Developing the New Creation Lesson 16

     Prov. 20:27 (Amp) says, "The spirit of man (that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God), is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts."

     We hear from God and the Lord speaks and guides us, from our spirit.  Psalm 119:130 (Amp) says, "The entrance and unfolding of Your Words give Light (their unfolding gives understanding, discernment, and comprehension to the simple)."  Psalm 119:105 (Amp) says, "Your Word is a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path."  Heb. 4:12 (Amp) says, "For the Word of God speaks is alive and full of power, making it active, operative, energizing, and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life, (soul), and the immortal spirit, and of the joints and marrow of the deepest parts of our nature, exposing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart."

     Many believers don't understand the importance of spending time in God's Word.  We need to do more than read a passage now and again.  We must study to "show ourselves approved."  God speaks to us through our spirit and not through our senses.  Many don't know whether they're hearing God's Voice or it it's the devil speaking to them.  Satan doesn't have access to our born-again spirit and can only speak to us through our senses and the old way we were conditioned to think.  God's Word will divide what our soul or carnal five senses thinks, from what our spirit receives.  The above scripture tells us that God's Word will penetrate to "the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and the immortal (spirit)." 

     We can know and recognize the Voice of God, by knowing and recognizing His Word.  God speaks to our spirit and not our head or senses, by His Spirit.  God isn't limited to only using His Word to speak to us.  He told me to move to New York.  My name's not in the scripture and neither is the place He told me to move.  Both, though, are in-line with His directions by His Word.

     I spend much time in prayer and fasting, before I moved into His will for my life.  My head and senses told me to dismiss the instructions, but my spirit man knew the Voice of the Shepherd, just like Jesus said, "My sheep know My Voice."  I didn't "have" to obey what God instructed and He didn't force me to do so.  I would still be saved and remain His son, if I didn't make the move, but I wouldn't fulfill what God wanted me to do.  I did obey and my life has been totally changed by my obedience to His Word.

     Our head, senses and carnal mind will tell us many things, but they cannot discern the thoughts of the Spirit.  Satan can play with our carnal minds, but he cannot enter the born-again spirit of the new creation child of God.  This is why it's paramount that we learn to hear God's Voice.  Trouble will surely come when we obey God's Voice, but "He will deliver us out of them all," when we're following Him.  Most of the trouble we encounter, is self-inflicted and comes from our not following His Voice.

     The Psalmist said, "God's Word is a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path."  God's Word will direct our steps, "lest we should dash our foot against a stone," according to Psalm 91:12 (Amp).  God's Protection is guaranteed by Jesus' Blood and His Word.  We stumble, fall, and put ourselves in danger, when we ignore God's directions.  We must spend time in God's Word and His Presence, so the Light of His Word becomes the Light by which we walk.  The entrance of God's Word brings Light.  We can read His Word as some religious duty or chore, which doesn't bring entrance of the Light into our spirit man/woman.

     When we seek after His hidden Truths in God's Word and listen for His Voice in our spirit, then we will have the Revelation God is giving for our lives.  When we meditate on God's Word and listen to the Holy Spirit's leading, they will prove a big impact in our lives.  God's protection, guidance and Life comes from within and not from the flesh or carnal mind.  It's been easy for the devil to deceive God's people, because we give more heed to the outer-man/woman and the carnal mind, than to the new creation person made in God's Image and Likeness.

     Paul instructed the Church to renew our minds with God's Word.  This is a critical Truth in understanding and obeying the life the new creation person.  We've been programmed by our senses and environment, so we must make a deliberate choice to renew our minds by God's Word.  If we don't renew our minds, then we would continue to walk after the flesh and not walk after the Spirit, even after being born-again.  

     Those under the first covenant were still carnal, but tried to walk in Spiritual Wisdom.  Only Jesus ever fulfilled the Law, because carnal men/women lacked insight into the Spirit of God.  Today's Church still lacks insight and Wisdom of God's Word, so we devise laws to govern our flesh, like those under the old covenant.  Paul describes those believers as being "mere men and not new creatures."  God's Word is alive and active and sharper than a two-edged sword.  We must be led by the Holy Spirit and follow God's Word, because these will reveal the thoughts of God to the new man/woman.  

     God's Word and His Spirit are the GPS and the X which direct the best route for our journey.  When we don't follow God's leading, then we will still arrive home into God's Throne Room, but we will make many wrong turns and meet many road hazards that we didn't need to encounter.  Our salvation has already been taken care of and our destination is secure, but the paths that we walk between here and Heaven, must be illuminated by God's Word, so we arrive there safely.

     We must allow our spirit man/woman to dominate our natural man/woman.  Many of God's children leave this earth prematurely, sometimes because we don't hear and study by our spirit.  Jesus is called the "Son of David," in Psalm 89:33-37 (Amp), where God says, "Nevertheless, My Loving Kindness will I not break off from him nor allow My faithfulness to fail, to lie or be false to him. My covenant will I not break of profane, not alter the thing that is gone out of My lips. Once for all I have sworn by My Holiness, and his throne shall continue as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever as the moon, the faithful witness in the heavens. Selah, (pause and think calmly of that)."

     This was God's Promise to David, which is still fulfilled through Jesus and those who are in Christ Jesus, as covenant family with the Father.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 15

     2Cor. 5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ Jesus (the Messiah0, he is a new creation (a new creature altogether)."  

     1Peter 2:2 (Amp) says, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire), the pure unadulterated Spiritual milk (the sincere Milk of the Word KJV) that you may be nurtured and grow unto completed salvation."

     In Prov. 4:20-22 (Amp) God says, "My son, attend to My Words; consent and submit to My sayings. Let them no depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart For they are Life to those who find them; health and healing to all their flesh."

     Feeding on God's Word is a personal act, which brings Life to the new creation person.  We must each decide whether or not we will "consent and submit to God's sayings."  Many believers today, don't acknowledge that we are to consent and submit to God's Word, in order to grow into mature children of God.  Many believe that God will "make" us do what is right.  If we don't seek, consent and submit to God's Word, then we be able to grow unto completed salvation.

     We seemingly think that it's up to God, to see to that all is well for the Christian person.  We don't recognize that we have an enemy who will try to deceive and distract us.  The Holy Spirit instructs God's children in Prov. 4:5 (Amp), saying, "Get skillful and Godly Wisdom (get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation); do not forget and do not turn back from the Words of My mouth."

     We are to "get Wisdom," which requires our consenting and submitting to God's Word.  Godly Wisdom doesn't profit us, is we don't submit, consent and aren't let by the Holy Spirit.  It would be foolish to read the guiding Words of Wisdom, without consenting, submitting and following it's path.  God will not "make" anyone do what He says.  We must consent and submit.

     Prov. 4:6 ,7(Amp) says, "Forsake not wisdom, and she will keep, defend and protect you: love her and she will guard you."  When we consent and submit to God's instruction in His Word, then He will protects and defend His family.  God''s primary way of caring for His family, isn't by performing the miracles found in His Word, because most of those are only needed when we forsake and turn from His Word and instructions.  Verse 7 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."  We need to understand and comprehend what God's Word is saying to us.  

     Many have given up on what God's Word says to us about our health, long life and His protection.  God doesn't say that He'll only be there when we "have an emergency."  He says that when we consent and submit to His Word, then He would constantly protect and care for us.  We don't want a caretaker who takes us to the hospital after getting hit by a car, but one who teaches us how to avoid getting hit in the first place.  If we follow and consent to God's instructions, then He will protect us.

     Reading God's Word isn't a religious obligation.  God is our Life and the the length of our days.  His Presence Lives in our new creation spirit and is a constant Voice directing our lives.  Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus tells His followers about the Holy Spirit Who now indwells our very own spirit, in John 16:13 (Amp), saying, "But when He comes, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-Giving Spirit), will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His Own Message (on His Own authority), but He will give the Message that has been given to Him; and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come (that will happen in the future)."

     Jesus wasn't just referring to the End Times, when He speaking about "the things that will happen in the future."  The Holy Spirit guides and speaks to each of us personally, about the things that will happen during our day and about the enemy's plans concerning us.  How many accidents could have been avoided, if we only listened to and were led by God's Word?  I was ready to drive through a green light, when the Holy Spirit told me to "Stop!"  I stopped without hesitation, when a truck ran the red light at 60 MPH.  I'm glad I chose to consent and submit to God's Word, which protected me.

     God could have lifted my truck over the incoming vehicle or done something else in a dramatic way, but it was needed, because I consented and submitted to His Word and was protected.  In Prov. 9:11-12 (Amp) God says, "For by Me (Wisdom from God), your days shall be multiplied and the years of your life shall be increased. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scorn, you alone will bear it and pay the penalty."

     It doesn't matter what others think about what God says, because "If you are wise, then you're wise for yourself and if you scorn, you alone will pay the penalty."  You must choose to either consent and submit to God's Word or follow what others say.  It's up to every individual to seek a personal relationship with the Spirit, Wisdom, Jesus and our Heavenly Father.

