Where Is Your Trust (Faith)? Lesson 1

      Luke8:25(Amp) says, "And He (Jesus) said to them, Why are you so fearful? Where is your faith (your trust), your confidence in Me-My veracity, and My integrity?"

     I preached a message and wrote a blog titled, "How far is too far?"  It seems like we have put a limit in our hearts, on how far we can trust God.  We've been taught that "God no longer does certain things."  We've been told from the pulpit that, "These things were only for the early Church and for the disciples."  we've also been taught that certain things Jesus talked about, "have passed away."

     If God's Word has passed away, then God Himself has passed away, because tells us that "He and His Word are One."  Thus, John1:1(Amp) says, "In the beginning (before all time), was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself."  God and His Word are One.  We cannot  separate God and His Word, without having a total lack of faith in our own salvation.  If God can take us out of the grave and give us Life, then is there anything He cannot do for us, while we're here on this side of the grave?

     If He was God, then He's still God and everything in His Word is still Truth.  Our failing to believe doesn't make what He says, untrue.  Paul writes in Rom.3:3-4(Amp), "What if some did not believe and were without faith? Does their lack of faith and their faithlessness nullify and make ineffective and void the faithfulness of God and His fidelity to His Word? By no means! Let God be found true though every human being is false and a liar, as it is written; That You may be justified and shown to be upright in what You say, and prevail when you are judged by sinful men."

     We've failed to follow Paul's instruction in Rom.12:2(Amp), which says, "DO NOT be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your mind."  I don't believe we can have "too much God in our lives), like others have told me.  Jesus said in Matt.15:6(Amp), "So for the sake of your own traditions (the rules handed down by your fore-fathers), you have set aside the Word of God (depriving it of its force and authority and making it of no effect."

     We would never go to church, if we believed we were being deceived by traditions that would stop God's Word in our lives.  Many believers have suffered early deaths, because they were taught that "God is doing this to you" and "this is God's will for you." 

     Many preachers still teach things that aren't from God's Word, but are against God Himself.  Jesus said something in Matt.6:33(Amp), that many ignored or haven't given much thought about, concerning God's being involved in our daily lives.  Thus, He says, "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."   

     We try to hang onto our way of doing and being right, instead of God's way.  If our way doesn't work, then we make excuses for ourselves, instead of accepting responsibility for not following His ways.  We place blame on our Heavenly Father, for His not doing what we believe He should do.  Our healing depends more on us, than it does on Him.  God has already provided healing through Jesus, so we must choose to either receive or reject it.  Salvation has been provided for the entire world, according to John3:16, but not everyone has accepted it.  It's not God's fault or His intent, but is left for every individual to receive.  

     Conformity to this world doesn't just mean drinking, lying, adultery, cussing, or anything we think about.  It means that we don't think about God's Word by the standards of others, but by the integrity of God Himself.  This isn't to condemn us, but to inspire us to think about God's Word according to the Holy Spirit Who is within us, instead of listening to others who say, "God's Word doesn't work for everyone."

     Praying shouldn't be compared to playing the Lottery, according to 1John5:14-15(Amp) which says, "And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness), which we have in Him; we are sure that if we ask anything (make any request), according to His will (in agreement with His Own Plane), He listens to and hears us. And if, since we positively know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know with settled and absolute knowledge, that we have granted us as our present possessions, the requests made of Him."

     You might ask, "How can we know Him will and Plan for us?"  When I went to basic training in 1958, the gave me boots, a uniform and The New Testament.  They probably can't do that anymore, because it might offend someone.  But when I opened the first page, I read, "The Last will and Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."  We can know God's will, when we read His will.  Paul tells us in Gal.3:15(Amp), "To speak in terms of human relations, brethren, if even a man makes a last will and testament, ( merely human covenant), no one sets is aside  or makes it void or adds to it when once it has been drawn up and signed (ratified, confirmed)."  Jesus dies and ratified His will, signed it in His Blood and then rose from the dead, in order to be the Executor over His will.  God's will and Plan for us is "The Last will and Testament."  If it's in the new covenant, then it's for us today, whether or not we believe it.  

