1-19-2019                           The LAW and today

                                               

When dealing with the natural man, the spiritual man and the heart of man, we discover that it’s not just understanding the “temptations of Jesus” (Jan. 5, 2019)  but the Old Testament also informs us of what we have to deal with these three areas and so we can realize what we need to deal with in Spiritual Warfare.

When Father laid the “Law”, the Ten Commandments, on my heart concerning this, I said “C’mon, Lord.  Really?).  He responded “Really!” 

The Ten Commandments are initially found in Exodus chapter twenty verses three through seventeen (Exod. 20:3-17).  Five of the seven areas Father put on my heart to bring forth an understanding in dealing with the natural man and finish with the heart of man.  But the “Law” and “angelic intervention” both start with the heart of man impressing the need for our heart to be impacted if we expect to realize true victory in the other five areas.  To be awakened our natural man needs to hear but to understand, we need to be ‘tuned in’ Spiritually with Father so we can build a solid relationship with Father through Jesus. 

We readily understand the ‘natural’ but we have to learn and grow into the ‘spiritual’ and then we learn to walk in the ‘heart’.  Five examples begin with what we understand the most, us but two begin with what we need to know the most, our heart.  So the Ten Commandments begin with dealing with our heart.

Let’s take a look at how these elements are presented in the book of Exodus.

“You shall have no other Gods before Me. (Exod. 2:3)”.  Father created all that is (Gen. 1:1-31), and there are no other gods before Him or even beside Him (Isa. 45:4-8).  Therefore He is worthy of all our praise and glory (Exod. 20:5-6, Luke 4:8).  He is a jealous God and wants our complete devotion so He can bless us and guide us as He always has our best interests at heart.  He knows that nothing else out there truly cares about our well-being but with Him, we are His top priority.  He knows that when we put Him first, everything else will fall into place.

Therefore, He does not want us to make an image of anything to bow own before it (Exod 20:4), even if we say it represents Him (Hinduism).  God is a Spirit.  How can we make an image of something we cannot truly ‘see’?  How can we say that something that God created is Him?  We indeed can experience Father even without actually ‘seeing’ Him (with the naked eye, experiencing Father is another topic altogether).  Things made of stone, wood, metal or anything else are inanimate objects which just sit or stand there doing nothing.  The only time we see an image ‘coming to life’ is when the image of the beast speaks and causes those who don’t worship the beast to be killed (Rev.13:14-15) and even that, the image could only do things as long as the beast could see it.  It will be a deception upon mankind. 

Even though, at times, it may seem harsh, God’s love for us will not permit Him to cause harm to those who love Him.  Love reprimands without injury (Rev. 3:19).  Father does as Paul tells us, ‘do all things to edification (Rom. 14:19).  Those who don’t believe in Jesus are already condemned (John 3:18), therefore they are subject to and controlled by the power of this world.  The power in this world is Satan (2 Corinth. 4:4, Rev. 12:7-9).  To make any image of God and to worship it is inspired by our enemy.  Praise and glorify God but don’t bow down before any man-mad image.

And we should not take the name of the Lord God in vain (Exod. 20:7).  What is vain?  The Hebrew word used here is shav (7723) which means idolatry, as in false gods, lie about, destroy, make desolate (of no value).  In other words, to make the Creator of all things as worthless as all the other gods out there.  Also consider contributing the works of the only true and living God to ‘anything’ else (sound a bit like blasphemy?).

These three areas deal with our relationship with the one, true, living God, our heart.  He wants a relationship with us, a close relationship, just as the apostle John had with Jesus (John 13:23).

Now, the next two commandments may be split between the natural and the heart of man but they are actually transition between the first three commandments and the last five.  A time of yielding our spirits to the Lord.

Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy (Exod. 20:8).  God wants us to take some specific time to be with Him.  A time when we’re not busy doing other things but can sit down and commune with Him.  Allow Him to be our companion.  We should set that time apart from everything else where we can just focus on the Creator of all things, giving Him thanksgiving, praise and glory and LISTENING for what He has to share with us (Exod. 20:9-11)!  If you’ve seen the “War Room”, the wife literally put herself in her ‘prayer closet’.  Paul reminds us that no day is really different from another (Rom. 14:1-8).  So we may conclude that not just one day a week, but we should set aside some time, each day, to spend with God.  Daniel prayed three times a day.  Can we afford at least once?  Moses communed with (talked with and listened to) God on the mount and in the tent (Exod. 19:1-6, Exod. 33:9).  Ought we not to follow his example by getting close to our Lord?

