Lesson 26 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received (all had a share and were all supplied with), one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
     The Spiritual Blessing that we now have to enjoy through Jesus, was shut off when Adam fell in the Garden of Eden.  God could move only so far with fallen man, because the spiritual part of man became dead in sin and trespass.  The Spiritual Blessing that we now have, is more than just what we've determined.  It's more than speaking in tongues and the Baptism of the Spirit.  Most of us have limited this Spiritual Blessing to these things.
     God made man in His Image and Likeness and man was a spirit, according to Genesis 5:1-2 (Amplified) which is the Book (the written record of the offspring of Adam) and tells us that God created them male and female and Blessed them and named them both Adam (man at the time they were created).  In Genesis 2:7 (Amplified), we see the human or earthly form of man, who was made from the dust of the earth.  Thus, it says, "And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the Breath or Spirit of Life, and man became a living being."
     God's original intent and purpose for man, was to have and enjoy the Grace and Truth of God in this human form in the earthly realm He created for them.  Man was never created to live in Heaven, but was created to inhabit the earth and have Heaven open to him at any time.  The purpose has now been made as God intended from the beginning.  The Spiritual Blessing that was on Adam and Jesus, was the Life of the Spirit of God.  It would produce everything man needed, from the Same Source of the Spirit Who created all things.
     Adam was to have dominion over everything that the Spirit had created, through his spirit.  He was to live by his spirit, have dominion through his spirit and have his provision through his spirit.  Adam was given a soul, mind, will and five senses, in order to contact and dwell in his physical body, while living through his spirit.  God never intended Adam to live by his senses, but by his spirit.  Adam's soul was to receive information and guidance from God through his spirit, because the soul connects the spirit to the body.  Then, that would inform his brain as to how his body was to function.  All of his spirit, soul and body were to flow from the Wisdom of the Father.
     When sin entered Adam's life, he was cut off from the Spiritual Blessing, which has now been restored to us, through our union with Jesus Christ.  Mankind has been dead to the spirit since Adam's transgression, resulting in man's soul able to only draw information from the fallen world and man's dead spirit.  In this deadened state, man had no Spiritual blessing to contribute to the natural man which it now lived.  The only information that the soul had, was that of it's five physical senses, everything else was now closed off to it.  The human portion or flesh only had the information to the brain, which came from the senses and not the spirit.
     The brain is the main controller of how man learns, lives and functions.  After Adam's fall, it had only sense knowledge to direct it.  It could no longer function in any other way.  The flesh had to be controlled by the flesh and that only by bodily discipline.  The Spiritual Blessing or direction and discipline and Life from the Spirit, couldn't come through men's souls into the human factor.  The brain is a human element that stays in the body, even after the body is dead and this is why man must be led by the spirit.  Without his spirit teaching the soul, man's brain can only glean information from the world.
     We can educate the brain with schools and society, but only on a worldly level of fallen man.  The Wisdom of God's Spirit had been cut off, because of Adam's fall.  The natural or human form of man had to rely on the senses to guide, love, provide and function outside of God. God had to work from the outside, in order to operate in man's life until He could bring Life and Guidance again into man.  We had become like the beasts of the field, having only the residue of the moral and educational function of our ability to speak and think.  Even after the fall, man was still a spirit, even though his spirit wasn't functioning on God's level and was still superior to any other creature on earth.  Man had the ability to build, create cities, raise families and nurture their young, far above all else in creation.  But, man still didn't have the Spiritual Blessing that came from our union with God, until Jesus.
     God gave man dominion over the earth and after the fall, he was still in control, but without the Father's Spiritual Blessing.  Satan received dominion from Adam, through Adam's transgression.  Satan then directed and controlled man, by his own ungodly nature.  The beauty and glory God made into His children, became a source of heartache and pain for God.  After Adam's fall, God had to bring mankind back unto Himself and He had to do so, according to His Own Laws of Justice.  God is Righteous and Just, so He couldn't do it any other way, while remaining Just and Righteous.  His Own Law of governing meant that God couldn't take any shortcuts and remain Truth.
     Through Jesus, man could come to a place of receiving God's Spiritual Blessing again.  Man's soul has been corrupted over thousands of years and our minds have been fashioned into such a worldly state of thinking, without the Holy Spirit.  This has made them enemies to God.  Man has functioned on his own for so long, that our souls have lost sight of how God operates.  This makes is difficult for God to direct His Own family.
     1Corinthians 2:14 (Amplified) says, "But the natural (non-spiritual) man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the Gifts and teachings and Revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless, nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them, of progressively recognizing, understanding and becoming better acquainted with them, because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated."  This scripture lets us better understand what Paul wrote in Romans 12:2 (Amplified) where he 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, by its new ideals and its 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."
     When man doesn't have a renewed mind, his soul doesn't receive from his spirit through God.  An unrenewed mind just receives from the world, and he can only know God's will from a sense ruled mind.  In 1Peter 2:2 (Amplified), Paul says this about the new man, "Like a newborn babies you should crave, thirst for, earnestly desire, the pure unadulterated Spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow into completed salvation."
     Paul also speaks about this in 1Corinthians 3:2-3 (Amplified), "I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough to be ready for it, but even yet you are not strong enough to be ready for it. For you are still unspiritual, having the nature of the flesh, under the control of ordinary impulses, For as long as there are envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh (behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere unchanged men)?"
     Paul speaks about Christians who are like "mere unchanged men" and who still think like they did before knowing Jesus.  Their minds haven't been renewed and they continue behaving like they did before knowing Jesus.  Paul was not talking so much about sin, as simply still thinking as mere men, but about their having no revelation to enlighten them.  They still governed themselves by the flesh, instead of the spirit.
     A renewed mind comes only when we allow our now alive spirit, to receive from the Holy Spirit instead of the world.  We will never act differently, until we think differently.  We can govern our actions towards others, by disciplining the flesh, but it's only superficial and not the True Fruit of the Spirit.  We resort to traditions and rituals, in order to know and try the will of God.  This is to no avail.  When we renew our minds by the True will of God, the trials of making the flesh "do the right things," are over.  The flesh will only do what we allow it to do and what we train it to do.  We cannot train it to do right, until we know what is right.
     Paul writes in Hebrews 5:14 (Amplified), "But solid food is for full-grown men; for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to Divine or human Law."  We struggle with the new Spiritual Blessing given to us in Jesus, because we don't understand the things of the Spirit, that has brought them.  Through Jesus, all the things the Father intended for man, before man's spiritual fall, are now our's again.  This is the Blessing that was for Jesus (and us) as the Seed.  Abraham received a portion of it, but Jesus received it all and then He willed it to us.  What has the Holy Spirit contained for us until now?  What Mysteries are yet ours to know, through Him?
     The Mysteries of the Kingdom are not only revealed to us, but have been granted to us.  They're not only ours to know, but to have in this life on earth and continue over into the Kingdom, when we leave here.  These are the Life, peace, authority, Grace and Love God has for His precious family.  They are for in Heaven (the Kingdom) and on earth.  All these things are now our's to enjoy and to walk in, by His Spirit.  This is the Spiritual Blessings we've received through Jesus Christ.  Our carnal, unrenewed minds haven't seen anything yet, but a renewed mind will see into the Spirit realm and appropriate these Spiritual Blessings for here and now.
            

