Lesson 56 The Church's Identity Crisis

      Proverbs 4:7 (Amp) 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."

     Proverbs 29:18 (Amp) says, "Where there is no vision, no redemptive Revelation of God, the people perish; but he who keeps the Law of God (the Word), which includes that of man, Blessed, fortunate, and enviable is he."

     Psalm 107:2 (Amp) says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has delivered from the hand of the adversary."

     How many of us today, have enough understanding of God's Word of redemption, to "say so?"  Do we even have a Revelation of our redemption today?  Do we dare to believe and trust in God's Word and the Redemptive work of Jesus, to put our faith in them?  Galatians 3:13 (Amp) says, "Christ purchased our freedom, Redeeming us from the Curse (doom) of the Law, by Himself becoming a Curse for us, for it is written in the scriptures, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified)."  Why can we believe that Jesus bore our sin and iniquities, but can't believe that He also bore the Curse and Redeemed us from it?  

     1Peter 1:18-19 (Amp) says, "You must know (recognize) that you were Redeemed (Ransomed), from the useless, fruitless way of living inherited by tradition from your forefathers, not with corruptible things such as silver and gold. But you were purchased with the Precious Blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a Sacrificial Lamb without blemish or spot."

     Satan had a legal right to hold mankind on the bondage of sin and death, because of the fall of Adam in the Garden, but the above scripture says that Jesus has redeemed, bought back and purchased us from the Curse.  God covered man's sins under the Law, when the people offered the blood sacrifice of bloods and bulls.  The innocent blood of these animals was poured out daily, in order to cover the sins of the people, but their sacrifice couldn't pay the price owed for the trespass.  Satan demanded that mankind remain in his hands and the Curse, was the payment he commanded.

     The blood of animals couldn't pay the ransom note held on mankind, but was an interest rate of sorts on the debt.  The Blood of Jesus paid the debt and bought our freedom from the legal debt mankind could never pay on his/her own.  God's Word tells us that, "All had sinned and come short of the Glory of God." Jesus though was the Only Man Who had no sin in His Blood and could buy back man's transgression.  The Law of Genesis, says that, "Everything produces after kind," so all other men were born in sin after Adam's fall and couldn't pay-off the debt owed, so satan was secure in his place as god of this world.  The seed of man could only produce another sin filled, Spiritually dead man.

     The Seed of Jesus didn't come from man, but from the Father God Himself, so He was without sin and death.  God had a Man in Jesus, Who could pay the debt owed, with His Own Blood.  Mankind would no longer be under the Curse, death and the control of satan, but were now again, BLOOD BOUGHT children of God, who were made in His Image and Likeness and without sin, without death and without the Curse.  Life and Blessing have been restored to us, because we are now heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ.  The entire Curse of the Law has been Paid for by the Blood of Jesus and satan has no legal right to use the Curse on God's children.  God's children must understand the True Redemption in Jesus, in order to know this.

     If you were about to lose your home, because you couldn't pay the mortgage and another person paid it off, then you would own your home, be debt free and no creditor could demand another payment for your home.  In this case, anyone could redeem your home, but we owed a debt of sin and death for which only the blood of someone who was sin free, could pay that debt.  Satan could never believe that our Heavenly Father would or could, Love us enough to do what He did through Jesus.  Satan's way of thinking, along with his selfish ways and love of himself, couldn't imagine a Love so great that it would offer himself for someone else or that the Almighty God would do so.  This is the Mystery hidden from satan from the beginning.  He could never believe such a thing, because of his self-centered spirit of greed, pride, division and hatred.

     We're not just forgiven sinners, but are the bought back family of God, purchased by the Most Awesome Price of anyone or anything ever held for ransom.  We've been Ransomed and bought back by the Blood of God Himself.  There isn't, nor ever can be a more Pure, Sinless and Expensive Ransom, than Jesus Christ.  The debt mankind owed needed to be paid for legally, justly and perfectly, because if one part failed, then satan would know the plan enough to stop it from happening.  Jesus didn't just pay for our sins, but He also paid the consequences and penalty of sin and death and the Curse. 

     We find the Curse that Jesus paid for, so we could be free of the bondage of sin and disease and calamity, in Deuteronomy 28:15 to the end of the chapter.  The Price of Redemption was and is, too High a Price for us to allow satan to trap us and hold us.  We've been Redeemed from sickness and calamity for ourselves and our children.  We've been Redeemed from hunger, loss, torment, fear and anything else that condemnation might try to dictate to us, because of our failures.  The Price has been offered and accepted and we've been Redeemed, we just didn't know it.

     We weren't put on lay-away, waiting to be paid for, but we are already paid for and have been bought back to the original place where mankind was removed from.  1Corinthians 6:19-20 (Amp) says, "Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received as a Gift from God, You are not your own. You were bought with a Price, purchased with a Preciousness and paid for, made His Own, so then honor God and bring glory to Him in your body."

     We've become so accustomed to charging our purchases or laying things away, that we think we're not God's, until we leave this earth in death.  This is the culture of the world that has transferred into our Spirit life and relationship with the Lord.  We act like our natural lives and body don't count with God, but He made the body we live in and He has bought it back from the bondage of sin and death.  Jesus Paid the Ransom which held it under the Curse of the Law and brought it to Grace.  There isn't any debt owed.

     We've separated our natural man and life, from our spirit man and life.  We're tri-une beings, like our Heavenly Father, Who is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body.  Jesus said in John 4:24 (Amp), "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."  Genesis 2:7 (Amp) says, "Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the Breath or Spirit of Life, and man became a living being."  Matthew 26:38 (Amp) says, "Then [Jesus] said to them, My soul is very sad and is deeply grieved."