Honor our natural parents (Exod. 20:12).  This is the first commandment with promise – so that we can live long.  We also find that if we have a hard time honoring our natural parents (whom we see), how well can we honor our heavenly Father whom we don’t see?  Jesus, Himself, asks this question though in a slightly different way “How can I tell you heavenly things when you don’t understand the natural (John 3:12)?  By the time I was nine, my father was no longer in the house.  He was an alcoholic, so I don’t remember him having a huge impact on the family as I was growing up.  Now my dad did sober up (by the grace of God) and remarried and even though there was not a ‘regular’ connection, there were times my Heavenly Father used my earthly father to impact my adult life.  I learned to respect my dad.  My mom?  I was always with her.  Effectively, she raised me.  But, in case you missed it, respect equates with honoring.  We can respect someone and give them their ‘due’ honor (for position of authority, etc.) and not even like them.  But when we truly honor someone, it is a decision we make and it comes from the heart.   

So setting aside time for God and honoring those in authority certainly points us in the direction as how we should treat everyone – with respect.  Again, whatever we do should be to the edification of others (1 Corinth. 10:23-24).

These last five commandments, hopefully) help us to understand how we can edify others.  Each of these commandments is presented in the negative, so we should do the opposite.

Don’t kill (Exod. 20:13)  Obviously, we should not wantonly commit murder.  That is kill someone just because we feel like it, ‘I don’t like the way they looked or looked at me’.  We should not kill in the commission of a crime (of course, we shouldn’t be committing the crime to begin with).  The Hebrew word ratsach (7523) includes ‘dash to pieces’ and murder.  Webster’s includes to ‘deprive of life’.  Scripture says that if a man takes the life of another man, he should be put to death himself (Lev. 24:17). Now, even though the military takes the life of the enemy, it is not the same.  Read the Old Testament, Abraham went after the people who kidnapped Lot and others and slew them (Gen. 14:14-20).  Scripture tells us to be obedient to those in authority over us for they shall praise our good deeds but authority is an avenger upon the evil (Romans 13:1-4).  The opposite of kill is to give life.  The best way we can bring life is to share light and light is Jesus Christ (John 1:1-14).

Now hate is also killing because when we hate someone, we are not likely to share the life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ which leads to life eternal.  Hate equates to killing for those who have refused Jesus are already condemned to death for lack of belief (John 3:18).  Jesus says “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me (John 14:6).

Don’t commit adultery (Exod. 20:14).  The Hebrew word is naawf (5003), to break vows of wedlock. 

The Old Testament mentions fornication only in 2 Chronicles, Isaiah and Ezekiel and is talking about spiritual fornication which is like being adulterous or immersing in idolatry with other gods.  The New Testament also carries the idea of idolatrous activity as well as adulterous relationship pertaining to sexual lust (4203 porneuo).  Webster’s includes a sexual relationship between two unmarried people.  Paul warns the Thessalonians to abstain from fornication keeping our bodies in honor and sanctification (unto the Lord) (1Thess. 4:1-4).

So, basically, the only difference between adultery and fornication are the marriage vows.  They both reflect sexual immorality which also means greater incident of STD.  Why do we think God says to ‘contain’ ourselves but if we can’t then marry (1 Corinth. 7:7-9) and once married stay true to the one we married?  Ergo, we should not defame others by engaging in sexual or spiritual  immorality.   

Don’t steal (Exod. 20:15).  The Hebrew word here is gawnab (1589), carry away, deceive.  Without even looking at Webster’s we can see this is also depriving someone of something that is rightfully theirs.  We can do this in the dark of the night, trickery or even lying.  Remember, Satan comes to steal, kill and/or destroy (John 10:10) so we’re not just talking physical objects but also spiritual well-being.  If the devil can’t keep us from receiving Jesus, he steals through discouragement, tough fights and half-truth as he did with Jesus in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11) so as to keep us off track.  When we falter, he steals our testimony, our witness as a Christian.  But, PTL, once we truly repent, we’re back on track (Isa. 38:17) for we have an advocate with the Father pleading our case (1 John 2:1).  So we keep what is ours, don’t take what is not ours share of what we have with others.