     We must read the will, in order to find out what the One Who wrote the will, had in His heart and bequeathed to us.  Jesus is our Advocate, and reveals what the Father's will is.  1John2:27(Amp) says, "But as for you, the Anointing (the Sacred Appointment, the unction) which you have received from Him, abides permanently in you; so then you have no need that anyone should instruct you, but just as His Anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no false-hood, so you must abide in, live in, never depart from Him; being rooted in Him (knit to Him), just as His Anointing has taught you to do."

    This doesn't mean that we don't need teachers in the Church, but it does mean that we can know the difference in what is being taught and what the Anointed Word teaches.  Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, our "Advocate" in John16:17(Amp), saying, "The Holy Spirit will guide us into all Truth (the whole, full Truth) and will only speak the Message that has been given Him."

     An advocate is like our personal lawyer, who reads the will to us and is on our side of Truth.  The Holy Spirit is our Advocate Who stands for us in God's court of justice.  He pleads our case before the Throne Room of God, on behalf of the will.  The devil is the other prosecutor, and will hold us accountable for who we were before we were born of God and declared righteous in Jesus.  Think of God's will in legal terms as the Last Will and Testament of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  If He wrote it in His will, then it is ours.

     Instead of allowing the world to push tradition and religion from carnal minded men, we should allow the Holy Spirit to read the will to us.  I would choose to learn about what Jesus died to give me, even if I don't receive it all, than to blame God and not believe His will.  If things aren't working the way the Word and will says, then don't give up and make excuses, but continue with the Word until it makes.

     We've made the Word of no effect and without power in our lives, because of the traditions of men.  Everything God said about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the laying on of hands, the speaking of tongues, the speaking to the mountain, the casting out of devils, and the raising of the dead is true for us today!  Our God is "the same yesterday, today and forever."  Let's not settle for what others have settled for, but let us seek God for ourselves and dare to go on with Him.

     Is.59:2(Amp) says, "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 you."  When reading the rest of this chapter, you realize that Jesus was to be the Intercessor Who would remove mankind's sins and restore right standing for us before God.  Through Jesus, we now have Eternal Life.  Jesus explains what Eternal Life is in John17:3(Amp), saying, "And this is Eternal Life (it means) to know, to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand You, the Only True and Real God, and likewise to know Him, Jesus as the Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent."

     Through Jesus, sin wasn't just forgiven, but removed and eradicated, to where there is no more remembrance of its existence.  2Cor.5:21(Amp) says, "For our sake He made Christ virtually to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him, we might become (endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of) the Righteousness of God; what we ought to be, approved and accepted and in right standing and in right relationship with Him by His Goodness."

     Now that we have been made righteous in and through Jesus, the Eternal Life He described as "to know God," is ours to enter into and enjoy.  Too few have entered into this honor and privilege today.  We continue to hold onto things we were taught by others who believe we're only "old sinners saved by Grace."  We were old sinners and by Grace we were saved, but we're no longer old sinners.  Rom.8:16-17(Amp) tells us that we are God's children, "heirs with God and joint heirs with Jesus."

     We need to realize and accept that the sin which separated us from God has been done away with, by the new creation in Jesus.  God is once again our Father and there is no separation between Him and us.  We must have faith in what Jesus did on the cross and His Resurrection.  Heb.4:16(Amp) says, "We now have boldness to come openly before God's Throne of Grace at any time, to receive, find help in our time of need."

     Heb.10:1-2,10(Amp) says, "For since the Law has merely a shadow (a mere outline), foreshadowing of the good things to come-instead of fully expressing those things, it can never by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year, make perfect those who approach its altars. For if it were otherwise, would these sacrifices not have stopped being offered? Since the worshipers had once for all been cleansed; they would no longer have any guilt or consciousness of sin."  Verse10 goes on, "In accordance with this will of God, we have been made holy, consecrated and sanctified through the Offering made once for all of the Body of Jesus Christ,the Anointed One."  It's difficult to accept Jesus' Words that, "Eternal Life is knowing God and being at rest and peace in His Presence," when the condemnation of our past sins remains present in our hearts. 