     God is Spirit, soul and body and we're His Own children and family, who also have a spirit, soul and body.  The spirit is born over as new creations, like Jesus.  2Corinthians 5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     The soul, mind will and emotional part of our new creation being, are being transformed and being renewed to think and act as the mind of Christ, according to Romans 12:2 (Amp) which says, "Do not be conformed to this world (age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind, by its new ideals and its new attitude, so that you may prove for yourself what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."

     Proverbs 4:20-22 (Amp) talks about God's Word bringing healing to our bodies.  Thus, God says, "My son, attend to My Words; consent and submit to My sayings. Let them not depart from your sight, keep them in the center of your heart. For they are Life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh."  Jesus healed, delivered and ministered to the physical, natural man, throughout the New Testament.  The Redemption Jesus brought us, involves the three parts of us (spirit, soul and body).  3John 2 (Amp) says, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and that your body may keep well, even as I know your soul keeps well and prospers."

      

Lesson 55 The Church's Identity Crisis

      Jesus said in John 16:12-13 (Amp), "I have still many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them or to take them upon you or to grasp them now. But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth Giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth), For He will not speak His Own Message, on His Own authority, but He will tell whatever He hears from the Father (He will give the Message that has been given to Him), and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come (that will happen in the future)."

     The fellowship we have with the Holy Spirit, is the direct Word from our Father.  We don't only have access to the Father, but through the Holy Spirit, He has direct access to us.  We can fellowship with Him not just anytime, but all the time.  Things Jesus couldn't share with His disciples at that time, are now all available to those who "have ears to hear."  Mark 4:9 (Amp) says, "And [Jesus] said, He who has ears to hear, let him be hearing, and let him consider and comprehend."

     One of the greatest advantages we have as born-again new creation children of the Most High God, is that we've been restored to right standing and now have a right to come into God's Presence again, through Jesus.  We've been brought back into God's Presence, to be able to talk, fellowship and walk with Him, like Jesus did here on earth.  Do you realize what Wisdom and understanding have been made available to us, if we would only take time to talk with God?

     I'm not just speaking about praise and worship or even prayer, but about fellowshiping with, asking questions of and seeking the Hidden Mysteries that mankind did not or could not know, until Jesus made us one with Him.  Psalm 25:14 (Amp) says, "The secret of the sweet, satisfying companionship of the Lord have they who fear, revere and worship Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its deep, inner meaning."

     The Father wants us to know Him, to know about His ways and to know His will for us.  After hearing about their Love walk, Paul writes to the Church at Col lose in Colossi ans 1:9 (Amp) saying, "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep, clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom (in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and in understanding and discernment of Spiritual things."

     God doesn't want us to be unsure or not know what His will is or to lack understanding about Spiritual things.  It would be unjust if God held us accountable, for things that He deliberately denied us the ability to understand.  God is just and has justified us.  God wants us to know His very nature and has given us His Word and His Spirit, by the new birth, do live in the times He's chosen for us to live in as "His ever present help."  Satan as tried keeping us in the carnal mind and earthly understanding, not the Father.  Satan can't stop us from being born-again, but he can prevent our going from faith to faith, by having unrenewed minds.  Romans 1:17 (Amp) says, "For in the Gospel a Righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith (disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith). As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."

     God's Intent has always been that for us to be family and in unity with Himself.  He was always to be our Father, Teacher, Provider, Protector and we would never be separated from Him.  Adam's transgression resulted in our being separated from God and mankind could do nothing to change this, but Jesus died to give us Life.  Jesus Himself provided our right standing and returned us to a place where we had a right to come into God's Presence again.  After giving up His Only Begotten Son, why would God try keeping us at arm's length and keeping us in the dark about Who He is and what He desires for us?  Only a devilish deception could convince God's children that God doesn't want us to know His will for us.  Only a deception of satan, could keep God's children cringing at the Outer Court, when the Throne of Grace is open to us.

     1John 4:18 (Amp) says, "There is no fear in Love (dread does not exist), but full grown, complete, perfect Love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror, for fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and so he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of Love (is not yet grown into Love's complete perfection)."  If you're still afraid that God is out to punish you for some dumb thing you've done and you're afraid to come into His Presence, then you don't know Him as Love, but only as God.

     We're foretold about Jesus coming to be our Sacrifice and Substitute on Calvary's cross, in Isaiah 53:11 (Amp), which says, "He shall see the fruit (you and me) of the travail of His soul and be satisfied; by His knowledge of Himself which He possessed and imparts to others shall My uncompromisingly Righteous One, My Servant justify many and make them righteous, upright and in right standing with God, for He shall bear their iniquities and their guilt, with the consequences says the Lord."

     Jesus has already bore the consequences of all our sins, iniquities, and trespasses.  Those who are truly seeking God with understanding, shouldn't have fear of His punishment.  We're not Old Testament servants, who are only flesh and live under the Law.  We're born-again, new covenant children who are born of His Spirit and Grace.  God doesn't discipline us by the physical calamities, physical tragedies and disease of the Law.  God disciplines us by His Word and His Holy Spirit, from within our spirit.  We've been delivered from the Curse of the Law, which was physical and not Spiritual.  The Law was given to those in the old covenant, in order to reveal their sins to them and cause them to avoid the penalties of that sin.

     Now, in the new creation covenant or family of God, we're not just physical people who are under physical rules.  We're Spiritual people again and alive in our spirits to the Father, so He deals with us through our spirits, like He did with Jesus.  The Church has misunderstood this for centuries, because we read and study God's Word, from a carnal point of view.  Most of us still know God in a carnal way and we miss so much in God's Promises and His Word.  Paul instructs in 2Corinthians 5:16 (Amp), "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a purely human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). No, even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint, and as a Man, YET NOW we have such knowledge of Him that we know Him no longer in terms of the flesh."