Lesson 25 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received (all had a share and were all supplied with), one Grace after another, and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift, For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
     The Church has been waiting for our Heavenly Father to do what He Promised in His Word.  When Jesus ascended into the Father's Presence after His resurrection, God's Promises were fulfilled and the fullness of His Truth was done.  Healing is no longer a Promise, but a Truth that was fulfilled in Jesus.  2Corinthians 1:19-20 (Amplified) says, "For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who has been preached among you by us (by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy), was not Yes and No; but in Him it is always the Divine Yes, 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."
     The Promises concerning the time of Messiah, were held in place by God's Own Word for when Jesus would make them full.  There was a barrier between God and His righteousness, because of the Law of Sin and Death.  The flesh couldn't keep the power of the Law, making the Promises conditional.  God needed to make a new covenant that couldn't be broken, but that covenant had to be made by a flesh and blood man.  John 1:14 (Amplified) tells us, "And the Word (Christ), became flesh (human, incarnate), and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile among us); and we actually saw His Glory, His honor, His majesty; Such Glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of Grace, favor, Loving Kindness and Truth."
     God's last and final covenant with mankind wasn't made with the weakness of sinful flesh, but with a Man Who was without sin and in the Guise of sinful flesh.  This covenant was made with a Man Who was without sin and Who was filled with God's Own Spirit.  By His Own Word, God couldn't break this covenant and by His Own will, Jesus wouldn't break it.  God made a covenant by and through Himself and it's a covenant that is Eternal, just like He is.
     God never made covenant with me or you.  He made covenant with Jesus.  By faith in Jesus, we're grafted into this Eternal covenant, as family.  This covenant doesn't hinge on us, but on Him.  All that Jesus is, we are too, through Him.  When the Father sees me, He sees me in Jesus and He sees me in the righteousness of Jesus Himself.  Mankind couldn't obtain the Promise of righteousness on his own.  It's no longer a Promise, but it's a Truth in Jesus.  The Promise has been fulfilled in Christ Jesus.
     Throughout the Word, we find Promises God made to those who will believe and we've held these familiar scripture close.  Today, we no longer have to look to the Promise, but look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.  Hebrews 12:2 (Amplified) says, "Looking away from all that will distract, to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith, giving the First Incentive for our belief, and is also its Finisher, bringing it to maturity and perfection. He, for the joy of obtaining the prize that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, is now seated at the Right Hand of the Throne of God."
     Paul goes on in Hebrews 10:9-10 (Amplified) saying, "Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will. Thus He does away with and annuls the first, former order as a means of expiating sin, so that He might inaugurate and establish the second, latter order. And in accordance with this will of God we have been made holy, consecrated and sanctified through the Offering made once for all of the Body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One)."
     Hebrews 6:16-18 (Amplified) says, "Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, and with them in all disputes the oath taken for confirmation is final ending strife. Accordingly God also, in His desire to show convincingly and beyond doubt to those who were to inherit the Promise the unchangeableness of His Purpose and Plan, intervened (mediated with an oath) This is so that by two unchangeable things, His Promise and His Oath in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled to Him for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before us."
     We are children of God and fellow heirs with Christ, according to Romans 8:16-17 (Amplified) which says, "The Spirit Himself thus testifies together with our own spirit, assuring us that we are children of God And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him."  We have inherited His Promise, through Jesus.
   Like those before us, we've been waiting on the inheritance of the Promise.  We've failed to realize that we've already received the inheritance of the Promise.  It is already ours.  Righteousness was a Promise that has already come to pass, in the heirs of God, according to Romans 3:21-22 (Amplified) which says, "But now the righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the prophets. Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and it is meant for all who believe. For there is no distinction."
     Under the Law, righteousness was a Promise from God to the people.  Righteousness is now a Truth of inheritance, given by Grace in and through Jesus.  It's not something we must work for or earn, but it's a fulfillment of the Promise in Jesus.  We no longer must observe certain days, eat certain meats, or perform ritual washings.  We must only have faith in our inheritance in Jesus, and receive the Promise of righteousness He has made ours.  This is true for the new creation children of God, who are fellow heirs with Christ Jesus, through our faith in Him.
     John 1:16 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received (all had a share, and were all supplied with), one Grace after another, and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing, and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift."
     

Lesson 24 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received (all had a share and were supplied with) one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
     Through Jesus, we have all received, have all been given a share in and have all been supplied with God's Grace.  There was no difference in the Grace of God through Jesus, that every person has been supplied with.  Through Jesus, we've all been given the same Gift, Blessing, Grace and fullness of God.  Some would take God at His Word and enter into these Promises, while others would see the circumstances and wouldn't enter into them.  Jesus said in Mark 4:24 (Amplified), "Be careful what you are hearing."  Jesus said this because, "Faith comes by hearing," according to Romans 10:17 (Amplified).
     God told Moses to send forth twelve men to spy out the Promised Land, which He had already given them.  When they returned, two said in Numbers 13-14, "We are well able to take the Land, ten said, Yes the fruit and all that God said are there, but, there are giants in the Land."  The people didn't heed the words to Joshua and Caleb who said, "We are well able to take the Land."  They weren't heeding or being careful about what they heard and allowed the opinion of others to rob them from the Blessing that God had given.  Two million people lost out on the Promises, because they didn't listen to God's Words.  They instead, walked in fear and unbelief.
     Today's Church hasn't heeded what we've heard and walked in the Promises in God's Word, but have followed the fear of others who said, "There are giants in the Land."  Some have disregarded the report of giants and have entered in.  Others have chosen to attack the messengers who brought them the Word of Truth.  It's exciting and desirable to hear about healings, authority, Blessing, Grace, prosperity and The Fruit of the Land, but when running into opposition from the enemy, we forget that God already gave these to us and He will see to our success.
     John 1:16-17 (Amplified) tells us that we have all received Grace, Blessing, favor and Gifts by God's unearned, undeserved favor and Truth, in Jesus.  God didn't give these things to just a few people, but we have all been given and supplied with these precious Promises.  Some have heeded the voice of those who can only see the giants, while other heeded and heard the voice of those who saw God's Promise.  This is for those who have ears to hear.
     Mark 4:11 (Amplified) says, "To you has been entrusted the Mystery of the Kingdom of God; that is the secret counsels of God which are hidden from the ungodly, but for those outside of our circle, everything becomes a Parable."  The Mystery and secret counsel of God, concerns Words (seeds) and how we hear and receive the Seed of God's Words in our spirits.  The Mystery of the Kingdom of God has to do with the Laws governing the Universe.  As God's children, we're to understand and heed what we hear and what we say.
     We can limit or loose the ability of the Holy Spirit and the angels, by what we hear and speak, according to Jesus' teaching in Matthew 18:18 (Amplified) where He said, "Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth, must be what is already forbidden in Heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in Heaven."
     We cannot change the Laws of Heaven and Heaven won't change it's Laws for us.  What God has said remains Truth and unchangeable, even to us.  This is one of the Mysteries of the Kingdom and when we understand the principle of the Mystery, then we possess the ability to receive Seed (Words) that bring forth 30-60-100 told returns of either the good of deliverance or lack.  We bring forth what we've heeded and sown in our lives.  Jesus gives the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 12:35 (Amplified) saying, "A good man from his inner good treasure brings forth good things, and the evil man out of the inner evil storehouse brings forth evil things."
     Numbers 13:32 (Amplified) tells us, "So [the spies] brought the Israelites an evil report of the Land which they had scouted out, saying, The Land through which we went to spy out is a Land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature."  God's Word says this was an "Evil report."  Those who heeded it and received it as Seed, brought forth a harvest of destruction in their lives.  Today's Church has been given a choice to either "Heed what we hear" and allow the Truth to manifest a good harvest, or allow wrong seed and evil reports to take root in our spirit, which will bring forth defeat.  If we heed the evil report, then we will never receive, "The fullness of His abundance and supply" found in John 1:16 (Amplified).  Heeding the evil reports will put giants between us and God's Promises to us.
     Everyone has been commissioned by the Father, to "tend the Garden," just like Adam was.  The Seed we allow to be planted in our spirit, will produce the harvest we will receive.  That is a Kingdom Law.  This Mystery of the Kingdom, is a Seed and Harvest principle that always works.  This Mystery is what our entire existence is based on.  God sent His Son (His Seed, His Word) and according to 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified), "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."  This is the Mystery of the Kingdom Seed principle, for those who have ears to hear.  Jesus told His followers in Mark 16:15-16 (Amplified), "Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the Good News (the Gospel), to every creature of the whole human race. He who believes (who adheres to and trusts in and relies on) the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth and is baptized will be saved from the penalty of eternal death; but he who does not believe (who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on) the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth will be condemned."
     Jesus says in Mark 4:24 (Amplified), "Be careful what you are hearing. The measure of thought and study you give to the Truth you hear will be the measure of virtue and knowledge that comes back to you-and more besides will be give to you who hear."  We are responsible to tend the garden of our spirit and to be careful what we hear.  The Israelites from Numbers 13-14 allowed the evil report or wrong seed to be sown in their hearts, resulting in their destruction.  There are many seeds being sown in today's world.  The seeds (words) the enemy is sowing are opinions from natural man, just like the words of the spies who only saw the giants.  Satan is sowing seeds of ungodly rejection and unbelief in Christ Jesus and these seeds are bringing forth terrorism and fear.  The opinions (word seeds) of natural man are growing a harvest of complacency, which renders man to feeling overwhelmed and futile.  Some in the Church are bringing forth evil reports too, bringing forth a harvest of Christians who see themselves as "grasshoppers in the sight of the giants." 
     You are the gardener of your own heart and you must still the seeds (words) the world is broadcasting.  When Jesus caused the wind to be still, the storm stopped.  We must begin speaking to the winds of words and begin to be careful what we hear.  Then, many storms in our lives will cease and calm will follow.  Most of the storms in our lives, come from our not being careful what we hear, which brings forth a harvest we didn't intend to grow.  1Timothy 2:5-6 (Amplified) says, "If anyone enters competitive games, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully (according to the rules laid down) It is the hard working farmer who labors to produce who must be the first partaker of the fruits."
  
