Eph 1:17-18
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Last week in Heart-Thoughts of DK I wrote a message titled Revelations Right Results Right and I made this statement that if we as children of God are not getting the results that we are desiring in our relationship with God then the core problem is misconceptions and misunderstandings about God and the way that God operates concerning us and what that all boils down to a lack of knowledge on our part.
That is an awesome revelation and the reason that so many people live there lives in this condition is because of misconceptions concerning God and those misconceptions hinder their relationship with God.
Heb 7:16-18
Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
The word of God is telling us that Jesus Christ was not made a high priest after the law of a carnal commandment nor was He made a High Priest after the Leviticus Law; He was made a High Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec and through the power of an endless life.
Verse 18
For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
To what is the disannulling?
The disannulling is to the commandment going before or in other words concerning the Old Testament commands,
That word disannulling in the Greek is athetaysis and it means to cancel, to put away and the reason that there is a cancellation of the commandment going before is because of the weakness and powerlessness that existed in the previous commandments
In other words let me bring something to you that will shock you
The Old Testament commandments are not for the New Testament believers
This is powerful and yet very few are going to take the time to study out what I am saying and come to the truth that will literally change their lives.
I need to say it again so that there is no confusion the Old Testament commands are not for New Testament believers.
This is one of the reasons that there is so much confusion about God today,
The things that God did and had to do in the Old Testament because of the covenant that existed at that time many of God’s children have no understanding concerning those things and because they do not understand they have wrong conceptions concerning the covenant in the New Testament.
Verse 19
For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
The word of God is clear, the law made nothing perfect. It brought no hope, no life and no expectation but the bringing in of a better hope did by which we can draw nigh unto God and the better hope brought unto us was the opportunity to have intimacy with Almighty God.
Heb 8:7
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
The first covenant prophesied the end of itself and prophesied that there was something better that was coming and yet multitudes of Christians today are still trying to relate and to have relationship with God through the first covenant that was disannulled.
The reason that the old covenant was disannulled is because the first covenant was not compatible with the second covenant, the two covenants do not contradict each other but it is the second covenant that fulfills the first covenant and the first covenant compliments and ushers in the second covenant.
But if you try to live your life according to the Old Testament and the New Testament at the same time you are going to have ideas about God that are not accurate and complete because the two covenants can not be mixed together.
Many of our ideas about God come from the Old Testament and those ideas do not give a complete and accurate representation of God.
Jesus Christ is the total and complete expression and perfect representation of the glory of the Father
John 14:9
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Here is a truth that very few of God’s children really grasp,
If Christ would have been present in His physical body in the Old Testament a great deal of the things that were done by men of God and who were anointed by God in the Old Testament would have been rebuked by Christ
And the reason that they would have been rebuked is because they did not give a true representation of the Father
Heb 8:8
For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
This verse not only applies to the house of Israel but this verse applies to every born again child of God, for we are the heirs of Abraham through faith and have been grafted into the house of Israel
Look at the verse,
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
For all that are of this house shall know me personally, intimately and be in close communion with me.
We do not have to depend on some one telling us about God, some one relating to us about God, some one teaching us about God for they shall know me from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12-13
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
This is a radical statement being made by God,
I will be merciful to there unrighteousness and I will remember there iniquities no more and what that means is that if you are born again that means past, present and future.
And if you do not believe that your future sins are forgiven then you also have to concur that no one in this day and age can be saved because He took care of the sin issue two thousand years ago.
Most of Gods children believe that God holds their sins against them, that God holds them accountable and responsible for their sins and that God holds back blessing and refuses to answer prayers based upon sins that He holds against them.
For some reason we as children of God still feel that God relates to us based upon our sins and failures,
This is one of the reasons that we hold and esteem prayer and fasting and tithing in such high regard because if we are not doing these things that is the reason that God has not moved as He should be moving in our lives
We have in our mentality that God moves according to the good that we have been doing and that is a misrepresentation of the gospels and the character of God
And just to set the record straight no I do not believe in once saved always saved and neither do I believe that you can live your life anyway that you want regardless of sin
The word of God is very clear that sin kills and destroys and those who deliberately sin are stupid because sin will cost you more than what you are willing to pay.
I need to say it again,
We have in our mentality that God moves according to the good that we have been doing and that is a misrepresentation of the gospels and the character of God
The word of God tells us that He will be merciful to our unrighteousness and our sins and iniquities and He will remember them no more
Heb 8:13
In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Here is truth
For the most part the child of God and even many preachers have very little understanding concerning the relationship between the Old and the New covenant and because of the misunderstandings that we have we have been getting wrong results in our relationship with God and those wrong results have brought much confusion and division concerning our relationship with God.
Please have understanding,
No matter what your perception of God is He is still God and He is not changed by your perception of Him but the huge difference is that you can not receive right results from God when you have wrong revelations or perceptions of Him
If you do not think that God still works miracles that does not change the fact that He is still El Shaddai and He is still the miracle worker
The only thing that is going to matter is that you are not going to receive any of those miracles that you do not believe that He still performs
If you do not think that speaking in tongues is of God that does not change who God is nor does it change what the word of God says concerning speaking in tongues the only thing that comes out of that is that you are not going to speak in tongues and come into the completeness and the fullness of all that He desires to give you through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
You can not have what you do not believe and you can not believe beyond your concept of Him
Awesome truth
If you believe that every negative experience that has ever happened to you is because there is something that you have to learn, something that you have to go through, make no doubt about it, God will be there for you, God will comfort you and He will guide you through it but that is not who God is
God is who God is regardless of what you think and one more thing God will not be anything to you that you do not believe that He is.
Heb 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
That is an awesome word,
What you do not pursue through your perception of Him you can not have for as a man so thinks in his heart so he is.
Prov 23:7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
I can not tell you the multitudes of people, who pray like this,
Lord I just don’t think I can do this, Lord make me to have revelation, Lord make me to see it, make me to walk it, make me to understand it, I give you my will make me to get this.
It is not going to happen
That is not who God is, your impression of God is going to be what you receive and experience with God
Listen to the word of God,
Matt 7:8-11
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Luke 11:10-13
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
The majority of Gods children do not see God in this light instead they see Him as the one who withholds blessings and takes away things if a certain standard is not met.
Most of Gods children relate to Him through the Old Testament instead of through the New Testament, they get saved through amazing grace and then relate to Him through the law and performance
I believe that there is no one misrepresented more than God and I believe that once God is truly revealed as to who He is and to what His true nature really is, then His children will begin to walk in the awesome revelation of the good Father who is not imputing there iniquities unto them and is reconciling His children unto himself through His Son
I Jn 4:8-9
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
We say that God is love, to the sinner we proclaim that God is love and then out the other side of our mouth we proclaim that if America does not repent and turn from her wicked ways the judgments of God are going to fall upon this evil nation, in fact they are already falling through hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, draughts and floods.
We proclaim the bird flu as a judgment of God; we proclaim every epidemic as God trying to get our attention.
No wonder the world has a difficult time trying to understand our definition of the love of God when the love of God according to the church is saving us on one hand and destruction on the other.
I Jn 4:9
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
In this was the love of God manifested towards us that He sent His Son in to the world that we might live through Him,
We say that God loves us,
We say that He is merciful and that His great grace has brought us into His presence and then we say things that undermine that love and pollute that love and take away the benefit of that love.
We as children of God need to get some things understood so that we can start to get right results from our relationship with God.
I need to say this again,
If Jesus would have been present in the Old Testament He would have rebuked a lot of the things that took place in the Old Testament and to many this statement is incredible and hard to believe and the reason is because they do not understand God in the Old Testament and they do not see the true nature of God in the New Testament.
II Ki 1:2-3
And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.
But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?
Ahaziah who is the king of the ten northern tribes of Israel has fallen through the lattice in his upper chamber and because of that fall has sustained severe injuries and so he sends his messengers to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether or not he will recover from these injuries
In case you do not know who Ahaziah is he is the son of Ahab, the ten northern tribes of Israel have fallen into paganism through his father and now the son reigns as king.
And the Lord tells Elijah to arise and go intercept the messengers of Ahaziah and ask them this question.
Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?
This is what is being said,
Why do you go to the pagan god of Samaria is there not a God in Israel
VERSE 4
Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?
And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
This is interesting
The king’s men give a very small description of a man and they describe him as hairy and girt about his loins with a girdle of leather and the king immediately makes this observation and says
it is Elijah
There has been a long feud between Elijah the prophet of God and the family of Ahab,
It was Elijah that stopped the rain from falling on the land of Israel, it was Elijah that killed the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel who were the priests of Jezebel
It is Elijah who confronts Ahab when he goes down to take possession of Naboths vineyard
Let me bring the word of God to you
IKing 21:1-7
And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.
But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?
And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.
And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
So Jezebel has Naboth killed and gives his vineyard to Ahab and as he takes possession of the vineyard Elijah shows up.
IKing 21:16-19
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
VERSE:23
And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.
And that is exactly what takes place when Ahab is killed in battle and they brought his chariot into the garden to clean off the blood in the exact place that Naboth was killed dogs licked the blood of Ahab
Later on when King Jehu took possession of the city of Samaria Jezebel painted herself up and as Jehu cried out who is on the Lord’s side,
Jezebel was thrown out of the two story window and Jehu took his chariot and ran over her again and again and again until she was dead and the dogs ate her
This is the relationship that Elijah had with the family of Ahab
Now I can imagine that this is the reason that Ahaziah went to the god of Ekron to inquire about his injuries because the relationship between Elijah and the family of Ahab to say the least was not a good one and that relationship continued to spiral downward even through Ahab’s son.
Look at
II Ki 1:9-17
Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.
And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.
Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.
And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.
And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken.
Here is the judgment of God falling out of heaven according to the words of the prophet Elijah and to many this is the nature of God in reality,
Fire falling out of heaven consuming all in His path,
His righteousness consuming all that stands in His way, the words of His anointed one the prophet bringing forth destruction and judgment to all those who do not surrender and repent and if you do not know scripture this is the impression that you will have of God.
But look at.
Luke 9:51-53
And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
The reason that they did not receive Him is found in
John 4:5
Then cometh he to a city of Samaria,( Remember the city of Samaria is the city that Ahab and Ahaziah reigned in) which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
This is the woman that Christ ministered to and she went in and told the entire city about the things that He had told her,
VERSE:28
The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
VERSE 39
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
And many more believed because of his own word;
The entire city was turned around and believed on Him but now that his face is turned towards Jerusalem and crucifixion they do not receive Him
Now look at
Luke 9:54-56
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
In the Old Testament fire fell from heaven and consumed them,
When the disciples wanted to do the same thing Elijah did Jesus rebuked them and said you do not know what manner of spirit that you are
I have not come to destroy mans lives but to save them.
And I dare say today that many of Gods children do not know what manner of spirit that they are
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
REVELATIONS RIGHT, RESULTS RIGHT
Eph 1:17-18
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
I wonder if God’s people comprehend that the view and the impression that they have of God is the result of how and what they receive from God.
That is powerful information!
