John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
Psalm 85:10-11 (Amplified) says, "Mercy and Loving-Kindness and Truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall look down from Heaven."
John 6:28-29 (Amplified) says, "Then they said, What are we to do, that we may habitually be working the works of God? What are we to do to carry out what God requires?" This is the same question we ask today, "What must we do to do His works and what does God expect of me?" Jesus answers in Verse 29, "This is the work, service that God asks of you; that you believe in the One Whom He has sent (that you cleave to, trust in, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger)."
Everything I've been writing about in these lessons, is something to believe and not something we must do. The Body of Christ is divided by so many teachings today, that we can't seem to understand Jesus answered this for us, in His one statement. He said, "This is the work God asks of you; that you believe in Me." Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) says, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed), of things we hope for, being 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 either ignore the Promises of God and believe they're "For when we leave this life" or we invent excuses why they're not being manifested in our lives. We speak about healing, like it's the lottery and "My number didn't win." We're divided about righteousness and sanctification, and believe they're unattainable in this life. We've established man-made rituals and laws, that must be performed in order to "qualify" for things from God.
We've tried earning and deserving things that God has freely given to us, through Christ Jesus. We've decided that "These things must not be God's will for our lives," because we don't see them working in our own lives or the lives of others. Many have spoken to me about these lessons on Grace and Truth, saying, "These things aren't for everyone" or "These things are for only a few people God has chosen."
Tradition and opinion have caused God's Word to be of no effect in the lives of most of His children. We either believe that "God is hard to please" or "It didn't work for that person, so he must be in sin." We try making the Word work for us, according to our own ideas. We don't allow the Word to work by simple faith. We've labeled some people as "Faith people," some as "Word people," some as "Fanatics" and some as "Cult people" simply because they believe in a different way or in a way that others don't understand.
There's no "Formula" for healing, prosperity, peace or any other Promise of God. We're still trying to "make it work," instead of letting it work. One is by our own man-made religion and ideas, while the other is by faith in God's Grace. The above scripture tells us that, "Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ." All that is need to make it work, is found in John 6:29 where Jesus said, "This is the work that God asks of you, that you believe in the One Whom God sent."
Paul writes in 2Corinthians 1:18-22 (Amplified), "As surely as God is Trustworthy and Faithful and means what He says, our speech and message to you have not been Yes that might mean No. For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah) Who has been preached among you by us (by myself and Silvanus, and Timothy), was not Yes and No, but in Him it is always the Divine Yes. 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." Verse 21-22 go on, "But it is God Who confirms and makes us steadfast and establishes us in joint fellowship with you in Christ, and has consecrated and anointed us with enduing us with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. He has also appropriated and acknowledge us as His by putting His Seal upon us and giving us His Holy Spirit in our hearts as the security deposit and guarantee of the fulfillment of His Promise."
The only way these scriptures make a difference in your life, is by Grace and Truth that is in Christ Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit, Paul declares to us above, that "All of God's Promise to us through Jesus, are Yes and Amen to the Glory of God." We don't "make God honor His Promises," He has already fulfilled and honored them through Jesus. We need only to declare they are "Yes and Amen" by faith. Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) says, "Now faith is the assurance, confirmation, title deed of the things we do not see and the conviction of their reality."
God isn't "moved by the majority," like a democracy. He is Sovereign and moves only by faith in His Word. If one man believes, even though someone else doesn't, then God will honor His Promise to the one who does believe. John 3:16 tells us that, "God loved the whole world and gave Jesus for our deliverance." The Promise was "Yes and Amen," to "whosoever believes."
God's Promise of healing, the removal of transgression and the chastisement our peace, found in Isaiah 53:4-5, was placed on Jesus for us. These Eternal Promises were made ours, through the One Sacrifice of Jesus. There's nothing I must do, in order to make them true. I'm only required to honor God's Promise of Grace, by Truth and accept it as True in my life. God made us more Promises in Jesus.
The Lord says in Isaiah 54:17 (Amplified), "But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced; This is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me, this is that which I impart to them as their justification, says the Lord."
The above Promises are "Yes and Amen to the Glory of God" and must be received by Grace through faith. Everyone who has received Jesus as his/her Lord and Savior, has received these Promises as the new creation child of God, but many still don't accept these Promises in the natural body they live in. They are already ours by birth, but we continue trying to earn them, by works.
These Promises include salvation, according to Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) which says, "For it is by FREE GRACE (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through your faith. And this salvation is not of yourselves, of your own doing, it came not through your own striving, but it is the Gift of God." Grace and Truth came through Jesus. We must only believe God's Promise that, "All who call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved."
The Promise of salvation is "Yes and Amen" to all who believe and accept God at His Truth. Why is it, that we can believe only certain things and not others? We cannot prove our salvation by seeing it, because it came into our spirit. We've tried dressing a certain way, observing days, and eating only certain meats just like those under the Law, in order to "prove" our salvation. I've discovered that I can wear my cowboy boots, hat, and Levis, and still be saved. Some might not believe that, but God never told me to wear a suit.
I can walk naturally Super-natural by His Truth, by having faith in His Promises and receiving the Grace He gave to me to have faith. I don't need to accept what the majority thinks about this. I only have to accept what my Heavenly Father says. Most of the Israelites disagreed with Joshua and Caleb, but God didn't stop His Promise because of their unbelief. God fulfilled His Promise to those who did believe. If you will simply accept His Yes and Amen to His Promises, then God will honor His Word for you, even though others disagree.
We still deny God's Promise of righteousness through Christ Jesus, instead of accepting our Gift of righteousness by His Promise. You are already righteous, by receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but refusing to believe in this Promised Gift has hindered our fellowship with the Father. In Isaiah 61:1-2 (Amplified) God reveals His Great Promise, saying, "To grant consolation and joy to those who mourn in Zion, to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem of beauty) instead of ashes, to give the oil of joy instead of mourning; the garment expressive of praise instead of a heavy burdened and failing spirit-that they may be called oaks of righteousness (lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice and right standing with God) the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."
Monday, March 26, 2018
Friday, March 23, 2018
Lesson 15 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
Acts 3:3-5 (Amplified) says, "So when he saw Peter and John about to go into the Temple, he asked them to give him a gift. And Peter directed his gaze intently at him, and so did John, and said, Look at us! And the man paid attention to them, expecting that he was going to get something from them."
Today's Church is missing the expectation that we will receive anything from the Father. Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) 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."
The Concordance #1679 says that word "hope" means to "expect or confide; have, thing hope for, trust." #1680 says "hope" means, "to anticipate, usually with pleasure, expectation or confidence-faith, hope."
It seems like we don't expect God to do what we've petitioned Him for. Our faith, hope, trust and confidence is being held back by our senses, because we're waiting for "proof," before we believe or trust God to do it for us. We wait for our senses to reveal it to us, before we will believe.
Jairus asked Jesus to come, lay hands on and heal his sick daughter in Mark 5:35-36 (Amplified). Jesus was dealing with the woman with the issue of blood when Jairus requested this and his daughter passed away before Jesus could reach her. Thus, it says, "While He, Jesus, was still speaking, there came some from the ruler's house who said to Jairus, Your daughter has died. Why bother and distress the Teacher any further? Overhearing but ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing."
Surely, the above scriptures are about a time when faith and trust were tested. Jairus couldn't "see" what he had hoped for, but faith in Jesus would bring hope or expectation in the face of total failure to his senses. Jesus didn't apologize for expending too much time on the woman with the issue of blood, but simply directed Jairus to "Keep on believing." The hope or expectation of Jairus had to come by faith and trust in what Jesus said. He didn't "see" his daughter healed, nor did he have hope in what the men said to him. Jairus only had hope, the favorable and confident expectation and faith as proof of things he couldn't see.
The woman with the issue of blood, placed all of her faith into simply "touching His garments." Her hope and expectations were so strong, that she put her life in jeopardy and went into public with her unclean flow of blood. This woman's hope was so strong, that when (and only when) she touched Jesus, her flow of blood was dried and then she felt that she was made whole from her disease. She fully expected, that when she touched Jesus' garments, her healing was there.
We don't define hope as a sense of expectation, but "wishing it might be." Most of our hope isn't faith based, but wishing or dreaming of something far away that might happen someday. We find God's account of Abraham in Romans 4:16-20. God was so impressed by this man's trust and faith and expectation, that God called Abraham "the father of us all" and "the father of our faith."
Abraham was 100 years old and his wife Sarah was in her nineties and had been barren her entire life. God's giving them a son at their age, was so far beyond the natural senses, that it was impossible for men. Verses 18-20 says, "For Abraham, human reason for hope being gone, hope in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been Promised, so numberless shall your descendants be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered the utter impotence of his own body which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's deadened womb. No unbelief or distrust made him waver, doubtingly question concerning the Promise of God, but he grew strong and was empower by faith as he gave praise and glory to God. Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His Word and do what He had Promised."
In Genesis 17:21-22 (Amplified) God said, "But My covenant (My Promise and pledge), I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year. And God stopped talking with him and went up from Abraham." There was no proof of Abraham's son Isaac, there was no sign of a child, and there was no reason to think Abraham and Sarah would have one. There was only hope based in faith and the expectation that God's Word and Promises were true that, "This time next year, she will bear you a son."
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His followers in John 20:29 (Amplified). One of His disciples, Thomas, would't believe in Him, until he could see Jesus. "Jesus said to him, Because yo have seen Me, Thomas, do you now believe (trust) have faith? Blessed, happy and to be envied are those who have never seen Me and yet have believed and adhered to and trusted in and relied on Me."
Most of us have never seen Jesus, except by the Word, but we believe that He is. We don't differ much from Thomas, when it comes to the manifestation of His Presence in our lives though. If we can see healings, miracles and the manifestation of Jesus, then we will "believe," like Thomas did. After all, the old saying, "Seeing is believing" got it's start somewhere. We have yet to use our hope as expectation of our faith and see the Truth of Him in the Word.
The Word doesn't say, "Faith comes by seeing." Romans 10:17 (Amplified) tells us that "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." The Israelites in the Wilderness, saw more miracles than anyone could ever hope to see, but their seeing grew dim. Their faith was no longer enough. We go from revival to revival, in order to see the manifestation of His Truth, but after awhile, the revival and seeing begin to wear off. This is mostly sense faith and not necessarily Word faith. Only Word faith will hold onto Truth. When Abraham couldn't see a tangible sign or tangible reason for hope by the senses, his faith in God's Promise made it come to pass.
Every person has his own faith and hope in God and His Word. Many have fought long and hard to hold onto hope that will bring the manifestation of faith into their lives. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for." When there's no hope, faith no longer has a goal or a finish to manifest itself in. Now, you can better understand "The Parable of the Sower" in Mark 4:16-17 (Amplified) where Jesus said, "And in the same way the ones sown on stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy; And they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble and persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended, become displease, indignant, resentful and they stumble and fall away."
Hope has been destroyed by the destroyer satan and faith is left impotent in manifestation of that hope. Jesus said in John 10:10 (Amplified), "The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy." Jesus meant this and He wasn't only speaking about the physical realm, but about the spiritual realm. Faith, hope and Love are all in the Spirit realm. Satan will steal your hope, kill your faith for whatever hope has laid out and destroy your confidence in God's ability to do what He said in this realm. Our hope has been transferred into the life after death and our faith is placed into after we leave this earth. Our love is holding onto "When we die and enter our new home in Heaven." This has happened because, our root in ourselves isn't Word based, but sense based.
Sense knowledge is unreliable in the spirit realm. It can be rooted out by another word or display of sense knowledge. Many have their faith destroyed, through seeing and hearing about what has happened to other believers. We don't have any idea what others truly believe. We might hear them speak about faith, but we still don't know what they truly believe. We must put our faith in God and His Word. We must not be moved by what others believe or don't believe. You must guard your heart from words (seeds) of doubt, unbelief, and the testimony of those who testify against God's Word. Make your walk with God, your own. Be selective about the things you watch, hear and believe. Heed Jesus' Words in Mark 4:19-24 (Amplified) where He said, "Be careful what you are hearing." Word Seeds that are contrary to God's Word Seeds, will produce and become the "thorns
and weeds that crowd out the Word in your life."
Acts 3:3-5 (Amplified) says, "So when he saw Peter and John about to go into the Temple, he asked them to give him a gift. And Peter directed his gaze intently at him, and so did John, and said, Look at us! And the man paid attention to them, expecting that he was going to get something from them."
Today's Church is missing the expectation that we will receive anything from the Father. Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) 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."
The Concordance #1679 says that word "hope" means to "expect or confide; have, thing hope for, trust." #1680 says "hope" means, "to anticipate, usually with pleasure, expectation or confidence-faith, hope."
It seems like we don't expect God to do what we've petitioned Him for. Our faith, hope, trust and confidence is being held back by our senses, because we're waiting for "proof," before we believe or trust God to do it for us. We wait for our senses to reveal it to us, before we will believe.
Jairus asked Jesus to come, lay hands on and heal his sick daughter in Mark 5:35-36 (Amplified). Jesus was dealing with the woman with the issue of blood when Jairus requested this and his daughter passed away before Jesus could reach her. Thus, it says, "While He, Jesus, was still speaking, there came some from the ruler's house who said to Jairus, Your daughter has died. Why bother and distress the Teacher any further? Overhearing but ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing."
Surely, the above scriptures are about a time when faith and trust were tested. Jairus couldn't "see" what he had hoped for, but faith in Jesus would bring hope or expectation in the face of total failure to his senses. Jesus didn't apologize for expending too much time on the woman with the issue of blood, but simply directed Jairus to "Keep on believing." The hope or expectation of Jairus had to come by faith and trust in what Jesus said. He didn't "see" his daughter healed, nor did he have hope in what the men said to him. Jairus only had hope, the favorable and confident expectation and faith as proof of things he couldn't see.
The woman with the issue of blood, placed all of her faith into simply "touching His garments." Her hope and expectations were so strong, that she put her life in jeopardy and went into public with her unclean flow of blood. This woman's hope was so strong, that when (and only when) she touched Jesus, her flow of blood was dried and then she felt that she was made whole from her disease. She fully expected, that when she touched Jesus' garments, her healing was there.
We don't define hope as a sense of expectation, but "wishing it might be." Most of our hope isn't faith based, but wishing or dreaming of something far away that might happen someday. We find God's account of Abraham in Romans 4:16-20. God was so impressed by this man's trust and faith and expectation, that God called Abraham "the father of us all" and "the father of our faith."
Abraham was 100 years old and his wife Sarah was in her nineties and had been barren her entire life. God's giving them a son at their age, was so far beyond the natural senses, that it was impossible for men. Verses 18-20 says, "For Abraham, human reason for hope being gone, hope in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been Promised, so numberless shall your descendants be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered the utter impotence of his own body which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's deadened womb. No unbelief or distrust made him waver, doubtingly question concerning the Promise of God, but he grew strong and was empower by faith as he gave praise and glory to God. Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His Word and do what He had Promised."
In Genesis 17:21-22 (Amplified) God said, "But My covenant (My Promise and pledge), I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year. And God stopped talking with him and went up from Abraham." There was no proof of Abraham's son Isaac, there was no sign of a child, and there was no reason to think Abraham and Sarah would have one. There was only hope based in faith and the expectation that God's Word and Promises were true that, "This time next year, she will bear you a son."
