Ephesians 2:10,12,13 (Amplified) says, "For we are God's Own handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus (born anew) that we may do those Good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us, taking paths which He prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the Good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live."
Today's Church should realize just how awesome the above scripture is for us. God established a Plan for His children to walk in complete fellowship and Blessing with Him, both before the fall of Adam and now through His Son Jesus. This isn't just for when we leave this earth and go to Heaven, but is for the He planned for His children on earth. The Original Intent of God's heart has now come back into His Own Plan for us, in and before He created mankind.
Through Jesus, we (the Church of Gentiles) have been born into God's covenant and Promise of Blessing He made to Abraham. Paul continues writing to the Church in Verse 12, saying, "Remember that you were at that time separated, living apart from Christ, excluded from all part in Him, utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the Sacred Compacts of the Messianic Promise, with no knowledge of or right in God's agreements (His covenants), and you had no hope, no Promise, and you were in the world without God."
It strange to even think about being "in the world without God." Verse 13 says, "But now in Christ Jesus, you were once so far away, through, by and in the Blood of Christ, have been brought near." By the Blood of Jesus, we as Gentiles, have been made partakers of all God's Promises. We've been restored, bought back, and redeemed back to God's Original Intent for His family, through Jesus. This was God's Plan for His children, even before the fall of Adam. He wasn't prearranging paths for us to walk in Heaven, but made Plans before creating mankind, for us to walk in this earth.
As born-again people, we're destined to go to Heaven when we leave this planet, but this doesn't do away with His Plan for us now, on earth. God prearranged these Plans and paths as part of His Original Intent for His children and He is still carrying out these Plans on earth. Many stagger at the thought of God's Plan and Promise, believing there are "too much for us today." We've forgotten to bring God into the Plans for us. Without having God in these Plans, man can't understand His heart or how to walk in the paths He made for us.
God never intended for His family to walk in the Curse. There was no Curse, before Adam's fall. We've been brought back to God's Original Intent for His family, through Jesus. Jesus paid off our debt and made the Way for us to live in God's heart, Plan and Intent for His family from before time and before we were separated from His Plan. The Predestined Plan is still in the heart of God.
Paul explains how and why he can say such thing about God's Prearranged Plan for the Gentiles, in Galatians 1:11-12 (Amplified), which says, "For I want you to know brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by one is not man's gospel (a human invention according to or patterned after any human standard). For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through a direct Revelation given by Jesus Christ (the Messiah)." Romans 10:17 (Amplified) says, "So faith comes by hearing what is told, and what is heard comes by the preaching of the Message that came from the lips of Christ the Messiah Himself."
Do you think that Jesus would say something that is different from the Gospel or Revelation that He gave Paul to preach? What has happened to us, is what Jesus revealed to Paul. Natural man believed it was "too far out," so we improvised, making the message something we could do on our own. The Promises were greater than natural man could do or even think, so we brought it down to man's invention and human standards.
Most of the Gospel we've heard preached today, leaves out the Super-natural intervention of God and His ability to bring it to pass. Natural man has removed God's part in His Promise, making it for only "when we die and go to Heaven." This has never been God's Original Intent. His Plan was for us to walk with Him here on earth, as well as in Heaven.
There's no way to walk in the Blessing of Abraham that is now ours through Jesus, without the Super-natural Presence of God bringing it to pass. The Blessing God Promised Abraham, was the Plan He had before Adam's fall in the Garden and still His Plan on earth today. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified), "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." There's no way for us to walk in Heaven's Blessing, without first knowing what God's will is for us here.
As the Last Adam, Jesus restored man back to Heaven's will, during His earthly walk. We can see the heart of God's Original Intent for His family, even here on earth, through Jesus' Example. During His earthly ministry, Jesus spoke the Blessing, healed the sick, delivered those who were possessed, and raised people from the dead and we're to follow His Example, but we can't do any of these things without the Super-natural move of God.
We've heard about the "faith movement" from many sources, but many dismiss it as "foolishness." Faith is simply another word for "trust." We've never learned to trust God with our healing or other Super-natural things. Man's gospel tells us that, "God doesn't do these things anymore." Without Him, everything the Gospel teaches is IMPOSSIBLE. We haven't dared believe in His Promises on earth, because we've never been taught to trust Him that far.
We've allowed ourselves to be brought back under man-made laws, so we could walk in them without God. Only God can bring His Promises to pass and that comes by having faith and trusting in God's Word. The people in the Wilderness limited God, by not trusting His Word and covenant. God wanted to meet their every need by Himself, but they held onto Egypt and its ways. 1John 3:16,17-18 (Amplified says, "And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of), by observation and experience and believe, adhere to and put faith in and rely on, the Love God cherishes for us. God is Love, and he who dwells in and continues in love, dwells and continues in God and God dwells in and continues in Him." We read about God's Love for us in Verses 17-18, which say, "In this union and communion with Him, Love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, with assurance and boldness to face Him, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in Love (dread does not exist), but full grown (complete, perfect) Love, turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror. For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and so he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of Love, is not yet grown into Love's complete perfection."
We read one of God's Promises for us, concerning fear and terror, in Isaiah 54:14 (Amplified), which says, "You shall establish yourself in Righteousness (in rightness, in conformity with God's will and order); you shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you." In order to walk free from fear or oppression and destruction and terror, you must trust in God and His Love for you. This faith or trust, is born out of knowing God's heart and His Love for you, for yourself. No one can put this into your heart, you must do it for yourself. You must know Him and His intention for you, as His child. If you don't have Revelation of Him for yourself and only know what others say about Him (the gospel of men), then you can't live out the Blessing.
Faith or trust comes only when you come to know Him for yourself, as a child of God. Many have come into the new birth or family with only the understanding of other men. Many know about God, but not many know God for themselves. We still walk in fear of the Law and our inability to walk in out, which leads us to expect God's punishment for our failures. God's the Only One Who can do the things we need done in our lives, but we've been afraid to trust Him for them. Our part of the covenant is to have faith and trust God. God's part is to fulfill what only He can do. ALL GOD ASKS OF US is to trust Him. God has already made our paths, preparing them ahead of time, and He has made them available to us. We can only walk them by faith, trusting Him while we're still here on earth.
This might seem like "hyper faith," or "foolish" to some, but God wants His children to walk in complete trust in Him. God prearranged paths for us to walk in before time existed. This is His Original Intent for His family.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Lesson 20 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Romans 12:2 (Amplified) says, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind, by it's new ideals and it's new attitude, so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."
So many Christians say that bad things happening in their lives are, "Just the way things are" and/or "This is the new normal." I refuse to accept that what goes on now as being the new normal for my life and the lives of my family. The things happening in today's world are anything but "Good, acceptable and the perfect will of God," for His family. God's will is not to have Christians be afraid to allow their children to walk to school or have them in school. We've allowed ourselves to become conformed to the world and have accepted their customs and ideals.
When did God become unable to take care of His Own family? God is more than Able to watch over and care for us, but we've come to believe He can do so. We've adapted the modern theology which tells us that, "God doesn't do these things any longer" and we put up with what happens in our lives today. If we look at God's Original Intent for His family, then we won't find the fear and despair that plagues many of us today. Hebrews 4:2 (Amplified) says, "For indeed we have had the glad tidings (the Gospel) of God proclaimed to us just as truly as they, the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (the the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His Power, Wisdom and Goodness), by those who heard it, neither were they united in faith with the ones (Joshua and Caleb) who heard and did believe."
Was God able to take care of the Israelites who were delivered out of Egypt? Did God make good on His Promise to those who believed Him? Only those who accepted what Egypt had given them as being "the new normal," adapted to the Egyptian customs and remained in the Wilderness. God said that they "tempted and limited Him from doing what He said, by their unbelief." Have we, as His Own family, done the same and limited God from keeping His Promises to us in this age and time, by our unbelief? Hebrews 11:39-40 (Amplified) says, "And all of these, though they won Divine approval by means of their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was Promised Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, So that they, these heroes and heroines of faith should not come to perfection apart from us, before we could join them."
The heroes of faith that Paul writes about in the above scripture, weren't family yet, but were under the old covenant. Those heroes who were born-again under the new covenant, didn't have the Epistles and the Revelations Paul was given by Jesus Himself, compiled into one Book, like we have today. Many never read about God's Original Intent for His family. Some couldn't read Galatians 3:13-14 (Amplified) which says, "Christ purchased our freedom, redeeming us from the Curse (doom of the Law and its condemnation) by Himself becoming a Curse for us, for it is written in scripture, Cursed is everyone who hands on a tree (is crucified) To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."
When looking at the ministry of the Last Adam, Jesus, we understand that in Him, we've been delivered back to God's Original Intent for His children. We've become a new creation family, like before Adam's fall in the Garden. The First Adam had no customs of the world to adapt to, but was dependent only on his Father, like Jesus was. Jesus walked like we do today, simultaneously as the Son of man and the Son of God. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we walk in the same realm as Jesus did in His earthly ministry. We are sons and daughters of man, by our own natural birth and we are sons and daughters of God, by our new birth. We live in the flesh, but we war not after the flesh, according to 2Corinthians 10:3-4 (Amplified) which says, "For though we walk, live in the flesh, 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 the destruction of strongholds."
We read about God's Original Intent in 1Corinthians 3:9 (Amplified), which says, "For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; You are God's garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, you are God's building." Genesis 2:8 (Amplified) tells us about God's Garden, saying, "And the Lord God planted a Garden toward the east in Eden (delight), and there He put the man whom He had formed (framed, constituted)." We've become that Garden, which was planted by God. We are His Own building or temple, that He dwells and lives in. 1Corinthians 3:16 (Amplified) says, "Do you not discern and understand that you the whole Church at Corinth are God's temple (His sanctuary) and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you to be at home in you, collectively as a Church and also individually?"
I'm very careful about what I write and say to the Church and God's people. My aim is to once again, bring us back to the faith that,"our God is still more than able to do more than we can ask or even think." Throughout the years, the enemy has caused us to believe that somehow, "God doesn't do these things anymore." The Super-natural works of God have all but been removed from our teaching, in the Church.
The Holy Spirit writes through Paul in 1Corinthians 3:17 (Amplified), "If anyone does hurt to God's temple or corrupts it with false doctrine or destroys it, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him. For the temple of God is holy (sacred to Him), and that temple you, the believing Church and its individual believer are." Teaching God's Church that, "God doesn't watch over, deliver, heal, speak or do mighty works anymore," is wrong and holds us back in unbelief. We limit the Holy One and grieve the Holy Spirit with our unbelief, like those in the Wilderness did.
This teaching is not designed to anger you or make you think you're not a good Christian. God never made anything, but good Christians. His work is perfection. We need to have vision and understanding, in order to trust Him beyond religion. We must seek Him for ourselves and don't simply rely on someone else's ideas.
So many Christians say that bad things happening in their lives are, "Just the way things are" and/or "This is the new normal." I refuse to accept that what goes on now as being the new normal for my life and the lives of my family. The things happening in today's world are anything but "Good, acceptable and the perfect will of God," for His family. God's will is not to have Christians be afraid to allow their children to walk to school or have them in school. We've allowed ourselves to become conformed to the world and have accepted their customs and ideals.
When did God become unable to take care of His Own family? God is more than Able to watch over and care for us, but we've come to believe He can do so. We've adapted the modern theology which tells us that, "God doesn't do these things any longer" and we put up with what happens in our lives today. If we look at God's Original Intent for His family, then we won't find the fear and despair that plagues many of us today. Hebrews 4:2 (Amplified) says, "For indeed we have had the glad tidings (the Gospel) of God proclaimed to us just as truly as they, the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (the the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His Power, Wisdom and Goodness), by those who heard it, neither were they united in faith with the ones (Joshua and Caleb) who heard and did believe."
Was God able to take care of the Israelites who were delivered out of Egypt? Did God make good on His Promise to those who believed Him? Only those who accepted what Egypt had given them as being "the new normal," adapted to the Egyptian customs and remained in the Wilderness. God said that they "tempted and limited Him from doing what He said, by their unbelief." Have we, as His Own family, done the same and limited God from keeping His Promises to us in this age and time, by our unbelief? Hebrews 11:39-40 (Amplified) says, "And all of these, though they won Divine approval by means of their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was Promised Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, So that they, these heroes and heroines of faith should not come to perfection apart from us, before we could join them."
The heroes of faith that Paul writes about in the above scripture, weren't family yet, but were under the old covenant. Those heroes who were born-again under the new covenant, didn't have the Epistles and the Revelations Paul was given by Jesus Himself, compiled into one Book, like we have today. Many never read about God's Original Intent for His family. Some couldn't read Galatians 3:13-14 (Amplified) which says, "Christ purchased our freedom, redeeming us from the Curse (doom of the Law and its condemnation) by Himself becoming a Curse for us, for it is written in scripture, Cursed is everyone who hands on a tree (is crucified) To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."
When looking at the ministry of the Last Adam, Jesus, we understand that in Him, we've been delivered back to God's Original Intent for His children. We've become a new creation family, like before Adam's fall in the Garden. The First Adam had no customs of the world to adapt to, but was dependent only on his Father, like Jesus was. Jesus walked like we do today, simultaneously as the Son of man and the Son of God. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we walk in the same realm as Jesus did in His earthly ministry. We are sons and daughters of man, by our own natural birth and we are sons and daughters of God, by our new birth. We live in the flesh, but we war not after the flesh, according to 2Corinthians 10:3-4 (Amplified) which says, "For though we walk, live in the flesh, 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 the destruction of strongholds."
We read about God's Original Intent in 1Corinthians 3:9 (Amplified), which says, "For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; You are God's garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, you are God's building." Genesis 2:8 (Amplified) tells us about God's Garden, saying, "And the Lord God planted a Garden toward the east in Eden (delight), and there He put the man whom He had formed (framed, constituted)." We've become that Garden, which was planted by God. We are His Own building or temple, that He dwells and lives in. 1Corinthians 3:16 (Amplified) says, "Do you not discern and understand that you the whole Church at Corinth are God's temple (His sanctuary) and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you to be at home in you, collectively as a Church and also individually?"
I'm very careful about what I write and say to the Church and God's people. My aim is to once again, bring us back to the faith that,"our God is still more than able to do more than we can ask or even think." Throughout the years, the enemy has caused us to believe that somehow, "God doesn't do these things anymore." The Super-natural works of God have all but been removed from our teaching, in the Church.
The Holy Spirit writes through Paul in 1Corinthians 3:17 (Amplified), "If anyone does hurt to God's temple or corrupts it with false doctrine or destroys it, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him. For the temple of God is holy (sacred to Him), and that temple you, the believing Church and its individual believer are." Teaching God's Church that, "God doesn't watch over, deliver, heal, speak or do mighty works anymore," is wrong and holds us back in unbelief. We limit the Holy One and grieve the Holy Spirit with our unbelief, like those in the Wilderness did.
This teaching is not designed to anger you or make you think you're not a good Christian. God never made anything, but good Christians. His work is perfection. We need to have vision and understanding, in order to trust Him beyond religion. We must seek Him for ourselves and don't simply rely on someone else's ideas.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Lesson 16 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Have you heard the old saying, "Experience is a good teacher?" There's a better way to experience gravity, other than jumping off your rooftop. You can watch leaves fall from trees or watch raindrops fall from the sky or you can throw a ball into the air and watch it fall down again. The point is that they all fall down, because of gravity. One doesn't need step in front of a bus, in order to know that it will maim or kill you when it hits you. We can learn from watching the mistakes others have made and not repeating those same mistakes. If you listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His advice, then you will avoid a lot of misery.