The impression that you have of God is the direct result of what you receive from God
2 Pet 1:1-2
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
The word of God is telling us in 2 Pet 1:1 that the way that grace and peace are multiplied unto us is through the knowledge of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ
That is powerful and yet many of Gods people are trying to get grace and peace increased in there lives through prayer, through fasting, through conferences and seminars, through someone praying for them, through ministry and the list goes on and on and on.
How is grace and peace increased in your life?
Grace and peace are increased in your life through the knowledge that you have of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Which equates to a powerful truth?
If you have wrong knowledge you are going to get the wrong results and when you have right knowledge you will get right results.
Let me give you something awesome,
How does faith come, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)
Why does faith come?
Faith comes because faith is based upon knowledge and wrong knowledge always produces wrong faith.
And if we as children of God are not getting the results that we are desiring I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that the core problem is a misconception, a misunderstanding about God and the way that God operates concerning us and that all boils down to a lack of knowledge.
Hos 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:
Look at,
2 Pet 1:3
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
The word according in the Greek means to the proportion of or to the degree of,
So according to the proportion of or to the degree of His divine nature He hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.
In other words all things that pertain unto life and godliness are given unto us through the knowledge that we have of Him.
If you have a need for healing, then your need is not about being healed, your need is about understanding the character of your creator, your need is about understanding who He is so that you can have knowledge of Him to receive from Him.
If you have a need concerning deliverance then your need is about knowing Him and understanding who He is because every problem that you have relates back to you not understanding and knowing who He is which goes back to the place where you do not know who you are.
Worry, anxiety, fear, rejection, discouragement and depression would not be a factor in your life if you understood how faithful and full of love God is
If you really understood the passion, the integrity and the loyalty of God concerning you, if these things were really established in your heart then the fear, worry, frustration and anxiety that you are going through would be totally taken out of the picture and they would be dominated by the love and loyalty that God has for you.
Where do fear, worry, anxiety, frustration and rejection come from?
We can say that they come from the devil and he certainly is the source of all these things but the real answer is that these things come from a lifestyle of misconceptions and misunderstandings concerning Gods love for you.
They have been birthed out of falsehoods and half truths that have been sowed into our lives concerning Gods love for us.
And let me deal with one of these misconceptions.
If you are one of these people who believe that the sovereignty of God controls everything in this world then I guarantee you that you are not going to have a very good impression of God
This is probably one of the most popular doctrines in the church world today and many believe that God is in control of everything that happens or that He allows it to happen.
Many of Gods children are in total confusion concerning this doctrine and there conception and impression of God is in the negative because of things that they do not understand.
Do I believe in the sovereignty of God?
Yes I do as long as you have the right explanation for the word sovereignty, that there is none that is above Him, that He is Almighty, that He is all powerful and all glory belongs to Him, that no one dictates to God, that no one pulls the strings of God and no one controls God.
If that is your definition of the sovereignty of God then I believe in the sovereignty of God but I do not believe that God is the cause of everything that is going on in this world, all the floods and disasters, all the fires, all the hurricanes, all the tornados and tsunamis, all the sickness devastation deformities and death that is taking place amongst children.
Absolutely not
Do I believe that before anything that happens must have the approval of God before it can happen?
Absolutely not
James 4:1
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
Where do fighting’s and wars come from?
According to the doctrine of sovereignty that exists in much of the church today it comes from God, all the disasters come from God ranging from earthquakes to flooding, most churches believe that devastation in one way or another comes from God because they are His judgments, judgments upon nations, judgments upon individuals, judgments because of sin.
But the word of God tells us that they come from amongst us, they come from the lusts that war within our own members.
One of the most asked questions that comes from the child of God when some one dies of sickness,
When some one is taken early in their life is why did God allow this to happen.
God did not allow it to happen, God has provided for every child of God to walk free of sickness, to walk in the liberty of divine health,
God did not bring sickness into this world, we did.
Why do we blame God for deformed babies when He is the one who brought us life?
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Why do we blame God for failure when He gave us perfection?
Why do we blame God for corruption when He created in the realm of excellence?
The doctrine of blaming God for everything that is going on in this world is one of the most damnable heresies that exist in the church world today.
So most of the things that are going on in this world today we call them judgments, we call them the results of sin, we call them the wrath of God because of our sinful nature and many call them paybacks.
And yet the truth is that Christ paid the penalty for sin, Christ made atonement for the sinner,
Christ entered in once into the holy place and through the shedding of his blood obtained eternal salvation.
Heb 9:12
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Then if all these things that are taking place in the world are about judgments and the wrath of God being poured out because of sin then that means that the blood of Christ was not sufficient to deal with the sin problem that had separated us from God
That means that the sacrifice that Christ made was not sufficient to satisfy the Father and it also means that His work is not finished.
And that is a lie from the pits of hell.
Is there coming a day when the wrath of God will be poured out because of the evilness of man
Yes
Is there coming a day when the earth will see such fury as it has not seen since its existence.
Yes
But it will not be until the end of the age of the church and seven years before the millennium.
And if you believe that all things in this world are in the control of God then it is going to effect your perception of God and the way that you receive from God and these things are going to affect your confidence level, you’re assurance level, you’re level of stability and you’re belief level.
Why will these things affect you?
Because you’re conscience will condemn you and bring condemnation.
If you want shocking news,
The number one place where God is being is blamed for the multitude of things that are taking place in the world today is the church.
It is the church that is misrepresenting the character and the nature of God, it is the church that has brought the condemnation and guilt to multitudes of believers, and it is the church that hammers you if you do this and if you do that,
God will move if you are doing right and if God is not moving it is because of something that you are doing.
I need to say it again,
It is the church that is misrepresenting the character and the nature of God
I have been a pastor for 21 years
I have been born again for 31 years and in that time like many of you I have had a heart for God, but about nine years ago I had an encounter with God in Baltimore Maryland as I was preparing for a crusade and it changed my life.
It literally changed me and in that transformation I immediately knew some things that I had been struggling with for many years.
Yes I was a Pastor and Evangelist and there were things that I was struggling with,
When I had this encounter with God I was instantly delivered of a performance mentality Christianity and as I was searching for the more instantly I came into the revelation of the more and in that revelation I was free indeed and in that freedom came the revelation of His word
I Jn 3:1-2
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for
when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
That word for means that this is the reason that we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is
Very few of Gods people see Him as He really is and that is the reason that very few of Gods children see themselves like Him.
Here is an awesome truth if you will ponder the words that I have just given you
When He shall appear and I am not talking about some time in the future, when He returns, I am speaking about when he shall appear in your heart, in revelation knowledge you will see Him as He is and you will see that you are like Him
Why does the word say that no man shall see God and live?
Exod 33:20
And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
Most people who read this scripture relate this scripture as meaning that no man can see God and live either he will die or be killed by God
And yet Christ came so that we could have intimate relationship with God
Christ came to reconcile us back into relationship with God.
John 14:19
Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
So what does this scripture mean in?
I Jn 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
It means that when you really come to the place where you really see God as He is, when you really see Him in His love, in His glory, in his faithfulness, in his mercy,
When He shall appear, when He manifests Himself within you and you see Him you will be like him for you shall see Him as He really is and you will be changed into that image.
That is what happened to me in Baltimore Maryland
When He appeared I saw Him as He really is and I became like Him because I saw him as He really is
When you see Him as He really is in you it will literally transformed you in to His image and you will see who He is and who you are in Him.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
I wonder if God’s people comprehend that the view and the impression that they have of God is the result of how and what they receive from God.
That is powerful information!
The impression that you have of God is the direct result of what you receive from God
2 Pet 1:1-2
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
The word of God is telling us in 2 Pet 1:1 that the way that grace and peace are multiplied unto us is through the knowledge of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ
That is powerful and yet many of Gods people are trying to get grace and peace increased in there lives through prayer, through fasting, through conferences and seminars, through someone praying for them, through ministry and the list goes on and on and on.
How is grace and peace increased in your life?
Grace and peace are increased in your life through the knowledge that you have of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Which equates to a powerful truth?
If you have wrong knowledge you are going to get the wrong results and when you have right knowledge you will get right results.
Let me give you something awesome,
How does faith come, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)
Why does faith come?
Faith comes because faith is based upon knowledge and wrong knowledge always produces wrong faith.
And if we as children of God are not getting the results that we are desiring I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that the core problem is a misconception, a misunderstanding about God and the way that God operates concerning us and that all boils down to a lack of knowledge.
Hos 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:
Look at,
2 Pet 1:3
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
The word according in the Greek means to the proportion of or to the degree of,
So according to the proportion of or to the degree of His divine nature He hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.
In other words all things that pertain unto life and godliness are given unto us through the knowledge that we have of Him.
If you have a need for healing, then your need is not about being healed, your need is about understanding the character of your creator, your need is about understanding who He is so that you can have knowledge of Him to receive from Him.
If you have a need concerning deliverance then your need is about knowing Him and understanding who He is because every problem that you have relates back to you not understanding and knowing who He is which goes back to the place where you do not know who you are.
Worry, anxiety, fear, rejection, discouragement and depression would not be a factor in your life if you understood how faithful and full of love God is
If you really understood the passion, the integrity and the loyalty of God concerning you, if these things were really established in your heart then the fear, worry, frustration and anxiety that you are going through would be totally taken out of the picture and they would be dominated by the love and loyalty that God has for you.
Where do fear, worry, anxiety, frustration and rejection come from?
We can say that they come from the devil and he certainly is the source of all these things but the real answer is that these things come from a lifestyle of misconceptions and misunderstandings concerning Gods love for you.
They have been birthed out of falsehoods and half truths that have been sowed into our lives concerning Gods love for us.
And let me deal with one of these misconceptions.
If you are one of these people who believe that the sovereignty of God controls everything in this world then I guarantee you that you are not going to have a very good impression of God
This is probably one of the most popular doctrines in the church world today and many believe that God is in control of everything that happens or that He allows it to happen.
Many of Gods children are in total confusion concerning this doctrine and there conception and impression of God is in the negative because of things that they do not understand.
Do I believe in the sovereignty of God?
Yes I do as long as you have the right explanation for the word sovereignty, that there is none that is above Him, that He is Almighty, that He is all powerful and all glory belongs to Him, that no one dictates to God, that no one pulls the strings of God and no one controls God.
If that is your definition of the sovereignty of God then I believe in the sovereignty of God but I do not believe that God is the cause of everything that is going on in this world, all the floods and disasters, all the fires, all the hurricanes, all the tornados and tsunamis, all the sickness devastation deformities and death that is taking place amongst children.
Absolutely not
Do I believe that before anything that happens must have the approval of God before it can happen?
Absolutely not
James 4:1
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
Where do fighting’s and wars come from?
According to the doctrine of sovereignty that exists in much of the church today it comes from God, all the disasters come from God ranging from earthquakes to flooding, most churches believe that devastation in one way or another comes from God because they are His judgments, judgments upon nations, judgments upon individuals, judgments because of sin.
But the word of God tells us that they come from amongst us, they come from the lusts that war within our own members.
One of the most asked questions that comes from the child of God when some one dies of sickness,
When some one is taken early in their life is why did God allow this to happen.
