Lesson 73 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."

     Most believers have been living a double life, for most of our born-again life.  We have one life of the flesh and another Life we live in the Spirit.  We haven't understood that these aren't separate lives, but one Life is now joined together by the Life Jesus spoke about in John 10:10.  When we separate the Spirit Life from the natural life of the flesh, we don't stay on this planet.  The natural body can't continue living, when our spirit leaves it.

     We put off the Spiritual Blessing for until we get to Heaven and continue struggling in the natural man, believing God doesn't care about this.  Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and was God's Son, but He still lived in a flesh and blood body while He was here.  The Spirit realm met all of Jesus' needs, as well as the needs of others in His earthly walk with God.  Jesus never separated Himself from either His Spirit or His Body.  He lived in the fleshly Body, while walking by and in the Spirit.  Jesus walked naturally Super-natural.

     We're like Jesus in His earthly ministry today.  We still have needs here in this natural realm, while having needs in the Spirit realm with God.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-33 (Amp), "Therefore do not worry or be anxious, saying, What are we going to eat? or what are we going to have to drink, or what are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides."

     Jesus assured us that, "Our Heavenly Father knows well that we need all these things."  He never intended for us to be cold, hungry, without shelter, and miserable in this life; anymore than when we leave this earthly life.  God took care of Jesus, before and after He began His earthly ministry.  Heaven supplied everything Jesus needed from His birth and now.  Do you think God can't do these things for the rest of His family?

     It's not that God can't or won't do this for us, but we don't know how to function in both realms, like Jesus did.  Jesus instructed us to, "Seek, aim at and strive after first of all God's Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right, and then all the other things are added."  Jesus walked in the natural, in a Super-natural way.  He never divided the two, but looked at them like the First Adam did, as being one man made in God's Image and Likeness.  

     We sometimes see prayer as being Spirit, while looking at everyday life as being carnal.  Through Jesus, it's not everyday life and Spirit Life, but just "Life and more abundantly."  Prayer isn't something we do sometimes, when we need something, but it's a constant place of fellowship where we hear and follow the Voice of the Shepherd, like it was with Jesus. 

     We're always praying in the Holy Spirit, while we're at work or at home.  We're in constant fellowship with the Father, through the Holy Spirit, according to 1Corinthians 14:14 (Amp), where Paul writes, "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit by the Holy Spirit within me prays, but my mind is unproductive (it bears no fruit and helps nobody)."

     Paul is speaking about public prayer and worship in this scripture, but says we're always in contact with the Holy Spirit, even when we're at work or at home.  I can watch TV and still be in contact with God, by my spirit.  My spirit is completely in Christ at all times.  I hear from God when my natural mind is focused on something else and this keeps it from straying into worry or doubt.

     A renewed mind is one that thinks on the Word at all times, even when something else is going on.  God is never really on our mind, but is usually like a circus, waiting to stray into all sorts of things that aren't relevant to what we're seeking God for.  If we can occupy our minds with work or watching TV, instead of letting them run wild, then we can hear God more clearly in our spirits.

     My mind is clear, when my hands are busy at work or play.  The carnal mind and the Mind of Christ, aren't the same thing.  The Mind of Christ comes from my new creation man, while the carnal natural mind is what I use to drive my truck, mow hay or do natural things.  We still use our natural mind and senses, but govern them by God's Word and His Spirit.  You'll have a problem driving downtown during rush hour, if you don't use your senses and your sense ruled mind.  God gave us a natural mind and senses, in order to govern the flesh and He gave us a spirit, in order to govern the natural mind in the natural realm.

     Jesus knew when He was tired, hungry and when He needed extra clothing because it was cold.  Jesus' Spirit didn't get cold or hungry, His senses were used for that.  We don't discard our senses, we rule them.  We're a three part being (spirit, soul and body) and each plays a vital part in our earthly walk.  We must allow our spirit by the Holy Spirit, to rule the soul and body.  When we allow our soul or emotions to rule, instead of governing them by our new creation spirit through God's Word and the Holy Spirit, then we'll get angry, commit sin and get involved in wrong thing.  Our body will eat, until it's bloated and useless, unless we take dominion over it by our spirit.  Through Jesus, we've been given control to govern our body and soul, by our born-again spirit again.  The fleshly carnal natural isn't in control any longer, if we stay in fellowship with the Father.

     The Law of Moses was good, but man's spirits were dead unto God.  The carnal nature still ruled, by Laws and regulations alone.  We've been given the new creation Living Spirit, to govern from within and not just by willpower or Laws.  We must renew our minds with God's Word and His Spirit, so we have dominion over the flesh and senses.  We're not ruled by feelings or emotions, but by the Word.  We've believed that we can't control how we feel, but God's Word says that we can.  We've accepted the world's view about Christianity, but in these Last Days, God has revealed who His family has been created to be in His eyes and things are changing. 

Lesson 72 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."

     Most believers in the Body of Christ, only see ourselves as being only human.  Paul wrote about the differences between the unsaved world and those who are a new creation in 1Corinthians 6:11 (Amp), saying, "And such were some of you once. But you were washed clean, purified by a Complete Atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin, and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified (pronounced righteous) by trusting in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit of God."

     Most believers don't see ourselves as purified, free from the Curse, set apart, hallowed, justified, and pronounced righteous and washed clean.  Man's ideas and the world's ideas about Christianity, have left us in the place where we see ourselves more as we once were, rather than who we've been created to be in Jesus.  We need to renew our minds with God's Word and trust in what Jesus has already done for us now.  We need to see ourselves, the way God sees us, which is through the Blood and Sacrifice of our Lord.  We need to see ourselves as clean and holy, while we still live in this body of flesh. 

     Romans 5:1-2 (Amp) says, "Therefore, since we are justified, acquitted, declared righteous and given a right standing with God through faith, let us grasp the fact that we have the peace of reconciliation to hold and enjoy, peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). Through Him also we have our access, entrance, introduction by faith into this Grace (state of God's favor) in which we firmly and safely stand. And let us rejoice and exalt in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the Glory of God."

     Many Christians today, consider our experiencing and enjoy the Glory of God while we're here in these earthly bodies, is just a dream.  God Himself has taken up residence in our body and declared it to be "the Temple of the Holy Spirit Himself," according to 1Corinthians 6:19 (Amp), which 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."

     The Holy Spirit of God can't live in a temple that is unclean.  God's Word says we're pure, clean, holy, consecrated and righteous and we must believe this to be True or the Holy Spirit couldn't live in us and call us His temple.  Without Revelation, our carnal selves believe "it's humble" to confess we're unworthy and old sinners saved by Grace.  The ears of the world and natural realm, seemingly see this as being humble, but to the Father, it sounds like we're saying "the Sacrifice of Jesus wasn't enough to cleanse us and make us worthy."  What sounds humble to unrenewed minds, sounds prideful to God.

     It requires faith in the Finished Works of Jesus, to understand who He's made us to be now.  The only way to obtain this faith in God's Grace, is by agreeing with what His Word says about us, instead of what the devil or the world thinks.  Jesus wasn't being prideful or boastful, when He said that, "The Father and I are One" and that He is "the Son of God."  Jesus was speaking the Truth, when He said, "I only say what I hear My Father say."  This means that Jesus only repeated what the Father in Him said.  Humility is saying what God says about us.  We must agree with Him, despite how we feel about it, because He is the One Who has created us as new creations.  God knows more about who we are, than we do.

     When God made us new creations in Jesus, He created us in His Image and Likeness and He is Perfect.  Our fleshly bodies might not be perfect, but if we renew our minds by God's Word and His Spirit, then it will bring our bodies into subjection to Truth.  Jesus said, "The Words I speak to you are Spirit and Truth."  God's Word and His Spirit will bring the flesh into subjection to our new creation spirit and submit them to God as His temple and Glory.

     Do we still have flaws in our flesh?  Of course we do, but we're no longer after the flesh, but after the Spirit of God.  There's nothing our Heavenly Father cannot fix and make right, if we yield to His Word and Spirit.  Don't give up because you still have flaws in your old house of flesh, because you have overcome already in Jesus.  We're making progress and growing up in Him, so we're making fewer mistakes.  All babies need to grow up and become adults, if they're to be useful in society.  They make mistakes, even as adults, but they're not the same mistakes.  We're still growing past the old way of thinking and living, while Living in the new Life Jesus has given us.

