Genesis 1:27-28,11 (Amplified) says, "So God created man in His Own Image (in the Image and Likeness of God He created him); male and female He created them. And God Blessed them and said to them; Be fruitful (multiply), and fill the earth, and subdue it, using all it's vast resources in the service of God and man; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth."
This is and was, God's Original Intent for His children, in Heaven and earth. In Verse 11, God spoke a Spiritual Law that is still very much in effect today. Thus, it tells us, "And God said, Let the earth put forth tender vegetation; plants yielding seed and fruit trees yielding fruit whose seed is in itself, each according to its kind upon the earth. And it was so."
Acorns today, still always produce Oak trees and a kernel of corn will always produce corn. This Law of "seed in itself" and "after its kind," is still very much as true, as it was when God said it. When Adam transgressed in the Garden, God never deviated from His Original Intent for His children. In the Spirit realm, God's Word is the Seed that created all things. We're His Seed, by His Word and are restored back to His Original Intent, according to 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified) which says, "You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from One that is Immortal by the Ever Living and Lasting Word of God." God's Word is the Seed, by which we were born or created, from the Original Intent.
John 1:1,14 (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 (Christ, the Word or Seed), was present originally with God." Verse 14 continues saying, "And the Word (Seed, Christ), became flesh (human, incarnate), and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh), lived awhile among us." The Spirit of God and the "tent of flesh," is and was, God's Original Intent.
We're now living in a tent or house of flesh and have been restored to God's Original Intent. Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write in 2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amplified), "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a purely human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). No, even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, YET NOW we have such knowledge of Him that we know Him no longer in terms of the flesh Therefore if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah, Seed) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold! the fresh and new has come."
Remember that "Everything produces after kind, according to Genesis 1:11. One can't grow a Palm tree from an acorn, nor can one grow a rose, from the seed of an Iris. Everything produces after it's seed. We were born-again from the Very Seed of God and we're in His Likeness and Image again, according to His Original Intent from the beginning. We though, have done like Paul warned us not to do and have seen ourselves more after the flesh, than the Spirit. The seed of the flesh is still that of fallen man, but the Seed of God is the new creation man of the Spirit.
We're living in this tent or house of flesh, but our true identity now comes from the Incorruptible Seed or Word of God. The "real" you is like God and His Image and Likeness. A house might have termites, but that doesn't mean that the person living in that house, has termites as well. Remember what Paul said, "We no longer know and estimate even Jesus, after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Most of us think about or "see" Jesus more after the four Gospels, more than His exalted place as Lord over all. The dominion mankind lost at the First Adam's fall, has been restored by the Last Adam, through the Seed of Promise, Who is Jesus Christ. Even the old body or house we live in, will come back into the Power of the Seed, Who created it from the beginning of God's Original Intent.
1Corinthians 15:53-54 (Amplified) tells us, "For this perishable part of us must put on the imperishable nature, and this mortal part of us, this nature that is capable of dying, must put on immortality, freedom from death. And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this which that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished) forever in and unto victory." This was and is, God's Original Intent.
We are God's children who have been born-again by the Incorruptible Seed and our natural, mortal bodies will be restored back to God's Original Intent, from the beginning before time. You are now like Him, by the Word or Seed of God. 1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved, we are even here and now, God's children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be hereafter, but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall, as God's children resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He really is." Remember Paul's statement in 2Corinthians 5:18, where he said that, "We have such knowledge of Him that we know Him no longer as a Man, but as He really is." The Lord from the Kingdom, Who is clothed in Glory.
Just before ascending to the Father, Jesus prayed in John 17:21-22 (Amplified), "That they all may be one, just as You Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us; so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me. I have given to them the Glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are One." This is God's Original Intent from the very first, until now. Psalm 8:4-6 (Amplified) says, "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of earth born man that You care for him? Yet You have made him but a little lower than God, and You have crowned him with Glory and Honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet."
Through Jesus, God has restored us back to His Original Intent, like man was in the first place. we've been trained to look more at our house of flesh, instead of the new being that lives inside it. We're always reminded of our house needing maintenance, instead of the new creation man/woman who is crowned with the Glory and honor of Jesus Himself.
We hear many teachings about faith and what it can do in our lives. When you put faith in what Jesus has said and done for us, then all the rest is easy. We seldom or ever though, see ourselves like the Father sees us. We still struggle with the flesh and forget that we are not only human. We don't have a problem with faith, but "the lack thereof." Hebrews 4:1-2 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, while the Promise of entering His Rest still holds and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it, lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it. For indeed we have had the glad tidings (Gospel of God), proclaimed to us just as truly as they (the Israelites of old) did when the Good News of deliverance from bondage came to them; but the Message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith, with the leaning of the entire Personality of God in absolute trust and confidence in His Power and Wisdom and Goodness by those who heard it, neither were they united in faith with the ones, Joshua and Caleb who heard and did believe."
Some today, believe Joshua and Caleb were "fanatics," for what they believed, but they were the ones God exalted. God never intended His children to be mocked, starved, sick and bound to anyone, but He created man to live in the exalted state of Glory and honor, through Jesus. The mention of "rest," in Hebrews 4:8-9 (Amplified) wasn't referring to the Israelites entering into Canaan, because if Joshua had given the people rest, then God wouldn't speak about another day in Verse 9 saying, "So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for the true people of God."
When will we move from the glory which was fading from Moses, to the Glory and honor that Jesus has given to us who believe? When will we mix faith with what we have heard, if we are hearing it? The rest that God is now speaking about, isn't for when we die and get to Heaven, but for while we are here on earth, if we have heard the Words of deliverance and son-ship. We need to learn by trusting in the Righteousness that He has imparted to us, in our new creation Seed that produced after it's kind.
We need to "see ourselves and Jesus by the Spirit and not by the flesh any longer," like Paul instructed in 2Corinthians 5:16. Righteousness simply means that through the new birth, we've been returned to God's Original Intent and we have the right to come into His Presence as the First and Last Adam did. We've been crowned with Glory and honor, like God's Intent was from the beginning.
When God decided to have a family, He never deviated from that Plan or commitment. Neither you or I, are an afterthought or mistakes. We've been born-again, into what was always the heart of our Loving Father. God sees you perfect by His Grace, faith and Love, because He sees you in your spirit and not your flesh. When we finally understand what really happened when we were born-again, we will see who we truly are in Christ.
We must get understanding and see more of Jesus, instead of the nature of fallen man, in ourselves. We're not fallen men, but we've been raised up together and seated together with Christ Jesus, in Heavenly places.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Lesson 5 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Paul writes about a faith that grows and matures into sons of God 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."
Most of us don't understand the depth of the above scripture, which tells us that those of us who are born-again are already living by faith. Jesus came so that we who were unsaved and dead in trespass and sin, would have Life, according to John 10:10. If we received Jesus and Life through Him, by faith, then we are now living in faith. Romans 1:17 tells us that this faith, gave you Life and will also grow into mature faith, so we can mature from baby Christians into adult ones. 1Peter 2:2 (Amplified) says, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) pure unadulterated Spiritual mil of the Word, that by it you may be nurtured and grow into completed salvation."
The world and everything in it, is out to stop your growth in faith in Jesus and keep you a newborn baby Christian. Growing in faith, requires a stand against the world of darkness and satan's control in the lives of God's Own family. So many things that are to be received by faith, have fallen to unbelief in today's Church. Many say, "I don't think Christians need to know all that, to get to Heaven" or "Those things have passed away." These are just excuses though, for our not trusting God in His Promises.
We've all read the Promises of God for us, through Jesus in Isaiah 52,53 & 54. These scriptures speak about our deliverance from sin, sickness, disease and the restoration back to Righteousness with God. Many refuse to acknowledge healing and safety through Jesus, like these aren't important. If it meant enough to Jesus that He was willing to die and take our punishment for it, then it should be important enough to us that we're willing to fight for it. Anything important enough to die for, should be important enough to fight for, in our daily lives.
1Timothy 6:12 (Amplified) says, "Fight the Good fight of the faith; lay hold of the Eternal Life to which you were summoned and for which you confessed the Good confession of faith before many witnesses." The very faith that you used to receive salvation, is the same faith of God for healing, deliverance, peace with God and even righteousness, but you must fight the Good fight for the faith. If there was nothing to be gained by going from faith to faith, then the enemy wouldn't work so hard fighting against it. Remember, Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified) which says, "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents), but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of the present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness, in the heavenly supernatural sphere."
It's only by fighting the Good fight of faith, that we can obtain the Promises of God for us, in Jesus. If faith worked to remove sin in our new lives, then why don't we fight the same Good fight for the rest of what Jesus died to give us? Jesus asked in Mark 2:9-10 (Amplified), "Which is easier? to say to the paralyzed man 'Your sins are forgiven and put away,' or to say, "Rise, take up your sleeping pad or mat and start walking about and keep walking?' But that you may know positively and beyond doubt that the Son of Man has the right and authority and power on earth to forgive sins-He said to the paralyzed man, I say to you, arise, pick up and carry your sleeping pad or mat, and be going on home. And he arose at once and picked up the sleeping mat and went out before them all."
Today, we seem to believe that Jesus can forgive sin, but He can't heal. The people Jesus was standing before, believed He could heal, but that He couldn't forgive sin. Which was easier? Forgiving sin or healing the man? They both represented the same thing to Jesus. Forgiving sin broke the power that held the man in captivity. Sin and sickness both come from the same source, who is the ruler of darkness in this present age...the devil.
The Same Lamb Who died as our sin Offering, is the Same Lamb Who was accepted as our Sacrifice for healing. Jesus bore our infirmities and bore our disease and by His stripes we are made whole and healed, according to Isaiah 53:3-5. We seemingly believe that Jesus can forgive sin, but He no longer heals. The Same Jesus Who died on the cross, is the Same Jesus who bore the Curse of the Law, the healing of our body, soul, and spirit, our separation from God and our eternal punishment. If one part of the scripture is True, then all of it is True. Jesus cannot be divided into portions of doctrine. He is an All Encompassing, one time for all time, Offering to the Father.
When we reject part of Jesus' Sacrifice, we are dishonoring the Blood that bought and paid for our new birth and reinstated relationship with the Father. This is the Good fight of faith. Jesus gave "The Parable of the Sower," in Mark 4. He said that the "Seed" was God's Word, which was to be planted in men's hearts (their spirit man), which Jesus called "the soil." Mark 4:14,17 (Amplified) go on saying, "Satan comes at once and by force takes away the Message which is sown in them, When trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word." Notice that Jesus tells us in these scriptures that, the enemy came to steal, kill and destroy, by taking away the Word or Seed that was sown.
It's much easier to dig up an acorn, than it is to dig up an Oak Tree. It's easier to bring trouble and force upon the hearer to the Word, while it's still a Seed, than it is to allow the Seed to grow roots and strength, and then try taking it by force from the hearer. I've heard Christians say, "I tried that healing thing and it didn't work." We must learn to fight and contend for the faith and the Truth. The trials we've been attributing to "God is testing us," are the enemy's trying to take away the Seed that was sown in our hearts, by force. These trials come for the Word's sake.
One can't grow a harvest, without seed. The Seeds of healing will never produce your healing, if the enemy comes to take or dig up the Seed, before it takes root in your heart. We've misunderstood the True Heart of our Father, to where we don't trust Him with much else than going to Heaven when we die. The Truth is that the Father wants to be with us, while we're still living on this earth. No one in Heaven needs to see or experience God's healing and mercy, because they already in His Presence. It's here on earth, where God needs His people to believe and manifest His Presence.
Jesus said in His Parable of Mark 4:19 (Amplified), "The cares and the anxieties of the world chokes out the Word (or Seed) and it becomes fruitless." The enemy uses these distractions to stop the Seed of God's Word from producing the manifestation of God's Presence in this ungodly world. Satan will see to it that you don't have time to read God's Word or pray or go to Church or even give thought to God moving in your life. God instructed Adam, "Tend the garden," which is his heart or spirit. Proverbs 4:23 (Amplified) says, "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the Springs of Life."
God said in Proverbs 4:20-22 (Amplified), "My son, attend to My Words; consent and submit to My sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart For they are Life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh."
Most of us don't understand the depth of the above scripture, which tells us that those of us who are born-again are already living by faith. Jesus came so that we who were unsaved and dead in trespass and sin, would have Life, according to John 10:10. If we received Jesus and Life through Him, by faith, then we are now living in faith. Romans 1:17 tells us that this faith, gave you Life and will also grow into mature faith, so we can mature from baby Christians into adult ones. 1Peter 2:2 (Amplified) says, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) pure unadulterated Spiritual mil of the Word, that by it you may be nurtured and grow into completed salvation."
The world and everything in it, is out to stop your growth in faith in Jesus and keep you a newborn baby Christian. Growing in faith, requires a stand against the world of darkness and satan's control in the lives of God's Own family. So many things that are to be received by faith, have fallen to unbelief in today's Church. Many say, "I don't think Christians need to know all that, to get to Heaven" or "Those things have passed away." These are just excuses though, for our not trusting God in His Promises.
We've all read the Promises of God for us, through Jesus in Isaiah 52,53 & 54. These scriptures speak about our deliverance from sin, sickness, disease and the restoration back to Righteousness with God. Many refuse to acknowledge healing and safety through Jesus, like these aren't important. If it meant enough to Jesus that He was willing to die and take our punishment for it, then it should be important enough to us that we're willing to fight for it. Anything important enough to die for, should be important enough to fight for, in our daily lives.
1Timothy 6:12 (Amplified) says, "Fight the Good fight of the faith; lay hold of the Eternal Life to which you were summoned and for which you confessed the Good confession of faith before many witnesses." The very faith that you used to receive salvation, is the same faith of God for healing, deliverance, peace with God and even righteousness, but you must fight the Good fight for the faith. If there was nothing to be gained by going from faith to faith, then the enemy wouldn't work so hard fighting against it. Remember, Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified) which says, "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents), but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of the present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness, in the heavenly supernatural sphere."
It's only by fighting the Good fight of faith, that we can obtain the Promises of God for us, in Jesus. If faith worked to remove sin in our new lives, then why don't we fight the same Good fight for the rest of what Jesus died to give us? Jesus asked in Mark 2:9-10 (Amplified), "Which is easier? to say to the paralyzed man 'Your sins are forgiven and put away,' or to say, "Rise, take up your sleeping pad or mat and start walking about and keep walking?' But that you may know positively and beyond doubt that the Son of Man has the right and authority and power on earth to forgive sins-He said to the paralyzed man, I say to you, arise, pick up and carry your sleeping pad or mat, and be going on home. And he arose at once and picked up the sleeping mat and went out before them all."
Today, we seem to believe that Jesus can forgive sin, but He can't heal. The people Jesus was standing before, believed He could heal, but that He couldn't forgive sin. Which was easier? Forgiving sin or healing the man? They both represented the same thing to Jesus. Forgiving sin broke the power that held the man in captivity. Sin and sickness both come from the same source, who is the ruler of darkness in this present age...the devil.