I recall a drunk man, who approached me and asked for a dollar. I will never forget what he said to me, as I gave him a dollar. He said, "Son, don't drink and end up like me." That was good, wise advice, even though that man didn't look wise. Today, many seek counsel from the media and other such sources, but the Holy Spirit and God's Word are the One True Source for Wisdom and understanding.
Many Christians believe that trusting God for more than going to Heaven when they die, is "over-the-top." I don't know when God stopped being "I Am," and became "I Was." I'm going to trust God for my life, while I'm still here on earth, because that seems like Wisdom to me. We've misplaced trust for our live, believing it's only for when we die and go to Heaven. God created the earth for us to inhabit and He chose His children to inhabit it.
Jesus echoed the Father's Word and the Blessing He gave to the First Adam, when He said in Luke 10:9 (Amplified), "Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and physical and mental strength and ability over all the enemy possesses, and nothing shall in any way harm you." The restoration of the dominion and authority the Father pronounced on the First Adam, has now been restored to us, by the Last Adam, Jesus.
We've been taught, lived, and grown up in a world that has been governed by satan and fallen men for so long, that we don't understand who we really are in Christ Jesus. We are once again, God's Original Intent. Our problem isn't how we live when we are in Heaven, but how we're to live with Heaven living in us, while we're here on earth. We're ambassadors of God's Kingdom and we have diplomatic immunity from the Laws that govern the natural realm. Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5:20 (Amplified), "So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were, through us. We, as Christ's personal representatives beg you for His sake to lay hold of the Divine favor now offered you and be reconciled to God."
The above scripture isn't only for the Apostles (like some believe), but it's for those of the Kingdom, who are still here to proclaim Jesus to the world. The Great Ambassador Jesus, walked in diplomatic immunity in this realm of natural things, like the First Adam must have. Gravity couldn't stop Jesus from walking on the water. Weather couldn't compete in the face of His authority and Jesus calmed the storm and waves. Demons who'd been infecting mankind, had to leave in His Presence. The fish of the sea were subject to the Blessing Jesus pronounced, when He instructed Peter to cast his net on the other side of the boat. Peter's boat nearly collapsed from the weight of fish he caught.
The First Adam didn't need to heal and perform miracles, because these weren't needed until after his transgression. Jesus taught us to, "Tend the garden, so that nothing could creep in and pervert it." The same authority Jesus walked in, was the same authority God pronounced on Adam. Jesus simply displayed the Power of the Blessing that God pronounced on His family. This same Blessing is now ours again, by trust and accepting Jesus and becoming family again to God.
We've accept the world's idea of religion and have forgotten the Super-natural Power of the Blessing and the son-ship rights that have been restored to us again, through Jesus. We're double-minded and don't know whether God is testing us or satan is trying us. We fail to realize that the Holy Spirit is here to guide us, not stop us. When the Holy Spirit was poured out on us from Heaven, He came with the indwelling Power and Presence of God to live in us and carry out the mission Jesus commissioned us to do. 1Peter 2:2 tells us we need to read and understand God's Word, in order to nurture and feed our newborn spirit. Peter tells us that God's Word brings strength to our spirit, so we can overcome the natural outer-man of the flesh. Romans 8:5 (Amplified) says, "For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek after those things which gratify the Holy Spirit."
Now we can understand the heart of Paul, when he wrote to the Church in Rome. Thus, he writes in Romans 12;2 (Amplified), "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed), by the entire renewal of your mind, by its new ideals and its new attitude, So that you may prove to yourselves what is the Good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing that is Good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."
The old, unrenewed mind of even born-again Christians, still thinks, feels and walks by what it learned over the years before being saved. When we begin to see and accept God's Word as nourishment for our new spirit, then we can see the Truth that we're new creation children of God. Jesus said that, "The Words I speak to you are Spirit and Life." Trying to apply Spiritual Words to an unrenewed mind, will only create another religion, instead of a relationship with the Father. Jesus said that, "The Truth will make you free." Jesus said in John 8:31-32 (Amplified), "If you abide in My Word (hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them), you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free."
When we don't have understanding of the Spiritual Wisdom of God's Word, then we just apply it to the flesh man and establish another man-made law, like the Law of Moses. The flesh man couldn't keep the Law of Moses and the man of flesh cannot keep the new law that religion sets up for the Church. Making God's Word a "law," causes it to lose it's Power of Grace, so that it doesn't come to pass like it was intended to. Many have only accepted God's Word in their fleshly minds, without understanding, causing us to lose the Super-natural Power of it's Truth.
I recall a drunk man, who approached me and asked for a dollar. I will never forget what he said to me, as I gave him a dollar. He said, "Son, don't drink and end up like me." That was good, wise advice, even though that man didn't look wise. Today, many seek counsel from the media and other such sources, but the Holy Spirit and God's Word are the One True Source for Wisdom and understanding.
Many Christians believe that trusting God for more than going to Heaven when they die, is "over-the-top." I don't know when God stopped being "I Am," and became "I Was." I'm going to trust God for my life, while I'm still here on earth, because that seems like Wisdom to me. We've misplaced trust for our live, believing it's only for when we die and go to Heaven. God created the earth for us to inhabit and He chose His children to inhabit it.
Jesus echoed the Father's Word and the Blessing He gave to the First Adam, when He said in Luke 10:9 (Amplified), "Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and physical and mental strength and ability over all the enemy possesses, and nothing shall in any way harm you." The restoration of the dominion and authority the Father pronounced on the First Adam, has now been restored to us, by the Last Adam, Jesus.
We've been taught, lived, and grown up in a world that has been governed by satan and fallen men for so long, that we don't understand who we really are in Christ Jesus. We are once again, God's Original Intent. Our problem isn't how we live when we are in Heaven, but how we're to live with Heaven living in us, while we're here on earth. We're ambassadors of God's Kingdom and we have diplomatic immunity from the Laws that govern the natural realm. Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5:20 (Amplified), "So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were, through us. We, as Christ's personal representatives beg you for His sake to lay hold of the Divine favor now offered you and be reconciled to God."
The above scripture isn't only for the Apostles (like some believe), but it's for those of the Kingdom, who are still here to proclaim Jesus to the world. The Great Ambassador Jesus, walked in diplomatic immunity in this realm of natural things, like the First Adam must have. Gravity couldn't stop Jesus from walking on the water. Weather couldn't compete in the face of His authority and Jesus calmed the storm and waves. Demons who'd been infecting mankind, had to leave in His Presence. The fish of the sea were subject to the Blessing Jesus pronounced, when He instructed Peter to cast his net on the other side of the boat. Peter's boat nearly collapsed from the weight of fish he caught.
The First Adam didn't need to heal and perform miracles, because these weren't needed until after his transgression. Jesus taught us to, "Tend the garden, so that nothing could creep in and pervert it." The same authority Jesus walked in, was the same authority God pronounced on Adam. Jesus simply displayed the Power of the Blessing that God pronounced on His family. This same Blessing is now ours again, by trust and accepting Jesus and becoming family again to God.
We've accept the world's idea of religion and have forgotten the Super-natural Power of the Blessing and the son-ship rights that have been restored to us again, through Jesus. We're double-minded and don't know whether God is testing us or satan is trying us. We fail to realize that the Holy Spirit is here to guide us, not stop us. When the Holy Spirit was poured out on us from Heaven, He came with the indwelling Power and Presence of God to live in us and carry out the mission Jesus commissioned us to do. 1Peter 2:2 tells us we need to read and understand God's Word, in order to nurture and feed our newborn spirit. Peter tells us that God's Word brings strength to our spirit, so we can overcome the natural outer-man of the flesh. Romans 8:5 (Amplified) says, "For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek after those things which gratify the Holy Spirit."
Now we can understand the heart of Paul, when he wrote to the Church in Rome. Thus, he writes in Romans 12;2 (Amplified), "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed), by the entire renewal of your mind, by its new ideals and its new attitude, So that you may prove to yourselves what is the Good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing that is Good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."
The old, unrenewed mind of even born-again Christians, still thinks, feels and walks by what it learned over the years before being saved. When we begin to see and accept God's Word as nourishment for our new spirit, then we can see the Truth that we're new creation children of God. Jesus said that, "The Words I speak to you are Spirit and Life." Trying to apply Spiritual Words to an unrenewed mind, will only create another religion, instead of a relationship with the Father. Jesus said that, "The Truth will make you free." Jesus said in John 8:31-32 (Amplified), "If you abide in My Word (hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them), you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free."
When we don't have understanding of the Spiritual Wisdom of God's Word, then we just apply it to the flesh man and establish another man-made law, like the Law of Moses. The flesh man couldn't keep the Law of Moses and the man of flesh cannot keep the new law that religion sets up for the Church. Making God's Word a "law," causes it to lose it's Power of Grace, so that it doesn't come to pass like it was intended to. Many have only accepted God's Word in their fleshly minds, without understanding, causing us to lose the Super-natural Power of it's Truth.
Lesson 19 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
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."
During Jesus' earthly ministry, He went about restoring the Original Intent God had from the beginning for His family, back to mankind. The Last Adam, Jesus went into His ministry, to restore all things that were out-of-order with God's Original Plan and bring them into wholeness again. This was God's Plan for the First Adam, from the beginning. We don't read about how God dealt with man before the fall, but we can watch as Jesus brought back God's heart to a fallen people.
Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified), saying, "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." We've lost sight of God's will in Heaven by only seeing the move of the Holy Spirit on a fallen people. Some believe that the results of Adam's fall, was God's will for man and must be what the will is for His Kingdom. It's unthinkable to me, that Christians believe that the things we're witnessing around the world are how Heaven will be too.
As we watch Jesus bring things on earth back into Heaven's way of working, we can understand why God has anointed His people to restore mankind back by the Holy Spirit. Many believe that just getting people saved and born-again, is the only thing required of us. This is truly the greatest thing for mankind, but we were never to leave them in their present state of misery. Jesus wasn't only concerned with the Spiritual condition of those He ministered to, but he deliverance and healing of the physical body and mind were also greatly important to Him.
The people Jesus ministered to weren't born-again yet, but they were still covenant, by the same covenant God made with Abraham and weren't to be under bondage to satan. Jesus approached a woman who was completely bent forward and unable to straighten herself, because she had an infirmity caused by a spirit (a demon of sickness), in Luke 13:6-14,15,16,17 (Amplified). Verse 16 says, "Jesus said, And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom satan has kept bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
This woman was covenant, by the Abrahamic covenant, but satan had bound her. This wasn't God's intent, even under the old covenant. Jesus restored her to, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." It wasn't God's will for her to be in this condition. Verse 14 tells us, "But the leader of the Synagogue, indignant because Jesus healed her on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, There are six days on which work ought to be done, so come on those days and be cured and not on the Sabbath days."
This woman had been bound for eighteen years, so the leader of the Synagogue had the opportunity to heal her on many "Sabbath days." They lost sight of God's Intent and Purpose for His family and had accepted whatever happened to them as being, "God's will for us." Verse 15 says, "But the Lord replied to him, saying, You play actors (hypocrites)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it out to water?"
After Jesus loosed the woman, Verse 17 tells us, "All His opponents were put to shame, and all the people were rejoicing over all the Glorious things that were being done by Him." Religion limits the reality of God's intention for His family. God has no limits for us. If it's not God's will in Heaven, then it's not His will here on earth and visa versa. I find it impossible to believe that there are sick, blind, hungry and bound people in Heaven and therefore, it's not God's will that these things are for these to be on earth either---Sabbath or not.
Many Christians believe that "Healing isn't God's will for us today" and/or "It's too far out, to believe these things." The Church has limited God even farther, than the Israelites in the Wilderness. Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified) says, "So we see that they [the Israelites] were not able to enter into His Rest, because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God, unbelief had shut them out." In Hebrews 4:1 (Amplified), God says to us, "Therefore, While the Promise of entering His Rest still holds and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it."
Our Heavenly Father is waiting for His family to allow Him to do what His Original Intent was for us, at the beginning. We've limited Him and He can only reach us in the place where we have faith for Him to reach us. Many have accepted the enemy's attacks as being God's will for our lives. James 1:8 (Amplified) says, "For being as he is, a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides."
God isn't your problem, He is your Answer and if you're double-minded in your walk with Him, then you've limited the Holy One of Israel, like those in the Wilderness and God can't do what He wants to do in your life. His Rest is still offered today, for all who will believe in the Promises He made to and for us, through Jesus. This isn't just the Promise of going to Heaven when we die, but it's the Promise of Heaven coming to live in us, while we're still here on earth. This is God's Original Intent.
Genesis 3:8 (Amplified) tells us that, "God was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day, and Adam heard Him walking." This was the relationship the Father had with His son Adam and His daughter Eve, before the fall. God walked, talked and taught His children by such fellowship. They walked together in the Garden all the time. Jesus said, "I will come and manifest Myself to you and the Father." He was speaking about the unbroken fellowship that was God's heart from the beginning.
Don't limit God, just because someone else doesn't believe, but enter into His Rest and allow Him to be what He always intended to be to and for His children.
During Jesus' earthly ministry, He went about restoring the Original Intent God had from the beginning for His family, back to mankind. The Last Adam, Jesus went into His ministry, to restore all things that were out-of-order with God's Original Plan and bring them into wholeness again. This was God's Plan for the First Adam, from the beginning. We don't read about how God dealt with man before the fall, but we can watch as Jesus brought back God's heart to a fallen people.
Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 (Amplified), saying, "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." We've lost sight of God's will in Heaven by only seeing the move of the Holy Spirit on a fallen people. Some believe that the results of Adam's fall, was God's will for man and must be what the will is for His Kingdom. It's unthinkable to me, that Christians believe that the things we're witnessing around the world are how Heaven will be too.
As we watch Jesus bring things on earth back into Heaven's way of working, we can understand why God has anointed His people to restore mankind back by the Holy Spirit. Many believe that just getting people saved and born-again, is the only thing required of us. This is truly the greatest thing for mankind, but we were never to leave them in their present state of misery. Jesus wasn't only concerned with the Spiritual condition of those He ministered to, but he deliverance and healing of the physical body and mind were also greatly important to Him.
The people Jesus ministered to weren't born-again yet, but they were still covenant, by the same covenant God made with Abraham and weren't to be under bondage to satan. Jesus approached a woman who was completely bent forward and unable to straighten herself, because she had an infirmity caused by a spirit (a demon of sickness), in Luke 13:6-14,15,16,17 (Amplified). Verse 16 says, "Jesus said, And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom satan has kept bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
This woman was covenant, by the Abrahamic covenant, but satan had bound her. This wasn't God's intent, even under the old covenant. Jesus restored her to, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." It wasn't God's will for her to be in this condition. Verse 14 tells us, "But the leader of the Synagogue, indignant because Jesus healed her on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, There are six days on which work ought to be done, so come on those days and be cured and not on the Sabbath days."
This woman had been bound for eighteen years, so the leader of the Synagogue had the opportunity to heal her on many "Sabbath days." They lost sight of God's Intent and Purpose for His family and had accepted whatever happened to them as being, "God's will for us." Verse 15 says, "But the Lord replied to him, saying, You play actors (hypocrites)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it out to water?"
After Jesus loosed the woman, Verse 17 tells us, "All His opponents were put to shame, and all the people were rejoicing over all the Glorious things that were being done by Him." Religion limits the reality of God's intention for His family. God has no limits for us. If it's not God's will in Heaven, then it's not His will here on earth and visa versa. I find it impossible to believe that there are sick, blind, hungry and bound people in Heaven and therefore, it's not God's will that these things are for these to be on earth either---Sabbath or not.
