One On One #7

     God made man in His Own Image and Likeness, so Adam was made like his Father. He was a spirit that is eternal and had an immortal body. Adam was never meant to die, either spiritually or physically. Rom.5:12(Amp) tells us, "Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death a result of sin, so death spread to all men (no one) being able to stop it or to escape its power because all men sinned." Most people believe that it's because of what we've done, that makes us sinners. We're sinners because of being born of Adam, who was the seed that produced all men after the fall in the Garden of Eden. Paul tells us in Rom 5:12, "So death spread to all men, (no one) being able to stop it or escape its power." 

     God tells us in Lev.17:11(Amp), "The life (the animal soul) is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life (which it represents)."  Even though the spirit of man was still dead to God, the Blood of an Innocent Lamb would cover the sin of the spirit and give Life to his natural body. The life of the flesh is in the blood.

     The word "atonement," is not used when speaking of the Blood of Jesus, because His Blood didn't cover our sin, it remitted and and removed our sins. When we got saved, the Life that is the Blood of Jesus has extended life in our natural bodies. Gen.6:3(Amp) says, "The the Lord said, 'My Spirit will not forever dwell and strive with man, for he also is flesh, but his days shall yet be 120 years, but the life of the flesh is in the Blood." With more Revelation about the Blood of Jesus, we could truly understand that "By His stripes we are healed." The stripes Jesus endured also shed blood, along with the nails, beatings and crown of thorns.  

     His Spirit was separated from the Father, when Jesus died on the cross. God told Cain in Gen.4:10(Amp), "Your brother's blood calls out to me from the ground." The Blood of Jesus is crying out to and for us from the Mercy Seat in the Heavenly Holy of Holies and it continues to extend the life of our flesh today. Much of what we understand about the Blood of our Innocent Sacrifice Lamb and its Power in our lives in this world and in our natural bodies, relates to our physical healing. Jesus told His followers, "You are in this world, but not of this world." We still need to maintain our bodies, in order to do the work we were designed to do while in this world. The Blood of Jesus' flesh is still the Life of our flesh. It has destroyed the sin factor that caused death and disease. It also extends the natural body by its place on the Mercy Seat in Heaven.

     Sickness and disease are still here and are why many of us die. So long as they listened diligently to the Lord, we see no sign of sickness and disease in the Blessing of the Covenant found in Deut.28. In the latter part of the Blessing, we see how the people weren't obedient to listen diligently to the Lord and instead walked in their own understanding, the people were destroyed by sickness, disease and calamity of the Curse that was already here.

     Jesus said in Matt.15:6(Amp), "So for the sake of your tradition (rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God (depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect)." The people were still offering sacrifices, without believing what God had said. Their offerings were something they did as a religion and tradition, so their had no life in the blood. When we spend one on One time with God, we will better understand why Christians are still vulnerable to many things of this world. When we pray in the Spirit, we're speaking mysteries unto God and not to men. God will reveal mysteries to us, that will change how we see His Word. We might not live to 120 years, but we don't have to check out at 70 or 75 years. We must take the Life of the flesh that is in the Blood of Jesus and renew our minds by His Word and one on One fellowship with our Heavenly Father. 

One On One #6

     We've been learning about the importance of spending one-on-One time with the Lord and how we receive Revelation about our covenant when we're doing so. We've heard much about our covenant with God, which have caused division in the Church for centuries. When we're born again and have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have a covenant with Him which we know little about, other than we're going to Heaven when we die. This covenant isn't only the guarantee that we'll spend eternity in God's Presence when we die, but we'll live in His Presence while we're here on earth.

     We sing songs about "The Power of the Blood," without understanding what that means. Moses instructs the people in Exodus 12:23-24(Amp) saying, "For the Lord will pass through to slay the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood upon the lintel and the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your house to slay you. You shall observe this rite for an ordinance for you to your sons forever."

     Psalm 105:36-37(Amp) says, "He smote also the firstborn in their land (Egyptians), the beginning and chief substance of all their strength. He brought Israel forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble among their tribes (Israelites)." There was a miracle service that night when those under the blood were healed and made whole. The Israelites had been slaves in captivity and bondage for over 400 years. Some were old, lame, sick and worn out, but there "was not one feeble among them."

     We find the explanation for this in Leviticus 17:11(Amp) which says, "For the Life (the animal, soul) in the Blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the Blood that makes atonement by reason of the Life which it represents." In Deut.4:10(Amp) God says to Moses and the people, "Therefore you shall keep His statutes and His Commandments, which I command your this day, that it may go well with you and your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the Land, which the Lord your God gives you forever."

     The Israelites observed the rite for an ordinance, but forgot what it was for and that the Life of the flesh is in the blood. The life of the flesh is in the blood, even in this natural realm. Whether it's blood cancer or lung cancer, it is carried by the blood. If one of our main arteries is cut and can't stop the bleeding, then we will bleed out and die. If one of our main arteries is blocked, then the blood can't flow and we could have a heart attack or die. Our natural life is in our blood. 