     We've returned to religious ceremonies, in order to approach God on our own, leaving out the Supernatural things of our salvation.  Heb.11:6(Amp) says, "But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him (God). For whosoever would come near to God must necessarily believe that God exists and that He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him out."

     We can't exercise faith in Jesus' Sacrifice, with the sin consciousness holding us back.  We can't approach God like we should and as He desires, without faith in Jesus' Sacrifice.  Eternal Life is knowing God, but some still find it hard to accept even after being saved.  The separation between them and the Father remains, by their sin consciousness.  We either believe that Jesus accomplished all that was needed to reunite us with the Father or we believe we must do it on our own.  Man-made laws and rituals cannot do what Jesus, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, did for us.  If Jesus didn't accomplish this by His Sacrifice, then we are still dead in trespass and sin before God.

     This is why Paul instructs in Heb.11:6, "Without faith [in what Jesus did]. it is impossible to please God and be satisfactory before Him."  Jesus says in John10:9(Amp), "I AM THE DOOR; anyone who enters in through Me, will be saved (will live). He will come in and he will go out freely, and will find pasture."  Jesus is the Only Door into the Father's Presence.  He is our Eternal life, our place in the family of God, our Righteousness, our only hope of knowing God.  We must place our faith in the Blood Sacrifice of Jesus, in which we live and move and have our being."

      

     

    

The Reason for Forgiveness Lesson 3

     In Is.59:1-2,16-21(Amp), God tell us that, "Sin made a separation between His people and Himself."  In Vs.16-21 God tells us that, "Through Jesus, our Redeemer and Intercessor, God has provided us a way back to Himself."  

    Many want to argue about what they have or don't have, saying, "God doesn't do that today."  Jesus gave a Parable in Matt.21:33, about a vineyard owner and a vineyard.  The owner needed help harvesting the fruit of his vineyard, so he hired workers to do so.  Every believer has been called to work in God's vineyard, going into all the world to preach the Gospel.  Through Jesus, the sin problem has been dealt with and God can reach His people with His Presence and Blessing

     The Master of the vineyard gave the same promise to every worker.  The workers who were hired first, were promised a wage for their service.  Those who were hired later and even those who were hired at the end of the harvest, received the same reward or wage for their service.  Some complained about their working longer and receiving the same wage.  The Master paid the promised reward.  

     Some in today's Church are receiving and experiencing the Revelation of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, healing, Blessings and more, while others aren't.  Like the workers, they complain, thinking they should have all these things.  The Truth of this Parable is that God is the Master and has Promised us all the very same wage.  It's been ours all this time, but we feel as though others received more.  Jesus gives "The Parable of the Talents, in Matt.25:14-25, where He teaches about the Master giving the same sum of money to several men.  One man invested his sum, earning interest and making a profit.  Another took his wage and buried it, because he didn't know the master enough to trust him.

     Jesus tells us what Eternal Life is, in John17:3(Amp), saying it means "to know, recognize, perceive, become acquainted with and understand the Father and Himself."  There are many reasons why some believers fail to take what the Master has offered, even though we were all Promised the same reward when we were called to God's family.  When first saved, I didn't know much scripture, but I did know the Author.  I received criticism from those who were Christians before me, as I went about laying hands on people, casting out demons and walking in God's Presence.  They had been Christians and church goes longer, and felt like a reformed drunkard (me) had received more than they did.  They asked, "Why would God allow such a person to walk in these things, when we can't?"

     The Truth is that they could have walked in these things too, but didn't.  They were saved before me and felt cheated.  They had buried what they'd been given, instead of investing in the Kingdom.  Some take offense when I speak about those "who have chosen God," saying, "God chooses us, we don't choose Him."  This is true to the extent that we were chosen before the foundation of the world, but now that we are chosen, do we find people in the Body of Christ who choose to walk in a different place with the Mast, that others don't walk?

     The British Evangelist, Smith Wigglesworth, chose God above all else and God used him in a mighty way that we don't see often today.  Was it because he was "God's favorite" or because he forsook all else for the choice to know God in a way that many have chosen not to do?  Religion doesn't always teach us to know God, as it does to know about Him.  The very choice Smith Wigglesworth made is available to every child of God today.  It

is available to "whosoever will."