Many Christians believe that "Healing isn't God's will for us today" and/or "It's too far out, to believe these things." The Church has limited God even farther, than the Israelites in the Wilderness. Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified) says, "So we see that they [the Israelites] were not able to enter into His Rest, because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God, unbelief had shut them out." In Hebrews 4:1 (Amplified), God says to us, "Therefore, While the Promise of entering His Rest still holds and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it."
Our Heavenly Father is waiting for His family to allow Him to do what His Original Intent was for us, at the beginning. We've limited Him and He can only reach us in the place where we have faith for Him to reach us. Many have accepted the enemy's attacks as being God's will for our lives. James 1:8 (Amplified) says, "For being as he is, a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides."
God isn't your problem, He is your Answer and if you're double-minded in your walk with Him, then you've limited the Holy One of Israel, like those in the Wilderness and God can't do what He wants to do in your life. His Rest is still offered today, for all who will believe in the Promises He made to and for us, through Jesus. This isn't just the Promise of going to Heaven when we die, but it's the Promise of Heaven coming to live in us, while we're still here on earth. This is God's Original Intent.
Genesis 3:8 (Amplified) tells us that, "God was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day, and Adam heard Him walking." This was the relationship the Father had with His son Adam and His daughter Eve, before the fall. God walked, talked and taught His children by such fellowship. They walked together in the Garden all the time. Jesus said, "I will come and manifest Myself to you and the Father." He was speaking about the unbroken fellowship that was God's heart from the beginning.
Don't limit God, just because someone else doesn't believe, but enter into His Rest and allow Him to be what He always intended to be to and for His children.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Lesson 18 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
We've been discussing the Original Intent God had for His family, before the fall of Adam. We know very little about Adam's life prior to the fall and we've lost sight of what our Heavenly Father had in His heart for us. Jesus is the Last Adam and we can see how He mostly restored God's Original Intent and the Blessing God pronounced on His children
Jesus stated several times that, "I came to do the Father's will" and "When you see Me, you see the Father." Jesus healed many sick people, so it must have been the Father's will that He did so. It must also have been the Father's will for Jesus to make the lame to walk, the blind to see and the deaf to hear. Jesus never taught Law, but He taught Grace. Jesus never taught the Curse, but the Blessing. His entire earthly ministry was to bring mankind back to the Father's Original Intent.
In Jesus' Resurrection, He brought the new creation family back into the Father's House, like it was in the beginning. We've been taught the Law and were told that God deals with us, the same as He dealt with the old covenant people. We've failed to see the difference between the covenant made with men who were dead in trespass and sin and the new covenant family who were raised in the Spirit into Righteousness in Jesus Christ. We've never been taught the fact and Truth, that sin no longer has dominion over us, because of Him. Romans 8:2,3-4 (Amplified) says, "For the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus (the Law of our new being). has freed me from the Law of Sin and of Death."
We've been taught that these things haven't happened yet and will only happen after we die and leave this earth. Paul goes onto explain and expound on the great Truth he writes about in the above scripture, saying in Verses 3-4, "For God has done what the Law could not do, its power being weakened by the flesh (the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit); Sending His Own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an Offering for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh (subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that Sacrifice, So that the righteous and just requirements of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh, but in the ways of the Spirit, our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit."
Through Jesus, God's children are received as "Just, righteous, sanctified and pure in God's eyes, through Jesus. We are now heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus. We somehow still expect God to deal with us, like He did with those in the old covenant, instead of dealing with us by His Holy Spirit as new covenant children. Paul writes to the Church about this very thing in Romans 8:6 (Amplified) saying, "Now the mind of the flesh, which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit is death (death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter); But the mind of the Holy Spirit is Life and soul peace both now and forever."
We see God's children living in shame and condemnation from past sin (which Jesus has removed) and this holds them back. This is the minds of the flesh, without the Truth that comes by and through the Holy Spirit. We hear the lamenting of Christians who confess, "I'm still an old sinner saved by Grace." We mostly see ourselves as who we once were before receiving Jesus as our Lord, instead of who He has made us to be. In so doing, we hold back the fullness of God's Blessing and accept what the Curse has become for sinners. We don't see that God sees us now, like He saw the first Adam before the fall. We fail to see that God now sees us, like He saw Jesus after His Resurrection.
The enemy has deceived so many of God's children in the area of condemnation, leading them to lose faith in God's ability to do what He wants to do in our lives, because they believe, "We are sinners." We've not sinners in the Father's eyes, but we're new creation people who are begotten of God and are pure and holy in His family. This has been so hidden from God's family, so we don't come boldly to His Throne of Grace. We must renew our minds by God's Word and His Spirit, so we don't accept the lies of the enemy and the condemnation he brings.
So many believers don't have the faith for miracles and God's Blessings in our lives, because we've been taught that, "God no longer does these things." 1John 3:20-22 (Amplified) says, "Whenever our hearts in tormenting self accusations make us feel guilty and condemn us, For we are in God's hands. For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows, perceives and understands everything (nothing is hidden from Him) And beloved, if our hearts (consciences) do not accuse us, if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us, we have confidence, complete assurance and boldness before God And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we watchfully obey His orders, observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His Plan for us and habitually practice what is pleasing to Him."
The "tormenting, self accusation and guilt," that John writes about, abounds in someone who still sees him/herself more by our old flesh and through a sin conscience and not from someone who understands the Truth of who God has now created us to be, in Jesus. Being carnally minded, instead of being Spiritually minded, stops the Blessing from doing what God Originally Intended it to do in our lives. The strategy that satan has used for centuries, to control God's people---STOPS TODAY!
Jesus stated several times that, "I came to do the Father's will" and "When you see Me, you see the Father." Jesus healed many sick people, so it must have been the Father's will that He did so. It must also have been the Father's will for Jesus to make the lame to walk, the blind to see and the deaf to hear. Jesus never taught Law, but He taught Grace. Jesus never taught the Curse, but the Blessing. His entire earthly ministry was to bring mankind back to the Father's Original Intent.
In Jesus' Resurrection, He brought the new creation family back into the Father's House, like it was in the beginning. We've been taught the Law and were told that God deals with us, the same as He dealt with the old covenant people. We've failed to see the difference between the covenant made with men who were dead in trespass and sin and the new covenant family who were raised in the Spirit into Righteousness in Jesus Christ. We've never been taught the fact and Truth, that sin no longer has dominion over us, because of Him. Romans 8:2,3-4 (Amplified) says, "For the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus (the Law of our new being). has freed me from the Law of Sin and of Death."
We've been taught that these things haven't happened yet and will only happen after we die and leave this earth. Paul goes onto explain and expound on the great Truth he writes about in the above scripture, saying in Verses 3-4, "For God has done what the Law could not do, its power being weakened by the flesh (the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit); Sending His Own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an Offering for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh (subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that Sacrifice, So that the righteous and just requirements of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh, but in the ways of the Spirit, our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit."
Through Jesus, God's children are received as "Just, righteous, sanctified and pure in God's eyes, through Jesus. We are now heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus. We somehow still expect God to deal with us, like He did with those in the old covenant, instead of dealing with us by His Holy Spirit as new covenant children. Paul writes to the Church about this very thing in Romans 8:6 (Amplified) saying, "Now the mind of the flesh, which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit is death (death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter); But the mind of the Holy Spirit is Life and soul peace both now and forever."
We see God's children living in shame and condemnation from past sin (which Jesus has removed) and this holds them back. This is the minds of the flesh, without the Truth that comes by and through the Holy Spirit. We hear the lamenting of Christians who confess, "I'm still an old sinner saved by Grace." We mostly see ourselves as who we once were before receiving Jesus as our Lord, instead of who He has made us to be. In so doing, we hold back the fullness of God's Blessing and accept what the Curse has become for sinners. We don't see that God sees us now, like He saw the first Adam before the fall. We fail to see that God now sees us, like He saw Jesus after His Resurrection.
The enemy has deceived so many of God's children in the area of condemnation, leading them to lose faith in God's ability to do what He wants to do in our lives, because they believe, "We are sinners." We've not sinners in the Father's eyes, but we're new creation people who are begotten of God and are pure and holy in His family. This has been so hidden from God's family, so we don't come boldly to His Throne of Grace. We must renew our minds by God's Word and His Spirit, so we don't accept the lies of the enemy and the condemnation he brings.
So many believers don't have the faith for miracles and God's Blessings in our lives, because we've been taught that, "God no longer does these things." 1John 3:20-22 (Amplified) says, "Whenever our hearts in tormenting self accusations make us feel guilty and condemn us, For we are in God's hands. For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows, perceives and understands everything (nothing is hidden from Him) And beloved, if our hearts (consciences) do not accuse us, if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us, we have confidence, complete assurance and boldness before God And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we watchfully obey His orders, observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His Plan for us and habitually practice what is pleasing to Him."
The "tormenting, self accusation and guilt," that John writes about, abounds in someone who still sees him/herself more by our old flesh and through a sin conscience and not from someone who understands the Truth of who God has now created us to be, in Jesus. Being carnally minded, instead of being Spiritually minded, stops the Blessing from doing what God Originally Intended it to do in our lives. The strategy that satan has used for centuries, to control God's people---STOPS TODAY!
Monday, October 7, 2019
Lesson 17 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
We see lots of people who have low self-esteem, in this natural realm. Many feel like they're not worthy of life and living. We can suffer the same thing in our new creation man, when we don't accept what Jesus paid for, in order to make us the Righteousness of God. God's Original Intent was that mankind would never have lost our Righteousness, but would have the privilege of right standing with Him, from the beginning.
All of mankind lost our right to come into God's Presence, after Adam's transgression in the Garden. Our Heavenly Father, Who is Love, never faltered for a moment and began to set the way of bringing us back to Him in motion. Through the Sacrifice of Jesus, we've been restored back into right standing or Righteousness. We've sadly accepted the same attitude in the spirit, as those in the world has, about our place in God. Denying what Jesus did to bring us back to the father, is saying that what Jesus did "isn't enough." This spirit of unbelief is the same spirit that kept Israel out of the Rest, that God Promised them. Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified) says, "So we see that they were not able to enter into His Rest because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God, unbelief had shut them out."
Many continue struggling with unbelief, shutting themselves from having unbroken fellowship with the Father, because they don't accept the Righteousness that Jesus bought and paid for by His Sacrifice. If you deny your Righteousness through Jesus, then you're telling God that He "must do more to gain us back" and that "Jesus wasn't enough to do the job." If Jesus wasn't enough to restore us to Righteousness or right standing with the Father, then God has nothing left to redeem us.
When God created man, He created him in Righteousness. Adam and Eve walked with God in perfect fellowship, as His children. Jesus restored us back to God's Original Intent for His family, by giving Himself as our Sacrifice. We don't become God's family when we die and go to Heaven, but we're His children now. 1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved we are even here and now God's children." God never left anything to change, but was Perfect in His Plan of redemption for us. This time, we will never be separated from Him for eternity.
We seem to misunderstand the place we've been restored to, in Jesus. The world and carnal thinking have reduced God to being what other gods are to people. They serve them, worship them and fear them, but their gods do nothing for them. They've given themselves over to their own idea of god and haven't believed the One True and Living God.
Many Christians have allowed themselves to be brought into the same belief, by the world's ideas of who they think our God really is. He is not "I was," but He still is the "I Am," that he told Moses He was. We've nearly discarded the Truth of His healing and the Super-natural works of the Spirit realm, to which we were birthed into by Jesus' Sacrifice. Many in the Christian circles, consider anyone who trusts in God in the Super-natural realm, as being "over the top."
I love the account of Elijah in 1Kings 18:21, 37-39 (Amplified), where he set up two offerings, one for Baal and one for the Lord. Thus it says, "Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you half between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word." In Verses 37-39 we see Who is Lord, when Elijah continues, "Hear me O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You, the Lord, are god; and have turned their hearts back to You. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and also licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" Of course, when the people cried to Baal asking him to burn their sacrifice, nothing happened. Elijah even poured water on the wood offered to God and God burnt that too. Nothing was left.
The Church and many in the world are still awaiting for the Super-natural manifestation of our God to be revealed, but we still seem to "half and limp between two opinions." The same spirit of unbelief that kept the Israelites from entering into His Rest, still holds us back today. We truly have no idea what God is wanting to do, in our lives today. Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified) says, "For we are God's Own handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus (born anew), that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand, His Original Intent) for us, taking paths which He prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live."
The fall of Adam might have delayed God's Plan, but the rise of the Last Adam, Jesus, has restored us back to God's Original Intent for His children. The Curse that is in the world by Adam, has been overthrown by the Blessing that Jesus restored to us. We've now been recreated by God's Own spirit and have been restored to God's Original Intent, so we can walk in "paths prearranged and prepared ahead of time for us."
We still see ourselves as being "fallen men and women" and as "sinners." God doesn't see us that way any longer, but sees us through Jesus. Our low self-esteem has kept us back from not knowing who Jesus has made us to be, in our Heavenly Father. We still see ourselves as being "unworthy" and "out of touch" by our past, the old man. God doesn't see or accept you this way, any longer.
2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) tells us, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold! the fresh and new has come." In Jesus, we've become what was the Father's heart and intent, before the foundation of the world. God's intent for His family, before He even created the heavens and the earth, was that His family would live and enjoy them with Him.
All of mankind lost our right to come into God's Presence, after Adam's transgression in the Garden. Our Heavenly Father, Who is Love, never faltered for a moment and began to set the way of bringing us back to Him in motion. Through the Sacrifice of Jesus, we've been restored back into right standing or Righteousness. We've sadly accepted the same attitude in the spirit, as those in the world has, about our place in God. Denying what Jesus did to bring us back to the father, is saying that what Jesus did "isn't enough." This spirit of unbelief is the same spirit that kept Israel out of the Rest, that God Promised them. Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified) says, "So we see that they were not able to enter into His Rest because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God, unbelief had shut them out."
Many continue struggling with unbelief, shutting themselves from having unbroken fellowship with the Father, because they don't accept the Righteousness that Jesus bought and paid for by His Sacrifice. If you deny your Righteousness through Jesus, then you're telling God that He "must do more to gain us back" and that "Jesus wasn't enough to do the job." If Jesus wasn't enough to restore us to Righteousness or right standing with the Father, then God has nothing left to redeem us.
When God created man, He created him in Righteousness. Adam and Eve walked with God in perfect fellowship, as His children. Jesus restored us back to God's Original Intent for His family, by giving Himself as our Sacrifice. We don't become God's family when we die and go to Heaven, but we're His children now. 1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved we are even here and now God's children." God never left anything to change, but was Perfect in His Plan of redemption for us. This time, we will never be separated from Him for eternity.
We seem to misunderstand the place we've been restored to, in Jesus. The world and carnal thinking have reduced God to being what other gods are to people. They serve them, worship them and fear them, but their gods do nothing for them. They've given themselves over to their own idea of god and haven't believed the One True and Living God.
Many Christians have allowed themselves to be brought into the same belief, by the world's ideas of who they think our God really is. He is not "I was," but He still is the "I Am," that he told Moses He was. We've nearly discarded the Truth of His healing and the Super-natural works of the Spirit realm, to which we were birthed into by Jesus' Sacrifice. Many in the Christian circles, consider anyone who trusts in God in the Super-natural realm, as being "over the top."
I love the account of Elijah in 1Kings 18:21, 37-39 (Amplified), where he set up two offerings, one for Baal and one for the Lord. Thus it says, "Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you half between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word." In Verses 37-39 we see Who is Lord, when Elijah continues, "Hear me O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You, the Lord, are god; and have turned their hearts back to You. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and also licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" Of course, when the people cried to Baal asking him to burn their sacrifice, nothing happened. Elijah even poured water on the wood offered to God and God burnt that too. Nothing was left.