     Many of us still see Jesus as the Man from Bethlehem, instead of the Risen Christ and the Lord of Glory.  We continue to pattern ourselves after the natural man, instead of the First Born of the new creation.  Jesus showed us how to live in this physical body by the Holy Spirit.  He was led, discipline, directed and spoken to and through the Holy Spirit.  The new creation family of God, is to be led and trained in the True things of God, by His Spirit and His Word.  Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amp), "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver); the flesh conveys no benefit whatsoever (there is no profit in it). The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you, are Spirit and Life."

     Jesus' physical Man died, in order to produce the new creation spirit man/woman and so that God could again have access to the true part of His creation.  God doesn't have to deal with mankind from the outside-in, the flesh and the Law, any longer.  God can again deal with His children from the inside-out, from our spirit (the real us).

Lesson 54 The Church's Identity Crisis

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."   

     Romans 12:2 (Amp) 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 its new ideals and its 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."

     The new creation man/woman, must be allowed to be involved in the renewing of the way we thought, before receiving Jesus Christ.  If we continue in the ways we thought before being saved, then we'll never prove what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is for our life.  We've been trained and raised in an environment that knew very little about God and His way of doing and being right.  Jesus instructed His followers in Matthew 6:33 (Amp) saying, "But seek, aim at and strive after, first of all His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these other things taken together will be given you besides."

     We're to seek, aim at and strive after God's way of doing and being right, first of all.  Paul tells us that God's way of being right or righteous doesn't come by Law or ritual, but by faith, in Romans 1:17 (Amp) saying, "For in the Gospel a Righteousness which God ascribes is revealed [this is His way of being right or in right standing or Righteous] both springing from faith; and leading to faith [which is also His way of doing] disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith. As it is written, The man who through faith is just (or justified) and upright (or righteous) shall live and shall live by faith."

     When Jesus instructed us to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right and al the other things would be given us also."  If we first seek God's way of doing and being right, then the things we seek after here in the natural life, such as food, shelter and clothing, will be given to us.  Having faith in Jesus Christ for our relationship and right standing with God, along with everything else we need, comes first by doing it God's way.  God's way is having faith in what He has done, when He furnished all we need from Him.

     The only way to be righteous in God's eyes and His Kingdom, is by having faith in being made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  There is no other Righteousness in God's Kingdom.  It doesn't come by works, religion, tradition or denomination, but by having faith in what Jesus has already done for us.

     We haven't been taught to seek God's way of doing in His Kingdom.  His way of doing and being right comes by believing that God has provided everything for us, by faith in Jesus.  This doesn't mean that we sit down and don't go to work, but we have faith in what Jesus has provided.  We can't do anything about the Curse of the Law on our own.  It's here on earth and we can't do anything to remove it.  We can though, have faith in the Finished works of Jesus, when He bore the Curse on our behalf.  God's way is our having faith that Jesus exempted us from the effects of the Curse of the Law and that Jesus provided us with His Righteousness.

     Jesus told His followers that He "fulfilled the Law," in Matthew 5:17 (Amp), saying, "Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law of the prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo, but to complete and fulfill them."  The only way to fulfill or complete the Law, is by faith in Jesus' fulfilling them and our being in Him.  When we do this by faith, we can walk in the Redemption and the Blessing of Abraham, according to Galatians 3:13-14 (Amp) which says, "Christ purchased our freedom, redeeming us from the Curse (doom) of the Law and its condemnation by Himself being made a Curse for us, for it is written in the scriptures, Cursed is everyone who hangs 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."

     The only way we can hope to fulfill it, is by having faith that Jesus fulfilled the Law and Curse, for us.  God sees us as having fulfilled the Law and the Curse that came with it.  The Law and Curse are no longer appointed to us, because of Jesus.  This is God's way of doing and being right.  Whether or not we know or receive it, having faith in the Sacrificed Lamb Jesus, is God's way of doing and being right or righteous.  There's no other way.

    

Lesson 53 The Church's Identity Crisis

     1Corinthians 12:27 (Amp) says, "Now you collectively are Christ's Body and individually you are members of it, each part severally and distinct, each with its own place and function."

     It's important that each individual believer has his/her own relationship with the Father.  Paul spoke about the different parts and functions of the Body of Christ, in the above scripture.  He also said that each believer must have a personal relationship with Jesus, in order to hear and move with His Wisdom and instructions.  I grew up with nine siblings.  Each child had a part in our family and each had his/her relationship with our parents.  We all had chores we were responsible to perform, but not all of us had the same chores or the same amount of chores.

     I can't know what the Father's instructions are for your life and you don't know mine.  We all have certain things that govern the family we're instructed to walk in.  We all are to live according to the Word of salvation, but we still have separate lives as individuals in God's family.  My siblings and I were in different grades at school and our interests changed as we got older, but we were still one family.  We each had different needs and instructions for our lives, as we grew.  I needed to listen to the instructions given for my own life and it's duties, not my sister's.  

     I had to hear from my father and mother for myself, in order to know what my duties and instructions.  I was only responsible to hear what I was told to do and then do it.  I wasn't responsible to hear and complete the assignments given to my siblings.  We are all children of God and we are all one Body, but each part of the Body of Christ has a different function.  Do you know what your part is?  We must follow Him and listen to Him, in order to discover what He has designed you to do and to complete that part.

     Every child of God has the liberty and obligation to hear from the Father for him/herself.  This doesn't mean that we go against everyone else, but we must listen and learn our part.  I don't know anyone other than the Holy Spirit, who can show you when someone is about to run a stop-sign, so that you can stop that driver before he/she is killed after running that stop sign.  It's imperative that we know His Voice and and do what He instructs us to do.  Your pastor or preacher isn't at home with you or in the car while you drive to work.  We must know and hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit for ourselves.

     Spending time in God's Presence is the most important part of our walk with Him.  We can be in fellowship with Him, while we're at work, on our way to work or any time.  It's simple to do.  We can always be in the spirit.  I've found that I can be in the spirit at all times, while still functioning in this world and completing my daily duties.  It's not just praise and worship, but living a life of continual praise and worship.  Since He and I are one, there's no need for separation, even in my daily earthly life.