God did not allow it to happen, God has provided for every child of God to walk free of sickness, to walk in the liberty of divine health,
God did not bring sickness into this world, we did.
Why do we blame God for deformed babies when He is the one who brought us life?
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Why do we blame God for failure when He gave us perfection?
Why do we blame God for corruption when He created in the realm of excellence?
The doctrine of blaming God for everything that is going on in this world is one of the most damnable heresies that exist in the church world today.
So most of the things that are going on in this world today we call them judgments, we call them the results of sin, we call them the wrath of God because of our sinful nature and many call them paybacks.
And yet the truth is that Christ paid the penalty for sin, Christ made atonement for the sinner,
Christ entered in once into the holy place and through the shedding of his blood obtained eternal salvation.
Heb 9:12
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Then if all these things that are taking place in the world are about judgments and the wrath of God being poured out because of sin then that means that the blood of Christ was not sufficient to deal with the sin problem that had separated us from God
That means that the sacrifice that Christ made was not sufficient to satisfy the Father and it also means that His work is not finished.
And that is a lie from the pits of hell.
Is there coming a day when the wrath of God will be poured out because of the evilness of man
Yes
Is there coming a day when the earth will see such fury as it has not seen since its existence.
Yes
But it will not be until the end of the age of the church and seven years before the millennium.
And if you believe that all things in this world are in the control of God then it is going to effect your perception of God and the way that you receive from God and these things are going to affect your confidence level, you’re assurance level, you’re level of stability and you’re belief level.
Why will these things affect you?
Because you’re conscience will condemn you and bring condemnation.
If you want shocking news,
The number one place where God is being is blamed for the multitude of things that are taking place in the world today is the church.
It is the church that is misrepresenting the character and the nature of God, it is the church that has brought the condemnation and guilt to multitudes of believers, and it is the church that hammers you if you do this and if you do that,
God will move if you are doing right and if God is not moving it is because of something that you are doing.
I need to say it again,
It is the church that is misrepresenting the character and the nature of God
I have been a pastor for 21 years
I have been born again for 31 years and in that time like many of you I have had a heart for God, but about nine years ago I had an encounter with God in Baltimore Maryland as I was preparing for a crusade and it changed my life.
It literally changed me and in that transformation I immediately knew some things that I had been struggling with for many years.
Yes I was a Pastor and Evangelist and there were things that I was struggling with,
When I had this encounter with God I was instantly delivered of a performance mentality Christianity and as I was searching for the more instantly I came into the revelation of the more and in that revelation I was free indeed and in that freedom came the revelation of His word
I Jn 3:1-2
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for
when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
That word for means that this is the reason that we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is
Very few of Gods people see Him as He really is and that is the reason that very few of Gods children see themselves like Him.
Here is an awesome truth if you will ponder the words that I have just given you
When He shall appear and I am not talking about some time in the future, when He returns, I am speaking about when he shall appear in your heart, in revelation knowledge you will see Him as He is and you will see that you are like Him
Why does the word say that no man shall see God and live?
Exod 33:20
And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
Most people who read this scripture relate this scripture as meaning that no man can see God and live either he will die or be killed by God
And yet Christ came so that we could have intimate relationship with God
Christ came to reconcile us back into relationship with God.
John 14:19
Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
So what does this scripture mean in?
I Jn 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
It means that when you really come to the place where you really see God as He is, when you really see Him in His love, in His glory, in his faithfulness, in his mercy,
When He shall appear, when He manifests Himself within you and you see Him you will be like him for you shall see Him as He really is and you will be changed into that image.
That is what happened to me in Baltimore Maryland
When He appeared I saw Him as He really is and I became like Him because I saw him as He really is
When you see Him as He really is in you it will literally transformed you in to His image and you will see who He is and who you are in Him.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
A RECIPE FOR DISASTER
1Thes 4:1
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
The title that I am using in my posting speaks of the immanent destruction that can take place if spiritual truths are not grasped by the child of God,
What I want to share with you I believe is going to help you in your receiving from the Lord.
Look at the scripture again,
that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
Listen to Paul,
As we have taught you and instructed you as how to walk and please God, the reason that we have done this is so you can abound more and more.
I believe that this is the universal heart cry of every born again child of God, teach me how to walk and please you Lord, show me how to walk and please you, instruct me, chastise me, lead me and guide me until I know and walk in the realms of pleasing you.
We all desire to hear these words spoken to us by the Lord in
Matt 25:21
Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
And yet how many of us do not feel that we are walking and pleasing God, how many of us feel inadequate, how many of us feel that we are insufficient and lacking when it comes to walking and pleasing the Lord.
And I need to tell you that these feelings are a recipe for disaster, they are destructive and they will ultimately rob you of all that you are and all that you do for Christ.
This is the place where condemnation is birthed in our life, this is where dissatisfaction and low self esteem is birthed into our lives when we desire to walk and please and then do not believe that we are able to do it.
I will say it again
All of us desire to walk and please God and yet very few of us really believe that we are walking and pleasing God
Now hear me because I am going to say something very radical,
I believe that there is such a disparity between the desire to please God and the feelings that we are pleasing God and I believe that it originates from and is produced from religion.
Religion is always a misrepresentation of God unless that religion is pure and undefiled before God.
James 1:27
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
I wonder if God’s people understand that being a Christian is not about you reaching out to God but rather it is God reaching out to you.
There are many religions who reach out to God and every one of them misrepresent God in some way or another, religion has its own opinions, its own rules and regulations, its own standards and it will create in you a false set of standards that we prefer to call holy,
And in those false standards we have been given falsehoods of what God is seeking and looking for in the midst of those He calls His own.
What is it that God is looking for in the child of the living God?
What is it that pleases God when He looks upon us and sees us as His children?
How is it that we are to walk?
How is it that we are to please him whom we have given our lives to?
Here are some things that immediately come to mind as to how religion says that we are to please him.
#1 you must live holy
#2 you must be free from sin in your life
#3 you need to treat your spouse well and treat other people with kindness
#4 you must help those in need
But allow me to show you something in scripture
Heb 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
It is faith that pleases God and not your performance, good works or presentation; it is your faith and believing that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who are diligently seeking Him.
Religion does not preach this in fact many churches who proclaim to be Christian do not preach this, their message is that if you do right, if your actions are right God will accept you,
That is not the gospel of the New Testament.
Do we really have understanding as to the group of people who persecuted Christ?
It was not the unbeliever, and it was not the heathen, it was the religious crowd.
Pilate was willing to let Him go, Pilates wife had received a dream from God and sent a messenger to tell her husband to have nothing to do with this just man,
It was the religious system that crucified Christ
Yes the Roman government sent Him to the cross but only because they were manipulated by Jewish leaders.
Jesus came preaching that God loves you, Jesus came preaching that God will accept you through faith through His beloved Son and you would be fully redeemed and justified in faith in Him and it would usher you into right standing with God,
And it upset the religious system of that day as it upsets the religious system of this day.
The religious people always want to deal with the outward things but God desires to deal with the inward things.
Listen to me
Deal with the inward things and it will take care of the outward things.
Listen to the Lord in
Matt 23:25-28
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
It is this system that killed Christ the Messiah and the one question that should be paramount within the body of Christ today is how much of that system, how much opinion and self righteousness and pleasing comes into play within the body of Christ today that was prevalent at the time of Christ, how much of the religious system that killed Christ is present within this body of Christ today, how much of the religious system that Christ hated and rejected and verbally called devils and hypercritics abides and lives within us.
The things that were prevalent then are prevalent now and the things that took place then are taking place now.
The same spirit that existed when Christ took a whip and drove the money changers from the temple, that same spirit exists within many of our churches today.
That same spirit of performance and competition, the same spirit of grievous offences, the same spirit of killing our own that was present in that day is still present in this day and I believe that we need to take a good look to see how much of that same spirit is still present within the body of Christ today.
Matt 5:20
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
One of the religious problems that the Pharisees and Sadducees had was that they were constantly looking on the outside and they desired others to view them from the outside.
Listen to Jesus in,
Matt 23:25-26
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
And what this really amounts to is people taking notice of your actions and wanting people to follow those actions, your actions are nothing more than a by-product of what is really in your heart.
The word of God tells us that as a man so thinketh in his heart so he is.
How important are actions,
They are very important and the reason that they are important is because in human relationships actions either strengthen or destroy, but in the realm of the spirit God looks beyond your actions and sees the motive of your heart which is the result of your actions.
1 Cor 13:3
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
How radical can you get?
The scripture is very clear, your actions are not the real thing that God looks at, and your actions are not the determining thing that will move God,
Once again, actions are nothing more than the by product of your attitude and personality and how you really are in your heart.
When you are trying to please God in your actions and in your performance you are always going to fail.
Why
Because flesh can not please God
1 Cor 1:29
That no flesh should glory in his presence.
The standard of perfection in the sight of Almighty God is His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, only He is the lamb that was slain from the foundations of the world, and only He is the righteousness of the Father.
Heb 6:1
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
And because of Him we have been accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:6
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Because He made provision for me, because He pitied me, because I was lost and helpless in my condition, because I was a sinner, but now I am accepted in the in beloved and because I am accepted in the beloved I please God.
I can not tell you what that would do for your Christian walk if you understood that you are pleasing to God.
You ought to go buy some sweatshirts and place your church on the back and on the front I PLEASE GOD.
I can not tell you how many people would be offended and would consider you arrogant and prideful and the reason that this bold statement is not and can not be accepted within the realms of the church is because of one reason and that reason is performance.
The church needs to get to the place where they have a relationship with God based on what God has done for them instead of what they are doing for God,
Everything that could ever be done for you to have and to obtain salvation and favor has already been done.
There is nothing that you can do to earn; there is nothing that you can do to justify what you already have, the reason that you please God is because of what He has already done for you and by the way, the faith that He has given you is the same faith by which you please Him.
The only thing left for you to do is to accept it, believe it and walk in it.
By His faith,
Who is the author and finisher of your faith, it is the Lord Jesus Christ, the same faith that He is the author and finisher of is the same faith that He gave to you and it is through that faith that you please God and all that you have to do is to believe it
God loves you because God is love and not because you are lovely.
He has extended salvation unto you and all that you have to do is humbly accept it and if you will accept it you will become pleasing to the Father
Heb 11:5
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Follow me,
Here is a man that was translated that he should not see death, he was a man who was taken from the face of this earth, he was translated by God or in other words God took him
Why was he taken?
Because he pleased God, he had this testimony that he was pleasing to God.
What is a testimony?
It is something that you tell to others
What did he tell to others?
That he pleased God
How could he have this testimony that he pleased God when in the Old Testament the sacrifice of bulls and lambs or in other words performance could not satisfy God?
That is why there would be a better way, the way of Jesus Christ, the way of faith in accepting Jesus Christ and here in the Old Testament we see Enoch pleasing God
How?
By faith
And it so pleased God that he was not found because God took him
Glory
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Now follow me
Two men were translated and did not die in the old Testament Enoch was one and the other was Elijah.
IKing 19:1
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.