     Jesus came so that we "have Life and have it more abundantly."  Now that we have Life, we need to learn how to live this Life of the Spirit, by His Word, just like we learned how to live our earthly life of the flesh.  Just being born into this earthly realm isn't enough to bring us through this world.  We must learn how to navigate the world, by the teachings and rules that our parent taught us.  We learned to be responsible spouses and parents from those who gave us life.  The same is Truth in the Life that Jesus gave us.  Staying babes in Christ, won't equip us to do the work of the ministry and build up the Body of the Church.  Ephesians 4 tells us that we have the responsibility to grow into "the stature of the fullness of Christ Jesus."  The only way to do so, is by growing by and through God's Word and accepting what He says and having faith in the Truth, even if we don't feel like it.  You are a new creation and must grow into what He created you to be.

     

Lesson 71 The Church's Identity Crisis

     We read in God's Word that "we've been made the Righteousness of God," but most of us have never seen ourselves like the Father sees us in Christ Jesus.  We read how we've become new creations through Christ Jesus, but we continue thinking of ourselves as "old sinners."  We remember who we once were and by focusing on this, we allow the enemy to enter our lives.  He will lie and tell us that, "You're unworthy" and "You're not righteous enough to lay hands on the sick, cast out demons or do the righteous works of the Father."  Guilt and condemnation will prevent us from fulfilling what the Father has called us to do.

     1John 3:19-22 (Amp) says, "By this we shall come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we are of the Truth, and can reassure (quiet, conciliate and pacify) our hearts in His Presence. Whenever our hearts in tormenting self-accusation 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 consciences (our hearts) 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)."

     It's been difficult for many to determine God's True will and His Truth, because we've been taught so many differing teachings about these.  Every believer has the responsibility to discern God's Truth on his/her own, by the Spirit of God.  Paul writes about the structure and Foundation of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in 1Corinthians 3:9-17.  Paul tells us that "The Church's structure is laid on this One Foundation" and that, "Whatever we build on it, will be tried and tested by fire."  Paul is referring to Jesus' "Parable of the Sower" in Mark 4:15 (Amp), where Jesus says, "The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown in their hearts, but when they hear, satan comes at once and by force takes away the Message which is sown in them."

     God isn't the One Who is testing and trying them, but the enemy is trying to take away the Message sown in their hearts, by force.  Every new creation person has the Same Foundation, on which to build, according to  1Corinthians 3:12-13 (Amp), which says, "But if anyone builds upon The Foundation, whether it be with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, the work of each one will become plainly (openly) known (shown for what it is), for the Day of Christ will disclose and declare it, because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test and critically appraise the character and worth of the work each person has done."  

     There are so many beliefs, which are built on the Same Foundation, that it's hard to recognize which is the True House of God.  We don't label them as being "gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or straw," but we call them "denominations."  There might be many houses, but The Foundation has always been Jesus Christ and Him slain and raised for our salvation.  Many dismiss the Spiritual things of the Church, settling instead on the works of the flesh.  Many churches believe that the Spiritual things have passed away.

     When the house has been constructed by man and the carnality of man, the mortar which holds the stones in place, will crumble and the house will fall.  Today, the Super-natural blueprint has been changed, in order to fit what we think the house is supposed to look like.  We believe that miracles and healings still happen, but we believe that they don't happen very often.  God's will has become so arbitrary to most, so we believe that "You never know what God will do."  We hope that we're now made righteous in Christ, instead of believing it's Truth.

     We've forgotten what having our prayers answered means, because it happens so rarely.  If we truly believed that prayer works and that God answers prayers, then every church's parking lot would be overflowing, because so many would come expectantly believing God would do what He said.  There would be 24 hours/7 days a week, prayer meetings and intercessory prayers would never stop.  We've been building houses of cards, instead of houses of prayer.  Many churches have replaced the Gifts of the Spirit and God's Word, with entertainment and tradition.  Jesus admonished in Matthew 6:33 (Amp), "But seek (aim at and strive after) FIRST OF ALL His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things (material things of this life) taken together will be given you besides."

     We believe that God will do things for us in Heaven, but not here on earth.  I don't know how real God is to you, but we don't have to wait to be in His Presence in Heaven, because His Presence has come into us here on earth.  Everything God has Promised, is now ours through the new creation birth.  We've tried doing things our way, instead of God's way of doing and being right.  I'm not saying that good works are vain, but doing good works isn't how we get God to move in our lives.  We do good works because He moves in our lives.  We do good works, through Him.

     Jesus is the Foundation on Whom we build our house and He never changes.  He has never changed from the Truth of being God's Word.  Jesus is God's Word and God's way of doing and being right is still His Word.  Paul advised Timothy to, "Rightly divide the Word."  The diving place is the cross and the new creation.  It's no longer by works, but is by God's Grace and faith in Grace.

     God's Church has an identity crisis, because we haven't discerned what God has done and the Truth of our new creation identity through Jesus, by the Spirit.  2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amp) says, "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. 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."

     Our old man/woman of the flesh, with it's dead spirit, has become new creations.  The old person hasn't been revamped, but is Spirit born, Spirit filled, Spirit lived, and have become brand new species, that have never existed in the universe.  We don't have a past, in the Father's eyes.  We have His Love, His Life and His Grace for eternity.  God doesn't see any fault in us and He doesn't see failure, when looking at us.  Colossi ans 1:22-23 (Amp) says, "Yet now has Christ (the Messiah), reconciled you to God in the Body of His flesh through death; in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable to His, the Father's Presence. And this will He do providing that you continue to stay with and in the faith in Christ, well grounded and settled and steadfast, not shifting away from the hope which rests on and  is inspired by the Glad Tidings (the Gospel), which you heard and which has been preached, as being designed for and offered without restrictions to every person under Heave and of which, I, Paul, have become a minister."

     Ephesians 3:11-12 (Amp) says, "This is in accordance with the terms of Eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in the Person of Jesus Christ our Lord In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have boldness, courage, and confidence of free access, an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear."  God's Grace has given us this freedom, but that Grace is brought unto us, by faith.  We must believe what Jesus has already done, in order to enjoy this Grace.

     Jesus is the Door to the Father.  We must place faith in Him, to enter through that Door.  We can't enter by works or Law.  This is Grace by faith.  Romans 4:16 (Amp) says, "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith and depends entirely on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace."  The faith that unlocks Grace isn't faith in ourselves and our works, but is faith in what Jesus has already done for us.

    

 

Lesson 70 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."

     Millions of people from all around the world, have come to America for a new start or a new way of life.  Some have become Americans, but still hold to the old way of life from their homeland.  We try living in this new land, by the old laws and customs of our homeland.  Our loyalties and hearts have never accepted the laws and customs of our new country.  If you gave up your citizenship fro Ireland, to become a citizen of America, then you must learn to live by the laws that govern this nation.  Living by the laws of Ireland, can get you in trouble in America.  Drivers in Ireland drive their cars on the opposite side of the road than we do here. Driving on the wrong side of the road, can lead to disaster!

     Continuing to govern our new creation lives by the old laws we walked in before being saved, can cause many of the problems Christians face daily in this world.  We can continue trying to drive on the wrong side of the road, while being angry with the traffic laws and the police who stop and hand us a citation.  We can get angry with our insurance company, because they've raised our insurance rates.  We can get angry with oncoming traffic, but still continue driving on the wrong side of the road.  

     We don't become a new creation being, when we get to Heaven.  We became new creations, when we were born-again and received Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  In John 17:16 (Amp) Jesus says, "They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), just as I am not of the world."  We've already become citizens of God's Kingdom and must learn to walk in the new creation life according to God's Laws.  The old way of doing things is like driving on the wrong side of the road.