Don’t bear false witness (Exod. 20:16).  Two Hebrew word are translated here to imply ‘false’ ‘winess’: sheqer (8267) deceit, lie, without cause and ed (5707) testimony. 

Have any of us ever took cookies out of the cookie jar when we were not supposed to?  Mom might have come back asking “who took cookies?”  Knowing we might be punished for our dastardly deed, our reply most likely was “Not me!”  Seemingly innocent enough, but still a lie.  My son tells his sons to tell the truth when confronted.  His sons may be punished, but the punishment won’t be as severe as if the child tried to cover things with a lie (wonder where my son got that from).  Think of a courtroom.  What is perjury?  Giving false testimony after swearing before the court (and before God) to be truthful.  In the courtroom, that carries severe punishment, possibly jail time.  Think about gossip, spreading rumors about someone else.  Words pour out of our mouths which we probably don’t know if they’re true or not.  We may be spreading ‘lies’ about another.  We can even lie about ourselves expressing greater than truth facts about ourselves to make us feel better about ourselves, boost our egos or maybe even just trying to get a psychological edge over someone else.  We know the devil is a liar and the father thereof (John 8:44), so when we ‘fudge’ the truth, who are we emulating?  Rather we should always be open and truthful when we speak.  Does this mean I can’t joke?  Make sure what you say is not hurtful and that all hearing understand, otherwise, keep our lips ‘zipped’.

Don’t covet your neighbor’s house, wife, or anything else that is your neighbor’s (Exod. 20:17).  The Hebrew word for covet is chamad (2530) among other things means delight, desire, lust for. 

Understand, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to better ourselves, just not at someone else’s expense.  Do it the old-fashioned way, earn it!  Coveting things your neighbor owns leads to theft.  Coveting your neighbor’s wife leads to adultery or something worse (rape).  Nothing wrong desiring something ‘like’ your neighbor’s, just not what he actually possesses. 

Coveting is lust and lust only leads to something harmful to another.  As I said, coveting can lead to theft, adultery even murder and lying.  Would any of us kill to possess something someone else has?  Even if it is only in an attempt to cover up something we did?  We may say “I’d kill to have that!”  Problem is there are some who would literally mean it and then, just like the cookie jar, lie to cover up our deed.  Watch any detective shows lately? It is not wrong to desire to have something ‘like’ our neighbor, but we go out and ‘earn’ our own.

The last five commandments bring man’s basic nature into focus.  These are things the ‘natural’ man is subject to and we should always be striving to overcome these negative aspects of our lives.  For the most part, most of us do well (he’s such a ‘good’ man), but as mankind pulls farther and farther away from God, just how long can that last?  Watch the news or pick up a newspaper. 

The natural man must be dealt with so we can move into a spiritual connection with Father eventually (and hopefully) leading into a closer walk (relationship) with our Lord and Savior.  Yet, we discover walking closer with the Lord makes it easier to nurture the spiritual man thus making it easier to control our basic nature (the natural man). 

Paul tells us that “Woe is me for the things I shouldn’t do, I do, etc. (Rom. 7:14-25) but Jesus delivers us from this dilemma (Rom. 7:25).  We just have to be obedient to Him.

Understanding how the Law interfaces with the natural man, the spiritual man and the heart of man helps us to realize what Father is doing in today’s church.  Ever since William Tyndale, Father has been bringing His church to where we are today.  As we await the impending “Spiritual Explosion” Father is drawing His children into a closer relationship with Himself.  We are coming to know more and more His calling upon our lives as individuals and not ‘just’ as a church. 

We know that the Great Commission of the church is to share Jesus Christ with the world (Matt. 28:18-20) that we might have that eternal assurance of fellowship with the Father through Jesus Christ because the Holy Ghost is alive and well within our hearts. 

For over six seasons (600 years) God has been bringing His people to the Spiritual point in which we are currently.  We’re entering into a seventh season where the Holy Spirit is being unleashed so God’s children can truly be the children of our heavenly Father – doing His will in this world, en masse and big time.  For over twenty years “prophets” have seen this coming and now we are at the doorstep of this new season.  The questions to us are:  Are we ready?  Are we willing?  Are we obedient?  To press into this new season to Glorify God? 