    
     
    

Lesson 23 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:16-17 (Amplified) tells us, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
     As we read and understand the above scriptures, we realize how we've been living far below what God's will is for His family.  The Father intended we walk in and actually above, what the first Adam had in the Garden of Eden.  Adam had all the earth could produce.  We have been made joint heirs with Christ and have been given dominion over all the earth again.  Romans 8:17 (Amplified) says, "And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ; sharing His inheritance with Him; only we are to share His suffering if we are to share His Glory."  Jesus' suffering that Paul spoke about, isn't the cross and everything He endured there.  The cross and His suffering was for us, as well as for the removal of sin and unrighteousness.  The suffering Jesus endured was the rejection and misunderstanding from those He came for and loved.
     If you walk into the very depths and mysteries of God, then many will reject your teachings and speak ill of you.  God's children are now only receiving a small portion of what Jesus paid for.  There's so much the Father has planned for us, that is above everything we can ask or even think.
     Many fear losing fellowship of their church members, if they dare to walk deeper with the Lord, but this isn't true.  God will use you as a Light, to open their eyes to a brighter and more rewarding fellowship.  We're not called to be led by the majority, but by the Spirit.  No one has to stop in their search for Truth, because someone else has stopped.  James 4:8 (KJV) instructs, "Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you."  This is a call to every believer.  One doesn't need to leave his/her fellowship or start their own ministry, in order to draw closer to the Lord.
     Every believer has the right to pursue the Lord on their own and is commanded to do so.  We somehow believe that when God reveals something to us, that we don't need the rest of the Body of Christ.  We think we can stay home and watch T.V.  and Internet evangelists and teachers, but nothing is further from the Truth.  You might learn things from those teachers, but it doesn't excuse you from coming together as family, at the House of the Lord.
     There are no limits set  by man, that will determine how far you can go into the depths of God's Presence and Wisdom.  I'm not confined to what other's ideas about what God wants for me, but I have the privilege of seeking Him on my own and learning from others.  I also have the privilege of not accepting what others think, if I know it's not from the Holy Spirit.  God didn't form us from a cookie cutter.  Our depths of desire for Him, are uniquely different too.
     We've often view men and women of God, like God sprinkled them with the "Dust of the Holy Spirit," making them Superheroes and exalted.  Most of the persons of God I've admired over the last 43 years, were humble, little known people who sought God only after discovering they needed Him.  They searched for God's hope and deliverance and began to realize how much God Loved them.  When you begin understanding the unthinkable, unimaginable depth of God's Love for you, then you cannot help but seek Him out in Truth.
     People have disagreed with me throughout the years and God has given them the freedom of choice.  As they disagree, I listen, pray, seek God and go to the Word.  If the Holy Spirit shows me they're correct, then I will change.  If He doesn't, then I remain the same, at all costs.  The more I check with others, to see what they think about something, the more cloudy the vision becomes and I find myself in the same place James speaks about in James 1:5-6 (Amplified), where he says, "If any among you is deficient in Wisdom, let him ask of the Giving God Who gives to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or fault finding, and it will be given him. Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting), For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind!"
     Paul writes in 2Timothy 2:23 (Amplified), "But refuse, shut your mind against, have nothing to do with trifling, ill-informed, unedifying, stupid controversies over ignorant questions, for you know that they foster strife and breed quarrels."  If you know that something is from God, then don't question when others don't believe.  Just because someone else doesn't believe it, doesn't mean that God won't do it for you.
     Paul testified to the Church in Galatians 1:11-12,16 (Amplified) saying, "For I want you to know, brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by me is not man's gospel (a human inventions, 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)."  He goes on in Verse 16, "To reveal (unveil, disclose) His Son within me so that I might proclaim Him among the Gentiles (the non-Jewish world) as the Glad Tidings (Gospel) immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood, did not consult or counsel with any frail human beings or communicate with anyone."
     Do you think the brethren who had lived the entirety of their lives under the Law, would believe Paul if he tried explaining how there wouldn't be need for sacrifice or rituals any longer and that the Gentile wouldn't be just covenant, but family?  Or, do you think they would try telling Paul he didn't really receive a vision or that his vision wasn't from God?  Paul's Revelation was given to him by and through the Word.  God would never have given Paul this Revelation, without the written Word to back it up.  When it was shown to him, it became implanted in his spirit and no one could ever tell Paul that it wasn't God's will and Word.
     There have been many "revelations" preached throughout the world.  Some have been true, while some have been lies of the devil.  The children of God are "to study to show themselves approved unto God, a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing (rightly handling and skillfully teaching) the Word of Truth," according to 2Timothy 2:15 (Amplified).
     When we divide God's Word by the Holy Spirit, we will always find Truth.  Everyone still might not accept it as being Truth, though.  When you share and teach this Revelation, make certain that it's from the Holy Spirit, because we will be held accountable before God for everything we teach or don't teach.  If I shy away from things God shows me, just because I'm afraid of losing my congregation, then I will be judged for that and I never want to be judged for this.
     God won't show us things, in order to impress us.  Most of the Revelation teachings and things I preach, I have received from calling out to God in deliverance.  I teach the things I've walked out over the past 43 years of knowing Him.  Even when teaching these things, the old carnal mind of some will say, "But God doesn't do this for everyone."  I answer, "He will do it for and through all who will believe and seek Him out."
     It seemingly takes more times for us to "unlearn" some of man's teachings, than it would be to study for ourselves.  Many believe "It's the Pastor's job" to learn for them, while denying any responsibility for reading, praying, and seeking God for themselves.  It's easier to remain in tradition and believe "This is God's will for you," instead of entering into the Promises of God, in the face of giants.
     You'll never receive from God, without satan's messenger buffeting you (like it did Paul), but you will find the Revelation of Grace is more than enough to deliver you from all the trials.  You're always going to have trials, but Guidance from the Holy Spirit will lead you to victory.  If you don't have Revelation knowledge to know, understand, and hear from God, then you might suffer great loss.  This isn't God's will for your life.  If we close our eyes, refuse and refuse to enter into God's Promises, then we might have to endure things that we could have walked out of.
     You weren't brought into God's family, in order to be satan's lap dog or for him to kick around.  You were brought into God's family, in order to set others free from satan's lies and to deliver them from his bondage.  You are the "Head and not the tail."  Satan is the tail. 