     While I'm at work, He tells me how to do my job in a better way.  When I'm being leisurely, He reveals Hidden Truths to me, that help me understand things to come.  He gives me Revelation that no one else can give, by our simply conversing.  God mostly tells me things that will draw me closer to Him, in my own walk with Him.  When I don't receive answers to a prayer, then He tells me why I didn't receive them, along with answers to other questions I might have.

     Having a personal fellowship and relationship with the Father, has bee m main stay of faith, for my Christian walk.  If I only lived my life with Him, by what others have said or believed, then I don't know where I'd be in my walk with Him.  I've heard others say some things that weren't true about the Father, but Thank God I can hear, listen and understand the Holy Spirit for myself and can keep my relationship with Him intact.  I'm not saying we should be Lone Ranger Christians, but we must know Him well enough to know which opinions of others, I should accept or reject.  The Holy Spirit inspired John to write in 1John 2:20 (Amp), saying, "But you have been anointed by, you hold a sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from the Holy One, and you all know the Truth, or you know all things."

     John's not writing about our having a self-important "know it all" attitude, but having the Truth from the Word of God.  That means that the Holy Spirit, Who is Truth, lives in you and He will guide you in Truth, if you will listen and heed His Voice.  We shouldn't stop fellowshiping with other believers, but we must listen to the Holy Spirit and He will tell us what to accept and discard in our lives.  

     I've heard believers say, "In this time of Covid-19, I can't believe Psalm 91:10 (Amp), which says, 'There shall no evil befall me, nor any plague or calamity come near my dwelling.'"  I say, "1John 2:20 says that, I have an unction from the Holy One and know all Truth and I choose to believe Him."

Lesson 52 The Church's Identity Crisis

     Colossi ans 1:9 (Amp) says, "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God and in understanding and discernment of Spiritual things."

     The greatest things we can pray for now, in order to be able to walk in the ways of the Lord, the understanding and discernment of Spiritual things.  We've been taught about the flesh and the world for so long, that we don't have any understanding of Spiritual things.  We've been taught to rely on what religious teachers know about the Lord.  We've accepted that's how things are, so we don't seek understanding from the Lord, on our own.  

     One of the great privileges of Christianity, is the ability to "Come boldly before God's Throne of Grace," to personally seek God for ourselves.  We're able to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father.  We're able to know God for ourselves, instead of relying only on what others teach about Him. 

     When we truly "know" and love someone and have built a trusting relationship with that person, then it's impossible for others to tell you lies and rumors about him/her and have you believe those things.  Many of the things taught about our Heavenly Father are not true, but we've accepted them as Truth, because we don't know Him for ourselves.  These falsehoods and opinions have clouded our understanding and the relationship we have with Him.

      Jesus had a Personal relationship with the Father, so He didn't believe the things others incorrectly taught about God.  I hear things coming from God's children that grieve my heart and I know that they only say these things, because they don't know Him for themselves.  I certainly don't have all the answers either, but one thing I've learned is, if something goes wrong, then I'm the one who missed it and not God.  Instead of making up some answer as to why it didn't work like God's Word says it should, I go to God and ask Him why it didn't work, so that I don't make the same mistake next time.  If one of us missed it, then it's not God, but me who made the mistake.  

     When many our prayers aren't answered, then we say, "Well it must not be God's will."  We don't know what God's will is, so we blame our failures on Him, saying, "God doesn't want to do what His Word says, in our lives."  God's Word says, "God is not a man, that He should lie."  If God's Word says it and He has Promised it, then it's a done deal.  If that's not so in our lives, then we need to go to God and find out where we went wrong.

     2Corinthians 1:20 (Amp) says, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes Answer in Him (Christ). For this reason we also utter the Amen (So be it), to God through Him (In His Person, and by His Agency), to the Glory of God."  All of God's Promises are Yes and Amen for us, through Jesus.  How many of those Promises are now functioning for us, in our everyday life in Him?  I know several that aren't working and functioning in my own life.  If what God says is True, and you know it is, then I must be the one who doesn't have the Wisdom and understanding in how to walk and receive God's Promises.  

     God doesn't tell us everything He knows, only the things we ask Him about.  If we don't ask, then we won't know.  We must have a personal relationship with God and ask Him for ourselves, instead of just relying on what someone else thinks about Him.  Everything we get from God, is by a personal knowledge.  Salvation can't come to you, because your neighbor is saved.  We must personally ask for Jesus to become our Lord and Savior, in order to be saved.  Jesus is Lord of all, but is He your Lord?  This is personal for every believer.  When God answers your neighbor's question, He doesn't expect your neighbor to answer and ask your questions to God, for you.  God wants to speak to you personally.

     Jesus said that, "My sheep know My Voice."  He didn't say that "the herd of sheep, know My Voice," but that His sheep know His Voice.  Every sheep must know the Shepherd's Voice, so it doesn't follow the other sheep, who might be following another shepherd's voice.  If that voice tells them to "Jump off a cliff," then the sheep who know the Good Shepherd's Voice, won't following the herd off the cliff.  This isn't saying that they're "not His sheep,"but they haven't cultivated a relationship with Him, so that they know and recognize His Voice.  How many of us would have avoided things that happened in our lives that we were taught "come from God", if we had only recognized God's Voice telling us, "Don't go?"

     God doesn't love some, more than He loves others.  Jesus prayed in John 1723 (Amp), "Show them that You Love them even as You Love Me."  God doesn't pick favorites.  We have all become one with Jesus.  Some hear and know His Voice, while others think, "God doesn't speak to me."  We build a personal relationship with Him, by spending time in fellowship and conversation with God.  I'm not speaking about praying only, but conversing with Him.  We should ask God questions about things we don't know and seek understanding.  Jesus never explained all of His Parables, even to His disciples.  He only explained them, after they asked.