     Jesus says in Matthew 6:33 (Amp), "But seek, aim at and strive after first of all His Kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), then all these things taken together will be given you besides."  The Kingdom of God has Laws that govern and hold His Words and Promises safe for us.  God's way of doing and being right aren't just suggestions, but are Laws that govern whether or not we receive the Kingdom things.  We can't drive on the wrong side of the road and expect to reach our destination, without causing problems and wrecks along the way.  Most of us haven't sought out God's way of doing and being right.  We've followed the same traditions that have held God's people in bondage for centuries.  

     We've tried living under the old ways that world has imposed upon us, while still trying to receive the Blessings and Promises that only come by doing things under the Laws and government of God's Kingdom.  The Kingdom of God isn't some fantastical place, where little baby angels play harps on clouds, but is the True pattern this planet is made from.  The Laws of the Blessing and dominion the Father gave Adam, are the same ones He expects us to operate in, through the Last Adam Jesus.

     God's way is the only way we can and will function in, as citizens of the Kingdom.  God won't change the Laws of His Kingdom.  If we refuse to drive on the correct side of the road, then God won't force the other drivers to adapt to our ways.  We must take God's Kingdom Word and walk in His ways, now that we've given up our citizenship of this world, like Jesus said in the above scripture.  We stubbornly hold onto our old religious laws and traditions, trying to make the work, instead of  "seeking first of all, God's way of doing and being right."  The true form of insanity, is to keep doing the same wrong thing over and over, expecting to have different results.

     Paul said, "If it is not be either the Law of Moses, or by the Laws of the religious, world, then touch not, taste not, and handle not," in Galatians 3:1-3 (Amp).  Thus, he says, "O you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you, unto whom-right before your very eyes- Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was openly and graphically set forth and portrayed as crucified? Let me ask you this one question; Did you receive the Holy Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing it by works, or was it by hearing the Message of the Gospel and believing it?  Was it from observing a Law of rituals or from a Message of faith?  Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun your new life Spiritually with the Holy Spirit, are you now reaching perfection by depending on the flesh?"

     We step out on God's Word in faith when we first receive Jesus into our hearts and are on fire for Him, but then we become dependent on the works for our receiving from Heaven.  Instead of returning to God's Word and His Holy Spirit, we make excuses for why the Word isn't working, like God said it would.  God will not change.  Jesus only "Did what He saw the Father do, only went where the Father said to go, and only said what the Father told Him to say."  Jesus didn't accomplish the things He did, because He was Jesus.  It was because He walked in the Laws that govern God's Kingdom.  Jesus stayed on the right side of the road, which was God's way of doing and being right.

     We've already become new creations and are expected to live like God's new creation people, by His Kingdom's Laws.

 

Lesson 69 The Church's Identity Crisis

      Proverbs 4:7 (Amp) advises, "Wisdom is the principal thing, but with all your getting, get Wisdom."  The Church has had the Wisdom of God, which is His Word, for centuries.  1Corinthians 1:30 (Amp) says that God has, "Made unto us in Jesus, Wisdom."  We have Wisdom, but we've lacked the Spiritual understanding of what Wisdom has done and made available to us.  Proverbs 29:18  tells us that, "Without a vision of the Redemptive Word of God, His people still perish."  This is Wisdom, without understanding.

     Jesus stood in a Nazarene Synagogue and reading from Isaiah 61:1-2, preached "The acceptable Year of the Lord."  At the end of His proclamation, Jesus said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears (while you are present and hearing)."  This was and is, the Wisdom of God.  The people in the synagogue had read that this day was to come, but they had no understanding that "The Acceptable Year of the Lord," was the Jubilee.  Leviticus 25:13 (Amp) says, "In this year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his ancestral property."  Jesus was declaring that, "I am the Jubilee."

     We haven't heard many teachings and have little understanding of what Jesus was truly saying to them.  We've read about Jesus' proclamation in that synagogue and some of us have probably preached from this text, but we've failed to realize that if this was fulfilled then, then it is still fulfilled.  Romans 10:17,14 (Amp) 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."  Paul wrote in Verse 14, "How shall they have faith without it being preached?"

     Most of us have heard little preaching about the Words Jesus preached, resulting in our having little faith and believing that "In that day, the Jubilee was fulfilled."  We've heard a lot of sermons about being born-again and it's accepted throughout the world, because people have put faith in the Message that was preached.  Paul told us that, "Faith comes by hearing."  God's Promises go much than just going to Heaven when we die.  They Promise that "Heaven can come to earth."

     The Father Promised that He Himself would live in us and walk in us, and He would "Be our God and we would be our people."  We have God's Promises, but even greater than these, we have the One Who made these Promises.  It's not too late to begin preaching and teaching about God's Promises.  We've heard much in these Last Days, about the Super-natural provisions that Paul preached to the early Church.

     The faith that believers have in our Super-natural Father, is beginning to come into focus, more than it has since the early Church.  Many of God's people are beginning to trust in His Word, beyond just the Promise of going to Heaven and have allowed the Heavenly Promises to be manifested here in the sight of the world.  God's children are hearing and believing the Father's call in their hearts and are becoming a Body like never before.  Many believers have realized that Gifts and miracles aren't just for the pastors and evangelists, but are for all who will believe, like Mark 16:17 (Amp) says, "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."

     Many are living in fear because of the Covid-19 pandemic, while others have heard and put faith in what they heard, which was that even Covid-19 is under the Blood.  They've heard and put faith in the Promises of God and have chosen to walk in the vision of Redemption and The Acceptable Year of the Lord that Jesus preached.  Their faith came by hearing God's Word and His Promises, along with trusting that the God Who lives in them, will watch over and perform His Word.  Not everyone who hears will believe, but God is raising up a people who will trust Him and refuse to limit the Holy One, like those in the Wilderness did.  

     How far can God be trusted?  Is what He says in His Word True today or has it passed away with the early Church?  Is this world a safer place, than it was in the time of Jesus, so we don't need His protection?  Have all the demonic spirit gone away, so we no longer need to set the captives free?  Do we no longer need to lay hands on the sick, because medicine, technology and doctors have cured every sickness and disease?  Do we need to believe in the Super-natural ability of God's Word any longer?

     These are only questions that every individual can answer for him/herself.  What one believes, depends on what one hears.  Jesus said in Mark 4:24 (Amp), "Be careful what you are hearing, the thought and study you give to the Truth you hear, will be the measure of virtue and knowledge that comes back to you, and more besides will be given to you who hear."  Some reading this blog, have already dismissed what it teaches, but others are beginning to seek understanding of God's Word and how it is so relevant today.  Some might think this teaching is radical, but God doesn't.  He is still testifying about those champions of faith listed in Hebrews 11.  We're called to "Go from faith to faith," in Romans 1:17 and not to stop at what others think about God's Word.  You're the only person who can stop your faith.  He will not forsake you or leave you, as far as you will trust Him.    

Lesson 68 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."  The fresh and new has already come to those who've accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  2Corinthians 3:18 (Amp) says, "And all of us, as with unveiled face, because we continue to behold in the Word of God as in a mirror, the Glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His Very Own Image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord Who is the Spirit."

     This is our new creation identity in Christ.  The more we read and see the Revelation of Jesus and His Body in God's Word, the more we begin to understand who we've already become in Him.  We still have imperfections in the flesh, but we've been delivered from our old self, when we were crucified with Jesus.  The more we see our reflections from the mirror of God's Word, the more we'll mold ourselves into His Image.

     We're more aware of who we used to be, than who we're now made to be in Christ.  The enemy's lies hold us back from what the Father has planned and purposed in our new creation lives.  So long as our past and imperfections of the flesh hold us back, the less we're being transfigured into His Image and splendor.  The Father never called us to do something, that He didn't provide a way for us to do it.  He Himself has called us and taken up residence within us, making us the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  If we listen more to the Voice of the Spirit and God's Word, then we'll begin seeing our true image and identity.

     The old covenant had the Promises and in the new covenant, we've had the reality of the fulfilling of these Promises in Jesus.  Proverbs 29:18 (Amp) says, "Where there is no vision (no redemptive Revelation of God), the people perish; but he who keeps the Law (or Word) of God, which includes that of man,-Blessed, happy, to be enviable, is he."  We can't have the redemptive knowledge of God, without seeing the Revelation that we're redeemed, because we'll continue struggling under the Curse that resulted from Adam's transgression.  The Curse is still here, but not unto those who have the vision and Revelation of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.  God says that, "Where there's no vision, the people perish."