The Same Lamb Who died as our sin Offering, is the Same Lamb Who was accepted as our Sacrifice for healing. Jesus bore our infirmities and bore our disease and by His stripes we are made whole and healed, according to Isaiah 53:3-5. We seemingly believe that Jesus can forgive sin, but He no longer heals. The Same Jesus Who died on the cross, is the Same Jesus who bore the Curse of the Law, the healing of our body, soul, and spirit, our separation from God and our eternal punishment. If one part of the scripture is True, then all of it is True. Jesus cannot be divided into portions of doctrine. He is an All Encompassing, one time for all time, Offering to the Father.
When we reject part of Jesus' Sacrifice, we are dishonoring the Blood that bought and paid for our new birth and reinstated relationship with the Father. This is the Good fight of faith. Jesus gave "The Parable of the Sower," in Mark 4. He said that the "Seed" was God's Word, which was to be planted in men's hearts (their spirit man), which Jesus called "the soil." Mark 4:14,17 (Amplified) go on saying, "Satan comes at once and by force takes away the Message which is sown in them, When trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word." Notice that Jesus tells us in these scriptures that, the enemy came to steal, kill and destroy, by taking away the Word or Seed that was sown.
It's much easier to dig up an acorn, than it is to dig up an Oak Tree. It's easier to bring trouble and force upon the hearer to the Word, while it's still a Seed, than it is to allow the Seed to grow roots and strength, and then try taking it by force from the hearer. I've heard Christians say, "I tried that healing thing and it didn't work." We must learn to fight and contend for the faith and the Truth. The trials we've been attributing to "God is testing us," are the enemy's trying to take away the Seed that was sown in our hearts, by force. These trials come for the Word's sake.
One can't grow a harvest, without seed. The Seeds of healing will never produce your healing, if the enemy comes to take or dig up the Seed, before it takes root in your heart. We've misunderstood the True Heart of our Father, to where we don't trust Him with much else than going to Heaven when we die. The Truth is that the Father wants to be with us, while we're still living on this earth. No one in Heaven needs to see or experience God's healing and mercy, because they already in His Presence. It's here on earth, where God needs His people to believe and manifest His Presence.
Jesus said in His Parable of Mark 4:19 (Amplified), "The cares and the anxieties of the world chokes out the Word (or Seed) and it becomes fruitless." The enemy uses these distractions to stop the Seed of God's Word from producing the manifestation of God's Presence in this ungodly world. Satan will see to it that you don't have time to read God's Word or pray or go to Church or even give thought to God moving in your life. God instructed Adam, "Tend the garden," which is his heart or spirit. Proverbs 4:23 (Amplified) says, "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the Springs of Life."
God said in Proverbs 4:20-22 (Amplified), "My son, attend to My Words; consent and submit to My sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart For they are Life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh."
Monday, August 26, 2019
Lesson 4 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is, get Wisdom, skillful and Godly Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation)."
Mankind has had Wisdom in our midst for centuries, through God's Word. Proverbs 1:20-21 (Amplified) tells us that, "Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets: she cries at the head of the noisy intersections, in the chief gathering places, at the entrance of the city gates she speaks."
God has made Wisdom available to all men in abundance. We received Wisdom, when we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior. 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him (God) that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption, providing our Ransom from Eternal penalty for sin."
Jesus is the Wisdom of God and He is our Wisdom, so why aren't we walking in what Jesus made available to us? I truly believe it's because we lack understanding. Man has placed his own understanding into God's Wisdom for centuries and have
.fashioned religions. Wisdom and understanding were to reveal the Original intent God had for His children, to mankind. The Original Intent is found in chapters 1 & 2 of Genesis. Jesus is the Living Proof of what God's Original Intent was for all of His children.
Through Jesus, we witness what God's Intent and His purpose was when He created the First Adam and Eve. God gave birth to a being who was to rule with the Father, by and through his spirit, along with ruling the natural kingdom through his natural body. God and His children were to have unbroken fellowship and it was to be God and Sons ruling together. Man was made just like his Father and was to have complete dominion over the earth and everything in it.
We've somehow been deceived into thinking that God's family is much less than "family." The sense of unworthiness and condemnation has diminished the Perfect Work of Jesus, until it seems like Jesus wasn't really enough to bring us back to God's Original Intent for His children. God knows that your previous condition wasn't all your fault. You were born in sin. From the time of Adam, sin became your nature from birth. It wasn't just something you did, but was your spiritual nature from birth. This wasn't God's Intent for His family and there was nothing you could do about it, so God took it upon Himself to bring about restoration to His children.
It wasn't just that we were sinners, but sin was born in us from Adam, until now. By His Wisdom, God was "calling out in the streets" to turn us back to Him and bring us home to Him. We didn't know we were lost, because were born in the darkness and living in darkness. We believed that this was "just how things were" and there was "nothing we could do about it." Everyone around us was in the same boat. While some turned to the call of Wisdom and accepted Jesus, we still lacked understanding of what really took place in our lives.
When we encountered a Holy God, we still didn't see the Perfect salcation of what had taken place, when we were born-again. How could a Holy God ever see us as being pure and holy, after seeing who we once were. After seeing Him, we became more conscience of how far we had fallen and we couldn't imagine being right in God's eyes again. Once again-GET UNDERSTANDING! We've heard many things over the years, about the Potter and the vessels He makes from men. The Potter has the ability to put the vessels back on the wheel and remove all the cracks and blemishes it holds. He can make the vessel perfect once more.
We've been taught more from man's ideas, instead of by God. God meant it when saying, "I make all things new." We're not just forgiven, we are new creations in Christ Jesus and "old things are passed away and all things are made new and all things are of God," according to 2Corinthians 5:17-21 (Amplified). We continue seeing ourelves as "fallen," but God sees us lifted up and seated with Jesus. The Potter placed us back on the wheel and has perfected us, as though there was never a spot or wrinkle, in our new being. In Jesus, one can't tell there was ever a blemish in us.
We've heard sermons that have left us feeling like God only pitied us and that we're not worth His time. We were left feeling like we had to beg and cry, in order to gain God's attention. The truth is, we were always on God's mind. From the moment Adam transgressed in the Garden, the Plan of Redemption was already at work, on our behalf.
God's Original Intent was to have family and fellowship and joy at being able to teach and raise His children, just like any good father would do today. God's great delight was teaching His son Adam, to name all the beasts of the field and watch Adam do the things he was born to do. God was to walk with him in the Spirit and watch Adam grow into the man, God created him to be. When God made Eve, so she and Adam could produce God's Own offspring, who would bring Him joy and pleasure, as family.
Man was never created or formed, to be without God and His Holy Spirit, anymore than the Last Adam, Jesus was ever to be without them. When we see Jesus in His earthly walk, we can see how the First Adam was to have functioned on earth. The great difference being that Jesus spent His time healing and teaching about the Father, when the First Adam wouldn't have needed to do this. There wouldn't have been sickness or disease, if the children of the First Adam had known the Father firsthand.
The only thing God's children were to ever have known throughout their lives, was God's Presence and His Provision. God and His family were to walk and talk together, both in the Heavens and earth simultaneously. God could walk here on earth with Adam and Eve and they could walk with God in His place of Abode. They were one. Adam and Eve could see and be seen by angels. Adam and Eve could also see the Spirit realm.
Through his relationship with the Father, all things were perpetually open and available to him. God's Original Intent for mankind, didn't include suffering, death, sickness, hunger or any of the thing we suffer today. By Jesus, God has redeemed and restored us back to the Original Intent, but we've never understood this plan at all.
In Jesus, we're able to talk and walk and be in perfect fellowship with our Heavenly Father, just like Jesus did. Jesus bore the Curse and penalty for Adam's transgression, bringing us back to God, not just in Heaven, but also here on earth. We've become new creations, born-again and able to walk and live like Jesus did, like God intended from before the foundation of the world.
God dealt with man in the old covenant, differently than He does under the new covenant. Man wasn't born-again under the Law and the old covenant, because Jesus hadn't yet come, so he was still dead in his spirit and not alive unto God. John 10:10 tells us that, "Jesus came to give us Life." Every person hearing Jesus say this, was already alive, but Jesus was speaking about the deadness of their spirits that had died in Adam. God warned Adam that, "The day you eat of this tree, you shall surely die." Adam lived over 900 years after transgressing, in his flesh, but his spirit died that day. God's Word says, "The wages of sin is death." The wages of Adam's sin was death, death in his spirit and separation from God. We're now alive to God and He is alive to us. We need to return to His Original Intent for His family. \
Mankind has had Wisdom in our midst for centuries, through God's Word. Proverbs 1:20-21 (Amplified) tells us that, "Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets: she cries at the head of the noisy intersections, in the chief gathering places, at the entrance of the city gates she speaks."
God has made Wisdom available to all men in abundance. We received Wisdom, when we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior. 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him (God) that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption, providing our Ransom from Eternal penalty for sin."
Jesus is the Wisdom of God and He is our Wisdom, so why aren't we walking in what Jesus made available to us? I truly believe it's because we lack understanding. Man has placed his own understanding into God's Wisdom for centuries and have
.fashioned religions. Wisdom and understanding were to reveal the Original intent God had for His children, to mankind. The Original Intent is found in chapters 1 & 2 of Genesis. Jesus is the Living Proof of what God's Original Intent was for all of His children.
Through Jesus, we witness what God's Intent and His purpose was when He created the First Adam and Eve. God gave birth to a being who was to rule with the Father, by and through his spirit, along with ruling the natural kingdom through his natural body. God and His children were to have unbroken fellowship and it was to be God and Sons ruling together. Man was made just like his Father and was to have complete dominion over the earth and everything in it.
We've somehow been deceived into thinking that God's family is much less than "family." The sense of unworthiness and condemnation has diminished the Perfect Work of Jesus, until it seems like Jesus wasn't really enough to bring us back to God's Original Intent for His children. God knows that your previous condition wasn't all your fault. You were born in sin. From the time of Adam, sin became your nature from birth. It wasn't just something you did, but was your spiritual nature from birth. This wasn't God's Intent for His family and there was nothing you could do about it, so God took it upon Himself to bring about restoration to His children.
It wasn't just that we were sinners, but sin was born in us from Adam, until now. By His Wisdom, God was "calling out in the streets" to turn us back to Him and bring us home to Him. We didn't know we were lost, because were born in the darkness and living in darkness. We believed that this was "just how things were" and there was "nothing we could do about it." Everyone around us was in the same boat. While some turned to the call of Wisdom and accepted Jesus, we still lacked understanding of what really took place in our lives.
When we encountered a Holy God, we still didn't see the Perfect salcation of what had taken place, when we were born-again. How could a Holy God ever see us as being pure and holy, after seeing who we once were. After seeing Him, we became more conscience of how far we had fallen and we couldn't imagine being right in God's eyes again. Once again-GET UNDERSTANDING! We've heard many things over the years, about the Potter and the vessels He makes from men. The Potter has the ability to put the vessels back on the wheel and remove all the cracks and blemishes it holds. He can make the vessel perfect once more.
We've been taught more from man's ideas, instead of by God. God meant it when saying, "I make all things new." We're not just forgiven, we are new creations in Christ Jesus and "old things are passed away and all things are made new and all things are of God," according to 2Corinthians 5:17-21 (Amplified). We continue seeing ourelves as "fallen," but God sees us lifted up and seated with Jesus. The Potter placed us back on the wheel and has perfected us, as though there was never a spot or wrinkle, in our new being. In Jesus, one can't tell there was ever a blemish in us.
We've heard sermons that have left us feeling like God only pitied us and that we're not worth His time. We were left feeling like we had to beg and cry, in order to gain God's attention. The truth is, we were always on God's mind. From the moment Adam transgressed in the Garden, the Plan of Redemption was already at work, on our behalf.
God's Original Intent was to have family and fellowship and joy at being able to teach and raise His children, just like any good father would do today. God's great delight was teaching His son Adam, to name all the beasts of the field and watch Adam do the things he was born to do. God was to walk with him in the Spirit and watch Adam grow into the man, God created him to be. When God made Eve, so she and Adam could produce God's Own offspring, who would bring Him joy and pleasure, as family.
Man was never created or formed, to be without God and His Holy Spirit, anymore than the Last Adam, Jesus was ever to be without them. When we see Jesus in His earthly walk, we can see how the First Adam was to have functioned on earth. The great difference being that Jesus spent His time healing and teaching about the Father, when the First Adam wouldn't have needed to do this. There wouldn't have been sickness or disease, if the children of the First Adam had known the Father firsthand.
The only thing God's children were to ever have known throughout their lives, was God's Presence and His Provision. God and His family were to walk and talk together, both in the Heavens and earth simultaneously. God could walk here on earth with Adam and Eve and they could walk with God in His place of Abode. They were one. Adam and Eve could see and be seen by angels. Adam and Eve could also see the Spirit realm.
Through his relationship with the Father, all things were perpetually open and available to him. God's Original Intent for mankind, didn't include suffering, death, sickness, hunger or any of the thing we suffer today. By Jesus, God has redeemed and restored us back to the Original Intent, but we've never understood this plan at all.
In Jesus, we're able to talk and walk and be in perfect fellowship with our Heavenly Father, just like Jesus did. Jesus bore the Curse and penalty for Adam's transgression, bringing us back to God, not just in Heaven, but also here on earth. We've become new creations, born-again and able to walk and live like Jesus did, like God intended from before the foundation of the world.
God dealt with man in the old covenant, differently than He does under the new covenant. Man wasn't born-again under the Law and the old covenant, because Jesus hadn't yet come, so he was still dead in his spirit and not alive unto God. John 10:10 tells us that, "Jesus came to give us Life." Every person hearing Jesus say this, was already alive, but Jesus was speaking about the deadness of their spirits that had died in Adam. God warned Adam that, "The day you eat of this tree, you shall surely die." Adam lived over 900 years after transgressing, in his flesh, but his spirit died that day. God's Word says, "The wages of sin is death." The wages of Adam's sin was death, death in his spirit and separation from God. We're now alive to God and He is alive to us. We need to return to His Original Intent for His family. \
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Lesson 3 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING
Proverbs 4:5-7 (Amplified) says, "Get skillful and Godly Wisdom, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation; do not forget and do not turn back from the Words of My mouth, The beginning of Wisdom is, get Wisdom, skillful and Godly Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension and interpretation."
The Hebrew word for "understanding," according to The Strong's Concordance #995, #998 is "Biyn, bene-to separate mentally or distinguish i.e. understand-attend-consider, be cunning, diligently direct, discern, eloquent, feel, inform, instruct, have intelligence, know, look well to, mark, perceive, be prudent, regard, skill, skillful, teach, think, cause, make to, get, give, have, understanding, view, deal wisely." #998 adds, "Understanding, knowledge, meaning perfectly understanding, Wisdom."
Colossi ans 1:9 (Amplified) says, "For this reason we also from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom, in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God and in UNDERSTANDING AND DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITUAL THINGS."
Isaiah 55:8-9 (Amplified) says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 1:18 (Amplified) says, "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool."