The Church and many in the world are still awaiting for the Super-natural manifestation of our God to be revealed, but we still seem to "half and limp between two opinions." The same spirit of unbelief that kept the Israelites from entering into His Rest, still holds us back today. We truly have no idea what God is wanting to do, in our lives today. Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified) says, "For we are God's Own handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus (born anew), that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand, His Original Intent) for us, taking paths which He prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live."
The fall of Adam might have delayed God's Plan, but the rise of the Last Adam, Jesus, has restored us back to God's Original Intent for His children. The Curse that is in the world by Adam, has been overthrown by the Blessing that Jesus restored to us. We've now been recreated by God's Own spirit and have been restored to God's Original Intent, so we can walk in "paths prearranged and prepared ahead of time for us."
We still see ourselves as being "fallen men and women" and as "sinners." God doesn't see us that way any longer, but sees us through Jesus. Our low self-esteem has kept us back from not knowing who Jesus has made us to be, in our Heavenly Father. We still see ourselves as being "unworthy" and "out of touch" by our past, the old man. God doesn't see or accept you this way, any longer.
2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) tells us, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold! the fresh and new has come." In Jesus, we've become what was the Father's heart and intent, before the foundation of the world. God's intent for His family, before He even created the heavens and the earth, was that His family would live and enjoy them with Him.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Lesson 15 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Genesis 1:27-28,31 (Amplified) says, "So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created him: male and female He created them; And God Blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful (multiply) and fill the earth, and subdue it, using all its vast resources in the service of God and man; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves on the earth." Verse 31 goes on, "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant), and He approved it completely. And there was evening and morning, a sixth day."
There are people, including Christians, who believe that God deliberately planned for Adam to fail. We've accepted man's wisdom and theories to interpret God's Plan, because we haven't understood the Plan God has for His children. We don't have any record of how long Adam walked with God or what Adam's lifestyle was before the fall. We don't have proof of how the First Adam walked, but we can watch the Last Adam's walk with God, during His earthly ministry.
Jesus said in John 10:30 (Amplified), "I and the Father are One." We must look at Jesus, in order to know the Original Intent of God's heart. God's Plan for His family has never changed from His Original Intent. What God planned for His family is still PLAN A. None of us, as parents, would ever deliberately set up our children for failure or something that would cause their destruction. We would never purposely devise a situation that would bring death and misery, upon our children.
When God created man in His Own Image and Likeness, He created man to have a free will. Some disagree with this, but then again, we all have our own will and can make this choice for ourselves. If man didn't have a free will, then he be puppets instead of sons and wouldn't be in God's Own Image and Likeness.
We've never seen a man who wasn't controlled by the fall in the Garden, with the exception of Jesus. Some of those we read about in the Epistles were born-again and in the new covenant, but they didn't walk like Jesus did or even as the First Adam did once. Even Paul struggled with his own flesh and the things from before he knew the Lord.
Before going to the cross and dying on it, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:47 (Amplified). Jesus' prayer to the Father, actually reveals man's free will. Thus, He prayed, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but always Yours be done." The Last Adam, Jesus, had a free will of His Own, that He yielded over to the Father's will.
Paul wrote to Timothy in 1Timothy 2:14 (Amplified) saying, "It was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and deluded and fell into transgression." Perhaps the most tragic part of Adam's transgression was, that he transgressed and brought about the fall of man, by an act of his own will.
I believe that Adam loved his wife so much, that he tried to redeem her on his own and traded everything God had given over to him, for his wife. Since God had given it to Adam, he had authority to give in over to the enemy. Luke 4:5-6 (Amplified) says, "Then the devil took [Jesus] up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time (in the twinkling of an eye) And he said to Him, To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, per-eminence, dignity, and Grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will."
The transfer of authority and ownership of God's inheritance for His family to satan, came by an act of Adam's will. No parent wishes for our children to be puppets or have no life or place of their own. We nurture them to express and grow into mature people, who have dreams and plans of living excellent lives. God's children were to be raised in the nurture and admonition of God Himself.
God planned for His children to be Blessed and have futures that included enjoying everything He made for them. If you read about this inheritance in God's Word, then you'll find if what what God had created from the very beginning, as His Original Intent. The mess we witness around us, is the result of Adam's turning over his place of authority and dominion to an outlaw spirit, satan. The Curse and the misery we experience today, came from Adam and NOT FROM GOD.
If I love my children and want to see them live happy, safe, peaceful and full lives, then how much more would God, Who is Love, want for His children? We've looked at how God dealt with fallen man and we've failed to see how He longs to deal with those He brought back from the place where Adam caused us to be in. We've come to believe that God is testing and trying us, by the hard times and trials of today's world. We've forgotten (or might never have known) the true Plan and heart of our Heavenly Father. The pitfalls and trials come from the evil one, who is still trying to have us surrender to him.
We can learn things by going through trials and temptations, but God has a much better way of teaching us how to walk in this world. David writes in Psalm 119:105, 130 (Amplified), "Your Word is a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path." He goes on in Verse 130, "The entrance and unfolding of Your Words give Light, their unfolding gives understanding (discernment and comprehension) to the simple." Listening to God, His Word and His Holy Spirit, is a much better way of living, than trials and hardship, but you have a will of your own, like the first and Last Adam, and you must choose to either listen or don't listen.
David writes about the works of men in Psalm 17:4-5 (Amplified), saying, "By the Word of Your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent, the paths of the destroyer. My steps have held closely to Your paths, to the tracks of the One Who has gone on before, my feet have not slipped." It's no wonder that "David was a man after God's Own heart."
There are people, including Christians, who believe that God deliberately planned for Adam to fail. We've accepted man's wisdom and theories to interpret God's Plan, because we haven't understood the Plan God has for His children. We don't have any record of how long Adam walked with God or what Adam's lifestyle was before the fall. We don't have proof of how the First Adam walked, but we can watch the Last Adam's walk with God, during His earthly ministry.
Jesus said in John 10:30 (Amplified), "I and the Father are One." We must look at Jesus, in order to know the Original Intent of God's heart. God's Plan for His family has never changed from His Original Intent. What God planned for His family is still PLAN A. None of us, as parents, would ever deliberately set up our children for failure or something that would cause their destruction. We would never purposely devise a situation that would bring death and misery, upon our children.
When God created man in His Own Image and Likeness, He created man to have a free will. Some disagree with this, but then again, we all have our own will and can make this choice for ourselves. If man didn't have a free will, then he be puppets instead of sons and wouldn't be in God's Own Image and Likeness.
We've never seen a man who wasn't controlled by the fall in the Garden, with the exception of Jesus. Some of those we read about in the Epistles were born-again and in the new covenant, but they didn't walk like Jesus did or even as the First Adam did once. Even Paul struggled with his own flesh and the things from before he knew the Lord.
Before going to the cross and dying on it, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:47 (Amplified). Jesus' prayer to the Father, actually reveals man's free will. Thus, He prayed, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but always Yours be done." The Last Adam, Jesus, had a free will of His Own, that He yielded over to the Father's will.
Paul wrote to Timothy in 1Timothy 2:14 (Amplified) saying, "It was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and deluded and fell into transgression." Perhaps the most tragic part of Adam's transgression was, that he transgressed and brought about the fall of man, by an act of his own will.
I believe that Adam loved his wife so much, that he tried to redeem her on his own and traded everything God had given over to him, for his wife. Since God had given it to Adam, he had authority to give in over to the enemy. Luke 4:5-6 (Amplified) says, "Then the devil took [Jesus] up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time (in the twinkling of an eye) And he said to Him, To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, per-eminence, dignity, and Grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will."
The transfer of authority and ownership of God's inheritance for His family to satan, came by an act of Adam's will. No parent wishes for our children to be puppets or have no life or place of their own. We nurture them to express and grow into mature people, who have dreams and plans of living excellent lives. God's children were to be raised in the nurture and admonition of God Himself.
God planned for His children to be Blessed and have futures that included enjoying everything He made for them. If you read about this inheritance in God's Word, then you'll find if what what God had created from the very beginning, as His Original Intent. The mess we witness around us, is the result of Adam's turning over his place of authority and dominion to an outlaw spirit, satan. The Curse and the misery we experience today, came from Adam and NOT FROM GOD.
If I love my children and want to see them live happy, safe, peaceful and full lives, then how much more would God, Who is Love, want for His children? We've looked at how God dealt with fallen man and we've failed to see how He longs to deal with those He brought back from the place where Adam caused us to be in. We've come to believe that God is testing and trying us, by the hard times and trials of today's world. We've forgotten (or might never have known) the true Plan and heart of our Heavenly Father. The pitfalls and trials come from the evil one, who is still trying to have us surrender to him.
We can learn things by going through trials and temptations, but God has a much better way of teaching us how to walk in this world. David writes in Psalm 119:105, 130 (Amplified), "Your Word is a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path." He goes on in Verse 130, "The entrance and unfolding of Your Words give Light, their unfolding gives understanding (discernment and comprehension) to the simple." Listening to God, His Word and His Holy Spirit, is a much better way of living, than trials and hardship, but you have a will of your own, like the first and Last Adam, and you must choose to either listen or don't listen.
David writes about the works of men in Psalm 17:4-5 (Amplified), saying, "By the Word of Your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent, the paths of the destroyer. My steps have held closely to Your paths, to the tracks of the One Who has gone on before, my feet have not slipped." It's no wonder that "David was a man after God's Own heart."
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Lesson 14 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
In 1Corinthians 15:45 (Amplified) Paul, by revelation, reveals the First Adam and the Last Adam, Jesus. The First Adam never had to do the ministry of the Last Adam, because nothing was out of place, at the beginning of man on this earth. The Curse only came, after Adam transgressed in the Garden. Prior to Adam's fall, the Blessing and Spirit of God was working through and for Adam. We see the results of the Curse working at an alarming rate on the earth, during the Last Adam, Jesus' ministry.
Jesus stated in Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified), "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah), to preach the Good News (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered to those who are oppressed, who are down trodden, bruised, crushed and broken down by calamity. To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord, the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound (Isaiah 61:1-2)."
Before the First Adam transgressed, there was no need to preach or to deliver from bondage, because there was only the Blessing and not the Curse upon the earth. The Curse came about only after Adam's fall, which wasn't God's Original Intent for His family. God's Plan never changed concerning His family.
The Last Adam, Jesus came to restore the family that was and is the heart of the Father, back to Him. During His earthly ministry, Jesus only spoke, lived and demonstrated the Blessing and the Original Intent of God's Plan, for His children. Jesus restored those who had succumbed to the Curse and were sick, lame, dumb, blind, under the spirits of darkness, leprous, or were in any way other than God's Original Intent. Jesus restored the Blessing to those people. Through Jesus, this extended beyond just the Chosen people and now encompassed even the Gentiles. This was God's Original Intent from the beginning. We are all called to be His Chosen people!
We lost the purpose and intent of God's heart for us, because we never looked beyond the flesh and fallen nature of man. Today, we deal with such things as death, sickness, hardship, and hunger, but these were never God's Original Intent for His family. We've been conned into believing and accepting these things as being "God's teaching us something with these things." This might be the greatest lie, satan ever sold to the Church. And we bought it. Genesis 1-2 never says that God brought all these terrible things into being, but Genesis 1:31 (Amplified) tells us that all things were "very good." Thus, it says, "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant), and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day."
Notice that God didn't make sickness, disease, death and all the other things we attribute to His idea of what man was to have or be. We've read about the scriptures, by the deception satan brought through the First Adam and have nearly forgotten the redemptive ministry of the Last Adam. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10-13 (Amplified) saying, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." I don't know whether or not you believe there are sick, blind or lame people in Heaven, but I don't. In Verse 13 Jesus goes on praying, Lead (bring us) not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
We've missed the entire purpose of this prayer, thinking that whatever happens on earth, "Must be God's will." John 8:19 (Amplified) says, "Then they said to [Jesus], Where is this Father of Yours? Jesus answered, You know My Father as little as you know Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also." Is it that we really don't know Jesus, that we've mixed up our ideas about God? Or, are we still so carnally minded that we try separating God from Jesus, as being two separate entities? We continue believing God deals with the us (the new covenant people), like He dealt with the old covenant people. We've failed to understand that through Jesus, we've been returned to the Original Intent God had for His family and that God now deals with us by His Spirit, just like He did with the Last Adam, Jesus Christ.
We've seemingly accepted the lie that says, "Whatever happens to us in our lives, must be God's will for us and that He allows it to happen, in order to teach us something." Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus told His followers in John 14:26, that, "He would send the Holy Spirit to teach us." 2Timothy 3:16 tells us that, "God Word is there to teach and correct us." Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11-14 (Amplified) that God sends the five-fold ministry for "The perfecting and full equipping of His saints to do the work of ministering to the building up of the Church." Jesus told the people in John 15:3 that they were "Cleansed already by the Words and teachings." I never used blindness, cancer, sickness, to educate and teach my family.
When we cannot distinguish our Heavenly Father from our enemy, we cannot withstand the enemy's attacks. 1Peter 5:8-9 (Amplified) describes the devil as being "our adversary" and instructs us to "withstand him." If we don't know whether it's God testing us or the devil trying to deliver us, then we're double-minded.
Hebrews 1:1-3 (Amplified) tells us that Jesus is always the "Sole Expression of the Glory of God (the Light-Being, the Out-raying or Radiance of the Divine), and He is the Perfect Imprint and very Image of God's nature." Jesus said that, "When you see Me, you have seen the Father." Can you imagine Jesus putting sickness on someone, in order to teach and train them? Can you see Jesus leaving sickness to remain on someone, until that person learns their lesson? Why then, would you believe that God would do that? It's hard for God to Bless us, when we trust more in the Curse, than in the Blessing.
Jesus stated in Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified), "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah), to preach the Good News (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered to those who are oppressed, who are down trodden, bruised, crushed and broken down by calamity. To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord, the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound (Isaiah 61:1-2)."
Before the First Adam transgressed, there was no need to preach or to deliver from bondage, because there was only the Blessing and not the Curse upon the earth. The Curse came about only after Adam's fall, which wasn't God's Original Intent for His family. God's Plan never changed concerning His family.
The Last Adam, Jesus came to restore the family that was and is the heart of the Father, back to Him. During His earthly ministry, Jesus only spoke, lived and demonstrated the Blessing and the Original Intent of God's Plan, for His children. Jesus restored those who had succumbed to the Curse and were sick, lame, dumb, blind, under the spirits of darkness, leprous, or were in any way other than God's Original Intent. Jesus restored the Blessing to those people. Through Jesus, this extended beyond just the Chosen people and now encompassed even the Gentiles. This was God's Original Intent from the beginning. We are all called to be His Chosen people!
We lost the purpose and intent of God's heart for us, because we never looked beyond the flesh and fallen nature of man. Today, we deal with such things as death, sickness, hardship, and hunger, but these were never God's Original Intent for His family. We've been conned into believing and accepting these things as being "God's teaching us something with these things." This might be the greatest lie, satan ever sold to the Church. And we bought it. Genesis 1-2 never says that God brought all these terrible things into being, but Genesis 1:31 (Amplified) tells us that all things were "very good." Thus, it says, "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant), and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day."