     We're not just saved so we can go to Heaven, but so we can know Him in Truth and He in turn can have fellowship with us again.  Religion has taught us so many reasons why "the Supernatural is not for us today."  Relationship reveals to us all the things that are still ours through Jesus, in order to set the captives free and be laborers in God's Vineyard.  The greatest privilege God has granted to mankind, is that we're able to know Him on a personal level.  We can come to Him, hear from Him, talk with Him and know His heart, will and Love.

     I'm not saying that believers who don't do these things are "not born-again."  They just haven't entered into the joy of Heaven, while still on this earth.  We were all called to walk in the Master's Vineyard and the reward is the same for all who do so.  We shouldn't complain about how some received more than others or how it's a hard thing.  

     It's not a difficult task to walk with the Father in close fellowship.  Many believers are just "hanging on until the end."  It's a privilege and honor in which God will always reward us for.  He will always reward us for being faithful to His Purpose.  Sometimes we struggle to keep our flesh under, but the closer we walk with the Father, the easier it becomes.  When we Rest in Him, it becomes easy.  You cannot make a mistake that God can't fix, if you stay in His Presence and fellowship with Him.  Messing up doesn't mean God can't fix it and use us.

    

The Reason for Forgiveness Lesson 2

      Is.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 you."

     God did more than forgive our sins.  In Jesus, our sin and iniquities were not forgiven, but were totally removed on our behalf.  We were born-again by the Seed of God Himself and ,made new creation children of God.  We became heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus, in our new creation birth.  Our righteousness is now the Righteousness of God Himself.

     2Cor.3:18(Amp) says, "And all of us, as with unveiled face, because we continued 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."

     Jesus came to earth, in order to bring all of God's children back into family, instead of strangers who were separated from Him by sin and death.  Jesus accomplished the goal of God's heart to restore His children back to Him.  Jesus said in John17:3(Amp), "And this is Eternal Life. It means to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with), and understand You, the Real God, and likewise, to know Him, Jesus as the Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah) Whom You have sent."

     It's awesome that we're going to spend Eternity in Heaven when we die, but the Truth is that the Father has given us the privilege of knowing and fellowshipping with Him now, by the Spirit.  Religion has told us that, "No one can come into God's Presence, because we're all sinners."  God could have continued in the Law, where man's sins were covered by the blood of animals.  This meant that God couldn't leave the Holy of Holies and we couldn't into it.  Through Jesus, God accomplished His Own desire, to once again be a Father and have His family.  

     Few in today's Church have come into the Revelation that we can know Him, while we're still on earth and in these mortal bodies.  It's hard to keep the human body of flesh and blood in check, if we don't understand who we've now become here and now, in Christ Jesus.  John17 is filled with Revelation for us today, if we'll simply believe what Jesus said and then walk in it.  Jesus prayed, "The Glory You have given Me, I have given them."  He prayed, "Show them that You Love them even as You Love Me," and "Don't take them out of the world, but keep them from the evil."  These all pertain to our position with God, while we're still here in this world.

     Jesus said in John4:24(Amp), "God is a Spirit (a Spirit-Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in Truth (reality)."  We can't build a knowing of God, by our emotions or feelings, because that's not where He has called us too and deals with us by.  God deals with us by His Spirit and by His Word.  Feelings might arise in us, as we enter in His Presence, but feelings aren't reliable and are constantly changing.  We can't count on feelings to build a strong foundation on which to "know" Him.  Ps.119:89(Amp) tells us that, "Your Word, O Lord,  is forever settled (standing firm and unchangeable)." 

     The world, along with many in the Church, share the opinion that, "You never know what God will do."  This is based on their not knowing God or Jesus, in a personal way of Eternal Life.  I want to know Jesus, when I see Him.  I don't want to arrive in Heaven and have someone introduce me to Jesus, because I'm unable to recognize Him.  I want to know Him now, so I don't need an introduction there.

     Do you recognize God's Voice, when He speaks to you?  Do you spend time in His Presence, in order to converse with and get to know Him?  Do you spend time in His Word, in order to understand His Heart?  Or, do we hold tightly to the time we received Him as our Lord and Savior, instead of learning to Him as Lord?  