God has invited us here, to "Come and reason together with Him." He also tells us that His thoughts and His ways are "higher than our thoughts and ways." God's intent is that we, through understanding, will come up to His way of thinking and doing and have understanding of Spiritual things." Paul prayed in Colossi ans 1:9 (Amplified) that we would "Have and be filled with the full, deep, clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom."
1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him, God, that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Redemption, providing our Ransom from eternal penalty for sin."
Many in today's Church have no understanding of our being righteous in God's eyes. Even though God's Word plainly reveals Jesus as our Righteousness, we continue seeing ourselves as "None are righteous, no not one." We know that we're not sinners any longer, but we don't understand Righteousness. I'm not saying that Christian don't still sin, but we've been "made free from the Law of Sin and of Death, by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus," according to Romans 8:2.
Sin had separated mankind from God, by Adam's transgression in the Garden of Eden. Spiritual and physical death were the result of that sin and came upon all mankind. Jesus paid for sin by His Blood Sacrifice, so that Life could now be administered back to our spirit. Through our new birth, we were made righteous, in our new creation being. So long as the sin remained, both Spiritual and physical death dominated us.
Many don't understand our right place with the Father now and almost stubbornly insist on having the Father deal with us, like He deals with those who weren't new creation people, which is by our flesh, "Not being sensitive enough in our spirit to receive correction by His Word, according to 2Timothy 3:16.
The new creation man/woman is created once again in his/her spirit and to walk, live, understand and be guided by and corrected by our born-again spirit, which is made in God's Image and Likeness once again, like Adam was before sin separated him from his Father. This sin has now been paid for and through Jesus, we've been restored back to our original state of being, which is a Living spirit." We live in a physical body, but our true identity is spirit, like our Father Who is a Spirit.
This is why understanding Spiritual things is so important for believers. Without understanding, we continue seeing our own reflection in the mirror, instead of seeing ourselves as through the perfect Law of Liberty in Christ Jesus. James 1:22-25 (Amplified) says, "But be doers of the Word, obey the Message, and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth. For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless Law, the Law of Liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets, but an active doer who obeys, he shall be Blessed in his doing, his life of obedience."
Paul writes in 2Corinthians 3:17-18 (Amplified), "Now the Lord is THE SPIRIT, and where the SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, there is Liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom). And all of us, as with unveiled face, because we continue to behold in the Word of God, as in a mirror the Glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His Very Own Image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of Glory to another, for this comes from the Lord Who is the Spirit."
The Word of God is a mirror, that now reflects who we have become in Jesus and not who we were, when we were dead in trespass and sin. When we don't have understanding of Spiritual things, we will still see ourselves from the outside and as mere men and women of the flesh. In Jesus, this isn't true any longer. We are a spirit, a new creation person who is still clothed in a flesh and blood body, but the real us is the one reflected to us, by the Word of God as in a mirror, the faultless Law of Liberty. James says that we look into the mirror and forget what we look like. Understanding comes by the Spirit of God and His ways and His thoughts are higher than ours. We must think His way, about ourselves, because He paid an Awesome Price for us. See yourself as valued by Him and accept what He has done.
The Hebrew word for "understanding," according to The Strong's Concordance #995, #998 is "Biyn, bene-to separate mentally or distinguish i.e. understand-attend-consider, be cunning, diligently direct, discern, eloquent, feel, inform, instruct, have intelligence, know, look well to, mark, perceive, be prudent, regard, skill, skillful, teach, think, cause, make to, get, give, have, understanding, view, deal wisely." #998 adds, "Understanding, knowledge, meaning perfectly understanding, Wisdom."
Colossi ans 1:9 (Amplified) says, "For this reason we also from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom, in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God and in UNDERSTANDING AND DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITUAL THINGS."
Isaiah 55:8-9 (Amplified) says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 1:18 (Amplified) says, "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool."
God has invited us here, to "Come and reason together with Him." He also tells us that His thoughts and His ways are "higher than our thoughts and ways." God's intent is that we, through understanding, will come up to His way of thinking and doing and have understanding of Spiritual things." Paul prayed in Colossi ans 1:9 (Amplified) that we would "Have and be filled with the full, deep, clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom."
1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him, God, that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Redemption, providing our Ransom from eternal penalty for sin."
Many in today's Church have no understanding of our being righteous in God's eyes. Even though God's Word plainly reveals Jesus as our Righteousness, we continue seeing ourselves as "None are righteous, no not one." We know that we're not sinners any longer, but we don't understand Righteousness. I'm not saying that Christian don't still sin, but we've been "made free from the Law of Sin and of Death, by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus," according to Romans 8:2.
Sin had separated mankind from God, by Adam's transgression in the Garden of Eden. Spiritual and physical death were the result of that sin and came upon all mankind. Jesus paid for sin by His Blood Sacrifice, so that Life could now be administered back to our spirit. Through our new birth, we were made righteous, in our new creation being. So long as the sin remained, both Spiritual and physical death dominated us.
Many don't understand our right place with the Father now and almost stubbornly insist on having the Father deal with us, like He deals with those who weren't new creation people, which is by our flesh, "Not being sensitive enough in our spirit to receive correction by His Word, according to 2Timothy 3:16.
The new creation man/woman is created once again in his/her spirit and to walk, live, understand and be guided by and corrected by our born-again spirit, which is made in God's Image and Likeness once again, like Adam was before sin separated him from his Father. This sin has now been paid for and through Jesus, we've been restored back to our original state of being, which is a Living spirit." We live in a physical body, but our true identity is spirit, like our Father Who is a Spirit.
This is why understanding Spiritual things is so important for believers. Without understanding, we continue seeing our own reflection in the mirror, instead of seeing ourselves as through the perfect Law of Liberty in Christ Jesus. James 1:22-25 (Amplified) says, "But be doers of the Word, obey the Message, and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth. For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless Law, the Law of Liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets, but an active doer who obeys, he shall be Blessed in his doing, his life of obedience."
Paul writes in 2Corinthians 3:17-18 (Amplified), "Now the Lord is THE SPIRIT, and where the SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, there is Liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom). And all of us, as with unveiled face, because we continue to behold in the Word of God, as in a mirror the Glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His Very Own Image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of Glory to another, for this comes from the Lord Who is the Spirit."
The Word of God is a mirror, that now reflects who we have become in Jesus and not who we were, when we were dead in trespass and sin. When we don't have understanding of Spiritual things, we will still see ourselves from the outside and as mere men and women of the flesh. In Jesus, this isn't true any longer. We are a spirit, a new creation person who is still clothed in a flesh and blood body, but the real us is the one reflected to us, by the Word of God as in a mirror, the faultless Law of Liberty. James says that we look into the mirror and forget what we look like. Understanding comes by the Spirit of God and His ways and His thoughts are higher than ours. We must think His way, about ourselves, because He paid an Awesome Price for us. See yourself as valued by Him and accept what He has done.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Lesson 2 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING
Daniel 12:3-4,12 (Amplified) says, "And the teachers and those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness (to uprightness and right standing with God), shall give forth light like the stars forever and ever. But you, O Daniel, shut up the Words and seal the Book until the time of the End. Then many shall run to and fro and search anxiously through the Book and knowledge of God's purposes as revealed by His prophets shall be increased and become great."
The angel goes onto to say this about the End time people in Verse 12, saying, "Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be tried, smelted and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the teachers and those who are wise shall understand."
God's prophets have spoken about "the time of the End," from the very first. Everyone can see that Time approaching, but not many will acknowledge it's proximity. Just as sure as this earth and it's inhabitants were created, so shall be a time of making all things new and the Time of the End. We've struggled for centuries, with the scriptures concerning the End Time and have tried understanding it by our own understanding, to no avail. We've fostered many theories and given many sermons about this time, but most of it has been wrong.
The above Word given to Daniel, was that, "The teachers and those who are wise shall understand." In the day of the Church, we're hearing things that are far more revealing, than what we heard only 30-40 years ago. Some find it difficult to accept these teachings, because they're so more revealing than what we've heard before. The deeper understanding of what God is now doing, is hard for many to accept as "Truth."
You might be wondering about the Last Days, I've been referring to, so let's turn to Acts 2:16-17 (Amplified), where Peter began speaking to those around him on the Day of Pentecost, saying, "But instead, this is the beginning of what was spoken through the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the Last Days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, telling forth the Divine counsels and your young men shall see visions (Divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream Divinely suggested dreams." The beginning of the Last Days began two-thousand years ago, on the Day of Pentecost. We're now in the Last Minutes of these Last Days.
It's essential for the believer to have understanding of the scriptures, in this time. There are many things we've learned that aren't true. There are many things, that we refuse to believe are true, but they are indeed true. Some man-made doctrines are based on religious ideas and have nothing to do with what the Father says. I believe that "all that are wise enough" will realize we don't know it all and come into a place of understanding and faith, like we've never been before.
The Church has meant well, choosing to believe things we do, but there's so much more to what God's doing in these Last Days. We must allow Him to reveal it to us though. We must accept some things we previously rejected and reject some things we previously embraced. Most of the Church have, by faith, accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and this will never change. The Church might need to rethink some things more clearly.
People in the time of Jesus, were so sure of what they believed and refused to hear what Jesus was saying. My prayer for these Last Days is for God's people to become more wise in our understanding, than those in Jesus' time. Many are offended by teachings that aren't congruent with their church doctrine and won't listen to the Revelation of certain of God's Promises. Some have chosen to believe, but others believe "these things have passed away and aren't for today's Church." The time of miracles, healing and Revelation knowledge is at hand and those who are wise in God's Word will weigh and judge by His Spirit, to believe or reject. The angel told Daniel, "The teachers and those who are wise shall understand."
Sadly, many of God's children have spent very little time seeking God in His Word. We've allowed others to seek and we go by what they tell us God's Word says, instead of learning and seeking on our own. The time is now here that, "many shall run to and fro and search anxiously through the Book, and knowledge of God's purpose as revealed through His prophets shall be increased and become great," Daniel 12:4 (Amplified).
The Holy Spirit knows all things and is the One Who Jesus said would be "our Teacher, Comforter and Guide." It's imperative that every believer learns to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit. These are great days of Revelation, but are also great days of deception. If we don't know God's Word or the Voice of His Spirit, then we're open to the world's idea of Truth.
Paul writes in 1Thessolonians 5:2-3, 4-5 (Amplified), "For you yourselves know perfectly well that the Day of the Return of the Lord will come as unexpectedly and suddenly as a thief in the night. When people are saying, all is well and secure, and, there is peace and safety, then in a moment, unforeseen destruction, ruin and death will come upon them as suddenly as labor pains come upon a woman with child; and they shall by no means escape, for there will be no escape."
If God says there will be an end, then there will be an end! Paul went on in Verses 4-5, saying, "But you are not in given up to the power of darkness, brethren, for that Day to overtake you by surprise like a thief. For you are all sons of Light and sons of the Day, we do not belong either to the night or darkness."
It should be evident to God's people, that we're already in this Last Time before Jesus returns for His people. Spend time in God's Word and in His Presence, to receive understanding and guidance in this Day and hour. God has a Plan and purpose for your life and it's time for us to discover what His individual Plan for our life is. We need to know God's Plan for our individual lives, not the pastor's life, but our life. You're a laborer in the field of harvest and that harvest is already white and ripe. God has someone in this field of harvest, who is waiting just for you to bring into His family.
The angel goes onto to say this about the End time people in Verse 12, saying, "Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be tried, smelted and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the teachers and those who are wise shall understand."
God's prophets have spoken about "the time of the End," from the very first. Everyone can see that Time approaching, but not many will acknowledge it's proximity. Just as sure as this earth and it's inhabitants were created, so shall be a time of making all things new and the Time of the End. We've struggled for centuries, with the scriptures concerning the End Time and have tried understanding it by our own understanding, to no avail. We've fostered many theories and given many sermons about this time, but most of it has been wrong.
The above Word given to Daniel, was that, "The teachers and those who are wise shall understand." In the day of the Church, we're hearing things that are far more revealing, than what we heard only 30-40 years ago. Some find it difficult to accept these teachings, because they're so more revealing than what we've heard before. The deeper understanding of what God is now doing, is hard for many to accept as "Truth."
You might be wondering about the Last Days, I've been referring to, so let's turn to Acts 2:16-17 (Amplified), where Peter began speaking to those around him on the Day of Pentecost, saying, "But instead, this is the beginning of what was spoken through the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the Last Days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, telling forth the Divine counsels and your young men shall see visions (Divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream Divinely suggested dreams." The beginning of the Last Days began two-thousand years ago, on the Day of Pentecost. We're now in the Last Minutes of these Last Days.
It's essential for the believer to have understanding of the scriptures, in this time. There are many things we've learned that aren't true. There are many things, that we refuse to believe are true, but they are indeed true. Some man-made doctrines are based on religious ideas and have nothing to do with what the Father says. I believe that "all that are wise enough" will realize we don't know it all and come into a place of understanding and faith, like we've never been before.
The Church has meant well, choosing to believe things we do, but there's so much more to what God's doing in these Last Days. We must allow Him to reveal it to us though. We must accept some things we previously rejected and reject some things we previously embraced. Most of the Church have, by faith, accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and this will never change. The Church might need to rethink some things more clearly.
People in the time of Jesus, were so sure of what they believed and refused to hear what Jesus was saying. My prayer for these Last Days is for God's people to become more wise in our understanding, than those in Jesus' time. Many are offended by teachings that aren't congruent with their church doctrine and won't listen to the Revelation of certain of God's Promises. Some have chosen to believe, but others believe "these things have passed away and aren't for today's Church." The time of miracles, healing and Revelation knowledge is at hand and those who are wise in God's Word will weigh and judge by His Spirit, to believe or reject. The angel told Daniel, "The teachers and those who are wise shall understand."
Sadly, many of God's children have spent very little time seeking God in His Word. We've allowed others to seek and we go by what they tell us God's Word says, instead of learning and seeking on our own. The time is now here that, "many shall run to and fro and search anxiously through the Book, and knowledge of God's purpose as revealed through His prophets shall be increased and become great," Daniel 12:4 (Amplified).
The Holy Spirit knows all things and is the One Who Jesus said would be "our Teacher, Comforter and Guide." It's imperative that every believer learns to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit. These are great days of Revelation, but are also great days of deception. If we don't know God's Word or the Voice of His Spirit, then we're open to the world's idea of Truth.
Paul writes in 1Thessolonians 5:2-3, 4-5 (Amplified), "For you yourselves know perfectly well that the Day of the Return of the Lord will come as unexpectedly and suddenly as a thief in the night. When people are saying, all is well and secure, and, there is peace and safety, then in a moment, unforeseen destruction, ruin and death will come upon them as suddenly as labor pains come upon a woman with child; and they shall by no means escape, for there will be no escape."
If God says there will be an end, then there will be an end! Paul went on in Verses 4-5, saying, "But you are not in given up to the power of darkness, brethren, for that Day to overtake you by surprise like a thief. For you are all sons of Light and sons of the Day, we do not belong either to the night or darkness."