However we must come to understand that we need to be fully equipped to be able to effectively fight the enemy and resist his counter measures on all fronts.  Five more installments are coming to help us understand that which we need to know as we battle in the natural, in the Spirit and in the heart.

Amen?    

1-5-2019    The Temptations of Jesus and today

Sorry we're so late getting this out.  Severe sinus issues, but PTL, God prevails!

On Nov. 24, 2018 we posted “Who is fighting Whom?” and on December 22, 2018 we posted “The Flower, the Soldier and the Church”.  These two entries moved into our spiritual warfare with the enemy.  They introduced a three-pronged fight we must fight and be involved with in order to find victory over Satan and his dark forces.  Move over Luke Skywalker.  In Star Wars, the “dark forces” were what motivated the “dark side”.  The “forces of dark’ are representatives of our enemy which we face in our Christian walk.  

Here, we’re digging a bit for a better understanding of this three-pronged battle.  The previous entries suggested that our first fight is in ‘natural’ man”, the area we are most familiar with and our weakest point.  The second battle is for our mind, our thought processes, our soul, what motivates us.  But because we have the guidance of the Holy Ghost, we have something stronger with which to fight back.  The Third is for our heart, our true relationship with the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  When we are abiding in the Lord (the Word, living & written), we have all the power of heaven fighting with us.  Not that they weren’t with us before, but now we have a deeper understanding of what those resources are and how to tap into them (at least we should). 

Should Satan gain victory over the natural man, the battle is lost.  We become like the seed by the wayside (in the parable of the sower), which the birds immediately ate up (Matt. 13: 1-8).

In the ‘Temptations of Christ’ we see each of the three areas (natural, spirit and heart) addressed.  This is the first of seven installments showing how these three areas are addressed throughout the bible in both the Old and New Testaments.  And, hopefully to impress upon us our need to be able to properly deal with each area.

Matthew 4:1-11

1          Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2          And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

3          Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

4          But Jesus answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' "

As the passage says, Jesus had been fasting for forty days, He had to be very hungry.  The natural man needs food and water to sustain existence.  We eventually die without them.  According to the Scientific American, documented cased of people surviving ‘starvation’ diets of between 21-40 days.  Also Scientific American cites that, in comfortable conditions, a person could survive 21 days without water.  When conditions are not ideal, it could be hours instead of days (to put things in perspective between a controlled environment vs not so inviting condidtions).

So Jesus, in the wilderness, was at His weakest, physical point when the enemy approached Him. And with what did he approach Him?  Bread.  Turn these stones into something He could eat.  Sustenance for the natural man. 

This also tested Jesus’ trust in the Father to sustain Him and just how deeply did He trust the Father to provide for Him.  If we can’t trust God to provide us with ‘natural’ things, how can we trust Him for the Spiritual?  Jesus told the masses “If I’ve told you earthly things and you haven’t believed, how can you believe heavenly things?” (John 3:12).  We learn to trust God in this life so we can know to trust Him for the eternal.  Think about it.  We will have to trust Jesus in the rapture.  We’ll be caught up in the air with Him (1 Thess. 4:17).  Who will be keeping us from falling back down to earth?

So Jesus tells Satan that He trusts only the Father for things in the natural world by knowing what God has said, the Word.  Jesus should know the Word for He is the living Word.

5          Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

6          and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "

7          Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' "

The pinnacle, the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem Jesus is challenged again.  Satan knows that God protects His own (Job 1:8-10).  As with Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen. 3:1-6), Satan quotes a partial biblical truth.  God will send His angels so You don’t hurt yourself, but Jesus knowing the full scriptures fires back with “You shall not tempt the Lord, your God.”  Yes, God is over Satan.  If we jump off the Empire State building, we’re going to go “SPLAT!” when we hit the streets below.  Don’t do something harmful or stupid just to prove God is with you.  However, should the Lord tell you to do something, be sure it’s Him, then be obedient.  A country boy, from outside Pittsburgh, Pa., Dave Wilkerson went to witness to the gangs of New York City in the strength of Jesus Christ (The Cross and the Switchblade).

