2Cor.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."
Citizens of America have certain privileges and rights, but most haven't read the Constitution or The Declaration of Independence, so they don't know what rights they really have. We depend on lawyers and politicians to tell us our rights and because we don 't know those right for ourselves, we forfeit many of our liberties and rights.
God's Word tells us that we are now citizens of His Kingdom and have certain privileges and rights, because we are children of the Most High God and citizens of God's Kingdom. The Bible is our Constitution and Bill of Rights. We read and study God's Word, in order to discover who we are in Christ and what our rights are in this life. Peter sheds some light on why we're to read God's Word, in 2Pet.1:3(Amp), saying, "For His Divine Power has bestowed upon us all things that are requisite and suited to life and Godliness, through the full personal knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His Own Glory and excellence."
Many believers have never studied God's Word, in order to walk in "the full personal knowledge of Him." We're content to have others seek God for us and to walk in what they interpret His Word to say. The scripture indicates that we need to have a full, personal knowledge of God for ourselves. There are many things being taught today about our Heavenly Father and Who He is, that aren't true. So, it's important that we know Him for ourselves.
God gave the five-fold ministry to the Church to teach us, but this doesn't take the place of our full personal knowledge of Him. This only comes by spending time studying His Word and seeking fellowship with Him for ourselves. Those who don't have a full personal knowledge of God, tell us that, "God puts sickness on you, in order to teach you" or "God is testing you, by putting this disease on you." We can't allow the opinion of others to be rooted and grounded, in our new creation spirit man/woman.
James1:13,16-17(Amp) says, "Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God is incapable of being tempted by what is evil and He Himself tempts no one." Verses 16-17 go on, "Do not be misled, my beloved brethren. Every Good Gift and every Perfect, free, large full Gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all that gives Light, in the shining of Whom there can be no variation, rising or setting, or shadow cast by His turning as in an eclipse."
Many things befall Christians in this life, that are not God's will for them. We seemingly forget that we have an enemy who is out to "steal, kill and destroy." We are children of the Light and belong to God and His Kingdom, so we're enemies of satan and his kingdom of darkness. We must know where these bad things originate from, so we can rise above the trials and persecution, knowing God will deliver us out of this.
When we're confused about the source of these afflictions and trials, then it's nearly impossible to keep faith in our deliverance. James1:5-8(Amp) instructs us, saying, "If 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 will be given him. Only it must be in faith that he asks, no doubting, without wavering or hesitation, For the one who wavers, hesitates, doubts, is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything he asks for from the Lord. For being as he is a man of two minds, hesitating, dubious, irresolute, he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides."
Trials come upon us, because we're children of God and threats to the enemy. They also come upon us, because we're still in this world. We're not of this world, but we're still in it. We have God's Word living in us, so we're threats to satan. The world is deceived, but we're no longer of this world. Jesus gives "The Parable of the Sower," in Mark4:17(Amp) saying, "And they have no real root in themselves (no full, personal knowledge of Him [Jesus]), and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall."
The enemy tries to steal away the Word that is in us, so we'll become unfruitful and will no longer be a danger to his kingdom. When we don't know the source of our trials, we become passive. We don't resist or have faith to stand on God's Word, if we don't have a full personal knowledge of our Father. When we only have second-hand knowledge of God, believing that, "It must be God's will."
This is a dangerous place to walk in, because if we believe it is God, then we have nowhere to go for help and allow satan to glorify himself without resisting. We must "Put on the Armor of God," so we'll be able to quench the fiery darts of the enemy. We need the knowledge of God and His Word of deliverance, which is the Sword of the Spirit.
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