It should be evident to God's people, that we're already in this Last Time before Jesus returns for His people. Spend time in God's Word and in His Presence, to receive understanding and guidance in this Day and hour. God has a Plan and purpose for your life and it's time for us to discover what His individual Plan for our life is. We need to know God's Plan for our individual lives, not the pastor's life, but our life. You're a laborer in the field of harvest and that harvest is already white and ripe. God has someone in this field of harvest, who is waiting just for you to bring into His family.
Friday, August 2, 2019
Lesson 1 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) tells us, "The beginning of Wisdom is, get Wisdom, skillful Godly Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation)."
Proverbs 2:7-8 (Amplified) says, "God hides away sound and Godly Wisdom and stores it for the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him). He is a shield to those who walk uprightly and in integrity that He may guard the paths of justice; Yes, He preserves the ways of His saints."
Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified) says, "Where there is no vision (no redemptive Revelation of God), the people perish; but he who keeps the Law of God, which includes that of man, Blessed (happy, fortunate and enviable) is he."
So much has been lost to us, over the many years since Jesus walked this earth, that we've settled into a place of not knowing the vision and Revelation that our redemption in Jesus holds. God's Word tells us that "His people perish, because of this." We've been lost in darkness, where our identity in Jesus is concerned. The Revelation of righteousness has been obscured from us and have struggled under the burden of man's ideas of redemption, losing sight of who we actually are in Christ Jesus.
The enemy has been given an upper hand over our Spiritual and natural lives. We've accepted the fact that when bad things happen in our lives, then "It must be God's will," because we've never made a stand at the vision of our redemption. We've put off our redemption and place with the Lord, for until we leave this planet in physical death.
The Church has lacked the Revelation of righteousness, even though "The Son has made us free." We've read the Word of God, but haven't had Revelation of it in our spirit, so we've been held in bondage by the enemy. Our carnal minds have held us in the same place we were in, before Jesus set us free. Our sense of unworthiness and condemnation has ruled over our acknowledgment of salvation and redemption, in our lives. We continue to feel like we must do works, in order to make us worthy for God to work in our lives. We've lost the Revelation of Grace and have limited it to being only for being saved and going to Heaven when we die.
Without Revelation, Grace has become only a religious word, instead of a Truth in our daily lives. Many Christians struggle with the Truth, that God sees them as being made new and without sin, in Christ. We try making up for who we used to be, instead of accepting who God has made us to be in Christ Jesus. We read the Words, but fail to see the Truth of what God really said.
We believe that God deals with those of us who are alive in spirit and the new covenant, like He dealt with those in the old covenant. We've failed to see that God deals with, corrects and directs us by His Word and His Spirit. We still see Him as dealing with us from the flesh, instead of in the spirit. We've yielded ourselves to accepting directions from the outside, instead of our born-again spirit man.
The old covenant people were under the Law and received righteousness by works of the Law. They weren't born-again and were still dead in their spirits. God couldn't lead and direct them from the inside, new creation being. He could only deal with them by their flesh and the Law. That's why Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified) says, "Where there is no vision (no redemptive Revelation of God), the people perish." Those who have accepted fleshly ways of correction, have ignored the prompting of God's Word and the Holy Spirit, which is and was, given to us to follow our Lord.
2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified) tells us how the Word is to guide, correct, discipline and bring us into the place of maturity in Jesus, saying, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience and for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action) So that the man of God may be complete and be proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Proverbs 25:28 (Amplified) is God's Wisdom to us and says, "He who has no rule over his own spirit, is like a city that is broken down and without walls." When we expect to be corrected by our outer man, instead of from within our new creation man, we become defenseless against the enemy. God could have simply left us like the old covenant people were, covered by the blood of goats and bulls, but He didn't and now, because of Jesus, we are no longer subject to the things of the old man, but of the new man.
God doesn't have to deal with our flesh any longer, but through our born-again spirit. Proverbs 20:27 (Amplified) says, "The spirit of man (that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God), is the Lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts." 1Corinthians 2:13 (Amplified) says, "And we are setting these Truths forth in Words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Holy Spirit, combining and interpreting Spiritual Truths with Spiritual language to those who possess the Holy Spirit."
The Father's entire Plan has never changed from the Book of Genesis, where He brought forth children in His Own Image and Likeness. It took Jesus and His Sacrifice on Calvary, to redeem and restore His children back to and eternal spirit, in His Likeness. God doesn't have to speak to us, like He did to those in the old covenant. He speaks to us by His Word and His Spirit, according to Hebrews 1:1-2 (Amplified) which says, "In many separate Revelations, each of which set forth a portion of the Truth, and in different ways, God spoke of old to our forefathers in and by the prophets. But, in the Last of these Days He has spoken unto us in the Person of a Son, Whom He appointed Heir and Lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time. He made (produced, built, operated and arranged them in order)."
The old covenant prophets brought forth a Word from God, that was actually meant in it's fullness for us, in this new creation. Some of them did walk in the fullness, but most didn't. Only the fullness of the new man could see into the Revelation of the Coming Redeemer and Savior. The old covenant prophets and people couldn't understand the Spiritual application, like we can today. In these Last Days before the Coming of our Lord, the Holy Spirit is bringing the lost Revelation back to those who will yield their spirits to God's Word.
Daniel 12:3-4 (Amplified) says, "And the teachers and to those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness (to uprightness and right standing with God), shall give forth light like the stars forever and ever. But you, O Daniel, shut up the Words and seal the Book until the time of the End. Then many shall run to and fro and search anxiously through the Book, and knowledge of God's purposes as revealed by His prophets shall be increased and become great."
This is the greatest time for the Kingdom of God and His people on earth, as the Holy Spirit brings into light, the understanding and the Revelation of Truth to God's children. The very Greatness of God is about to be shown to the whole world, like never before. Ephesians 3:10-11 (Amplified) says,
"The purpose is, that through the Church the complicated, many-sided Wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities, principalities and powers in the Heavenly sphere. This is in accordance with the terms of the Eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in the Person of Christ Jesus our Lord."
Proverbs 2:7-8 (Amplified) says, "God hides away sound and Godly Wisdom and stores it for the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him). He is a shield to those who walk uprightly and in integrity that He may guard the paths of justice; Yes, He preserves the ways of His saints."
Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified) says, "Where there is no vision (no redemptive Revelation of God), the people perish; but he who keeps the Law of God, which includes that of man, Blessed (happy, fortunate and enviable) is he."
So much has been lost to us, over the many years since Jesus walked this earth, that we've settled into a place of not knowing the vision and Revelation that our redemption in Jesus holds. God's Word tells us that "His people perish, because of this." We've been lost in darkness, where our identity in Jesus is concerned. The Revelation of righteousness has been obscured from us and have struggled under the burden of man's ideas of redemption, losing sight of who we actually are in Christ Jesus.
The enemy has been given an upper hand over our Spiritual and natural lives. We've accepted the fact that when bad things happen in our lives, then "It must be God's will," because we've never made a stand at the vision of our redemption. We've put off our redemption and place with the Lord, for until we leave this planet in physical death.
The Church has lacked the Revelation of righteousness, even though "The Son has made us free." We've read the Word of God, but haven't had Revelation of it in our spirit, so we've been held in bondage by the enemy. Our carnal minds have held us in the same place we were in, before Jesus set us free. Our sense of unworthiness and condemnation has ruled over our acknowledgment of salvation and redemption, in our lives. We continue to feel like we must do works, in order to make us worthy for God to work in our lives. We've lost the Revelation of Grace and have limited it to being only for being saved and going to Heaven when we die.
Without Revelation, Grace has become only a religious word, instead of a Truth in our daily lives. Many Christians struggle with the Truth, that God sees them as being made new and without sin, in Christ. We try making up for who we used to be, instead of accepting who God has made us to be in Christ Jesus. We read the Words, but fail to see the Truth of what God really said.
We believe that God deals with those of us who are alive in spirit and the new covenant, like He dealt with those in the old covenant. We've failed to see that God deals with, corrects and directs us by His Word and His Spirit. We still see Him as dealing with us from the flesh, instead of in the spirit. We've yielded ourselves to accepting directions from the outside, instead of our born-again spirit man.
The old covenant people were under the Law and received righteousness by works of the Law. They weren't born-again and were still dead in their spirits. God couldn't lead and direct them from the inside, new creation being. He could only deal with them by their flesh and the Law. That's why Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified) says, "Where there is no vision (no redemptive Revelation of God), the people perish." Those who have accepted fleshly ways of correction, have ignored the prompting of God's Word and the Holy Spirit, which is and was, given to us to follow our Lord.
2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified) tells us how the Word is to guide, correct, discipline and bring us into the place of maturity in Jesus, saying, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience and for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action) So that the man of God may be complete and be proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Proverbs 25:28 (Amplified) is God's Wisdom to us and says, "He who has no rule over his own spirit, is like a city that is broken down and without walls." When we expect to be corrected by our outer man, instead of from within our new creation man, we become defenseless against the enemy. God could have simply left us like the old covenant people were, covered by the blood of goats and bulls, but He didn't and now, because of Jesus, we are no longer subject to the things of the old man, but of the new man.
God doesn't have to deal with our flesh any longer, but through our born-again spirit. Proverbs 20:27 (Amplified) says, "The spirit of man (that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God), is the Lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts." 1Corinthians 2:13 (Amplified) says, "And we are setting these Truths forth in Words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Holy Spirit, combining and interpreting Spiritual Truths with Spiritual language to those who possess the Holy Spirit."
The Father's entire Plan has never changed from the Book of Genesis, where He brought forth children in His Own Image and Likeness. It took Jesus and His Sacrifice on Calvary, to redeem and restore His children back to and eternal spirit, in His Likeness. God doesn't have to speak to us, like He did to those in the old covenant. He speaks to us by His Word and His Spirit, according to Hebrews 1:1-2 (Amplified) which says, "In many separate Revelations, each of which set forth a portion of the Truth, and in different ways, God spoke of old to our forefathers in and by the prophets. But, in the Last of these Days He has spoken unto us in the Person of a Son, Whom He appointed Heir and Lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time. He made (produced, built, operated and arranged them in order)."
The old covenant prophets brought forth a Word from God, that was actually meant in it's fullness for us, in this new creation. Some of them did walk in the fullness, but most didn't. Only the fullness of the new man could see into the Revelation of the Coming Redeemer and Savior. The old covenant prophets and people couldn't understand the Spiritual application, like we can today. In these Last Days before the Coming of our Lord, the Holy Spirit is bringing the lost Revelation back to those who will yield their spirits to God's Word.
Daniel 12:3-4 (Amplified) says, "And the teachers and to those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness (to uprightness and right standing with God), shall give forth light like the stars forever and ever. But you, O Daniel, shut up the Words and seal the Book until the time of the End. Then many shall run to and fro and search anxiously through the Book, and knowledge of God's purposes as revealed by His prophets shall be increased and become great."
This is the greatest time for the Kingdom of God and His people on earth, as the Holy Spirit brings into light, the understanding and the Revelation of Truth to God's children. The very Greatness of God is about to be shown to the whole world, like never before. Ephesians 3:10-11 (Amplified) says,
"The purpose is, that through the Church the complicated, many-sided Wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities, principalities and powers in the Heavenly sphere. This is in accordance with the terms of the Eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in the Person of Christ Jesus our Lord."
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Lesson 220 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."
It's difficult to open the eyes that have had a veil over them for so many years. Only God, by His Holy Spirit, can bring the entrance of His Word and Light, into the hearts of His family. We've been taught the religion of the world for so long, it's hard to learn the True Gospel of Liberty in Jesus. We've been told there's a list of things we must do, in order to earn God's Blessing, that it seems unreal to think that we've had it all along.
2Corinthians 3:14-17 (Amplified) says, "In fact, their minds were grown hard and calloused, they had become dull and lost the power of understanding; for until this present day, when the Old Testament (the old covenant) is being read, that same veil still lies on their hears, not being lifted to reveal that in Christ it is made void and done away with. Yes, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their minds and hearts. But whenever a person turns in repentance to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom)."
Most of us were never under the Law of Moses, but the same veil has covered our hears and minds, by having that Law read and reread to us, over the years. We were born into liberty, but have allowed ourselves to be brought into this same bondage. We keep trying to be good enough to deserve God's Blessing and trying to earn it by works. When we make a mistake, we try doing something good, in order to appease God and get back in His favor.
Grace means different things to different people. Some believe that you can do whatever you want and Grace will cover it. Other believers think we must do works, in order to obtain God's Grace and favor. We are called to abstain from things we know are sin, but this isn't what Grace is about. Grace is not about giving into sin whenever you want and Grace will cover it.
Understanding Grace requires the Holy Spirit's revealing to you, that there is nothing left for you to do, but believe that "In Jesus, it is finished." Jesus has done all that God requires of us, on our behalf and He has done it perfectly. It's not about what we must do, but what we must know. We cannot believe, what we don't know and understand. We've lacked understanding, concerning the work of Jesus and Redemption. Under the old covenant, man was required to perform certain things, in order to obtain the Blessing and Promise. Under the new covenant, we're only to believe that Jesus Christ has already met all those requirements for us and then simply trust in His Sacrifice. Some believe this is too easy and they wish to add to Jesus' Perfection.
When we lack understanding about our family relationship and God's Promise to us through Jesus, we won't know Who we're to set our hope, faith and belief on or even what we're to believe. Our new covenant depends entirely on God's viewpoint. We're to simply have faith in His Grace and the Finished Work of Christ and then accept God's Love and Promises. We've struggled with healing, praying in tongues, Righteousness, prayer, peace and so many other things, because we haven't understood that these things are already ours and have been provided for us, in Jesus. We keep trying to find a way of making God do these things for us, without realizing that He already has, in Jesus.
The great sin that Jesus bore, was the sin that separated us from God at the fall of man, in the Garden of Eden. We lost fellowship, Life, Blessing, because the sin of death created a barrier between us and God, that only Jesus could tear down and return Life and family back to the Father. All the sins of the flesh sprang from the first of sin death, which entered into Adam at the fall. When the barrier of sin was broken, God could now, through the Holy Spirit, be in contact with the spirit of man and be one with us again.
God no longer needed to deal with mankind from the outside and by man's own obedience and goodness, but He could once again deal with us, by and through, our spirit, like He did with Adam, before the fall and like He did with Jesus, during His earthly ministry. Part of the veil that covers our hearts and minds, is that we still expect God to correct and discipline us, according to how He dealt with the old covenant saints. God's will for mankind was never do bring death, hardship or withhold His Blessing, because of the weakness of the flesh. Mankind was never to been in the position, where we lived and walked by our senses, but by our spirit. Jesus redeemed us back to that place and restored us back into the Image and Likeness of the Father.
We've never been taught how to live by our spirit, but we've been trained mostly by the Law, even if we're unaware of it. We haven't understood the new covenant we were born into and haven't dared to expect God's Promises to manifest and belong to us here, because of our flesh and it's imperfections. This is why it had to be by faith, that it might be by Grace. It's not what we do, but what we know.