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His followers in John 20:29 (Amplified). One of His disciples, Thomas, would't believe in Him, until he could see Jesus. "Jesus said to him, Because yo have seen Me, Thomas, do you now believe (trust) have faith? Blessed, happy and to be envied are those who have never seen Me and yet have believed and adhered to and trusted in and relied on Me."
Most of us have never seen Jesus, except by the Word, but we believe that He is. We don't differ much from Thomas, when it comes to the manifestation of His Presence in our lives though. If we can see healings, miracles and the manifestation of Jesus, then we will "believe," like Thomas did. After all, the old saying, "Seeing is believing" got it's start somewhere. We have yet to use our hope as expectation of our faith and see the Truth of Him in the Word.
The Word doesn't say, "Faith comes by seeing." Romans 10:17 (Amplified) tells us that "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." The Israelites in the Wilderness, saw more miracles than anyone could ever hope to see, but their seeing grew dim. Their faith was no longer enough. We go from revival to revival, in order to see the manifestation of His Truth, but after awhile, the revival and seeing begin to wear off. This is mostly sense faith and not necessarily Word faith. Only Word faith will hold onto Truth. When Abraham couldn't see a tangible sign or tangible reason for hope by the senses, his faith in God's Promise made it come to pass.
Every person has his own faith and hope in God and His Word. Many have fought long and hard to hold onto hope that will bring the manifestation of faith into their lives. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for." When there's no hope, faith no longer has a goal or a finish to manifest itself in. Now, you can better understand "The Parable of the Sower" in Mark 4:16-17 (Amplified) where Jesus said, "And in the same way the ones sown on stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy; And they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble and persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended, become displease, indignant, resentful and they stumble and fall away."
Hope has been destroyed by the destroyer satan and faith is left impotent in manifestation of that hope. Jesus said in John 10:10 (Amplified), "The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy." Jesus meant this and He wasn't only speaking about the physical realm, but about the spiritual realm. Faith, hope and Love are all in the Spirit realm. Satan will steal your hope, kill your faith for whatever hope has laid out and destroy your confidence in God's ability to do what He said in this realm. Our hope has been transferred into the life after death and our faith is placed into after we leave this earth. Our love is holding onto "When we die and enter our new home in Heaven." This has happened because, our root in ourselves isn't Word based, but sense based.
Sense knowledge is unreliable in the spirit realm. It can be rooted out by another word or display of sense knowledge. Many have their faith destroyed, through seeing and hearing about what has happened to other believers. We don't have any idea what others truly believe. We might hear them speak about faith, but we still don't know what they truly believe. We must put our faith in God and His Word. We must not be moved by what others believe or don't believe. You must guard your heart from words (seeds) of doubt, unbelief, and the testimony of those who testify against God's Word. Make your walk with God, your own. Be selective about the things you watch, hear and believe. Heed Jesus' Words in Mark 4:19-24 (Amplified) where He said, "Be careful what you are hearing." Word Seeds that are contrary to God's Word Seeds, will produce and become the "thorns
and weeds that crowd out the Word in your life."
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Lesson 14 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
The Truth, Grace and Blessing that came through Jesus, are for all who will believe in the redemptive power of His Sacrifice. Grace has been granted to everyone who is saved and the same faith in God's Grace that gave us new life and salvation, is also appropriated by the same faith in that Grace.
Salvation has been offered to the whole world, according to John 3:16, but each person must put faith in this salvation. We receive from our Heavenly Father, what we accept by faith. A great hindrance to receiving from our inheritance has been what we believe is or isn't ours through Jesus. Many have expressed faith in their salvation entails, saying such things as, "I don't believe in this confession thing" or "I don't believe in speaking in tongues."
We speak our faith (or lack thereof) by the things we've learned (or haven't learned) through the years. Jesus was beside a lake, teaching people in Mark 4:1-41 (Amplified), when the crowd grew to such a size that He stepped into a small ship to teach them. He taught a Parable that many consider to be His most important, concerning how the Kingdom of Heaven operates. Many just believe "it's just another Parable," but to those who have ears to hear, it was a Revelation of the Laws that govern our new Life in Him.
Verse 11 tells us, "And He said to them, To you has been entrusted the Mystery of the Kingdom of God which are hidden from the ungodly; but for those outside our circle everything become a parable."
Verse 13 continues, "And He said to them, Do you not discern and understand this Parable? How then is it possible for you to discern and understand all the Parables?" In other words, Jesus said that "This Parable is the key to understanding the Mystery of God's Kingdom." We can receive Revelation of this Seed to the opening of the doors of the Kingdom and can understand what has been a Mystery until now.
The Spiritual Laws that govern the Kingdom are upheld and administered by Words or Seeds. The entire planet and the regions of the universe are governed and held in place, by Words. Jesus was "The Word made Flesh," according to John 1:14 (Amplified) which says, "And the Word, Christ, became flesh (Human, Incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lives awhile) among us; and we actually saw His Glory, His Honor, His Majesty; such Glory as an Only Begotten Son receives from His Father, full of Grace, favor, Loving-Kindness and Truth."
Jesus is the Harvest of the Seed or Word, that was sown into Mary's womb. This Seed or Word is a great part of understanding the Mystery and secret counsel of God and His Kingdom. 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified) says, "You have been regenerated (born again) not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm) but from One that is Immortal by the Ever Living and Lasting Word of God."
The Holy Spirit reveals in the above scripture, that the Word and Seed of God are One and the Same. It wasn't just the Word that was spoke into Mary's womb, but was the Seed. This is what Jesus was communicating to the people in Mark 4 and this is the Mystery of the Kingdom of God. The people didn't discern or understand Jesus' Parable and we dismiss it and never adhere to it as being "important. Only the Seed or Word that is sown into good (fertile) soil of the heart, will bring forth a harvest. We've failed to discern and understand that all words are seeds. This doesn't mean only God's Words. All words will produce, if we accept them into our hearts or spirit.
We've heard many teachings about the "Confession of our mouths." We've dismissed much of them as being foolishness and error, but if we discern and understand what Jesus said, then we will see this is the Revelation to the Mystery and secret counsel of God and His Kingdom we're now part of. We will see this is how the Kingdom works.
In Jesus' Parable about the Sower, He taught that the seed are words, saying "The sower sows the Word." In other words, what we hear and understand by God's Word, will produce in the spirits of God's children. Jesus said that the words we speak out of our mouths, are seed that will produce. All words will produce fruit, not just God's Words. Jesus spoke about the actions of good and evil men in Matthew 12:37 (Amplified) saying, "For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced."
If the words that come out of our hearts (spirit) are seeds that produce in our lives, then what we say and what we hear and believe, will produce in our lives and the lives of those we sow seeds into We are both the soil and the sower. Our hearts determine what we produce, from seeds we allow to be sown into it. Whatever seeds (words) we all to be sown into our lives, will result in a harvest in our lives and the lives of others.
We sow seeds in other's lives, that come from the harvest of our hearts. Jesus said in Matthew 12:34 (Amplified) that, "From the abundance of our heart, the mouth speaks." We've misunderstood His Parable and missed out on many things in our lives. And, we've sowed some seeds into the lives of others, that brought forth a harvest that was contrary to the harvest of God's Kingdom.
The Holy Spirit tells us about Jesus' earthly ministry in John 3:34 (Amplified) which says, "For since He Whom God has sent speaks the Words of God (proclaims God's Own Message), God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the Gift God makes of His Spirit." Why was the Spirit given without measure? Because Jesus only sowed Good Seed, only spoke God's Word. Jesus spoke Kingdom Seed and it brought forth Kingdom Harvest, which was sons into Glory and Life and health to men.
Jesus Christ was the Fruit or Harvest of the Seed, which was sown into Mary's womb. We are the fruit (harvest) of the Word or Seed that was sown into our hearts. The Seed of the Kingdom,which is God's Word, has brought forth fruit to Him. We're sowers and Kingdom soil (born-again spirits), who have the ability to bring forth fruit. We've been given the mandate to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel" or "sow the Seeds of the Kingdom by words (seeds)."
Jesus gave another Parable in Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified) saying, "If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend. And He said to them; Be careful what you are hearing. The measure of 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." Jesus was speaking about "The secret counsels of God" that comes only by "being careful about what we hear and speak."
We can receive bad seed and bring forth a wrong harvest, by speaking or sowing from that harvest. Or, we can be careful what we hear, bring forth good things and sow good seed from that harvest, into the soil of other people's hearts (spirits). Some would make light of what I'm teaching and disregard it. Those who're seeking to grow and be used of the Master will be careful of what seeds (words) they allow to be sown in their hearts.
All words are seeds. God's Word in our hearts, will bring forth fruit and Blessing from God's Kingdom. The words (seeds) of the world and the enemy, will also bring forth fruit into the kingdom of darkness and the misery of satan's harvest. Good or bad seed will grow and produce in the heart of the believer, just as quickly as in the heart of an unsaved person. Adam was instructed to "tend the garden." We're to tend the garden of our hearts.
We live with either good or bad, Blessing or cursing in our own lives, according to the choices we make about what we hear. Jesus said in Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified), "If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend." You are the gardener and overseer of what you allow to be sown in your heart. Galatians 6:7 (Amplified) tells us, "Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at, scorned or mocked by mere pretensions or professions or by His precepts being set aside; He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God. For whatsoever a man sows, that and only that is what he will reap." Whether we speak and believe God's Word or the world's words, we will reap what we sown and have allowed into our hearts.
James 1:26 (Amplified) says, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of the flesh) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this persons religious service is worthless (futile, barren)."
All the external works we might do for faith, will come to no profit and will not produce the things we seek after, if our mouth and heart receives and sows wrong seed. In 2Timothy 2:1-7 (Amplified) Paul writes, "So you, my son, be strong, strengthened inwardly in the Grace and Spiritual Blessing that is to be found in Christ Jesus. And the instructions which you have heard from me along with many witnesses, transmit and entrust as a deposit to reliable and faithful men who will be competent and qualified to teach others also Take with me your share of the hardships and sufferings which you are called to endure as a good first-class soldier of Jesus Christ." Verses 4-8 go on, "No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of civilian life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him And if anyone enters competitive games, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully( fairly), according to the rules laid down. It is the hard-working farmer who labors to produce who must be the first partakers of the fruits. Think over these things I am saying, understand them and grasp their application, for the Lord will grant you full insight and understanding in everything."
Keep the thought about farmers who sow seeds and how according to the operating rules laid down "they're to be the first partakers of the fruits" in mind and return to Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified) where Jesus gives the Parable of the Sower, saying, "If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend (the Lord will grant the full insight and understanding in everything) And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing, the measure of 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." 2Timothy 2:6 (Amplified) says, "It is the hard-working farmer who labors to produce who must be the first partaker of the fruits."
You become what you allow yourself to hear, whether good or bad. You can only produce from seed (words) that have been sown in your heart. You can only reap a good harvest, if you compete by the rules that have been laid down. We reap either good or bad harvests, from the words we speak or sow after being saved. If we sow God's Word in our lives, then we will produce Blessing. If we receive and sow the words of the world in our hearts (spirits), then we'll reap them in our lives. The farmer who labors is the first partaker of the fruits.
It doesn't matter whether or not anyone else believes "We can have what we say." As the hardworking farmer, you will be the first to enjoy the harvest of your words, because you're "bringing forth good things from the abundance of your heart." You are responsible for what you allow to be sown in your heart and you're the one who will be the first partaker of the Good Fruit of the Harvest.
Jesus' statement of, "Be careful what you hear," might be the most important one, concerning Kingdom rules. You are the person who tends the heart. In Proverbs 4:23-24 (Amplified) God says, "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow springs of Life. Put away from you false and dishonest speech, and willful and contrary talk put far from you."
We must not just take it for granted, that everything we hear preached is Kingdom Seed, that will bring forth good fruit in our lives. Paul tells us in Romans 10:3 (Amplified), "For being ignorant of the righteousness of God that ascribes which makes one acceptable to Him in word and deed, and seeking to establish a righteousness (a means of salvation of their own, they did not obey or submit themselves to God's righteousness." 2Timothy 2:5 says this about such persons, "He is not crowned unless he competes lawfully according to the rules laid down."
The Truth, Grace and Blessing that came through Jesus, are for all who will believe in the redemptive power of His Sacrifice. Grace has been granted to everyone who is saved and the same faith in God's Grace that gave us new life and salvation, is also appropriated by the same faith in that Grace.
Salvation has been offered to the whole world, according to John 3:16, but each person must put faith in this salvation. We receive from our Heavenly Father, what we accept by faith. A great hindrance to receiving from our inheritance has been what we believe is or isn't ours through Jesus. Many have expressed faith in their salvation entails, saying such things as, "I don't believe in this confession thing" or "I don't believe in speaking in tongues."
We speak our faith (or lack thereof) by the things we've learned (or haven't learned) through the years. Jesus was beside a lake, teaching people in Mark 4:1-41 (Amplified), when the crowd grew to such a size that He stepped into a small ship to teach them. He taught a Parable that many consider to be His most important, concerning how the Kingdom of Heaven operates. Many just believe "it's just another Parable," but to those who have ears to hear, it was a Revelation of the Laws that govern our new Life in Him.
Verse 11 tells us, "And He said to them, To you has been entrusted the Mystery of the Kingdom of God which are hidden from the ungodly; but for those outside our circle everything become a parable."
Verse 13 continues, "And He said to them, Do you not discern and understand this Parable? How then is it possible for you to discern and understand all the Parables?" In other words, Jesus said that "This Parable is the key to understanding the Mystery of God's Kingdom." We can receive Revelation of this Seed to the opening of the doors of the Kingdom and can understand what has been a Mystery until now.
The Spiritual Laws that govern the Kingdom are upheld and administered by Words or Seeds. The entire planet and the regions of the universe are governed and held in place, by Words. Jesus was "The Word made Flesh," according to John 1:14 (Amplified) which says, "And the Word, Christ, became flesh (Human, Incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lives awhile) among us; and we actually saw His Glory, His Honor, His Majesty; such Glory as an Only Begotten Son receives from His Father, full of Grace, favor, Loving-Kindness and Truth."
Jesus is the Harvest of the Seed or Word, that was sown into Mary's womb. This Seed or Word is a great part of understanding the Mystery and secret counsel of God and His Kingdom. 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified) says, "You have been regenerated (born again) not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm) but from One that is Immortal by the Ever Living and Lasting Word of God."
The Holy Spirit reveals in the above scripture, that the Word and Seed of God are One and the Same. It wasn't just the Word that was spoke into Mary's womb, but was the Seed. This is what Jesus was communicating to the people in Mark 4 and this is the Mystery of the Kingdom of God. The people didn't discern or understand Jesus' Parable and we dismiss it and never adhere to it as being "important. Only the Seed or Word that is sown into good (fertile) soil of the heart, will bring forth a harvest. We've failed to discern and understand that all words are seeds. This doesn't mean only God's Words. All words will produce, if we accept them into our hearts or spirit.
We've heard many teachings about the "Confession of our mouths." We've dismissed much of them as being foolishness and error, but if we discern and understand what Jesus said, then we will see this is the Revelation to the Mystery and secret counsel of God and His Kingdom we're now part of. We will see this is how the Kingdom works.
In Jesus' Parable about the Sower, He taught that the seed are words, saying "The sower sows the Word." In other words, what we hear and understand by God's Word, will produce in the spirits of God's children. Jesus said that the words we speak out of our mouths, are seed that will produce. All words will produce fruit, not just God's Words. Jesus spoke about the actions of good and evil men in Matthew 12:37 (Amplified) saying, "For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced."