Lesson 22 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing, and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
     We've discussed this Spiritual Blessing to a degree, but not to it's full potential.  All Blessings came from and were given by and through the Spirit realm, because God is a Spirit, according to John 4:23 (Amplified) which says, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."  Those who aren't born-again and haven't become a new creation, can only experience this kind of Spiritual move in their flesh.
     We've been in meetings where we "feel" the Holy Spirit or "see" things that the Holy Spirit is doing.  We sometimes even "hear" prophecies the Lord speaks to us, but these things don't come close to the Spiritual Blessing that came through Jesus.  This Spiritual Blessing comes when we receive Jesus and are saved in our heart.  This Spiritual Blessing abides within our spirit and the Life of the Spirit is now infused with our own spirit.
     The Church has struggled for centuries, searching for ways to "walk with the Lord," but we've mostly fashioned these ways from the outside or by the flesh.  We try to have meetings that will minister to the flesh and bring feelings that prompt people to believe.
     It's great to have feelings and the manifest, tangible Presence of the Holy Spirit, but this isn't what brings the walk with the Lord that satisfies the heart.  The flesh develops a tolerance for feelings and will require more and more of them to satisfy it's cravings.  This has resulted in many of today's problems.  Taking drugs to "feel good," gives way to taking more drugs to maintain this feeling.  This is the flesh and carnal man dominating the spirit of man.  The flesh is in full control.
    People go from meeting to meeting, in order to feel, see, and hear a Move of God, but after returning home, they can't seem to hold onto what they had at the last meeting.  They begin the same search that drove them in the first place.  They need to satisfy the feelings of the flesh, but it can never be satisfied and will demand more and more, in order to hold onto the high it remembers.  Proverbs 18:14 (Amplified) says, "The strong spirit of a man sustains him in a bodily pain or trouble, but a weak or broken spirit who can raise up or bear?"
     Our strength is in Him and He is a Spirit.  The strength, relationship, conversation, peace, Life, Blessing, healing, Revelation, Wisdom and much more, are the Spiritual Blessing that came through Jesus Christ.  In Romans 12:1-2 (Amplified) Paul writes, "I appeal to you therefore brethren, and beg of you in view of all the mercies of god, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies, presenting all your members and faculties as a living sacrifice, holy, devoted, consecrated, and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent, service) and spiritual worship."  In John 4:23 (Amplified) Jesus said, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being) and those who worship Him, must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."
     The only means of dedicating our bodies as "a living sacrifice" to God and making it "reality and Truth," is in and by our spirit in strength over our flesh.  When your spirit is stronger than your flesh, it's a living sacrifice and is living through the Life of the Father within it.  Paul writes about something that we've nearly lost hope for in our own walk with God and about pursuing Him is Spirit more than flesh, in Galatians 2:20 (Amplified) saying, "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, (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in), the Son of God, Who Loved me and gave Himself up for me." 
     Many think this is "radical Christianity," but Paul believed it was life in the full.  He immersed himself in God's Word, until it dominated his flesh, in full dedication to the spirit man within.  Today's culture and society has decided this isn't necessary, in order to be a child of God.  This is true, but it's difficult to dedicated your body as a living sacrifice to God, when that body is still living by it's own senses and not the spirit.  Every human (whether Christian or non-Christian) has feelings and emotions.  We were made that way by our Creator, so it's not wrong that we have feelings.  It's wrong when feelings have us.
     Paul instructs us to, "Present our body as a living sacrifice," in Romans 12:2 (Amplified) saying, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to it's external, superficial customs, but be transformed, changed by the entire renewal of your mind, by 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."  This is for each individual to do and it available to "whosoever will," but most don't find it "necessary" to do, in order to be saved.
     Jesus said in John 4:24 (Amplified), "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."  I like the word "reality," being placed into the fuller meaning of the word, "Truth."  Many think the reality of God and the Spiritual Blessing have been conformed to this world and age.  Most don't know differently, because of lack of teaching and training.  Many still wish to hold onto the traditions of the world, instead of the Word of God.  We can see ourselves in the congregation Paul spoke to in Romans 10:2-3 (Amplified), where he said, "I bear them witness that they have a certain zeal and enthusiasm for God, but it is not enlightened and according to correct and to vital knowledge."  Verse 3 says, "For being ignorant of the righteousness that God ascribes, which makes one acceptable to Him in word, deed, thought, and seeking to establish a righteousness, a means of salvation of their own, they did not obey or submit themselves to God's righteousness." 
     The above scripture describes the flesh overruling the spirit and this isn't how we "present our bodies a living sacrifice to God," but is how the body presents itself by it's own terms and traditions.  We don't dominate the flesh from the outside, but put it under authority by our new life in the spirit.  Proverbs 16:32 (Amplified) says, "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his own spirit, than he who takes a city."
     When we receive the Spiritual Blessing that came through Jesus, we can through Him, His Word and the Holy Spirit in our new spirit, put our spirit back in control of the flesh and live by our faith in Him and bring this body as a living sacrifice before Him.  When we try doing this from the outside and effort of our will, we place ourselves back under what the Law couldn't do.  The Law was Spiritual, but man was flesh and flesh could never keep the Spiritual Word of God by itself.  Through Jesus, we have a new creation spirit that is living by God's Spirit.  We can receive the Word (which is Spirit) and be led by the Spirit, so that "Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world."
   It might seem harder to learn the ways of the spirit, than to accept the way of the world.  Many view it as a "work we must do," but for those who allow the Holy Spirit to teach them, it becomes liberty without a world of condemnation from the flesh.  I don't want to just "go to Heaven when I die," but I want Heaven to live and move and be seen by world, even in this body.  I want to be a living sacrifice and a glorious temple of the Holy Spirit.
     