And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
Now get this
Here is a man who is running from Jezebel fearing for his life, he is depressed, he is weary from fighting the good fight of faith against the evil works of king Ahab and Jezebel
Listen to him in verse 10
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
Here is a man who has heard an audible voice from the Lord telling him what to do
VERSE 11
And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
But what does Elijah do, he immediately goes and anoints Elisha.
Why?
Because he is tired, he is ready to give up, he felt that he was the only one left, he was discouraged and disappointed with himself.
He was ready to get out and ready to give up so he went to Elisha first when he was told by the Lord to go to him last,
He never did anoint Hazael to be king over Syria and he never did anoint Jehu to be king over Israel.
Two/thirds of what God told him to do he did not do because of discouragement and disappointment.
Elisha the successor of Elijah would be the one to do those two things not Elijah the one who was commanded to do them.
And yet here is a man who pleased God
How do I know that he pleased God?
Because the same translation that took place with Enoch took place with Elijah
II Ki 2:11
And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
I want to tell you something and this will mess with people’s theology,
Elijah pleased God when he failed miserably, Elijah pleased God when he did not get done what God wanted him to do, Elijah pleased God when he was discouraged and disappointed and Elijah pleased God when he wanted God to take his life
Why was God pleased?
It is faith that pleases God and not performance.
This ought to impact your life,
None of us please God by our actions; we please God by our faith.
Heb 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
The title that I am using in my posting speaks of the immanent destruction that can take place if spiritual truths are not grasped by the child of God,
What I want to share with you I believe is going to help you in your receiving from the Lord.
Look at the scripture again,
that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
Listen to Paul,
As we have taught you and instructed you as how to walk and please God, the reason that we have done this is so you can abound more and more.
I believe that this is the universal heart cry of every born again child of God, teach me how to walk and please you Lord, show me how to walk and please you, instruct me, chastise me, lead me and guide me until I know and walk in the realms of pleasing you.
We all desire to hear these words spoken to us by the Lord in
Matt 25:21
Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
And yet how many of us do not feel that we are walking and pleasing God, how many of us feel inadequate, how many of us feel that we are insufficient and lacking when it comes to walking and pleasing the Lord.
And I need to tell you that these feelings are a recipe for disaster, they are destructive and they will ultimately rob you of all that you are and all that you do for Christ.
This is the place where condemnation is birthed in our life, this is where dissatisfaction and low self esteem is birthed into our lives when we desire to walk and please and then do not believe that we are able to do it.
I will say it again
All of us desire to walk and please God and yet very few of us really believe that we are walking and pleasing God
Now hear me because I am going to say something very radical,
I believe that there is such a disparity between the desire to please God and the feelings that we are pleasing God and I believe that it originates from and is produced from religion.
Religion is always a misrepresentation of God unless that religion is pure and undefiled before God.
James 1:27
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
I wonder if God’s people understand that being a Christian is not about you reaching out to God but rather it is God reaching out to you.
There are many religions who reach out to God and every one of them misrepresent God in some way or another, religion has its own opinions, its own rules and regulations, its own standards and it will create in you a false set of standards that we prefer to call holy,
And in those false standards we have been given falsehoods of what God is seeking and looking for in the midst of those He calls His own.
What is it that God is looking for in the child of the living God?
What is it that pleases God when He looks upon us and sees us as His children?
How is it that we are to walk?
How is it that we are to please him whom we have given our lives to?
Here are some things that immediately come to mind as to how religion says that we are to please him.
#1 you must live holy
#2 you must be free from sin in your life
#3 you need to treat your spouse well and treat other people with kindness
#4 you must help those in need
But allow me to show you something in scripture
Heb 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
It is faith that pleases God and not your performance, good works or presentation; it is your faith and believing that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who are diligently seeking Him.
Religion does not preach this in fact many churches who proclaim to be Christian do not preach this, their message is that if you do right, if your actions are right God will accept you,
That is not the gospel of the New Testament.
Do we really have understanding as to the group of people who persecuted Christ?
It was not the unbeliever, and it was not the heathen, it was the religious crowd.
Pilate was willing to let Him go, Pilates wife had received a dream from God and sent a messenger to tell her husband to have nothing to do with this just man,
It was the religious system that crucified Christ
Yes the Roman government sent Him to the cross but only because they were manipulated by Jewish leaders.
Jesus came preaching that God loves you, Jesus came preaching that God will accept you through faith through His beloved Son and you would be fully redeemed and justified in faith in Him and it would usher you into right standing with God,
And it upset the religious system of that day as it upsets the religious system of this day.
The religious people always want to deal with the outward things but God desires to deal with the inward things.
Listen to me
Deal with the inward things and it will take care of the outward things.
Listen to the Lord in
Matt 23:25-28
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
It is this system that killed Christ the Messiah and the one question that should be paramount within the body of Christ today is how much of that system, how much opinion and self righteousness and pleasing comes into play within the body of Christ today that was prevalent at the time of Christ, how much of the religious system that killed Christ is present within this body of Christ today, how much of the religious system that Christ hated and rejected and verbally called devils and hypercritics abides and lives within us.
The things that were prevalent then are prevalent now and the things that took place then are taking place now.
The same spirit that existed when Christ took a whip and drove the money changers from the temple, that same spirit exists within many of our churches today.
That same spirit of performance and competition, the same spirit of grievous offences, the same spirit of killing our own that was present in that day is still present in this day and I believe that we need to take a good look to see how much of that same spirit is still present within the body of Christ today.
Matt 5:20
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
One of the religious problems that the Pharisees and Sadducees had was that they were constantly looking on the outside and they desired others to view them from the outside.
Listen to Jesus in,
Matt 23:25-26
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
And what this really amounts to is people taking notice of your actions and wanting people to follow those actions, your actions are nothing more than a by-product of what is really in your heart.
The word of God tells us that as a man so thinketh in his heart so he is.
How important are actions,
They are very important and the reason that they are important is because in human relationships actions either strengthen or destroy, but in the realm of the spirit God looks beyond your actions and sees the motive of your heart which is the result of your actions.
1 Cor 13:3
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
How radical can you get?
The scripture is very clear, your actions are not the real thing that God looks at, and your actions are not the determining thing that will move God,
Once again, actions are nothing more than the by product of your attitude and personality and how you really are in your heart.
When you are trying to please God in your actions and in your performance you are always going to fail.
Why
Because flesh can not please God
1 Cor 1:29
That no flesh should glory in his presence.
The standard of perfection in the sight of Almighty God is His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, only He is the lamb that was slain from the foundations of the world, and only He is the righteousness of the Father.
Heb 6:1
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
And because of Him we have been accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:6
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Because He made provision for me, because He pitied me, because I was lost and helpless in my condition, because I was a sinner, but now I am accepted in the in beloved and because I am accepted in the beloved I please God.
I can not tell you what that would do for your Christian walk if you understood that you are pleasing to God.
You ought to go buy some sweatshirts and place your church on the back and on the front I PLEASE GOD.
I can not tell you how many people would be offended and would consider you arrogant and prideful and the reason that this bold statement is not and can not be accepted within the realms of the church is because of one reason and that reason is performance.
The church needs to get to the place where they have a relationship with God based on what God has done for them instead of what they are doing for God,
Everything that could ever be done for you to have and to obtain salvation and favor has already been done.
There is nothing that you can do to earn; there is nothing that you can do to justify what you already have, the reason that you please God is because of what He has already done for you and by the way, the faith that He has given you is the same faith by which you please Him.
The only thing left for you to do is to accept it, believe it and walk in it.
By His faith,
Who is the author and finisher of your faith, it is the Lord Jesus Christ, the same faith that He is the author and finisher of is the same faith that He gave to you and it is through that faith that you please God and all that you have to do is to believe it
God loves you because God is love and not because you are lovely.
He has extended salvation unto you and all that you have to do is humbly accept it and if you will accept it you will become pleasing to the Father
Heb 11:5
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Follow me,
Here is a man that was translated that he should not see death, he was a man who was taken from the face of this earth, he was translated by God or in other words God took him
Why was he taken?
Because he pleased God, he had this testimony that he was pleasing to God.
What is a testimony?
It is something that you tell to others
What did he tell to others?
That he pleased God
How could he have this testimony that he pleased God when in the Old Testament the sacrifice of bulls and lambs or in other words performance could not satisfy God?
That is why there would be a better way, the way of Jesus Christ, the way of faith in accepting Jesus Christ and here in the Old Testament we see Enoch pleasing God
How?
By faith
And it so pleased God that he was not found because God took him
Glory
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Now follow me
Two men were translated and did not die in the old Testament Enoch was one and the other was Elijah.
IKing 19:1
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.
And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
Now get this
Here is a man who is running from Jezebel fearing for his life, he is depressed, he is weary from fighting the good fight of faith against the evil works of king Ahab and Jezebel
Listen to him in verse 10
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
Here is a man who has heard an audible voice from the Lord telling him what to do
VERSE 11
And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
But what does Elijah do, he immediately goes and anoints Elisha.
Why?
Because he is tired, he is ready to give up, he felt that he was the only one left, he was discouraged and disappointed with himself.
He was ready to get out and ready to give up so he went to Elisha first when he was told by the Lord to go to him last,
He never did anoint Hazael to be king over Syria and he never did anoint Jehu to be king over Israel.
Two/thirds of what God told him to do he did not do because of discouragement and disappointment.
Elisha the successor of Elijah would be the one to do those two things not Elijah the one who was commanded to do them.
And yet here is a man who pleased God
How do I know that he pleased God?
Because the same translation that took place with Enoch took place with Elijah
II Ki 2:11
And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
I want to tell you something and this will mess with people’s theology,
Elijah pleased God when he failed miserably, Elijah pleased God when he did not get done what God wanted him to do, Elijah pleased God when he was discouraged and disappointed and Elijah pleased God when he wanted God to take his life
Why was God pleased?
It is faith that pleases God and not performance.
This ought to impact your life,
None of us please God by our actions; we please God by our faith.
Heb 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Friday, February 12, 2010
FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS
Col 1:27
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
We as children of God live in a time of great light and revelation.
The wonderful and marvelous Holy Ghost has revealed unto us the powerful meaning of the work of Jesus Christ that took place upon the cross.
Revelation has been brought to many concerning the incredible blessings that are involved in being in Christ because of His great work on the cross and yet in the midst of bountiful teachings and blessings concerning the victory of Christ at the cross, many children of God still do not understand the important aspects of His work as it pertains to us.
And that revelation is being in Christ.
Here is the reality of being in Christ, being in Christ is the only foundation upon which true holiness and righteousness can be attained.
Eph 4:24
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Without this foundation we rely only on our flesh, on our church, in our goodness, we rely on our deeds to produce within us some kind, some form of holiness within ourselves.
But the truth of the word of God is that the righteousness of man is as filthy rags and true holiness can be only attained through knowing the riches of God in Jesus Christ.
And we being in Him makes us holy
For if the first fruit is holy then the lump is holy and if the root is holy then the branches are holy as well.
Rom 11:16
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Look at
Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
In this place of holiness through Christ and being in Christ, grace begins to teach us how to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world that we live in.
Grace teaches us how to deny ungodliness, worldly lusts, carnality and attitudes of the flesh.