Notice that God didn't make sickness, disease, death and all the other things we attribute to His idea of what man was to have or be. We've read about the scriptures, by the deception satan brought through the First Adam and have nearly forgotten the redemptive ministry of the Last Adam. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10-13 (Amplified) saying, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." I don't know whether or not you believe there are sick, blind or lame people in Heaven, but I don't. In Verse 13 Jesus goes on praying, Lead (bring us) not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
We've missed the entire purpose of this prayer, thinking that whatever happens on earth, "Must be God's will." John 8:19 (Amplified) says, "Then they said to [Jesus], Where is this Father of Yours? Jesus answered, You know My Father as little as you know Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also." Is it that we really don't know Jesus, that we've mixed up our ideas about God? Or, are we still so carnally minded that we try separating God from Jesus, as being two separate entities? We continue believing God deals with the us (the new covenant people), like He dealt with the old covenant people. We've failed to understand that through Jesus, we've been returned to the Original Intent God had for His family and that God now deals with us by His Spirit, just like He did with the Last Adam, Jesus Christ.
We've seemingly accepted the lie that says, "Whatever happens to us in our lives, must be God's will for us and that He allows it to happen, in order to teach us something." Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus told His followers in John 14:26, that, "He would send the Holy Spirit to teach us." 2Timothy 3:16 tells us that, "God Word is there to teach and correct us." Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11-14 (Amplified) that God sends the five-fold ministry for "The perfecting and full equipping of His saints to do the work of ministering to the building up of the Church." Jesus told the people in John 15:3 that they were "Cleansed already by the Words and teachings." I never used blindness, cancer, sickness, to educate and teach my family.
When we cannot distinguish our Heavenly Father from our enemy, we cannot withstand the enemy's attacks. 1Peter 5:8-9 (Amplified) describes the devil as being "our adversary" and instructs us to "withstand him." If we don't know whether it's God testing us or the devil trying to deliver us, then we're double-minded.
Hebrews 1:1-3 (Amplified) tells us that Jesus is always the "Sole Expression of the Glory of God (the Light-Being, the Out-raying or Radiance of the Divine), and He is the Perfect Imprint and very Image of God's nature." Jesus said that, "When you see Me, you have seen the Father." Can you imagine Jesus putting sickness on someone, in order to teach and train them? Can you see Jesus leaving sickness to remain on someone, until that person learns their lesson? Why then, would you believe that God would do that? It's hard for God to Bless us, when we trust more in the Curse, than in the Blessing.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Lesson 13 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is, get Wisdom (skillful and Godly Wisdom). For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing; And with all you have gotten get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation)."
Godly Wisdom isn't the same as the world's or man's interpretation. It requires the Holy Spirit for man to understand the Word of God, according to what Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), where He says, "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."
When "Spirit Words" are spoken and received by natural ears, they become religious laws based on what man thinks those Words mean. Jesus said in the above scripture that, "The Words I speak are Spirit and Life." The Law was established because man had not Spiritual understanding of Spiritual things, which meant that man could only walk by the letter of the Law. We are born-again people, who have the Holy Spirit to teach and reveal God's Word to us. Misunderstanding of God's Word comes when man uses his natural wisdom, instead of God's Wisdom. This is why the Super-natural things of God have been lost over the years. Man needed to make sense to the natural, carnal minds of men.
We must understand God's heart and mind, in order to understand His purpose and intent for mankind. The current state of man was never God's Original Intent, when He created man at the beginning. We've only seen two men who walked in God's Original Intent. The first was Adam before his fall in the Garden and the second is Jesus, after Adam's fall. Many of the Apostles and disciples learned the principals of God's heart, from Jesus. We've looked upon these people as being "special," not thinking they walked returned to God's True Plan for us.
Jesus' entire ministry was to return God's family (us), back to God's Original Intent. Jesus performed miracles and healings, in order to restore God's will in Heaven to God's will on earth. God never willed that His children would be tormented and devoured by disease and sickness. If it was God's will that His children be sick, then Jesus wouldn't have restored them. In John 6:38 (Amplified) Jesus says, "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." Jesus came to give us Life, through the new birth, but healing and deliverance are also God's will for mankind. One doesn't need to be healed, in order to be saved or go to Heaven.
We don't know how long Adam lived on this earth before the fall and we don't know how God provided and cared for Adam, during this time. We sometimes read Genesis 1&2, thinking that God created man and then Adam disobeyed God the very next day, bringing about the fall of mankind. The entire time that Adam walked with God before the fall, was really God's Original Intent and purpose for mankind. I don't believe that Adam and Eve were ever in need, during the time before Adam's transgression. The Curse never came, until Adam's fall. Until that time, there was no sickness, disease, trials or want. Even the earth had a controlled environment, that was under God's Blessing.
Rain never came down, until "God opened the fountains of the great deep and the flood gates and the windows of Heaven," according to Genesis 7:11. It had never rained, before this time. Genesis 2:5-6 (Amplified) says, "When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not yet caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground. But there went up a mist (fog, vapor) from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground." This controlled environment kept Adam and Eve in comfort and safety, from the elements. Their Father, God, provided their food, water, clothing and shelter. I think that the entire earth was actually the Garden of Eden and it wasn't just a small portion of the earth. God put them in the center of His delight.
Godly Wisdom isn't the same as the world's or man's interpretation. It requires the Holy Spirit for man to understand the Word of God, according to what Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), where He says, "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."
When "Spirit Words" are spoken and received by natural ears, they become religious laws based on what man thinks those Words mean. Jesus said in the above scripture that, "The Words I speak are Spirit and Life." The Law was established because man had not Spiritual understanding of Spiritual things, which meant that man could only walk by the letter of the Law. We are born-again people, who have the Holy Spirit to teach and reveal God's Word to us. Misunderstanding of God's Word comes when man uses his natural wisdom, instead of God's Wisdom. This is why the Super-natural things of God have been lost over the years. Man needed to make sense to the natural, carnal minds of men.
We must understand God's heart and mind, in order to understand His purpose and intent for mankind. The current state of man was never God's Original Intent, when He created man at the beginning. We've only seen two men who walked in God's Original Intent. The first was Adam before his fall in the Garden and the second is Jesus, after Adam's fall. Many of the Apostles and disciples learned the principals of God's heart, from Jesus. We've looked upon these people as being "special," not thinking they walked returned to God's True Plan for us.
Jesus' entire ministry was to return God's family (us), back to God's Original Intent. Jesus performed miracles and healings, in order to restore God's will in Heaven to God's will on earth. God never willed that His children would be tormented and devoured by disease and sickness. If it was God's will that His children be sick, then Jesus wouldn't have restored them. In John 6:38 (Amplified) Jesus says, "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." Jesus came to give us Life, through the new birth, but healing and deliverance are also God's will for mankind. One doesn't need to be healed, in order to be saved or go to Heaven.
We don't know how long Adam lived on this earth before the fall and we don't know how God provided and cared for Adam, during this time. We sometimes read Genesis 1&2, thinking that God created man and then Adam disobeyed God the very next day, bringing about the fall of mankind. The entire time that Adam walked with God before the fall, was really God's Original Intent and purpose for mankind. I don't believe that Adam and Eve were ever in need, during the time before Adam's transgression. The Curse never came, until Adam's fall. Until that time, there was no sickness, disease, trials or want. Even the earth had a controlled environment, that was under God's Blessing.
Rain never came down, until "God opened the fountains of the great deep and the flood gates and the windows of Heaven," according to Genesis 7:11. It had never rained, before this time. Genesis 2:5-6 (Amplified) says, "When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not yet caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground. But there went up a mist (fog, vapor) from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground." This controlled environment kept Adam and Eve in comfort and safety, from the elements. Their Father, God, provided their food, water, clothing and shelter. I think that the entire earth was actually the Garden of Eden and it wasn't just a small portion of the earth. God put them in the center of His delight.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Lesson 12 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Genesis 1:26-27,29 (Amplified) tells us, "God said, Let Us (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) make mankind in Our Image (after Our Likeness), and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the aid, the (tame) beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created him: male and female He created them."
Verse 29 continues, "And God Blessed them." God's Blessing was His Original Intent for His for mankind, His family. We have very little insight into how God's family lived on the earth, before Adam's fall in the Garden. We aren't told how long Adam and Eve were on this earth, before the fall. Only two chapters in Genesis deal with how things were between the Father and His family.
The next time we see man in close relationship with the Father, is Jesus. After Jesus' Ascension, we only are given insight into how the Church functioned and is to function. We're given instructions about how to live, now that we've been restored to God's Original Intent.
The Last Adam, Jesus, was responsible to bring about the new creation or new birth, and restore mankind back to God's Original Intent. Satan set out to reduce mankind back to what he had held humans in, by usurping the authority God gave mankind, from the beginning of the Church (God's family, the Body of Christ). We have been taught by man's ideas of what the new creation was supposed to be and have been given man-made laws, in order to function accordingly. Religion points out the obvious sins of the flesh and instructs us to avoid them. Little has been taught or revealed by religion, on how to walk in the Spirit.
Trying to tame the flesh by the flesh, has mostly been a futile attempt of external willpower, instead of internal and God's Power. When looking at Jesus' earthly walk, we see how the first Adam was to walk and bring forth God's offspring. Jesus healed the sick and performed many miracles, but the first Adam wouldn't have needed healing or miracles, to keep things in order.
Jesus brought things back to what God's Original Intent from the beginning. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-10 (Amplified) saying, "Our Father, Who is in Heaven, Hallowed (kept holy) be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." Jesus was bringing mankind back to God's Original Intent, when He healed people, cleansed the lepers, opened blind eyes and raised people from the dead. God never intended His family to be sick, blind, diseased or have need for healing or deliverance. Jesus only restored mankind, to what he lost in the Garden. If Adam hadn't of transgressed in the Garden, then there would never have been sickness or disease on the earth.
Many of us have come to accept and believe that, "This is just how life is." It might be how life is, but it's not how life is supposed to be, according to God's Original Intent. God's family was supposed to be in dominion, authority, fully supplied and Blessed, in everything God made and provided for them. God was to be able to walk with His family, provide for His family, teach and train up His family, in peace and perfect fellowship.
Jesus' entire ministry was bringing mankind back to God's Original Intent, when making mankind. God made man in His Image and Likeness, according to the above scripture. In John 4:24 (Amplified), Jesus said, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth (reality)." The part of you that was born-again and became a new creation, is your spirit. Now that our spirit has been restored to God's Original Intent, our newly created spirit man is to rule over the flesh and the senses, just like it did in Jesus and the first Adam. I'm certain that the first Adam walked with the Father for eons of years, before satan deceived Even and Adam succumbed to sin. We have no recorded history of how God and His family walked, but we can be sure they walked in harmony and perfect fellowship.
I don't believe that Adam ever lacked or had a need, before his fall in the Garden. We see some of the struggles that Jesus, Paul and Peter endured for the sake of the Gospel they were speaking forth. The reason for these struggles, was to keep mankind under satan's bondage. We don't read about any struggle that Adam and Even h ad, before they believed satan's lie in the Garden.
Satan usurped the authority God gave Adam over the earth and put mankind into captivity and bondage. Satan was determined to keep mankind in his bondage, by the same deception. Paul taught the Revelation that he had been given, so satan placed trials and struggles on Paul, trying to quiet Paul. As far as we know, Paul was the only man on earth, who had been given this Revelation from God.
Paul's preaching this Revelation to mankind, would restore the dominion and authority satan stole from Adam and place it back into the hands of God's new creation family. Satan had to stop the Good News of salvation and redemption from being shared, in order to maintain all he'd gained by deceiving Adam and Eve. Satan needed to stop those who preached the Gospel, before too many were born-again and the Gospel was too big to stop.
The enemy tries to stop the Gospel now, by blinding the eyes and minds of the Church to the fullness of what the new creation really is. Matthew 28:18 (Amplified) reads, "Jesus approached and breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me." The Last Adam, Jesus has restored back to God, what the first Adam was to have done, which is "bring sons into glory." In order to know what this power of rule is, you must first understand what Jesus has truly done. He has brought us back to God's Original Intent, as His Own family.
Verse 29 continues, "And God Blessed them." God's Blessing was His Original Intent for His for mankind, His family. We have very little insight into how God's family lived on the earth, before Adam's fall in the Garden. We aren't told how long Adam and Eve were on this earth, before the fall. Only two chapters in Genesis deal with how things were between the Father and His family.
The next time we see man in close relationship with the Father, is Jesus. After Jesus' Ascension, we only are given insight into how the Church functioned and is to function. We're given instructions about how to live, now that we've been restored to God's Original Intent.
The Last Adam, Jesus, was responsible to bring about the new creation or new birth, and restore mankind back to God's Original Intent. Satan set out to reduce mankind back to what he had held humans in, by usurping the authority God gave mankind, from the beginning of the Church (God's family, the Body of Christ). We have been taught by man's ideas of what the new creation was supposed to be and have been given man-made laws, in order to function accordingly. Religion points out the obvious sins of the flesh and instructs us to avoid them. Little has been taught or revealed by religion, on how to walk in the Spirit.
Trying to tame the flesh by the flesh, has mostly been a futile attempt of external willpower, instead of internal and God's Power. When looking at Jesus' earthly walk, we see how the first Adam was to walk and bring forth God's offspring. Jesus healed the sick and performed many miracles, but the first Adam wouldn't have needed healing or miracles, to keep things in order.
Jesus brought things back to what God's Original Intent from the beginning. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-10 (Amplified) saying, "Our Father, Who is in Heaven, Hallowed (kept holy) be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." Jesus was bringing mankind back to God's Original Intent, when He healed people, cleansed the lepers, opened blind eyes and raised people from the dead. God never intended His family to be sick, blind, diseased or have need for healing or deliverance. Jesus only restored mankind, to what he lost in the Garden. If Adam hadn't of transgressed in the Garden, then there would never have been sickness or disease on the earth.
Many of us have come to accept and believe that, "This is just how life is." It might be how life is, but it's not how life is supposed to be, according to God's Original Intent. God's family was supposed to be in dominion, authority, fully supplied and Blessed, in everything God made and provided for them. God was to be able to walk with His family, provide for His family, teach and train up His family, in peace and perfect fellowship.
Jesus' entire ministry was bringing mankind back to God's Original Intent, when making mankind. God made man in His Image and Likeness, according to the above scripture. In John 4:24 (Amplified), Jesus said, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth (reality)." The part of you that was born-again and became a new creation, is your spirit. Now that our spirit has been restored to God's Original Intent, our newly created spirit man is to rule over the flesh and the senses, just like it did in Jesus and the first Adam. I'm certain that the first Adam walked with the Father for eons of years, before satan deceived Even and Adam succumbed to sin. We have no recorded history of how God and His family walked, but we can be sure they walked in harmony and perfect fellowship.
I don't believe that Adam ever lacked or had a need, before his fall in the Garden. We see some of the struggles that Jesus, Paul and Peter endured for the sake of the Gospel they were speaking forth. The reason for these struggles, was to keep mankind under satan's bondage. We don't read about any struggle that Adam and Even h ad, before they believed satan's lie in the Garden.
Satan usurped the authority God gave Adam over the earth and put mankind into captivity and bondage. Satan was determined to keep mankind in his bondage, by the same deception. Paul taught the Revelation that he had been given, so satan placed trials and struggles on Paul, trying to quiet Paul. As far as we know, Paul was the only man on earth, who had been given this Revelation from God.
Paul's preaching this Revelation to mankind, would restore the dominion and authority satan stole from Adam and place it back into the hands of God's new creation family. Satan had to stop the Good News of salvation and redemption from being shared, in order to maintain all he'd gained by deceiving Adam and Eve. Satan needed to stop those who preached the Gospel, before too many were born-again and the Gospel was too big to stop.
The enemy tries to stop the Gospel now, by blinding the eyes and minds of the Church to the fullness of what the new creation really is. Matthew 28:18 (Amplified) reads, "Jesus approached and breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me." The Last Adam, Jesus has restored back to God, what the first Adam was to have done, which is "bring sons into glory." In order to know what this power of rule is, you must first understand what Jesus has truly done. He has brought us back to God's Original Intent, as His Own family.