     We get our vision from the Revelation that the Holy Spirit provides, as our Teacher.  The old covenant people didn't have such Revelation or vision.  They were aware of the Promise, but didn't see it fulfilled until Jesus' Resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Paul preached this Revelation, but the people were afraid to trust in it, unless  they had the vision of the Revelation in their spirit.  We can read and intellectually comprehend God's Word as Christians in the natural, but we won't have any idea what it means in our lives, if we don't have Spiritual Revelation or the vision of redemption.

     Churches around the world are facing this exact thing even today.  Sadly, many born-again children of the Most High God, have no idea that our redemptive Promise was fulfilled in Jesus.  We love God, but many struggle to believe that the fulfillment of the Promises has now become ours, because we've been taught that these things are "for when we get to Heaven."  What good is the Promise of healing, in Heaven?  There's no sickness or disease in Heaven, so we won't need healing.  What good is being redeemed from the Curse of the Law in Heaven?  There's no Curse in Heaven.  These Promises are for us to enjoy and walk in, while we're here on earth.  Jesus said, "Today, these scriptures are fulfilled in our ears," in Luke 4:21.

     Those who heard that Message failed to believe it, just like many of us.  We must not stand fast in and put faith in the world's view of God's Word, without taking responsibility for ourselves.  Jesus accomplished more for at Calvary, than just removing our sins.  He provided our way back into God's Presence, like we never sinned.

     Isaiah 59:1-2 (Amp) says, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened at all that it cannot save, nor His ear dull with deafness that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His Face from you so that He will not hear."  On Calvary's cross, Jesus removed our sins and iniquities and removed the separation between mankind and God.  Now God's hand can save again and His ears can hear us again.  God can again do what He had intended for us at the beginning, because there's no separation between us and Him.  We've become one with God again.

     Prayer is answered, the Blessing is restored, healing can now flow and we've been restored to righteousness again, by faith in what Jesus did.  This is the new covenant of Grace, which gives us hope and faith that all of God's Promises have been fulfilled in Jesus.  God's Grace and mercy are no longer held back from us, because we're not separated from Him any longer.  It was never God's will to hold back on us, but Adam's sin separated us from Him.  God couldn't change that, so He removed the barrier Himself, by paying the penalty for our sins and iniquities on Calvary.  Jesus redeemed and restored us back, when He brought about the new creation family of God.

     God took responsibility for the failure and sin that His first flesh and blood son committed and paid the debt for that sin.  We continue seeing Him as the judgemental God Who dealt with fallen man, if we don't have the Revelation knowledge of Who He has once again become to mankind.  When we fail, we won't be afraid of an angry God, but will now see Him in Christ, as being compassionate, Loving and forgiving. 

     Many in today's Church see God and Jesus as two separate Persons and don't see that they're One,  like Jesus said, "When you see Me, you have seen the Father. He and I are One."  We're afraid that God's anger and judgment will fall on us after we've sinned, because we don't understand that all of His judgment fell on Jesus, Who took our place.  We've already been judged and found justified and are clean, by the Blood of our Sacrifice Lamb, Jesus.

     This new identity was bought and paid for, by our union with the One Who paid it for us.  Our righteousness is His Own Righteousness.  Jesus took our place, in order to give us His place.  God only sees Him, when He sees us.  We are His Body now and throughout all of eternity.  No one can judge the Body, without judging the Head.  The judgment is the same.  We've been judged and found pure, clean and righteous in Him.

     

Lesson 67 The Church's Identity Crisis

     2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amp) says, "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. 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."

     Jesus spoke to His followers in John 16:6-7 (Amp), but they didn't understand what He was saying at that time.  If we had been in the group, then we wouldn't have understood Him either.  Thus, Jesus says, "However, I am telling you nothing but the Truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous), for you that I go away."  The disciples probably wondered, "How can it get any better than living with, walking with, eating with and conversing with Jesus, like we do every day?"  We would probably have believed that too.  

     Jesus continued in Verse 7, "Because if I do not go away, the Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Stand-by, will not come to you; into close fellowship with you: but if I go away, I will sent Him to you, to be in close fellowship with you."

     This probably meant very little to them at that time, because they only knew Jesus as a Man.  Jesus' followers believed He was the Messiah, Who came to deliver them.  They thought the deliverance would include the overthrowing of Rome.  Then, they witnessed Jesus being beaten, nailed to a cross, dying and buried in a tomb.  They couldn't see or understand what was happening in the Spirit realm, because no one was born-again or filled with the Spirit yet.  They couldn't understand what the Father was doing in the unseen realm of the Spirit.  This is what Paul wrote about in 2Corinthians 5:16, when he said, "Now we have such knowledge of Him, that we see Him no longer after the flesh and as a Man, but after the Spirit."
     Like the early Church who received the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, we have the Revelation of what in the Spiritual realm at Jesus' crucifixion.  We have the knowledge that Jesus is our Sacrifice Lamb and our sin offering, but this couldn't be seen from the natural side of His crucifixion, because it only comes by Revelation from the Spirit.  The disciples had no idea that Jesus' death and resurrection, would redeem them from the Curse of the Law.  They couldn't imagine being born-again and made righteous with God, because of what Jesus endured.  They couldn't understand what Jesus meant, when He said, "You will be better off when I go, than you are now."

     Today, many still see Jesus more after the natural Man, than by the Spirit.  In order to identify with Him in His Resurrection, we must trust in the Revelation, than in the natural Man.  Even now, it's just as difficult for natural men and women to understand the Revelation, which has led to the Church's having an identity crisis.  Jesus did man awesome things as a Man, while here on earth, but those things can't compare with the fullness of what He's made available to us, through His death and Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

     Jesus clearly heard the Father, while in the flesh and this ability is made available to us today.  We're focused on the world and our daily lives, so we don't hear clearly from the Father.  I'm not writing this in order to bring us condemnation, but to make us more aware of the Father's Voice.  Jesus said, "I only do what I hear My Father say."  If we heard that clearly, then we would and could do the works that Jesus did.

     Everyone who heard Jesus say in Luke 4, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me," knew the scripture came from Isaiah 61:1.  They knew the scripture, but couldn't believe that, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  We read how Jesus has made us righteous, redeemed and joint-heirs with Him, but we doubt that "Today it is fulfilled."  

     We continue believing that the fulfillment of God's Word is for "another time in the future."  We believe Jesus can do what He said and that He will do what He said, but we don't believe He'll do them today.  We keep trying to become righteous, instead of believing that He's already made us righteous.  We believe that we'll become the righteousness of God, when we die and go to Heaven.  We believe that we'll get healed in Heaven, instead of believing that, "By His striped we are healed."  Like those who heard Jesus speak in the temple, we don't believe that, "Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your ears."

     Paul tells us in 2Corinthians 5:16 (Amp), "Now we have such knowledge of Him, that we see Him no longer after the flesh and as a Man, but after the Spirit."  The things Jesus' followers were waiting to come to pass, are already ours through Jesus and His Sacrifice.  2Corinthians 1:20 (Amp) says, "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 the Glory of God."  We're no longer waiting, because through the Revelation given by the Holy Spirit and God's Word, we have the knowledge of God in Him.

Lesson 66 The Church's Identity Crisis

     It's imperative that we find our true identity, as new creation children of God.  We can't continue to see ourselves after the old flesh and blood man or woman.  Paul writes about this several times in the scripture, but let's look at 2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amp), where he tells the Church in Corinth, "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."

     Paul says, "YET NOW, we have such knowledge of Him.  How did we get this "knowledge of Him?"  From God's Word.  The early Church didn't have The New Testament, so the only knowledge they had came from word of mouth, about the Man from Nazareth.  Jesus Himself gave Paul the Revelation of His being the Risen Christ, which many hadn't heard until Paul began preaching and writing.  We now have access to the Risen Christ and the High Priest of the new covenant.  We have the privilege of knowing Jesus, from the Holy Spirit's dwelling within us and from the Revelation provided in God's Word.