If the words that come out of our hearts (spirit) are seeds that produce in our lives, then what we say and what we hear and believe, will produce in our lives and the lives of those we sow seeds into We are both the soil and the sower. Our hearts determine what we produce, from seeds we allow to be sown into it. Whatever seeds (words) we all to be sown into our lives, will result in a harvest in our lives and the lives of others.
We sow seeds in other's lives, that come from the harvest of our hearts. Jesus said in Matthew 12:34 (Amplified) that, "From the abundance of our heart, the mouth speaks." We've misunderstood His Parable and missed out on many things in our lives. And, we've sowed some seeds into the lives of others, that brought forth a harvest that was contrary to the harvest of God's Kingdom.
The Holy Spirit tells us about Jesus' earthly ministry in John 3:34 (Amplified) which says, "For since He Whom God has sent speaks the Words of God (proclaims God's Own Message), God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the Gift God makes of His Spirit." Why was the Spirit given without measure? Because Jesus only sowed Good Seed, only spoke God's Word. Jesus spoke Kingdom Seed and it brought forth Kingdom Harvest, which was sons into Glory and Life and health to men.
Jesus Christ was the Fruit or Harvest of the Seed, which was sown into Mary's womb. We are the fruit (harvest) of the Word or Seed that was sown into our hearts. The Seed of the Kingdom,which is God's Word, has brought forth fruit to Him. We're sowers and Kingdom soil (born-again spirits), who have the ability to bring forth fruit. We've been given the mandate to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel" or "sow the Seeds of the Kingdom by words (seeds)."
Jesus gave another Parable in Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified) saying, "If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend. And He said to them; Be careful what you are hearing. The measure of 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." Jesus was speaking about "The secret counsels of God" that comes only by "being careful about what we hear and speak."
We can receive bad seed and bring forth a wrong harvest, by speaking or sowing from that harvest. Or, we can be careful what we hear, bring forth good things and sow good seed from that harvest, into the soil of other people's hearts (spirits). Some would make light of what I'm teaching and disregard it. Those who're seeking to grow and be used of the Master will be careful of what seeds (words) they allow to be sown in their hearts.
All words are seeds. God's Word in our hearts, will bring forth fruit and Blessing from God's Kingdom. The words (seeds) of the world and the enemy, will also bring forth fruit into the kingdom of darkness and the misery of satan's harvest. Good or bad seed will grow and produce in the heart of the believer, just as quickly as in the heart of an unsaved person. Adam was instructed to "tend the garden." We're to tend the garden of our hearts.
We live with either good or bad, Blessing or cursing in our own lives, according to the choices we make about what we hear. Jesus said in Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified), "If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend." You are the gardener and overseer of what you allow to be sown in your heart. Galatians 6:7 (Amplified) tells us, "Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at, scorned or mocked by mere pretensions or professions or by His precepts being set aside; He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God. For whatsoever a man sows, that and only that is what he will reap." Whether we speak and believe God's Word or the world's words, we will reap what we sown and have allowed into our hearts.
James 1:26 (Amplified) says, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of the flesh) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this persons religious service is worthless (futile, barren)."
All the external works we might do for faith, will come to no profit and will not produce the things we seek after, if our mouth and heart receives and sows wrong seed. In 2Timothy 2:1-7 (Amplified) Paul writes, "So you, my son, be strong, strengthened inwardly in the Grace and Spiritual Blessing that is to be found in Christ Jesus. And the instructions which you have heard from me along with many witnesses, transmit and entrust as a deposit to reliable and faithful men who will be competent and qualified to teach others also Take with me your share of the hardships and sufferings which you are called to endure as a good first-class soldier of Jesus Christ." Verses 4-8 go on, "No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of civilian life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him And if anyone enters competitive games, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully( fairly), according to the rules laid down. It is the hard-working farmer who labors to produce who must be the first partakers of the fruits. Think over these things I am saying, understand them and grasp their application, for the Lord will grant you full insight and understanding in everything."
Keep the thought about farmers who sow seeds and how according to the operating rules laid down "they're to be the first partakers of the fruits" in mind and return to Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified) where Jesus gives the Parable of the Sower, saying, "If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend (the Lord will grant the full insight and understanding in everything) And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing, the measure of 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." 2Timothy 2:6 (Amplified) says, "It is the hard-working farmer who labors to produce who must be the first partaker of the fruits."
You become what you allow yourself to hear, whether good or bad. You can only produce from seed (words) that have been sown in your heart. You can only reap a good harvest, if you compete by the rules that have been laid down. We reap either good or bad harvests, from the words we speak or sow after being saved. If we sow God's Word in our lives, then we will produce Blessing. If we receive and sow the words of the world in our hearts (spirits), then we'll reap them in our lives. The farmer who labors is the first partaker of the fruits.
It doesn't matter whether or not anyone else believes "We can have what we say." As the hardworking farmer, you will be the first to enjoy the harvest of your words, because you're "bringing forth good things from the abundance of your heart." You are responsible for what you allow to be sown in your heart and you're the one who will be the first partaker of the Good Fruit of the Harvest.
Jesus' statement of, "Be careful what you hear," might be the most important one, concerning Kingdom rules. You are the person who tends the heart. In Proverbs 4:23-24 (Amplified) God says, "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow springs of Life. Put away from you false and dishonest speech, and willful and contrary talk put far from you."
We must not just take it for granted, that everything we hear preached is Kingdom Seed, that will bring forth good fruit in our lives. Paul tells us in Romans 10:3 (Amplified), "For being ignorant of the righteousness of God that ascribes which makes one acceptable to Him in word and deed, and seeking to establish a righteousness (a means of salvation of their own, they did not obey or submit themselves to God's righteousness." 2Timothy 2:5 says this about such persons, "He is not crowned unless he competes lawfully according to the rules laid down."
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Lesson 13 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For though the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing, and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
God poured His long awaited favor and Blessings out on His family, by His Spirit, through Jesus. We've limited the Blessings God desires to lavish upon us, to the senses or the natural realm. The Same Spirit Who created all the natural realm around us, is the Same Spirit Who want to invade this natural realm and Bless us. God's will for His family has always been to Bless and provide. Most of all (if not all) that God wants for us, is still in the Spirit realm and because we don't understand this or are perhaps afraid to accept it, we struggle in the flesh to make His Blessing work.
We see all the natural things in Jesus' ministry, that were provided by God's Spirit. When the multitude needed food, Jesus went into the Spirit realm for provision. When the storm was about to sink their ship, Jesus went to the Spirit realm and stopped the storm. When people needed sight, cleansing, healing, deliverance or comfort, Jesus always drew from the Spirit realm. At Lazarus' tomb, Jesus called for "Life," in the Spirit, saying, "Father, I thank You that You always hear Me."
We've created multitudes of excuses for why He doesn't hear us. We've seemingly drifted back into a semi-conscious mode of Christianity and have fallen asleep. We've gone into a place of entertainment, instead of intimacy with the Father, forgetting that our God is Super-natural.
Hollywood and media are training the minds and senses of America, to the place that the Super-natural is a joke. We have "Ghost Whisperers," "Ghost Brothers," "Supernatural," and "Lucifer" crowding our media programming. The reality of God outside the four walls of our church buildings has been relegated to a debate. We debate about whether or not "God still does these things."
Many preachers are replacing the Gospel, with this new age, believing the Gospel is old fashioned. After all, "This is the 21st century and we are more enlightened than previous generations," they say. Do you honestly believe that the 21st century is ahead of God and that our technology is more advanced than He is? The tares and wheat seem to be growing together, more than ever before. There are things the Church has endorsed, that are completely against God's Word, but we consider them to be "Okay, because of Grace."
God's Grace never intended the way some try using it today. Grace was, and still is, the mercy and favor of Love, that Blesses us even when we don't deserve it. Grace was never to "cover" deliberate, willful sinning or complete disregard for His Word. Many see the Super-natural as being all demonic or just foolishness. The only way of actually seeing what we were created to be, is by learning and accepting the Super-natural work of the Spirit of God in our daily lives.
Paul taught the Church of Ephesus about the warfare, the enemy and the Armor of God. We look at the natural things that come against us, as being "just the way things are," but satan's warfare and strategies are always calculated and deliberate and meant to oppress, deceive and distress the world and the Church. Satan is an outlaw spirit, who is determined to steal, kill and to destroy.
Acts 10:38 (Amplified) says, "How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by the power of the devil, for God was with Him." The things that harass, oppress and need cured, aren't "just the way life is," but are the strategies of satan. It's not God "testing us," but is the deliberated work of an outlaw spirit, used to destroy your faith and belief in God. We've failed to see the enemy for who he is, deciding "there's nothing we can do about it." In 2Corinthians 12:7-10 (Amplified) Paul teaches about God's choosing him to bring the Revelation of His family and the new creation and about his being tormented by a "messenger of satan to buffet or harass him." In Verses 9 God says to Paul, "My Grace is more than enough to deliver you." Paul received the message in the next Verse, that he was defenseless as a mere man, but when he could nothing in himself, Grace stepped in and delivered him time and time again.
Many read these scriptures to be about God testing and deliberately trying Paul, but Paul received a fuller Revelation of Grace from the Holy Spirit. Paul stated that he looked for opportunities of his own weakness, in order to see the Power of God move on his behalf. Many today, only see the weakness of our own mortal selves and accept those weaknesses, instead of reaching into the Higher place of Grace for our success.
Paul went further in 2Corinthians 10:3-5 (Amplified) saying, "For though we walk (live in the flesh, are still living in this body), we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds In as much as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself against the True Knowledge of god, and we lead every though and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
We hear the "lofty arguments, theories and reasonings" all the time about the natural things that beset us. How many times have we heard the arguments about "This is just how life is" or "This isn't the work of the enemy, but it's God testing you?" These are proud and lofty things that have set themselves up against the True Knowledge of God. Some might say, "You act like everything is some sort of spiritual attack against you, Jim." Well, according to Paul, they are!
Not all demonic attacks are "spooky," but seem "natural," because we're unaware of the strategies of satan and don't see them as such. There are only two kind of Spiritual sources at work on this planet. One is God, the other is satan. One is for your destruction, while the other for your good. We need to get our hearts right on which is God and start putting faith in Him and His Grace, for our deliverance. Don't be afraid of spiritual things, but be aware of which source the derive from. The world has a "boogeyman complex," which causes us to deny nearly all the Spiritual Blessings that come through the Holy Spirit.
I've witnessed the anointing and Presence of the Holy Spirit, frighten people in the Church, because it's so strong. I've seen the things of satan enter into God's people and they don't recognize it as being from him. I've heard false prophecies go forth and the Church doesn't even recognize they're false. I've seen sin operate openly and unnoticed in the Church, resulting in the people hearing sermons about sin, without feeling uncomfortable. This is the work of an unseen enemy, who we've nearly forgotten.
One of satan's greatest moves against mankind, is his being unseen. God's people still read horoscopes, visit fortune tellers, and have their palms read, without seeing anything wrong with doing these things. Satan is subtle and cunning with his lies, which results in our being taken into captivity without even knowing it.
I'm not proposing that we cast out a demon over everything that happens. But, we are to discern what is evil and what is Good. Paul speaks about those who had gone from milk to meat in Hebrews 5:14 (Amplified) saying, "But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to Divine or human law."
Today, men are passing laws that are both morally wrong, evil, and contrary to God's Laws. We're not supposed to simply accept these laws into our culture and way of thinking and believe they're from God. We must train our senses and mental faculties to discern the difference. I'm certainly not condoning the burning of abortion clinics and you don't have to demonstrate in the streets. You don't have to knock over idols, but don't accept them as being alright. This is one of satan's strategies, but it doesn't matter that society accepts these things, they're not always God's way.
We must each take a stand in our individual lives for ourselves and our family, to stay in the Truth. Doing this might not be popular with the people, but it is with the Father. You don't have to cram it down someone's throat, but you must walk your walk with Him. We must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, in our walk with Him.
God poured His long awaited favor and Blessings out on His family, by His Spirit, through Jesus. We've limited the Blessings God desires to lavish upon us, to the senses or the natural realm. The Same Spirit Who created all the natural realm around us, is the Same Spirit Who want to invade this natural realm and Bless us. God's will for His family has always been to Bless and provide. Most of all (if not all) that God wants for us, is still in the Spirit realm and because we don't understand this or are perhaps afraid to accept it, we struggle in the flesh to make His Blessing work.
We see all the natural things in Jesus' ministry, that were provided by God's Spirit. When the multitude needed food, Jesus went into the Spirit realm for provision. When the storm was about to sink their ship, Jesus went to the Spirit realm and stopped the storm. When people needed sight, cleansing, healing, deliverance or comfort, Jesus always drew from the Spirit realm. At Lazarus' tomb, Jesus called for "Life," in the Spirit, saying, "Father, I thank You that You always hear Me."
We've created multitudes of excuses for why He doesn't hear us. We've seemingly drifted back into a semi-conscious mode of Christianity and have fallen asleep. We've gone into a place of entertainment, instead of intimacy with the Father, forgetting that our God is Super-natural.
Hollywood and media are training the minds and senses of America, to the place that the Super-natural is a joke. We have "Ghost Whisperers," "Ghost Brothers," "Supernatural," and "Lucifer" crowding our media programming. The reality of God outside the four walls of our church buildings has been relegated to a debate. We debate about whether or not "God still does these things."
Many preachers are replacing the Gospel, with this new age, believing the Gospel is old fashioned. After all, "This is the 21st century and we are more enlightened than previous generations," they say. Do you honestly believe that the 21st century is ahead of God and that our technology is more advanced than He is? The tares and wheat seem to be growing together, more than ever before. There are things the Church has endorsed, that are completely against God's Word, but we consider them to be "Okay, because of Grace."
God's Grace never intended the way some try using it today. Grace was, and still is, the mercy and favor of Love, that Blesses us even when we don't deserve it. Grace was never to "cover" deliberate, willful sinning or complete disregard for His Word. Many see the Super-natural as being all demonic or just foolishness. The only way of actually seeing what we were created to be, is by learning and accepting the Super-natural work of the Spirit of God in our daily lives.
Paul taught the Church of Ephesus about the warfare, the enemy and the Armor of God. We look at the natural things that come against us, as being "just the way things are," but satan's warfare and strategies are always calculated and deliberate and meant to oppress, deceive and distress the world and the Church. Satan is an outlaw spirit, who is determined to steal, kill and to destroy.
Acts 10:38 (Amplified) says, "How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by the power of the devil, for God was with Him." The things that harass, oppress and need cured, aren't "just the way life is," but are the strategies of satan. It's not God "testing us," but is the deliberated work of an outlaw spirit, used to destroy your faith and belief in God. We've failed to see the enemy for who he is, deciding "there's nothing we can do about it." In 2Corinthians 12:7-10 (Amplified) Paul teaches about God's choosing him to bring the Revelation of His family and the new creation and about his being tormented by a "messenger of satan to buffet or harass him." In Verses 9 God says to Paul, "My Grace is more than enough to deliver you." Paul received the message in the next Verse, that he was defenseless as a mere man, but when he could nothing in himself, Grace stepped in and delivered him time and time again.