Monday, September 9, 2019
Lesson 11 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
God's Word records the Original Intent He had for His family from the beginning. God created the heavens and the earth, in order to make a home for His family. If there were no people on the planet, then there would be no purpose for these. When God spoke the things in order and established all the fish of the sea and trees for fruit and food, He was making provision for His family.
Expecting parents prepare a nursery space for their babies and God did this too, preparing the earth. Then, on the sixth day, God brought forth His family and placed them into the place He prepared for them. Adam and Eve never lacked for anything, because their Heavenly Father watched over them and provided for them. God made Adam and Eve to have dominion over all He had made for them.
God made the rest of His creation was made for His Own purposes and for mankind. At that time, mankind had access to God's Kingdom and God simultaneously had access to man's. Angels were able to visit both realms at God's command. Man and God walked together in both realms. Adam and Eve were created spirit beings to begin with and God formed a physical body from the earthly elements, so they could inhabit the natural, physical home He prepared for them. They could produce and inhabit this planet, as God's Own family.
The angels and other creatures that were already in God's domain, weren't on the same level or class as the Father, so He made man "just a little lower than God and crowned him with glory and honor," according to Psalm 8:4-6 (Amplified). Genesis 5:1-2 (Amplified) tells us, "This is the book (the written record, the history of the generations of the offspring of Adam). When God created man, He made him in the Likeness of God. He created them male and female and Blessed them and named them both Adam (man) at the time they were created."
God made them in "the Image and Likeness of God," which means they were created first in the spirit and then given natural bodies, so they could inhabit this earth. John 4:24 (Amplified) says, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth (reality)." The True Image of God in you, is your new creation spirit-man made in His Likeness and Image.
Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified), "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and Spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come." The part of you that is made in God's Image and Likeness, is your new creation person who has God's Life inside it. The earth born body we inherited from the first Adam, is still dead in trespass and sin, but the new creation man is once again alive unto God.
Paul refers to our physical body as a "house," that our new creation man lives in while we're on this earth, in 2Corinthians 5:1-6. We've spent more time focusing on our outside or house, instead of focusing on the spirit who lives inside it. We've spent much of our Christian walk, trying to keep our house from falling apart while we're in it, instead of training our new creation man to heed the Voice of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us. 1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved, we are even here and now God's children'; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be hereafter, but we know that when He comes and is manifest, we shall as God's children, resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He really is."
In order to feed and mature the part of you, that is in His Likeness and Image, you must feed on God's Word. Then, we will "grow thereby." 1Peter 2:2 (Amplified) says, "Like newborn babies, you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire), the pure unadulterated Spiritual milk (God's Word) that you may be nurtured and grow unto completed salvation." Jesus tells His followers 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."
We struggling with our Christianity, trying to subdue the flesh. The very strength we need to do so, though, must come by God's Word in our spirit. We've diluted the Spiritual nourishment into a natural thing, derived from man's ideas and translations, which leaves the new creation man a baby. Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:4 (Amplified), "It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread along, but by every Word that comes forth from the mouth of God." Jesus said in John 6:33,35 (Amplified), "For the Bread of God is He Who comes down out of Heaven and gives Life to the world."
Jesus declares in Verse 35, "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE."
Expecting parents prepare a nursery space for their babies and God did this too, preparing the earth. Then, on the sixth day, God brought forth His family and placed them into the place He prepared for them. Adam and Eve never lacked for anything, because their Heavenly Father watched over them and provided for them. God made Adam and Eve to have dominion over all He had made for them.
God made the rest of His creation was made for His Own purposes and for mankind. At that time, mankind had access to God's Kingdom and God simultaneously had access to man's. Angels were able to visit both realms at God's command. Man and God walked together in both realms. Adam and Eve were created spirit beings to begin with and God formed a physical body from the earthly elements, so they could inhabit the natural, physical home He prepared for them. They could produce and inhabit this planet, as God's Own family.
The angels and other creatures that were already in God's domain, weren't on the same level or class as the Father, so He made man "just a little lower than God and crowned him with glory and honor," according to Psalm 8:4-6 (Amplified). Genesis 5:1-2 (Amplified) tells us, "This is the book (the written record, the history of the generations of the offspring of Adam). When God created man, He made him in the Likeness of God. He created them male and female and Blessed them and named them both Adam (man) at the time they were created."
God made them in "the Image and Likeness of God," which means they were created first in the spirit and then given natural bodies, so they could inhabit this earth. John 4:24 (Amplified) says, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth (reality)." The True Image of God in you, is your new creation spirit-man made in His Likeness and Image.
Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified), "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and Spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come." The part of you that is made in God's Image and Likeness, is your new creation person who has God's Life inside it. The earth born body we inherited from the first Adam, is still dead in trespass and sin, but the new creation man is once again alive unto God.
Paul refers to our physical body as a "house," that our new creation man lives in while we're on this earth, in 2Corinthians 5:1-6. We've spent more time focusing on our outside or house, instead of focusing on the spirit who lives inside it. We've spent much of our Christian walk, trying to keep our house from falling apart while we're in it, instead of training our new creation man to heed the Voice of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us. 1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved, we are even here and now God's children'; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be hereafter, but we know that when He comes and is manifest, we shall as God's children, resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He really is."
In order to feed and mature the part of you, that is in His Likeness and Image, you must feed on God's Word. Then, we will "grow thereby." 1Peter 2:2 (Amplified) says, "Like newborn babies, you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire), the pure unadulterated Spiritual milk (God's Word) that you may be nurtured and grow unto completed salvation." Jesus tells His followers 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."
We struggling with our Christianity, trying to subdue the flesh. The very strength we need to do so, though, must come by God's Word in our spirit. We've diluted the Spiritual nourishment into a natural thing, derived from man's ideas and translations, which leaves the new creation man a baby. Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:4 (Amplified), "It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread along, but by every Word that comes forth from the mouth of God." Jesus said in John 6:33,35 (Amplified), "For the Bread of God is He Who comes down out of Heaven and gives Life to the world."
Jesus declares in Verse 35, "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE."
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Lesson 10 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
We've heard many things taught about Grace, but we continue overlooking the Power of it's Truth. 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."
Galatians 3:14 (Amplified) says, "To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit." Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus told His followers in Acts 1:8 (Amplified), "But you shall receive Power (ability, efficiency, and might), when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth."
This Promise of the Holy Spirit was an act of Grace and Truth, for all who would trust and believe in Jesus Christ and His Word. This was the Promise God made to Abraham, that was yet to be fulfilled. Speaking in tongues and fire accompanied this event in Acts 2:1-4 and many still see these as the totality of receiving the Holy Spirit, but this was and isn't wasn't the Father intended it to be. Jude 1:20 (Amplified) says this about the speaking of tongues, "But you, beloved, build yourselves up founded on your most holy faith, make progress, rise high like an edifice higher and higher praying in the Holy Spirit."
God restored a language, in and by the Holy Spirit, which put us back into a place where God's family had direct access to Him and the hidden mysteries of His will and intent for us. Paul writes in 1Corinthians 14:2,4 (Amplified), "One who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning because in the Holy Spirit he utters secrets truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding." Many have failed to differentiate between the ministry Gift of Tongues and Interpretations to the congregation and the personal language of the individual to the Father.
In Verse 4, Paul writes about the individual who seeks and prays to God on his/her own and the individual God uses to speak through, to the people. Thus, he writes, "He who speaks in a strange tongue edifies and improves himself." Jude 1:20 said, "But he who prophesies (interpreting the Divine will and purpose and teaching) with inspiration edifies and improves the Church and promotes growth in Christian Wisdom, piety, holiness and happiness."
Every believer who has received the Holy Spirit in Grace and Truth, has a language of the Spirit, in our spirit, that is in direct contact with our Heavenly Father. Since you're born-again into the Spirit realm, there's also the language of the Spirit. Paul tells the Church in Corinth that, "There's a language from God to the people, which is to be used as a ministerial tool, to edify the people." The Holy Spirit uses another individual, to interpret what the Father is saying and doing to and for the people. God isn't speaking to the people through the individual speaking in tongues, but the individual is speaking to the Father, by the Holy Spirit.
Most people who are born in France, will learn to speak French, while those born in Germany, usually learn to speak German. So it is, that when you are born in the Spirit, you will speak spirit or the language of your new creation being. Speaking in tongues isn't the end of your quest for the Spirit, but is the beginning. This new language has made it possible for you to receive insight, Wisdom, and the answers to "secret Truths and hidden mysteries, which are not obvious to your own understanding." In other words, this language speaks directly to God. There are so many things God's children need to know, that are revealed to us, when we pray in the Spirit. This Revelation Knowledge is only received by and through, the Holy Spirit. 1Corinthians 14:2 (Amplified) says, "He utters secret Truths and hidden mysteries not obvious to the understanding." Man's wisdom cannot interpret God's hidden Wisdom and His secret Truths."
God made the Promise of the Spirit, to and through Abraham, which was about the coming of Jesus and the restoring of God's children back to Him. We've been brought back to what God intended His family to be from the first. Your being born-again, didn't only mean that you'd go to Heaven after dying. It meant that Heaven would be restored to you and God could now become to us, what He always intended, which is family. We are spirit and not just flesh. God's Grace has granted us access into His "secret place."
Psalm 91:1 (Amplified) says, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the Shadow of the Almighty Whose Power no foe can withstand." In Ephesians 3:3-5,32 (Amplified) Paul writes, "And that the Mystery (secret) was made known to me and I was allowed to comprehend it by direct Revelation as I already briefly wrote you. When you read this you can understand my insight into the Mystery of Christ. This Mystery was never disclosed to human beings in past generations as it has now been revealed to His holy Apostles (consecrated messengers) and prophets, by the Holy Spirit."
Jesus is the Secret Place, that the above Psalm speaks about. Paul continues writing to the Church of Ephesus in Verse 32, where he explains the relationship of a husband and wife becoming one. Thus, he writes, "This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning the relationship of Christ and the Church." 1Corinthians 2:7 (Amplified) says, "But 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 before the ages for our glorification to lift us into the Glory of His Presence." This is God's Original Intent for His family and is now a Truth by Grace.
Galatians 3:14 (Amplified) says, "To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit." Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus told His followers in Acts 1:8 (Amplified), "But you shall receive Power (ability, efficiency, and might), when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth."
This Promise of the Holy Spirit was an act of Grace and Truth, for all who would trust and believe in Jesus Christ and His Word. This was the Promise God made to Abraham, that was yet to be fulfilled. Speaking in tongues and fire accompanied this event in Acts 2:1-4 and many still see these as the totality of receiving the Holy Spirit, but this was and isn't wasn't the Father intended it to be. Jude 1:20 (Amplified) says this about the speaking of tongues, "But you, beloved, build yourselves up founded on your most holy faith, make progress, rise high like an edifice higher and higher praying in the Holy Spirit."
God restored a language, in and by the Holy Spirit, which put us back into a place where God's family had direct access to Him and the hidden mysteries of His will and intent for us. Paul writes in 1Corinthians 14:2,4 (Amplified), "One who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning because in the Holy Spirit he utters secrets truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding." Many have failed to differentiate between the ministry Gift of Tongues and Interpretations to the congregation and the personal language of the individual to the Father.
In Verse 4, Paul writes about the individual who seeks and prays to God on his/her own and the individual God uses to speak through, to the people. Thus, he writes, "He who speaks in a strange tongue edifies and improves himself." Jude 1:20 said, "But he who prophesies (interpreting the Divine will and purpose and teaching) with inspiration edifies and improves the Church and promotes growth in Christian Wisdom, piety, holiness and happiness."
Every believer who has received the Holy Spirit in Grace and Truth, has a language of the Spirit, in our spirit, that is in direct contact with our Heavenly Father. Since you're born-again into the Spirit realm, there's also the language of the Spirit. Paul tells the Church in Corinth that, "There's a language from God to the people, which is to be used as a ministerial tool, to edify the people." The Holy Spirit uses another individual, to interpret what the Father is saying and doing to and for the people. God isn't speaking to the people through the individual speaking in tongues, but the individual is speaking to the Father, by the Holy Spirit.
Most people who are born in France, will learn to speak French, while those born in Germany, usually learn to speak German. So it is, that when you are born in the Spirit, you will speak spirit or the language of your new creation being. Speaking in tongues isn't the end of your quest for the Spirit, but is the beginning. This new language has made it possible for you to receive insight, Wisdom, and the answers to "secret Truths and hidden mysteries, which are not obvious to your own understanding." In other words, this language speaks directly to God. There are so many things God's children need to know, that are revealed to us, when we pray in the Spirit. This Revelation Knowledge is only received by and through, the Holy Spirit. 1Corinthians 14:2 (Amplified) says, "He utters secret Truths and hidden mysteries not obvious to the understanding." Man's wisdom cannot interpret God's hidden Wisdom and His secret Truths."
God made the Promise of the Spirit, to and through Abraham, which was about the coming of Jesus and the restoring of God's children back to Him. We've been brought back to what God intended His family to be from the first. Your being born-again, didn't only mean that you'd go to Heaven after dying. It meant that Heaven would be restored to you and God could now become to us, what He always intended, which is family. We are spirit and not just flesh. God's Grace has granted us access into His "secret place."
Psalm 91:1 (Amplified) says, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the Shadow of the Almighty Whose Power no foe can withstand." In Ephesians 3:3-5,32 (Amplified) Paul writes, "And that the Mystery (secret) was made known to me and I was allowed to comprehend it by direct Revelation as I already briefly wrote you. When you read this you can understand my insight into the Mystery of Christ. This Mystery was never disclosed to human beings in past generations as it has now been revealed to His holy Apostles (consecrated messengers) and prophets, by the Holy Spirit."
Jesus is the Secret Place, that the above Psalm speaks about. Paul continues writing to the Church of Ephesus in Verse 32, where he explains the relationship of a husband and wife becoming one. Thus, he writes, "This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning the relationship of Christ and the Church." 1Corinthians 2:7 (Amplified) says, "But 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 before the ages for our glorification to lift us into the Glory of His Presence." This is God's Original Intent for His family and is now a Truth by Grace.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Lesson 9 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
The power of Grace and the Promise, brings us back to God's Original Intent for His family. There was only one law, in the beginning of man, and that was "Do not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." Adam and Eve failed to observe that one law, which resulted in the entire earth and the entirety of mankind being separated from God, Who is Life. Their one sin, resulted in man's being separated from God, Who is Life and having the Curse of that law falling on mankind.
Romans 8:19 (Amplified) says, "For even the whole creation (all nature), waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known (waits for the reveling, the disclosing) of their sonship." Adam traded his inheritance for his wife Eve, which resulted with the Blessing God placed on His children to be revered and a curse effected on all creation and mankind. Adam was actually born again, but from Life to death. Spiritual death set in on all who was to be born into the earth, as well as the rest of God's creation.
God made a Promise and Blessing on man from the beginning and by His Grace, He is still fulfilling His Promise. The Blessing God pronounced on Adam, was continued all the way to us, through Jesus. Grace came before law and it continues by faith in God's Promises, today. Genesis 6:8,18 (Amplified) tells us that, "Noah found Grace (favor), in the eyes of the Lord." The promise and Blessing was continued through Noah, according to Verse 18. The covenant of Promise was extended to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3 (Amplified), where God says, "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will Bless you with abundant increase of favors and make your name famous and distinguished and you will be a Blessing, dispersing good to others. And I will Bless those who Bless you (who confer prosperity or happiness upon you), and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be Blessed, and by you they will Bless themselves."