It's nearly impossible to walk in God's Promises for us, if we don't know that they are for us and that, "All these Promises are "Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus to God's Glory for us." With Jesus, everything we think we need, is already done. We must only receive them, by faith in His Work for us. This is Grace. It's not that we deserved or earned them by our own goodness, but that Jesus purchased them for us, by His Goodness.
Even though satan couldn't keep us from being born-again, he still managed to keep us in his bondage, by blinding us with the same veil that blinded those under the Law. We felt like "They weren't for us, because we don't deserve them." This has mostly left the Church impotent of power and joy. Many Christians have let the Promise of the Spirit be lost to them, because they've lacked understanding. We've had ears, but haven't heard and eyes, but haven't seen the Truth of Grace. So many riches of Grace haven't been received by God's people, because we never knew they were ours. The evil one has held us in bondage to his will. We never knew we were in bondage, so we never accepted our liberty.
Hebrews 12:1 (Amplified) says, "Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have borne testimony to the Truth, let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance, unnecessary weight and that sin which so readily and deftly and cleverly clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us."
I believe that the sin, Paul writes about in the above scripture, is the sin of unbelief. It's what God was speaking about, when He said those in the Wilderness didn't enter His Rest, because of unbelief. It wasn't that God hadn't made the way and provided the need, but they wouldn't believe His Promises. Unbelief is simply not trusting in God and His Promises to us. The traps and lies of the enemy uses, "deftly and cleverly cling to and entangle us and keep us from entering into God's Rest.
Unbelief is a choice we make, because we don't understand what God's will, His Promises and His covenant have granted to us, in Jesus. No true believer in Jesus Christ, would deliberately choose something they think might not be God's will for them, so we choose not to believe or initiate unbelief in that thing. You can't put faith in something you don't understand about God's Will and His Word for you. It's a choice we make. It's not disbelief, but it's unbelief. You can be a believer and still operate in unbelief.
It's difficult to open the eyes that have had a veil over them for so many years. Only God, by His Holy Spirit, can bring the entrance of His Word and Light, into the hearts of His family. We've been taught the religion of the world for so long, it's hard to learn the True Gospel of Liberty in Jesus. We've been told there's a list of things we must do, in order to earn God's Blessing, that it seems unreal to think that we've had it all along.
2Corinthians 3:14-17 (Amplified) says, "In fact, their minds were grown hard and calloused, they had become dull and lost the power of understanding; for until this present day, when the Old Testament (the old covenant) is being read, that same veil still lies on their hears, not being lifted to reveal that in Christ it is made void and done away with. Yes, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their minds and hearts. But whenever a person turns in repentance to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom)."
Most of us were never under the Law of Moses, but the same veil has covered our hears and minds, by having that Law read and reread to us, over the years. We were born into liberty, but have allowed ourselves to be brought into this same bondage. We keep trying to be good enough to deserve God's Blessing and trying to earn it by works. When we make a mistake, we try doing something good, in order to appease God and get back in His favor.
Grace means different things to different people. Some believe that you can do whatever you want and Grace will cover it. Other believers think we must do works, in order to obtain God's Grace and favor. We are called to abstain from things we know are sin, but this isn't what Grace is about. Grace is not about giving into sin whenever you want and Grace will cover it.
Understanding Grace requires the Holy Spirit's revealing to you, that there is nothing left for you to do, but believe that "In Jesus, it is finished." Jesus has done all that God requires of us, on our behalf and He has done it perfectly. It's not about what we must do, but what we must know. We cannot believe, what we don't know and understand. We've lacked understanding, concerning the work of Jesus and Redemption. Under the old covenant, man was required to perform certain things, in order to obtain the Blessing and Promise. Under the new covenant, we're only to believe that Jesus Christ has already met all those requirements for us and then simply trust in His Sacrifice. Some believe this is too easy and they wish to add to Jesus' Perfection.
When we lack understanding about our family relationship and God's Promise to us through Jesus, we won't know Who we're to set our hope, faith and belief on or even what we're to believe. Our new covenant depends entirely on God's viewpoint. We're to simply have faith in His Grace and the Finished Work of Christ and then accept God's Love and Promises. We've struggled with healing, praying in tongues, Righteousness, prayer, peace and so many other things, because we haven't understood that these things are already ours and have been provided for us, in Jesus. We keep trying to find a way of making God do these things for us, without realizing that He already has, in Jesus.
The great sin that Jesus bore, was the sin that separated us from God at the fall of man, in the Garden of Eden. We lost fellowship, Life, Blessing, because the sin of death created a barrier between us and God, that only Jesus could tear down and return Life and family back to the Father. All the sins of the flesh sprang from the first of sin death, which entered into Adam at the fall. When the barrier of sin was broken, God could now, through the Holy Spirit, be in contact with the spirit of man and be one with us again.
God no longer needed to deal with mankind from the outside and by man's own obedience and goodness, but He could once again deal with us, by and through, our spirit, like He did with Adam, before the fall and like He did with Jesus, during His earthly ministry. Part of the veil that covers our hearts and minds, is that we still expect God to correct and discipline us, according to how He dealt with the old covenant saints. God's will for mankind was never do bring death, hardship or withhold His Blessing, because of the weakness of the flesh. Mankind was never to been in the position, where we lived and walked by our senses, but by our spirit. Jesus redeemed us back to that place and restored us back into the Image and Likeness of the Father.
We've never been taught how to live by our spirit, but we've been trained mostly by the Law, even if we're unaware of it. We haven't understood the new covenant we were born into and haven't dared to expect God's Promises to manifest and belong to us here, because of our flesh and it's imperfections. This is why it had to be by faith, that it might be by Grace. It's not what we do, but what we know.
It's nearly impossible to walk in God's Promises for us, if we don't know that they are for us and that, "All these Promises are "Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus to God's Glory for us." With Jesus, everything we think we need, is already done. We must only receive them, by faith in His Work for us. This is Grace. It's not that we deserved or earned them by our own goodness, but that Jesus purchased them for us, by His Goodness.
Even though satan couldn't keep us from being born-again, he still managed to keep us in his bondage, by blinding us with the same veil that blinded those under the Law. We felt like "They weren't for us, because we don't deserve them." This has mostly left the Church impotent of power and joy. Many Christians have let the Promise of the Spirit be lost to them, because they've lacked understanding. We've had ears, but haven't heard and eyes, but haven't seen the Truth of Grace. So many riches of Grace haven't been received by God's people, because we never knew they were ours. The evil one has held us in bondage to his will. We never knew we were in bondage, so we never accepted our liberty.
Hebrews 12:1 (Amplified) says, "Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have borne testimony to the Truth, let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance, unnecessary weight and that sin which so readily and deftly and cleverly clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us."
I believe that the sin, Paul writes about in the above scripture, is the sin of unbelief. It's what God was speaking about, when He said those in the Wilderness didn't enter His Rest, because of unbelief. It wasn't that God hadn't made the way and provided the need, but they wouldn't believe His Promises. Unbelief is simply not trusting in God and His Promises to us. The traps and lies of the enemy uses, "deftly and cleverly cling to and entangle us and keep us from entering into God's Rest.
Unbelief is a choice we make, because we don't understand what God's will, His Promises and His covenant have granted to us, in Jesus. No true believer in Jesus Christ, would deliberately choose something they think might not be God's will for them, so we choose not to believe or initiate unbelief in that thing. You can't put faith in something you don't understand about God's Will and His Word for you. It's a choice we make. It's not disbelief, but it's unbelief. You can be a believer and still operate in unbelief.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Lesson 219 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."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is; get Wisdom (skillful and Godly Wisdom). For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension and interpretation." Hebrews 11:3 (Amplified) says,
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed (fashioned, put in order) and equipped for their intended purpose. When it comes to the things of God, only faith can give you understanding.
God's Word IS WISDOM. 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption, providing our Ransom from Eternal penalty for sin."
The above scripture is Wisdom. By faith we understand. Without having faith in this Wisdom, we only read the words by religious understanding, leaving us to believe they don't apply to our lives here on earth. Wisdom is the Word, Jesus Christ. He's not only our Wisdom, but He has been made our Wisdom. Wisdom has come and we've received this Wisdom in Him, so why do we continue struggling with the Truth of Righteousness, Redemption and Consecration? It's because we lack understanding, and haven't applied faith in this Wisdom.
I remember when our family residence got a telephone, which hung on the kitchen wall. This phone had a crank that we turned, in order to activate it. Then, we spoke into a tube placed on the front of the phone and we listened through another tube that we placed up to our ear. An operator would then ask you "who would you like to talk to" and then would put your intended party on the line. Now, we carry cell phones in our pockets and these carry more information than our libraries used to have. The wisdom of the phones from my childhood was a great start, but now we understand sound waves and technologies never thought of previously. Now, that we've gotten understanding, phones are no longer a mystery.
Air planes would have been flying thousands of years ago, if mankind had understood the Laws of Physics the way we now do. The wisdom was there, but the understanding was not. It was only a hundred years ago, we drove horses and buggies and had kerosene lights. Nothing in this earth has changed, the laws governing the earth are the same, but we now understand and can apply them. God placed the wisdom of the earth for our use, but we didn't understand those laws.
God's Word is the same Wisdom for these Last days, that was there in the beginning. God hasn't changed His Plan or His Wisdom, but He has given us understanding, in order that we can use that Wisdom. In these Last days, God is revealing understanding of His Word, that has always been Wisdom. Things that were always been in His Word from the beginning, are now being taught to God's family with understanding. Many things are being seen for the first time, by understanding. They've always been there, but now by faith, we have understanding.
Many are finding it difficult to understand the Very Wisdom, Who is Jesus. Like those in Jesus' time, many prefer to cling to tradition, rather than accept the understanding of Wisdom and Revelation. Some refuse to accept what Wisdom has enlightened to the Church, in these days. What we call "new," has always been in God's Word, but we didn't understand how to apply it in our lives. The Father never intended for us to remain ignorant of His Word or His Grace. We though, haven't understood how to apply what He gave us. Wisdom has provided Righteousness, but we will only have the assurance to come boldly and without fear into God's Presence, if we understand this Righteousness. Wisdom has provided our new birth and given us access into all the Blessings Jesus provided for us, but only understanding will give you the assurance that they are yours now.
God's Word hasn't changed today. God wants us to have what He Promised, but we don't understand how to receive them. We continue on the old way and then we blame God when it doesn't work, instead of getting understanding. If the way we've been things hasn't worked for hundreds of years, then it won't work for another hundred years.
We still struggle with the Truth that we've been totally forgiven, because we don't understand this Truth and we walk like nothing has changed in our lives. We believe the Redemption Jesus provided is for "when we die and go to Heaven," because we lack the understanding that there's no Curse in Heaven for which we need to be redeemed from. Hebrews 11:3 tells us that, "By faith, we understand." We can look far into the universes today, using the Hubble Telescope. Wisdom placed the universe there, but many still don't understand that God made it and have no faith that He made the universe. Scientists can tell us about sun spots, black holes and solar storms, but many don't have the understanding of how they came to be. This is a Spiritual Wisdom that is far beyond man's comprehension and intellect, but we refuse to acknowledge the One Who made it. Scientists see that the earth is dying, but fail to understand why this is so. Man keeps trying to make it live, by human intellect and then can't understand why these things don't work.
There are many things that go wrong in our Christian lives, that we blame God for. We don't understand the Spiritual Wisdom to change them and continue on in darkness, instead of walking in the Light, as He is in the Light. Proverbs 3:19 (Amplified) says "The Lord by skillful and Godly Wisdom has founded the earth; by understanding He has established the Heavens." Genesis 1 tells us that God did this, by His Word, but we still don't understand why we need to speak only God's Word, in our lives. We fail to understand the power of our words. The untrained spirit thinks that words are only a means of communicating, and not creative power in our lives. We really don't understand Mark 4, where Jesus tells us that "the words we hear and speak, are seeds," even though it's the Wisdom of God.
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is; get Wisdom (skillful and Godly Wisdom). For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension and interpretation." Hebrews 11:3 (Amplified) says,
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed (fashioned, put in order) and equipped for their intended purpose. When it comes to the things of God, only faith can give you understanding.
God's Word IS WISDOM. 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption, providing our Ransom from Eternal penalty for sin."
The above scripture is Wisdom. By faith we understand. Without having faith in this Wisdom, we only read the words by religious understanding, leaving us to believe they don't apply to our lives here on earth. Wisdom is the Word, Jesus Christ. He's not only our Wisdom, but He has been made our Wisdom. Wisdom has come and we've received this Wisdom in Him, so why do we continue struggling with the Truth of Righteousness, Redemption and Consecration? It's because we lack understanding, and haven't applied faith in this Wisdom.
I remember when our family residence got a telephone, which hung on the kitchen wall. This phone had a crank that we turned, in order to activate it. Then, we spoke into a tube placed on the front of the phone and we listened through another tube that we placed up to our ear. An operator would then ask you "who would you like to talk to" and then would put your intended party on the line. Now, we carry cell phones in our pockets and these carry more information than our libraries used to have. The wisdom of the phones from my childhood was a great start, but now we understand sound waves and technologies never thought of previously. Now, that we've gotten understanding, phones are no longer a mystery.
Air planes would have been flying thousands of years ago, if mankind had understood the Laws of Physics the way we now do. The wisdom was there, but the understanding was not. It was only a hundred years ago, we drove horses and buggies and had kerosene lights. Nothing in this earth has changed, the laws governing the earth are the same, but we now understand and can apply them. God placed the wisdom of the earth for our use, but we didn't understand those laws.
God's Word is the same Wisdom for these Last days, that was there in the beginning. God hasn't changed His Plan or His Wisdom, but He has given us understanding, in order that we can use that Wisdom. In these Last days, God is revealing understanding of His Word, that has always been Wisdom. Things that were always been in His Word from the beginning, are now being taught to God's family with understanding. Many things are being seen for the first time, by understanding. They've always been there, but now by faith, we have understanding.
Many are finding it difficult to understand the Very Wisdom, Who is Jesus. Like those in Jesus' time, many prefer to cling to tradition, rather than accept the understanding of Wisdom and Revelation. Some refuse to accept what Wisdom has enlightened to the Church, in these days. What we call "new," has always been in God's Word, but we didn't understand how to apply it in our lives. The Father never intended for us to remain ignorant of His Word or His Grace. We though, haven't understood how to apply what He gave us. Wisdom has provided Righteousness, but we will only have the assurance to come boldly and without fear into God's Presence, if we understand this Righteousness. Wisdom has provided our new birth and given us access into all the Blessings Jesus provided for us, but only understanding will give you the assurance that they are yours now.
God's Word hasn't changed today. God wants us to have what He Promised, but we don't understand how to receive them. We continue on the old way and then we blame God when it doesn't work, instead of getting understanding. If the way we've been things hasn't worked for hundreds of years, then it won't work for another hundred years.