     The Father has invited us into His Own Presence, to know and understand Him, by His Spirit.  Is.55:7-10(Amp) prophesies about the "Abundant pardon (Who is Jesus), saying in Vs.8-9, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My Ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My Ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."  God isn't boasting here, but is inviting us to come to Him, in order to learns His thoughts and His Ways.  God describes how His Word works and tells us how to use it, in Is.1:18-19(Amp), saying, "Come now, and let us reasons together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow: though they are red as crimson they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the Land."

  

     

 

The Reason for Forgiveness

     Is.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 you."

     We were not sinners, because of what we did.  We were sinners, because of our birth.  When Adam fell, he took all were born of his seed (all of mankind) with him.  The seed of Adam polluted everyone, because of his transgression, causing us to be born into sin and death.  God had to have a new Seed, in order to produce a new creation.

     Rom.5:17(Amp) says, "For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense), death reigned through that one, much more surely with those who receive God's overflowing Grace (unmerited favor), and the FREE GIFT of righteousness (putting them in right standing with Himself), reign as kings in life through the One Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."  We're not just forgiven sinners, but we're new creations by the Word of God.  2Cor.5:17,19(Amp) tells us, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ, the Messiah, he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and spiritual creation has passed away. BEHOLD, THE FRESH AND NEW HAS COME."  Verse 9 goes on, "It was God Personally present in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against men their trespasses, but cancelling them and committing to us the Message of reconciliation (the restoration to favor)."

     With the new creation man, comes the Gift of God to be reconciled back to Himself, as though we never existed before we were saved.  Most of us believed that when we were saved, we were cleansed of sin, which means we're going to Heaven when we die.  This is Truth, and a wonderful Truth, but that's not all we have received in our new birth.

     John3:16(Amp) tells us there's more about this new birth, than we've been taught. Thus it says, "For God so greatly Loved and greatly prized the world that He even gave up His Only Begotten, Unique Son, so that whosoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him, shall not perish (come to destruction), be lost, but shall have Eternal, Everlasting Life."  For most of us, this means just that we'll live forever with God, but Jesus explains what Eternal Life is in John17:3(Amp), saying, "And this is Eternal Life, it means to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the real God, and likewise, to know Him, Jesus, as the Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent."

     We remember Adam mostly for his great transgression in the Garden, that put all of us outside of a relationship with God. One of the great things about Adam was that he "knew" God and walked with Him every day.  How long did Adam walk with God, before satan talked him into transgressing?  We don't know how long he lived in the Garden, before losing dominion or even why he transgressed.

     I'd like to believe that Adam did so, because of his love for Eve.  Adam was after all, born out of the Love of God and this might have been his motive.  Adam didn't taste of the "forbidden fruit" out of deception.  1Tim.2:14(Amp) tells us that Eve was deceived, but Adam wasn't.  Thus it says, "And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and deluded and fell into transgression."

     Adam and Eve walked with and knew intimately knew God as their Father, before their transgression.  The didn't have to read about Him, because they knew Him as Father.  The greatest thing about the new birth has been missed by so many of God's children.  We've been restored back to our own Heaven Father, in such a way as to know Him and to know Jesus.  We can now come into His Presence through a personal relationship.  He can now come into our presence, because sin can't hold Him back from us.

     Prior to Jesus, if all of God's Holiness and Righteousness, came into contact with the sin of fallen man, it would have completely destroyed mankind.  God was so intent to have His family back, but He needed to do it in such a way that wouldn't destroy them.  Jesus paid for our sins and death by His Sacrifice, so now anyone who accepts Him as our payment, will be restored to the innocence Adam and Eve had before the fall.  We have the privilege, honor and God-given right to once again know Him.

     We can now enter into the Holy of Hollies, coming face to face and spirit to Spirit, as His Own children.  We've been restored to His family.  There's no barrier or sin to hold Him back or to hold us back.  This isn't true just in prayer, but in actual fellowship and in conversation and Revelation of His will and knowledge.  We can walk hand in Hand with our Heavenly Father, as His children.  Religion has separated us again, but Truth is being revealed, so we're returning with boldness and confidence, to knowing Him as Father.