     Paul says that, "We regard no one from a purely human point of view or in terms of natural standards of value."  God's new creation people shouldn't see ourselves from only natural standards of value and as mere men and women.  Most continue to view our identities from the natural standards, causing us to miss the most important aspect of our fellowship with the Father.  Our true identity is in Christ Jesus, as sons and daughters of Almighty God Himself.

     When we see ourselves like the Father sees us in Christ, our prayers, healing and even the Blessing of Abraham can be manifest in our earthly lives.  We've been made so aware of our human failures, that we've failed to center in on the Spiritual Power Jesus brought to us, when He raised us up with Him.  I'm not writing about being hedonistic and living any way we wish, but about taking who we are in the Spirit and by Him, changing the outer-man/woman.  We've tried making the old person holy and pure, without realizing that Jesus made us holy and pure in our spirit, when He raised us up together with Himself.

     1Corinthians 1:30 (Amp) says, "But it is from Him, God that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, THUS MAKING US upright and 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."

     Jesus has already made us righteous, pure, holy and consecrated to God.  Jesus paid our Ransom from the Curse of the Law.  This is the real you, that the Father sees, so we should no longer see ourselves or any other believer, only after the natural standards of the flesh.  Jesus didn't come to clean-up our flesh, but to bring us back to the Father, in the purity of the Spirit.  God's Word, the Holy Spirit and our born-again spirit, give us the ability and boldness to apply the Power of the Spirit over the flesh.  We also have our New creation Father, Who guides and corrects us.

     For years, we've identified ourselves by the denomination or church we belong to in the flesh.  Very few have dared to identity ourselves the way God identifies us, which is by our new creation spirit that is pure, holy, righteous and Blessed, in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  If we continue to see ourselves only in the natural flesh and blood, then we'll never dare to believe that God gives His children the Kingdom, so we would have great pleasure in it.  Your purpose and calling comes by and through, your spirit man/woman.  Our outer-man/woman is only the house we live in.

     Hebrews 11:1 (Amp) says, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed), of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see, and the conviction of their reality, faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses."

     We're saved by NOW FAITH, and no longer Law or good deeds, or by wishing it would happen, or by being under condemnation for past things of the flesh.  It comes by faith and not just hope.  We all have hope when we go to God for deliverance, but we must have faith and not hope alone.  God's Word defines "Hope" as being a "Favorable and confident expectation."  It's faith only, that can bring expectation into this realm.  When we only see ourselves as natural men and women, instead of who we have now been made in Christ, then we can only have hope, without faith.  

     If we see ourselves as pure, holy, righteous and redeemed, like God does, then we can put more faith into the hope and receive what we hope for.  God is the One Who said that we are pure and holy, not us.  We're not the ones who said we're righteous; God did.  We're not the ones who said we're heirs and children of God; God did.  We're putting faith and agreeing with what our Heavenly Father has already said about who we are in Christ Jesus.  No believer would ever say that "Jesus still has the stain of our sin on Him," after He was raised up from death.

     We are no longer only human and we must begin to trust in the Finished Word of Jesus and discover our true identity in Him.  If Paul had only see himself as being "only human," then he would have died after the viper bit him.  Paul says in 2Corinthians 12:9 (Amp), "Therefore I will all the more gladly glory in the weaknesses and infirmities, that the Power and Strength of Christ (the Messiah), may rest, yes may pitch a tent over and dwell upon me."

     Paul saw his own flesh and that God was Greater than that.  Paul relied on his relationship with Jesus, by his spirit.  Paul no longer saw Jesus, "just as a Man," but as the Risen Christ, Who was his strength.  When I say, "Jesus," then what do you see?  What do you see, when you end your prayers, "In Jesus' Name, Amen?"  Do you still see the Man of flesh from Galilee or do you see Him high and lifted up and living through and in you?  Do you "have such knowledge of Him now" that you no longer see Him as a Man?  We must see ourselves like we see Jesus, by and in the Spirit.

    

Lesson 65 The Church's Identity Crisis

     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."

     The "righteousness which God ascribes," comes simply by faith in Jesus Christ, Who has become our righteousness.  We read about the righteousness which God ascribes in 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amp), which says, "But it is from Him that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God; revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and 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."

     Many of us today, continue to struggle with the thought of being righteous in God's eyes, through Jesus.  This is an identity crisis, which holds us back from believing in God's Promises, by faith in Christ Jesus.  We keep trying to become what God has already made us to be, because we don't see ourselves like God's Word says we were made by Jesus' Sacrifice.  This is what Paul spoke about in the above scripture.  We're to grow from the faith we had when we first received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and become what this great salvation made us to be, as new creatures in Christ.  This doesn't mean that we don't work on the flesh, but that we don't allow the flesh to dominate our faith.  We must renew our minds with God's Word and by faith, begin seeing ourselves as we really are in Christ.

     1John 4:17 (Amp) says, "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."  We can't believe or walk in this sort of confidence and boldness, without having faith in God's Word and His Promises.  1Cor. 1:30 says that, "Jesus has become our Consecration, making us pure and holy."  Can you accept this part of God's Word by faith and believe that you're already pure and holy?

     We read about some of the Promises in 2Corinthians 1:20 (Amp), where the Holy Spirit prompts Paul to write, "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."  God is Glorified, when we accept His Promises by faith in Jesus and God's Word.

     When we don't have faith in God's Promises, then we're limiting God.  If you feel unworthy, unholy and impure, then you don't have faith to believe God's Promises to and for yourself.  We must accept by faith, what Jesus has already done to provide our righteousness, consecration and redemption.  We can't "become righteous."  We must accept the Truth that Jesus made us righteous.  The people Paul was preaching to, were trying to become righteous through the Law, but Paul said to them in Romans 3:10 (Amp), "As it is written, None is righteous (just and truthful and upright and conscientious), no, not one."  He was speaking about those under the Law, as well as those outside the Law.

     We can't become righteous, by the works of the flesh, but we must accept our righteous by faith and conform our flesh to our new creation identity in Christ.  It sounds prideful and boastful to say, "I'm consecrated, pure and holy."  This pure and holy consecration can only be accepted by faith in God's Promises and the Lamb of our Sacrifice.  If you place your faith in Him and not yourself, then you will arrive at what Jesus has done.  When we try becoming righteous on our own, instead of accepting what Only Jesus Alone could do, then we're being prideful.  I'm not talking about what we deserve, but about what He has provided for us, even though we didn't deserve it.

     We must believe in who Jesus has made us to be, so we can go from "faith to faith."  We must believe in who we are in Him, instead of who we see in the mirror, in order to have faith in His Promises.  1John 3:20 (Amp) says, "Whenever our hearts in tormenting, self-accusation makes us feel guilty and condemn us, for we are in God's hands. For He is Above and Greater than our consciences (our heart), and  He knows, perceives and understands everything.  Nothing is hidden from God.  Instead of allowing the enemy to bring us under condemnation when we sin, we must repent.  We must go before God and confess our sin to Him, then receive His forgiveness and don't repeat that sin again.

     Jesus came so that we don't just receive our righteousness, but walk in right standing with the Father.  We all know when we're doing wrong, because we lived that way for years.  We must renew our minds by God's Word, so we can know when the enemy and the world are trying to trick us into unrighteousness again.  Some tricks are easily recognizable, while other things are more subtle.  Let's not stop at going to Heaven when we die, but heed 1John 1:21 (Amp) which says, "And beloved, if our consciences (our hearts), do not accuse us (if they don't make us feel guilty and condemn us), we have boldness (complete assurance) before God."  

     If you're living wrong before God, then stop it.  You can stand in assurance before God, by believing His Word and allowing it to rule, instead of being ruled by the old man/woman of the flesh.  We need to take on our true identity of the new creation being, and let the God of Peace rule in our hearts.  Bringing the flesh into subjection to God's Word takes time and takes faith to let God's Word rule over all the emotions of the flesh.  Jesus has already taken care of all the new creation person's needs.

    

Lesson 64 The Church's Identity Crisis

     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 Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him; Only we must share His suffering if we are to share His Glory."