This teaching can not be attained by any kind of works; it can not be attained through the flesh, through the church, seminars or conferences it can only be taught by the grace of God.
What I desire in this writing is for the Holy Spirit to open your eyes concerning the incredible blessings and privileges of being in Christ.
Let me show you something,
Isa 42:1-4
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Who is this one that God upholds and delights in?
The answer is found in
Matt 3:16-17
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
The Hebrew word for well pleased is delight and what God is saying is that His soul delights in His Son Jesus Christ.
Throughout the Old Testament untold numbers of sheep and cattle and goats we’re offered to God as a sacrifice, rivers of blood flowed for centuries from the slaughter of these animals and yet none of these brought pleasure and delight to the Lord.
Heb 10:4-7
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
NOW LOOK AT VERSE 7
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to do what no animal sacrifice could ever do
LOOK AT VERSE 5 AGAIN,
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
God almighty prepared a physical body for Jesus Christ here on this earth that would provide the final perfect sacrifice, in other words God abased himself for you and for me, He encased himself in a human womb and He took on our nature so we could take on His.
He gave up the riches of heaven to become poor like us so that we could become rich like Him
What was the plan for the redemption of fallen man, what was the plan to reconcile fallen and sinful man back into the graces of Almighty God
God was to send forth His Son as a deliverer, after His Son would be crucified, after He would die and be buried, He would rise from the dead and stand before God in all His glory and He would be the one that we would recognize as the only mediator between God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ
1 Tim 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
So Christ would be the one and only sacrificial lamb and it would be Him who would gather up in Himself all who have been severed and would reconcile man back to the Father through His blood.
1 Pet 3:18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Now follow me again to,
Heb 10:5
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
When the Lord said a body thou hast prepared for me, He not only was speaking about a physical body that would be the Pascal lamb, the perfect sacrifice, but He was also speaking about a spiritual body that was being prepared and it would be a body that would consist of every one who would believe in Him
Eph 1:17
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
VERSE 22-23
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
THERE IS ONE BODY
Eph 4:4
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 5:30
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Hear me,
There is a physical man in heaven and He is Jesus Christ, the begotten Son of Almighty God but by the world He is not seen physically.
Here are the facts,
We are members of the body of Christ here on earth; the only Jesus this world will ever see is going to be through us until He returns,
Jesus Christ is the firstborn of a new humanity.
The first Adam fell and plunged the entire human race into sin and separation from Almighty God, the second Adam came to bring reconciliation back to the father and begin a new humanity.
Col 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
So in this place of being in Him, in this place of being reconciled back to the Father and walking in this new humanity, how is it possible to stand before an Almighty God and be holy.
I believe this question is pondered and asked more than any other question how is it possible to stand in the presence of a holy God, how it is possible to stand in the presence of a holy God and be ye holy as He is holy.
I know from experience that we as children of God are constantly trying to win approval, constantly striving to be good; constantly searching for things that will please God and the same things that we search for are the same things that Israel searched for in the Old Testament.
Listen to,
Micah 6:6
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Listen to the cry of God’s people,
How shall I come before the Lord, with what shall I bow before Him,
Shall I come with burnt offerings, shall I bring a calf that is a year old,
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams?
Will the Lord be pleased with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my first born for my transgression, shall I give the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.
Their question was very valid,
They wanted to know how they as frail human beings could ever approach God, how they could ever please God and be accepted by that same God.
And the same answer over and over and over again in scripture is God telling man,
I will not accept your sacrifices, I will not accept your good works, I will not accept your promises or your morally good deeds, for none of these things are acceptable in My sight.
No fleshly thing will ever please Him; no sacrifice outside of His Son will ever please Him,
Nothing will ever please the Father but His Son and only those in His Son will be acceptable to the Father because they have been gathered by Him.
SO HOW ARE WE ACCEPTED
Eph 1:6
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
He has made us accepted in the beloved and we are only accepted as we are in the beloved.
Claim whatever church you want to claim, belong to whatever church you want to belong to but the fact is this
You are only accepted by God the Father as you are accepted in the beloved.
1 Pet 2:5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Phil 3:9
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
You want good works to count, they only count and bring forth results from being in Him.
Eph 1:10
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Notice the scripture
EVEN IN HIM;
Eph 2:18
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
We have access by one spirit unto the Father.
You do not have to tell me but I already know the thoughts that many of you have had at one time or another and there communication goes something like this, how can I stand before God with all of my failures, all my sins, how can I stand before God and Him find pleasure in me.
How can I ever please Him, how will I ever be accepted by Him, I’ve made promises that I have not kept, I have failed in so attempts to please Him,
Every time that I believe that I am making progress something happens and I take one step forward and two steps back.
These are the thoughts that all of us have had and these are the thoughts that keep many of us bound.
God does not want your sacrifices or good works outside of His Son
He is only pleased in His Son and has chosen you from the foundation of the world to be wed to Him.
Listen to the word of God,
Isa 42:1
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Who is the servant in whom I delight?
It is the Lord Jesus Christ
Who is the body of the Christ?
We are.
How can God dislike His own flesh, if He delights in His Son?
He delights in his wife, in His bride
Listen to the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ
John 17:10
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
VERSE:26
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Listen to Jesus in,
John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Tell me beloved,
How hard are you striving to please God, do you go through times where you are very pleased with what you are doing and feel that you are a delight to Him and then at other times you feel as if you are displeasing Him.
Beloved you had better get the facts straight,
The fact is that God’s pleasure in you has nothing to do with your strivings, your intensity or your good intentions or actions.
God’s pleasure in you has to it with His Son and your faith in what His Son has done.
It’s called like precious faith.
2 Pet 1:1
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
What is like precious faith?
It is a focused faith that is centered and focused on one principle
If you wish to stand holy before the Father you must stand on holy ground and that holy ground is in Christ.
Heb 3:12
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
This is an issue of faith and believing.
And when we move away from the foundational doctrine of being accepted by God by being in Christ we depart from the Lord,
When we doubt and disbelieve that which is foundational we stand in a place of confusion and uncertainty
The flesh, the law, religion, it’s all a part of spiritual bondage.
The evidence of faith is rest,
Heb 4:3
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
VERSE:10
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
The only way that you can bring your striving, sweating, troubled soul into peace is to convince yourself that you are in Christ and it is in Him that you are accepted of the Father and pleasing to Him.
Regardless of whether you are up or down, regardless of whether you feel like it or not, if you are in Christ then you are accepted of the Father and you sit in heavenly places and the only thing left is for you to convince you’re self of that revelation.
CHRIST IN YOU
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
We as children of God live in a time of great light and revelation.
The wonderful and marvelous Holy Ghost has revealed unto us the powerful meaning of the work of Jesus Christ that took place upon the cross.
Revelation has been brought to many concerning the incredible blessings that are involved in being in Christ because of His great work on the cross and yet in the midst of bountiful teachings and blessings concerning the victory of Christ at the cross, many children of God still do not understand the important aspects of His work as it pertains to us.
And that revelation is being in Christ.
Here is the reality of being in Christ, being in Christ is the only foundation upon which true holiness and righteousness can be attained.
Eph 4:24
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Without this foundation we rely only on our flesh, on our church, in our goodness, we rely on our deeds to produce within us some kind, some form of holiness within ourselves.
But the truth of the word of God is that the righteousness of man is as filthy rags and true holiness can be only attained through knowing the riches of God in Jesus Christ.
And we being in Him makes us holy
For if the first fruit is holy then the lump is holy and if the root is holy then the branches are holy as well.
Rom 11:16
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Look at
Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
In this place of holiness through Christ and being in Christ, grace begins to teach us how to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world that we live in.
Grace teaches us how to deny ungodliness, worldly lusts, carnality and attitudes of the flesh.
This teaching can not be attained by any kind of works; it can not be attained through the flesh, through the church, seminars or conferences it can only be taught by the grace of God.
What I desire in this writing is for the Holy Spirit to open your eyes concerning the incredible blessings and privileges of being in Christ.
Let me show you something,
Isa 42:1-4
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Who is this one that God upholds and delights in?
The answer is found in
Matt 3:16-17
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
The Hebrew word for well pleased is delight and what God is saying is that His soul delights in His Son Jesus Christ.
Throughout the Old Testament untold numbers of sheep and cattle and goats we’re offered to God as a sacrifice, rivers of blood flowed for centuries from the slaughter of these animals and yet none of these brought pleasure and delight to the Lord.
Heb 10:4-7
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
NOW LOOK AT VERSE 7
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to do what no animal sacrifice could ever do
LOOK AT VERSE 5 AGAIN,
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
God almighty prepared a physical body for Jesus Christ here on this earth that would provide the final perfect sacrifice, in other words God abased himself for you and for me, He encased himself in a human womb and He took on our nature so we could take on His.
He gave up the riches of heaven to become poor like us so that we could become rich like Him
What was the plan for the redemption of fallen man, what was the plan to reconcile fallen and sinful man back into the graces of Almighty God
God was to send forth His Son as a deliverer, after His Son would be crucified, after He would die and be buried, He would rise from the dead and stand before God in all His glory and He would be the one that we would recognize as the only mediator between God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ
1 Tim 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
So Christ would be the one and only sacrificial lamb and it would be Him who would gather up in Himself all who have been severed and would reconcile man back to the Father through His blood.
1 Pet 3:18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Now follow me again to,
Heb 10:5
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
When the Lord said a body thou hast prepared for me, He not only was speaking about a physical body that would be the Pascal lamb, the perfect sacrifice, but He was also speaking about a spiritual body that was being prepared and it would be a body that would consist of every one who would believe in Him
Eph 1:17
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
VERSE 22-23
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
THERE IS ONE BODY
Eph 4:4
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 5:30
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Hear me,
There is a physical man in heaven and He is Jesus Christ, the begotten Son of Almighty God but by the world He is not seen physically.
Here are the facts,
We are members of the body of Christ here on earth; the only Jesus this world will ever see is going to be through us until He returns,
Jesus Christ is the firstborn of a new humanity.
The first Adam fell and plunged the entire human race into sin and separation from Almighty God, the second Adam came to bring reconciliation back to the father and begin a new humanity.
Col 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
So in this place of being in Him, in this place of being reconciled back to the Father and walking in this new humanity, how is it possible to stand before an Almighty God and be holy.
I believe this question is pondered and asked more than any other question how is it possible to stand in the presence of a holy God, how it is possible to stand in the presence of a holy God and be ye holy as He is holy.
I know from experience that we as children of God are constantly trying to win approval, constantly striving to be good; constantly searching for things that will please God and the same things that we search for are the same things that Israel searched for in the Old Testament.
Listen to,
Micah 6:6
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Listen to the cry of God’s people,
How shall I come before the Lord, with what shall I bow before Him,
Shall I come with burnt offerings, shall I bring a calf that is a year old,
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams?
Will the Lord be pleased with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my first born for my transgression, shall I give the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.
Their question was very valid,
They wanted to know how they as frail human beings could ever approach God, how they could ever please God and be accepted by that same God.