     

    

Developing the New Creation Lesson 14

     1Peter 2:2 (Amp) says, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire), the unadulterated Spiritual milk of the Word, that by it you may be nurtured and grow into completed salvation."  

     We don't read God's Word as a duty or a religious thing to do, even though it's good to read it, but we do so in order to feed the newborn spirit from God.  Every child must be nurtured and cared for, in order to obtain growth and maturity.  We're newborn babies, born of God and as Spiritual children, we must be fed on Spiritual food.  Ham and eggs can't nourish the spirit, only the Word of God can do that.  Jesus said in Luke 4:4 (Amp), "Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone, but by every Word and expression of God."

     In the old covenant, God established the Law by which mankind was to live, so that He could still Bless and provide for them.  These weren't born-again people and couldn't  truly understand Spiritual things.  Their flesh was in total control and they were led by their flesh.  God could at least hold them in a place where He could still minister to them, by establishing Laws they had to perform and follow.  We're not controlled by the flesh, but are Love controlled.  We walk with God in obedience to His Word and we remain with Him out of Love and not Law.

     God's Love lets us choose to leave and rebel or walk with Him, out of Love for Him.  Paul referred to this walk as being like a marriage between a man and his wife, in Eph. 5:21-33.  Our spouse doesn't stay with us, because they're afraid to leave.  They stay with us, because they choose to do so and because they love us.  I don't need to chain my wife every morning, to ensure she'll be there when I come home.  I know she'll be there, because she loves me and has chosen me as her husband.  She chose me from among the millions of men on earth, not because I'm handsome, rich or famous.  She chose me out of love and her love remains today, after 61 years of marriage.  The love we have for one another, has held us together through good and bad.

     Everything we've done and do, has been done out of the love my wife and I have for one another.  We chose to do these things, out of love.  Love doesn't make us serve God, but Love serves Him with an appreciative heart, because He Loved us so much.  Love will respond to Love, but will resist slavery or bondage by outward sins and fear.  God Loved us because HE IS LOVE.  God wasn't looking to dominate us, but wanted us to Love Him by choice.  Despite how hard we try, we cannot make someone love us.  That is a choice they must make.  We Love God, because He first Loved us and we responded to His Love.

     The covenant we have with the Father, is one of Love and was ratified by the Blood of His Son Jesus.  It's a Blood covenant, but Love furnished the way for us to return to God's Love for His family.  We know from John 3:16, that Love brought Jesus to offer the Blood that Redeemed us.  I don't follow and walk with God, because I'm afraid of what He might do to me.  He gave me the choice to either believe in His Love that sent Jesus, or not to believe.  The scripture says that God sent Jesus that, "Whosoever would believe should be saved."  The choice is ours, but the will and Offer was made to all.

     I don't abstain from sin, because I'm afraid of what my Heaven Father might do to me.  I abstain from sin, because we have a Love covenant together and I would never do anything to jeopardize that relationship or hurt the heart of God.  He likewise doesn't Bless me, because He's obligated to His covenant.  He does so, because He Loves me and now by Jesus, He has the way to Bless me like He always wanted to do.  Sin created a barrier between God and mankind and in order to Bless the people, they needed to walk in total obedience to the Law.  If they failed to do so, then the Blessing was detained.  We don't have a sin barrier, which holds back God's Blessing, because Jesus removed the sin and brought for right standing and righteousness to open Love's Door and to His Blessing again.

     God still wants to Bless, heal, prosper, deliver and be our Father and our God today.  We must trust in His Great Love, where Love died in our place, in order to make God's Blessing available to us again.  It's God's will to Bless us with all Spiritual Blessings for life while we're on this earth.  God can still do what He said, but we must trust in the Love that Promised it.

     We keep trying to jump through religious hoops, in order to qualify for God's Blessing.  Jesus took care of our qualifications, when he ascended to the father on our behalf.  We haven't understood this kind of Love.  The privilege of knowing Him and responding to Him in Love, is greater than anything this world has to offer.  It would be devastating to learn that my wife only stayed with me these sixty years, because she believed she had to or because she was afraid to leave.  God wants us to stay with Him because we want too and not because we wanted something from Him.  When we serve and remain with God in Love, He will lavish everything on us, "According to His riches in Glory."  God wanted to bring us back to Himself, in order to give us all the things He intended to for us in the beginning, before we were even manifested in the earth.  We were in God's heart and Plan, from the beginning.

     Everything God created was for us.  He didn't create the heavens and earth, because He was homeless.  He created it for us, so that He could dwell here with us and we could dwell in Love with Him.  Gen. 1:1 (Amp) says, "In the beginning God."  This doesn't mean that this was God's beginning, but the beginning of the creation He brought forth for His children to live.  God didn't need the heavens and earth to dwell in.  He created it for us.  It was to be like a nursery to God's children.  After seeing that everything was good, God approved it and placed His newborn children in it, to live in.  God furnished the earth with everything His children would need and then gave it to them to rule and enjoy.  God Himself could enjoy teaching His children.  The Father would provide anything His children would need in their nursery.

     Adam and Eve could walk in this natural realm and still be in the Spirit realm, because they were one realm before sin separated them from the Spirit realm.  We must learn how to walk back with God in this Spirit realm, we've been born into.  We can live in the body and live in the Spirit, just like Jesus did in His earthly walk.  There wasn't supposed to be a separation between the body, soul and spirit.  Jesus' Sacrifice has restored into the realm of the Spirit to complete salvation.  We're to walk was one with Him and carry His will out on the earth.

    

Developing the New Creation Lesson 13

     2Cor.5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore if any person is ingrafted in Christ Jesus (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition is passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     Newborn babies learn to trust those who take care of them and they learn to depend upon their caretakers for their every need.  They can't take care of themselves, so they depend entirely on the Love their parents or caretakers have for them, in order to meet their needs.  It's a total dependence on the Love of the parents and caretakers.

     1Peter 2:2 (Amp) says, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire), the pure, unadulterated Spiritual milk (of the Word), that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto completed salvation."  God's Word nurtures us by Love and brings trust and growth to the new creation beings.  Many believers today lack the nurturing of God's Word, which is to train them and meet their needs, as well as comforting them and lead them to trust in the One Who is nurturing them.

     We are unsure about how much and what we can trust God's Word to do in our lives, because wrong teaching has crept into the Church over the years.  If we feed on His Word, then we will learn to trust what God says and believe what He says.  We keep trying to be Blessed and receive what His Blessing has said, when we should be trusting Gal.3:14 (Amp), which 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 Revelation of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."

     The Promise of the Blessing of the Holy Spirit, isn't only speaking in tongues, but is God Himself living in us and bringing His nature, His Love, and His ability, in an through us.  We're no longer limited to our own ability, because the Lord Himself lives within us, in order to meet our needs, nurture and teach us how this new creation child of God is to live.  God is our Father, our Procter, Provider, Healer and Life itself.  Like newborn babies trust their parents or caretakers to care for them, we're newborn babies of the Spirit, who must learn to trust that God won't allow anything to happen to us.  Parents hold their child's hand when crossing the street or when they're walking in public.  Our Heavenly Father holds our hands too.

     We hear and have much to say about the Love of God, but we don't always trust that His Love will care for us in this world.  Jesus prayed in John 17:15 (Amp), "I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one."  This is total faith in the Father and His Word, which brings peace and Rest.  Many say, "You never know what God will do," because we don't trust in God's Word, which caused us to lose faith in many areas of our lives.  God is either still God or He is not.  Either God's Word is True or we're wasting our time reading it.  Many believe that God will only take care of us in Heaven, but God is not helpless and will take care of us while we're here on earth.  

     We trust that He'll care for us in eternity, but believe He doesn't care for us in this temporal life.  This belief has entered into the Church, because some have tried to believe and failed, so they make excuses for that failure, saying, "This doesn't work for everyone."  Just because someone fails in their faith, doesn't mean that we must fail too.  Many have failed to believe and place their trust in God, just like those in the Wilderness did, but not everyone fails.  Joshua and Caleb led the children of those who failed in the Wilderness, into the Promised Land.  Gal.5:6 (Amp) says, "For if we are in Christ Jesus,neither circumcision nor uncircomcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through Love."

     The more we understand and believe the Love that God our Father has for us, the stronger our faith in Him will allow us to trust in His Word for us.  All of God's Promises are already ours, through Jesus.  The above scripture tells us that, "It's not the Law, nor circumcision, nor uncircumcision, but faith that works by Love."  If we don't believe the Love, then we won't trust God at His Word of Love and His Promises won't work in our lives.  If Love and faith in His Love didn't work, then we'd still be lost in our sins.  John 3:16 (Amp) says, "For God so Loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, so that we should not be lost or perish, but have Everlasting Life."

     This Promise is based on God's Love and will for work for anyone who will believe in His Love.  We only had God's Word and His Love, but we trusted in that Love and became God's children and new creations.  If we can trust His Love in the Promise that Jesus died for us and brought salvation to the world, then we can believe all of His Promises.