The Blessing and Grace that was then for Abraham, is the same Blessing that God pronounced on Adam from the beginning. God gave this Blessing and Promise on "Abraham and his Seed," according to Genesis 17:7 (Amplified) where God tells Abraham, "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an Everlasting, solemn pledge to be a God to you and to your posterity after you."
Genesis 22:2, 16-18 (Amplified) tells us that when Abraham's son was born, "God said, Take now your son (your only son Isaac), whom you love, and go to the region of Morrah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you." Verse 3 tells us that, because of the covenant he had made with God, Abraham rose up early and along with two young men servants and Isaac, he took wood and begin his trip to the mountain God showed him.
In Verses 16-18, God tells Abraham, "I have sworn by Myself says the Lord, that since you have done this and have not withheld from Me or begrudged giving Me your son ( your only son), In Blessing I will Bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the Heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed (Heir), will possess the gates of His enemies. And in your Seed (Christ), shall all the nations of the earth be Blessed and by Him Bless themselves, because you heard and obeyed My Voice."
God deliberately put Himself on behalf of His Promise, saying, "If only a man would not hold back his only son on behalf of the covenant, then I could do no less, on My behalf of the covenant." The Seed of Promise as Jesus and the Promise and covenant God made, would flow to all who would put faith in that Promise and become heirs of this Promise, by faith in God's Grace and covenant. God made the Promise and Blessing in the beginning and now His Grace is made sufficient for all our needs, through the Seed, Jesus, Who is God's Only Begotten Son.
When God extended His Promise to all of Abraham's Seed, God committed Himself to raise up His Son, as Abraham's Seed and also all who by faith, received His Grace and accepted His Promise. Galatians 3:13-14 (Amplified) says, "Christ purchased our freedom, redeeming us from the Curse (doom of the Law and it's condemnation), by Himself becoming a Curse for us, for it is written in the scriptures, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified), 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."
The Promise of the Holy Spirit was Life coming again, that was lost in the Garden by Adam. This Promise restored Life and son-ship and right standing with the Father again, as well as the Power of God again.
We've lost sight of all that Grace is about. By Grace, God made man in the beginning. All God had Promise man was simply by faith in His Grace. Now, all the things He Promised man, is again being offered by faith in His Grace, through Jesus. God's Word tells us that, "By Grace we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, but it is the Gift of God."
God spoke many, many years ago, bout the "unclaimed riches of His Grace." He told me, "My Grace has provided much more than My children's faith has received." God was angered in the Wilderness, because of the Isralite's unbelief, limited Him and stopped the riches of His Grace. Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified) says, "Let us therefore by zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that Rest of God, to know and experience it for ourselves, that no one may fail or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience into which those in the Wilderness fell."
God only requires us to have faith in His Grace and Promise, so that His Grace will bring to pass all that His Promise has declared to do. Today, we hear many say, "These things are passed away and are for another time," but God says in Hebrews 4: 9-10 (Amplified), "So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-Rest reserved for the true people of God. For he who has once entered God's Rest also has ceased from the weariness and pain of human labors just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His Own."
We, by faith, have accepted His Promise of Salvation in Jesus, through Grace. God made Good on His Promise and restored us back to His Original Intent and started mankind all over, as from the first. Everything God told Adam, is now ours through Jesus and even more. Romans 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For in the Gospel, a Righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith, disclosed by the way of faith that arouses to more faith. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."
We were once dead in trespass and sin and were without hope, without covenant and without God in this world, but now by faith, we're made alive in Christ Jesus and have been declared Righteous before God, because of His Grace and our faith in His Grace. We are now living by faith. The Truth of the Gospel is simply trusting God and His Promises by simple faith in His integrity.
Romans 8:19 (Amplified) says, "For even the whole creation (all nature), waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known (waits for the reveling, the disclosing) of their sonship." Adam traded his inheritance for his wife Eve, which resulted with the Blessing God placed on His children to be revered and a curse effected on all creation and mankind. Adam was actually born again, but from Life to death. Spiritual death set in on all who was to be born into the earth, as well as the rest of God's creation.
God made a Promise and Blessing on man from the beginning and by His Grace, He is still fulfilling His Promise. The Blessing God pronounced on Adam, was continued all the way to us, through Jesus. Grace came before law and it continues by faith in God's Promises, today. Genesis 6:8,18 (Amplified) tells us that, "Noah found Grace (favor), in the eyes of the Lord." The promise and Blessing was continued through Noah, according to Verse 18. The covenant of Promise was extended to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3 (Amplified), where God says, "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will Bless you with abundant increase of favors and make your name famous and distinguished and you will be a Blessing, dispersing good to others. And I will Bless those who Bless you (who confer prosperity or happiness upon you), and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be Blessed, and by you they will Bless themselves."
The Blessing and Grace that was then for Abraham, is the same Blessing that God pronounced on Adam from the beginning. God gave this Blessing and Promise on "Abraham and his Seed," according to Genesis 17:7 (Amplified) where God tells Abraham, "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an Everlasting, solemn pledge to be a God to you and to your posterity after you."
Genesis 22:2, 16-18 (Amplified) tells us that when Abraham's son was born, "God said, Take now your son (your only son Isaac), whom you love, and go to the region of Morrah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you." Verse 3 tells us that, because of the covenant he had made with God, Abraham rose up early and along with two young men servants and Isaac, he took wood and begin his trip to the mountain God showed him.
In Verses 16-18, God tells Abraham, "I have sworn by Myself says the Lord, that since you have done this and have not withheld from Me or begrudged giving Me your son ( your only son), In Blessing I will Bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the Heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed (Heir), will possess the gates of His enemies. And in your Seed (Christ), shall all the nations of the earth be Blessed and by Him Bless themselves, because you heard and obeyed My Voice."
God deliberately put Himself on behalf of His Promise, saying, "If only a man would not hold back his only son on behalf of the covenant, then I could do no less, on My behalf of the covenant." The Seed of Promise as Jesus and the Promise and covenant God made, would flow to all who would put faith in that Promise and become heirs of this Promise, by faith in God's Grace and covenant. God made the Promise and Blessing in the beginning and now His Grace is made sufficient for all our needs, through the Seed, Jesus, Who is God's Only Begotten Son.
When God extended His Promise to all of Abraham's Seed, God committed Himself to raise up His Son, as Abraham's Seed and also all who by faith, received His Grace and accepted His Promise. Galatians 3:13-14 (Amplified) says, "Christ purchased our freedom, redeeming us from the Curse (doom of the Law and it's condemnation), by Himself becoming a Curse for us, for it is written in the scriptures, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified), 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."
The Promise of the Holy Spirit was Life coming again, that was lost in the Garden by Adam. This Promise restored Life and son-ship and right standing with the Father again, as well as the Power of God again.
We've lost sight of all that Grace is about. By Grace, God made man in the beginning. All God had Promise man was simply by faith in His Grace. Now, all the things He Promised man, is again being offered by faith in His Grace, through Jesus. God's Word tells us that, "By Grace we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, but it is the Gift of God."
God spoke many, many years ago, bout the "unclaimed riches of His Grace." He told me, "My Grace has provided much more than My children's faith has received." God was angered in the Wilderness, because of the Isralite's unbelief, limited Him and stopped the riches of His Grace. Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified) says, "Let us therefore by zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that Rest of God, to know and experience it for ourselves, that no one may fail or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience into which those in the Wilderness fell."
God only requires us to have faith in His Grace and Promise, so that His Grace will bring to pass all that His Promise has declared to do. Today, we hear many say, "These things are passed away and are for another time," but God says in Hebrews 4: 9-10 (Amplified), "So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-Rest reserved for the true people of God. For he who has once entered God's Rest also has ceased from the weariness and pain of human labors just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His Own."
We, by faith, have accepted His Promise of Salvation in Jesus, through Grace. God made Good on His Promise and restored us back to His Original Intent and started mankind all over, as from the first. Everything God told Adam, is now ours through Jesus and even more. Romans 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For in the Gospel, a Righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith, disclosed by the way of faith that arouses to more faith. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."
We were once dead in trespass and sin and were without hope, without covenant and without God in this world, but now by faith, we're made alive in Christ Jesus and have been declared Righteous before God, because of His Grace and our faith in His Grace. We are now living by faith. The Truth of the Gospel is simply trusting God and His Promises by simple faith in His integrity.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Lesson 8 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
What was the Father's Original Intent for His family, when He created them and brought them to live in the earth? Did He intend for us to suffer sickness, death or a Curse that covered the earth and mankind? Was this really what the Father planned for His Own family? We've never really seen how things were supposed to be, when God made man and set him into this world.
There was no Curse or death, in the beginning. Man's spirit was eternal and his body was immortal. Man was created in God's Own Image and Likeness, which is a Spirit, according to John 4:24 (Amplified) which says, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth (reality)." The part of you that is in God's Image and Likeness, is your spirit-man. This is the eternal family of God in the earth, as well as the heavens.
The division and warring that is occurring in mankind on earth, is happening because we don't know who we are and why that's so important. Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5:4 (Amplified), "For while we are still in this tent (body), we groan under the burden and sigh deeply. Not that we want to put off this body (the clothing of the spirit) but rather that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal (our dying body) may be swallowed up by life after the Resurrection."
The mortal body was fashioned not in mortality, but is immortal like our resurrected body will be. The mortality of our body was brought about, through Adam's transgression and continues until today. Paul tells us to look to the spirit-man withing, to determine our true identity, in 2Corinthians 5:16 (Amplified) where he writes, "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a purely human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). No! even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a Man, yet now we have such knowledge of Him that we know Him no longer in terms of the flesh."
We've lived under the Curse for so long, that we believe "That's just how things are." Jesus bore the Curse and has given us the new creation life that has joined us back to our Father. In order to truly understand what Jesus has done, we must read what Paul writes in Romans 12:2 (Amplified). Thus, he writes, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to it's external -superficial customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind by its new ideals and its new attitude---."
We can only renew our mind by God's Word and His Holy Spirit and know our true identity. The only place to find Truth, is in God's Word. We've determined that the things we're witnessing around us, are God's Plan for His family. If you read Genesis 1-2, then you'll discover God's Original Intent for His family was that they would be Blessed and have dominion over everything on this earth. Adam sold our dominion and life to God's eternal enemy, causing death and calamity came on mankind.
Many have misunderstood Jesus' Sacrifice and that in Him, this new creation man/woman was restored back to God's Original Intent. Through Him, we were made alive, according to John 10:10 (Amplified) where Jesus said, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy Life, and have it in abundance (to the full, til it overflows)." Surely, those who heard Jesus say this, believed they were already alive. The Truth is, that they and we were spiritually dead and separated from God and without Life in Him.
In Ephesians 2:12 (Amplified), Paul paints a picture of man who's without Jesus, which is strong and True, saying, "Remember, that you were at the time separated, living apart from Christ, excluded from all part in Him, utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the Messianic Promise, with no knowledge of or rights in God's agreements (His covenants); And you had no hope, no Promise; you were in the world without God."
Ephesians 2:5 (Amplified) says, "Even when we were dead, slain by our own shortcomings and our trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; He gave us the very Life of Christ Himself, the same new Life with which He quickened Him." It's difficult for us to understand spiritual death, because we've associated life by our natural bodies and not from a Spiritual standpoint. Even though the body is alive, our spirit-man was dead in sin and was separated from God, WHO IS LIFE.
The spirit is eternal, so it didn't die, like we think of dying. It was cut-off from God, by Adam's transgression and was sold over to death, by separation from God Himself. Satan became the father of this world and he ruled by death, fear, and destruction, until Jesus. The new birth, was from death to Life, from satan back to God. Our Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit have made us alive to Him and placed us back into God's family, as sons and daughters. We've been born-again from death to Life and we're now back to God's Original Intent.
It's been difficult of our new identity, is for us to learn how to live in the spirit once again. We've only witnessed a very few people who've ever done this, in a flesh and blood body. One person was Adam (before the fall) and the other was Jesus Christ. Paul, along with other of the Apostles, learned some things about walking in the spirit, but most believers have fallen back into the works of the flesh, walking as mere natural men/women again.
Through the Holy Spirit, God is training us up and teaching us to be the way He created us to be. There's more of the Super-natural Life of the Father, being manifested through today's Church. Understanding is coming of age to many in the Body of Christ. Many consider that believing we are more than just forgiven sinners, is "extreme."
Righteousness is simply part of our inheritance in Christ Jesus, to this new creation body of believers. Understanding righteousness or being in right standing with God is this: through the new birth, we're new creations who've been restored to God's Original Intent and through Jesus, we now have the right again, to stand in God's Presence. The first step in seeing ourselves like the Father sees us (instead of the way we've been taught to see ourselves) is to do like Paul instructs in 2Corinthians 5:16, "Seeing no man only after the flesh, but after the spirit." Believing what God says about you, more than what man says about you, will change everything.
There was no Curse or death, in the beginning. Man's spirit was eternal and his body was immortal. Man was created in God's Own Image and Likeness, which is a Spirit, according to John 4:24 (Amplified) which says, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth (reality)." The part of you that is in God's Image and Likeness, is your spirit-man. This is the eternal family of God in the earth, as well as the heavens.
The division and warring that is occurring in mankind on earth, is happening because we don't know who we are and why that's so important. Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5:4 (Amplified), "For while we are still in this tent (body), we groan under the burden and sigh deeply. Not that we want to put off this body (the clothing of the spirit) but rather that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal (our dying body) may be swallowed up by life after the Resurrection."
The mortal body was fashioned not in mortality, but is immortal like our resurrected body will be. The mortality of our body was brought about, through Adam's transgression and continues until today. Paul tells us to look to the spirit-man withing, to determine our true identity, in 2Corinthians 5:16 (Amplified) where he writes, "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a purely human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). No! even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a Man, yet now we have such knowledge of Him that we know Him no longer in terms of the flesh."
We've lived under the Curse for so long, that we believe "That's just how things are." Jesus bore the Curse and has given us the new creation life that has joined us back to our Father. In order to truly understand what Jesus has done, we must read what Paul writes in Romans 12:2 (Amplified). Thus, he writes, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to it's external -superficial customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind by its new ideals and its new attitude---."
We can only renew our mind by God's Word and His Holy Spirit and know our true identity. The only place to find Truth, is in God's Word. We've determined that the things we're witnessing around us, are God's Plan for His family. If you read Genesis 1-2, then you'll discover God's Original Intent for His family was that they would be Blessed and have dominion over everything on this earth. Adam sold our dominion and life to God's eternal enemy, causing death and calamity came on mankind.
Many have misunderstood Jesus' Sacrifice and that in Him, this new creation man/woman was restored back to God's Original Intent. Through Him, we were made alive, according to John 10:10 (Amplified) where Jesus said, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy Life, and have it in abundance (to the full, til it overflows)." Surely, those who heard Jesus say this, believed they were already alive. The Truth is, that they and we were spiritually dead and separated from God and without Life in Him.
In Ephesians 2:12 (Amplified), Paul paints a picture of man who's without Jesus, which is strong and True, saying, "Remember, that you were at the time separated, living apart from Christ, excluded from all part in Him, utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the Messianic Promise, with no knowledge of or rights in God's agreements (His covenants); And you had no hope, no Promise; you were in the world without God."
Ephesians 2:5 (Amplified) says, "Even when we were dead, slain by our own shortcomings and our trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; He gave us the very Life of Christ Himself, the same new Life with which He quickened Him." It's difficult for us to understand spiritual death, because we've associated life by our natural bodies and not from a Spiritual standpoint. Even though the body is alive, our spirit-man was dead in sin and was separated from God, WHO IS LIFE.