Lesson 21 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law came through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
     The Spiritual Blessing that came through Jesus, is something the Law could never bring.  Those under the Law were spiritually dead, so the Spiritual Blessing couldn't be manifested until the new birth.  The Spiritual Blessing included being redeemed from the Curse of the Law and being made righteous, through our being joined with Jesus by the Holy Spirit.  The Church has rejected most of the things involved in these Spiritual Blessings.
     The Law of Sin and Death entered into mankind through Adam's transgression in the Garden of Eden, causing mankind to be spiritually separated from God.  Paul spoke about his physical body's being under the Law of Sin before being born-again and how he had been pulled by his flesh and mental senses to walk back under the Law and it's traditions.  Paul knew better than to do this, because of the Revelation he had received from Jesus.  His body and senses had been trained under the Law, causing them to wish to continue walking under the Law.  In Romans 7:24-25 (Amplified) Paul writes, "Who will deliver me from the shackles of this body of death?"  Paul answers his own question in Verse 25 saying, "Oh Thank God! He will through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."
     Paul goes on in Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified), "Therefore, there is now no 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. For the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus, the Law of our new being has freed me from the Law of Sin and of Death."
     Paul stated that the Spiritual Blessing that came through Christ Jesus, put him in a place of being joined with God's Spirit, to the point where his spirit had dominion once again, over his flesh.  This Spiritual Blessing made us alive and joined us once again with God, giving Paul (and us) "power beyond my flesh."  Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), "It is the Spirit Who gives Life, He is the Life-Giver; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever, there is no profit in it. The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
     The Holy Spirit now lives in and through us.  We have received the ability of God, to once again govern the flesh and walk in the Spirit.  The flesh and satan wish that mankind didn't once again, walk in the Spirit.  Satan controlled mankind through the absence of dominion, that our fallen state of being caused.  Our spirits were dead unto God and man was simply ruled by his five senses, because of Adam's transgression.  Satan had been controlling our minds and clouding our lives, through the influence over our flesh.  Our spirits remained dormant, because our souls were clouded by physical things.
     Through Jesus, now, our spirits are alive to God again and are infused by the Holy Spirit of God.  God Himself can speak to us and actually live through us again.  These Spiritual Blessings that came through Jesus, include "Life, son-ship rights, righteousness or right standing with God, justification, sanctification, freedom from guilt and condemnation, liberty from sin and being raised together with Jesus into Heavenly seating with Him," according to Ephesians 2:6 (Amplified) which tells us, "And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together, giving us joint seating with Him in the Heavenly Sphere, by virtue of our being in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
     The Spiritual Blessing that came through Jesus, has placed us back into a place of authority over satan, sickness, sin and the flesh.  The flesh no longer controls, but the Spirit.  Many remain carnal minded and haven't renewed their minds and are still being led by the senses, because the carnal mind cannot discern the Spiritual Word.  Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), "The Words I am speaking to you are Spirit and Life."  He was saying this to all of us.  The flesh (carnal mind) can't even understand the Revelation of Jesus' Words.
     We've taken Spiritual Truth and reduced it to carnal understanding, which has resulted with our return to Law and it's fleshly traditions.  Remember, Grace is "unearned, undeserved Spiritual Blessing and Truth."  We've had a difficult time with the Spiritual Blessing that came through Jesus, because they are spiritually discerned.  1Corinthians 2:14 (Amplified) says, "But the natural, non-spiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the Gifts and teachings and Revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them (of progressively recognizing, understanding and becoming acquainted with them), because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated."
     Paul wasn't saying that these people "weren't saved," they will continue thinking like they did before being born-again, until they renew their minds.  Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2 (Amplified), "I appeal to you therefore brethren, and beg of you in view of all the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies, presenting all your members and faculties as a living sacrifice (holy, devoted, consecrated and well-pleasing to God) which is your reasonable (rational,intelligent) service and Spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind, by its new ideals and attitudes, 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."
     In order to dedicate our body as a living sacrifice to God, we must first see to it, that we're living through the Spirit and not simply living still in the flesh.  The outward show of the new creation man, is the external, superficial customs of the world and we are "not to conform to" these things.  It's not the customs, clothing, eating certain meats and the outward things that make the body a "living sacrifice."  It's the Life of the Spirit that makes it a living sacrifice.  The dead body cannot be a living sacrifice in itself.  The dedication of the renewed mind does this, by discerning the Truth of God's Word with the mind of Christ, instead of just reading the words.  One can educate the mind by the senses and still not discern or receive Revelation into his/her spirit.  To be carnally minded is death.  To be spiritually minded is Life and peace with God.
     Romans 8:6-7 (Amplified) says, "Now the mind of the flesh which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit, is death (death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin) both here and hereafter (still living in condemnation and fear of punishment) But the mind of the Holy Spirit (the renewed mind) is Life and soul peace, both now and forever. That is because the mind of the flesh with its carnal thoughts and purposes is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Laws, indeed it cannot."
     The unrenewed mind in a believer, has a difficult time believing we are righteous and not just forgiven, but cleansed from the stain of sin.  It cannot believe that God has made you so pure, that you've become the temple of God.  1Corinthians 6:19 (Amplified) says, "Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives withing you, Whom you have received as a Gift of God? You are not your own."
     It's only the renewed mind that can discern the mind of Christ and the Revelation of what Jesus has truly done for us.  In order to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, we must first renew our minds to the Truth that our body is no longer our own and that Jesus is the True Life living within it.  God calls our body a "temple for Himself."    
     We've entered into the new creation being, with the carnal mind of the old man and continue thinking in terms of the sinful man, instead of the new man.  We remember more about who we once were, instead of who Christ has made us to be.  It's hard to dedicate this sinful body as a holy, living and acceptable sacrifice to God, when we do this.  We must renew our minds and allow the Holy Spirit to gives us discernment, instead of allowing the enemy to distort our vision by the old man.  When you begin renewing your mind by the Holy Spirit and God's Word, the things of the flesh will cease to be a problem and we can know the "Good, acceptable and perfect will of God in His sight for you and prove it for yourself."  God's will for you is something that only comes from understanding what His will for you ACTUALLY IS.  This understanding comes only through discerning by the Holy Spirit, not from education through the carnal mind and senses.  When Grace and Truth enter into you by Revelation, you will know what is "the Good, acceptable and perfect will of God that He wants for you."  Until then, the carnal mind will keep you in enmity against the Truth of Grace.

He is Risen!

Lesson 20 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing, and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
     John 1:1-5,14-16 (Amplified) says, "In the beginning (before all time), was the Word (Christ) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it (put it our, or absorbed it, or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it)."
     Verses 14-16 tell us, "And the Word (Christ), became Flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of Flesh), lived awhile among us; and we actually saw His Glory, His honor, His majesty, such Glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of Grace, favor, Loving-kindness, and Truth. For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received (all had a share and were all supplied with) one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor, and Gift heaped upon Gift."
     We don't often connect the following scripture to the above ones, but I think we should.  John 1:14 (Amplified) says, "The Word became Flesh."  In Isaiah 55:11-13 (Amplified) God gives one of the Greatest and most Glorious Promises to us, in Jesus, saying, "So shall My Word be that goes forth out of My Mouth, it shall not return to Me voice (without producing any effect, useless), but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the things for which I sent it. For you shall go out from the Spiritual exile caused by sin and evil into the homeland with joy and be led forth by your Leader (the Lord Himself) and His Word, with peace; the mountains and hills shall break forth before you into singing and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the Cypress tee, and instead of the briar shall come up the Myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name of renown, for an everlasting sign of jubilant exaltation and memorial to His Praise which shall not be cut off."
     The "Word that became Flesh" is the Same Word that will "not return to the Father" without accomplishing exactly what He sent It forth to do.  All God's Promises to us are fulfilled in this Indestructible Word.  Some say, "These Promises aren't for us today," but with God, these Promises are fulfilled when His Word (Jesus) returned to Him at His resurrection.  The Father said this about His Word returning to Him in Philippians 2:6-11 (Amplified), "Who, although Being essentially One with God and in the Form of God, possessing the fullness of attributes which make God, God, did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself of all privileges and rightful dignity, so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. And after He had appeared in Human Ford, He abased and humbled Himself still further and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross."  Verses 9-11 go on, "Therefore, because He stooped so low, God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name. That in (at) the Name of Jesus every knee should, MUST BOW in Heaven, and on earth and under the earth And every tongue frankly and openly confess and acknowledge, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father."
     The Word didn't return to God void or without accomplishing everything the Father sent Him here to accomplish.  When we understand the power of God's Word, we receive the Promise the Father made to us by His powerful, Almighty and Everlasting Word and give the Name of Jesus full authority in our lives.  It only take faith in God's Word, Jesus.  To see the full extent of the exaltation of God's Word (Jesus), we need to look at Psalm 138:2 (Amplified) which says, "I will worship toward Your Holy Temple and praise Your Name for Your Loving-kindness and Your Truth and faithfulness. For You have exalted above all else Your Name and YOUR WORD and You have magnified YOUR WORD above all Your Name."  Philippians 2:10 (Amplified) says, "That at the Name of Jesus, every knee should, must bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth."  Jesus' Name is the NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES.
     John writes in Revelations 19:11-13 (Amplified), "After that I saw Heaven opened, and behold, a white horse appeared! The One Who was riding it is called Faithful, Trustworthy, Loyal, Incorruptible, Steady and True, and He passes judgment and wages war in righteousness, holiness, justice, and uprightness. His eyes blaze like a flame of fire: and on His Head are many kingly crowns (diadems), and He has a Title (Name inscribed) which He Alone knows or can understand. He is dressed in a robe dyed by dipping in Blood, and the Title by which He is called is, THE WORD OF GOD."
     We'll soon be celebrating Resurrection Sunday and I want you to know and understand the full scope of what we're about to celebrate.  This is the Event that changed the entire universe.  Jesus' Resurrection didn't just make a way for us to go to Heaven when we die, but it was the complete of The Word returning in fulfillment of the will, purpose, heart and Promise of our Heavenly Father.  Jesus' Resurrection fulfilled the Promise of God and returned everything back to His Original Intent, from the beginning.
     Through Jesus, the Word, Heaven is restored back to the sons of God.  Earth has been placed under their dominion and satan has lost his grip over all who will believe the Word of God.  In Heaven, on earth and under the earth, everything has now been made subject through Jesus Christ, Who is the Living, Exalted, Everlasting, Word of God.  Although some will not accept or acknowledge the Power of that Name, in the end, everyone will bow their knee and proclaim that "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father."  HE IS RISEN.  ALLELUIA.  AMEN. 
     