     Our faith will work in direct proportion to the trust we put in the Love God has for us.  Faith works by Love.  We've been seeing Medicaid commercials which tell us, "All these promises are yours, but you don't get them automatically, you must apply for them."  All God's Promises are ours, but we must believe by faith, in His Promises.  You are already Blessed through Jesus.  The Blessing of Abraham is already ours, but we must believe and apply faith in what God has said.  Some aren't Blessed more than others.  We are all joint heirs with Jesus, but in order to walk in the inheritance and Blessing, we must believe they are ours by faith.  That faith is not in ourselves, but in His Love for us, that brings these Blessings into this natural realm.

     1John 4:16 (Amp) says, "And we know understand, recognize are conscious of, by observation and by experience, and believe in, adhere to and put faith in and rely on the Love God cherishes for us. God is Love, and he who dwells and continues in Love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him."  The more we continue in Love, the more we continue in God.  The more we continue in Love, the more God continues in us, because GOD IS LOVE.  We can't continue in God, without continuing in Love.

     Continuing in Love doesn't mean that we stay saved, but the we grow into completed salvation.  A newborn baby is alive and has life, but isn't completed in this life.  As the newborn grows in knowledge and matures in his/her body,  he/she grows into completed maturity and adulthood.  If that person never studied or matured, then he/she is still a human being, but never grew into completed life.  Some children of God haven't never known anything beyond their salvation.  Growing into completed salvation requires faith in God's Love and Trust in His Promises.  We must put faith in and trust in the Love God has for His children.

     2Cor. 1:20 (Amp) says, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes Answer in Him, Christ. for this reason we also utter the Amen (So be it), to God through Him, in His Person, and by His Agency to the Glory of God."     

Developing the New Creation Lesson 12

     2Cor.5:17 (Amp) tells us that we're not an "Urban Renewal" project, but we've been made new creatures altogether in Jesus Christ.  We're a new species of being that has never existed in all of God's creation.  Our carnal minds prevent us from seeing the Truth of what God has done for and in us, by Jesus.  The Love covenant that He has brought into being, is stronger and more powerful than anything God has ever created.

     It was because of God's Love for mankind, that He established the Law, whereby the people's sins would be covered, until He could bring Jesus into the earth.  God tried using Grace from the time of Adam, but sin separated the people's spirits from God and the flesh couldn't accept Grace and allow it to lead them.  God needed to govern mankind in the flesh, until Jesus.  "All had sinned," but God's Love accepted the innocent blood of Lambs as covering for sin, instead of destroying mankind.  The blood needed to be renewed daily, so it was shed daily.

     The people were still sinners and "None were righteous," but God's Love fostered the Law to hold back what justice demanded.  Satan used every kind of temptation, trying to provoke God into destroying mankind and bring justice for their disobedience and sin.  LOVE though, NEVER FAILS.  We've misunderstood the awesome power and patience of God's Love for His children.  Some like Noah, found Grace in God's eyes, by doing everything possible to walk according to His Word and live right before Him.  Love provided Grace to those who were seeking Him, by His Word.  Most though, only offered the sacrifices needed to prevent their destruction, by appeasing God and His Law.  God appointed certain days and sacrifices for the people to follow, in order for them to remain covered by the blood.  Very few offered sacrifices to God, because they loved Him.

     The new creation people are to bring our tithes and offerings to God in love, rather than obligation or fear.  We don't "take up" a collection.   We receive an offering brought not to the church, but to the Lord in love and in faith in His Love for us.  God didn't only demonstrate His Love in Jesus, but He sent His Love into our hearts (spirits) by His Own Spirit.  God's Love lives inside the spirit of every believer, in order to show us how to understand His heart.

     The world has influenced the lives of God's people, causing us to trade God's Love for the Law of the old covenant and other man-made laws, by which we're to serve Him.  God's Grace has allowed our good intentions, but has never truly been touched by them.  He wants us to return His Love.  If we really understood the covenant of Love, then we could remove the guilt and condemnation of the old man/woman and walk in faith, in the family position we've been placed in.  We keep waiting for "the other shoe to drop," because our faith hasn't reached into the realm of the Father's Love, whereby we could rest in the salvation He has provided.  Jesus paid the entire bill that Adam's transgression brought onto mankind.  The blood of animals could cover, but not erase the bill we owed from Adam's transgression.  

     The only way one could completely walk in what God had for mankind, was to perfectly walk out the Law and receive the fullness of Blessing.  James tells us that, "If you broke even one of those Laws, then you were guilty of the whole Law."  The only Man Who completely walked it out, was Jesus and in Him, God sees us as having completely walked it out too.  Jesus said that He "didn't come to take away the Law, but to fulfill it."  Not even the Law has a hold on the new creation people.

     Many today, still observe the habits of the Law, especially in their eating habits.  We don't "have" to eat certain things, but we don't have to abstain from eating them either.  We read about someone who knows his/her covenant by faith and one who knows his/her covenant by tradition, in Rom.14.  Paul tells us that "All things are good to eat," but if this brings offense to those who don't understand, then we're to walk in love and abstain from doing so in their presence.  It is sin, when we don't walk out of love for the person who is weak in the faith and doesn't understand the new covenant.  These liberties are for every believer, but those who don't know their covenant of Love are afraid of offending God and receiving punishment for breaking these Laws.

     We're not just covenant people, but through Jesus, we are family.  The covenant of Blood brought us into the full Grace, by faith.  We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus.  By faith in God's Word, we're as much sons and daughters of God, as Jesus is.  We're blood family of the Almighty Creator Himself and He has created us new.  This is His Blood swore oath to us.  God's covenant holds all the deliverance He Promised, but God went beyond covenant and made us His family, by the Blood of Jesus.  

     Genesis 1:12 (Amp) says, "The earth brought forth vegetation; plants yielding seed according to it's own kind and trees bearing fruit in which was their seed, each according to it's kind. And God saw that it was good (suitable, admirable) and He approved it."  We were created after the Seed or Word of God, after Kind.  1Peter 1:23 (Amp) says, "You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from One that is Immortal by the Ever Living and lasting Word of God."  Everything produces after kind, including mankind, animals, plants, and family.  We're not just covenant, by we're God's Own children and He has Blessed us with the inheritance of a Father to His children, through Jesus.  God created the heavens and earth for us to enjoy, from the beginning.  We lost it through Adam's transgression, but we've received it again through Jesus.

     My wife and I made a marriage covenant 60 years ago.  Our children now carry the DNA of their father, because of this covenant.  They're recipients of this covenant and all we have it theirs to share equally.  Our Father made covenant with Jesus and because to that covenant, we share His DNA or Same Spirit.  Just prior to His arrest, Jesus prayed in John 17:22 (Amp), "I have given to them the Glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are One."  Jesus told His followers, in John 16:14-15 (Amp), "He will honor and Glorify Me, because He will take of, receive, draw upon what is Mine and will reveal, declare, disclose, transmit it to you. Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He (the Spirit) will take the things that are Mine and will reveal, declare, disclose, transmit it to you."  We are joint heirs with Jesus and everything the Father has is His. 

       

Developing the New Creation Lesson 11

      Peter writes about "growing into completed salvation, by the Truth of God's Word," in 1Peter 2:2.  When we won't forgive the old man/woman we were before being born-gain and who died on the cross with Jesus, we can't enjoy the Grace and unmerited favor of our salvation.  We get a fuller picture of completed salvation in 1John 4:17-18 (Amp), which says, "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 in 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 and 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, and is not yet grown into Love's complete perfection."

     We must understand the Love that brought us salvation and trust in that Love by faith in the Grace that saved us, in order to understand the complete salvation Peter writes about.  If you believe that you will receive punishment for your old sins, then you haven't grown into the maturity of completed salvation.  We have a Blood covenant with God, which as brought about by Love.  We read about God's Great Love in Gen. 22:7-8 (Amp), when God told Abraham to climb Mt. Moria and sacrifice his son, Isaac. Thus, we read, "And Isaac said to Abraham, My father! And he said  here I am my son. Isaac said, see, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt sacrifice? And Abraham said, my son, God Himself will provide a Lamb for the burnt sacrifice."

     God's Word tells us that, "There is no forgiveness for sin, without the shedding of blood, in Heb. 9:22 (Amp).  Love provided the Lamb Who would shed His Own Blood, so that His Grace, mercy and unmerited favor could come upon those who would believe.  The covenant of Love was sealed by a blood sworn oath from God Himself.  Jesus was the Surety and Guarantor of the Love covenant, which was sealed on the Blood of Jesus Himself.

     In order to mature in this covenant, we must follow 1John 4:16 (Amp), which says, "And we know (understand, recognize and are conscious of) by observation and by 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 and continues in Love dwells and continues in God and God dwells and continues in him."