     Heb.9:12-14(Amp) says, "He (Jesus) went once for all into the Holy of Holies (in Heaven), not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves (by which to make reconciliation between God and man), but by His Own Blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (or everlasting release) for us. For if (the mere sprinkling of unholy and defiled person with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient, for the purification of the body, How much more surely shall the Blood of Christ, Who by virtue of His Eternal Spirit (His Own pre-existent Divine Personality) has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify your consciences from dead works, and lifeless observances to serve the Living God."

     The Blood of Jesus wasn't shed for our spiritual life only, but for our healing because the life of the flesh is in the blood. 1John 1:7(Amp) says, "But if we really are living and walking in the Light, as Life Himself is in the Light, we have true unbroken fellowship with Another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt (keeps us cleansed from sin and guilt) in all its forms and its manifestation."

      If we're truly born-again, then our spirits are already new creations, been made Alive in Christ Jesus and have been made the Righteousness of God in Jesus. Out spirits aren't subject to the things of this world, but our natural bodies. The Curse is still here and satan is quick to put it on our natural man/woman, if we don't understand that the life of the flesh is in the blood. We already have eternal life in our spirits, but the flesh is where satan attacks.

     When the Israelites applied the blood of a lamb to their homes, it protected their natural lives from the destroyer, but it didn't protect their spirit. When Jesus gave up His Life on the Cross, He not only paid for our spirit, but for our natural lives here on earth. Jesus died twice on the Cross. He died (was separated) from God Our with our sins and He died and shed His Blood as our Passover Lamb, that the destroyer (satan) has to pass over us when he sees that Blood. The preservation of our natural bodies are protected from satan by the Blood of our Passover Lamb, Jesus.

     The Spirit raised us up into the heavenlies, but our natural man/woman is still here in the enemy's realm. The Blood of Jesus and our faith in His Blood, not only can but will keep us whole and well, if we understand it. Psalm 91:9-10(Amp) says, "If you have made the Lord your Refuge, and the Most High your Dwelling Place, There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your dwelling place (tent, home)." The Blood stops the sickness, disease, and plagues that the enemy tries to bring upon God's people. We must keep the Blood and the Promise of our Lamb on our life as a pass over to the destroyer. 

One On One #5

      Joshua 1:6-9(Amp) says, "Be strong (confident) and of good courage, for you shall cause this people to inherit the Land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only you be strong and very courageous, that you may do according to the Law which Moses My servant commanded you; Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and have good success. Have I not commanded you be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

     Notice that the Lord instructed Joshua, "Don't let My Word depart from your mouth." This would be important to Joshua's success. Then God told Joshua to "Meditate on My Word day and night," so he could do according to all that was written in it. God insured Joshua that if he did these things, then Joshua would prosper and have good success in all that God told him to do. God commanded Joshua to "Be strong, vigorous, very courageous, and don't be afraid or dismayed," because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

    David meditated on God's Words, while tending his father's sheep, like Joshua and many leaders under the Abrahamic covenant. When facing Goliath, David remembered God's instructions to Joshua. David could be strong and of good courage, because the Lord God was always with him, wherever David went. 

     It will require us to spend one on One time with the Lord, in order to do whatever He has for us to do. We must heed the same advice and God's command to meditate on His Word, so we too can be strong and courageous. Jesus assured us that, "I will never leave you, or forsake you, but I will always be with you to the end of the age," in Heb.5:13(Amp). We too, can be strong and courageous to do or say everything that God has for us, even when facing giants.

     Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Joshua, David and even Mary, had to be strong, courageous and meditate on the Truth that God is always with us, so they could carry out what God called them to. The new covenant tells us too, "Take courage, strength and understand God's Word." We must meditate on God's Word and keep His Word in our mouths." so we can carry out what God has called us to do. We're to stand on His Word even under the new covenant. We're to be strong in the Lord and the Power of His Might, knowing that He will never leave or forsake us. 

     We're to be strong and courageous in the Lord God and not in ourselves. We can't heal the sick, but when we read, meditate on and understand His Word, we will have faith, believing and lay hands on the sick in Jesus' Name, then God will do the healing. God never intended David to grapple with Goliath on his own. God only intended David to stand on God's Word, believing that one small stone would conquer the giant. God didn't expect Moses to part the Red Sea, but to believe, hold out his staff over the Sea and speak the Words God gave him. The rest is history.

     If we spend time one on One reading God's Word and fellowshipping with Him, then we will be courageous and confident that we're not alone, because our God will never leave or forsake us.