In Rev. chapter one, Alpha and Omega states in part “… the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches …” and in Genesis chapter one God says “… let there be lights in the firmament …”.  Lights here is the Hebrew word maowr (3974), luminous body, bright, light, etc.  Revelation chapter twelve says that with his tail, the dragon drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth …  Three passages which seem to correlate angels with stars, which were created on the fourth day (Gen. 1:14-15).  Draw your own conclusion.

Nonetheless, Satan is a created being.  The angels and we are also created beings (Gen 1:27).  So Jesus is telling a created being that we should not tempt the Lord God – that is asking Him to do something not logical just to prove Himself.  Even as Israel tempted God in the desert with food (Exod. 16:1-18) and water (Exod. 17:1-7).  We should not tempt the Lord.

Our spiritual man must become our Spiritual man for us to press forward in our walk with the Lord.  Just where is our trust in the Lord?  For what do we really trust and believe God?  Are we obedient to His Word?

8          Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

9          And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."

10        Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "

As our trust grows sin the Lord, we discover Father desires our companionship.  Just as He came down into the Garden of Eden to be with Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8), just as He visited with Moses in the tabernacle (Exod. 20:19-22), He desires to walk with us.  At the celebration of the Passover, John lay his head upon the chest of Jesus (John 13:23-25).  Jesus wants this close a relationship with each and all of us who love Him.

So, when Satan took Jesus to the high mountain and showed Him all the lands and Kingdoms of the earth and said “… bow down and worship me and all this is yours.”  First of all, Jesus’ heart is always right with the Father because He and the Father are one (John 1:1-4).  Secondly, all things were created by Him (Jesus) and for Him (Col. 1:16).  So how could Satan give Him what was already His. 

Initially Adam and Eve had dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:27-30) but when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden because of their disobedience (do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Gen 2:17), evil fell upon the earth en masse.  Satan was cast out of heaven, with all his angels to give us a fit (Rev. 12:1-10) (Don’t split hairs over the order of events here).

So when Jesus told Satan that we should worship the Lord our God and serve only Him, He was asserting that is heart was with the Father forever.  We should do the same.

Satan attacks us in the natural man.  This is the realm we most readily understand and it is our weakest point.  Once we have accepted Jesus into our hearts, Satan has to change his tactics and deal with our spiritual man, our mind, our intellect, our soul.  We are learning how to stand in the strength of our Savior through reading His Word and prayer.  So, now both our body and soul are being attacked.  So now we stand against not just natural things but we begin to realize that we fight spiritual forces in high places.

But as we continue yielding ourselves to the Father, living in His will, being a true reflection of His love, Satan has to step it up a bit more.  Okay, a lot more.  Now, if he is to succeed, he has to tear our hearts away from the Lord.  He now turns the heat up.  Don’t be surprised when subtle temptations come which seem almost impossible to resist.  Satan knows that a full frontal attack would just send us running into the loving arms of God.  We keep our hearts right with our Father.  We already know what we have and are solid on (in) the Rock (Psalm 62:1-8), Jesus!  We know our victory is sin Jesus.

Complete victory comes when we take on the yoke of Jesus, having strengthened ourselves by knowing His Word and resting in the peace from God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Ghost.  However, ‘resting’ here doesn’t mean sitting back and taking it easy.  It does mean trusting in the Lord to bring us through whatever Satan throws at us and knowing that the Lord will bring victory! 

We deal with three battle fronts: the natural man, the spiritual man and the heart of man.  Prayer and putting God’s Word into action conquers our foe.

Amen

12-22-2018         The Flower, The Soldier, The Church

                  From bud to bloom

                   

                                Recruit                            to                        soldier

                        

                               

                                      Babe                          to                       fully equipped

Father keeps showing me how things are coming in threes, the natural, the spiritual and the heart!

Follow me with this.  How does a flower, a soldier and the church all work towards the same end?

The Flower – bud to bloom

The planting of the seed, the young plant shooting up through the soil into the ‘heavens”, the sprouting of leaves and then the bud is formed. The bud is encased in a protective covering until it is time to bloom.  When the season is right, those petals start peeling back from the bloom inside and that bloom starts to emerge. The bloom continues to unfold and spread out until it reaches full maturity, at which time we can enjoy its beauty.

