth, was that His family would live and enjoy them with Him.
All of mankind lost our right to come into God's Presence, after Adam's transgression in the Garden. Our Heavenly Father, Who is Love, never faltered for a moment and began to set the way of bringing us back to Him in motion. Through the Sacrifice of Jesus, we've been restored back into right standing or Righteousness. We've sadly accepted the same attitude in the spirit, as those in the world has, about our place in God. Denying what Jesus did to bring us back to the father, is saying that what Jesus did "isn't enough." This spirit of unbelief is the same spirit that kept Israel out of the Rest, that God Promised them. Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified) says, "So we see that they were not able to enter into His Rest because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God, unbelief had shut them out."
Many continue struggling with unbelief, shutting themselves from having unbroken fellowship with the Father, because they don't accept the Righteousness that Jesus bought and paid for by His Sacrifice. If you deny your Righteousness through Jesus, then you're telling God that He "must do more to gain us back" and that "Jesus wasn't enough to do the job." If Jesus wasn't enough to restore us to Righteousness or right standing with the Father, then God has nothing left to redeem us.
When God created man, He created him in Righteousness. Adam and Eve walked with God in perfect fellowship, as His children. Jesus restored us back to God's Original Intent for His family, by giving Himself as our Sacrifice. We don't become God's family when we die and go to Heaven, but we're His children now. 1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved we are even here and now God's children." God never left anything to change, but was Perfect in His Plan of redemption for us. This time, we will never be separated from Him for eternity.
We seem to misunderstand the place we've been restored to, in Jesus. The world and carnal thinking have reduced God to being what other gods are to people. They serve them, worship them and fear them, but their gods do nothing for them. They've given themselves over to their own idea of god and haven't believed the One True and Living God.
Many Christians have allowed themselves to be brought into the same belief, by the world's ideas of who they think our God really is. He is not "I was," but He still is the "I Am," that he told Moses He was. We've nearly discarded the Truth of His healing and the Super-natural works of the Spirit realm, to which we were birthed into by Jesus' Sacrifice. Many in the Christian circles, consider anyone who trusts in God in the Super-natural realm, as being "over the top."
I love the account of Elijah in 1Kings 18:21, 37-39 (Amplified), where he set up two offerings, one for Baal and one for the Lord. Thus it says, "Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you half between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word." In Verses 37-39 we see Who is Lord, when Elijah continues, "Hear me O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You, the Lord, are god; and have turned their hearts back to You. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and also licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" Of course, when the people cried to Baal asking him to burn their sacrifice, nothing happened. Elijah even poured water on the wood offered to God and God burnt that too. Nothing was left.
The Church and many in the world are still awaiting for the Super-natural manifestation of our God to be revealed, but we still seem to "half and limp between two opinions." The same spirit of unbelief that kept the Israelites from entering into His Rest, still holds us back today. We truly have no idea what God is wanting to do, in our lives today. Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified) says, "For we are God's Own handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus (born anew), that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand, His Original Intent) for us, taking paths which He prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live."
The fall of Adam might have delayed God's Plan, but the rise of the Last Adam, Jesus, has restored us back to God's Original Intent for His children. The Curse that is in the world by Adam, has been overthrown by the Blessing that Jesus restored to us. We've now been recreated by God's Own spirit and have been restored to God's Original Intent, so we can walk in "paths prearranged and prepared ahead of time for us."
We still see ourselves as being "fallen men and women" and as "sinners." God doesn't see us that way any longer, but sees us through Jesus. Our low self-esteem has kept us back from not knowing who Jesus has made us to be, in our Heavenly Father. We still see ourselves as being "unworthy" and "out of touch" by our past, the old man. God doesn't see or accept you this way, any longer.
2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) tells us, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold! the fresh and new has come." In Jesus, we've become what was the Father's heart and intent, before the foundation of the world. God's intent for His family, before He even created the heavens and the earth, was that His family would live and enjoy them with Him.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Lesson 15 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Genesis 1:27-28,31 (Amplified) says, "So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created him: male and female He created them; And God Blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful (multiply) and fill the earth, and subdue it, using all its vast resources in the service of God and man; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves on the earth." Verse 31 goes on, "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant), and He approved it completely. And there was evening and morning, a sixth day."