And the same answer over and over and over again in scripture is God telling man,
I will not accept your sacrifices, I will not accept your good works, I will not accept your promises or your morally good deeds, for none of these things are acceptable in My sight.
No fleshly thing will ever please Him; no sacrifice outside of His Son will ever please Him,
Nothing will ever please the Father but His Son and only those in His Son will be acceptable to the Father because they have been gathered by Him.
SO HOW ARE WE ACCEPTED
Eph 1:6
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
He has made us accepted in the beloved and we are only accepted as we are in the beloved.
Claim whatever church you want to claim, belong to whatever church you want to belong to but the fact is this
You are only accepted by God the Father as you are accepted in the beloved.
1 Pet 2:5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Phil 3:9
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
You want good works to count, they only count and bring forth results from being in Him.
Eph 1:10
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Notice the scripture
EVEN IN HIM;
Eph 2:18
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
We have access by one spirit unto the Father.
You do not have to tell me but I already know the thoughts that many of you have had at one time or another and there communication goes something like this, how can I stand before God with all of my failures, all my sins, how can I stand before God and Him find pleasure in me.
How can I ever please Him, how will I ever be accepted by Him, I’ve made promises that I have not kept, I have failed in so attempts to please Him,
Every time that I believe that I am making progress something happens and I take one step forward and two steps back.
These are the thoughts that all of us have had and these are the thoughts that keep many of us bound.
God does not want your sacrifices or good works outside of His Son
He is only pleased in His Son and has chosen you from the foundation of the world to be wed to Him.
Listen to the word of God,
Isa 42:1
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Who is the servant in whom I delight?
It is the Lord Jesus Christ
Who is the body of the Christ?
We are.
How can God dislike His own flesh, if He delights in His Son?
He delights in his wife, in His bride
Listen to the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ
John 17:10
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
VERSE:26
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Listen to Jesus in,
John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Tell me beloved,
How hard are you striving to please God, do you go through times where you are very pleased with what you are doing and feel that you are a delight to Him and then at other times you feel as if you are displeasing Him.
Beloved you had better get the facts straight,
The fact is that God’s pleasure in you has nothing to do with your strivings, your intensity or your good intentions or actions.
God’s pleasure in you has to it with His Son and your faith in what His Son has done.
It’s called like precious faith.
2 Pet 1:1
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
What is like precious faith?
It is a focused faith that is centered and focused on one principle
If you wish to stand holy before the Father you must stand on holy ground and that holy ground is in Christ.
Heb 3:12
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
This is an issue of faith and believing.
And when we move away from the foundational doctrine of being accepted by God by being in Christ we depart from the Lord,
When we doubt and disbelieve that which is foundational we stand in a place of confusion and uncertainty
The flesh, the law, religion, it’s all a part of spiritual bondage.
The evidence of faith is rest,
Heb 4:3
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
VERSE:10
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
The only way that you can bring your striving, sweating, troubled soul into peace is to convince yourself that you are in Christ and it is in Him that you are accepted of the Father and pleasing to Him.
Regardless of whether you are up or down, regardless of whether you feel like it or not, if you are in Christ then you are accepted of the Father and you sit in heavenly places and the only thing left is for you to convince you’re self of that revelation.
CHRIST IN YOU
Thursday, February 4, 2010
THE THREE CATAGORIES OF ANXIETY
In my previous writing The Consequences of Anxiety I shared with you the consequences and the cost that anxiety will have in your life if you allow it to rob you and deprive you of the peace that Christ has given to you,
Before you can walk in victory over anxiety there are things that you need to understand concerning anxiety.
There are three different categories of anxiety that the devil uses to bring about defeat in your life and rob you of your inheritance (peace) that Christ has given to you.
Look at
Ps 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Scripture tells us that the afflictions of the righteous are many, that there are many tribulations and trials that we must go through to enter into the kingdom of heaven
Acts 14:22
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
2 Tim 3:12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Even though there are many evils that confront the righteous there are only three main categories of anxiety and I believe that we need understanding concerning these three categories, we need to recognize the severity of the destruction that lies within them, and we need to become hearers and doers of His word, instructed so that we are able to gain victory, and if we do not come into the understanding of these three categories of anxiety they will continually drag us into tension, into worry and depression and there is no way that we are going to be able to become over comers concerning the things of this life if we have no understanding concerning the battle that we are fighting.
Rom 8:7-8
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
1 Cor 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 Cor 10:4
(for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
The reason that I have quoted these scriptures is so that you might have understanding concerning the severity of these elements called carnality,
Carnality is walking in your own strength and functioning in the realms of flesh that has been produced by the fall of flesh.
I have said all of that to say that the three categories of anxiety deal exclusively with the manifestation of the flesh and these three categories of anxiety are going to bring you defeat, they are going to continually drag you down and bring you back to the lowest denominator which is your flesh,
Make no mistakes about it, if you deal in the manifestations of the flesh, it is the flesh from which you will be operating from.
The reason that I am bringing you these three categories of anxiety is so that we can be taught to show ourselves approved concerning the word of God to become over comers by that same word of God
Rom 4:16
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
#1 THE FIRST CATEGORY OF ANXIETY THAT THE DEVIL USES IS THE PAST AND THE FUTURE.
Eccl 5:1
Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
Once again allow me to read this to you in another version for the sake of understanding,
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
Allow me to remind you again what anxiety is, it is leaving the place where you are to go to the place of your past or your future.
The past and the future are the only two things that the devil can give you as a child of God, he can remind you of your past and make you dread your future.
What do I mean by that statement,
Concerning your past he will continually remind you of your past mistakes, your past failures, your broken relationships and he will continually remind you of all the terrible things that have taken place in your life.
Concerning your future the only thing that devil can offer you is uncertainty, to worry and to have anxiety about whether things are going to work out in your life because of the things that have taken place in your past.
Hebrews 11: 1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The kind of faith that we need as children of God is now faith and I need to say also that the kind of people that God wants you and I to be is now people,
We are not to be a people who are tied to the past nor bound by the future.
That is why the scriptures tell us over and over again about today
Ps 118:24
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
2 Cor 6:2
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Heb 3:7
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Heb 3:15
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Heb 4:7-9
Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Today--- Today--- Today, we are to be people of today, we spend too much time in the past and we spend too much time deliberating about the future.
We need to live now, now physically, now mentally and now spiritually.
Now faith is for a now people who are living in the present, who are dealing with things in the present, who are ministering in the present and who are dealing with things presently in there lives.
Christ lives within the present,
Today if thou will hearken, today if thou wilt hear His voice, today is the day of salvation, today there is a day of rest.
Why must we live today?
Why must we live now?
Because the past only gives us reference to the things that are gone and the future only gives us reference to things that do not as yet affect us.
Matt 6:34
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Listen to the scripture,
Take no thought for tomorrow, for the tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.
So what does the Lord tell us concerning this category of anxiety the past and the future?
Matt 6:25-34
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feuded them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
The scripture tells us explicitly that we are not to worry or to be concerned about tomorrow and we are not to be bound by the afflictions and the turbulence of the past.
We need to concentrate on today because today will never happen again.
The word of God tells us that we are to be accountable and responsible for our lives but we are not to take on the care of our lives.
1 Pet 5:7
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Ps 55:22
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
#2 THE SECOND CATEGORY OF ANXIETY THAT THE DEVILS USES IS CONFRONTATIONS AND CONVERSATIONS
Mark 13:9-11
But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
In this passage of scripture Christ is warning His disciples that when they go out into the world to preach the gospel as He has commanded them to do, they are going to run into opposition, they are going to run into conflict and hostilities.
He is preparing them to face confrontations and conversations and He is telling them that they will be brought before governors and kings for his sake as a testimony against them.
Now as Christ finishes His remarks to His disciples listen to what He tells them in VERSE 11
But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost
Take no thought as to what you are going to speak, do not think, premeditate or practice what you are going to say before hand, do not meditate on what you would like to say or what you want to say because if you do it will not be the Holy Spirit speaking on your behalf but your flesh.
I wonder how many of have mentally rehearsed what we would like to say to people if we had the opportunity, I wonder how many of us have practiced the responses that we would like to give to those who have given us opposition, to those who have brought on persecution and to those who have caused us difficult times.
How many times have we practiced a conversation concerning a raise that we thought we deserved, how many times have we practiced a conversation that we want to have with spouse, our relatives, a friend, a enemy, the Pastor.
Why do we practice?
Why do we mentally rehearse what we would like to say?
And why is there anxiety and tension involved in confrontation and conversation?
I will tell you why?
Because we believe that the outcome of the conversation and confrontation depends solely on our ability to present our need rather than the Holy Ghost and His ability to present it for us.
You see if we as children of God are confident that we are operating in the word of God and have that same assurance as to our obedience to the will of God, then we do not have to be nervous, worried or anxious about what we have to say to others.
There is no question that we need to be prepared, but if we need to rehearse, if we need to continually go over what we are going to say, it is a good indication that we are not trusting in the unction and in the anointing of the Holy Ghost but rather in ourselves.
What we need to do is to ask the Lord to give us favor to whom ever we are going to speak and to be confident that whatever the results of that conversation or confrontation is then it is the will of God and the results will work out for the best to all concerned.
Rom 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
If we as children of God are to have victory in this second category of anxiety Ephesians chapter 4 verse one and two needs to be in our lives.
Eph 4:1-3
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
#3 THE THIRD CATEGORY OF ANXIETY THAT THE DEVIL USES IS DUTIES AND OBLIGATIONS
Luke 10:38-42
Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Here we have two sisters and the place that each occupies according to scripture.
#1 First there is Martha,
Luke 10:40-42
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
You see the picture, Martha is upset and distracted and the reason that she is upset and distracted is because she is overly occupied and busy.
How many times has anxiety come into your life simply because of obligations, duties and schedules that must be done that day?
Now let me address a few things here,
I am a very busy person with a very busy schedule but when obligations and duties bring us to the place of anxiety, bring us to the place where we have lost our joy and they thrust us into the place of tension, worry and tiredness then it is time to lighten up, simplify plans and enjoy life.
Let me give you some thing profound,
I wonder if the reason that we can not enjoy life is because we complicate it.
You see there are a lot of Martha’s around
Follow me,
Luke 10:38
Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
Martha hears that Jesus is in town and is coming to her house,
What does Martha do?
She begins to clean and scrub down the house she prepares a meal, she begins getting everything ready for His visit, It’s called the Martha syndrome.
A simply visit has turned into a major production and it is fast becoming a nightmare full of tension and stress.
Listen to Jesus as He speaks to Martha,
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha; thou art careful and troubled about many things:
That word careful means anxious, Martha you are anxious and troubled about many things.
How many such visits have been turned into major productions at your home?
How many obligations and duties have become anxious and troubling in your daily life?
The story is not over because there is another sister named Mary. Listen to Jesus.
Luke 10:42
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Let me read it to you in another version,
There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it-- and I won't take it away from her!"
Discover His peace and do not allow it to be taken from you
Choose the good part.
Before you can walk in victory over anxiety there are things that you need to understand concerning anxiety.
There are three different categories of anxiety that the devil uses to bring about defeat in your life and rob you of your inheritance (peace) that Christ has given to you.