     Some believers have been taught that we should never question God.  If you don't ask, then you don't receive.  Jesus said, "Ask that you may receive."  This doesn't only refer to answers to prayer, but understanding too.  James 1:5 (Amp) says, If any of you is deficient in Wisdom, let him ask of the Giving God Who gives to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproach of fault finding, and IT WILL BE GIVEN HIM."  The only thing required, is that we ask.  Isn't this better than finding out the "hard way," by making mistakes and excuses for why God isn't doing what He Promised?   

 

Lesson 51 The Church's Identity Crisis

      For years, Christians have been waiting to become God's children.  We call Him "Father," but aren't living as family and act like we're estranged from Him.  Heaven is our home and we're citizens of the Kingdom of God.  God has sent us into all the world, in order to be His representatives here on earth.  As God's representatives, we bear His Name and His authority, so we can return a world that is out-of-order back to His Order.  We must know who we are in Christ Jesus and Whose authority and ability we operate under, in order to do this.  If we have an identity crisis and don't know Who we represent, then we won't be able to function in the authority God has given us and the world will dictate our ability.

      1John 3:2 (Amp) says, "Beloved, we are even here and now God's children: it is not yet disclosed and made clear what we shall be hereafter, but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall as God's children resemble and be like Him; For we shall see Him just as He really is."  While on the Island of Pat-mos, John saw the Glorified Jesus, Who is Lord of all.  Jesus didn't resemble the Man that John walked with in Galilee, but He was nonetheless, Jesus.  His Form and Countenance was different.  Jesus was truly the King of Heaven and earth, in His Glorified Body.  I don't know what we'll look like in Heaven, but I do know that even here and now, we are God's sons and daughters, like Jesus was the Son of God while He was on earth in a natural body.

     Jesus spoke to John in Revelations 1:17-18 (Amp), saying, I Am the First and the Last And Ever Living One. I Am living in the Eternity of the eternities. I died, but see, I Am alive forevermore: and I possess the keys of death and Hades (the realm of the dead)."  John didn't see Jesus like he and the disciples remembered, but He was in a Glorified Form.  This is similar to what I imagine we will be; the same, but different.

     While we're in these bodies, we're even now the children of God.  We' have been given His authority and dominion to use, as ambassadors of God's Kingdom, like Jesus had.  The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write in 2Corinthians 5:16 (Amp), "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a purely human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). No, even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a Man, yet now we have such knowledge of Him that we know Him no longer in terms of the flesh."

     We still identify with the man and woman of the flesh on earth, but we should be identifying ourselves with the Risen Christ.  We mostly view Jesus as a Man and see ourselves that way too.  Paul though, tells us to see Jesus as He is now, and ourselves like that too.  When we see ourselves as "mere" men and women, then we lose the identity of who Jesus has made us to be.  1John 3:2 (Amp) says again, "Beloved, even now are we children of God."  We don't know what we will be, but when Jesus comes, we'll be like Him, "for we shall see Him as He really is."

     We've been taught to identity with the Man Jesus was before His Resurrection and Glorification, instead of identifying with being citizens of God's Kingdom, here on earth.  We're only "dressed" in the garments of this world, in order to walk and minister in the world.  The real you is already raised up with Jesus and made to sit with Him in God's Kingdom.  Ephesians 2:6 (Amp) says, "And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together, giving us joint seating with Him in the Heavenly sphere, by virtue of our being in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."

    We need to see ourselves as who Christ has made us to be, instead of who we'll be someday, when we leave this earth.  Jesus was Lord over everything on earth, even in His fleshly Body.  Jesus never lost His authority over satan, sin, or anything else.  Jesus did the things He did, because of us and not for Himself.  Jesus surrendered Himself to sin and death, because they were part of mankind.  He suffered these things, in order to make us free to be part of Him, as He is. 

     We need to stop seeing ourselves as the world and the enemy wants us too.  We must see ourselves like Jesus made us to be, while we're still dressed in this flesh.  Wearing the clothes of the earth, doesn't change the identity of the person wearing them.  Though Jesus was dressed in flesh, He never lost His Identity or Who He was.  Even the demons saw past Jesus' way of being dressed in flesh, saying, "I know Who you are, the Holy One of God."  When satan sees who you are, he sees pasts your clothing of flesh.  Satan sees you as a child of God.and trembles.  This is why we must put on the Armor of God.  When we're dressed in the Armor of God, satan can't distinguish between us and our older brother Jesus, until we speak.  

     When we speak, the enemy easily knows who is wearing the Armor.  He knows whether we're the new creation being or whether we still see ourselves as mere, unsaved persons.  Jesus said in Matthew 12:37,33 (Amp), "For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced."  This doesn't mean that God will condemn you, but if we're speaking sickness, fear, worry and the things that mere persons of the flesh speak, then the enemy has license and authority to bring things we don't want, into our lives.

     Jesus also said in Verse 33, "Either make the tree sound and healthy and good, and its fruit sound, healthy and good, or make the tree rotten, diseased and bad, and its fruit rotten, diseased and bad: for the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit."  Jesus spoke to the people opposing Him in Matthew 15:6 (Amp), "So for the sake of your traditions (the rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God, depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect."

     Whether or not we know or even believe it, the words we say have tremendous effects in our Christian walk and lives.  I'm not saying that we should only continually quote scriptures, but our words should line-up with God's Word.  If God's Word says, "By His stripes we are healed," then we shouldn't say, "I'm afraid of being sick."  If God's Word says that we "have been made to be the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus," then we shouldn't continually say of ourselves, "None are righteous, no not one."  We must rightly divide the Word of Truth, according to our new creation covenant with our Heavenly Father, in Jesus.  We learned to stop cussing when we got saved, and we can stop speaking against what God's Word says about us, in the same way.  We are new creation and must learn to act and speak like the One we represent.