There are people, including Christians, who believe that God deliberately planned for Adam to fail. We've accepted man's wisdom and theories to interpret God's Plan, because we haven't understood the Plan God has for His children. We don't have any record of how long Adam walked with God or what Adam's lifestyle was before the fall. We don't have proof of how the First Adam walked, but we can watch the Last Adam's walk with God, during His earthly ministry.
Jesus said in John 10:30 (Amplified), "I and the Father are One." We must look at Jesus, in order to know the Original Intent of God's heart. God's Plan for His family has never changed from His Original Intent. What God planned for His family is still PLAN A. None of us, as parents, would ever deliberately set up our children for failure or something that would cause their destruction. We would never purposely devise a situation that would bring death and misery, upon our children.
When God created man in His Own Image and Likeness, He created man to have a free will. Some disagree with this, but then again, we all have our own will and can make this choice for ourselves. If man didn't have a free will, then he be puppets instead of sons and wouldn't be in God's Own Image and Likeness.
We've never seen a man who wasn't controlled by the fall in the Garden, with the exception of Jesus. Some of those we read about in the Epistles were born-again and in the new covenant, but they didn't walk like Jesus did or even as the First Adam did once. Even Paul struggled with his own flesh and the things from before he knew the Lord.
Before going to the cross and dying on it, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:47 (Amplified). Jesus' prayer to the Father, actually reveals man's free will. Thus, He prayed, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but always Yours be done." The Last Adam, Jesus, had a free will of His Own, that He yielded over to the Father's will.
Paul wrote to Timothy in 1Timothy 2:14 (Amplified) saying, "It was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and deluded and fell into transgression." Perhaps the most tragic part of Adam's transgression was, that he transgressed and brought about the fall of man, by an act of his own will.
I believe that Adam loved his wife so much, that he tried to redeem her on his own and traded everything God had given over to him, for his wife. Since God had given it to Adam, he had authority to give in over to the enemy. Luke 4:5-6 (Amplified) says, "Then the devil took [Jesus] up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time (in the twinkling of an eye) And he said to Him, To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, per-eminence, dignity, and Grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will."
The transfer of authority and ownership of God's inheritance for His family to satan, came by an act of Adam's will. No parent wishes for our children to be puppets or have no life or place of their own. We nurture them to express and grow into mature people, who have dreams and plans of living excellent lives. God's children were to be raised in the nurture and admonition of God Himself.
God planned for His children to be Blessed and have futures that included enjoying everything He made for them. If you read about this inheritance in God's Word, then you'll find if what what God had created from the very beginning, as His Original Intent. The mess we witness around us, is the result of Adam's turning over his place of authority and dominion to an outlaw spirit, satan. The Curse and the misery we experience today, came from Adam and NOT FROM GOD.
If I love my children and want to see them live happy, safe, peaceful and full lives, then how much more would God, Who is Love, want for His children? We've looked at how God dealt with fallen man and we've failed to see how He longs to deal with those He brought back from the place where Adam caused us to be in. We've come to believe that God is testing and trying us, by the hard times and trials of today's world. We've forgotten (or might never have known) the true Plan and heart of our Heavenly Father. The pitfalls and trials come from the evil one, who is still trying to have us surrender to him.
We can learn things by going through trials and temptations, but God has a much better way of teaching us how to walk in this world. David writes in Psalm 119:105, 130 (Amplified), "Your Word is a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path." He goes on in Verse 130, "The entrance and unfolding of Your Words give Light, their unfolding gives understanding (discernment and comprehension) to the simple." Listening to God, His Word and His Holy Spirit, is a much better way of living, than trials and hardship, but you have a will of your own, like the first and Last Adam, and you must choose to either listen or don't listen.
David writes about the works of men in Psalm 17:4-5 (Amplified), saying, "By the Word of Your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent, the paths of the destroyer. My steps have held closely to Your paths, to the tracks of the One Who has gone on before, my feet have not slipped." It's no wonder that "David was a man after God's Own heart."