Many read these scriptures to be about God testing and deliberately trying Paul, but Paul received a fuller Revelation of Grace from the Holy Spirit. Paul stated that he looked for opportunities of his own weakness, in order to see the Power of God move on his behalf. Many today, only see the weakness of our own mortal selves and accept those weaknesses, instead of reaching into the Higher place of Grace for our success.
Paul went further in 2Corinthians 10:3-5 (Amplified) saying, "For though we walk (live in the flesh, are still living in this body), we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds In as much as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself against the True Knowledge of god, and we lead every though and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
We hear the "lofty arguments, theories and reasonings" all the time about the natural things that beset us. How many times have we heard the arguments about "This is just how life is" or "This isn't the work of the enemy, but it's God testing you?" These are proud and lofty things that have set themselves up against the True Knowledge of God. Some might say, "You act like everything is some sort of spiritual attack against you, Jim." Well, according to Paul, they are!
Not all demonic attacks are "spooky," but seem "natural," because we're unaware of the strategies of satan and don't see them as such. There are only two kind of Spiritual sources at work on this planet. One is God, the other is satan. One is for your destruction, while the other for your good. We need to get our hearts right on which is God and start putting faith in Him and His Grace, for our deliverance. Don't be afraid of spiritual things, but be aware of which source the derive from. The world has a "boogeyman complex," which causes us to deny nearly all the Spiritual Blessings that come through the Holy Spirit.
I've witnessed the anointing and Presence of the Holy Spirit, frighten people in the Church, because it's so strong. I've seen the things of satan enter into God's people and they don't recognize it as being from him. I've heard false prophecies go forth and the Church doesn't even recognize they're false. I've seen sin operate openly and unnoticed in the Church, resulting in the people hearing sermons about sin, without feeling uncomfortable. This is the work of an unseen enemy, who we've nearly forgotten.
One of satan's greatest moves against mankind, is his being unseen. God's people still read horoscopes, visit fortune tellers, and have their palms read, without seeing anything wrong with doing these things. Satan is subtle and cunning with his lies, which results in our being taken into captivity without even knowing it.
I'm not proposing that we cast out a demon over everything that happens. But, we are to discern what is evil and what is Good. Paul speaks about those who had gone from milk to meat in Hebrews 5:14 (Amplified) saying, "But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to Divine or human law."
Today, men are passing laws that are both morally wrong, evil, and contrary to God's Laws. We're not supposed to simply accept these laws into our culture and way of thinking and believe they're from God. We must train our senses and mental faculties to discern the difference. I'm certainly not condoning the burning of abortion clinics and you don't have to demonstrate in the streets. You don't have to knock over idols, but don't accept them as being alright. This is one of satan's strategies, but it doesn't matter that society accepts these things, they're not always God's way.
We must each take a stand in our individual lives for ourselves and our family, to stay in the Truth. Doing this might not be popular with the people, but it is with the Father. You don't have to cram it down someone's throat, but you must walk your walk with Him. We must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, in our walk with Him.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Lesson 12 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
John 4:24 (Amplified) says, "God is a Spirit, a Spiritual Being, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."
In John 6:63 (Amplified), Jesus tells His followers, "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."
I'm reluctant to speak about the Super-natural things of God, because satan and the world have programmed us to think of the super-natural in terms of the boogieman, ghosts, and goblins. We've been taught that most all the super-natural, is either fake or demonic, so that those who believe in the super-natural must be "unbalanced or strange."
God's realm is the Super-natural realm, which is a Higher realm that man could ever reach or even imagine before. Most think otherwise though and believe it includes witches, fortune tellers, ghosts, even entities and hauntings. So, when we talk about the Spirit or Super-natural things of God, it brings the age old dread of things we don't wish to think about. The Super-natural is anything that is above the natural way of thinking. Fear has left us in a place, where many are even afraid to receive the Holy Spirit, His Gifts or His language. We've tried walking with a Spiritual, Super-natural Father, by our own intellect. This limits God and leaves us to our own means.
We acknowledge that God is a Spirit Being, but we don't trust the Spirit realm which He abides in. We continue trying to accept the Truth of the Spirit realm, by limiting it to sense knowledge. Jesus was speaking to His followers in John 6:28-29 (Amplified), "Then they said, What are we to do, that we may habitually be working the works of God? What are we to do to carry out what God requires? Jesus replied; This is the work (service) that God asks of you, that you believe in the One Whom He has sent (that you cleave to, trust in, rely on and have faith in His Messenger)."
We can seemingly believe that Jesus did the Super-natural, but we've never carried them into this natural realm and making it possible for anyone to do now." The Super-natural or Spirit realm is where we must contact our Heavenly Father, hear His Voice and do what He has called us to do. Many have accepted the Super-natural as being for salvation, but have left the rest of the Spirit realm untouched. Jesus stated more than once that, "It is the Father in Me, Who does the works." We've lost sight of the Truth that the Same Spirit Who indwell ed Jesus, now lives in the beleiver.
1Corinthians 7:19 (Amplified) 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 Super-natural being you've now become through Jesus, is no different from the Natural Body Jesus lived in, while He was on earth. You might say, "Yes, but Jesus was sinless and that's why God lived in Him." Have you forgotten what Jesus told Paul in his revelation?
2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) 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." We don't think about our being a spirit being, except for when it applies to our leaving this natural realm. Then we believe, "we will become a spirit being." The Truth is, you are NOW a spirit being like God, who is now living in a body that God declared "dead." The only Life a Christian has in him today, is the Life Jesus spoke about in John 6:63 (Amplified) where He said, "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) I speak to you are Spirit and Life."
It's been difficult for us to see ourselves as being a Spirit, like our Father. Only the spirit realm can contact and rule over another spirit realm or class of being. This is why the Church has been relatively unsuccessful over an enemy. He has kept us intimidated by spooky thoughts and stories about the Super-natural realm. When the Church understands that all these "spooky things" are satan's way of intimidating the flesh and senses.
Satan moves around in people's homes, making strange things appear as real, in order to intimidate the senses. This has put fear in the people's hearts, causing Christians to stay away from the things they don't understand in the sense realm. You don't contact God by your senses and feelings, but by the Spirit and the Word (which is Spirit). I've heard people say, "Speaking in tongues is of the devil." They say this, because we've been taught that super-natural things all come from satan. We fear the super-natural, because of this.
God's will has always been to communicate with His children, by and through their spirit. Your spirit is supposed to be in charge of the natural body and direct your body in this natural realm of creation. Everything in this natural realm was created by the Spirit of God and still responds to the Spirit. Jesus proved this in His ministry, when He spoke to storms, trees, gravity, sickness and even death. The spirit realm is where we were to live, with our Father.
We've heard reports of people's long dead relatives "coming back to haunt them." These are spooky things that have found a place, in our natural man's senses. Satan has used these things to bring fear of the unknown realm of the spirit, into people's lives. It has always seemed strange to me, that even Christians believe in some of these weird things, while they deny the Super-natural moves of the Spirit of God.
Today, we're returned to following a Spiritual Father, by the natural confines of the senses. God wants to be revealed through His children (the Church), by and through His Spirit and Power. Ephesians 3:10 (Amplified) says, "The purpose is, that through the Church, the complicated, many sided Wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities, principalities and powers in the Heavenly sphere."
This can only be done in the Super-natural realm and by His Spirit. Satan isn't impress by large, lavish buildings and denominations, but only by the Might and Power of God, in the Spirit realm. Even the world isn't impressed by large church building. We've many religions raise up their grand places of worship. They've done this, in order to impress their gods (whoever they might be), but I never thought their god was real because of these buildings.
Most of the world's religions were based on some super-natural display in the spirit realm. This was usually some terrible and fearful things, cooked up by evil spirits, in order to intimidate and frighten the people to the point where they would even make human sacrifice to appease their god. These evil spirits needed to make themselves seen by human senses, in order to bring fear. This isn't the Spirit of our Father, Who draws us by Love and peace, with Him. Do not fear the Spirit realm, if you're born-again by the Holy Spirit. You've been given authority over them and power to rule over them by the Holy Spirit. We must allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the Super-natural Presence in our lives. We must all the Super-natural Holy Spirit to fulfill Ephesians 3:10, through our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 4:24 (Amplified) says, "God is a Spirit, a Spiritual Being, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."
In John 6:63 (Amplified), Jesus tells His followers, "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."
I'm reluctant to speak about the Super-natural things of God, because satan and the world have programmed us to think of the super-natural in terms of the boogieman, ghosts, and goblins. We've been taught that most all the super-natural, is either fake or demonic, so that those who believe in the super-natural must be "unbalanced or strange."
God's realm is the Super-natural realm, which is a Higher realm that man could ever reach or even imagine before. Most think otherwise though and believe it includes witches, fortune tellers, ghosts, even entities and hauntings. So, when we talk about the Spirit or Super-natural things of God, it brings the age old dread of things we don't wish to think about. The Super-natural is anything that is above the natural way of thinking. Fear has left us in a place, where many are even afraid to receive the Holy Spirit, His Gifts or His language. We've tried walking with a Spiritual, Super-natural Father, by our own intellect. This limits God and leaves us to our own means.
We acknowledge that God is a Spirit Being, but we don't trust the Spirit realm which He abides in. We continue trying to accept the Truth of the Spirit realm, by limiting it to sense knowledge. Jesus was speaking to His followers in John 6:28-29 (Amplified), "Then they said, What are we to do, that we may habitually be working the works of God? What are we to do to carry out what God requires? Jesus replied; This is the work (service) that God asks of you, that you believe in the One Whom He has sent (that you cleave to, trust in, rely on and have faith in His Messenger)."
We can seemingly believe that Jesus did the Super-natural, but we've never carried them into this natural realm and making it possible for anyone to do now." The Super-natural or Spirit realm is where we must contact our Heavenly Father, hear His Voice and do what He has called us to do. Many have accepted the Super-natural as being for salvation, but have left the rest of the Spirit realm untouched. Jesus stated more than once that, "It is the Father in Me, Who does the works." We've lost sight of the Truth that the Same Spirit Who indwell ed Jesus, now lives in the beleiver.
1Corinthians 7:19 (Amplified) 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 Super-natural being you've now become through Jesus, is no different from the Natural Body Jesus lived in, while He was on earth. You might say, "Yes, but Jesus was sinless and that's why God lived in Him." Have you forgotten what Jesus told Paul in his revelation?
2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) 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." We don't think about our being a spirit being, except for when it applies to our leaving this natural realm. Then we believe, "we will become a spirit being." The Truth is, you are NOW a spirit being like God, who is now living in a body that God declared "dead." The only Life a Christian has in him today, is the Life Jesus spoke about in John 6:63 (Amplified) where He said, "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) I speak to you are Spirit and Life."
It's been difficult for us to see ourselves as being a Spirit, like our Father. Only the spirit realm can contact and rule over another spirit realm or class of being. This is why the Church has been relatively unsuccessful over an enemy. He has kept us intimidated by spooky thoughts and stories about the Super-natural realm. When the Church understands that all these "spooky things" are satan's way of intimidating the flesh and senses.
Satan moves around in people's homes, making strange things appear as real, in order to intimidate the senses. This has put fear in the people's hearts, causing Christians to stay away from the things they don't understand in the sense realm. You don't contact God by your senses and feelings, but by the Spirit and the Word (which is Spirit). I've heard people say, "Speaking in tongues is of the devil." They say this, because we've been taught that super-natural things all come from satan. We fear the super-natural, because of this.
God's will has always been to communicate with His children, by and through their spirit. Your spirit is supposed to be in charge of the natural body and direct your body in this natural realm of creation. Everything in this natural realm was created by the Spirit of God and still responds to the Spirit. Jesus proved this in His ministry, when He spoke to storms, trees, gravity, sickness and even death. The spirit realm is where we were to live, with our Father.
We've heard reports of people's long dead relatives "coming back to haunt them." These are spooky things that have found a place, in our natural man's senses. Satan has used these things to bring fear of the unknown realm of the spirit, into people's lives. It has always seemed strange to me, that even Christians believe in some of these weird things, while they deny the Super-natural moves of the Spirit of God.
Today, we're returned to following a Spiritual Father, by the natural confines of the senses. God wants to be revealed through His children (the Church), by and through His Spirit and Power. Ephesians 3:10 (Amplified) says, "The purpose is, that through the Church, the complicated, many sided Wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities, principalities and powers in the Heavenly sphere."
This can only be done in the Super-natural realm and by His Spirit. Satan isn't impress by large, lavish buildings and denominations, but only by the Might and Power of God, in the Spirit realm. Even the world isn't impressed by large church building. We've many religions raise up their grand places of worship. They've done this, in order to impress their gods (whoever they might be), but I never thought their god was real because of these buildings.
Most of the world's religions were based on some super-natural display in the spirit realm. This was usually some terrible and fearful things, cooked up by evil spirits, in order to intimidate and frighten the people to the point where they would even make human sacrifice to appease their god. These evil spirits needed to make themselves seen by human senses, in order to bring fear. This isn't the Spirit of our Father, Who draws us by Love and peace, with Him. Do not fear the Spirit realm, if you're born-again by the Holy Spirit. You've been given authority over them and power to rule over them by the Holy Spirit. We must allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the Super-natural Presence in our lives. We must all the Super-natural Holy Spirit to fulfill Ephesians 3:10, through our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Monday, March 19, 2018
Lesson 11 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
John 3:16 (Amplified) is probably the most quoted and most misunderstood scripture. Thus, it says, "For God so greatly Loved and dearly prized the world, that He gave up His Only Begotten Son, So that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost), but have eternal (everlasting) Life."
The above scripture tells us that God's Love, God's will, God's Grace and God's Purpose moved Him to deliver His Only Son up, on our behalf. God's will was that everyone would accept what Love had done on their behalf. God's Grace made it available, without man having nothing to do except to believe. God's Purpose was to bring His family home and back into righteousness or right standing with Him, according to Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) which says, "For it is by free Grace (God's unmerited favor), that you are saved (delivered from judgment) and made partakers of Christ's salvation through your faith. And this salvation is not of yourselves (of your own doing, it came not through your own striving), but is the Gift of God."
When we speak of "Christ's salvation," we speak about everything included in Jesus' Sacrifice. John 1:17 (Amplified) tells us that, "Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ." We've viewed "salvation" as meaning "Going to Heaven when we die." It's certainly true that Jesus' Sacrifice has obtained this for us by Grace. But, there is so much more to salvation.
Our healing and deliverance are also part of salvation. Sickness and disease came into the body, through the spiritual death that occurred at Adam's fall in the Garden. Both sickness and disease are spiritual in origin and the Spiritual Blessing that came through Jesus, takes are of these things. The Spiritual Blessing that came through Jesus, is revealed through the Truth that came through Jesus. Sadly, this Truth hasn't been taught to much of today's Church.
We've overlooked Grace and Truth, replaced it with man's ideas of salvation and ignored the Spiritual Blessing that has been restored to us by faith in Grace. This Spiritual Blessing has everything to do with our righteousness, justification, sanctification and holiness through Jesus. It includes our son-ship privileges and fellowship with our Heavenly Father. These, along with many other benefits, are ours through God's Grace and faith in His Grace. All these things are activated through Love.
By carnal thinking, we've dismissed most of the Spiritual Blessings, other than "going to Heaven when we die." We mostly preach about "how to abstain from the sins of the flesh," and never allow the Truth of the Indwelling Spirit to strengthen us, so we can overcome the flesh by the Spirit. A lack of faith in God's Grace has left a vacuum of Grace, in the earthly lives of His family. Understanding what God's Grace has made available to us, is above everything we can even think.