The Soldier – raw recruit to being ‘ready’ to serve

In the “old days” a soldier was drafted into service or he could enlist as they do today.  Irregardless after processing into the military, his first stop is ‘boot camp’.  Here the recruit gets into good physical shape so he/she can perform their duties without tiring and to learn military ways.  Next stop is what is (or at least was) called ‘advanced infantry training’ (AIT).  Here the recruit learns a specific skill which will be their job for the duration of their service.  Of course after AIT, the soldier is ready for ‘full bloom’ and show his skills.  The recruit is now ready to be deployed – sent to their duty station.  The soldier is now out ‘in the world’ performing their task, fully and effectively.

The Church – from babe to bold

When we first receive Jesus Christ into our heart, we are a ‘baby’ Christian, no matter what our chronological age is.  Like a new born babe, all we really know is what we can see, hear, touch, smell or taste (when a baby grabs something, where is the first place it goes, the mouth, right?).  The only real knowledge of God is that Jesus has ‘saved’ us.  Of course, we grow beyond ‘infantdom’ (right?), growing into our teenage years then to adulthood.  As we grow into adulthood, we learn how to interact with the world around us.  We can apply the things God has taught us our lives successfully.  In Christ, we learn what we can expect of God and what God expects of us.  Of course, as Christians, our ‘adult life’ is when we’ve come to understand what task Father has called us to and then being equipped to go out and effectively work in that calling as we walk in His will.

I’m going to go in stages, comparing the flower, the soldier and our Christian walk together.  Coming into an understanding of the natural man, the spiritual man and the heart of man has helped me get a better perspective on what I’m all about.  Hope it helps you.

The seed is planted

With the flower, this is obvious.  We put the seed into the ground (okay, or pot), water it and wait for the first shoot to spring forth.  The shoot still has sprout leaves as it grows into a mature plant in order produces the flower.

In the ‘old days’, a soldier may be drafted.  But today, was well as then, a soldier could enlist.  Enlisting is the ‘planting of that new life (in the military).  Is he yet skilled in what his ‘job’ will be?  Of course not.  He has to go through ‘boot camp’ and Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) to learn the skill he needs to become an effective soldier.  Boot camp gets him in shape and AIT prepares him to perform his selected military occupation.  Then the soldier can step out and perform his task.  

When we ‘give our life to Jesus’, all we know for sure is that Jesus has ‘saved’ us.  That He has brought us into the kingdom of God – given us the promise of eternal fellowship with the Father though Jesus Christ, the Son and given us the Holy Ghost as a security of that promise.  But, we still have to grow in the Lord, learning how to apply His love into our own lives and how to interface with those around us (2 Tim. 2:15).  As the Holy Ghost builds that foundation in our heart, we gain enough knowledge and maturity to go out and share what God has given us with others.  Even so, to be ready as a solid ‘soul winner’ we have to learn how to grow in God’s love and follow His direction, thus being sure of who we are in Christ Jesus (1 John 5:1-13). 

But understand, as the flower blooms, it is nurtured, gaining strength to continue blooming for its designated period of time.  The soldier is now out performing his ‘duty’ but he still continues to learn more about his ‘job’ and grows becoming even more efficient at his task.  Even though the Christian has received enough knowledge to share Christ with those around him, he doesn’t stop there.  He continues to pour the Word of God into his spirit so the Spirit can strengthen him to more boldly (and correctly) share the Word of God with others (Acts 1:8).

All this is about individual growth, but now, this brings us to today. 

We’re in a season, which began approximately January 2015.  Understand, that the Hebraic calendar begins in September, so I say ‘approximately’.  This season could actually have started in September 2014.  Let’s not bicker.  We’re still in a seven year period which is into its second half.   

In the first half, Father was raising up people to train so they could be ready for the next season.  The next season is also a seven year period.  During the remainder of this seven year period, The buds are blooming, the soldier is approaching the end of his AIT and the Christian is just about ready to go out and do God’s work.  He should have reached ‘full bloom’ by the end of these seven years.

Now don’t get me wrong, since the time of Jesus, Christians have been witnessing and drawing souls into the kingdom of God, but the stage is being set for something special.  For centuries the church has been learning about God but some have come into a ‘relationship’ with Him but during this this ‘training’ period,  they and others will come into a much closer walk with the Creator of all things. 