There are people, including Christians, who believe that God deliberately planned for Adam to fail. We've accepted man's wisdom and theories to interpret God's Plan, because we haven't understood the Plan God has for His children. We don't have any record of how long Adam walked with God or what Adam's lifestyle was before the fall. We don't have proof of how the First Adam walked, but we can watch the Last Adam's walk with God, during His earthly ministry.
Jesus said in John 10:30 (Amplified), "I and the Father are One." We must look at Jesus, in order to know the Original Intent of God's heart. God's Plan for His family has never changed from His Original Intent. What God planned for His family is still PLAN A. None of us, as parents, would ever deliberately set up our children for failure or something that would cause their destruction. We would never purposely devise a situation that would bring death and misery, upon our children.
When God created man in His Own Image and Likeness, He created man to have a free will. Some disagree with this, but then again, we all have our own will and can make this choice for ourselves. If man didn't have a free will, then he be puppets instead of sons and wouldn't be in God's Own Image and Likeness.
We've never seen a man who wasn't controlled by the fall in the Garden, with the exception of Jesus. Some of those we read about in the Epistles were born-again and in the new covenant, but they didn't walk like Jesus did or even as the First Adam did once. Even Paul struggled with his own flesh and the things from before he knew the Lord.
Before going to the cross and dying on it, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:47 (Amplified). Jesus' prayer to the Father, actually reveals man's free will. Thus, He prayed, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but always Yours be done." The Last Adam, Jesus, had a free will of His Own, that He yielded over to the Father's will.
Paul wrote to Timothy in 1Timothy 2:14 (Amplified) saying, "It was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and deluded and fell into transgression." Perhaps the most tragic part of Adam's transgression was, that he transgressed and brought about the fall of man, by an act of his own will.
I believe that Adam loved his wife so much, that he tried to redeem her on his own and traded everything God had given over to him, for his wife. Since God had given it to Adam, he had authority to give in over to the enemy. Luke 4:5-6 (Amplified) says, "Then the devil took [Jesus] up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time (in the twinkling of an eye) And he said to Him, To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, per-eminence, dignity, and Grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will."
The transfer of authority and ownership of God's inheritance for His family to satan, came by an act of Adam's will. No parent wishes for our children to be puppets or have no life or place of their own. We nurture them to express and grow into mature people, who have dreams and plans of living excellent lives. God's children were to be raised in the nurture and admonition of God Himself.
God planned for His children to be Blessed and have futures that included enjoying everything He made for them. If you read about this inheritance in God's Word, then you'll find if what what God had created from the very beginning, as His Original Intent. The mess we witness around us, is the result of Adam's turning over his place of authority and dominion to an outlaw spirit, satan. The Curse and the misery we experience today, came from Adam and NOT FROM GOD.
If I love my children and want to see them live happy, safe, peaceful and full lives, then how much more would God, Who is Love, want for His children? We've looked at how God dealt with fallen man and we've failed to see how He longs to deal with those He brought back from the place where Adam caused us to be in. We've come to believe that God is testing and trying us, by the hard times and trials of today's world. We've forgotten (or might never have known) the true Plan and heart of our Heavenly Father. The pitfalls and trials come from the evil one, who is still trying to have us surrender to him.
We can learn things by going through trials and temptations, but God has a much better way of teaching us how to walk in this world. David writes in Psalm 119:105, 130 (Amplified), "Your Word is a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path." He goes on in Verse 130, "The entrance and unfolding of Your Words give Light, their unfolding gives understanding (discernment and comprehension) to the simple." Listening to God, His Word and His Holy Spirit, is a much better way of living, than trials and hardship, but you have a will of your own, like the first and Last Adam, and you must choose to either listen or don't listen.
David writes about the works of men in Psalm 17:4-5 (Amplified), saying, "By the Word of Your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent, the paths of the destroyer. My steps have held closely to Your paths, to the tracks of the One Who has gone on before, my feet have not slipped." It's no wonder that "David was a man after God's Own heart."
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