        

Lesson 50 The Church's Identity Crisis

     Genesis 1:27-28 (Amp) says, "So God created man in His Own Image; in the Image and Likeness of God He created him; male and female, He created the. And the Lord 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 upon the earth."
     We've been taught that this Blessing is only "for when we die and leave this earth."  We've been taught that Christians are supposed to be sick, poor, weak and tested, in order to deserve what God has prepared for us.  It's true that this Blessing is Spiritual, but the new creation people are Spiritual and these Blessings are already ours in Christ Jesus.  Everything we see around us came from the Spirit realm.  God created all things, both natural and Super-natural.  The Blessings God spoke over us, come from the Spiritual into the natural.
     The Father never created His children to be run over for the entire time we spend on earth and then be Blessed after entering Heaven.  We didn't deserve His Blessings before Adam's fall and we don't deserve it now.  We can expect God to provide for and deliver His children, like He said He would.  It all comes by God's Grace and Love for us.
     We've never extended our faith and trust in God's intervening in our lives, because we see the Church being persecuted and believe it's God's will for His family.  Jesus said that "persecution will come while we're on this earth," but He also said, "I have overcome the world."  1John 5:4 (Amp), "For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world: And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith."  Our faith in what?  Our faith in being born of God and in the One Who gave us Life and victory.
     We haven't put our faith in God's healing, delivering, and Blessing us here on earth.  He isn't only talking about our overcoming the world when we leave this body, but we'll overcome while on this earth too.  Receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior, means that we will overcome the world when we leave this body.  Overcoming the world though, doesn't mean by death, but by the new Life which is in us here on earth, because Jesus lives in us and us in Him.
     The new creation children of God have the Same Holy Spirit, the Same Father, the same son-ship right and privileges and the same Words that Jesus had during His earthly ministry, to overcome this world.  This is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith.  Do we have faith in Jesus, to overcome the world while we're still in it?
     Faith isn't trying to "make" God do something for us.  Faith is trusting God for what He has already done for us, in Jesus.  Our overcoming the world is based on trusting in the Truth of what God has already done for us, in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  2Corinthians 1:18-20 (Amp) says that, "All His Promises are Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus, to the praise and Glory of God."  If God Promised it, then it's already a Yes answer to our needs, whatever they might be.  This is the faith that overcomes the world.  As long as we're in the world and serving God, the devil will make sure we have tribulations, persecution and trials.  We must overcome these things by believing God's Promises in Christ Jesus.  We cannot overcome the world, without having faith in Him.
     Galatians 5:5-6 (Amp) says, "For we, not relying on the Law but through the Holy Spirit's help, by faith anticipate and wait for the Blessing and Good for which our righteousness and right standing with God (our conformity to His will in purpose, thought and action) causes us to hope. For if we are in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through Love."
     We are to walk in Love, in order for our prayer life and faith to work like it should.  We must understand that this scripture is telling us just how much God Loves us, because our faith works only to the degree of knowing the fullness of His Love for us.  When trials, tests and persecution come, we believe God is using them to teach us something, because we don't understand the depths of His Love for us.  1John 4:16-17 (Amp) says, "And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by 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 and continues in Love dwells in Him. 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." 
     Do you have boldness and assurance to face God in the day of judgment?  If not, then the understanding of God's Love hasn't reached perfection yet and you won't have the faith that works by Love.  If you have faith in God's Love, then you'll see yourself as being holy, pure, without fault and perfect in His eyes.  If you see yourself in a way that is different from what God's Word says about you, then your faith will be weak.  It shows that you don't know and understand God's Great Love for you.  It's difficult to walk in faith and receive what God's Love wants to do in your life, when your heart condemns you, so you still see yourself as being unworthy and imperfect.
     The Holy Spirit inspire John to write in 1John 3:20-22 (Amp), "Whenever our hearts in tormenting self-accusation make us feel guilt 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 conscience (our hearts), do not accuse us, if they don't 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."
     When we understand the power of God's love, then our hearts can't prevent our faith from working, because "Faith works by Love."  Romans 8:1 (Amp) says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong), for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit."
     Your flesh will dictate guilt and condemnation, but your spirit will dictate God's Word and His Love, which have no condemnation.  1John 4:21 (Amp) tells us that, "If our conscience doesn't make us feel guilt before Him, we receive from Him whatever we ask of Him, because FAITH WORKS BY LOVE."