Look at
Ps 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Scripture tells us that the afflictions of the righteous are many, that there are many tribulations and trials that we must go through to enter into the kingdom of heaven
Acts 14:22
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
2 Tim 3:12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Even though there are many evils that confront the righteous there are only three main categories of anxiety and I believe that we need understanding concerning these three categories, we need to recognize the severity of the destruction that lies within them, and we need to become hearers and doers of His word, instructed so that we are able to gain victory, and if we do not come into the understanding of these three categories of anxiety they will continually drag us into tension, into worry and depression and there is no way that we are going to be able to become over comers concerning the things of this life if we have no understanding concerning the battle that we are fighting.
Rom 8:7-8
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
1 Cor 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 Cor 10:4
(for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
The reason that I have quoted these scriptures is so that you might have understanding concerning the severity of these elements called carnality,
Carnality is walking in your own strength and functioning in the realms of flesh that has been produced by the fall of flesh.
I have said all of that to say that the three categories of anxiety deal exclusively with the manifestation of the flesh and these three categories of anxiety are going to bring you defeat, they are going to continually drag you down and bring you back to the lowest denominator which is your flesh,
Make no mistakes about it, if you deal in the manifestations of the flesh, it is the flesh from which you will be operating from.
The reason that I am bringing you these three categories of anxiety is so that we can be taught to show ourselves approved concerning the word of God to become over comers by that same word of God
Rom 4:16
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
#1 THE FIRST CATEGORY OF ANXIETY THAT THE DEVIL USES IS THE PAST AND THE FUTURE.
Eccl 5:1
Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
Once again allow me to read this to you in another version for the sake of understanding,
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
Allow me to remind you again what anxiety is, it is leaving the place where you are to go to the place of your past or your future.
The past and the future are the only two things that the devil can give you as a child of God, he can remind you of your past and make you dread your future.
What do I mean by that statement,
Concerning your past he will continually remind you of your past mistakes, your past failures, your broken relationships and he will continually remind you of all the terrible things that have taken place in your life.
Concerning your future the only thing that devil can offer you is uncertainty, to worry and to have anxiety about whether things are going to work out in your life because of the things that have taken place in your past.
Hebrews 11: 1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The kind of faith that we need as children of God is now faith and I need to say also that the kind of people that God wants you and I to be is now people,
We are not to be a people who are tied to the past nor bound by the future.
That is why the scriptures tell us over and over again about today
Ps 118:24
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
2 Cor 6:2
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Heb 3:7
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Heb 3:15
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Heb 4:7-9
Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Today--- Today--- Today, we are to be people of today, we spend too much time in the past and we spend too much time deliberating about the future.
We need to live now, now physically, now mentally and now spiritually.
Now faith is for a now people who are living in the present, who are dealing with things in the present, who are ministering in the present and who are dealing with things presently in there lives.
Christ lives within the present,
Today if thou will hearken, today if thou wilt hear His voice, today is the day of salvation, today there is a day of rest.
Why must we live today?
Why must we live now?
Because the past only gives us reference to the things that are gone and the future only gives us reference to things that do not as yet affect us.
Matt 6:34
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Listen to the scripture,
Take no thought for tomorrow, for the tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.
So what does the Lord tell us concerning this category of anxiety the past and the future?
Matt 6:25-34
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feuded them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
The scripture tells us explicitly that we are not to worry or to be concerned about tomorrow and we are not to be bound by the afflictions and the turbulence of the past.
We need to concentrate on today because today will never happen again.
The word of God tells us that we are to be accountable and responsible for our lives but we are not to take on the care of our lives.
1 Pet 5:7
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Ps 55:22
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
#2 THE SECOND CATEGORY OF ANXIETY THAT THE DEVILS USES IS CONFRONTATIONS AND CONVERSATIONS
Mark 13:9-11
But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
In this passage of scripture Christ is warning His disciples that when they go out into the world to preach the gospel as He has commanded them to do, they are going to run into opposition, they are going to run into conflict and hostilities.
He is preparing them to face confrontations and conversations and He is telling them that they will be brought before governors and kings for his sake as a testimony against them.
Now as Christ finishes His remarks to His disciples listen to what He tells them in VERSE 11
But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost
Take no thought as to what you are going to speak, do not think, premeditate or practice what you are going to say before hand, do not meditate on what you would like to say or what you want to say because if you do it will not be the Holy Spirit speaking on your behalf but your flesh.
I wonder how many of have mentally rehearsed what we would like to say to people if we had the opportunity, I wonder how many of us have practiced the responses that we would like to give to those who have given us opposition, to those who have brought on persecution and to those who have caused us difficult times.
How many times have we practiced a conversation concerning a raise that we thought we deserved, how many times have we practiced a conversation that we want to have with spouse, our relatives, a friend, a enemy, the Pastor.
Why do we practice?
Why do we mentally rehearse what we would like to say?
And why is there anxiety and tension involved in confrontation and conversation?
I will tell you why?
Because we believe that the outcome of the conversation and confrontation depends solely on our ability to present our need rather than the Holy Ghost and His ability to present it for us.
You see if we as children of God are confident that we are operating in the word of God and have that same assurance as to our obedience to the will of God, then we do not have to be nervous, worried or anxious about what we have to say to others.
There is no question that we need to be prepared, but if we need to rehearse, if we need to continually go over what we are going to say, it is a good indication that we are not trusting in the unction and in the anointing of the Holy Ghost but rather in ourselves.
What we need to do is to ask the Lord to give us favor to whom ever we are going to speak and to be confident that whatever the results of that conversation or confrontation is then it is the will of God and the results will work out for the best to all concerned.
Rom 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
If we as children of God are to have victory in this second category of anxiety Ephesians chapter 4 verse one and two needs to be in our lives.
Eph 4:1-3
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
#3 THE THIRD CATEGORY OF ANXIETY THAT THE DEVIL USES IS DUTIES AND OBLIGATIONS
Luke 10:38-42
Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Here we have two sisters and the place that each occupies according to scripture.
#1 First there is Martha,
Luke 10:40-42
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
You see the picture, Martha is upset and distracted and the reason that she is upset and distracted is because she is overly occupied and busy.
How many times has anxiety come into your life simply because of obligations, duties and schedules that must be done that day?
Now let me address a few things here,
I am a very busy person with a very busy schedule but when obligations and duties bring us to the place of anxiety, bring us to the place where we have lost our joy and they thrust us into the place of tension, worry and tiredness then it is time to lighten up, simplify plans and enjoy life.
Let me give you some thing profound,
I wonder if the reason that we can not enjoy life is because we complicate it.
You see there are a lot of Martha’s around
Follow me,
Luke 10:38
Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
Martha hears that Jesus is in town and is coming to her house,
What does Martha do?
She begins to clean and scrub down the house she prepares a meal, she begins getting everything ready for His visit, It’s called the Martha syndrome.
A simply visit has turned into a major production and it is fast becoming a nightmare full of tension and stress.
Listen to Jesus as He speaks to Martha,
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha; thou art careful and troubled about many things:
That word careful means anxious, Martha you are anxious and troubled about many things.
How many such visits have been turned into major productions at your home?
How many obligations and duties have become anxious and troubling in your daily life?
The story is not over because there is another sister named Mary. Listen to Jesus.
Luke 10:42
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Let me read it to you in another version,
There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it-- and I won't take it away from her!"
Discover His peace and do not allow it to be taken from you
Choose the good part.
Monday, February 1, 2010
THE CONSEQUENCES OF ANXIETY
Very few of Gods people have understanding concerning the consequences or the cost that is incurred when anxiety becomes a part of their lives; Webster’s dictionary’s defines anxiety as a state of uneasiness, a state of worry, abnormal fear that takes place without a specific cause or source.
Hear the word of God,
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
What does the word of God have to say about anxiety?
Prov 12:25
Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.
Let me read it to you in another version just for the sake of understanding,
An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.
Listen and take notes, an anxious heart brings heaviness to a person’s life.
Song 2:15
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Let me read this also in another version
Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.
Now allow me to ask you a question and please be honest, have the little foxes stolen your joy, have the little foxes stolen your peace, and is there a heaviness about you because of worry and anxiety.
Prov 15:15
All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
Allow me to read this to you as it should read in our modern day language,
All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil by anxious thoughts and forebodings but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast regardless of circumstances.
What does that word forebodings mean?
It means a feeling of impending evil, a feeling of dread, an anticipation of something going wrong.
What is the purpose of problems?
Problems are designed by the devil to keep you from enjoying life, to keep you having life and having it abundantly.
Satan does not create all problems; sometimes we create problems for our selves even when a problem did not exist.
Sometimes we as children of God make a big deal out of nothing and we make mountains out of molehills.
Here is tremendous advice to those who have an ear to hear, for the majority of most problems this is what you have to do, deal with them, forget them and go on.
How many times have you become upset over something that was just not worth getting upset about and the result was that the little foxes spoiled the vine and stole your vineyard that was in bloom.
Count up in just one day the things that upset you, count up in one week that things that upset you and because your life consists of one upset after another there is going to be very little time for joy or peace.
John 14:1
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Listen to the word of God, let not your heart be troubled, let not your heart be distressed, let not your heart be agitated, afraid or unsettled
John 14:27 again
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Again we hear the Lord telling us not to allow our hearts to be troubled, neither to let it be afraid, because He has given us His peace and He has left it with us.
Do we really understand what the Lord is saying here?
Stop being anxious, stop be fretful and stop worrying,
And the reason that He is telling us to stop is because we are the ones who have control on how we respond and how we react to those things that have a tendency to trouble us.
The Lord is saying to us,
You can choose trouble or you can choose peace, you can choose anxiety or you can choose calm, and you can even choose calm once you have started to become agitated.
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
The one who has overcome the world lives inside of you.
The one who has been victorious over every situation and every circumstance lives inside of you, the one who is triumphant lives inside of you and what He wants you to know and do is to be of good cheer or in other words cheer up.
The word of God tells us that persecution is going to come our way because of our stand for the word,
What are we to do?
CHEER UP
The bible tells us that we are going to have trials and tribulation,
So what are we to do?
CHEER UP
But Preacher you do not know what I have been going through, you do not know what has been taking place in my life,
CHEER UP He lives inside of you.
Isa 12:3
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
Hab 3:18
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
What are these scriptures telling us?
They are telling us to cheer up, they are telling us to enjoy life and the abundance of that life through the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are telling us to smile,
Be happy don’t worry
Believe me if I can lighten up anybody can lighten up, my nature and my personality has always been one of intensity, I come from a background of abuse and violence. it was in my home, it was what I lived and when Christ came into my life all of the pain and all of the hurts that I had experienced and lived with for 33 years we’re all there front and center
There was anxiety, anger, rage and all that was present when He came in,
There are a great many people who have anxiety because of deep emotional hurts, deep emotional bondage because of things that have happened in their past, and it is not an easy thing to rid yourself of bondages, shackles, and chains that do not want to be broken.
But if you will allow the Holy Spirit to take you through a step by step process that process will bring you into freedom.
So let’s deal with the purpose of anxiety.