     When reading this scripture, many of us focus solely on "we must share His suffering," while reading over "sharing His inheritance."  The worldview of Christianity, portrays Jesus and the Church as being victims, instead of victors.  When Jesus came from the Father into this world, He gave up His Heavenly Power to bring it back into the hands of God's family, like God had done in the beginning.  Philippians 2:6-7 (Amp) says, "Who, although being essentially one with God and in the forum of God (possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God), did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself of all privileges and rightful dignity so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being."  In other words, Jesus didn't come as God, but as a man representing God in the flesh, with the authority and dominion that God gave man.

     We are certainly not God, but like Jesus was in the flesh, we are sons and daughters of God and we're representatives of God, in human form on this earth.  We have yet, as Jesus was, to be in the Heavenly form of the Glorified body, but we're still heirs of the Father like Jesus was.  Although Jesus had these things, He laid them up for His return to His rightful place with the Father.  The Last Adam, Jesus still had the same authority and dominion that God conferred on the First Adam.

     We are not God, but we're God's children, like the First and Last Adam were.  We're heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus.  Our having glorified bodies remains in the future.  As a man, Jesus walked in everything God conferred on the First Adam in the beginning and we've inherited everything that Jesus has.  Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus said in John 16:15 (Amp)Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He (the Spirit), will take the things that are Mine and will reveal, declare, disclose, and transmit it to you."  

     The above scripture tells us that we've inherited everything that God, our Father, has.  This inheritance isn't future tense, but is already ours now.  Matthew 28:18 (Amp) says, "Jesus approached and breaking the silence, said to them, All authority, all power of rule, in Heaven and on earth, has been given to Me. God then and make disciples of all the nations."   In this, He also delivered His authority of His Name into the hands of God's new creation family, and we, by His Name received our inheritance.

     Remember that Jesus said, "I only speak what I hear My Father say."  Jesus spoke this Truth in Matthew 18;18 (Amp) saying, "Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth, must be what is already forbidden in Heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in Heaven."  Do we even understand what this means in the life of a joint heir of Jesus Christ, in this earth?  Through Him and His power of rule, we can now, as fellow heirs, declare His Own Name, so things improper and unlawful things the enemy has brought on the earth and into our lives and the lives of others, will be removed.

     Isn't this exactly what Jesus did in Luke 13:16 (Amp), when He met the woman who satan had made bent for eighteen years?  This woman was a daughter of Abraham and was a covenant woman.  It wasn't God will for her to be sick, according to the Blessing He pronounced on Abraham.  This wasn't allowed and was improper in Heaven, as was in accordance with His covenant.  Thus, Jesus says, "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?"

     God's will for this woman, was that she be loosed and never been bound.  The priests had the authority to loose her, but over the years they had lost all understanding of the authority and the anointing they had been given.  Jesus went about healing and setting the captives free, knowing this was disallowed and improper in Heaven.  He applied this Law, into the earth.  Jesus knew that healing and deliverance were already proper and lawful in Heaven and that the bondage of Abraham's own daughter was disallowed even in the earth, so He applied God's Word and set her free.

     There is so much of what our Father has for us here in this life, but we need to set our hearts on what He wants for us.  Jesus stepped out beyond what the Jews thought about God and brought deliverance to God's people, which had been theirs all along.  Jesus suffered persecution for His actions, because His actions threatened the religious dealings and satan's lies, which held the people in bondage.  The people and priests didn't even realize that they were in bondage.  

     When Moses brought the Israelites out from the bondage of Egypt, the people wanted to return, because they had become accustomed to that way of life.  Christians has allowed the world's view of Christianity to bind us for so long, that we've become accustomed to the bondage and fight to remain under it.  If all of God's Promises are "Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus," then why don't we seek out His Promises and stop allowing satan to keep us under bondage?  Are we supposed to bind or loose, allow or disallow, permit or declare improper?  It's not God's job to allow or disallow, but it's for us to do.  If we allow it, then God will allow it.  If we declare it improper and unlawful, then God will also declare it so.  This is God's rule and authority in and from Heaven.

     If this wasn't true, then Jesus wasn't doing God's will on the earth.  Jesus said that, "I came only to do the Father's will."  We're joint heirs with Christ and have received everything the Father has, through Jesus.  How much does He have, that we don't know is already made ours?

Lesson 63 The Church's Identity Crisis

      Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:6-11, which continued after He finished His earthly ministry, into the future when He rose from the dead.  Jesus said in Luke 4:18 (Amp), "The Glory, once that of your captors shall be yours."  The prophetic Word speaks about this who would believe in Jesus Christ, saying in Isaiah 61:11(Amp), "For as surely as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring forth, so surely the Lord God will cause rightness and justice and praise to spring forth before all the nations through the self-fulfilling Power of His Word."

     Jesus quoted the above scripture and declared that, "This scripture was fulfilled that day in their ears."  If it was fulfilled then, then it's still fulfilled now.  Jesus didn't quote all of Isaiah 61 at that time, but the results of it are still coming to pass as "fulfilled."  I've set my faith and my heart on the remaining Promise of this "self-fulfilling Power of God's Word" for this nation, in the face of the destiny satan is trying to bring to pass in this upcoming election.

     The Holy Spirit continues to speak to God's people about their deliverance in Isaiah 62:6 (Amp), saying, "I have set watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, who will never hold their peace day or night; you who are His servants, and by your prayers put the Lord in remembrance of His Promises, keep not silence."

     There are watchmen upon the walls of our nation, who constantly keep the Lord in remembrance of His promise and covenant He gave the forefathers of our country.  This nation was brought into being, by people who left their homeland in search of a place where they could worship God without restraint or the fear of consequence.  God honored their faith and courage and raised up this nation as a beacon for the entire world to marvel at.  America has been a thorn in the devil's side, ever since.  He couldn't bring it down from the outside, so he's trying to take it over and bring her down from the inside.

     Many old school Christians like myself, still know this nation from days of old.  We've become the watchmen and women, bringing God into remembrance of His Promise and self-fulfilling Power of His Word.  We remember when "In God we trust" was more than a slogan and was how we lived.  We remember when our children could play safely outside and recited "The Pledge of Allegiance," along with having a moment of silence in school.  As a watchman on the wall, I don't only want to bring God to remembrance, but God's people into the remembrance of God Himself.

     It's dishonoring God, when we allow His Promise and covenant to be turned over into the enemy's hands.  Many of the things this nation has adopted, are ungodly and even demonic and should never have been allowed to become the law of the land.  God's people must know His Voice and as watchmen and women, we need to sound the alarm.  I miss the America I grew up in and I want it back for my children, my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren, even to a thousand generations, should Jesus tarry.

     The upcoming election isn't between just Trump and Biden, but is as Jesus said in Matthew 24:7 (Amp), "Kingdom would rise against kingdom."  We can openly see the kingdom of darkness is in full assault against the Kingdom of God and Light.  We must blow the Trumpet and awaken the faithful who are asleep.  We must bring God into remembrance of His Promise.  We must honor God and His Word and His Righteousness, with our vote.  We must walk in God's way and refuse to follow the way of the world's opinion.  

     In Malachi 2:5-7 (Amp) God says, "My covenant on My part with Levi (or the priests) was to give him life and peace, because on his part of the reverent and worshipful fear with when the priests would revere Me and stand in awe of My Name. The Law of Truth was in Levi's mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips' he walked with Me in peace and uprightness and turned many away from iniquity. For the priest's lips should guard and keep pure the knowledge of My Law (or Word) and the people should seek, inquire for and require instruction at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts."

     Voters should read the party platforms and allow the Holy Spirit to show us which is the Law of Truth and which of these choices honor God and His Word of Truth.  We can't receive all of our information from the news, but as watchmen and women we must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.  We can't vote for a bondage that will destroy what God has in His Promise, for America.  

     God says in Deuteronomy 30:19 (Amp), "I call Heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the Blessings and the curses; therefore CHOOSE LIFE, that you and your descendants may live."  We're not only deciding how we should live with our vote, but how future generations will live.

     If we don't vote, then we're casting a vote for the wrong party.  Some say, "I don't like either one."  Well, one of them be become President whether or not we like them.  We must vote God's way and His Word, so we are good stewards with His Word.  Above all, we must pray and ask for God's intervention for our country.  We must pray to awaken the Church, as watchmen on the wall.