Lesson 49 The Church's Identity Crisis

     John 1:16-17 tells us that, "We ALL have received and ALL have a share in the Spiritual Blessing, Grace and favor."  Romans 12:13 says that, "We have ALL been given the measure of faith."  Galatians 3:13 (Amp) says, "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."  Romans 8:17 tells us that, "We have ALL been made joint heirs with Jesus Christ."
     Our Heavenly Father has never abandoned any child of His family, but we haven't realized who we are in Jesus.  1Corinthians 12:4-5,7 (Amplified) says, "Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments (Gifts, extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians), due to the Divine Grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit, and they vary, but the Holy Spirit remains the same And there are distinctive varieties of service and ministration, but it is the Same Lord Who is served."  Verse 7 says, "But to each one is given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, the evidence, the Spiritual Illumination of the Spirit for good and profit."
     We each have the Same Holy Spirit in us, to bring the demonstration of good to mankind and the Glory of God.  Although certain Gifts are the tools that demonstrate the Power of the Gospel, these Gifts and manifestations are made available to all who are ministering to others.  Paul tells us about Phillip, who was a deacon and not the Apostle,  in Acts 8:5-8 (Amp) saying, "Went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ the Messiah to them (the people). And great crowds of people with one accord listened to and heeded what was said by Phillip; And they heard him and watched the miracles and wonders which he kept performing from time to time. For foul spirits came out of many who were possessed by them, screaming and shouting with a loud voice, and many who were suffering from palsy or were crippled were restored to health. And there was great rejoicing in that city."
     Phillip was only a deacon in the church, but he had such a great zeal for God that he went out on his own to proclaim Jesus to those in the surrounding cities.  The Holy Spirit honored his faith, moving through Philip in a great and mighty way, because Phillip was doing the work of the ministry.  Phillip wasn't part of the five-fold ministry, but the Holy Spirit worked through him, in order to accomplish good and profit for all.
     Jesus said, "It's not Me but the Father in Me, Who does the work."  We have the Father in us too and should know that when we're ministering to others, He will honor what we're doing with signs and wonders.  Jesus said in Mark 16:17 (Amp), "And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: In My Name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new languages, They will pick up serpents, and even if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well."
     Paul writes about acquiring the Super-natural things of God in our lives, saying in 1Corinthians 12:31 (Amp), "But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best Gifts and Graces, (the higher Gifts and the choicest Graces). And I will show you a still more excellent way, one that is better by far and the highest of all-Love."  In other words, instead of just seeking these Gift, we must strive to walk in Love for the people and the Holy Spirit will furnish whatever is needed to set the captives free.
     Those who don't believe in the Super-natural things of Mark 16:17, are probably not doing any part of the ministry that requires the Gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit.  The work of those in the five-fold ministry, is to bring people into the Body of Christ and mature the babies of Christ in their faith.  Jesus was a Teacher and spent 31/2 years teaching His disciples how to lean on the Holy Spirit as their Source of ability and power.  When they were born-again and the Holy Spirit came to live in them, they in turn began teaching others.
     If you're a new creation child of God, then you have the Promise of the Holy Spirit living in you.  As you step out in faith, in order to bring others into God's family and minister the Word of Salvation and healing, then "These signs will accompany those who believe."  These Gifts aren't only for the five-fold ministry, but are for all who are active in ministering to the world, like Jesus did on this earth.  We must learn and understand who we really are in Him and Him in us.
     Jesus is still moved by compassion to heal and deliver those in need, but now He will use us to go where He once went as a Man.  The Same Father Who worked through Jesus, is the Same Father Who now works through those who love Him and Love mankind, like He does.  We don't need the Anointing to stay home and watch TV, it's only needed when we go into all the world to preach God's Word to those who will listen and receive.
     Most of us have never envisioned ourselves as being able to function in these Gifts, but the Holy Spirit is the One "Who gives the Gifts severally as He wills."  When you make a demand on His ability, while doing His work, then He will work through you and provide whatever is needed to deliver, heal and restore God's Original Intent on earth.  We must overcome whatever is keeping us from being who He made us to be.  We're not inferior to those in ministry, but we're proof of their ministry in the world.  Remember that, "It's not us, but the Father in us, Who does the work."  We must allow the Holy Spirit to use us and move through us, so we can do the work of the ministry.
     There are only so many pastors, preachers, Evangelists and Apostles in the world, but there are 21/2 billion Christians on this earth, who can do the work of the ministry.  Not everyone will come to the Church, but all of the Church can go into the world.  God's Word says that, "He that believe in Him shall not be put to shame."  We must trust the Holy Spirit, so He can do what He said He will do and deliver those who are bound.  We're not the ones who do the work and we only need to believe that He will.  We need to find our true identity in Christ Jesus, as new creation people who were born in His Image and Likeness and who are filled with God's Own Spirit.

Lesson 48 The Church's Identity Crisis

     Listen carefully to what the Holy Spirit says to the Church in John 1:14-15 (Amp), "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (undeserved, unearned favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
     Christians have somehow believed that some people were Blessed or had more faith and ability, than others.  Our faith has never risen to believe the Father for such things as healing, laying hands on the sick and witnessing, because we were taught that "only some can do these things" or "these things have passed away and were only for the early Church."  We've been taught that, "God doesn't do this for everyone," but the above scripture tells us that, "Out of His fullness, we have ALL received, ALL had a part and were ALL supplied with."
     Jesus says in Mark 16:17 (Amp), "And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe."  Jesus wasn't speaking about the Gifts of the Spirit, listed in 1Corinthians 12.  The Gifts of the Spirit usually accompany the five-fold ministry, listed in Ephesians 4.  When were were born-again, we were filled with the Holy Spirit, Who gives the Gifts "severally as He wills."  The Holy Spirit can and does move upon anyone, at anytime, in order to profit mankind.  The Holy Spirit inspires Paul to write to the Church in Romans 12:3 (Amp), saying, "For by Grace, unmerited favor of God give to me, I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought (not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance), but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith appointed by God to him."
     The King James Version of this scripture reads, "For I say through the Grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith."  No one person has more faith than another.  God has given ALL, the measure of faith, favor and Grace.  It's what we do with faith that matters.
     Romans 1:17 (Amp) says, "For in the Gospel a Righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith (disclosed through the way of FAITH), that arouses to more faith. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."  Every born-again believer begins his/her walk with God, on the same level as others in the Body of Christ.  Some pursue faith and exercise their faith, believing God on a higher level than other, but every believer has the same ability to go from faith to faith."
     Ephesians 4:11,12 (Amp) says, "And His Gifts were varied. He Himself appointed and gave men to us, some apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of the flock), and teachers."  God chooses, appoints and calls people for certain offices.  He Himself places these people where they "fit" in the Body of Christ, but that doesn't mean that these people are the only ones appointed by  the Holy Spirit and used by the Lord.  The Holy Spirit tells us the reason for the five-fold ministry in Verse 12, saying, "It is for the perfecting of and full equipping of the saints to do the work of ministering to build up the Body of Christ."
     Those in the five-fold ministry are there to teach believers what our inheritance and calling in Jesus is and to teach us how to go from faith to faith and how to grow in our place in the Body of Christ.  We were ALL given a share and were ALL supplied with the same Spiritual Blessing, Grace, favor and God's fullness (abundance).  Romans 8:16-17 (Amp) says, "The Spirit Himself thus testifies together with our own spirit, assuring us that we are children of God. And if we are His children then we are His heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him, only we must share His suffering if we are to share His Glory."
     We know that ALL have received and are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus.  The H Spirit chooses who He gives the calling and Gifts for the ministry to.  The only thing that holds us back is that we don't put faith in who He has called and made us to be, in Jesus.  Jesus tells us in "The Parable of the Sower" that one person took the mustard seed of faith and sowed it, so it could grow into a great tree.  Others though, kept the mustard seed of faith and didn't plant it.  Both were given the same amount of seed, but not everyone allowed it to grow.
     No person received more of the Holy Spirit than others did, but one believed and allowed the Holy Spirit to express Himself in a higher degree.  It's not the man, but his allowing the ability of the Holy Spirit to be expressed through him, that makes it seem like he has a greater walk with God.
     Hebrews 4:2 (Amp) says, "For indeed we have had the glad tidings (Gospel of God) proclaimed to us just as truly as they (the Israelites of old 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 by those who heard."
     Going from one degree of faith to another, comes by faith.  We must mix our faith with what we read and hear in God's Word.  The Israelites in the Wilderness limited God, by their unbelief.  We have the potential for the God-kind of faith and the Holy Spirit living in us, to do what God's Word says we are to do and to go from faith to faith in Him.