What is the purpose behind anxiety?
The purpose behind anxiety is to bring tension and indifference, to such a degree that you are upset, jittery, jumpy, and defensive.
To be anxious is to be disquieted, disturbed and distracted.
Look at
1 Pet 3:4
But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
Let me read it to you again in another version,
but {let it be} the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
This scripture is directed at and is speaking to wives concerning being in subjection to there husbands, now since our wives are to be in subjection to there husbands and we as husbands are to
be in subjection to Christ then it goes without saying that this scriptures pertains to bothl of us, wives and husbands.
Hear the word of God,
Let it be the hidden person of the heart,
Who is the hidden person of the heart?
Col 3:3
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Now please take notice what the word of God tells us
but {let it be} the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
It is the gentle and quiet spirit that is precious in the sight of the Lord
James 3:13-18
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
So why is anxiety and worry and fear such a huge tool in the hands of the devil, because it robs us of all the good things that God has done for us, it robs us of the life and the abundance that He has given to us and it robs us of the intimate relationship that He desires that we walk in.
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The thief comes to steal, destroy and to kill the life that has been given abundantly to the children of the Redeemed.
I wonder how many reading this can identify with what I am about to say,
I was raised in the midst of abuse and violence and because of the abuse that I received, because of the lack of love and the misdirection of shallow love, everything was burdensome, every thing was tense and because of it many things were blown out of proportion.
I did not know how to love, I did not know how to relax, to trust nor to cast all my cares upon one, who would take care of me,
In my way of thinking if I could not depend on and trust my earthly Father, if I could not trust some one who I could see, then how was I to trust some one whom I could not see.
And because of the way that I was brought up it caused a lot of anxiety, distress and intensity that I carried on into my adult life and I had to learn,
Ps 118:24
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
I had to learn to rejoice and to rejoice in today,
Today is the day that the Lord has made, today is the day that I am to rejoice in, today is the day that has been given to me to rejoice, today I will rejoice in the revelation of victorious power.
If anyone is going to be mad---- let it be the devil because today is the day to rejoice and I will be glad in it.
Anxiety wants to steal your rejoicing.
Listen and learn,
Anxiety is caused by trying to mentally and emotionally get into things that have not yet arrived or things that have already been here,
In other words you trying to get into things that have not yet arrived or staying in things that have already been here.
Anxiety is leaving the place where you are to go to the place of the future or go to the place of the past.
Yes I know that there are many things to be anxious about, the world that we live in, things that are taking place around our lives, the things taking place with our families and with our children.
There are many things to be concerned and anxious about but our daily confession should be
This is the day that the lord has made i will rejoice and be glad in it
Phil 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Twice in this scripture we are told to rejoice, we are told not to worry, not to fret, not to be troubled or to have anxiety but to pray and to give thanks unto God in everything,
The word of God does not tell us to give thanks when everything is over but to give thanks in everything.
2 Cor 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Let me read this to you in another version,
All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.
So what this means is that there are stages or degrees of glory in which we are changed into his image and likeness in our spiritual walk,
So what we need to do is to learn how to enjoy each degree of spirituality that we are going through in our process of transformation and enjoy it to the fullest.
It is true that we are not yet where we need to be, but you need to thank God that you are not where you used to be and thank and praise Him for every stage in our development in the process as we draw near to Him.
True peace and joy comes from seeking Him, to seek and find Him brings forth pleasure and enjoyment and ensures going forth to the next level in our development.
To live in the fullness of joy in the Lord depends on finding something to be glad about besides our current situation and circumstances; to live in the fullness of joy in the Lord depends on finding that joy that comes from the inside and not the outside.
We must learn to not be anxious about anything but to rejoice and give thanks and praise God in everything.
When the devil wants to burden us down with anxiety and worry we must give it to God in prayer and in thankfulness, thanking Him for His protective power and His grace that keeps us.
To those who refuse to worry and be anxious He has promised them his peace and His presence.
Hear the word of God,
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
What does the word of God have to say about anxiety?
Prov 12:25
Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.
Let me read it to you in another version just for the sake of understanding,
An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.
Listen and take notes, an anxious heart brings heaviness to a person’s life.
Song 2:15
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Let me read this also in another version
Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.
Now allow me to ask you a question and please be honest, have the little foxes stolen your joy, have the little foxes stolen your peace, and is there a heaviness about you because of worry and anxiety.
Prov 15:15
All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
Allow me to read this to you as it should read in our modern day language,
All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil by anxious thoughts and forebodings but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast regardless of circumstances.
What does that word forebodings mean?
It means a feeling of impending evil, a feeling of dread, an anticipation of something going wrong.
What is the purpose of problems?
Problems are designed by the devil to keep you from enjoying life, to keep you having life and having it abundantly.
Satan does not create all problems; sometimes we create problems for our selves even when a problem did not exist.
Sometimes we as children of God make a big deal out of nothing and we make mountains out of molehills.
Here is tremendous advice to those who have an ear to hear, for the majority of most problems this is what you have to do, deal with them, forget them and go on.
How many times have you become upset over something that was just not worth getting upset about and the result was that the little foxes spoiled the vine and stole your vineyard that was in bloom.
Count up in just one day the things that upset you, count up in one week that things that upset you and because your life consists of one upset after another there is going to be very little time for joy or peace.
John 14:1
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Listen to the word of God, let not your heart be troubled, let not your heart be distressed, let not your heart be agitated, afraid or unsettled
John 14:27 again
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Again we hear the Lord telling us not to allow our hearts to be troubled, neither to let it be afraid, because He has given us His peace and He has left it with us.
Do we really understand what the Lord is saying here?
Stop being anxious, stop be fretful and stop worrying,
And the reason that He is telling us to stop is because we are the ones who have control on how we respond and how we react to those things that have a tendency to trouble us.
The Lord is saying to us,
You can choose trouble or you can choose peace, you can choose anxiety or you can choose calm, and you can even choose calm once you have started to become agitated.
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
The one who has overcome the world lives inside of you.
The one who has been victorious over every situation and every circumstance lives inside of you, the one who is triumphant lives inside of you and what He wants you to know and do is to be of good cheer or in other words cheer up.
The word of God tells us that persecution is going to come our way because of our stand for the word,
What are we to do?
CHEER UP
The bible tells us that we are going to have trials and tribulation,
So what are we to do?
CHEER UP
But Preacher you do not know what I have been going through, you do not know what has been taking place in my life,
CHEER UP He lives inside of you.
Isa 12:3
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
Hab 3:18
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
What are these scriptures telling us?
They are telling us to cheer up, they are telling us to enjoy life and the abundance of that life through the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are telling us to smile,
Be happy don’t worry
Believe me if I can lighten up anybody can lighten up, my nature and my personality has always been one of intensity, I come from a background of abuse and violence. it was in my home, it was what I lived and when Christ came into my life all of the pain and all of the hurts that I had experienced and lived with for 33 years we’re all there front and center
There was anxiety, anger, rage and all that was present when He came in,
There are a great many people who have anxiety because of deep emotional hurts, deep emotional bondage because of things that have happened in their past, and it is not an easy thing to rid yourself of bondages, shackles, and chains that do not want to be broken.
But if you will allow the Holy Spirit to take you through a step by step process that process will bring you into freedom.
So let’s deal with the purpose of anxiety.
What is the purpose behind anxiety?
The purpose behind anxiety is to bring tension and indifference, to such a degree that you are upset, jittery, jumpy, and defensive.
To be anxious is to be disquieted, disturbed and distracted.
Look at
1 Pet 3:4
But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
Let me read it to you again in another version,
but {let it be} the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
This scripture is directed at and is speaking to wives concerning being in subjection to there husbands, now since our wives are to be in subjection to there husbands and we as husbands are to
be in subjection to Christ then it goes without saying that this scriptures pertains to bothl of us, wives and husbands.
Hear the word of God,
Let it be the hidden person of the heart,
Who is the hidden person of the heart?
Col 3:3
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Now please take notice what the word of God tells us
but {let it be} the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
It is the gentle and quiet spirit that is precious in the sight of the Lord
James 3:13-18
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
So why is anxiety and worry and fear such a huge tool in the hands of the devil, because it robs us of all the good things that God has done for us, it robs us of the life and the abundance that He has given to us and it robs us of the intimate relationship that He desires that we walk in.
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The thief comes to steal, destroy and to kill the life that has been given abundantly to the children of the Redeemed.
I wonder how many reading this can identify with what I am about to say,
I was raised in the midst of abuse and violence and because of the abuse that I received, because of the lack of love and the misdirection of shallow love, everything was burdensome, every thing was tense and because of it many things were blown out of proportion.
I did not know how to love, I did not know how to relax, to trust nor to cast all my cares upon one, who would take care of me,
In my way of thinking if I could not depend on and trust my earthly Father, if I could not trust some one who I could see, then how was I to trust some one whom I could not see.
And because of the way that I was brought up it caused a lot of anxiety, distress and intensity that I carried on into my adult life and I had to learn,
Ps 118:24
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
I had to learn to rejoice and to rejoice in today,
Today is the day that the Lord has made, today is the day that I am to rejoice in, today is the day that has been given to me to rejoice, today I will rejoice in the revelation of victorious power.
If anyone is going to be mad---- let it be the devil because today is the day to rejoice and I will be glad in it.
Anxiety wants to steal your rejoicing.
Listen and learn,
Anxiety is caused by trying to mentally and emotionally get into things that have not yet arrived or things that have already been here,
In other words you trying to get into things that have not yet arrived or staying in things that have already been here.
Anxiety is leaving the place where you are to go to the place of the future or go to the place of the past.
Yes I know that there are many things to be anxious about, the world that we live in, things that are taking place around our lives, the things taking place with our families and with our children.
There are many things to be concerned and anxious about but our daily confession should be
This is the day that the lord has made i will rejoice and be glad in it
Phil 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Twice in this scripture we are told to rejoice, we are told not to worry, not to fret, not to be troubled or to have anxiety but to pray and to give thanks unto God in everything,
The word of God does not tell us to give thanks when everything is over but to give thanks in everything.
2 Cor 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Let me read this to you in another version,
All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.
So what this means is that there are stages or degrees of glory in which we are changed into his image and likeness in our spiritual walk,
So what we need to do is to learn how to enjoy each degree of spirituality that we are going through in our process of transformation and enjoy it to the fullest.
It is true that we are not yet where we need to be, but you need to thank God that you are not where you used to be and thank and praise Him for every stage in our development in the process as we draw near to Him.
True peace and joy comes from seeking Him, to seek and find Him brings forth pleasure and enjoyment and ensures going forth to the next level in our development.
To live in the fullness of joy in the Lord depends on finding something to be glad about besides our current situation and circumstances; to live in the fullness of joy in the Lord depends on finding that joy that comes from the inside and not the outside.
We must learn to not be anxious about anything but to rejoice and give thanks and praise God in everything.
When the devil wants to burden us down with anxiety and worry we must give it to God in prayer and in thankfulness, thanking Him for His protective power and His grace that keeps us.
To those who refuse to worry and be anxious He has promised them his peace and His presence.
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