     We have a Blood covenant with God, by the Blood of Jesus Christ and it was Love that held Jesus to the covenant, before going to the cross.  John 3:16 tells us that, "God so Loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son."  Only Love could and would, do something this powerful.  It was the Blood that was shed on Calvary's cross that did away with sin and the old sinful man/woman through death, but it was a Love covenant that "sent Himself a Lamb for the Sacrifice," like Abraham prophesied.  

     We don't understand a Love this powerful, because we're still carnal in much of our affairs with the Father.  We think of love as being an emotional thing, but Love is a Person, God.  We lack Revelation of Love, so we're afraid of punishment and Love isn't made complete and perfected in us.  We have very little Revelation of Love and God, which might be why so many have a difficult time seeing God and Jesus as One.

     We see God from the old, first covenant and then have a difficult time seeing Him and Jesus as being One, when we read about Jesus' life in His earthly walk.  Sadly, many believers are waiting for God to punish them, for their past sins.  We know we deserve punishment and can't believe God would just ignore it.  We've failed to realize that Love completely removed the sin and the old man/woman who committed those sin, died on the cross with Jesus.  God now sees us as righteous, justified, pure, holy, and complete in the Sacrifice of Himself for us. C.S. Lewis wrote, "The Son of God became the son of man, so that the son of man could now become the sons of God."  1John 4:17 (Amp) says, "Because as He is, so are we in this world."

     He is not unrighteous.  He is not an old sinner saved by Grace.  He is not unworthy and He is not awaiting the fear of punishment, because perfected Love will cast out fear.  Isaiah 54:14-15 (Amp) prophecies about Jesus and the new covenant of Blood and Love, saying, "You shall establish yourself in Righteousness (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 (Perfect Love casts out fear), and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Behold, they may gather together and stir up strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you."

     This is the maturity of the complete salvation, Peter writes about.  Faith in the Power of His Love and the Price of His Blood, gives us the privilege of having confidence in our Father.  1John 3:19-20 (Amp) says, "By this we know (without any doubt) that we are of the Truth, and will assure our hearts and quiet our conscience before Him whenever our hearts in tormenting self-accusation make us feel guilty and condemns 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 from."  We must renew our minds by God's Word and His Love.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 10

      2Cor. 5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore if any person is ingrafted in Christ Jesus (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether). The old moral and Spiritual condition is passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     The Church has never truly understood the above scripture, which says "the old moral and Spiritual condition has passed away" and "the fresh and new has come."  Believers of the Lord Jesus aren't just "forgiven sinners," but we are new creations.  There is nothing about the old person we once were, because we've been made new.

     We've spent years trying to change the old man/woman, only to find that he/she was crucified with Christ.  You can't change a dead man/woman, so we must renew our minds with God's Word and develop the new creation person we've become, into maturity of who God created us to be.  The mind or soul is still undeveloped to the truth of who the new creation is in Christ.  We condemn ourselves over what a dead man/woman used to do, instead of teaching the new person how we're to live.

     The newborn child of God or Baby in Christ, has no idea of what his/her potential can do or become.  We've never lived in the realm of the Spirit before being born-again, so we don't know how this new man/woman is to be.  Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amp), "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."

     Jesus tells us that, "The old traditions and rituals many practice even today, are the works of the flesh and don't benefit the Spirit Life we're born into."  We've been instructed by carnal minds to worship only on certain days and not to wear jewelry or certain clothing.  These are all things of the flesh and have no benefit in developing the new creation we've been born into.

     The only way to develop a spirit being, is by Spiritual things.  Jesus said that, "God's Word is food and education for the spirit."  1Peter 1:23 (Amp) says, "You've been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from One that is Immortal by the Ever Living and Lasting Word of God."  Peter continues in 2Peter 2:2 (Amp) saying, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure, unadulterated Spiritual mile."  The (KJV) says, "You should crave the milk of the Word, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto completed salvation."

     What is completed salvation?  The word "salvation" doesn't only mean that our sins are forgiven, but that they no longer exist in the eyes of God, our Father.  Under the Law, the blood of animals could cover the people's sin, but it couldn't eliminate the sin, so the sacrifice needed to be continually offered up, in order to keep the people's sin was covered.  The Blood of our Lamb Jesus didn't just cover our sins, but completely removed them.  The old man/woman has been crucified with Christ Jesus, because the wages of sin is death.  The sin brought death to the old you at the cross and the Life of Jesus brought forth a new creation person, who is sinless.

     We've now become new creation children of God, with no sin and faults.  The only way to develop the new creation person and bring him/her into the mature sons and daughters of God and into completed salvation, is the raise him/her in the Life-Giver or the Spiritual Life of God, which is God's Word.  Paul writes in Gal. 2:20-21 (Amp), "I have been crucified with Christ (in Him I have shared His crucifixion); it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the Life I now live in the body, I live by faith in and by adherence to and reliance on and the complete trust in the Son of God, Who Loved me and gave Himself up for me. Therefore, I do not treat God's Gracious Gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose, I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the Grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification, righteousness, acquittal from guilt comes through observing the rituals of the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain (His death was then wholly superfluous)."

     We keep trying to become what our Sacrifice Lam has already made us to be.  We foster new laws and rituals, in order to become righteous, when Jesus died and was raised again, to set us free.  We're to "grow into the Truth of the Spirit and completed salvation, by the milk of God's Word," according to 2Peter 2:2.  Completed salvation is the Truth that Jesus' Sacrifice has completed everything we're trying to become by our fleshly works.  We can't teach a dead person to do good works and be justified by those works.

     We accept the covenant of Grace, by faith in what Jesus has already done for us.  This is completed salvation.  If we don't accept the Truth that Jesus has completed our salvation, by Grace, then our faith in Him is incomplete.  This leads us to trying to follow self-inflicted traditions and rules.  Paul says in Gal. 2:21 (Amp), this will "Set aside, frustrate, nullify the Grace and unmerited favor of God, and try to validate righteousness and acquittal from guilt by observing rituals and traditions of men to make it valid."  

     We will never accept by faith, the Truth of our completed salvation and will continue in the flesh, trying to finish what Jesus has done for us, unless we renew our minds with God's Word.  This is a miserable place to be.  This leaves us under condemnation and guilt of the old man/woman, even though he/she was crucified with Christ.  It's awful to continuously live with the memories of the dead man/woman and be bound to the guilt of the old person.

     I know many people who are bound to the memories of the old man/woman.  These people are tortured by these memories, even though the old man/woman who was responsible for these things, is dead in Christ.  The old man/woman is dead, but if satan can haunt us with the memories of life prior to being saved and born-again, then he can keep us in bondage.  We must learn to forgiven ourselves and walk in the forgiveness of the cross.  This is how we learn to love ourselves, not the old person who is dead and gone, but the one who now lives in the Truth of completed salvation.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 9

      2Cor. 5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore if any person is ingrafted in Christ Jesus (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     Becoming a new creation in Christ Jesus is more than just receiving Him as our Lord, it's learning to let Him be Lord.  He is living in us and is truly Lord of all, but yielding to that Lordship requires work on our behalf.  Jesus is Lord, whether or not we allow His Lordship in our lives, He is still Lord.  Jesus said to His disciples, "Why do you say unto Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things I command you?"  Many have made Him their Savior, but still haven't made Him their Lord.

     God gave man authority and dominion in the beginning, in the Garden.  After Adam's transgression, dominion was still in his spirit and his soulish part.  That dominion has lost it's true place over the earth, by Adam's sin and it now under the demands of an outlaw spirit, which causes struggles between nations and people for that dominion.  This has caused wars and heartbreak from the very first, because it's not under the Lordship of Jesus, but is still under the individual's authority.  We were never given authority over other men/women, unless it was a position God elevated him/her to by His Own authority, like King David or the High Priests.

     Under the Lordship of Jesus, the authority God gives is to minster His way of doing and being right, by the Spiritual Laws that govern His Kingdom.  When we walk in the Kingdom authority, we're under the Lordship of Jesus.  When we revert to doing things our own way and do the things we did before being saved, we leave the guidance of His Lordship.  This is why we must renew our minds by God's Word and be led by the Holy Spirit.

     We've been born into a new way of life, which is governed by the Laws of God's Kingdom.  It's different than the way we used to live, so we much learn how to actually live, by the Laws that govern Life.  Before being born-again, we were taught and learned in the natural realm.  Now, we've entered into the way God had intended Life to be lived at the beginning.  We're still in these natural bodies and live in the natural world, but through the Lordship of Jesus, we now live in this natural realm by the new Life of God, within our spirits.

     Breaking the old habits and beliefs we lived in before being saved, takes God's Word and the Revelation knowledge of His Word. We want to do as the Spirit leads, but our old habits, traditions, and teachings have been planted in our soulish realm and satan uses them to draw us back under his control.  The "Life" that Jesus said He came to give us in John 10:10, is Spiritual Life and a connection back to God, that we didn't have before.  The Life Jesus gave us, isn't just for when we leave this planet in physical death, but is for while we're still here in these fleshly bodies.  The more we know about the Life of the new creation person, the more control we have over the flesh and blood world.  We're now like Jesus was in His earthly Body.  We were designed to function in both the realm of the Spirit, which rules over the realm of the natural.