Lesson 47 The Church's Identity Crisis

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore if any person is ingrafted in Christ Jesus (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."  Notice, that the fresh and new is going to come, but that it has come already.  We've been waiting for this to come to pass in the future, when it has already come.
     The changing of our spiritual body is yet to come, but even now, 2Corinthians 6:16 (Amplified) says, "What agreement can there be between a temple of God and idols? For we are he temple of the Living God: Even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."  This is for now, and not just in the future.  In the age to come, we will walk in the glorified body and in a different realm of this new creation, but it's all ours, even now.
     1John 3:1 (Amplified) says this about the new creation people, living in this present time on the earth.  Thus, it says, "See what an incredible quality of Love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on us), that we should be permitted to be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him."
     Although we call God, "Father," we fail to recognize the Truth of this.  He really is our Father, but many would ever know this, because of the things we've been taught and learned.  If a natural father would do the things we've been told that God does to His children, then he would be accused and locked up for child abuse.  We've held onto the world's view of our Heavenly Father, because we came out of the world, before being born-again.
     Much of what we've been taught about God comes from the Old Testament.  We don't envision Him as a Father, but as an angry God Who still punishes us for our failures.  This is the world's view, which has followed us even after being born-again.  Isaiah 53:11 (Amp) says, "He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul and be satisfied; by His knowledge of Himself which He possesses and imparts to others shall My uncompromisingly Righteous one, My servant, justify many and make many Righteous (upright and in right standing with God), for He shall bear their iniquities and their guilt with the consequences, says the Lord."
     Jesus didn't only take our sins and transgressions, but He also took the consequences of our sins and transgressions.  It would be Double Jeopardy if God make us pay the consequences for our sins and transgressions now.  God wouldn't be true to His covenant if He did this either.  We're not to continue sinning and transgressing, but we must know that that God doesn't teach His new creation family, by putting things upon us.  If we think that God is doing it, then where do we go to get out of it?
     We've been deceived about how God teaches, corrects and trains His children today.  We know that God is a Spirit, according to John 4:24 (Amp) which says, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."  Jesus tells us in John 6:63 (Amp), "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver); the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it)! The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."  Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus also says in John 14:16-17 (Amp), "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Stand-by, that He may remain with you forever. The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know Him or recognize Him, But you know Him and recognize Him, for He lives with you constantly and will be in you."
     Jesus continues in John 14:26 (Amp), saying, "But the Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Stand-by, Strengthener, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name, in My Place, to represent Me and act on My behalf, He will teach you all things and He will cause you to recall (remind you of, will bring to your remembrance), everything I have told you."  2Timothy 3:16-17 (Amp) says, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience and for training in Righteousness, in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action. So that the man of God may be complete and be proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work." 
     Paul writes about the five-fold ministry that Jesus gave to the Church, in order to minister and build up the Body of Christ in Ephesians 4:11-12 (Amp), saying, "That it might develop until we all obtain oneness in the faith which is nothing less that the standard height of Christ's Own Perfection, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ and the completeness found in Him."
     We don't find any place in the above scriptures, where the Father uses sickness, hardship, trials and disease, to teach and train His people.  When we yield to other forms of correcting, then we place ourselves in a place of being double-minded.  James 1:1-8 (Amp) say that if we're double-minded, then we'll be "unstable in everything we think, feel and decide."  Verse 5 says, "f any of you is deficient in Wisdom, let him ask of the Giving God, Who gives to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or fault finding, and it shall be given to him."
     If you've been taught that all the things happening to you are "God teaching you," then you must "ask God for His Wisdom in these things, and He will give you Wisdom in these things."  James says that we must "Ask in faith, to receive this Wisdom."  We must not be double-minded in receiving God's answer.  If we don't know if God is  using the things happening to us, in order to teach us or if satan is trying to wear us down with these things, then we are double-minded. 
     James 1:2-4 (Amp) tells us that, "Trials and temptations and tests will come, but we're to know from whom they come from and remain in faith,while patiently going through them, then we will end up perfect and developed and lacking in nothing."  Tests and trials will come, but we must know from whom they come.
     God is a Spirit, His Word is Spirit and by the new creation birth, we are Spirit.  God has given us the Holy Spirit, to teach us His will and His ways.  Only the  Holy Spirit can teach our own spirit.  Satan attacks our flesh, in order to keep us from knowing Truth, in our spirits.  If you think God is doing these things, then you're not believing the Truth of God's Word, which tells us that God sent the Holy Spirit to teach us.