All of these Blessings have been made ours by God's Grace through Jesus. When we submit ourselves unto God, then we can resist the devil. The Power of Attorney in the Name of Jesus, has been given us by Grace, but it must be received by faith. Salvation and everything is holds, is received by Grace through faith. Each part of the Truth is a Word of His Grace and each Grace must be received by faith.
When we don't have faith in healing, we make the Promise of God's Grace of no effect in our lives. This doesn't mean we're not saved, but we're not in all Truth. The unclaimed riches of Grace are so beyond anything we've been taught or learned, that we have no idea what Grace is truly about. God's Grace was given by His Love, in order to restore us back to where man was before Adam's fall. God's Grace took care of Adam while he was on earth. God's Spiritual Blessing renewed anything and everything on earth, by the Spirit. Adam never had need of anything in his spiritual or natural life.
Most of the things we lack are Spiritual in origin, whether it's healing, peace strength. All these are the Fruit of the Spirit, in wisdom and Love, according to Philippians 4:13 (Amplified) which says, "I have strength for all things in Christ Who empower me, I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency."
The above scripture was written by a man, who had more trials and hardships than perhaps anyone other than Jesus Himself, but nothing could stop Paul from finishing the race and keeping the faith. Grace was made sufficient for all Paul might need in his walk with God. Paul says in 2Corinthians 12:9 (Amplified), "And He said to me, My Grace (My favor and Loving Kindness) and Mercy is enough for you, sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully; For My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in your weakness." This is faith in God's Grace and Paul allowed Grace to do what he wasn't able to do in his own natural strength and ability. This is when faith in God's Grace is at it's best.
John 3:16 (Amplified) is probably the most quoted and most misunderstood scripture. Thus, it says, "For God so greatly Loved and dearly prized the world, that He gave up His Only Begotten Son, So that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost), but have eternal (everlasting) Life."
The above scripture tells us that God's Love, God's will, God's Grace and God's Purpose moved Him to deliver His Only Son up, on our behalf. God's will was that everyone would accept what Love had done on their behalf. God's Grace made it available, without man having nothing to do except to believe. God's Purpose was to bring His family home and back into righteousness or right standing with Him, according to Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) which says, "For it is by free Grace (God's unmerited favor), that you are saved (delivered from judgment) and made partakers of Christ's salvation through your faith. And this salvation is not of yourselves (of your own doing, it came not through your own striving), but is the Gift of God."
When we speak of "Christ's salvation," we speak about everything included in Jesus' Sacrifice. John 1:17 (Amplified) tells us that, "Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ." We've viewed "salvation" as meaning "Going to Heaven when we die." It's certainly true that Jesus' Sacrifice has obtained this for us by Grace. But, there is so much more to salvation.
Our healing and deliverance are also part of salvation. Sickness and disease came into the body, through the spiritual death that occurred at Adam's fall in the Garden. Both sickness and disease are spiritual in origin and the Spiritual Blessing that came through Jesus, takes are of these things. The Spiritual Blessing that came through Jesus, is revealed through the Truth that came through Jesus. Sadly, this Truth hasn't been taught to much of today's Church.
We've overlooked Grace and Truth, replaced it with man's ideas of salvation and ignored the Spiritual Blessing that has been restored to us by faith in Grace. This Spiritual Blessing has everything to do with our righteousness, justification, sanctification and holiness through Jesus. It includes our son-ship privileges and fellowship with our Heavenly Father. These, along with many other benefits, are ours through God's Grace and faith in His Grace. All these things are activated through Love.
By carnal thinking, we've dismissed most of the Spiritual Blessings, other than "going to Heaven when we die." We mostly preach about "how to abstain from the sins of the flesh," and never allow the Truth of the Indwelling Spirit to strengthen us, so we can overcome the flesh by the Spirit. A lack of faith in God's Grace has left a vacuum of Grace, in the earthly lives of His family. Understanding what God's Grace has made available to us, is above everything we can even think.
All of these Blessings have been made ours by God's Grace through Jesus. When we submit ourselves unto God, then we can resist the devil. The Power of Attorney in the Name of Jesus, has been given us by Grace, but it must be received by faith. Salvation and everything is holds, is received by Grace through faith. Each part of the Truth is a Word of His Grace and each Grace must be received by faith.
When we don't have faith in healing, we make the Promise of God's Grace of no effect in our lives. This doesn't mean we're not saved, but we're not in all Truth. The unclaimed riches of Grace are so beyond anything we've been taught or learned, that we have no idea what Grace is truly about. God's Grace was given by His Love, in order to restore us back to where man was before Adam's fall. God's Grace took care of Adam while he was on earth. God's Spiritual Blessing renewed anything and everything on earth, by the Spirit. Adam never had need of anything in his spiritual or natural life.
Most of the things we lack are Spiritual in origin, whether it's healing, peace strength. All these are the Fruit of the Spirit, in wisdom and Love, according to Philippians 4:13 (Amplified) which says, "I have strength for all things in Christ Who empower me, I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency."
The above scripture was written by a man, who had more trials and hardships than perhaps anyone other than Jesus Himself, but nothing could stop Paul from finishing the race and keeping the faith. Grace was made sufficient for all Paul might need in his walk with God. Paul says in 2Corinthians 12:9 (Amplified), "And He said to me, My Grace (My favor and Loving Kindness) and Mercy is enough for you, sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully; For My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in your weakness." This is faith in God's Grace and Paul allowed Grace to do what he wasn't able to do in his own natural strength and ability. This is when faith in God's Grace is at it's best.
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Friday, March 16, 2018
Lesson 10 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing, and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
Many view the Gospel of Grace, as being different from The Gospel, when the Truth is that God has always dealt with mankind in His Grace. From the first, God's Grace provided everything needed to Bless mankind on this earth. God's will, intent and purpose from before the foundation of the earth, was unearned, undeserved, Spiritual Blessing for His family.
If you look at the Creation from God's viewpoint, you'll see how the heavens and earth were placed here for His family and everything placed here was done so as an act of His Grace through Love. God's Grace allowed for and accepted the sacrifice of goats and bulls to cover mankind, when God could have destroyed man. Adam's transgression resulted in the loss of Spiritual Blessing that had been man's from the time God breathed the Breath of Life in them.
God's Grace continued from the first Adam to the Last Adam, Jesus. The restoration of the fullness of Grace and Truth is manifest in Jesus, for all who will receive it. This unearned, unmerited favor and Spiritual Blessing must be received through faith in Jesus. Grace was limited under the Law, but it allowed mankind into the limited favor of God.
God never had to make covenant with man, but because of His Great Love and Grace, He did so anyway. Grace allowed man into God's Blessing, even though it had to be earned by the limits of the Law. If man walked in the Law, then God could have some access into His creation, but if man broke the Law, then death resulted. Grace made it possible for men to sacrifice bulls and goats if he violated the Law and resulted in God's covering them, instead of destroying them.
The Israelites in the Wilderness were finally destroyed, because they wanted to be their own gods and refused to received deliverance by God's Grace. Paul makes a very serious statement, when addressing a Christian group of believers in Galatians 5:4 (Amplified), "If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so severed (separated) from Christ. You have fallen away from Grace (from God's Gracious Favor and unmerited Blessing)."
Through man's religion and carnal minded ways of thinking, we're allowed ourselves to be brought again into a state of Law. We observe such religious laws of man as worshiping, dressing and even praying in certain ways and because of this, Grace doesn't flourish or flow in our lives, like it was meant to. We've been taught that healing and Blessing cannot "come upon us, because we're still sinners and unworthy of God's Goodness." The more we try to become worthy, the more we remove ourselves from Grace.
I'm not saying we shouldn't try living right and cut off the works of the flesh, but that we're not to rely on our good works for God to Bless us. Salvation is an act of Grace and it must be received by faith. If we needed faith for Grace, when we were still in our sin, then how can we not rely on Grace for continued Blessing, if we maintain our faith in it?
Everything we receive and will ever receive from our Heavenly Father, is given by an act of His Grace through Love. We can learn how certain Kingdom Principles work, but they work by faith in the Grace that gave these principles. Learning to walk in these Kingdom Principles, comes from studying the Word. Seeing what is ours through the Word, is the result of Wisdom. Receiving these great Promises is an act of faith and all is by Grace.
I have two options, when reading in the Word that, "I've been created in righteousness." By faith, I can believe what Grace has done for me. Or, I can use man's religious laws and believe that, "None are righteous" and try become righteous by works. It sounds boastful and self-righteous to man's religious ears, if I receive my right standing by faith in God's Grace. If I try becoming righteous by man's ideas of righteousness, I've fallen from Grace and continue in my own strength, which is of no avail.
We've failed to receive so many things Grace has provided for us through faith in God's finished Word in Jesus, because our faith in His Grace doesn't seem to be enough to "make it true." We continue thinking "There must be something I can do, to deserve it." We're still seeing the results of the Curse in our lives, because we won't allow Grace to flow to the Blessing. Why do we have trouble believing that Grace has delivered us from the Curse of the Law?
How many Christians do you know who believe God deals with His people, through sickness and disease? Jesus bore the Curse of the Law for us, so we could inherit the Blessing of Abraham by faith. This is Grace, not works and must be received by simple faith in Him. We know that "Faith comes by hearing" and we've heard how "God uses sickness and disease to deal with His people," that we've placed our faith in the wrong thing. Adhering to the teachings that "God makes us sick," puts fear into our spirit, instead of faith in Truth. People say, "That's how God dealt with David, Solomon and other old covenant people." Those people were under the Law and in order to have Grace provide for them, they needed to keep the Law. If they violated the Law, then Grace couldn't work for them. We're now under Grace. Returning under the Law, means we violate the faith of Grace and prevents it from working on our behalf.
We're required to obey the Spirit, not the Law. Those under the old covenant, couldn't obey the Spirit like we can, because their spirits were dead within them. God's Grace by His Law, could discipline the flesh and give Grace a place to work for the old covenant people. We're made alive in the Spirit and our flesh was crucified with Christ. This is God's Grace in action. God can now deal with us by His Spirit, in our spirit. Grace can flow again in our lives, like it did in Jesus. Jesus never lacked anything for Himself or others, because He put His faith in the Father and the Father's Grace.
Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. When you accept Grace, make sure you accept Truth, because one cannot work without the other. Having Truth, reveals Grace and that is by faith. We must revise our thinking about faith and believe in Grace, so the Blessing will flow in our lives. Don't make it work, but allow it to work. This is Grace. This is God's will.
Many view the Gospel of Grace, as being different from The Gospel, when the Truth is that God has always dealt with mankind in His Grace. From the first, God's Grace provided everything needed to Bless mankind on this earth. God's will, intent and purpose from before the foundation of the earth, was unearned, undeserved, Spiritual Blessing for His family.
If you look at the Creation from God's viewpoint, you'll see how the heavens and earth were placed here for His family and everything placed here was done so as an act of His Grace through Love. God's Grace allowed for and accepted the sacrifice of goats and bulls to cover mankind, when God could have destroyed man. Adam's transgression resulted in the loss of Spiritual Blessing that had been man's from the time God breathed the Breath of Life in them.
God's Grace continued from the first Adam to the Last Adam, Jesus. The restoration of the fullness of Grace and Truth is manifest in Jesus, for all who will receive it. This unearned, unmerited favor and Spiritual Blessing must be received through faith in Jesus. Grace was limited under the Law, but it allowed mankind into the limited favor of God.
God never had to make covenant with man, but because of His Great Love and Grace, He did so anyway. Grace allowed man into God's Blessing, even though it had to be earned by the limits of the Law. If man walked in the Law, then God could have some access into His creation, but if man broke the Law, then death resulted. Grace made it possible for men to sacrifice bulls and goats if he violated the Law and resulted in God's covering them, instead of destroying them.
The Israelites in the Wilderness were finally destroyed, because they wanted to be their own gods and refused to received deliverance by God's Grace. Paul makes a very serious statement, when addressing a Christian group of believers in Galatians 5:4 (Amplified), "If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so severed (separated) from Christ. You have fallen away from Grace (from God's Gracious Favor and unmerited Blessing)."
Through man's religion and carnal minded ways of thinking, we're allowed ourselves to be brought again into a state of Law. We observe such religious laws of man as worshiping, dressing and even praying in certain ways and because of this, Grace doesn't flourish or flow in our lives, like it was meant to. We've been taught that healing and Blessing cannot "come upon us, because we're still sinners and unworthy of God's Goodness." The more we try to become worthy, the more we remove ourselves from Grace.
I'm not saying we shouldn't try living right and cut off the works of the flesh, but that we're not to rely on our good works for God to Bless us. Salvation is an act of Grace and it must be received by faith. If we needed faith for Grace, when we were still in our sin, then how can we not rely on Grace for continued Blessing, if we maintain our faith in it?
Everything we receive and will ever receive from our Heavenly Father, is given by an act of His Grace through Love. We can learn how certain Kingdom Principles work, but they work by faith in the Grace that gave these principles. Learning to walk in these Kingdom Principles, comes from studying the Word. Seeing what is ours through the Word, is the result of Wisdom. Receiving these great Promises is an act of faith and all is by Grace.
I have two options, when reading in the Word that, "I've been created in righteousness." By faith, I can believe what Grace has done for me. Or, I can use man's religious laws and believe that, "None are righteous" and try become righteous by works. It sounds boastful and self-righteous to man's religious ears, if I receive my right standing by faith in God's Grace. If I try becoming righteous by man's ideas of righteousness, I've fallen from Grace and continue in my own strength, which is of no avail.
We've failed to receive so many things Grace has provided for us through faith in God's finished Word in Jesus, because our faith in His Grace doesn't seem to be enough to "make it true." We continue thinking "There must be something I can do, to deserve it." We're still seeing the results of the Curse in our lives, because we won't allow Grace to flow to the Blessing. Why do we have trouble believing that Grace has delivered us from the Curse of the Law?
How many Christians do you know who believe God deals with His people, through sickness and disease? Jesus bore the Curse of the Law for us, so we could inherit the Blessing of Abraham by faith. This is Grace, not works and must be received by simple faith in Him. We know that "Faith comes by hearing" and we've heard how "God uses sickness and disease to deal with His people," that we've placed our faith in the wrong thing. Adhering to the teachings that "God makes us sick," puts fear into our spirit, instead of faith in Truth. People say, "That's how God dealt with David, Solomon and other old covenant people." Those people were under the Law and in order to have Grace provide for them, they needed to keep the Law. If they violated the Law, then Grace couldn't work for them. We're now under Grace. Returning under the Law, means we violate the faith of Grace and prevents it from working on our behalf.
We're required to obey the Spirit, not the Law. Those under the old covenant, couldn't obey the Spirit like we can, because their spirits were dead within them. God's Grace by His Law, could discipline the flesh and give Grace a place to work for the old covenant people. We're made alive in the Spirit and our flesh was crucified with Christ. This is God's Grace in action. God can now deal with us by His Spirit, in our spirit. Grace can flow again in our lives, like it did in Jesus. Jesus never lacked anything for Himself or others, because He put His faith in the Father and the Father's Grace.
Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. When you accept Grace, make sure you accept Truth, because one cannot work without the other. Having Truth, reveals Grace and that is by faith. We must revise our thinking about faith and believe in Grace, so the Blessing will flow in our lives. Don't make it work, but allow it to work. This is Grace. This is God's will.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Lesson 9 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
Jesus says in John 6:40 (Amplified), "For this is My Father's will and His purpose, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in and cleaves to and trusts i and relies on Him should have eternal Life, and I will raise him up from the dead at the last day."
Romans 4:5 (Amplified) tells us, "But to one who, not working by the Law, trusts (believes fully in Him Who justifies the ungodly), his faith is credited to him as righteousness, the standing acceptable to God."
We've made God's will and purpose so complicated, to where we no longer even understand it. God's will and purpose through Jesus was stated very clearly to us. It should be obvious that continued sin in the flesh, isn't the reason salvation has come. Jesus didn't go to the cross, so that we could continue living in this natural body and doing anything we wanted. God's will and purpose was that Adam's sin in the Garden, which cause spiritual death and separation from God, could be paid in full by Jesus, fully restoring man into God's Grace and His Presence.
We've put so much attention on the flesh and have overlooked the spirit. Adam's transgression brought caused mankind to be separated from God, Who is Life. The "original sin" wasn't so much about the sin of the flesh, but the sin in the spirit. After the separation was made in the spirit, man was excluded from God's Presence in his spirit, leaving the Law of Sin and Death to reign through man's now dead spirit. Man changed his Heavenly Father and taken on the nature of his new father, which was sin and death, both spiritually and physically. God's Word, Jesus came forth to redeem and restore mankind back unto God.
A Sinless, Perfect Sacrifice of human form, was needed to redeem and restore mankind back to God's Presence. The lower life or blood of animals wasn't enough to cleanse mankind, but only provided a temporary covering for him. This was God's Grace on behalf of man, even though it needed to be enforced by the Law. If God hadn't accepted the sacrifice of bulls and goats by Grace, then man couldn't even reach into God's Presence and the high priest couldn't enter into the Holy of Holies.
The high priest had to enter the holy place by the directions of the Law, otherwise the people had no standing with God at all. So, even though it was by Law, it was an act of Grace given by God, in order to provide a means of acceptance before Him. God's Grace provided the means for His will to be done in the people's lives. Without the Law to provide His Grace, mankind was lost to God altogether. This was only a means for satisfying the Justice of a Holy God and satisfying the Laws of God's Throne. God is a Just and Righteous Judge. Sin must be judged or God Himself would be unjust.
Man bought about the separation from God and the only sacrifice that could pay the bill for him, was the Blood of a Man. All mankind had fallen through Adam and there was no longer a man who didn't have sin and death in his bloodline. By Grace, God furnished His Own Sacrifice by His Son, Who was born of a woman. This gave Him the humanity Adam had, but Jesus was Fathered by God Himself through the Holy Spirit. Jesus' Blood didn't come from man, but from God. His Blood was without the stain of sin and death.
This might sound simple, but the Truth is that this Grace and purpose was the Greatest miracle God ever performed! God had no opposition when He created the heavens and earth, but after the fall of Adam, every demonic force opposed Him, because of God's Own righteous Laws of His Heavenly Kingdom. God had to honor His Own righteous and just Laws, or His Word couldn't stand and God Himself would be unjust. Satan knew God couldn't go against His Own Word. The only acceptable and just way of bringing mankind back into relationship with Father, was to bring a human being who was born from the Spirit, to be the Perfect Sacrifice for man. This was the Mystery that was hidden in God, that was only revealed after Jesus' resurrection from the dead.
1Corinthians 2:7-8 (Amplified) says, "For rather what we are setting forth is a Wisdom of God once hidden from the human understanding and now revealed to us by God, that Wisdom which God devised and decreed be for the ages for our glorification to lift us into the Glory of His Presence. None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory."
This awesome miracle of Grace, was beyond satan's or man's imagination. Neither would imagine that God would actually provide His Own Self, as the Sacrifice for cleansing and redemption. God's covenant of Grace with Abraham was made 430 years before the Law. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son and "Abraham, by faith in God, brought his only son to the mountain where the Lord told him to come," according to Genesis 22:8,12 (Amplified). Abraham told his son Isaac, "My son, God Himself will provide a Lamb for the burnt offering, so the two went together." Verse 12 tells us that when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, "The angel of the Lord said unto Abraham, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear and revere God, since you have not held back from Me or begrudged giving Me your son, your only son."
If a mere man was willing to give his son on behalf of his covenant with God, then God could do no less. This is why Jesus became the Seed of Abraham. We are heirs with Jesus, according to the Promise. Abraham trusted and had with in God that is still exemplary today. God describes Abraham as being, "the Father of us all."
Jesus was sired by God's Own Blood through His Spirit and had the flesh of man through Mary. Jesus was Man and God's Perfect Sinless Sacrifice. Grace is what sent Him, Truth is what sustained Him and obedience is what raised Him, by and through the Holy Spirit. Jesus was sinless, so He could and did, become the Perfect Sacrifice (both Spiritually and physically) on our behalf. Jesus became the visible and tangible Grace and Truth of God on this earth. By watching Jesus' earthly ministry, we can see and know God's will and purpose. By faith through the righteousness of Jesus Himself, we an enter into the Very Presence of God.
We've misunderstood the Blessing of Abraham and have accepted that the Spiritual part of the Blessing is for "after we leave this earth, when he Blessing of Abraham was a tangible, earthly Blessing too. We've not only received back the Blessing of Spiritual fellowship with the Father, but through the Blessing of Abraham, God can bless the fruit of our bodies, the fruit of our cattle, and all the other Blessings Promised Abraham. God has restored the dominion He gave Adam at the beginning, through this Blessing. Jesus restored us back to the true will of God from the beginning and given us redemption. The only part of our redemption that remains to be completed, is the redemption of our natural body, which God will raise up at the Last Day. That day is drawing very near. At that day, redemption and God's will for His family will be restored to His original Plan A. Not Plan B, Plan H or Plan Z, but Plan A like it was from the beginning.
Jesus says in John 6:40 (Amplified), "For this is My Father's will and His purpose, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in and cleaves to and trusts i and relies on Him should have eternal Life, and I will raise him up from the dead at the last day."
Romans 4:5 (Amplified) tells us, "But to one who, not working by the Law, trusts (believes fully in Him Who justifies the ungodly), his faith is credited to him as righteousness, the standing acceptable to God."
We've made God's will and purpose so complicated, to where we no longer even understand it. God's will and purpose through Jesus was stated very clearly to us. It should be obvious that continued sin in the flesh, isn't the reason salvation has come. Jesus didn't go to the cross, so that we could continue living in this natural body and doing anything we wanted. God's will and purpose was that Adam's sin in the Garden, which cause spiritual death and separation from God, could be paid in full by Jesus, fully restoring man into God's Grace and His Presence.
We've put so much attention on the flesh and have overlooked the spirit. Adam's transgression brought caused mankind to be separated from God, Who is Life. The "original sin" wasn't so much about the sin of the flesh, but the sin in the spirit. After the separation was made in the spirit, man was excluded from God's Presence in his spirit, leaving the Law of Sin and Death to reign through man's now dead spirit. Man changed his Heavenly Father and taken on the nature of his new father, which was sin and death, both spiritually and physically. God's Word, Jesus came forth to redeem and restore mankind back unto God.
A Sinless, Perfect Sacrifice of human form, was needed to redeem and restore mankind back to God's Presence. The lower life or blood of animals wasn't enough to cleanse mankind, but only provided a temporary covering for him. This was God's Grace on behalf of man, even though it needed to be enforced by the Law. If God hadn't accepted the sacrifice of bulls and goats by Grace, then man couldn't even reach into God's Presence and the high priest couldn't enter into the Holy of Holies.
The high priest had to enter the holy place by the directions of the Law, otherwise the people had no standing with God at all. So, even though it was by Law, it was an act of Grace given by God, in order to provide a means of acceptance before Him. God's Grace provided the means for His will to be done in the people's lives. Without the Law to provide His Grace, mankind was lost to God altogether. This was only a means for satisfying the Justice of a Holy God and satisfying the Laws of God's Throne. God is a Just and Righteous Judge. Sin must be judged or God Himself would be unjust.
Man bought about the separation from God and the only sacrifice that could pay the bill for him, was the Blood of a Man. All mankind had fallen through Adam and there was no longer a man who didn't have sin and death in his bloodline. By Grace, God furnished His Own Sacrifice by His Son, Who was born of a woman. This gave Him the humanity Adam had, but Jesus was Fathered by God Himself through the Holy Spirit. Jesus' Blood didn't come from man, but from God. His Blood was without the stain of sin and death.
This might sound simple, but the Truth is that this Grace and purpose was the Greatest miracle God ever performed! God had no opposition when He created the heavens and earth, but after the fall of Adam, every demonic force opposed Him, because of God's Own righteous Laws of His Heavenly Kingdom. God had to honor His Own righteous and just Laws, or His Word couldn't stand and God Himself would be unjust. Satan knew God couldn't go against His Own Word. The only acceptable and just way of bringing mankind back into relationship with Father, was to bring a human being who was born from the Spirit, to be the Perfect Sacrifice for man. This was the Mystery that was hidden in God, that was only revealed after Jesus' resurrection from the dead.
1Corinthians 2:7-8 (Amplified) says, "For rather what we are setting forth is a Wisdom of God once hidden from the human understanding and now revealed to us by God, that Wisdom which God devised and decreed be for the ages for our glorification to lift us into the Glory of His Presence. None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory."
This awesome miracle of Grace, was beyond satan's or man's imagination. Neither would imagine that God would actually provide His Own Self, as the Sacrifice for cleansing and redemption. God's covenant of Grace with Abraham was made 430 years before the Law. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son and "Abraham, by faith in God, brought his only son to the mountain where the Lord told him to come," according to Genesis 22:8,12 (Amplified). Abraham told his son Isaac, "My son, God Himself will provide a Lamb for the burnt offering, so the two went together." Verse 12 tells us that when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, "The angel of the Lord said unto Abraham, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear and revere God, since you have not held back from Me or begrudged giving Me your son, your only son."
If a mere man was willing to give his son on behalf of his covenant with God, then God could do no less. This is why Jesus became the Seed of Abraham. We are heirs with Jesus, according to the Promise. Abraham trusted and had with in God that is still exemplary today. God describes Abraham as being, "the Father of us all."
Jesus was sired by God's Own Blood through His Spirit and had the flesh of man through Mary. Jesus was Man and God's Perfect Sinless Sacrifice. Grace is what sent Him, Truth is what sustained Him and obedience is what raised Him, by and through the Holy Spirit. Jesus was sinless, so He could and did, become the Perfect Sacrifice (both Spiritually and physically) on our behalf. Jesus became the visible and tangible Grace and Truth of God on this earth. By watching Jesus' earthly ministry, we can see and know God's will and purpose. By faith through the righteousness of Jesus Himself, we an enter into the Very Presence of God.
We've misunderstood the Blessing of Abraham and have accepted that the Spiritual part of the Blessing is for "after we leave this earth, when he Blessing of Abraham was a tangible, earthly Blessing too. We've not only received back the Blessing of Spiritual fellowship with the Father, but through the Blessing of Abraham, God can bless the fruit of our bodies, the fruit of our cattle, and all the other Blessings Promised Abraham. God has restored the dominion He gave Adam at the beginning, through this Blessing. Jesus restored us back to the true will of God from the beginning and given us redemption. The only part of our redemption that remains to be completed, is the redemption of our natural body, which God will raise up at the Last Day. That day is drawing very near. At that day, redemption and God's will for His family will be restored to His original Plan A. Not Plan B, Plan H or Plan Z, but Plan A like it was from the beginning.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Lesson 8 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:7 (Amplified) tells us, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
Grace and Truth were always God's will for His family. Grace and Truth came
through Jesus and Jesus came to do the will of the Father, which tells us that they were God's will from the beginning. We're struggled to understand God's will for mankind, because we see how God dealt with those in the old covenant and try carrying this into our new covenant with Him. God's will has never changed from the foundation of the world, when He decided to create a family for Himself.
Before the Father created the Heavens and earth and before He divided the waters and brought forth life and land, God already had it in His heart that earth would be home for His family. After everything was complete, God made a human body for His man to inhabit and dwell in on this earth. This was and is, His will for mankind and His will has never changed over the millennia.
After Adam's fall in the Garden, God needed to move in different ways, in order t repair and replace the damage Adam had done. But, God's will, purpose and plan have never changed. Unlike us, God never even considered a Plan B, but only Plan A. God now had to deal with sin and the death problem that separated Him from His family. God's will was to totally redeem and restore everything back to the original Plan A.
We've viewed the Law, as being a different plan and a different will, but it wasn't a different plan at all. God made Laws that gave Him the ability to deal with the sin and death that separated man from Himself. God's will, though, was still the same as before. God's plan for His family and His will have been done. God now has a family, who can come into His Presence. God has dealt with sin and death, so we can enter into His Presence without being destroyed by His Glory and Holiness.
1Corinthians 6:19 (Amplified) 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." This is as close as we can be to Him and Him to us. God actually lives within us and declares that we are the "Temple of God, Himself." God's will and testament is completed and done, as was planned from the beginning. We still do things that are wrong and displeasing to Him while we're growing into maturity with Christ, but through His will, we're restored to family with Him.
There are so many things we need to learn about who we are and Who He is, in order to fulfill His will in our lives, but this is where God's Grace and Truth come into play with our walk with Him. God's Grace covers our childish mistakes, until we're able to come to the fullness of the knowledge of Him, by His Truth. This isn't a free pass, allowing us to act like fools or to live as we please, but this is His Mercy and Grace which cover us, until we grow up. Ephesians 1:11 (Amplified) says, "In Him we also were made God's heritage (portion), and we obtained an inheritance; for we had been foreordained (chosen and appointed beforehand in accordance with His purpose), Who works out everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His Own will."
Paul goes on in Ephesians 4:23-24 (Amplified) exhorting, "Be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind, having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude And put on the new nature, the re-generate self, created in God's Image, Godlike in true righteousness and holiness." We were created righteousness and holy in God's Image, in our new creation being. God's Plan A and His will are still being fulfilled, by His Grace and Truth. You're not only to do God's will, but you are God's will.
In order to truly understand the difference between what Truth says and what man says, we must rely on the Truth of God's Word and His Holy Spirit. Jesus says in John 6:38-40 (Amplified), "For I have come down from Heaven not to do My Own will and purpose, but to do the will and purpose of Him Who sent Me. And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new Life and raise them all up at the last day For this is My Father's will and His purpose, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in and cleaves to and trust in and relies on Him should have eternal Life, and I will raise him up from the dead at the last day."
God's Word is God's Truth and if man's thoughts about Truth, don't agree with the Word, then they are wrong. Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), "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." God's Word is the only place that brings Life and Truth to us. Man's thoughts or sayings have no profit in them. Satan deceptions have returned man back under the Law, where man is required to do certain works, traditions and rituals in order to seen as righteous in God's eyes. God's Word tells us that we're not only "in God's will," but we "are God's will personified in Him."
When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior and become born-again, the Holy Spirit resides in our new creation spirit. When we renew our carnal minds with God's Word, the old, sinful ways of the outer-man (the flesh) are done away with, because we receive the Truth and Life in our new creation man, allowing us to put away the sins of the flesh. This all happens from the inside-out and not from the outside-in. Only Life and expel death and only Truth can conquer lies. God's will and purpose have given us, by Grace, both Life and Truth.