     We're born-again and are new creation people, but we don't really know who the Father has made us to be.  Much of our Christian life, has rightly been trying not to sin, but we must now live from our new Life, so that sin shall no longer have dominion over us.  We've been given dominion over sin and it shouldn't even be an option for us.  It's not supposed to be something we fight against every day, but should be so far from us that we no longer are tempted to consider it.

     Our strength comes from our spirit man/woman and is fed by God's Word.  Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amp), "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 are Spirit and Life."  We observe some of the things Jesus said to us, but other things seem not to be important.  John 3:34 (Amp) says, "For since He Whom God has sent speaks the Words of God (proclaims God's Own Message); God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the Gift God makes of His Spirit."

     Jesus said in Luke 4:4 (Amp), "It is written,, Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone, but by every Word and expression of God."  Every Word has power to deliver and bring God's will to pass in our live.  We strive to walk with God, but find ourselves living more in things others say are important and not so much in what God has said.  We've let the Super-natural aspects of God's Word become not important.  Eph. 6:12 (Amp) tells us though, "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents), but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness, against eh spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly Supernatural sphere."

     We don't see most of the problems caused by Spiritual things, with our natural eyes, but only through the Holy Spirit and His eyes.  Everything is subject to the Name and Authority of Jesus and we've been given that Name to use in our deliverance and the deliverance of others.  We must first recognize that it's a spiritual force, which is being used against us, in order to be free from it.  

     Prov. 24:10 (Amp) says, "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small" and Prov. 18:14 (Amp) says, "The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble, but a weak and broken spirit who can raise up or bear?"  We must understand that when we strengthen our inner person or the new creation man/woman, it's easier to control the outer man/woman.  We continue trying to do what we know to be right with God, but the old, flesh and soulish man/woman of the past, seems to have more control than he/she should.

     Prov. 16:32 (Amp) says, "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, he who rules his own spirit than he who takes a city."  We rule our own spirit, by submitting to the Holy Spirit and Word of God.  We sometimes forget that our life is in our spirit and not the flesh.  Our strength comes out of our new creation spirit, which strengthens and even heals our body and keeps it well.  It's so important that we feed our new creation person the Word of God, on a daily basis.  We go to exercise venues, in order to workout and maintain our body strength, but we fail to keep our spirits strong on God's Word.  We should keep our bodies strong, but we shouldn't deny the spirit which brings strength to it.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 8

     2Cor. 5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore if any person is ingrafted in Christ Jesus (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether), the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     The Church has been taught for centuries that we are forgiven sinners, but not much else has been accepted as the Truth of the new creation.  We haven't applied much faith in what else happened to us by the cross.  We've mostly lived in the condemnation of our past life before Jesus, with very little confidence in what Jesus' Sacrifice has done for us while we're still here in this body.

     In 1Cor. 6:11 (Amp), the Apostle Paul writes about things that weren't right in the lives of those outside of Christ and unsaved.  Then, Paul writes to those who were in Christ Jesus, by faith in His Grace, saying, "And such were some of you at one time. But you were washed clean, purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin, and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed) and you were pronounced Righteous by trusting in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit of our God."

     Paul goes on in Rom. 1:17 (Amp), saying, "For in the Gospel a Righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith (disclosed through 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."  Do we have enough faith in what Jesus did for us, that we believe that what God has done and what He says about those who are new creations?  Can we have faith enough to believe that God sees us as new creations in Christ Jesus?

     The "righteousness that God ascribes," is the complete work of Jesus by His Sacrifice.  If you truly believe you're a new creation, then there's nothing like you, prior to Jesus.  We're new creation people who are acceptable to God, without a past life at all.  If you have a past, then you're not a new creation  This earth and universe has no past, because it didn't exist until God created it.  There's no past knowledge of a universe, before God spoke it into existence.  It's a new creation.

     Rom. 8:30 (Amp) speaks about those whom God had in mind, before He made man in His Image and Likeness.  God desired family and declared and for-ordained that family, before creating Adam.  Through Jesus, we have become what was in God's heart from the beginning.  Through Jesus, we've become a people who are righteous and in right standing with God, at all times.  There's no stain of sin on you or in you, because of Jesus.  God didn't make a new creation who had the same faults and weaknesses that caused His first creation to fail.

     Adam fell through the weakness of his flesh and soulish parts, but the new creation person's flesh and body was crucified and died with Christ Jesus.  A dead person doesn't sin.  We never think of ourselves as being dead into God in the flesh, but alive in the Spirit.  We're made so aware of the weakness of the body we're living in, making it nearly impossible to look beyond that and see the full Truth of our being a new creation man/woman.  We judge ourselves by the old man/woman that used to be our identity, forgetting what God now says about who we really are in Him.  We must accept by faith, what Jesus has really done in our redemption, in order to develop the new creation person we are in Him.

     We accept that our sins have been done away with, but people, the devil and our unrenewed mind keep reminding us who we were before being born-again.  We must renew our minds by God's Word and see ourselves in the Mirror of the Word, in order to see who we are now and live by faith.  Our true life is in our spirit man/woman and the Life we now live is by faith in Jesus.  You can live in the flesh and condemnation or you can live in Truth, which will set you free.  True, we must hold our flesh in line with God's Word, but now we're to live from the spirit man/woman and not the dictates of the flesh.

     Paul teaches the Church about the new creation person in Rom. 8:1 (Amp), saying, "Therefore, there is now condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit."  If we're living under condemnation about who we used to be, then we're being dictated to by the flesh and not the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit will never condemn us about who we were before being born-again.  He doesn't see the person we once were, but sees a new creature who never existed before He took up residence in us and gave us Life.

     Some believe that seeing ourselves the way God sees us is "being prideful."  They ask, "Who do you think you are to are righteous and just before God?""  It's truly prideful to say we're not righteous, because we're declaring that Jesus' Sacrifice wasn't to cleanse us and give us right standing before God.  Jesus' Sacrifice was more than enough and it all came by God's Grace.  When we don't accept God's Grace, we try making ourselves righteous.  If God says we are righteous, then who are we to say He is wrong?  Rom. 8:7 (Amp) says, "That is because the mind of the flesh with it's carnal thoughts and purposes, is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law, indeed it cannot."

Developing the New Creation Lesson 7

     2Cor. 5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore if any person is ingrafted in Christ Jesus (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether). The old previous moral and Spiritual condition is passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     Many in the Body of Christ see ourselves as being only "sinners saved by Grace," which is True, but we have also been created new in Christ Jesus.  We are new creations that have never existed before, just like the universe never existed outside of God's heart and mind, before He created it.  The new creation people didn't exist in God's creation, until Jesus' death and resurrection.  We're not just cleaned-up, polished and renewed sinners, but we're new creations in God's eyes.  We're made Righteous with God's Own Righteousness.

     We've been taught that God sees us as lower class citizens and that we must work to become what Jesus has already made us to be.  We need to understand what it cost God, in order to make us righteous in His sight and we must walk in total thanksgiving for His mercy and favor.  We must live up to what the Father has done for us, in Jesus.  James writes about our looking into the mirror or Word of God and then forgetting what we looked like in James 1:22-26 (Amp), saying, "But be doers to the Word (obey the Message,) and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a many who looks carefully at his own natural face in the mirror; For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like."  When you look into a mirror, it shows who you are and not who you WERE.  When you see yourself like the Word shows you to be, then that's the "real" you, which is a new creation.  We're to take away the Finished Work that Jesus did to make us sons and daughters of God.  Jesus' Sacrifice made us righteous, clean, justified, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ and one spirit with Him.  Verses 25-26 go on, saying, "But he who looks carefully into the faultless Law (the Law of Liberty), and is faithful to it and persevere in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer who obeys, he shall be Blessed in his doing (his life of obedience). If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of external duties of his faith), and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religious service is worthless, futile, barren."

     When we see who Jesus has made us to be in God's Word and then deny what He has done by calling ourselves "only forgiven sinners" and "unrighteous," then we're forgetting what the mirror of God's Word has shown us to be and disqualify ourselves from God's Blessing, by default.  We've been taught that we're unworthy in ourselves (and we are), but we're no longer in our own selves, but we are in Him.  This is having faith in what Jesus has already done for us, instead of relying on our works to become righteous.  Like a mirror, God's Word shows who we've been made to be in this new creation.  New creations don't have a past, because it never before existed.

     We need to understand what God and His Word have made us to be already.  It's not some future thing.  In His heart and mind, God sees us as already what Jesus made us to be.  Until we understand this in our spirit, the carnal mind and the world's influence, will hold us in this carnal form of Christianity.  We're what God has already made us to be, not what He's going to make us to be in the future. 