      

     

One On One #4

     When we learn to walk one on one with God, then it will change our relationship with Him and what He can do through us. The Philistines and Goliath were battling with God's covenant people in 1Samuel17:34-37(Amp) when young David said, "There was a lion and bear that came to take the sheep; I slew them both with my hands." David got his confidence in the field while tending his father's sheep and while he was in fellowship one on one with God. How do we know this? Read Psalm 23. David got the Revelation that his Shepherd, God, also watched and cared for His sheep.

     This gave David the courage to know God would fight for him, like he did his father's herd. This didn't mean that God wouldn't fight for Israel's army, but they hadn't spent time before God and weren't confident enough to be bold in their God. Do we get home from church and spend time in meditation and fellowship with God about what we just heard? Do we rightly divide the Word of Truth that we just heard? Do we allow God to show us His Truth?

     Jesus said in John 10:1 (Amp), "My sheep know My Voice." Do we know His Voice enough to act upon it for ourselves or do we just follow the herd, like sheep? When in Israel year ago, I saw a man take his sheep and turn them into the sheep fold while he did his shopping. There must have been another one-hundred sheep in the pen, but when that man returned and called them his sheep separated themselves and followed him out of the fold. All of the sheep heard that man's voice, but only his sheep "knew" his voice.

     Do you spend enough time with the Lord to "know" His Voice? Jesus told His followers in Mark 4:23-24(Amp), "If any man has ears to hear let him be listening and let him perceive and understand. Be careful what you hear, it will be measured back to you. The thought and study you give to the Truth you hear will be the measure of the virtue and knowledge that comes back to you, and more besides." Many heard Jesus' sermon that day, but didn't spend time meditating and fellowshiping with Him, in order to understand what He was saying.

     We sometimes simply go to church, get encouraged or discouraged from the message, but do we spend time in God's Word or in fellowship with Him, to rightly divide what we heard? When I was first saved, I listened to many preachers and persons, eagerly seeking to know more about God.  Some taught that God put sickness and calamities upon us, in order to teach us. Others told me that God was my Healer and Deliverer. They were all good Christians, but had very different messages. I desperately wanted to know the Truth, so I spent time in prayer, when God said very clearly to me, "This is as the waters of Noah to Me."

     My immediate thought was, "What in the world does this have to do with what I asked Him?" I had to listen to the Holy Spirit in order to find the answer and He directed me to Isaiah 54:5-10(Amp),where God said that "His anger and His rebuke and His former way of dealing with us, (because of Jesus) would be like the waters of Noah. Just like God promised Noah that the waters would never again cover the earth with a flood, He would never again deal with us in the same manner He did when before we were born-again."

     Those under the old covenant weren't born-again and God had to deal with only the flesh and blood men/women.  Under the new covenant, God can deal with us one on One, spirit to Spirit and in Spirit and Truth. There is no longer need for physical chastisement, because we are one with Him in Spirit. Jesus taught us to pray in Matt. 6:13(Amp) saying, "Lead us not into temptation (trials, tests), but deliver us from the evil one." James 1:13(Amp) says, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted from God,' for God is incapable of being tempted by what is evil and He Himself temps no man." God will always lead us in Truth, when we spend one on one time with Him.

One On One #3

     Have you noticed that there are so many different things being taught to God's people? There are so many opinions and doctrines about Jesus and the Father being given. Most teach the Truth that there is salvation in no other Name or Person than Jesus. We've been taught what Jesus said, "I Am the Only way to the Father," but then we're taught so many different doctrines.

     Many teach that the things we read about in the Gospels and New Testament "have passed away" or were "only for the Apostles and the early Church." Sadly, some teach that healing has passed away and that God puts diseases and calamities on us, "in order to teach us something."

     Many lies have been taught good and well-meaning people, so how do you know for sure where you are in your own one on One walk with the Lord? If you've received Jesus into your heart by faith, like it says in the Word, then you're born-again and have become a child of God. Now what?

     Does it matter what a child is fed as he/she grows into an adult? Of course it does. Peter writes in 1Peter 2:2(Amp), "Like new born babies, you should crave (thirst for and earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) Spiritual milk of the Word, that by it you may be nurtured and grow into (completed) salvation."

     It falls on the individual to search the scriptures to know the Truth.  Jesus said in John 10:10(Amp), "The thief comes only to steal and the kill and destroy, but I come that you should have Life and have it more abundantly." Anything that is killing, stealing or destroying in your life, is not Jesus. If it's stealing your health, wealthy or peace and leaving confusion, disease and confusion, then it's not Jesus. In Mark 4, Jesus gave the "Parable of the Sower" saying, "Satan comes immediately to steal and take away the Word that was sown into their hearts." Proverbs 4:23(Amp) instructs us to, "Guard your heart (spirit), for out of it flows the forces of life."  