If you're born-again, then you're in the will of God. Now, you must take the Grace and Truth that came through Jesus and glorify God in your body by His Word. Stop trying to be righteous and simply allow Truth to reveal to you, that you are "created in righteousness and true holiness," like Ephesians 4:23-24 teaches. This is the new creation Paul writes about in 2Corinthians 5:17. You were created to be this by God's will and purposes and plan. Stop trying to be something that God has already created you to be. Live your new life, by the very Life of God Who lives in you.
No one has ever witnessed an apple tree, straining to produce apples. The trees simply produce apples from the seed in which they have life. You don't need to strain to produce the Fruit of the Spirit, but you just produce from the Seed Who gave you Life.
Grace and Truth were always God's will for His family. Grace and Truth came
through Jesus and Jesus came to do the will of the Father, which tells us that they were God's will from the beginning. We're struggled to understand God's will for mankind, because we see how God dealt with those in the old covenant and try carrying this into our new covenant with Him. God's will has never changed from the foundation of the world, when He decided to create a family for Himself.
Before the Father created the Heavens and earth and before He divided the waters and brought forth life and land, God already had it in His heart that earth would be home for His family. After everything was complete, God made a human body for His man to inhabit and dwell in on this earth. This was and is, His will for mankind and His will has never changed over the millennia.
After Adam's fall in the Garden, God needed to move in different ways, in order t repair and replace the damage Adam had done. But, God's will, purpose and plan have never changed. Unlike us, God never even considered a Plan B, but only Plan A. God now had to deal with sin and the death problem that separated Him from His family. God's will was to totally redeem and restore everything back to the original Plan A.
We've viewed the Law, as being a different plan and a different will, but it wasn't a different plan at all. God made Laws that gave Him the ability to deal with the sin and death that separated man from Himself. God's will, though, was still the same as before. God's plan for His family and His will have been done. God now has a family, who can come into His Presence. God has dealt with sin and death, so we can enter into His Presence without being destroyed by His Glory and Holiness.
1Corinthians 6:19 (Amplified) 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." This is as close as we can be to Him and Him to us. God actually lives within us and declares that we are the "Temple of God, Himself." God's will and testament is completed and done, as was planned from the beginning. We still do things that are wrong and displeasing to Him while we're growing into maturity with Christ, but through His will, we're restored to family with Him.
There are so many things we need to learn about who we are and Who He is, in order to fulfill His will in our lives, but this is where God's Grace and Truth come into play with our walk with Him. God's Grace covers our childish mistakes, until we're able to come to the fullness of the knowledge of Him, by His Truth. This isn't a free pass, allowing us to act like fools or to live as we please, but this is His Mercy and Grace which cover us, until we grow up. Ephesians 1:11 (Amplified) says, "In Him we also were made God's heritage (portion), and we obtained an inheritance; for we had been foreordained (chosen and appointed beforehand in accordance with His purpose), Who works out everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His Own will."
Paul goes on in Ephesians 4:23-24 (Amplified) exhorting, "Be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind, having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude And put on the new nature, the re-generate self, created in God's Image, Godlike in true righteousness and holiness." We were created righteousness and holy in God's Image, in our new creation being. God's Plan A and His will are still being fulfilled, by His Grace and Truth. You're not only to do God's will, but you are God's will.
In order to truly understand the difference between what Truth says and what man says, we must rely on the Truth of God's Word and His Holy Spirit. Jesus says in John 6:38-40 (Amplified), "For I have come down from Heaven not to do My Own will and purpose, but to do the will and purpose of Him Who sent Me. And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new Life and raise them all up at the last day For this is My Father's will and His purpose, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in and cleaves to and trust in and relies on Him should have eternal Life, and I will raise him up from the dead at the last day."
God's Word is God's Truth and if man's thoughts about Truth, don't agree with the Word, then they are wrong. Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), "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." God's Word is the only place that brings Life and Truth to us. Man's thoughts or sayings have no profit in them. Satan deceptions have returned man back under the Law, where man is required to do certain works, traditions and rituals in order to seen as righteous in God's eyes. God's Word tells us that we're not only "in God's will," but we "are God's will personified in Him."
When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior and become born-again, the Holy Spirit resides in our new creation spirit. When we renew our carnal minds with God's Word, the old, sinful ways of the outer-man (the flesh) are done away with, because we receive the Truth and Life in our new creation man, allowing us to put away the sins of the flesh. This all happens from the inside-out and not from the outside-in. Only Life and expel death and only Truth can conquer lies. God's will and purpose have given us, by Grace, both Life and Truth.
If you're born-again, then you're in the will of God. Now, you must take the Grace and Truth that came through Jesus and glorify God in your body by His Word. Stop trying to be righteous and simply allow Truth to reveal to you, that you are "created in righteousness and true holiness," like Ephesians 4:23-24 teaches. This is the new creation Paul writes about in 2Corinthians 5:17. You were created to be this by God's will and purposes and plan. Stop trying to be something that God has already created you to be. Live your new life, by the very Life of God Who lives in you.
No one has ever witnessed an apple tree, straining to produce apples. The trees simply produce apples from the seed in which they have life. You don't need to strain to produce the Fruit of the Spirit, but you just produce from the Seed Who gave you Life.
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Lesson 7 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
Adam was the only man who was led by his spirit, until Jesus came to the earth. No one knows how long Adam and Eve were on this planet, before his transgression. Until that time, Adam and Eve were in full connection with the Father, by their spirits. At the fall, they were separated from the Spirit of God within and were left to walk by the five senses of their natural bodies.
Much of what the Lord had taught them, remained in Adam's soul, but he lost revelation knowledge from that point. The Life that had lived in Adam and connected him with the Lord before the fall, still held his natural body for 930 years afterwards. As the knowledge and wisdom Adam gained from walking with God in the Spirit began to dwindle within him, Adam's body began to die and he began losing the True Life which came through his spirit.
Today's Christians have lost so much of the knowledge and wisdom through our spirit, that we now expect sickness and death to appear in our natural bodies, at an early age. The life of our natural body is limited to 120 years, according to Genesis 6:3 (Amplified) which says, "Then the Lord said, My Spirit shall not forever dwell and strive with man, for he also is flesh; but his days shall yet be 120 years."
Most of today's people, never reach 120 years of age, because we've listened more to the world, than the Spirit. Does this mean you're not a good Christian and believer, if you don't make it to 120? No, it simply means we don't know our covenant, the way we should. Our Father has made many Promises to and for us, that we no longer believe exist for us. In Hosea 4:6 (Amplified), God says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you, the priestly nation have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you that you shall be no priest to Me." Although God was speaking to the Israelites at the time, but everyone who rejects knowledge will lose sight of God's will for their lives.
Much of the knowledge about our covenant (family Promises), have been ignored or simply explained away, but God's Word hasn't changed and will never change. We're in a place with God that has never been existed since the fall of mankind. This was God's will for His children from the beginning. Galatians 3:14 (Amplified) tells us, "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." This is only one of the many Promises for what would become God's Own family, through Jesus.
The Bible is full of God's Promises to and for His children. His will is to make every Promise true in our lives. Paul writes in 2Corinthians 1:19-20 (Amplified) saying, "For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy, was NOT yes and no; but in HIM it is ALWAYS the Divine YES, So be it to God through Him, in His Person and by His Agency, to the Glory of God."
We've viewed God's Promises as being conditional, like it was under the old covenant. It's true that we're not supposed to do anything we want, like before we were born-again, but there are no rituals, ceremonies, or traditions we need to do, in order to receive these Promises. All of God's Promises are already ours, now in Jesus There more we understand and acknowledge this Truth, the easier it is to walk in the Promises. One of the many Promises that we base our trust in as God's children, is found in Psalm 103:1-5 (Amplified) which says, "Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise the Lord), oh my soul; and all that is deepest withing me, bless His Holy Name. Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise the Lord), oh my soul, and forget not one of all His Benefits. Who forgives everyone of all your iniquities. Who heals each one of all your diseases Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption. Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with Loving-kindness and tender mercy. Who satisfies your mouth, your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation, with Good, so that your youth renewed is like the eagles, strong, overcoming, and soaring."
The above Promises aren't folklore, nor have they been done away with over the years. God says that, "All His Promises are Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus." Some call it "foolishness," to believe God for Divine health, but I'm 77 years old and He has (and is) renewing my youth "like the eagle." God will fulfill each of His Promises, for all who will believe them. Don't take God's Promises lightly, but hold onto them for yourself. Not everyone will believe in God's Promises, but their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, according to Romans 3:3-4 (Amplified), which says, "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 show to be upright in what you say, and prevail when you are judged by sinful men."
In these Last Days, like never before, we need to acknowledge the Truth of God's Promises for us in Jesus. There's so much to do and only God and His Word of Promises, are able to do it. Without God performing His Word, we're just another religion in the eyes of the world. God's Power is based upon our faith to believe in His ability, in our lives. Only the Father in us can heal the sick, cast out devils, or give Life to the dead. All this is based on our faith in His Promises to fulfill what He and He Alone can do. All of God's Promises are Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus. This is God's will for His family and the world around us.
Joshua and Caleb had faith and stood on God's Promises, even after seeing the giants in the Promised Land, saying in Numbers 13, "We are well able to take the land!"
Adam was the only man who was led by his spirit, until Jesus came to the earth. No one knows how long Adam and Eve were on this planet, before his transgression. Until that time, Adam and Eve were in full connection with the Father, by their spirits. At the fall, they were separated from the Spirit of God within and were left to walk by the five senses of their natural bodies.
Much of what the Lord had taught them, remained in Adam's soul, but he lost revelation knowledge from that point. The Life that had lived in Adam and connected him with the Lord before the fall, still held his natural body for 930 years afterwards. As the knowledge and wisdom Adam gained from walking with God in the Spirit began to dwindle within him, Adam's body began to die and he began losing the True Life which came through his spirit.
Today's Christians have lost so much of the knowledge and wisdom through our spirit, that we now expect sickness and death to appear in our natural bodies, at an early age. The life of our natural body is limited to 120 years, according to Genesis 6:3 (Amplified) which says, "Then the Lord said, My Spirit shall not forever dwell and strive with man, for he also is flesh; but his days shall yet be 120 years."
Most of today's people, never reach 120 years of age, because we've listened more to the world, than the Spirit. Does this mean you're not a good Christian and believer, if you don't make it to 120? No, it simply means we don't know our covenant, the way we should. Our Father has made many Promises to and for us, that we no longer believe exist for us. In Hosea 4:6 (Amplified), God says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you, the priestly nation have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you that you shall be no priest to Me." Although God was speaking to the Israelites at the time, but everyone who rejects knowledge will lose sight of God's will for their lives.
Much of the knowledge about our covenant (family Promises), have been ignored or simply explained away, but God's Word hasn't changed and will never change. We're in a place with God that has never been existed since the fall of mankind. This was God's will for His children from the beginning. Galatians 3:14 (Amplified) tells us, "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." This is only one of the many Promises for what would become God's Own family, through Jesus.
The Bible is full of God's Promises to and for His children. His will is to make every Promise true in our lives. Paul writes in 2Corinthians 1:19-20 (Amplified) saying, "For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy, was NOT yes and no; but in HIM it is ALWAYS the Divine YES, So be it to God through Him, in His Person and by His Agency, to the Glory of God."
We've viewed God's Promises as being conditional, like it was under the old covenant. It's true that we're not supposed to do anything we want, like before we were born-again, but there are no rituals, ceremonies, or traditions we need to do, in order to receive these Promises. All of God's Promises are already ours, now in Jesus There more we understand and acknowledge this Truth, the easier it is to walk in the Promises. One of the many Promises that we base our trust in as God's children, is found in Psalm 103:1-5 (Amplified) which says, "Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise the Lord), oh my soul; and all that is deepest withing me, bless His Holy Name. Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise the Lord), oh my soul, and forget not one of all His Benefits. Who forgives everyone of all your iniquities. Who heals each one of all your diseases Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption. Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with Loving-kindness and tender mercy. Who satisfies your mouth, your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation, with Good, so that your youth renewed is like the eagles, strong, overcoming, and soaring."
The above Promises aren't folklore, nor have they been done away with over the years. God says that, "All His Promises are Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus." Some call it "foolishness," to believe God for Divine health, but I'm 77 years old and He has (and is) renewing my youth "like the eagle." God will fulfill each of His Promises, for all who will believe them. Don't take God's Promises lightly, but hold onto them for yourself. Not everyone will believe in God's Promises, but their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, according to Romans 3:3-4 (Amplified), which says, "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 show to be upright in what you say, and prevail when you are judged by sinful men."
In these Last Days, like never before, we need to acknowledge the Truth of God's Promises for us in Jesus. There's so much to do and only God and His Word of Promises, are able to do it. Without God performing His Word, we're just another religion in the eyes of the world. God's Power is based upon our faith to believe in His ability, in our lives. Only the Father in us can heal the sick, cast out devils, or give Life to the dead. All this is based on our faith in His Promises to fulfill what He and He Alone can do. All of God's Promises are Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus. This is God's will for His family and the world around us.
Joshua and Caleb had faith and stood on God's Promises, even after seeing the giants in the Promised Land, saying in Numbers 13, "We are well able to take the land!"
Monday, March 12, 2018
Lesson 6 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing, and Truth come through Jesus Christ."
God's Grace, His unearned, undeserved favor, unmerited favor, Spiritual Blessing and Truth came to us, through Jesus. In Jesus, we find all of the answers and Blessings that have been granted to us by our Father. There's no longer any need to offer sacrifice, observe days or have the ritual washings that surrounded the things of the Law. All our inheritance that Jesus had left to us through His will, are in the Word of God for us.
Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) 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."
Faith is the basis for Grace to deliver God's Promises to His children. A "title deed" or will show the writing and promises of something, but we don't actually need to see the inheritance, in order to believe that what the will states is true. If your family member dies and leaves his house or property, then we would need to read his will, in order to believe that what he left is there. If you receive the deed to his house or car, then the title deed is proof of the existence of what has been given to you. This is what the Father expects of us, when it comes to the inheritance He's given us. The only thing required is that by faith, we believe what God has given us is Truth and Grace, through Jesus Christ.
God shouldn't have to show us what He has Promised, in order for us to believe. We should accept by faith, that His Promise is Truth. This is what faith is revealing to us. We've been waiting to see what He has Promised be manifested and then we will believe. This is man's way of saying, "I cannot trust Him and I must see it, before I believe in His Word." It must be heartbreaking for our Heavenly Father to hear His children declare, "I cannot believe His Promise without proof."
God's Word should be the only proof we need, in order to simply receive by faith, what He has Promised us. Demanding proof is the highest degree of doubt, towards Him. Our entire relationship with God is based on our faith in His Word. Demanding visible proof, is saying we don't trust Him. Most of us have never seen Jesus, but by faith, we must believe and trust God for what and Who Jesus really is.
Our entire redemption revelation is wrapped up in God's Word and can only be received by faith in His Grace. We keep trying to "experience it" and making it come to pass, before we believe it. Many never rest in God's Promises, because they can't see it and therefore, can't believe it. We want to speak in tongues, before we'll believe we've received the Holy Spirit. You must believe that you first receive the Holy Spirit, before you can speak with tongues.