Lesson 62 The Church's Identity Crisis

Ephesians 6:12 (Amp) says, "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only 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." 

     In Ephesians 3:10 (Amp), Paul writes about the five-fold ministry and the role of the Church in this world, saying, "The purpose is that through the Church the complicated many sided Wisdom of God in all it's infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities, principalities and powers in the heavenly sphere."

     As the new creation people, we're to express God's Own authority over the demonic forces operating in this earthly realm and to take dominion over the activities of the god of this world, satan.  Only the Church can function in this authority through and Jesus and the new creation.  Most of the world has no idea that there's a spiritual warfare happening and sadly, many Christians aren't aware of this either.  Americans are now in open warfare with an enemy who's spent centuries perfecting his strategies and wiles.

     Believers must come to the understanding of who we really are in Christ Jesus and use the authority of His Name to fight this demonic activity.  Our final outcome of course, will be that we go to be with the Lord.  Many though might not survive this war, fought on the grounds of the physical realm.  Many of God's people from the old covenant, went into captivity because they didn't know what they were doing or how to go God's way.

     Our nation is in great danger from the lies and deceptions of the god of this world, who wishes to control the people.  Jesus instructed 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 things taken together will be given you besides."

    Satan is trying to distract us, so we'll keep our eyes on the things happening around us, instead of the what is really happening.  We've centered more on the problem, instead of the Answer.  God's Word and His covenant with His Church through Jesus, are still THE ANSWER.  We're not in a political battle, but a spiritual one and only those who have the authority of Jesus' Name, will overcome.  We must get our eyes off the distractions and put it back on the real enemy.  

     The uninformed Christian Church only sees a political election, which is based on personalities.  This isn't an election between Republican and Democrat, but is warfare in the spirit realm, for the soul of our nation.  If God's people don't pray, vote and stand in the gap as intercessors, then America as we know it, will be gone.  In Luke 4:18 (Amp), Jesus stood in the synagogue and said, "I came to preach deliverance to the captives."  The people Jesus was speaking to, were covenant people, whom God had already made free.  How did they return back into the captivity of Rome?  They didn't heed the Word of the covenant and accepted the such things that the Gentiles were doing, as worshiping other gods.

     When God's people were invincible, when attacked by the military might of other nations, so long as they walked in the covenant.  When they turned from the Word and accepted the world, they were defeated.  The Church in America has stood by and we've allowed many ungodly lawmakers to write ungodly laws, without protesting or voicing displeasure about this.  Prayers and The Bible have been removed from our schools.  Live babies are born and left to die, because abortion laws have made this legal.  The clergy are performing same sex marriages in their churches.

     God didn't say in 2Chronicles 7:14 (Amp) that, "If the world would repent."  He says, "If My people would repent and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from Heaven and heal their land."  We haven't stood for God's ways of doing and being right, choosing to remain neutral and not "make waves" instead.  The Church has fostered a new way of being in the world, without being of it.  We were sent into the world, in order to conquer it; not to go along to get along.  Our elected officials are only placed into office by the overall consent of the people.  There must surely be more power in righteousness and the Voice of God's Word, than in the voice of the wicked.

     It's disobedience and sin in God's eyes, when we elect people who are openly anti-Christ, because of the promises they make.  God has already made His decision on how this nation should live and function.  Now, it's time for His people to stand with His decision and do what is right.  We can't stop the unbeliever and those who are wicked, from doing what they wish, but we can do our part and expect God to honor it and do His part, which is always Mightier than the enemy.  Two and one half million registered Christians, didn't bother to vote a seed for righteousness, in the last election.  How many will make a stand for God and His way of doing and being right, in this election?  

Lesson 61 The Church's Identity Crisis

     In John 4:23-24 (Amp) Jesus said, "A time will come however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers. God is a Spirit (Spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."

     Jesus went on to say 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."

     Galatians 3:14 (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."  When through faith, we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we received "the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."  Have we used our faith to the realization of the Holy Spirit?  Most of what we know or realize about the Holy Spirit, is that we will speak in tongues and be given the Gifts of the Spirit, found in 1Corinthians 12.

     Is this really the realization of the Promise?  Is this all that God's Own Spirit, Who lives in and through us, is capable of and expected to do in our lives?  Many of God's people believe that the Gifts of the Spirit and speaking in new tongues have passed away or that they're not for us today.  Tradition and religious eyes see the Promise of the Holy Spirit that we've so long awaited, isn't necessary or not beneficial to us.

     I don't believe this to be true and I believe we know little about the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit.  Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus paints a picture of the Holy Spirit in John 16:12,13,14-15 (Amp), which is different than what most of us have either seen or known.  Jesus says that the realization of the Holy Spirit isn't just speaking in tongues or having the Gifts of the Spirit, but is the actual Presence of the Father's Wisdom ability, understanding and everything He is, revealed in and through us.

     Thus, Jesus says, "I still have 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."  We have no idea Who God really is and we don't have any idea what this Promise means in the life of the believer, without the Holy Spirit.  Jesus says in Verse 13a, "But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-Giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth)."  We're like those Jesus was speaking too, without the fulfilling of the Promise of the Holy Spirit and are unable to grasp this Truth or bear it.  Jesus says that, "He, (the Truth-Giving Spirit), will guide you into ALL THE TRUTH (the whole, full Truth)."  Why will He guide us into the whole, full Truth?  Because, "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 Him) and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come (that will happen in the future)."

     The realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit, goes far beyond our religious idea of goosebumps and being slain or falling out in the Spirit.  It's the Revelation given from God Himself, about who and what we've become in Jesus, as He brought forth this Promise and Spirit, according to Verse 14, where Jesus says, "He, this Holy Spirit that is the Promise, He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare disclose, transmit) it to you."

     The Promise of and through the Holy Spirit, is knowing, receiving and drawing upon the inheritance we've been given as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus.  The Holy Spirit will transmit it to us, according to Romans 8:16-17 ((Amp) which 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 Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him, only we must share His suffering if we are to share His Glory."

     Jesus went on to say in John 16:15 (Amp), "Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He (the Spirit) will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, and transmit) it to you."  The Promise of the Holy Spirit tells us that He will take everything the Father has and reveal it to us.  This is a staggering Revelation that came from Jesus Himself.  The realization of the Holy Spirit is God's ability to do "exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ask or think."  When we have faith in this Promise, the doors of the Hidden Mysteries of God, will open for us on this side of Heaven.  If we have faith in the Promise of the Holy Spirit, then we'll actually live God's Own Life in and through the Spirit, with all of His knowledge on how to live it, by His Spirit living in us.  The Hidden Mysteries the Spirit reveals to us, give us God's Own ability and authority over everything that would oppose us.

     We must have faith in the Promise of the Holy Spirit and that His Word are Spirit and Life.  We live and walk in Life itself, by God's Word.  Deliverance, healing, righteousness and redemption are Spirit and Life, because "the flesh profits nothing."  The flesh causes doubt and fosters excuses for our failures.  

Lesson 60 The Church's Identity Crisis

     Christians say to me, "Well, I don't think I need to do all these things, in order to go to Heaven."  They are of course, one-hundred percent correct.  The requirement for going to Heaven as God's new creation child, is to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Understand how to walk in this new creation, honors God.  It lets God know that we trust Him, in the inheritance we've received in His Kingdom.

     Matthew 6:33 (Amp) tells us, "But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His Righteous (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides."  "All these things," are the things we need and require here in this life and come from our new Life in Jesus.  We still have to nourish and provide for our natural bodies, while we're here on earth.  The crowd surrounding Jesus in this scripture, were asking about clothing, food, shelter and the needs of natural man.

     Notice that Jesus didn't disregard the natural man, but said that,"If we seek God first, along with His way of doing and being right, then we'd also be given the natural things we need."  We've separated our life in Him, from His Life in us.  We still consider our life in Jesus as being for the hereafter, while Jesus considers His Life in us, as being for now and hereafter.  God's Promises aren't only for when we leave this planet and enter His Kingdom.  We already have the Promises of His Kingdom now, in order to function in while we're deployed on this earth.