     How do you know what to allow into your heart and what to guard against, if you don't spend personal time in God's Word and before the Lord for yourself? Praising and worshipping the Lord as a congregation is a blessing and is powerful, but when we go home after the Sunday service, we must spend personal time with God. We must balance what we've heard with what the Word says and only allow the Wisdom and Truth of God's Word into our hearts.

     We must stand for the Truth. Paul was misunderstood by almost everyone he spoke to, but he knew he was right because he was directed one on One by the Lord. Jesus was mocked and criticized by many He spoke to, but He was steadfast because He spent One on One time with the Father. 

       

One On One #2

     We sometimes believe that our pastor, preacher or teacher "Have it all together," when nothing can be further from the truth. I don't know about other pastors, but I teach people what God is now teaching me in my own life. The same things that are plaguing other Christians, are the the same things that affect us.

     Paul wrote to Timothy in 2Timothy 1:6 (Amp), saying, "That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the ember of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the gracious Gift of God (the inner fire that is within you) by means of the laying on of my hands, with those of the elders at your ordination." 

     Paul continued in 2Tim.2:15 (Amp), saying,"Study and be eager and do your upmost to present yourself to God approve (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing (rightly handling and skillfully teaching) the Word of Truth."

     Teachers and preachers cannot teach what they don't know and they learn by doing what they hear from God and His Word. Preachers go through the same trials that the Church goes through. We seem to think that the great men and women of God, whom we read about in the Word, had a free pass from trials and temptations.  Paul was given the Greatest Revelation of the new creation from Jesus Himself, but he suffered more persecution than any other Apostle.

     We can never be complacent in this world.  Jesus warned about "Those who have the Word sown among thorns in Mark 4:23-24 (Amp). In Verse 24, Jesus warned about our "having ears to hear." saying, "Be careful what you are hearing."  We hear many excuses about why God and the Word "don't work for us" or "do the things God said it would."

,   One way I keep myself going when the turmoil and chaos of the world surrounds me, is by reading God's Word.  Jude 1:20 (Amp) says, "But you beloved, build yourselves up (founded) on your most holy faith (make progress rise like an edifice, higher and higher) praying in the Holy Spirit."

      I read Rom. 8:26(Amp), which says, "So too, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness: for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it as worthy as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance."

     And, I read 1Cor. 14:2(Amp), which says, "For one who speaks in an (unknown) tongue speaks not to men, but unto God, for no one understands or catches his meanings, because in the Holy Spirit he utters secrets truths and hidden things (not obvious to the understanding)."  This is what Jude was saying about, "building up our most holy faith praying in the Holy Spirit." Remember, we're talking spirit to Spirit and face to Face and one on One with God Himself. He is revealing to us in our spirit, the answer on how and what to do in times like these.

     We sometimes become complacent and are content with just going to Heaven when we die. We have a job to do on this planet and God will show us how to get it done for His Glory. Jesus instructed His followers in Mark 4:19(Amp), saying, "Don't allow the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age creep in and choke out the Word, making it void in our lives."

      

One On One

      Prov.25-28 (Amplified Bible) says, "He who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls." 

     I wish to speak to you, not as a pastor, but as an individual.  Sometimes, in the church service, we speak to the congregation as a whole, and not to an individual.  We hear the Word, and we either listen intentionally or say, "I've heard all this before" and not listen.

     Jesus spoke to the churches in Rev.2:4 (Amp), saying, "I have this one charge to make against you that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first; You have abandoned Me, your First Love."  Like them we might think, "Well, I'm still saved, I still go to church, I still pray and I'm not living in sin."

     Do those of us who have received the Holy Spirit and speak in the spirit, still speak in the spirit like we did when we first received?  Do we spend as much quiet time just listening and in fellowship with the Father, as we did when we first got saved?  Is your love for the Word as strong as it was when we first got saved?  Do we read God's Word because we love it or out of a sense we must do so?  Has your relationship become one of religion, instead of relationship with God?

     I've seen many persons that I led to the Lord, who had so much fire and love in them, that was exciting to see.  The love for the Lord and His Word was like a strong hunger that always kept them hungering and thirsting for righteousness.  Every individual knows how their walk with God is and whether or not they still have that hunger for the Lord and His Word.

     When was the last time you led someone to the Lord or laid hands on someone for healing or help?  Are we still growing and learning about the Lord or have we ceased doing so?  Jesus said to His followers in Mark 4:24(NIV), "Consider carefully what you hear, With the measure you use, it will be measured unto you-and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."  Do you come into His Presence, to hear God's Voice or has the noise around you, made it difficult to hear Him?

     These are the "one on one" things that I check myself for, so I don't become a stagnant Christian, who doesn't grow.  Moses had a "maintenance" anointing, whereby he maintained those in the wilderness.  Joshua had an "overcoming" anointing and he led them into the Fullness of God's Promise. 

    Let's stay on the front side of the Cross.