     We read God's Own idea of what and who He created us to be from the beginning in Romans 8:29-30 (Amp) which says, "For those whom He foreknew (of whom He was aware and Loved beforehand), He also destined from the beginning fore-ordained them [this was before God made His Own family, Adam and Eve] to be molded into the Image of His Son and share inwardly His Likeness, that He might become the first born among many brethren. And those whom He thus fore-ordained, He also called, and those whom He called, He also justified, acquitted, made righteous, putting them in right standing with Himself. And those whom He justified, He also glorified, raising them to a Heavenly dignity and condition or state of being."  This is what God has already done us in Christ Jesus, but we must be doers and believers of what He says about us, instead of what the world and it's external ideas portray us to be.

     We must let the old man/woman die the death of the cross with Jesus, in order to develop the new creation man/woman.  We must allow ourselves to be raised with Jesus and become the new creation persons Jesus came to restore to the Father.  "The wages of sin is death," so Jesus took our sin with Him to His death and raised a new creation family who died, was buried in Baptism and raised up with Him.  Jesus is the First Born of many brethren and He paid for the wages of sin, by His death.  Jesus paid the debt for all that are in Him and believe in Him.  We're no longer obligated to the Law, but we're alive by Grace.

     Remember, the mirror of God's Word shows who we are and not who we were.  We must not look into the Perfect Law of Liberty and then allow the world to put us back under the bondage of religion and the world's carnal ideas.  We must look into the Perfect Law of Liberty and see who God has already made us to be, in Jesus.  If we're still unworthy, unrighteous and old sinners, then Jesus failed the mission He was sent to do.     

Developing the New Creation Lesson 6

     2Cor.5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore if any person is ingafted in Christ Jesus (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold,the fresh and new has come."

     We must know how a child of this new creation family is to live, in order to develop  the new creation man/woman of God.  The only way to do this is by God's Word and His Spirit.  We must renew our minds with God's Word, according to Rom.12:2 (Amp) which says, "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."

     Rom. 10:17 (Amp) says, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."  This is Truth and we put faith in something else, by hearing it.  We are new creation persons, born of the Spirit of God, and we must discern what we are hearing.  We're responsible for what we hear.  People put faith in the theory of evolution, by hearing it taught over and over.  What we're hearing will determine our faith in God's Promises and His Plan for us.

     I'm careful about what I hear, even if it comes from ministers and saved people.  In Rom. 12:2, Paul calls the things of "the world and this age," "superficial and external customs of the world."  These things have found their way into the Body of Christ and have undermined the Truth of God for His people.  Jesus tells us that "words are seeds" in the "Parable of the Sower" in Mark 4:24 (Amp) saying,
"Be careful what you are hearing."   We're not to just plant whatever is sown, into the soil of our spirit.

     Prov. 4:23 (Amp) says, ""Keep and guard your heart (your spirit), with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of Life."  When words of doubt and unbelief are sown into our hearts, they diminish the Power of the Truth of God's Word and causes us to be "blown about like the waves of the sea."  James 1:6 (Amp) says, "Being double-minded about what you are hearing will cause you to be unstable, unreliable and uncertain in everything he thinks, feels, decides."

     We've learned many things throughout the years that have come from tradition and not Truth.  Many of God's people say, "If it be Thy will," because they don't know enough about the Truth of God's will is.  1John 5:14-15 (Amp) says, "And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: we are sure that if we ask anything, make any request according to His will (in agreement with His Own Plan), He listens to and hears us . And if (since) we positively know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know with settled and absolute knowledge that we have granted to us our present possessions the requests made of Him."

     Col. 1:9 (Amp) says this about God's will, "For this reason, we also from the first day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom, in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and in understanding and discernment of Spiritual things."

     God has revealed His will for us, in the Person of Jesus Christ.  Heb. 1:3 (Amp) says, "He (Jesus) is the Sole Expression of the Glory of God (the Light-Being, the outraying or Radiance of the Divine), and He is the Perfect Imprint and Very Image of God's nature, upholding and propelling the universe by His Mighty Word of Power."  We can know God's will for us, by the ministry and Life of Jesus.  If Jesus did it, then it was and is, God's will for our lives.  We struggle with understanding God under Law and God under Grace and how God needed to deal with carnal man and the way He can deal with the new creation person by the spirit.  We've tried making both covenants work the same way, trying to take part of the Law and making it work under Grace.  This is mixed seed and will not produce what it is intended to produce.

     The Law won't work under Grace and Grace won't work under Law.  When we try making these two separate covenants work together, then we're showing unbelief in what Jesus did on the Cross on our behalf.  If we're still subject to the Law, then Jesus died for no avail and we're left looking for a way to be right with God, instead of accepting His Righteousness, by faith.

     Gal. 5:4-5 (Amp) says, "If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be give a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from Grace (God's unmerited favor and Glorious Blessing). For we, not relying on the Law, but through the Holy Spirit's help, by faith anticipate and wait for the Blessing and Good for which our righteousness and right standing with God, our conformity to His will in purpose, thought and action causes us to hope."

     It's impossible to walk in a half truth, because God doesn't work in half truths, but absolute Truth.  Faith comes by hearing and we're responsible for what we're hearing.  We will place our faith, in what we're hearing the most.  We must rightly divide the truth we hear, and we must divide it at Calvary's cross.  We live under a covenant of Grace and in full dependence on God's unmerited favor to give us what He wants us to have, instead of what we deserve.  We must start screening what we hear and not just rely on what someone else says, in order to develop our new creation man/woman in faith and God's Truth.

    

Developing the New Creation Lesson 5

     2Cor. 5:17 (Amp) says "Therefore if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     God's people have read the above scripture many times, but only the Holy Spirit can reveal what it is saying to us.   When we were saved and born-again, the Holy Spirit created a completely new man/woman living in our spirit.  The spirit that was born anew by the Holy Spirit of God, has brought us from death to Life.  Like babies birthed into the natural realm, we have all the things needed to grow into mature adults, but this requires time and teaching to do.  We've spent lots of time and work, in order to grow our children into responsible adults.  We've sent them to good schools and technical programs, but we haven't invested in the realm of the Spirit world.

     We teach Spiritual principles to our children, that we learned from mostly denominational points-of-view.  We taught them more about religion, than we did reality.  We've dismissed the Super-natural things of the Spirit Life, because the natural man/woman can't understand them.  Rom. 8:7,9 (Amp) says, "The mind of the flesh with it's carnal thoughts and purposes, is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot."  Paul writes about the new creation in Verse 9, saying we have access to the mind of the Spirit.  Thus, he says, "But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the Life of the Spirit, if the Holy Spirit of God really dwells in you (directs and controls you). But if anyone does not possess the Holy Spirit of Christ, he is none of His (he does not belong to Christ and is not truly a child of God)."

     If we are truly born-again, then the Holy Spirit of God dwells within our spirit.  We're not living the life of the flesh, but we're living the Life of the Spirit.  This means that every person who is born of God, has access to the mind and Wisdom of the Holy Spirit.  This changes the entire way we understand what God's Word says, because the Holy Spirit gives us Revelation knowledge.  Carnally minded persons can read and understand God's Word, without truly understanding what is means in the Spirit.  Unsaved people believe that they're already alive, but Jesus says in John 10:10 (Amp). "I came to give you Life."  Our being able to understand and differentiate between natural life and Spiritual Life, comes from God.  

     It's only the Holy Spirit Who can reveal the Truth about the Spiritual death that happened to Adam, when he disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden.  The Holy Spirit can reveal the truth that this Spiritual death was sown into the spirit of everyone born in the natural realm after Adam.  The Spiritual death was a Spiritual separation from God, caused by Adam's sin.  Rom. 5:12 (Amp) says, "Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man (Adam), and death as a result of sin, so death spread to all men, no one being able to stop it or escape it's power because all men sinned."

     This death was entered every person's spirit born into this world, from the time of our conception and comes from Adam's genes.  We inherited this death from Adam and it has nothing to do with our actions.  Some babies are born addicted to heroine, without their ever taking that drug.  So too, sin was born into mankind from the First Adam.  Jesus is the Only One Who can bring Life into our spirit and return us to our Heavenly Father, without sin and death.  This is why Jesus said, "I came that you may have Life."

     If you're born from above, into the Spirit of God, then you have access to what Adam knew before he transgress and so much more.  You now have what Jesus knows and the Holy Spirit will reveal more to you.  The new creation person has access to God's Own Wisdom and His Word is now a Living thing and not just words.  When we understand this Truth, we can better understand what Paul was saying in Rom. 12:2 (Amp), saying, "Do not be conformed to this world or age (fashioned after and adapted to it's 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)." 

     We can only get past the carnal way of seeing God and knowing His will for our lives, if we renew our minds to the Living Word, by our new and Living spirit of our new creation.  The carnal mind still refuses to see God as He really is.  We've fostered images of God in our minds, but it's only by our newborn spirits, that we can truly know Him.  If we don't renew our minds by God's Word and His Spirit, then we'll hold onto the old traditional way of seeing and knowing God, even after we're born-again.

     Jesus says in John 6:63 (Amp), "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."