Speaking in tongues isn't the proof you receive, but God's Word is the proof and by faith you speak. Our doubt holds us back, when we say, "I must first see it, in order to believe it." We try to feel healed, to believe we are healed, and not the other way around. In Mark 5:28-29 (Amplified), the woman with the issue of blood, kept saying, "If I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health." Verse 29 says, "And immediately her flow of blood was dried up at the source, and suddenly she felt in her body that she was healed of her distressing ailment." This woman first believed, then she acted on her faith or believing and finally she felt her source of blood flow stop or felt in her body she was healed.
We want to feel in our body, see the flow of blood cease and then we will believe. God's Word is our proof, before we see or feel anything. When we believe, the rest simply follows. It can't resist the power of faith in God's Word. God's Will for us today, is that we allow faith to let Grace do its work in us. The Lord gave me a teaching on the "Unclaimed Riches of Grace," where He revealed to me, how our faith has never yet touched all that His Grace has made available to His children. Since that time, Ive labored to "enter into the rest," spoken about in Hebrews 4:11 (Amplified) which says, "Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest of God, to know and experience it for ourselves, so that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience into which those in the Wilderness fell."
The entire walk of "those in the Wilderness" depended on faith in God's Grace to provide for them. They weren't under the Law yet, but were delivered and maintained by God's Grace. They constantly cried for proof, even after all the things God's Grace had already provided for them. This resulted in God becoming angered at their unbelief in Him. The Israelites finally refused to believe His Promises of entering into His rest in the Promised Land. Jesus is our Promised Land, He is our Rest that is still Promised today. All that God has Promised us, is entirely based on our faith in His Grace that Jesus came to bring unto us. Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ.
Our righteousness is in Jesus, by faith in God's Grace. Our healing is in Jesus. Our cleansing is in Jesus. Our son-ship rights are in Jesus. Our redemption is in Him and our authority is in Him. Our sanctification is in Jesus and all "the things faith hope for" are in Jesus, according to Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) which says, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation) the title deed, of 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)."
In order to be righteous in God's eyes, we must by faith, believe Jesus has become our righteousness. We don't do it by our own works or by trying to feel righteous. We must by faith, believe that God has made us righteous in Jesus. Can you see the difference between what we've been taught by men and what the Father has already done for us by Grace and Truth, through Jesus Christ? This is the "rest" we're to enter into. The striving to enter in, comes by overcoming the sense that try telling us we're not righteous and the faith that says God's Word is more True than how we feel. This is walking in the Spirit and not the flesh, according to Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified) which says, "Therefore, there is no condemnation to those who walk not in the flesh but in the Spirit."
God's Grace, His unearned, undeserved favor, unmerited favor, Spiritual Blessing and Truth came to us, through Jesus. In Jesus, we find all of the answers and Blessings that have been granted to us by our Father. There's no longer any need to offer sacrifice, observe days or have the ritual washings that surrounded the things of the Law. All our inheritance that Jesus had left to us through His will, are in the Word of God for us.
Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) 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."
Faith is the basis for Grace to deliver God's Promises to His children. A "title deed" or will show the writing and promises of something, but we don't actually need to see the inheritance, in order to believe that what the will states is true. If your family member dies and leaves his house or property, then we would need to read his will, in order to believe that what he left is there. If you receive the deed to his house or car, then the title deed is proof of the existence of what has been given to you. This is what the Father expects of us, when it comes to the inheritance He's given us. The only thing required is that by faith, we believe what God has given us is Truth and Grace, through Jesus Christ.
God shouldn't have to show us what He has Promised, in order for us to believe. We should accept by faith, that His Promise is Truth. This is what faith is revealing to us. We've been waiting to see what He has Promised be manifested and then we will believe. This is man's way of saying, "I cannot trust Him and I must see it, before I believe in His Word." It must be heartbreaking for our Heavenly Father to hear His children declare, "I cannot believe His Promise without proof."
God's Word should be the only proof we need, in order to simply receive by faith, what He has Promised us. Demanding proof is the highest degree of doubt, towards Him. Our entire relationship with God is based on our faith in His Word. Demanding visible proof, is saying we don't trust Him. Most of us have never seen Jesus, but by faith, we must believe and trust God for what and Who Jesus really is.
Our entire redemption revelation is wrapped up in God's Word and can only be received by faith in His Grace. We keep trying to "experience it" and making it come to pass, before we believe it. Many never rest in God's Promises, because they can't see it and therefore, can't believe it. We want to speak in tongues, before we'll believe we've received the Holy Spirit. You must believe that you first receive the Holy Spirit, before you can speak with tongues.
Speaking in tongues isn't the proof you receive, but God's Word is the proof and by faith you speak. Our doubt holds us back, when we say, "I must first see it, in order to believe it." We try to feel healed, to believe we are healed, and not the other way around. In Mark 5:28-29 (Amplified), the woman with the issue of blood, kept saying, "If I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health." Verse 29 says, "And immediately her flow of blood was dried up at the source, and suddenly she felt in her body that she was healed of her distressing ailment." This woman first believed, then she acted on her faith or believing and finally she felt her source of blood flow stop or felt in her body she was healed.
We want to feel in our body, see the flow of blood cease and then we will believe. God's Word is our proof, before we see or feel anything. When we believe, the rest simply follows. It can't resist the power of faith in God's Word. God's Will for us today, is that we allow faith to let Grace do its work in us. The Lord gave me a teaching on the "Unclaimed Riches of Grace," where He revealed to me, how our faith has never yet touched all that His Grace has made available to His children. Since that time, Ive labored to "enter into the rest," spoken about in Hebrews 4:11 (Amplified) which says, "Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest of God, to know and experience it for ourselves, so that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience into which those in the Wilderness fell."
The entire walk of "those in the Wilderness" depended on faith in God's Grace to provide for them. They weren't under the Law yet, but were delivered and maintained by God's Grace. They constantly cried for proof, even after all the things God's Grace had already provided for them. This resulted in God becoming angered at their unbelief in Him. The Israelites finally refused to believe His Promises of entering into His rest in the Promised Land. Jesus is our Promised Land, He is our Rest that is still Promised today. All that God has Promised us, is entirely based on our faith in His Grace that Jesus came to bring unto us. Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ.
Our righteousness is in Jesus, by faith in God's Grace. Our healing is in Jesus. Our cleansing is in Jesus. Our son-ship rights are in Jesus. Our redemption is in Him and our authority is in Him. Our sanctification is in Jesus and all "the things faith hope for" are in Jesus, according to Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) which says, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation) the title deed, of 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)."
In order to be righteous in God's eyes, we must by faith, believe Jesus has become our righteousness. We don't do it by our own works or by trying to feel righteous. We must by faith, believe that God has made us righteous in Jesus. Can you see the difference between what we've been taught by men and what the Father has already done for us by Grace and Truth, through Jesus Christ? This is the "rest" we're to enter into. The striving to enter in, comes by overcoming the sense that try telling us we're not righteous and the faith that says God's Word is more True than how we feel. This is walking in the Spirit and not the flesh, according to Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified) which says, "Therefore, there is no condemnation to those who walk not in the flesh but in the Spirit."
Friday, March 9, 2018
Lesson 5 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL
John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given by Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
Jesus was the Perfect Sacrifice that removed sin and death (spiritual death and separation from God, Who is Life) for mankind. Grace and Spiritual Blessings could once again come upon God's people with His Sacrifice. The Holy Spirit was limited in how He could move in the earth, as long as the people were still dead in sin and trespass. The Holy Spirit was sent from Heaven on Pentecost, to bring forth the Spirit part of God's Blessing and union with man.
God could now deal with His people through the Holy Spirit from the inside (the new creation spirit), instead of from the outside (the flesh and the Law). God's Word, which is Spirit, could now become Alive in man's new creation spirit. God wouldn't need to correct, guide and discipline His people by the sinful flesh any longer. He could once again deal with them by His Word and His Spirit.
We've failed to understand what happened when the sin no longer placed a barrier between God and His people. Isaiah 59:1-2 (Amplified) 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."
God has not changed, but the sin that came in the Garden has caused the separation between us and Him. God never said that He didn't want to hear or save, but that, "Sin had separated us from Him." It was always God's will to be one with His children. Adam, not God, caused the separation. Jesus paid the Price and dealt with the sin that brought death, so that God's Grace and mercy could once again move upon His family from the spirit of man that has been given new creation Life through Jesus.
Psalm 119:9-11 (Amplified) says, "How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed and keeping watch on himself according to Your Word, conforming his life to it. With my whole heart have I sought You, inquiring for and of You and earning for You; Oh, let met not wander or step aside either in willfulness or ignorance from Your commandments. Your Word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You."
2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified) says, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin (for correction of error and discipline in obedience), and for training in righteousness (in Holy living in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action)." Paul tells us why this is so important in our lives in Verse 17, saying, "So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work."
2Timothy 2:20-21 (Amplified) says, "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also utensils of wood and earthenware, and some for honorable and noble use, and some for menial and ignoble use. So whosoever cleanses himself from contact with contaminating and corrupt influences will then himself be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any use."
Psalm 119:9 questions, "How shall a young man cleanse his ways?" The answer is given, "By taking heed according to Thy Word." The Father expects us to cleanse ourselves by the washing of water by the Word and to disciple and correct our ways, by His Word and His Spirit. We don't do this with the traditions or rituals of the flesh, nor by the outward bonds of the religious rules that man has created. We do so by honoring and respecting the One Who saves us and by responding to God's Word, as children of the Father. God's Word cleanses us, not threats of discipline by sickness and demonic disease. The reason for removing sin from our lives, was that it separated man from God's Spirit of Life and God was left dealing with only the carnal man. Now, it's a matter of God's children submitting to His Word out of respect, love and honor and using His Word to cleanse ourselves, during our daily walk.
When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into the Father's Presence on our behalf, He brought total cleansing and restored mankind back to the Spirit and Presence of our Father. We could now, once again, hear the Voice of the Father and have His Presence living in our joint spirits with Him again. We're supposed to now, be like Jesus was and "Only go where the Father tells us and only say what the Father says and do only what the Father does." We are to become as one with Him. We're to obey Him out of love and discipline and correct ourselves by His Word. We're to be the ones who are led by the Spirit. It's available through Grace, for all those "that have ears to hear."
Man's religious ideas have placed rules, laws and traditions of God's people, in order to keep them in line. For some reason, man feels like he's not wise enough to discipline or correct himself by the Word and the Spirit. Man will tell us that "You must dress a certain way," in order to conform to his perception of God's Word. God isn't concerned about whether you wear make-up, jewelry, long dresses or suits and ties. He looks upon the hidden man of the heart.
If there are areas of your natural man that are out of line with the new man, then you're to correct it by God's Word and bring your flesh into obedience to God's will and His purpose. God never instructed us to wait until those things destroy you. He instructed us to use His Word to correct it. 2Timothy 3:16 says that, "God Word was for reproof and conviction of sin." Why would anyone who love the Lord, wait until whatever was wrong in them to break them? Especially when they had the Word and the Holy Spirit to reprove and convict them before it was too late? Proverbs 17:10 (Amplified) tells us, "A reproof enters deeper into a man of understanding, than a hundred lashes into a self-confident fool." Don't wait for the world to reprove you, because it never will. We must apply the Word in our lives, before the world brings destruction on us in the carnal realm.
Jesus was the Perfect Sacrifice that removed sin and death (spiritual death and separation from God, Who is Life) for mankind. Grace and Spiritual Blessings could once again come upon God's people with His Sacrifice. The Holy Spirit was limited in how He could move in the earth, as long as the people were still dead in sin and trespass. The Holy Spirit was sent from Heaven on Pentecost, to bring forth the Spirit part of God's Blessing and union with man.
God could now deal with His people through the Holy Spirit from the inside (the new creation spirit), instead of from the outside (the flesh and the Law). God's Word, which is Spirit, could now become Alive in man's new creation spirit. God wouldn't need to correct, guide and discipline His people by the sinful flesh any longer. He could once again deal with them by His Word and His Spirit.
We've failed to understand what happened when the sin no longer placed a barrier between God and His people. Isaiah 59:1-2 (Amplified) 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."
God has not changed, but the sin that came in the Garden has caused the separation between us and Him. God never said that He didn't want to hear or save, but that, "Sin had separated us from Him." It was always God's will to be one with His children. Adam, not God, caused the separation. Jesus paid the Price and dealt with the sin that brought death, so that God's Grace and mercy could once again move upon His family from the spirit of man that has been given new creation Life through Jesus.
Psalm 119:9-11 (Amplified) says, "How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed and keeping watch on himself according to Your Word, conforming his life to it. With my whole heart have I sought You, inquiring for and of You and earning for You; Oh, let met not wander or step aside either in willfulness or ignorance from Your commandments. Your Word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You."
2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified) says, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin (for correction of error and discipline in obedience), and for training in righteousness (in Holy living in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action)." Paul tells us why this is so important in our lives in Verse 17, saying, "So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work."
2Timothy 2:20-21 (Amplified) says, "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also utensils of wood and earthenware, and some for honorable and noble use, and some for menial and ignoble use. So whosoever cleanses himself from contact with contaminating and corrupt influences will then himself be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any use."
Psalm 119:9 questions, "How shall a young man cleanse his ways?" The answer is given, "By taking heed according to Thy Word." The Father expects us to cleanse ourselves by the washing of water by the Word and to disciple and correct our ways, by His Word and His Spirit. We don't do this with the traditions or rituals of the flesh, nor by the outward bonds of the religious rules that man has created. We do so by honoring and respecting the One Who saves us and by responding to God's Word, as children of the Father. God's Word cleanses us, not threats of discipline by sickness and demonic disease. The reason for removing sin from our lives, was that it separated man from God's Spirit of Life and God was left dealing with only the carnal man. Now, it's a matter of God's children submitting to His Word out of respect, love and honor and using His Word to cleanse ourselves, during our daily walk.
When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into the Father's Presence on our behalf, He brought total cleansing and restored mankind back to the Spirit and Presence of our Father. We could now, once again, hear the Voice of the Father and have His Presence living in our joint spirits with Him again. We're supposed to now, be like Jesus was and "Only go where the Father tells us and only say what the Father says and do only what the Father does." We are to become as one with Him. We're to obey Him out of love and discipline and correct ourselves by His Word. We're to be the ones who are led by the Spirit. It's available through Grace, for all those "that have ears to hear."
Man's religious ideas have placed rules, laws and traditions of God's people, in order to keep them in line. For some reason, man feels like he's not wise enough to discipline or correct himself by the Word and the Spirit. Man will tell us that "You must dress a certain way," in order to conform to his perception of God's Word. God isn't concerned about whether you wear make-up, jewelry, long dresses or suits and ties. He looks upon the hidden man of the heart.
If there are areas of your natural man that are out of line with the new man, then you're to correct it by God's Word and bring your flesh into obedience to God's will and His purpose. God never instructed us to wait until those things destroy you. He instructed us to use His Word to correct it. 2Timothy 3:16 says that, "God Word was for reproof and conviction of sin." Why would anyone who love the Lord, wait until whatever was wrong in them to break them? Especially when they had the Word and the Holy Spirit to reprove and convict them before it was too late? Proverbs 17:10 (Amplified) tells us, "A reproof enters deeper into a man of understanding, than a hundred lashes into a self-confident fool." Don't wait for the world to reprove you, because it never will. We must apply the Word in our lives, before the world brings destruction on us in the carnal realm.
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