    

Lesson 19 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:17 (Amplified) tells us, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
     The Church has been successful at leading others to Christ and getting them born-again, but we haven't been good at nourishing and maturing those new creation beings, who were given Life at the new birth.  We haven't fully understood the full Truth of the removal of sin in the believer's life, which leads us to teach about curtailing sins of the flesh.
     God gave the Law through Moses, in order to curtail and discipline the sins of the flesh.  God did this because man was spiritually dead and had no control over his death ruled spirit.  God established the Law, in order to deal with man's sins and covering those sins by the blood of bulls and goats.  Grace and Truth came through Jesus and God was no longer hindered by the flesh and the sins of fleshly men.  God now again had access to the Life of Christ being within mankind.
     The Church has laid down rules and laws, in order to govern the sins of the flesh, but we haven't been successful in doing so.  Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver); the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it). The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you, are Spirit and Life."
     We've been trying to control sin in the flesh and by the flesh, which leaves us in constant turmoil.  Jesus said that, "A house divided cannot stand."  We've divided the spirit from the flesh and tried leading a spirit life by the rules of the flesh.  This is a house that is divided.  When we train up the Spirit of God in our spirit, then by faith in His Life within, we can bring the flesh into subjection to the Spirit and God's Word.  Jesus said that, "The flesh conveys no benefit whatever."  That's because it is constantly opposing the spirit.
     The flesh has ruled most all mankind from Adam on.  We've walked in the appetites and controls of the flesh for millennium.  The flesh only does what it knows to do from past habits, because that's all it knows.  It hears right things, but has no power to do the right things.  Laws needed to be placed in the earth, with penalties for breaking them.  Killing, robbing or breaking these man-made laws, results in prison time or even death.  For some, the thought of penalty kept the flesh in line, but didn't work for everyone.
     The Church has been dealing with the flesh, by the flesh.  We've failed to teach the things and Promises of the Spirit, to the spirit.  This has left the new creation spirit to remain in childlike state.  The compassion we have for others who are being tormented by the appetites of their flesh, is real, but it doesn't change anything.  Meaning well, we try "being there for others," but the same problems seem to constantly reoccur.  That's when we decide, "It must be God's will for us to struggle in these weaknesses."  We deal with spiritual problems, with the external, carnal reasoning and sympathy.  The problems of the flesh are provoked by the spirit of a fallen nature.
     We seldom recognize that the fleshly warfare is actually "the spiritual wickedness in high places."  Sickness and disease come from the same spirit who has controlled mankind since Adam's transgression in the Garden of Eden.  Oppression and depression are spiritual clouds over mankind.  We've looked at these things from the point of view of the natural man, which tells us "these things are just natural."  It was never God's will for His children.  We've been trying to win a spiritual battle, by earthly carnal weapons, which leads to failure.
     The Church doesn't have any idea about who we are and who the Father has born us to be.  We believe that Heave is our home, but don't believe much else has changed in our earthly lives.  We've taken a stand against sin and wrong doing, but have a difficult time holding sin at bay in our lives.  When pushed hard enough with hardship, most of us will resort back to the flesh.
     All the power, ability, authority, Blessing and relationship with the Father come by, and through, His Spirit being united spirit within us.  When we don't have knowledge of Who is living in and through our spirit, we act and respond as mere men and women.  We are helpless, if we don't have God's Wisdom and knowledge in our spirit.  The flesh cannot be ruled by the flesh.  Without the Holy Spirit, the flesh has no ability to do what it should.  That's why God brought about the new covenant, according to Romans 7:14-25 (Amplified).  Paul was raised under the Law and now is dealing with himself by the Holy Spirit's revelation of Grace.  Paul writes about the Law being spiritual, but because of the Law, he is a "creature of the flesh and sold into slavery by the control of sin."  There wasn't anything wrong with the Law, it was perfect, but carnal man couldn't live it perfectly by his carnal mind and simple flesh.
     Paul speaks about his walk with the Lord and the Revelation Jesus gave him.  He spoke about struggling to do what was right, but how the impulses of the flesh opposed him at every turn.  Many will read about Paul's struggles and say, "Paul never overcame them."  If you allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the Grace and Truth that came through Jesus, then you will see and hear how Paul obtained victory over sin in his life.
     Paul cries out in Verse 24 saying, "Oh unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from the shackles of this body of death?"  Pay attention to the Light of deliverance Paul was given in Verse 25 which says, "Oh thank God! He will! Through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the Law of sin."
     Paul didn't start a new chapter, but most of us stop reading there and fail to read the rest of his letter.  Paul continued answering his question (and ours too), "Who will deliver me? in Romans 8:1-4 (Amplified) saying, "Therefore (since God has delivered me through Jesus) There is now no condemnation, no adjudging of guilt or wrong for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit."  It wasn't that Paul's flesh wouldn't try dictating its desires to him, but now the Holy Spirit can dictate Grace and Truth from Paul's spirit, and the spirit controls the flesh.  Verse 2 says, "For the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus, the Law of my new being, has freed me from the Law of Sin and of Death."
     Paul stopped trying to conquer sin and the flesh, by his works of the flesh.  He allowed the Law of his new being, to take authority over his flesh, by the Spirit.  He continues in Verses 3-4, "For GOd has done what the Law could not do, it's power being weakened by the flesh, the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit, Sending His Own Son, in the Guise of sinful flesh and as an Offering for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh (subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power) over all who accept that Sacrifice. So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit, our lives not governed by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit."
     Before Jesus, man only had his flesh to try walking in a Spiritual Law.  Man's flesh was weak in sin and couldn't live up to the perfection of the Law.  Paul struggled with this very thing in his life, until he met Jesus and declared, "God has done what the Law could not it, it's [Law's] power being weakened by the flesh."  Through Jesus and the fulfillment of the Promise of the Holy Spirit, we have been given Life and power over sin and death.  As new creation people, we've been endued with the authority, ability, power and Wisdom of God, because His Spirit is infused with our spirit.  This restoration has brought our spirit being into a place of supremacy over the flesh.  Our spirit takes dominion over our carnal selves, so we can walk in the victory of Jesus.
     We've missed so much Truth, concerning what Jesus did for us.  We sing, shout, lift our hands and listen to a 30 minute "Feel Good" sermon on Sunday, and then we fall under the same things the world walk in the next day.  We declare "None are righteous, no not one" and moan about how "We're so unworthy" or "That's just how things are."  We don't learn to contain our vocabulary.  We aren't selective about what we hear and say and walk like none of God's Promises are True.
     We've mostly been taught from people who are led by the carnal mind, instead of the new creation.  This isn't saying that they're not good people or don't have good hearts.  But, we haven't been weaned from milk to meat, from baby to maturity and from flesh to Spirit.  We run into the same opposition that Jesus endured from religious people, who opposed His earthly ministry.  Jesus' Message was new to those who heard it and was in opposition to man's ways and ideas, which resulted in anger, disbelief, and their fear of the unknown.  We haven't progress much from that time, or so it seems.
     Those of us who are born-again (even if we don't understand it), are the perfection of God's new creation.  The lack of understanding, doesn't disqualify us, but it does hold us back from seeing the Promise of the Spirit.  The Promise has been restored and is available to all who are born-again and will simply receive it by faith.  We are being perfected for a work that this world has never yet seen.  We're being groomed to bring in the End Time Harvest of God's family, by and through the Super-natural Spirit of God.