Developing the New Creation Lesson 4

      Proverbs 18:14 (Amp) says, "The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble, but a weak and broken spirit who can raise up or bear?"  Proverbs 25:28 (Amp) says, "He who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls."

     The new creation person was born when we received Jesus as our Savior and must be fed on the Spiritual food of God's Word, in order to develop into what he/she was born to be.  Babies born in the natural world has all the attributes of their father, but these are undeveloped while still a children.  Healthy babies have the same organs, muscle, bone structure and brain capacity that their father has, but these must be developed.  1Peter 2:2 (Amp) says, "Like new born babies you should crave (thirst for, eagerly desire) the pure, unadulterated Spiritual milk [of the Word], that you may be nurtured and grow unto completed salvation."  The KJV says, "Desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby."

     As a child grows into maturity, he no longer requires someone else to feed him/her, because he/she learns how to feed itself.  When they are small and depend on someone else to feed them, then the person feeding them chooses what to feed them.  As they grow though, they can choose what they eat.  Proverbs 22:6 (Amp) says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and in keeping with his individual gift or bent, and when he is old [mature], he will not depart from it."

     Many Christians have tried raising up new babies in Christ, "in the way they should go," from our own denominational understanding of God's Word.  This isn't wrong, but sometimes it's not what makes the spirit strong and mature.  Many of us have been trained up by the world's view of Christianity, instead of the Biblical view of the Word.    So many of the old traditions have been passed on from generation to generation and prevail still today.

     God's people have been taught from these traditions that "Sometimes God will hold back on His Word, in order to teach us something."  Or, some have been taught that, "God doesn't perform miracles and healings, these things were only for the early Church" or that, "You never know what God will do."  Believing we were doing the right thing, we trained our children in these traditions, which created Christian people who have no knowledge of the "pure and unadulterated milk of the Word."  Children can only "take in"" what is fed to them, until we're old enough to determine their intake for ourselves.  When we're older, "we will not depart from it."  Thus, each generation teaches the old traditions and rituals of the past, instead of handing down the pure milk of the Word.

     Traditions won't be enough to build strong walls that are capable of withstanding the enemy's onslaught.  Many in today's Church have no idea how to combat the Spiritual warfare going on in the world around us.  We keep trying to use what we've been trained up in, with very little results.  This leads to doubt and unbelief, as well as feeling defeated, into the lives of many Christians.  We've been taught to "hang on," instead of "going through the Valley of the Shadow of death."  A soldier who doesn't know how to use his/her weapons and armor, is lost in battle.  

     God says in Hosea 4:6 (Amp), "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you, the priestly nation have rejected knowledge."  Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6:33 (Amp), "Seek first of all (aim at, strive for) God's Kingdom and His Righteousness."  There is a way that God's Kingdom works and there is no other way to make it work.  We keep trying to "make it work," by our own traditions and rituals, but we won't prevail in today's age, by doing this.  The kingdom of darkness has declared war and the weapons of natural man will not prevail against it.  Only the weapons of our warfare through God, will prevail.  I'm not implying that our confession of salvation is void, but we're still babies, who haven't grown up into the full grown potential in Christ Jesus.

     God still loves us and we're still saved, but we've allowed ourselves to become victims instead of victors, by not knowing how to use what God has given us.  Many believers don't spend much time reading God's Word and if we do, then our hearts are clouded by the traditions we've been taught and we're unable to see the Truth of what God's Word is saying to us.  Upon entering the army, the drill instructor taught us how to use the weapons provided to us, so that we would prevail against the enemy.  Pastors are the Church's drill instructors, but many have failed to teach God's people how to use the weapons of our warfare, leaving us unable to prevail against the kingdom of darkness.

     We must develop a strong spirit, by understanding God's Kingdom and the weapons He has provided us with.  Ancient cities were walled for protection, but Proverbs 25:28 (Amp) says, "He who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls."  A city with broken down or is without walls, is defenseless under the enemy's attacks.  Some don't realize that we have an enemy who is out to "steal, kill and destroy" them.  We must learn God's way of doing and being right, by reading His Word and not tradition.  

     Ephesians 6:10-18 lists the armor that God has provided for us and tells us that God's Word is the "Sword of the Spirit" or weapon.  We are instructed to put on the Armor of God, but baby Christians can't do this for him/herself, only the developed new creation child of God can do this.  As we grow up into Christ Jesus, we learn to do like we're instructed by His Word and are "Strong in the Lord and the Power of His Might."  The Armor of God isn't a metaphor or Parable, but is a real Armor God provides for our protection in warfare against the devil.  We're instructed to "Go from milk to meat," so we can grow from babies into mature children of God.  We can only do this, by feeding our new creation spirits on God's Word.  Jesus said that, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God."  Our new creation man/woman is made in God's Image and will only develop and grow, by reading His Word and listening to His Holy Spirit, Who will reveal the Truth of God's Word to us.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 3

     God's Church has been fighting a spiritual battle from the outside-in, instead of from the inside-out.  We've tried disciplining our flesh by willpower and ritual, instead of strengthening the spirit man by God's Word and His Spirit, so it can rule the flesh.  It seems like we've nearly lost sight of the Super-natural ability of the new creation person altogether.  We were created a new creation in the Image of God, by the new birth.  We've established traditions, rituals and our own way of doing things, in order to satisfy ourselves.  We're like those Paul writes about in Romans 10:2-3 (Amp), where he says, "I bear them witness that they have a certain zeal and enthusiasm for God, but it is not enlightened and according to correct and vital knowledge. For being ignorant of the Righteousness God ascribes which makes one acceptable to Him in word, thought and deed, and seeking to establish a righteousness (a means of salvation) on their own they did not obey or submit themselves to God's Righteousness."

     Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 (Amp), "Seek (aim at, and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides."  We try making ourselves righteous, but the flesh can never become righteous by ritual or by following man-made  traditions.  The flesh must be ruled by the new creation spirit man/woman who was made Righteous by Jesus' Righteousness, in order to submit to the Righteousness of God.

     The new creation is strengthened and ruled by God's Word and His Spirit, not by man-made rules or by works.  Our spirit became a new creation, not our flesh.  Proverbs 25:28 (Amp) says, "He who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls."  Ancient cities were protected and built behind walls.  If the walls protecting a city weren't strong, then that city could be easily overtaken.  The wall protecting us, is the strength of our spirit man/woman through the new creation by God's Word and reliance on God and His way of doing and being right.

     We must step out of the carnal thoughts of the flesh, in order to accept the Truth that we are truly Righteous in God's eyes.  We must accept the Truth of God's Word in our spirit.  The flesh will say, "You're not really righteous, but you can become righteous by your works."  This lie of the devil keeps us under condemnation and will keep us trying to become righteous by our works.  This keeps our walls broken down and open to the enemy's attack.  We must build strong walls from the inside and not the outside.

     Many of the traditions we've learned over the past two-thousand years, are based more on the Law and not on God's Grace.  We're fighting with our flesh and trying to make it Righteous, which is something we will never accomplish, when we are to strengthen the inner man/woman by the Truth of God's Word and the indwelling of His Spirit.  We're to build strong walls by faith in what God says and not in the ideas of man.  We're to abstain from sin,of course, but this is better done from the strength of our spirit, instead of constantly trying to make the flesh behave by willful discipline.  Our walls are made strong by the spirit and not the rituals of man.

     The only thing that can make our spirit man/woman stronger, is God's Word.  Nothing can replace God's Word and the Spiritual discernment of His Word by the Holy Spirit, in the development of the new creation man/woman.  Reading God's Word in a carnal mind, only brings about more carnal, religious rituals and traditions.  We miss the Revelation of His Truth, when we try to read God's Word with a carnal mind.  We each have the responsibility to spend time reading God's Word.

     The Holy Spirit inspires Peter to write in 1Peter 2:2 (Amp), "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire), the pure unadulterated Spiritual milk that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto completed salvation."  The King James Version says, "Desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby."  The only thing that brings maturity and growth, is God's Word.  This isn't found by only hearing a weekly church service, but through privately seeking and spending personal time in God's Word.

     Our carnal mind can't comprehend that there is a God, so the only way to "know" God is by His Word and His Spirit.  Our senses certainly can't encompass Him.  Only our spirit man/woman can receive Him and only His Word can reveal Him to us.  Growing into complete maturity in our Spiritual lives and building strong walls, requires God's Word and the Revelation His Spirit gives us about His Word.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 2

     Have you ever wondered why we have so many different denominations and beliefs, based the same Bible?  Some belief one thing, while others believe something else.  Which is right and which one is not? You  cannot know which voice to follow, unless you do as Romans 12:2 (Amp) says and "Not conformed to the world or this age" or haven't renewed your mind by God's Word?  We have been trained to learn, instead of being trained to think.  We must renew our minds by God's Word and stop listening to what the world says.