We still struggle with the Truth that we've been totally forgiven, because we don't understand this Truth and we walk like nothing has changed in our lives. We believe the Redemption Jesus provided is for "when we die and go to Heaven," because we lack the understanding that there's no Curse in Heaven for which we need to be redeemed from. Hebrews 11:3 tells us that, "By faith, we understand." We can look far into the universes today, using the Hubble Telescope. Wisdom placed the universe there, but many still don't understand that God made it and have no faith that He made the universe. Scientists can tell us about sun spots, black holes and solar storms, but many don't have the understanding of how they came to be. This is a Spiritual Wisdom that is far beyond man's comprehension and intellect, but we refuse to acknowledge the One Who made it. Scientists see that the earth is dying, but fail to understand why this is so. Man keeps trying to make it live, by human intellect and then can't understand why these things don't work.
There are many things that go wrong in our Christian lives, that we blame God for. We don't understand the Spiritual Wisdom to change them and continue on in darkness, instead of walking in the Light, as He is in the Light. Proverbs 3:19 (Amplified) says "The Lord by skillful and Godly Wisdom has founded the earth; by understanding He has established the Heavens." Genesis 1 tells us that God did this, by His Word, but we still don't understand why we need to speak only God's Word, in our lives. We fail to understand the power of our words. The untrained spirit thinks that words are only a means of communicating, and not creative power in our lives. We really don't understand Mark 4, where Jesus tells us that "the words we hear and speak, are seeds," even though it's the Wisdom of God.
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Lesson 218 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."
Proverbs 4:7, 20-23 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is; get Wisdom (skillful and Godly Wisdom). For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension and interpretation)." In Verses 20-23 God goes on, "My son, attend to My Words; consent and submit to My sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are Life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of Life."
Most Christians have kept our Spiritual lives separate from our natural lives, because we've failed to understand God's Word. We've accepted our salvation and our new birth as Spirit, but still allow our flesh to determine our natural lives. We've come to the place, where we've overcome drinking, drugging, cursing and participating in things that are sexually deviant, but we've limited most of the Spiritual power to only these things.
The adversary has even programmed the world to believe in the separation of church and state. Satan knew from the beginning, that he had no power over the Christian's new creation spirit man and has tried keeping our Spirit life out of our natural life. It's futile to try overthrowing the god of this world using only natural forces. We've nearly dismissed healing and Divine health, saying "These have passed away" or "These things aren't for us today." We read in the above scripture that "God's Word is health and healing to all our flesh."
Health and healing are part of life. Life comes from the spirit into the flesh and not from the flesh into the spirit. The Authority of God comes from the Spirit into the natural world and not the other way around. Most of our Spiritual lives consists of going to church on Sunday and Wednesday night, while the flesh dictates the rest of our week. I'm not saying that we return to sin after going to church on Sunday, but that we tend to let our Spiritual lives lapse until next Sunday. Learning and growing in our Spirit life, comes by believing, knowing and understanding God's Word.
We've accepted the world's standard for the idea God's Word, instead of allowing His Word to set the standard for the world. Prayer has nearly become a "last resort," to the world's problems and we say, "That's the way life is," when prayers aren't answered. Most of our faith has only been to applied to living a good life here and going to Heaven, when we die. This isn't what Jesus came to bring God's family. Our Father never intended for us to suffer at the hands of satan and his cohorts.
When we were "redeemed from the Curse of the Law, we were set free from it altogether. This isn't something that we can enforce by the flesh, but only by the spirit. It's futile to walk in redemption, when we separate the Spirit from the natural. It's a Spiritual thing and can only be overcome by the Super-natural Spirit that lives in us. The new birth is ours and the Redemption is Truth, but we must activate this Law by our spirit and by the Word, in faith.
Reading God's Word, while not believing it, is merely mental exercise and has no power to bring healing and health to your flesh. When your flesh is left to it's own devices, it will accept sickness and disease as being "just a part of life." 2Corinthians 1:20 (Amplified) says, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes Answer in Him (Christ). For this reason we also utter the Amen (So be it), to God through Him, in His Person and by His Agency to the Glory of God."
"The health and healing to all our flesh, through God's Word," that we read about in Proverbs 4:22, is one of those "Yes Promises" to us, in Jesus. We've kept Spiritual things Spiritual and fleshly things fleshly and our mortal bodies have continued like God's Word doesn't work in the natural world any longer. We've learned so little of God's Word, that it only applies to after we leave this world and we live as mere natural men and women, even after we're born-again. We must have God's Word in our hearts, which takes time in that Word and time with the Holy Spirit. The natural man isn't supposed to run our lives any longer...God is.
1John 5:4 (Amplified) says, "For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith." To conquer the world is to allow our faith in the new creation we've become and allow the spirit to rule our lives, instead of the flesh. This is by faith, which is a Spiritual force, that will not allow our flesh to dictate our lives, but the Spirit to dictate over our flesh.
We need to get our heart and head into agreement. We must not listen only to our head or natural man, but start living by the Spirit. If God's Promise of forgiveness and new life are true, then all the other Promises of God are true too. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, all the other Promises were already ours, if we enforce them in our flesh, by the spirit. Your flesh has no power to hold them back, if we won't allow it to rule any longer.
Your natural man has ruled your life, until you received Jesus. It takes time in God's Word to walk by the Spirit and teach your flesh a new way of Life. If you can teach a dog to roll over or sit up and you can teach a parrot to talk, then you can teach teach your flesh to receive new Guidance. Don't allow the world to separate your new Life in Christ, from your old life in the world. You can never live in the total victory of Jesus, by trying to do so in the flesh. Satan is the master of this world of flesh and the only way to defeat him, is in the Spirit.
Proverbs 4:7, 20-23 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is; get Wisdom (skillful and Godly Wisdom). For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension and interpretation)." In Verses 20-23 God goes on, "My son, attend to My Words; consent and submit to My sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are Life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of Life."
Most Christians have kept our Spiritual lives separate from our natural lives, because we've failed to understand God's Word. We've accepted our salvation and our new birth as Spirit, but still allow our flesh to determine our natural lives. We've come to the place, where we've overcome drinking, drugging, cursing and participating in things that are sexually deviant, but we've limited most of the Spiritual power to only these things.
The adversary has even programmed the world to believe in the separation of church and state. Satan knew from the beginning, that he had no power over the Christian's new creation spirit man and has tried keeping our Spirit life out of our natural life. It's futile to try overthrowing the god of this world using only natural forces. We've nearly dismissed healing and Divine health, saying "These have passed away" or "These things aren't for us today." We read in the above scripture that "God's Word is health and healing to all our flesh."
Health and healing are part of life. Life comes from the spirit into the flesh and not from the flesh into the spirit. The Authority of God comes from the Spirit into the natural world and not the other way around. Most of our Spiritual lives consists of going to church on Sunday and Wednesday night, while the flesh dictates the rest of our week. I'm not saying that we return to sin after going to church on Sunday, but that we tend to let our Spiritual lives lapse until next Sunday. Learning and growing in our Spirit life, comes by believing, knowing and understanding God's Word.
We've accepted the world's standard for the idea God's Word, instead of allowing His Word to set the standard for the world. Prayer has nearly become a "last resort," to the world's problems and we say, "That's the way life is," when prayers aren't answered. Most of our faith has only been to applied to living a good life here and going to Heaven, when we die. This isn't what Jesus came to bring God's family. Our Father never intended for us to suffer at the hands of satan and his cohorts.
When we were "redeemed from the Curse of the Law, we were set free from it altogether. This isn't something that we can enforce by the flesh, but only by the spirit. It's futile to walk in redemption, when we separate the Spirit from the natural. It's a Spiritual thing and can only be overcome by the Super-natural Spirit that lives in us. The new birth is ours and the Redemption is Truth, but we must activate this Law by our spirit and by the Word, in faith.
Reading God's Word, while not believing it, is merely mental exercise and has no power to bring healing and health to your flesh. When your flesh is left to it's own devices, it will accept sickness and disease as being "just a part of life." 2Corinthians 1:20 (Amplified) says, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes Answer in Him (Christ). For this reason we also utter the Amen (So be it), to God through Him, in His Person and by His Agency to the Glory of God."
"The health and healing to all our flesh, through God's Word," that we read about in Proverbs 4:22, is one of those "Yes Promises" to us, in Jesus. We've kept Spiritual things Spiritual and fleshly things fleshly and our mortal bodies have continued like God's Word doesn't work in the natural world any longer. We've learned so little of God's Word, that it only applies to after we leave this world and we live as mere natural men and women, even after we're born-again. We must have God's Word in our hearts, which takes time in that Word and time with the Holy Spirit. The natural man isn't supposed to run our lives any longer...God is.
1John 5:4 (Amplified) says, "For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith." To conquer the world is to allow our faith in the new creation we've become and allow the spirit to rule our lives, instead of the flesh. This is by faith, which is a Spiritual force, that will not allow our flesh to dictate our lives, but the Spirit to dictate over our flesh.
We need to get our heart and head into agreement. We must not listen only to our head or natural man, but start living by the Spirit. If God's Promise of forgiveness and new life are true, then all the other Promises of God are true too. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, all the other Promises were already ours, if we enforce them in our flesh, by the spirit. Your flesh has no power to hold them back, if we won't allow it to rule any longer.
Your natural man has ruled your life, until you received Jesus. It takes time in God's Word to walk by the Spirit and teach your flesh a new way of Life. If you can teach a dog to roll over or sit up and you can teach a parrot to talk, then you can teach teach your flesh to receive new Guidance. Don't allow the world to separate your new Life in Christ, from your old life in the world. You can never live in the total victory of Jesus, by trying to do so in the flesh. Satan is the master of this world of flesh and the only way to defeat him, is in the Spirit.
Friday, July 12, 2019
Lesson 217 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."
We've done things our own way, for so long, that we've lost sight of how the Father's ways are. Jesus instructed in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), "But seek (aim at and strive after), first of all His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides."
The Kingdom of God has ways that work, but we must understand how they work. It's futile to try and make Kingdom things work, by our own understanding. God will not change our ways to meet the order of His Kingdom. Our prayer lives have been hindered, because we try to "get God" to do things that are out of order to His Word. We pray for God to save so-and-so, humble that person and bring that person to salvation. God's Word and Jesus' Sacrifice have already done everything needed to save everyone on this earth.
John 3:16 (Amplified) says, "For God so greatly Loved and deary prized the world that He even gave up His Only Begotten (Unique) Son, so that whosoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, and relies on) Him should not perish (come to destruction, be lost), but have Eternal (Everlasting) Life."
Jesus' Sacrifice has already made God's will for mankind known. There's really no reason to ask God to save anyone, because we already know that's His will for all mankind, according to 2Corinthians 4:3-4 (Amplified), which says, "But even if our Gospel (the Glad tidings) also be hidden (obscured and covered up) with a veil that hinders the knowledge of God, it is hidden only to those who are perishing and obscured only to those who are Spiritually dying and veiled only to those who are lost. For the god of this world has blinded the unbeliever's minds that they should not discern the Truth, preventing them from seeing the Illuminating Light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God."
God's will and His salvation are for all who will believe and having unsaved people, is not His will. It's God's will for even the worst of sinners, be saved. Why isn't everyone saved? Why wouldn't we pray and ask God to save the unsaved? Because, He has already done everything needed for their salvation. God and His Word aren't the problem, but the god of this world has blinded them from seeing. We should be praying against the god of this world and the darkness of the veil that prevents their seeing the Light of God's Glory. This is where the authority of the believer and the Name of Jesus can be applied, taking away that which the devil has over them.
We've missed so many things in prayer and God's Kingdom, because we've misunderstood God's way of doing and being right. Jesus doesn't preach the Gospel, but He's sent us to preach and deliver for Him, using His Name and His authority. Jesus sent us into the world to proclaim what He has already done and to use His Name and the authority of His Name, to do so. The Body of Christ is now to break the veil of darkness off from the minds of the unbeliever. The Body of Christ is to lay hands on the sick and to cast out demons and free people who are bound by the enemy, according to Matthew 16:15-20.
We pray for God to heal a hospital patient, when He instructed us to, "Take Me to the hospital, lay your hands on them and I will do the work. You are My hands and feet and you're the vehicle by which I now travel." We are the Body of Christ. We are His hands and feet, His Voice and His Word on this earth. You might say, "Well, not everyone can heal the sick." I say, "Nobody can heal the sick, but the Father in you will do the work." Don't confuse your part of the Gospel and expect the Father to function outside the Kingdom.
Paul encountered this in his ministry in 2Corinthians 12:7-10 (Amplified), where he was busy doing what the Lord told him to do. The messenger of satan was constantly working against him. Paul asked God three times to "remove this thorn in his flesh from me." God didn't remove it, but reminded Paul that it was his place to deal with it "by the Truth of the Revelation the Lord had given him." God's Grace was more than enough to deal with any messenger of satan or anything else Paul needed. In Verse 10 Paul said this about this new Revelation, "When I am without power in my own strength and flesh, I rely on the Spirit of God within me and it always works. When I am weak in human strength, then I am truly strong (able, powerful) in Divine strength."
We've misunderstood Grace and have lost sight of it's power to deliver and heal, those who are lost. Many believe that Paul had a problem with pride, concerning the Revelation he received from the Lord, so God made him sick, in order to humble Paul. Why would God give him the Light of this Revelation, commission him to preach it and then deliberately try to hold Paul back from doing what He told him to do? HE WOULDN'T.
From that point on, Paul realized what his call was and how to fulfill it. Despite what came against him, Paul prevailed, until he had "run the race and finished his course and was ready to be offered up." The hardships Christians face, aren't God's trying to stop us or try us. The hardships we face are the god of this world trying to shut us down. He uses unbelief and deception as to who and what we are in this world. We continue trying to do things our own way and then wonder why it doesn't work. God's way of doing and being right, always works. Our prayer life will even change, when we get understanding.
We've done things our own way, for so long, that we've lost sight of how the Father's ways are. Jesus instructed in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), "But seek (aim at and strive after), first of all His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides."
The Kingdom of God has ways that work, but we must understand how they work. It's futile to try and make Kingdom things work, by our own understanding. God will not change our ways to meet the order of His Kingdom. Our prayer lives have been hindered, because we try to "get God" to do things that are out of order to His Word. We pray for God to save so-and-so, humble that person and bring that person to salvation. God's Word and Jesus' Sacrifice have already done everything needed to save everyone on this earth.
John 3:16 (Amplified) says, "For God so greatly Loved and deary prized the world that He even gave up His Only Begotten (Unique) Son, so that whosoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, and relies on) Him should not perish (come to destruction, be lost), but have Eternal (Everlasting) Life."
Jesus' Sacrifice has already made God's will for mankind known. There's really no reason to ask God to save anyone, because we already know that's His will for all mankind, according to 2Corinthians 4:3-4 (Amplified), which says, "But even if our Gospel (the Glad tidings) also be hidden (obscured and covered up) with a veil that hinders the knowledge of God, it is hidden only to those who are perishing and obscured only to those who are Spiritually dying and veiled only to those who are lost. For the god of this world has blinded the unbeliever's minds that they should not discern the Truth, preventing them from seeing the Illuminating Light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God."