     One of the Promises is healing in our earthly bodies.  We won't need healing in Heaven, when we leave our natural bodies.  This Promise is one we receive, by following His way of doing and being right or righteous.  The Promise of the Blessing of Abraham is for our benefit in this natural life, as well as for when we leave this planet.  Paul spoke about the Blessing Promised to Abraham in Galatians 3:14 (Amp), saying it's "The Blessing of the Holy Spirit" or "The realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."

     Many believe that when the Holy Spirit was sent to earth on the Day of Pentecost, it was about speaking in tongues, the Gift of the Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit.  These things are True, but it was much more than that.  This was the time, when all that Heaven held for God's children, were restored to the full, just as if Adam had never transgressed in the Garden.  "Life," as God had planned was to be restored, as if sin never happened.

     The Blessing Promised to Abraham was the fullness of God for this natural life and the Spiritual Life that was to come through Jesus.  Abraham's Blessing never included man's being born-again and becoming new creations.  The Blessing God had given Adam for this life on earth, was now upon Abraham.  The Promise of the Holy Spirit was to come upon all who accepted and believed in Jesus, Who was the Promise Himself.

     We've placed limits on the Promise, by regarding the Holy Spirit in religious terms, instead of the Truth of the Promise of total restoration and relationship with God and His Kingdom, which we now have access to, by the Holy Spirit.  When the Word speaks about our being heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, it refers to our total restoration, just like Adam never fell in the Garden.  The Church is now one Spirit with the Father and His Son Jesus, Who was the "Firstborn of many brethren."  We are once again, God's Own family.

     The Holy Spirit is the One Who brings to pass, whatever the Word (Jesus) has spoken from the mouth of God Himself.  Everything the Promise states, is now fulfilled in God.  There was only darkness, when God spoke "Light be."  The Holy Spirit moved on God's Word and there was light.  When the Word, God, spoke the complete redemption of His man, redemption was and still is, just like light, which is still expanding at the rate of one-hundred and eighty-six thousand miles per second. God has never retracted His Word for light and so it continues.  God has never retracted His Word of redemption and salvation by the Promise of the Holy Spirit.

     We've received the Promise of the Holy Spirit, in order to fulfill all things,but have failed to understand the fullness of this Promise.  Everything the Father had planned for His family, has been restored.   All things in Heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth are once again subject to God's Word Jesus.  We are now living in God's Promise of the Holy Spirit.  When God spoke, the Holy Spirit began manifesting it in the earth.  God spoke about "The Seed of a woman" in Genesis 3 and the Holy Spirit brought it to pass in Mary's womb.  The Holy Spirit continues to still manifest every Word that proceeded from God's mouth.  This isn't only for the future, but Hebrews 11:1 (Amp) says, "Now faith, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen."  The Holy Spirit will manifest all things that God has spoken, to all who will in faith, receive the fullness of the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit.

     

AMERICA! Wake Up

      Proverbs 14:34 (Amp) says, "Uprightness and right standing with God (moral and Spiritual rectitude in every are and relationship), elevate a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."

     America, we're in a Spiritual warfare that very few have seen as a direct attack on the Church and our relationship with the Father.  Ephesians 6:12 (Amp) says, "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents), but against the depotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly sphere (supernatural sphere)."

     Many see this election as "just another election" in America and will simply vote along party lines.  We're called to a higher place of Wisdom, with the responsibility of seeing into the Spiritual aspect of what is occurring in our nation.  We're called to use every Spiritual weapon that the Holy Spirit has given us, in order to keep this nation like God gave it to us.

     1Corinthians 2:6 (Amp) says, "Yet when we are among the full-grown (Spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding), we do impart a Higher Wisdom (the knowledge of the Divine Plan previously hidden); but it is indeed not a wisdom of this present are or of this world, nor of the leaders and rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing and are doomed to pass away."

     I don't know how many of God's people are aware that this nation is close to becoming a socialist, anti-God nation, with the upcoming election.  This isn't about political parties, but it's a direct assault on God and "His way of doing and being right," Matt. 6:33 (Amp).  The way we worship God, the murder to unborn children, same sex marriage, how your children will be educated, your children and grandchildren's future and your God-given right to choose how you live and work, are all on the line.

     God is still on the Throne and things will come out the way He has said, but we have a responsibility to do our part of the covenant, by standing on His Word, praying and voting.  We cannot stand-by, without praying or voting.  We stand in opposition with the enemy and his kingdom of darkness  that is trying to envelope our nation.  We cannot stand without praying and rejecting the enemy's tactics.  It's our choice and not God's.  God has already chosen.  Those under the old covenant still had a choice to make.  They could either walk in God's way or the ways other nations walked.  In His great mercy, God continued to bring them back, but they suffered mightily in the enemy's camp.

     Our nation is on a treacherous path and is in jeopardy like never before.  The enemy is poised and moving from the inside of our government.  As believers, we're required to listen to what our leaders are proposing and see if that aligns with God's Word.  Unbelievers must evaluate whether they will be ruled by the government or if they will have the ability to think freely.  

     We've become a people who don't think for ourselves, but blindly follow the teachings of others.  Socialism means that those in charge will think for us and determine every aspect of our lives.  We can look at every nation that has succumbed to this Anti-Christ system, in order to see our future.  This is no longer about politics.  Our churches have been closed, our children are being controlled, they've closed the business that we built from scratch, our jobs are lost and will never be returned.  Our entire life is being controlled by people we don't even know.  Is this just a passing thing, or is this our future?

     Satan has set himself up to be the god of this world and we're not wrestling only against flesh and blood opponents, but against demonic powers that are in direct opposition to God and His ways.  Many believe that voting "doesn't do any good," but if we don't vote, then we're giving consent to the enemy's plan.  We've been encouraged to vote by mail, which many believe is too arduous a task.  Don't they understand that life as we know it in America, is at stake?  I'm not telling anyone who to vote for, but we must vote for a system of Godly laws.

     How can Christians vote for a system that is contrary to God's Word and is declared to be Anti-Christ?  Read the platforms of the people wanting your vote and then cast your vote according to God's Word.  We must ask God to open our eyes and reveal what is really happening in our nation.  What would happen if a bull in a bullfight, realized that the matador was the real enemy and began chasing him instead of the red cape?  How long do you suppose that bullfight would last?  The enemy has set many things in front of our eyes, in order to distract us and cause us to forget who the real enemy is.  We must pray, vote and sow Good Seed into our nation, believing that we we will "reap what we sow."

     I'm not talking about the two men at the head of each ticket, but about the things they stand for.  Does their party stand for righteousness or unrighteousness?  Do they stand for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?  Do they believe the Constitution is an eternal contract or a living contract, because if it's living, then it can die.  

     God says in Deuteronomy 30:19 (Amp). "I call Heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you Life and death, Blessing and the Curses; therefore choose Life, that you and your descendants may live."  We're not only making decisions that will affect how we can live our lives, but for our children and their children and a thousand generations.  We're deciding whether we'll be a nation under God or a nation under the god of this world. 

     James 2:17 (Amp) tells us that, "Faith without works is dead."  Thus it says, "So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead)."  If we have faith that God wants to save America, then we shouldn't only pray and vote for our nation, but we should sow seeds of righteousness in her too.  We must pray for our military and those in the police forces.  

Romans 13:3-6 (Amp) says, "For civil authorities are not a terror to people of good conduct, but to those of bad behavior. Would you have no dread of him who is in authority? Then do what is right and you will receive his approval and commendation. For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, you should dread him and be afraid, for he does not bear and wear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant to execute His wrath (punishment, vengeance) on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be subject, not only to avoid God's wrath and escape punishment, but also as a matter of principle and for the sake of conscience. For this same reason you pay taxes, for the (civil authorities) are official servants under God, devoting themselves to attending to this very service."

     We're being offered the ungodly, Socialist way of government and we have the individual responsibility to do what God says in Deuteronomy 30:19 (Amp), where He says, "Choose. Choose Life and Blessing, instead of death and Curses."  We must choose Life, for ourselves and our descendants.  We must pray and listen to God's Voice and His Word, instead of the enemy's offerings, because "satan is a liar and the father of all lies."