     American children are being taught an entirely foreign history in public schools, than the one we were taught.  The history books of today, read nothing like the true history of our nation.  They're being trained to learn, but not to think and seek out the truth for themselves.  Every believer must seek God for him/herself and renew our minds with His Word, so that we can know and follow the Voice of the Shepherd.  We each have the responsibility of seeking and hearing Him for ourselves.  If we know His Voice, then we won't be led astray or follow a "Judas goat," who is leading some sheep to the slaughter house, instead of the Master's House.

     Many believers today, learn and trust the mainstream news media, instead of learning from God's Word for themselves.  The only way we can really "know" God, is by knowing Jesus.  Jesus said, "When  you see Me, you see the Father. I only do what I see Him do, say what I hear Him say, go where He tells Me to go. He and I are One."  Jesus also said, "It's not Me, but the Father in Me, Who does the work." 

     Many today are still walking under the Law, while trying to obtain the Grace that Jesus has brought, because they have failed to see that Jesus was, and still is, the revealed will and Presence of God Himself.  God didn't change what He said, He fulfilled it in Jesus.  Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, "Be not conformed to the world's way of thinking, but renew your minds by God's Word."  This is pertinent to who we are in Christ Jesus.  Everything we know and have heard about our Father before being born-again, came through the knowledge of the world's point of view.  We were taught to learn, but not to think.  Sadly, many learned to the point where they no longer believe God exists.

     Many public schools teach evolution, instead of creation.  Prayers and Bibles have been removed from our schools today.  Paul says in 2Corinthians 10:5 (Amp), "In as much as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings, every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the True knowledge of God, and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."

     We must think with the mind of Christ, instead of being conformed to the world's mindset.  We are a new creation people, who are born of the Spirit of God and we must renew our minds by the Word, in order to bring our previous understanding into subjection to the Word and God's Spirit.  Paul instructs us to "Lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ."  "Lead away captive" implies that what is held captive, doesn't have freedom to think it's own way.  We must renew the old thoughts and ways we followed before being born-again, so we can follow "God's way of doing and being right," like Matthew 6:33 says.

     Some of the things we've been taught are right, but other things might not be.  Before we knew and were called to walk by the Word, we didn't know what which was right.  Now that we're born-again, we have the Holy Spirit living in our own spirit and can rightly divide the Word, by renewing our mind in Truth.  This is an individual responsibility every believer has.  We won't be able to say to the Lord, "I'm sorry I did this, but that is what so and so said to do and I believed him."  We must know and follow the Voice of the Good Shepherd, so we can hear Him say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant," when we come before Him.

     We each have been given "the measure of faith."  Romans 12:3 (KJV) says that "You are responsible to develop your own faith, which is the faith of Jesus Himself."  Paul writes in Galatians 2:20 (Amp), "I have been crucified with Christ, in Him I have shared His crucifixion; it is no longer I who lives, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the Body I live by faith in the adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in, the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

     We are part of the Body of Christ, but we have different parts to play, so the Body can function properly.  We're all called to adhere to certain things, but we each have an individual part to play.  You must hear the Voice of the Shepherd for yourself, so you can know His will for you.  We've relied on someone else's faith, in our walk with Jesus.  God freed the people from Egypt's bondage, but the people depended on the faith of ten spies to hear His Voice, causing them to die in the Wilderness, instead of entering the Promised Land, in Numbers 13-14.

     You've been given God's Own faith, which is a Spiritual force that came with receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  God didn't give you a lesser amount of faith than He gave others, but you received enough faith to do everything He asks of you.  Thank God for the men and women who hold crusades where miracles and healings are performed.  Don't put your faith in their faith though, but develop your own faith to do His will and help others in doing so.  All God has ever needed is someone who has enough faith to hear the Voice of the Shepherd for him/herself and who will follow that Voice.

     When God called me to move or follow His Voice, not all the sheep heard that Voice.  It wasn't for everyone to hear, but for the one He called.  Many called me crazy or misled, when I told them what God called me to do.  I could have followed the rest of the sheep, instead of hearing the Shepherd's Voice for myself, but I chose to follow Him.  We must train our spirit to know, trust and follow His Voice, so we can fulfill the calling and purpose God has for each of us.

     In Galatians 1:11-12 (Amp) Paul says, "For I want you to know brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by me is not a 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)."  Many voiced their disagreement with Paul, but He knew the Voice of the Good Shepherd for himself and followed that Voice.  Peter had a confrontation with Paul, because Peter taught that salvation is for the Jew and not the Gentile. Paul knew the Voice of God and adhered to His Voice though, because he received the Revelation directly from Jesus and followed His Voice.

     Every believer is required to know the Father's Voice for our own lives.  If God calls you to go to minister to a certain person, then He shouldn't need to tell the whole flock of sheep.  If you keep putting your faith in someone else's faith to hear from God, then you might miss when He speaks to you.  God gave you the faith, which makes you able to hear Him.  Don't let the faith he gave you be determined by someone else's faith.  We must have faith in the faith He gave us and learn to hear the Shepherd's Voice over the bleating of the sheep that are still in the sheep fold.

     There are many people who need Jesus and you might be the one they will hear.  In order for them to hear, you must first hear Him.  Put faith in your faith and be led by the Voice that guides it.  Many marvel at the ability of other Christians and put their faith in their ability to pray, heal, and hear from God.  They follow the voice of others and use their faith, instead of relying on their own God-given faith.  We must use the measure of faith God has given us and listen to the Voice that activates it.    

     

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Developing the New Creation Lesson 1

       We're back again in 2021!  Thank you for all the prayers.  God is Good.

     1Peter 2:2 (Amp) says, "Like new born babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire), the pure, unadulterated Spiritual milk of the Word, that by it you may be nurtured and grow into completed salvation."

     Jesus speaks about the Good Shepherd in John 10:4-5 (Amp), "When He has brought His Own sheep outside, He walks on before them, and the sheep follow Him because they know His Voice, they will never (on any account), follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not know the voice of strangers and recognize their call."  I've heard many believers say, "God never speaks to me, like He does with others."  And, even if they're told, "God told me to do this," then they don't believe it or sarcastically ask, "Oh, God speaks to you?"

     I witnessed many Israeli citizens who have a sheep fold, which is like a parking lot for the sheep.  Many shepherds leave their sheep there, when arriving in town to shop for supplies.  There might be only 15 or 20 sheep in the sheep fold at any time.  When the shepherds have finished their business and are ready to return home, they call their sheep out of the flock.  Every sheep raises it's head and looks around, but only the sheep belonging to the shepherd who calls out, separates from the flock and follows the shepherd out.  His sheep, by association, know and trust his voice.  This was such a simple illustration to me and I realized it came from "knowing Him" in a way that is more intimate than a casual relationship.

     Every individual sheep builds this relationship with the Good Shepherd, because His Voice never changes and they come to know His Voice.  The shepherds didn't call each sheep by name and didn't need to call each one with a different voice, because each sheep knew it for itself.  Christians too, must come to a place in our own lives where we don't need someone else to recognize God's Voice, but can recognize it for ourselves.

     The Church still somehow sees God the Father and Jesus, as being two different Persons.  Many see Jesus in His earthly ministry, as being different from God in the first covenant.  We see God in one Light and Jesus in a different light.  We've tried to fit both into our lives, but have failed to know the Voice of the One Who calls us.  Jesus encountered the same problem when preaching Grace to people under the Law.  They didn't know the Voice that called them.  God didn't change, the people did. 

     Prior to Jesus' ministry, God required certain things of His people, in order to be able to do what He had always desired to do.  His people were still carnal and couldn't do what was needed to walk and follow His people.  God placed Laws in their midst, so they could follow by the flesh, until He could get Jesus into the earth.

     The sheep in the sheep fold didn't follow the other sheep, because they had learned to know and follow the Voice of the Master.  Today, we try following other sheep, instead of the Voice of the Master.  If some of the sheep don't recognize His Voice and refuse to follow it, then we choose to stay behind with those sheep.  Each sheep must become familiar with the Voice of the Master, instead of relying on someone else.  Every flock of sheep is made up of individuals and must know the Shepherd's Voice for him/herself.

     Many are still confused by trying to please and walk before two different Gods.  They see the God of the first covenant and God of the last covenant, and don't know which to follow.  They follow other sheep instead of listening to the Voice of the Shepherd and remain in the sheep fold, instead of the "green pastures and still waters" of Psalm 23.  We must know the Truth that the Voice of Jesus is the Voice of God for our lives.  We must recognize and listen to God's Voice and know His will for our lives, as we walk with Him.

     Romans 12:2 (Amp) says, "Do not be conformed to this world (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."  Do you know what God's will for your life is?

     We know that, as a whole, God's will is that "All should be saved and come to the knowledge of the Lord," but we also know that not all are saved or have the knowledge of God.  Can God's will be ignored and passed over in someone's life?  Yes, it can be.  Was it God's will that millions of unborn babies be aborted?  No, the Word says that God had plans for them from the womb, but those plans never came to pass.  If we don't know or choose not to follow the Voice of the Shepherd, then the Plans God has for our lives might not come to pass.