God's will and His salvation are for all who will believe and having unsaved people, is not His will. It's God's will for even the worst of sinners, be saved. Why isn't everyone saved? Why wouldn't we pray and ask God to save the unsaved? Because, He has already done everything needed for their salvation. God and His Word aren't the problem, but the god of this world has blinded them from seeing. We should be praying against the god of this world and the darkness of the veil that prevents their seeing the Light of God's Glory. This is where the authority of the believer and the Name of Jesus can be applied, taking away that which the devil has over them.
We've missed so many things in prayer and God's Kingdom, because we've misunderstood God's way of doing and being right. Jesus doesn't preach the Gospel, but He's sent us to preach and deliver for Him, using His Name and His authority. Jesus sent us into the world to proclaim what He has already done and to use His Name and the authority of His Name, to do so. The Body of Christ is now to break the veil of darkness off from the minds of the unbeliever. The Body of Christ is to lay hands on the sick and to cast out demons and free people who are bound by the enemy, according to Matthew 16:15-20.
We pray for God to heal a hospital patient, when He instructed us to, "Take Me to the hospital, lay your hands on them and I will do the work. You are My hands and feet and you're the vehicle by which I now travel." We are the Body of Christ. We are His hands and feet, His Voice and His Word on this earth. You might say, "Well, not everyone can heal the sick." I say, "Nobody can heal the sick, but the Father in you will do the work." Don't confuse your part of the Gospel and expect the Father to function outside the Kingdom.
Paul encountered this in his ministry in 2Corinthians 12:7-10 (Amplified), where he was busy doing what the Lord told him to do. The messenger of satan was constantly working against him. Paul asked God three times to "remove this thorn in his flesh from me." God didn't remove it, but reminded Paul that it was his place to deal with it "by the Truth of the Revelation the Lord had given him." God's Grace was more than enough to deal with any messenger of satan or anything else Paul needed. In Verse 10 Paul said this about this new Revelation, "When I am without power in my own strength and flesh, I rely on the Spirit of God within me and it always works. When I am weak in human strength, then I am truly strong (able, powerful) in Divine strength."
We've misunderstood Grace and have lost sight of it's power to deliver and heal, those who are lost. Many believe that Paul had a problem with pride, concerning the Revelation he received from the Lord, so God made him sick, in order to humble Paul. Why would God give him the Light of this Revelation, commission him to preach it and then deliberately try to hold Paul back from doing what He told him to do? HE WOULDN'T.
From that point on, Paul realized what his call was and how to fulfill it. Despite what came against him, Paul prevailed, until he had "run the race and finished his course and was ready to be offered up." The hardships Christians face, aren't God's trying to stop us or try us. The hardships we face are the god of this world trying to shut us down. He uses unbelief and deception as to who and what we are in this world. We continue trying to do things our own way and then wonder why it doesn't work. God's way of doing and being right, always works. Our prayer life will even change, when we get understanding.
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Lesson 216 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 taught so many different things over the last two millenniums, that has resulted in controversy and confusion. That's why it's paramount that the Church listens to the Holy Spirit. Many in today's Church have lost contact with the personal relationship and communion with the Holy Spirit. We've turned our liberty to fellowship and learn over to others, expecting them to should our personal time with the Lord. We're to have teachers and pastors in the Church, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, but they're not to pray, read God's Word and fellowship for us. They're to teach and train us how to do these things.
A football coach doesn't play on the field, he/she teaches the team players how to do so. The coach isn't the quarterback, but is there to teach the quarterback how to execute the plays the coach calls. No matter how we seemingly want the Holy Spirit to "takeover," He will only call the play. We're to execute the play that He calls.
We don't send the Holy Spirit to the hospital, but we take Him to the hospital with us. We don't just pray for the Holy Spirit to touch the sick, we yield our own hands to Him, so that He can touch the sick. The pastor's job description, isn't to visit the people in their homes or the hospital, all on his/her own. The pastor is supposed to delegate the Church community to do this. It's the job of every believer, to hear the Holy Spirit for themselves and then go where He sends them.
Every member of the Body of Christ, is responsible for having a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. This responsibility doesn't fall on the ministers alone. The pastor is called to teach and preach God's Word to the people. The people are to then take God's Word for themselves, individually. School teachers don't take the test for their students, but teaches the students to do the work for themselves. If a students fails a class, then it's not because they weren't taught, but because that student didn't apply the things he/she was taught. If the student didn't read the course curriculum the teacher laid out, then that student will probably fail the class.
The national news has been filled with college scandals, where the student's acceptance into a certain institution or the student's passing grades were bought by their parents. This won't profit the students, when they're out on their own and can be disastrous for them. Our Heavenly Father doesn't want to tell others what He wants and needs you to do, but He wishes to speak to you personally. We've lost the personal contact with the Father, because we've depended on someone else to do it for us. The time has come for God's family to return to having a one-on-One relationship with the Father. This doesn't mean that we no longer need to have teachers and preachers, but that we need to take responsibility for what they're teaching us. It's not the pastor's job to go all over praying for the sick, but he/she is the teach the people to "Go into all the world" and do the work that preacher has taught them to do, from God's Word.
We read in Luke 10, about Jesus' teaching the people and then sending them out to do the work He taught them to do. They returned from doing the work for themselves, both amazed and elated that they were able to do like Jesus taught them. Jesus could only be in one place at a time, so He trained up many to do the same work, by the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit could be brought into multiple homes and lives that Jesus couldn't be in.
I'm not talking about the Gifts of the Spirit, found in 1Corinthians 12, but about the Holy Spirit Himself, "Who does the work as He wills to profit with all." It's the Father, by the Holy Spirit Who is in you, that does the work. He only needs you, as a vehicle to take Him into the world. Notice how in Acts 9:10-11, God didn't go down and lay hands on Saul of Tarsus, but God sent Ananias to do this. Ananias was God's hands and only needed to answer the call. God did the work through Ananias, just like He did through Jesus.
Please, don't see yourself short of the Glory that abides within you. It's the Same Holy Spirit living in you, Who was in Jesus, Paul, Peter and yes, Ananias. If the Same Holy Spirit lives in you, then He only needs your availability. He has all the availability that He needs. He only requires us to "Go." We don't read about Ananias before or after this even, in Acts 9, but we do know that he had a personal relationship with the Lord, heard God's Voice and obeyed His Voice.
This might have been the only time God used Ananias for such a work, but his ministering to Saul accomplished a great thing for the Kingdom and the Church. Saul became Paul and wrote two-thirds of the new covenant, we're living in today. He was only one man, but Paul accomplished so much for God's Kingdom. If you only ministered to a single person at the Lord's direction and that person was Billy Graham, then you would have done a great service to the Lord and the Kingdom. Don't sell yourself short, thinking that you don't matter to the Lord or aren't in the five-fold ministry. Know Him for yourself and make yourself available to His Ability and HE WILL USE YOU.
The Church has been taught so many different things over the last two millenniums, that has resulted in controversy and confusion. That's why it's paramount that the Church listens to the Holy Spirit. Many in today's Church have lost contact with the personal relationship and communion with the Holy Spirit. We've turned our liberty to fellowship and learn over to others, expecting them to should our personal time with the Lord. We're to have teachers and pastors in the Church, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, but they're not to pray, read God's Word and fellowship for us. They're to teach and train us how to do these things.
A football coach doesn't play on the field, he/she teaches the team players how to do so. The coach isn't the quarterback, but is there to teach the quarterback how to execute the plays the coach calls. No matter how we seemingly want the Holy Spirit to "takeover," He will only call the play. We're to execute the play that He calls.
We don't send the Holy Spirit to the hospital, but we take Him to the hospital with us. We don't just pray for the Holy Spirit to touch the sick, we yield our own hands to Him, so that He can touch the sick. The pastor's job description, isn't to visit the people in their homes or the hospital, all on his/her own. The pastor is supposed to delegate the Church community to do this. It's the job of every believer, to hear the Holy Spirit for themselves and then go where He sends them.
Every member of the Body of Christ, is responsible for having a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. This responsibility doesn't fall on the ministers alone. The pastor is called to teach and preach God's Word to the people. The people are to then take God's Word for themselves, individually. School teachers don't take the test for their students, but teaches the students to do the work for themselves. If a students fails a class, then it's not because they weren't taught, but because that student didn't apply the things he/she was taught. If the student didn't read the course curriculum the teacher laid out, then that student will probably fail the class.
The national news has been filled with college scandals, where the student's acceptance into a certain institution or the student's passing grades were bought by their parents. This won't profit the students, when they're out on their own and can be disastrous for them. Our Heavenly Father doesn't want to tell others what He wants and needs you to do, but He wishes to speak to you personally. We've lost the personal contact with the Father, because we've depended on someone else to do it for us. The time has come for God's family to return to having a one-on-One relationship with the Father. This doesn't mean that we no longer need to have teachers and preachers, but that we need to take responsibility for what they're teaching us. It's not the pastor's job to go all over praying for the sick, but he/she is the teach the people to "Go into all the world" and do the work that preacher has taught them to do, from God's Word.
We read in Luke 10, about Jesus' teaching the people and then sending them out to do the work He taught them to do. They returned from doing the work for themselves, both amazed and elated that they were able to do like Jesus taught them. Jesus could only be in one place at a time, so He trained up many to do the same work, by the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit could be brought into multiple homes and lives that Jesus couldn't be in.
I'm not talking about the Gifts of the Spirit, found in 1Corinthians 12, but about the Holy Spirit Himself, "Who does the work as He wills to profit with all." It's the Father, by the Holy Spirit Who is in you, that does the work. He only needs you, as a vehicle to take Him into the world. Notice how in Acts 9:10-11, God didn't go down and lay hands on Saul of Tarsus, but God sent Ananias to do this. Ananias was God's hands and only needed to answer the call. God did the work through Ananias, just like He did through Jesus.
Please, don't see yourself short of the Glory that abides within you. It's the Same Holy Spirit living in you, Who was in Jesus, Paul, Peter and yes, Ananias. If the Same Holy Spirit lives in you, then He only needs your availability. He has all the availability that He needs. He only requires us to "Go." We don't read about Ananias before or after this even, in Acts 9, but we do know that he had a personal relationship with the Lord, heard God's Voice and obeyed His Voice.
This might have been the only time God used Ananias for such a work, but his ministering to Saul accomplished a great thing for the Kingdom and the Church. Saul became Paul and wrote two-thirds of the new covenant, we're living in today. He was only one man, but Paul accomplished so much for God's Kingdom. If you only ministered to a single person at the Lord's direction and that person was Billy Graham, then you would have done a great service to the Lord and the Kingdom. Don't sell yourself short, thinking that you don't matter to the Lord or aren't in the five-fold ministry. Know Him for yourself and make yourself available to His Ability and HE WILL USE YOU.
Thursday, July 4, 2019
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Lesson 215 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WO::
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."
Jesus was and is the Last and Only Sacrifice for mankind and He took the place of all the sacrifice and requirements of the Law and the old covenant. Under the Law, mankind had to make sacrifice and offerings for most all things, but Jesus completed all of the offerings and requirements, qualifying all of us for the Blessing. The Peace Offering was made by Jesus and took away any thought of an "angry" God, that stood between us. Today, many still view God as being angry and not pleased with them. Even sin in a believer's life, is no longer any of the devil's business, because we no longer belong to him and have "been set free from the Law of Sin and of Death," according to Romans 8:1-2.
Our covenant or family relationship with our Heavenly Father, was made secure through the Lamb of God, Jesus. John 8:19 (Amplified) says, "And they said to Him, Where is this Father of Your's? Jesus answered, You know My Father as little as you know Me; if you knew Me you would know My Father also." The Church has been taught for years to believe that, "the Father and the Son as being separate beings." We see Jesus as One Who healed, had compassion and delivered those in bondage, but we see the Father as being One Who puts sickness, disabilities and trials on His children. No one would ever accuse Jesus of doing these things, but we see God in this light. Jesus said, "If you know Me, then you should know your Father too."
We either put aside our faith for liberty, thinking "it was God," or we are fainting in our faith in His setting us free. We should stand in faith, in the face of all opposition and see it as a distraction from the enemy. James 4:7-8 (Amplified) says, "So be subject to God. Resist the devil (stand firm against him), and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you. Recognize that you are sinners, get your soiled hands clean; realize you have been disloyal, wavering individuals with divided interests; and purify your hearts of your spiritual adultery."
If you believe that it's God Whose making you have problems, then you are to submit. If it's the devil whose bringing the problems on you, then you are to resist. If you don't know which one it is, then you're in trouble. This is the wavering individuals with divided interests and are disloyal and in spiritual adultery. This might sound "hard and heartless" to some, but if Jesus didn't bring the hardships, trials, sickness, disabilities, then the Father doesn't bring them either. James 1:3 (Amplified) says, "Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; God is incapable of being tempted by what is evil and He Himself tempts no one." The word "tempted," is translated as "tried and tested." Jesus Himself taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, trials, and tests, but deliver us from the evil one," in Matthew 6:13 (Amplified).
This is the double-minded man that James writes about in James 1:8 (Amplified) saying, "For being as he is a man of two minds, hesitating, dubious, irresolute, he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides." If it's God, then you're to submit and if it's the enemy, then you are to resists. If you don't know which one it is, then how do you respond? Either action will bring results. The devil has been getting away with this deception for a long time, because we've lacked understanding of God's Word and His Grace.
Isaiah 54:9 (Amplified) says, "For this is like the days of Noah to Me; as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with your or rebuke you." Hebrews 12:6 (Amplified) says, "For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes even scourges every son in whom He accepts and welcomes to His Heart." Don't forget that we are Spiritual sons and daughters and are no longer "physical" in God's eyes. God is a Spirit, His Word is Spirit and you are Spirit. God disciples us by His Word and His Spirit, not by physical chastisement, like in the old covenant. 1Timothy 3:16 bears this out, to those who will draw close to Him. Thus, it says, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience and for training in righteousness (in holy living), in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action."
God disciplines us, by His Word and His Holy Spirit. Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified) says, "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power, making it active, operative, energizing and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life, soul and the immortal spirit, and of joints and marrow, of the deepest parts of our nature, exposing and sifting, and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart."
When we veer the wrong way, God's Word will direct us back to where we belong. If we'll yield and submit to God's Word, then He will direct us to where He is leading. If you don't know God's Word, then you don't know which path to follow, which might result in you're saying, "God's testing me," instead of accepting the responsibility of hearing and heeding His Word. Many have yielded to this wrong falsehood, thinking and/or saying, "This is God's will for me." The enemy has laid many pitfalls have been laid before us and if we'll listen, then God will guide us past them. If we don't hear and continue on the wrong path, then it will lead to a place where God never intended us to be in. It wasn't God's will that you ended up there, but Grace will get us out of the pit, if we ask Him for it.