    

Lesson 18 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:17 (Amplified) tells us, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing, and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
     The "Spiritual Blessing," from the above scripture, is the "Life" Jesus spoke about in John 10:10 (Amplified).  Thus, He says, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy Life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
     For years, the Church has debated about the spiritual death that Adam brought forth in his Garden transgression.  Many have tried comprehending this death in the carnal mind, like the religious people of Jesus' days.  Jesus' statement that, "I came that you may have Life," provoked such a debate among those who were listening.  Those who were present when Jesus said this, were alive and hearing His Words, but most had no idea what He was talking about.
     Today's Church is trying to comprehend our new creation man and our new covenant or relationship with the Father.  Since we don't understand it in our finite minds, we've missed so much of the Blessing of the Spirit.  Paul writes to the Church in Galatians 3:14 (Amplified) saying, "To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."
     Many believe Paul was speaking about the Day of Pentecost, when they received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues, "as the Spirit gave them utterance."  This is true, but this isn't the full understanding of what came unto mankind  The actual Promise entailed God's indwelling His Own children and restoring mankind back to His original intent.  Before Jesus came, God could only deal with spiritually dead men from the outside, through their flesh.  Now, God can actually live in man again, by giving His Life to us through His Spirit Who lives inside us.
     Paul was speaking about an Old Testament prophecy found in Habakkuk 2:2-3 (Amplified) which says, "And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may be able to read it easily and quickly as he hastens by. For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end fulfillment; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait earnestly for it, because it will surely come, it will not be behind hand on its appointed day."
     Thus, Paul quotes the above scripture in Hebrews 10:37-38 (Amplified) saying, "For still a little while, a very little while and the Coming One will come and He will not delay. But the just shall live by his conviction respecting man's relationship to God and Divine things, and holy fervor born of faith and conjoined with it; and if he draws back and shrinks in fear, My soul has no delight or pleasure in him."
     Paul speaks about "living by faith" and quoting the same prophet Habakkuk, in Romans 1:17 (Amplified) 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."
     The Life we know in our body, isn't the Life which God gave by His Spirit.  In Galatians 2:20 (Amplified) Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; in Him I have share 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 (by adherance to and reliance on and complete trust in), the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
     Now, we can understand what the Word is saying about "living by faith."  When we received Jesus Christ by faith, we also received the Life and Promise of Life, through the Holy Spirit of God, by that same faith.  Paul says, "And the Life in now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God."  Now that we have by faith, been granted Grace, the Life of the Spirit (the Promise of the Spirit) can be fulfilled within us.
     God's Promise of the Spirit couldn't be fulfilled in a man who was spiritually dead.  When we received Life through Jesus, all God's Promises can now be fulfilled and appropriated, but only through faith.  This is why Paul writes in Romans 1:17 (Amplified), "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith [we were made the righteousness of God by faith] and leading to faith [all the other Promises in this righteousness are also ascribed through God by faith too] disclosed through the way of faith [only the Holy Spirit can reveal them to us and must be appropriated by faith as well] that arouses to more faith [the more we understand by faith, the more assurance we have in this Life of faith] as it is written, The man who through faith is just [we are justified and upright and righteous before God by our faith in Jesus] shall live and shall live by faith."
     Without faith in the life we receive in Jesus, we are still dead to the spirit.  Now, in Him, all the Promises God made to mankind, can be manifested by our new life in the Spirit.  These are the Promises of the Spirit.  When God Blessed mankind, he was a spirit.  Only in the spirit, did man have these Promises of God.  Through his spirit, man had dominion and provision in every aspect of his life (spirit, soul and body).  When man died in his spirit, he could no longer receive or fulfill God's Promises to him.
     Through our faith in Jesus, Life has now been restored again in our spirit.  His Life and His Spirit now live in our spirit.  God's Promises of the Spirit are ours and can be once again be activated by our new Life.  We have dominion over our flesh and soul, in this Life, to fulfill God's Promises by and through the Holy Spirit.  That is our Life.  Trying to make these Promises true in our carnal minds and flesh, without the faith in the Spirit, is futile and has no life in it.  All of our strength, hope, ability and Life, comes only through our faith in the Spirit.
     God took care of the sin problem which brought spiritual death, so He could now indwell in us, be a Father to us and do what His heart has longer to do from the beginning.  We were and still are made in His Image and Likeness, according to John 4:24 (Amplified) where Jesus said, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."  All God's Promises came form the Spirit, are upheld by His Spirit and are activated by faith in His Spirit.  They overflow into the flesh and soul, into this natural realm, but they are empowered by the spirit.
     Trying to become righteous by the work of the flesh, is useless.  Righteousness that God ascribes or accepts, is by faith in the righteousness He impart to us through Jesus.  This righteousness and justification can only be received by faith in the One Whom He sent to justify us.  Though they might be well meaning, man-made efforts cannot establish righteousness before God.  The Promise of the Spirit was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost and is only realized by faith in Jesus Christ.  This Promise encompasses all the Heavenly and earthly ability God Promised before the foundation of the earth.  We haven't understood this enough, to allow it to work in our lives that are in Christ Jesus.
    

Lesson 17 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing, and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
     John 6:29 (Amplified) tells us, "Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God requires (asks of you); that you believe in the One Whom He has sent (that you cleave to,trust in, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger)."
     Grace and Truth have now come through Jesus Christ, and we're no longer required to do what the Law required, in order to receive God's Blessing and favor.  The only thing required, is that we believe Jesus met all the requirements ever needed for us to receive.  We don't need to continually make sacrifice and burn offerings for our sins and trespasses.  We must only believe that Jesus was the Last Sacrifice for all time.  This doesn't mean we can sin without consequence, but that all our sin has been dealt with at the cross.  1John 1:9 (Amplified) says, "If we freely admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just, True to His Own nature and Promises, and will forgive our sins (dismiss our lawlessness), and continually cleanse us from all unrighteousness, everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought and action."
     We haven't been given a license or permission to sin, but if (and when we do) sin, we approach God in faith of His Word and "trust in, rely on, and have faith in Jesus for our cleansing.  In order to receive our cleansing, we must believe in the One Whom God has sent.  This is the requirement that God asks of us today.  This is the rest that the Holy Spirit speaks about in Hebrews 4:10 (Amplified) which says, "For he who has once entered God's rest also has ceased from the weariness and pain of human labors, just as God rested from those labors, peculiarly His Own."
     Many have fallen under oppression and condemnation from past sin, believing God cannot use them.  This has led to their believing God will not hear them or that they can approach Him in faith.  We have a difficult time entering into worship and praise, because we believe satan's lies and feel unworthy and unrighteous.  Grace isn't a license or endorsement to sin, but is God's favor and mercy to deliver us, in the event that we do sin.
     The misunderstanding of God's Grace, has led many into disobedience and lack of Truth.  Grace doesn't cover rebellion and disregard for Truth.  Our rest comes by not condemning and dismissing ourselves from God's Presence, but trusting in His Cleansing in Jesus by faith.  Our rest comes from not having to make sacrifice under the Law any longer, because Jesus is the Last Sacrifice.
     In Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified) Jesus said, "If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening, and let him perceive and comprehend. And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing, The measure of thought and study you give to the truth you hear, will be the measure of virtue and knowledge that comes back to you, and more besides will be given to you who hear."
     Notice how Jesus first said, "Be careful what you are hearing" and then He said, "To the truth you hear."  In John 8:31-32 (Amplified) Jesus said, "If you abide in My Word (hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them), yo are truly My disciples And you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."  He also said in Mark 4:24 (Amplified), "Be careful what you are hearing, the measure of thought and study to the Truth you hear."  We hear so many things that are not "Truth" or "rest," according to Grace.
     We've heard so many things taught, that hold us int bondage, instead of freeing us from it.  Grace has come to reveal the Truth.  We keep "feeling like we need to do something," in order to relieve the guilt of wrongdoing.  This puts rest, into a place of our own labors and sacrifice, instead of receiving by Grace, the Truth that sets us free.  Jesus said, "Be careful what you hear."  He wasn't only referring to the conversations of the world, but about the religious order of our time, too.
     We find the perfect example of "Being careful what we hear" and how the "Truth is measured out, by what we hear," in Numbers 13-14.  God instructed the Israelites to go into the Land He had given them, but when they saw the Land God had Promised, the people doubted God could take them into that Land.  Twelve men went into the "Land flowing with milk and honey."  Ten men came out with what the Lord called, "Evil reports."  They didn't abide in the Word and  their ears heard something different from Truth.
     Two million Israelites weren't "careful what they heard" and never entered into God's Rest.  We must become very selective about what we hear.  Some around us will say, "well meaning things," but if those things aren't Truth, then they will not receive the "30, 60 hundred fold Harvest," Jesus spoke about in Mark 4:24 (Amplified).  The Truth is what sets us free.  The good or bad things we hear, bring forth a harvest, but only Truth will bring forth God's Promised Harvest.  The Israelites received a harvest, that wasn't what God intended, but was according to what they heard and accepted as "truth."
     We read about this in Hebrews 4:6-11 (Amplified) which says, "Seeing then that the Promise remains over from past times for some to enter that rest, and that those who formerly were given the Good News about it and the opportunity, failed to operate in it and did not enter in because of disobedience."  Verses 7-11 continue, "Again He sets a definite day, a new today, and gives another opportunity of securing that rest, saying through David after so long a time in the Words already quoted, TODAY, if you would hear His Voice and when you hear it do not harden your hearts This mention of a rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan, For if Joshua had given them rest, He, God would not speak afterward about another day. So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath rest reserved for the true people of God. For he who has once entered God's rest also has ceased from the weariness and pain of human labors, just as God rested from those labors, peculiarly His Own. Let us there be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest of God (to know and experience it for ourselves), that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience into which those in the Wilderness fell."
     The simplicity of God's Promised Truth and Grace have already been done in Jesus.  Jesus did everything required for us to be righteous, cleansed, holy, blessed, sanctified, heirs, healed, exalted, consecrated and accepted by God.  By faith, we must stop striving to make things happen and rest in what Jesus has done for us.
     We must take the Truth and receive it into our hearts, allowing it to abide in us.  We must then, allow ourselves to abide in Jesus.  We will then "Know the Truth (the Word) and it will make us free."  2Timothy 3:16-17 (Amplified) tells us, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error, and discipline in obedience and for training in righteousness, in holy living in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action. So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work."
     When we give thought and study to the Truth of God's Word, then it will be measured back to us 100 fold.  We must be careful in what we hear.  The only we're required to do, is believe what the Father sent Jesus to do for us and allow that Word to make us free.  We no longer offer sacrifices, perform rituals and traditions, do our own works, because Grace is sufficient for every need.  If we sin, then we must confess it before Jesus and leave it there, rest in God's Grace and continue running the Good race.   