The spirit is eternal, so it didn't die, like we think of dying. It was cut-off from God, by Adam's transgression and was sold over to death, by separation from God Himself. Satan became the father of this world and he ruled by death, fear, and destruction, until Jesus. The new birth, was from death to Life, from satan back to God. Our Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit have made us alive to Him and placed us back into God's family, as sons and daughters. We've been born-again from death to Life and we're now back to God's Original Intent.
It's been difficult of our new identity, is for us to learn how to live in the spirit once again. We've only witnessed a very few people who've ever done this, in a flesh and blood body. One person was Adam (before the fall) and the other was Jesus Christ. Paul, along with other of the Apostles, learned some things about walking in the spirit, but most believers have fallen back into the works of the flesh, walking as mere natural men/women again.
Through the Holy Spirit, God is training us up and teaching us to be the way He created us to be. There's more of the Super-natural Life of the Father, being manifested through today's Church. Understanding is coming of age to many in the Body of Christ. Many consider that believing we are more than just forgiven sinners, is "extreme."
Righteousness is simply part of our inheritance in Christ Jesus, to this new creation body of believers. Understanding righteousness or being in right standing with God is this: through the new birth, we're new creations who've been restored to God's Original Intent and through Jesus, we now have the right again, to stand in God's Presence. The first step in seeing ourselves like the Father sees us (instead of the way we've been taught to see ourselves) is to do like Paul instructs in 2Corinthians 5:16, "Seeing no man only after the flesh, but after the spirit." Believing what God says about you, more than what man says about you, will change everything.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Lesson 7 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
We've heard and believed so many things, that aren't the Truth of and about God and His intent for us today. Much of what we've read and heard, are about fallen man. We've never seen anyone who truly walks freely in the fullness of Life, other than Jesus and Paul (and a few others).
We've heard many teachings about faith and how it works in our lives, but it's been difficult for most to connect to faith. Much of what we know about our Heavenly Father, comes by second hand knowledge, instead of knowing Him firsthand. Having a personal relationship with the Father, is the most important things in a believer's life. We feel the strong Presence of God, when worshiping with God's family in church service. This same Presence though, is available in your personal relationship with God and will grow as you talk and listen to His Voice.
Most of us only see Adam after his fall from God's Grace and union with the Father. No one knows how long Adam walked with God in fellowship, before satan could deceive him. Adam's close relationship with the Father was total faith in his Father's revealing, training and maturing the relationship with one another. Adam trust his Father in absolute faith, to show him, care for him and protect him in everything God created him to be. No one had to tell Adam what they thought about his Father, because Adam knew him.
The Last Adam, Jesus, was also in close fellowship with the Father, during His earthly ministry. Jesus knew the very heart of God, for Himself. Many of those around Jesus, couldn't understand the way Jesus walked in God, because this wasn't what others told them about God. We can relate to others telling us that Jesus is our Savior, but do we seek Him for yourself as Lord, after you're saved? Many hold differing opinions about our Heavenly Father, but most of those are based on someone else's account of Him.
There are so many different doctrines and opinions, within God's family, the Church, telling us "Who our Father really is." We claim to worship the Same Father, but we hold so many different opinions of Who He is. Some see the Father as being strict and harsh, while others view Him as being permissive and lax about sin and life itself. Some Christians believe that God is a hard Taskmaster, while others believe He allows almost anything.
Many still don't realize the difference between how God dealt with mankind in the old and how He deals with those of us in the new covenant today. Many believe Jesus and God are Separate Beings, but Jesus said, "When you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." We see how Jesus never failed to heal people. Jesus never allowed the sick to remain sick, so the sickness could teach them something, but we think God does this. Jesus said that, "He could only do what the Father said to do."
God's Blessing coming on the old covenant people, depended upon their ability to perform things the Law prescribed, but today, God's Blessing depends on our faith in the things Jesus endured to receive it. We keep trying to help the Father in deliverance and salvation, instead of putting faith in the complete work of Jesus. We're only required to put faith in His Word and His Grace will fulfill His Word.
Romans 4:10 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith and depends entirely on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor) to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his (Abraham's) descendants. Not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham who is thus the father of us all." The Gentiles had no covenant with God at all, because the Law of Moses was given to and through Moses, for the Hebrew people. The Promise was made to Abraham, concerning the Holy Spirit, by faith in God's Word. Galatians 3:14 (Amplified) says, "To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."
We've so misunderstood the Promise of the Holy Spirit. Some believe it only refers to speaking in new tongues, while others believe it's the ability to lay hands on the sick. Those who know the very Presence of God, understand that His Life in us has returned us to His Original Intent. When we were born-again by the Holy Spirit, it placed us back to Eden and the Original Intent God had for His family from the beginning. There was no Law, no sacrifices, no Bible in the beginning of man in the beginning of Genesis. There was only Grace, Love and God's Spirit and Presence in man's life. All of man's training, wisdom and knowledge, came by the Spirit of God Who continuously lived in man's presence. Man's life was God's Life. Man's training derived from the Holy Spirit and evil wasn't part of man's life.
God never taught man the difference between Good and evil and Blessing and calamity. There was no need for him to know this, because the Father's heart only intended man to be Blessed and Good. Genesis 3:22 (Amplified) says, "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), to know how to distinguish between Good and evil and Blessing and calamity; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever---."
God left the rest of the above sentence unsaid, because the thought of mankind in the state of curse forever, was too horrible for Him to even think on. God had no choice but to put mankind out of the Garden of Eden, until He could get Jesus into the world, pay the penalty for Adam's sin and bring about the Promise of the Holy Spirit or make man to be born-again. Without these things, man would have lived in the fallen state, without God in his life, for eternity.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit was to bring mankind back to what God intended from the beginning, where man would be united by and in God's Spirit forever. God first made man in His Image, so man was an eternal spirit. God formed man's body from the earthly elements, but he was to be immortal. When Adam transgress, he was separated from the Life of God, his spirit was still eternal. If Adam had been left to satan's plan, he would have taken from the Tree of Life and even his earthly body would have remained immortal for eternity. He would have been eternally foul, diseased, with satan ruling his flesh and blood body. Despite what happened to it, Adam's body wouldn't have died and this was too horrible for God to speak that in the above scripture.
Hollywood's nightmarish zombie movies couldn't compare to the real thing that could have happened, if God hadn't removed Adam and Eve from Eden. God was still full of Grace and mercy, even when the Curse came at Adam's fall, so He began a Sacrifice of Blood, in order to atone for sin. Sin demanded death and the death of an animal could at least provide a small payment for sin. The only thing that could pay the price for man's sin, was another man's death. That man needed to be without sin, but none could meet that requirement, so the continual sacrifice of goats and bulls, temporarily covered sin.
This is why, even though you're born-again and are alive unto God, your body is still dead in trespass and sin. God reckons your mortal body, to still be dead and your spirit alive unto Him. Jesus provided healing by His stripes and although the residue of death is still in your body, He has provided healing for the time you're living in that body. We will be given new bodies at the Resurrection. We will be returned back to God's Original Intent and will be immune from sickness and disease for all eternity.
The Blessing God pronounced on man from the first, is still available to all who will by faith, accept His Promise. His Promise to justify, proclaim Righteous and give a new life life, through faith in Jesus, is just as valid as His Promise to forgive our sins. If one part of His Promise is True, then all of God's Promises are True. God's Word tells us that, "Faith comes by hearing," so until it's preached in Truth and anointing, the faith of God's people will remain tethered.
We continue thinking God will deal with us, the way He dealt with those who weren't born-again in the old covenant. The new covenant is based on simple faith in God's Grace and Truth, to His family. We're God's children and He doesn't deal with us by our dead flesh, but by our new and living spirit, like the First and Last Adam were led. While Adam lived in the Garden, he was led by his spirit and not his flesh. Satan couldn't penetrate the Truth of his spirit, so he attacked Adam's senses and untried flesh.
From the very beginning of man, God's provision and the authority He bestowed upon man, was then and still is, by Grace. We've been brought back to God's Original Intent, living again by faith in God's unmerited favor and Love. We've misunderstood the Power of God's Love, because of man's teachings we're received. We confess that, "God Loves us," but we still expect bad things at His hands. Read Galatians 5:6 (Amplified) carefully. Thus, it says, "For if we are in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through Love."
Our faith is in His Love and trust in His Promise. We're to do good works, but not in order to gain God's Grace, but because of His Grace. We do works of righteousness, not be become righteous, but because we are Righteous, by His Grace. This might sound like a "play on words," but it's the motive of the heart that makes what we do acceptable or not, to God. Romans 14:23 (Amplified) says, "But the man who has doubts (misgivings and an uneasy conscience) about eating and then eats perhaps because of you, stands condemned before God because he is not true to his convictions and does not act from faith, whatever does not originate from faith is sin (whatever is done without a conviction of it's approval by God is sinful)."
We've heard many teachings about faith and how it works in our lives, but it's been difficult for most to connect to faith. Much of what we know about our Heavenly Father, comes by second hand knowledge, instead of knowing Him firsthand. Having a personal relationship with the Father, is the most important things in a believer's life. We feel the strong Presence of God, when worshiping with God's family in church service. This same Presence though, is available in your personal relationship with God and will grow as you talk and listen to His Voice.
Most of us only see Adam after his fall from God's Grace and union with the Father. No one knows how long Adam walked with God in fellowship, before satan could deceive him. Adam's close relationship with the Father was total faith in his Father's revealing, training and maturing the relationship with one another. Adam trust his Father in absolute faith, to show him, care for him and protect him in everything God created him to be. No one had to tell Adam what they thought about his Father, because Adam knew him.
The Last Adam, Jesus, was also in close fellowship with the Father, during His earthly ministry. Jesus knew the very heart of God, for Himself. Many of those around Jesus, couldn't understand the way Jesus walked in God, because this wasn't what others told them about God. We can relate to others telling us that Jesus is our Savior, but do we seek Him for yourself as Lord, after you're saved? Many hold differing opinions about our Heavenly Father, but most of those are based on someone else's account of Him.
There are so many different doctrines and opinions, within God's family, the Church, telling us "Who our Father really is." We claim to worship the Same Father, but we hold so many different opinions of Who He is. Some see the Father as being strict and harsh, while others view Him as being permissive and lax about sin and life itself. Some Christians believe that God is a hard Taskmaster, while others believe He allows almost anything.
Many still don't realize the difference between how God dealt with mankind in the old and how He deals with those of us in the new covenant today. Many believe Jesus and God are Separate Beings, but Jesus said, "When you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." We see how Jesus never failed to heal people. Jesus never allowed the sick to remain sick, so the sickness could teach them something, but we think God does this. Jesus said that, "He could only do what the Father said to do."
God's Blessing coming on the old covenant people, depended upon their ability to perform things the Law prescribed, but today, God's Blessing depends on our faith in the things Jesus endured to receive it. We keep trying to help the Father in deliverance and salvation, instead of putting faith in the complete work of Jesus. We're only required to put faith in His Word and His Grace will fulfill His Word.
Romans 4:10 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith and depends entirely on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor) to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his (Abraham's) descendants. Not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham who is thus the father of us all." The Gentiles had no covenant with God at all, because the Law of Moses was given to and through Moses, for the Hebrew people. The Promise was made to Abraham, concerning the Holy Spirit, by faith in God's Word. Galatians 3:14 (Amplified) says, "To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."
We've so misunderstood the Promise of the Holy Spirit. Some believe it only refers to speaking in new tongues, while others believe it's the ability to lay hands on the sick. Those who know the very Presence of God, understand that His Life in us has returned us to His Original Intent. When we were born-again by the Holy Spirit, it placed us back to Eden and the Original Intent God had for His family from the beginning. There was no Law, no sacrifices, no Bible in the beginning of man in the beginning of Genesis. There was only Grace, Love and God's Spirit and Presence in man's life. All of man's training, wisdom and knowledge, came by the Spirit of God Who continuously lived in man's presence. Man's life was God's Life. Man's training derived from the Holy Spirit and evil wasn't part of man's life.
God never taught man the difference between Good and evil and Blessing and calamity. There was no need for him to know this, because the Father's heart only intended man to be Blessed and Good. Genesis 3:22 (Amplified) says, "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), to know how to distinguish between Good and evil and Blessing and calamity; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever---."
God left the rest of the above sentence unsaid, because the thought of mankind in the state of curse forever, was too horrible for Him to even think on. God had no choice but to put mankind out of the Garden of Eden, until He could get Jesus into the world, pay the penalty for Adam's sin and bring about the Promise of the Holy Spirit or make man to be born-again. Without these things, man would have lived in the fallen state, without God in his life, for eternity.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit was to bring mankind back to what God intended from the beginning, where man would be united by and in God's Spirit forever. God first made man in His Image, so man was an eternal spirit. God formed man's body from the earthly elements, but he was to be immortal. When Adam transgress, he was separated from the Life of God, his spirit was still eternal. If Adam had been left to satan's plan, he would have taken from the Tree of Life and even his earthly body would have remained immortal for eternity. He would have been eternally foul, diseased, with satan ruling his flesh and blood body. Despite what happened to it, Adam's body wouldn't have died and this was too horrible for God to speak that in the above scripture.
Hollywood's nightmarish zombie movies couldn't compare to the real thing that could have happened, if God hadn't removed Adam and Eve from Eden. God was still full of Grace and mercy, even when the Curse came at Adam's fall, so He began a Sacrifice of Blood, in order to atone for sin. Sin demanded death and the death of an animal could at least provide a small payment for sin. The only thing that could pay the price for man's sin, was another man's death. That man needed to be without sin, but none could meet that requirement, so the continual sacrifice of goats and bulls, temporarily covered sin.
This is why, even though you're born-again and are alive unto God, your body is still dead in trespass and sin. God reckons your mortal body, to still be dead and your spirit alive unto Him. Jesus provided healing by His stripes and although the residue of death is still in your body, He has provided healing for the time you're living in that body. We will be given new bodies at the Resurrection. We will be returned back to God's Original Intent and will be immune from sickness and disease for all eternity.
The Blessing God pronounced on man from the first, is still available to all who will by faith, accept His Promise. His Promise to justify, proclaim Righteous and give a new life life, through faith in Jesus, is just as valid as His Promise to forgive our sins. If one part of His Promise is True, then all of God's Promises are True. God's Word tells us that, "Faith comes by hearing," so until it's preached in Truth and anointing, the faith of God's people will remain tethered.
We continue thinking God will deal with us, the way He dealt with those who weren't born-again in the old covenant. The new covenant is based on simple faith in God's Grace and Truth, to His family. We're God's children and He doesn't deal with us by our dead flesh, but by our new and living spirit, like the First and Last Adam were led. While Adam lived in the Garden, he was led by his spirit and not his flesh. Satan couldn't penetrate the Truth of his spirit, so he attacked Adam's senses and untried flesh.
From the very beginning of man, God's provision and the authority He bestowed upon man, was then and still is, by Grace. We've been brought back to God's Original Intent, living again by faith in God's unmerited favor and Love. We've misunderstood the Power of God's Love, because of man's teachings we're received. We confess that, "God Loves us," but we still expect bad things at His hands. Read Galatians 5:6 (Amplified) carefully. Thus, it says, "For if we are in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through Love."
Our faith is in His Love and trust in His Promise. We're to do good works, but not in order to gain God's Grace, but because of His Grace. We do works of righteousness, not be become righteous, but because we are Righteous, by His Grace. This might sound like a "play on words," but it's the motive of the heart that makes what we do acceptable or not, to God. Romans 14:23 (Amplified) says, "But the man who has doubts (misgivings and an uneasy conscience) about eating and then eats perhaps because of you, stands condemned before God because he is not true to his convictions and does not act from faith, whatever does not originate from faith is sin (whatever is done without a conviction of it's approval by God is sinful)."
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