Don't be double-minded concerning God's Word or His will for your life. God never planned calamity and hardship for you. God planned "paths of righteousness for His Name's sake," for you, according to Psalm 23. We just read in 2Timothy 3:16 that, "God's Word was for our training in righteousness."
Our faith won't work for us, if we're double-minded about Go'd will and Word. I'm not implying that you won't have trials and tests, but you will know how to respond to them. If by faith, you choose to think "it's God," then you're free to do so. God will let you choose, even though it's not His will for you. Colossians 1:9 (Amplified) says, "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom, in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God and in understanding and discernment of Spiritual things."
Don't let the enemy deceive you into accepting his will for you, instead of the Father's will for you. Learn what God's will truly is and then walk in it. You'll have to fight the good fight of faith, in order to separate yourself from the traditional concepts of God being an angry God. If you've seen Jesus, then you've seen the Father. Jesus was the Teacher of His disciples and He taught them how to do His ministry, after He left. Jesus never made people sick, helpless or destitute, but He trained them by His Word and His Spirit. We must learn like they did and listen to His Voice.
Jesus was and is the Last and Only Sacrifice for mankind and He took the place of all the sacrifice and requirements of the Law and the old covenant. Under the Law, mankind had to make sacrifice and offerings for most all things, but Jesus completed all of the offerings and requirements, qualifying all of us for the Blessing. The Peace Offering was made by Jesus and took away any thought of an "angry" God, that stood between us. Today, many still view God as being angry and not pleased with them. Even sin in a believer's life, is no longer any of the devil's business, because we no longer belong to him and have "been set free from the Law of Sin and of Death," according to Romans 8:1-2.
Our covenant or family relationship with our Heavenly Father, was made secure through the Lamb of God, Jesus. John 8:19 (Amplified) says, "And they said to Him, Where is this Father of Your's? Jesus answered, You know My Father as little as you know Me; if you knew Me you would know My Father also." The Church has been taught for years to believe that, "the Father and the Son as being separate beings." We see Jesus as One Who healed, had compassion and delivered those in bondage, but we see the Father as being One Who puts sickness, disabilities and trials on His children. No one would ever accuse Jesus of doing these things, but we see God in this light. Jesus said, "If you know Me, then you should know your Father too."
We either put aside our faith for liberty, thinking "it was God," or we are fainting in our faith in His setting us free. We should stand in faith, in the face of all opposition and see it as a distraction from the enemy. James 4:7-8 (Amplified) says, "So be subject to God. Resist the devil (stand firm against him), and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you. Recognize that you are sinners, get your soiled hands clean; realize you have been disloyal, wavering individuals with divided interests; and purify your hearts of your spiritual adultery."
If you believe that it's God Whose making you have problems, then you are to submit. If it's the devil whose bringing the problems on you, then you are to resist. If you don't know which one it is, then you're in trouble. This is the wavering individuals with divided interests and are disloyal and in spiritual adultery. This might sound "hard and heartless" to some, but if Jesus didn't bring the hardships, trials, sickness, disabilities, then the Father doesn't bring them either. James 1:3 (Amplified) says, "Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; God is incapable of being tempted by what is evil and He Himself tempts no one." The word "tempted," is translated as "tried and tested." Jesus Himself taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, trials, and tests, but deliver us from the evil one," in Matthew 6:13 (Amplified).
This is the double-minded man that James writes about in James 1:8 (Amplified) saying, "For being as he is a man of two minds, hesitating, dubious, irresolute, he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides." If it's God, then you're to submit and if it's the enemy, then you are to resists. If you don't know which one it is, then how do you respond? Either action will bring results. The devil has been getting away with this deception for a long time, because we've lacked understanding of God's Word and His Grace.
Isaiah 54:9 (Amplified) says, "For this is like the days of Noah to Me; as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with your or rebuke you." Hebrews 12:6 (Amplified) says, "For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes even scourges every son in whom He accepts and welcomes to His Heart." Don't forget that we are Spiritual sons and daughters and are no longer "physical" in God's eyes. God is a Spirit, His Word is Spirit and you are Spirit. God disciples us by His Word and His Spirit, not by physical chastisement, like in the old covenant. 1Timothy 3:16 bears this out, to those who will draw close to Him. Thus, it says, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience and for training in righteousness (in holy living), in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action."
God disciplines us, by His Word and His Holy Spirit. Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified) says, "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power, making it active, operative, energizing and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life, soul and the immortal spirit, and of joints and marrow, of the deepest parts of our nature, exposing and sifting, and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart."
When we veer the wrong way, God's Word will direct us back to where we belong. If we'll yield and submit to God's Word, then He will direct us to where He is leading. If you don't know God's Word, then you don't know which path to follow, which might result in you're saying, "God's testing me," instead of accepting the responsibility of hearing and heeding His Word. Many have yielded to this wrong falsehood, thinking and/or saying, "This is God's will for me." The enemy has laid many pitfalls have been laid before us and if we'll listen, then God will guide us past them. If we don't hear and continue on the wrong path, then it will lead to a place where God never intended us to be in. It wasn't God's will that you ended up there, but Grace will get us out of the pit, if we ask Him for it.
Don't be double-minded concerning God's Word or His will for your life. God never planned calamity and hardship for you. God planned "paths of righteousness for His Name's sake," for you, according to Psalm 23. We just read in 2Timothy 3:16 that, "God's Word was for our training in righteousness."
Our faith won't work for us, if we're double-minded about Go'd will and Word. I'm not implying that you won't have trials and tests, but you will know how to respond to them. If by faith, you choose to think "it's God," then you're free to do so. God will let you choose, even though it's not His will for you. Colossians 1:9 (Amplified) says, "For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all Spiritual Wisdom, in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God and in understanding and discernment of Spiritual things."
Don't let the enemy deceive you into accepting his will for you, instead of the Father's will for you. Learn what God's will truly is and then walk in it. You'll have to fight the good fight of faith, in order to separate yourself from the traditional concepts of God being an angry God. If you've seen Jesus, then you've seen the Father. Jesus was the Teacher of His disciples and He taught them how to do His ministry, after He left. Jesus never made people sick, helpless or destitute, but He trained them by His Word and His Spirit. We must learn like they did and listen to His Voice.
Monday, July 1, 2019
Lesson 214 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." Each and every person who comes into the new creation family of God, has the responsibility of learning and walking with the Father. We've all been given the same Grace and Blessing and the above scripture tells us that, "We all have a share in God's fullness." Just being saved is enough for some believers, while others strive like Paul commended "toward the mark of the high calling of God." Some find contentment in their new lives in God, like they do in their natural lives. There's so much left unfulfilled in our new creation lives with the Father, because we're content with going to Heaven when we die and living morally good lives here on earth. This is acceptable to God, but there's so much more we can accomplish in the ministry He has sent us to do.
We've left the sick still sick and the blind persons in their blindness. We've let those who are in bondage to drugs and other weaknesses, remain bound. God has given us His fullness for here on earth, in order to get others saved and to teach them how to proceed to free others. The power of the Gospel seems to have been lost or diminished and not valid in many Christian circles. We've seemingly lost the zeal for moving into the Super-natural works of the ministry. We've turned the working of the Holy Spirit, over to those in the five-fold ministry, deciding they're charged with doing them.
We've decided that the Gifts of the Spirit found in 1Corinthians 12, aren't for everyone and are only for those who are called. 1Corinthians 12:11,7 (Amplified) says, "All these Gifts (achievements, abilities) are inspired and brought to pass by One and the Same Holy Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually exactly as He chooses." Verse 7 says, "But to each one is given the manifestations of the Holy Spirit (the evidence, the Spiritual Illumination of the Spirit for good and profit)."
You might not be called into the ministry of these five-fold portions, but the Same Holy Spirit lives inside you to do good and profit those who need Super-natural help from the Father. Jesus instructs His disciples about their ministry following His Ascension, in Mark 16:17,18-20 (Amplified). Jesus said that those who would believe what they heard would be born-again. Jesus went on to say in Verses 18-20, "These attesting signs will accompany those who believe; in My Name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up serpents, and even if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will get well. So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the Message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied it , Amen (So be it)."
The above scriptures tells us that those who would believe the Message they heard preached, were also called to speak in tongues, lay hands on the sick, cast out devils and do the works of the Gospel. These aren't those listed in 1Corinthians 12, but are for the whole body of Christians who would believe. It's the Same Holy Spirit Who was given to us to do good and to profit those in need. The ministry of setting captives free, was never intended to be left to only the five-fold ministry, but was given to do all believers, to do the works of Jesus and teach others about Him.
Not everyone in the five-fold ministry have received God's Super-natural ability. The Holy Spirit "gives these Gifts severally as He wills." If you're ministering to someone who needs healing, then the Holy Spirit will execute healing, in order to set them free. We've been taught that the Holy Spirit does these things for only a chosen few, instead of any believer that needs them. It's true that there are those in whom these Gifts operate more so than others, but that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit has left the rest of us out of His ability. The sick shouldn't have to wait until they can find someone in whom the Gift of Healing is working, in order to get well. They should be able to receive from the Same Holy Spirit, at the hands of any believer. This doesn't mean you have the Gift of Healing, but that you have the Gift of the Healer. Doesn't the Same Holy Spirit live in you and care as much for those you minister to, as He does for those of the five-fold ministry?
Acts 6:8 (Amplified) tells us that Stephen was appointed by the Apostles and was "full of Grace and Divine Blessing and favor, and power and strength and ability, worked great wonders and signs (miracles) among the people." Stephen wasn't a man from the five-fold ministry, but he yielded himself to the Holy Spirit and God used him mightily. Acts 8:5-7 (Amplified) says, "Philip [the deacon, not the apostle], went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ (the Messiah) to them (the people). And great crowds of people with one accord listened to and heeded what was said by Philip, as they heard him and watched the miracles and wonders which he kept performing from time to time. For foul spirits came out of many who were possessed by them screaming and shouting with a loud voice, and many who were suffering from palsy or were crippled were restored to health."
These Spiritual Gifts are given by and through, the Holy Spirit. 1Corinthians 12:11 (Amplified) says, "All these Gifts (achievements, abilities) are Inspired and brought to pass by one and the Same Holy Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually exactly as He chooses." When anyone needs these Gifts, in order to set the captives free, then it's up to His discretion to use them as He chooses. He isn't moved by titles, denominations or anything else. He's moved by setting the captives free and He does so "as He chooses." The Holy Spirit has been sent here, in order to continue Jesus' earthly ministry, by whosoever will believe and allow Him to do so.
This doesn't mean that you're now and Apostle or prophet, but you are a representative of God and Jesus to this world. The Holy Spirit has and can simultaneously use all the nine Gifts from 1Corinthians 12, to set one person free. God saved Philip, healed him, delivered him, filled him with the Spirit, called him and instructed Philip where he was to go, all at one time. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. All He needs is a believer to work through and 1Corinthians 12:11 (KJV) says, "He gives these Gifts severally as He wills."
We've left the sick still sick and the blind persons in their blindness. We've let those who are in bondage to drugs and other weaknesses, remain bound. God has given us His fullness for here on earth, in order to get others saved and to teach them how to proceed to free others. The power of the Gospel seems to have been lost or diminished and not valid in many Christian circles. We've seemingly lost the zeal for moving into the Super-natural works of the ministry. We've turned the working of the Holy Spirit, over to those in the five-fold ministry, deciding they're charged with doing them.
We've decided that the Gifts of the Spirit found in 1Corinthians 12, aren't for everyone and are only for those who are called. 1Corinthians 12:11,7 (Amplified) says, "All these Gifts (achievements, abilities) are inspired and brought to pass by One and the Same Holy Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually exactly as He chooses." Verse 7 says, "But to each one is given the manifestations of the Holy Spirit (the evidence, the Spiritual Illumination of the Spirit for good and profit)."
You might not be called into the ministry of these five-fold portions, but the Same Holy Spirit lives inside you to do good and profit those who need Super-natural help from the Father. Jesus instructs His disciples about their ministry following His Ascension, in Mark 16:17,18-20 (Amplified). Jesus said that those who would believe what they heard would be born-again. Jesus went on to say in Verses 18-20, "These attesting signs will accompany those who believe; in My Name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up serpents, and even if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will get well. So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the Message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied it , Amen (So be it)."
The above scriptures tells us that those who would believe the Message they heard preached, were also called to speak in tongues, lay hands on the sick, cast out devils and do the works of the Gospel. These aren't those listed in 1Corinthians 12, but are for the whole body of Christians who would believe. It's the Same Holy Spirit Who was given to us to do good and to profit those in need. The ministry of setting captives free, was never intended to be left to only the five-fold ministry, but was given to do all believers, to do the works of Jesus and teach others about Him.
Not everyone in the five-fold ministry have received God's Super-natural ability. The Holy Spirit "gives these Gifts severally as He wills." If you're ministering to someone who needs healing, then the Holy Spirit will execute healing, in order to set them free. We've been taught that the Holy Spirit does these things for only a chosen few, instead of any believer that needs them. It's true that there are those in whom these Gifts operate more so than others, but that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit has left the rest of us out of His ability. The sick shouldn't have to wait until they can find someone in whom the Gift of Healing is working, in order to get well. They should be able to receive from the Same Holy Spirit, at the hands of any believer. This doesn't mean you have the Gift of Healing, but that you have the Gift of the Healer. Doesn't the Same Holy Spirit live in you and care as much for those you minister to, as He does for those of the five-fold ministry?
Acts 6:8 (Amplified) tells us that Stephen was appointed by the Apostles and was "full of Grace and Divine Blessing and favor, and power and strength and ability, worked great wonders and signs (miracles) among the people." Stephen wasn't a man from the five-fold ministry, but he yielded himself to the Holy Spirit and God used him mightily. Acts 8:5-7 (Amplified) says, "Philip [the deacon, not the apostle], went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ (the Messiah) to them (the people). And great crowds of people with one accord listened to and heeded what was said by Philip, as they heard him and watched the miracles and wonders which he kept performing from time to time. For foul spirits came out of many who were possessed by them screaming and shouting with a loud voice, and many who were suffering from palsy or were crippled were restored to health."
These Spiritual Gifts are given by and through, the Holy Spirit. 1Corinthians 12:11 (Amplified) says, "All these Gifts (achievements, abilities) are Inspired and brought to pass by one and the Same Holy Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually exactly as He chooses." When anyone needs these Gifts, in order to set the captives free, then it's up to His discretion to use them as He chooses. He isn't moved by titles, denominations or anything else. He's moved by setting the captives free and He does so "as He chooses." The Holy Spirit has been sent here, in order to continue Jesus' earthly ministry, by whosoever will believe and allow Him to do so.
This doesn't mean that you're now and Apostle or prophet, but you are a representative of God and Jesus to this world. The Holy Spirit has and can simultaneously use all the nine Gifts from 1Corinthians 12, to set one person free. God saved Philip, healed him, delivered him, filled him with the Spirit, called him and instructed Philip where he was to go, all at one time. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. All He needs is a believer to work through and 1Corinthians 12:11 (KJV) says, "He gives these Gifts severally as He wills."
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