Lesson 16 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
     Psalm 85:10-11 (Amplified) says, "Mercy and Loving-Kindness and Truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall look down from Heaven."
     John 6:28-29 (Amplified) says, "Then they said, What are we to do, that we may habitually be working the works of God? What are we to do to carry out what God requires?"  This is the same question we ask today, "What must we do to do His works and what does God expect of me?"  Jesus answers in Verse 29, "This is the work, service that God asks of you; that you believe in the One Whom He has sent (that you cleave to, trust in, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger)."
     Everything I've been writing about in these lessons, is something to believe and not something we must do.  The Body of Christ is divided by so many teachings today, that we can't seem to understand Jesus answered this for us, in His one statement.  He said, "This is the work God asks of you; that you believe in Me."  Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) says, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed), of things we hope for, being proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality, faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses."
     We either ignore the Promises of God and believe they're "For when we leave this life" or we invent excuses why they're not being manifested in our lives.  We speak about healing, like it's the lottery and "My number didn't win."  We're divided about righteousness and sanctification, and believe they're unattainable in this life.  We've established man-made rituals and laws, that must be performed in order to "qualify" for things from God.
     We've tried earning and deserving things that God has freely given to us, through Christ Jesus.  We've decided that "These things must not be God's will for our lives," because we don't see them working in our own lives or the lives of others.  Many have spoken to me about these lessons on Grace and Truth, saying, "These things aren't for everyone" or "These things are for only a few people God has chosen."
     Tradition and opinion have caused God's Word to be of no effect in the lives of most of His children.  We either believe that "God is hard to please" or "It didn't work for that person, so he must be in sin."  We try making the Word work for us, according to our own ideas.  We don't allow the Word to work by simple faith.  We've labeled some people as "Faith people," some as "Word people," some as "Fanatics" and some as "Cult people" simply because they believe in a different way or in a way that others don't understand.
     There's no "Formula" for healing, prosperity, peace or any other Promise of God.  We're still trying to "make it work," instead of letting it work.  One is by our own man-made religion and ideas, while the other is by faith in God's Grace.  The above scripture tells us that, "Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ."  All that is need to make it work, is found in John 6:29 where Jesus said, "This is the work that God asks of you, that you believe in the One Whom God sent."
     Paul writes in 2Corinthians 1:18-22 (Amplified), "As surely as God is Trustworthy and Faithful and means what He says, our speech and message to you have not been Yes that might mean No. For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah) Who has been preached among you by us (by myself and Silvanus, and Timothy), was not Yes and No, but in Him it is always the Divine Yes. For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes answer in Him, Christ. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it), to God through Him, in His Person and by His Agency to the Glory of God."  Verse 21-22 go on, "But it is God Who confirms and makes us steadfast and establishes us in joint fellowship with you in Christ, and has consecrated and anointed us with enduing us with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. He has also appropriated and acknowledge us as His by putting His Seal upon us and giving us His Holy Spirit in our hearts as the security deposit and guarantee of the fulfillment of His Promise."
     The only way these scriptures make a difference in your life, is by Grace and Truth that is in Christ Jesus.  Through the Holy Spirit, Paul declares to us above, that "All of God's Promise to us through Jesus, are Yes and Amen to the Glory of God."  We don't "make God honor His Promises," He has already fulfilled and honored them through Jesus.  We need only to declare they are "Yes and Amen" by faith.  Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) says, "Now faith is the assurance, confirmation, title deed of the things we do not see and the conviction of their reality."
     God isn't "moved by the majority," like a democracy.  He is Sovereign and moves only by faith in His Word.  If one man believes, even though someone else doesn't, then God will honor His Promise to the one who does believe.  John 3:16 tells us that, "God loved the whole world and gave Jesus for our deliverance."  The Promise was "Yes and Amen," to "whosoever believes."
     God's Promise of healing, the removal of transgression and the chastisement our peace, found in Isaiah 53:4-5, was placed on Jesus for us.  These Eternal Promises were made ours, through the One Sacrifice of Jesus.  There's nothing I must do, in order to make them true.  I'm only required to honor God's Promise of Grace, by Truth and accept it as True in my life.  God made us more Promises in Jesus.
     The Lord says in Isaiah 54:17 (Amplified), "But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced; This is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me, this is that which I impart to them as their justification, says the Lord."
     The above Promises are "Yes and Amen to the Glory of God" and must be received by Grace through faith.  Everyone who has received Jesus as his/her Lord and Savior, has received these Promises as the new creation child of God, but many still don't accept these Promises in the natural body they live in.  They are already ours by birth, but we continue trying to earn them, by works.
     These Promises include salvation, according to Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) which says, "For it is by FREE GRACE (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through your faith. And this salvation is not of yourselves, of your own doing, it came not through your own striving, but it is the Gift of God."  Grace and Truth came through Jesus.  We must only believe God's Promise that, "All who call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved."
     The Promise of salvation is "Yes and Amen" to all who believe and accept God at His Truth.  Why is it, that we can believe only certain things and not others?  We cannot prove our salvation by seeing it, because it came into our spirit.  We've tried dressing a certain way, observing days, and eating only certain meats just like those under the Law, in order to "prove" our salvation.  I've discovered that I can wear my cowboy boots, hat, and Levis, and still be saved.  Some might not believe that, but God never told me to wear a suit.
     I can walk naturally Super-natural by His Truth, by having faith in His Promises and receiving the Grace He gave to me to have faith.  I don't need to accept what the majority thinks about this.  I only have to accept what my Heavenly Father says.  Most of the Israelites disagreed with Joshua and Caleb, but God didn't stop His Promise because of their unbelief.  God fulfilled His Promise to those who did believe.  If you will simply accept His Yes and Amen to His Promises, then God will honor His Word for you, even though others disagree.
     We still deny God's Promise of righteousness through Christ Jesus, instead of accepting our Gift of righteousness by His Promise.  You are already righteous, by receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but refusing to believe in this Promised Gift has hindered our fellowship with the Father.  In Isaiah 61:1-2 (Amplified) God reveals His Great Promise, saying, "To grant consolation and joy to those who mourn in Zion, to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem of beauty) instead of ashes, to give the oil of joy instead of mourning; the garment expressive of praise instead of a heavy burdened and failing spirit-that they may be called oaks of righteousness (lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice and right standing with God) the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."