Have you been hearing the early rumblings of the coming of a Spiritual revival?  Revival means awakening something from a deep slumber or, perhaps, even that which has been dead.   Believe it, the church (as a whole) has been in a deep sleep for centuries.  Oh it looks like what it is supposed to be but it has fallen very short of what Father intended.

Beginning when John Wycliffe (and a little later Martin Luther) started providing a bible for the common man, through the Protestant Reformation and several ‘Awakenings’, Father has been bringing His church back to the maturity it has sorely has needed.  Into a relationship with Himself (through Jesus, John 14:1-21).  A closer walk with God!  Coming through the torn veil and communing with Him.

As we approach the end of this season the flower will burst forth in “full” bloom, the soldier will be all but an expert in his calling and the Christian will be prepared, as never before, to go out and share the Word of God.  Our bud is starting to unfold and by the time the next season starts, God’s ‘flower’ will be in full bloom showing the world His glory – big time! 

We read about what Jesus did as He ministered to the people.  We read about what the apostles did as they ministered to the people.  A revival would just be a renewal of all that.  A revival is just re-awakening a sleeping church to do what it ‘used’ to do. 

What’s coming is more than a just revival.  IT IS a Spiritual explosion! 

The former rain prepares the ground for planting but the latter rain brings the fruit to maturity so it can be harvested (Joel 2:23-24).  The latter house (today) will be greater than the former (2000 years ago) (Haggai 2:9).  Jesus said that those who come after Him shall do greater works than He because He goes to the Father and we will have the Holy Ghost, the same that infilled Jesus, operating within us (John 14:12-14). 

I call what is coming a Spiritual Explosion because what Father is bringing soon will far surpass what they did in the early church.  We can’t do anything more than bring souls to Christ, heal the sick, raise the dead or cast out demons (Mark 16:17-18), but the expression of working in those gifts is what will far surpass what we’ve read about or, perhaps, may have already seen.  We won’t be just looking to the ‘super’ preachers to perform these works, but the ‘average Joe’ will add in his two cents worth.  Christians will come to not only believe that God ‘can’ do but ‘will do’ what He says through their obedient hands in faith.  Father will start showing the magnitude of His kingdom – here (Isaiah 55:11).   

 These gifts will be magnified as this season draws to a close and even that won’t compare to what follows (Joel 2:28-30, Acts 2:17-21). 

The power of the living, Almighty God is coming.  All we have to do is receive, then be obedient to do His will (Matt. 5:1-16).

The flower, the soldier and our walk with God are all pointing to the completion of this season and the incoming of the next.  A lot of people claim they believe (have faith), but does anyone else see that faith (James 2:18)?  After all our righteousness comes through our faith and salvation come through our confession (of Jesus) (Rom. 10:9-10).  Confession is an action.  We have to put our faith into action! 

Now, the next question is “Are we going to be ‘just’ bystanders watching the events or are we going to be a part of it?”  Listen to the Holy Ghost and be obedient!

Amen

12-8-2018 CELEBRATING JESUS

God is Love

Jesus is the manifestation of that love

 

Our pastor usually assigns bible study topics and teachers at the end of one month for the coming month.  Of course, she asks for volunteers so no one person is bringing the lesson each and every week so we can get a variety of how the Holy Ghost has been speaking to people on a specific topic or on various topics.  You know, it’s like a quarterback spreading the passes out to multiple receivers, everyone gets a shot.  Now, our bible studies are interactive.  Someone has a question, they ask, if the Spirit has shown someone an insight pertaining to the subject, they can share it.  This past Sunday and this coming Sunday are “Celebrating Jesus”.  In light of the current season (Christmas) we are sharing something about our Lord and Savior and what the celebration of His birth may mean to us.  The following is basically what I shared last Sunday.

In celebrating Jesus, understand, that we also celebrate the fullness of God, including the Father and the Holy Ghost (the Godhead).

John 1:1-4, 14. 16-18

1          In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God

2          The same was in the beginning with God

We know that the “Godhead” consists of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  Knowing that they are one is not the issue but ‘how’ they are one is often discussed.  What Father has shown me, briefly) is that when He created all things God (the Father) spoke the Word (Jesus) and the breath of God (the Holy Ghost) carried that Word into action.

3          All things were made by Him and there wasn’t anything made without Him

4          Life is in Him and that life is the light of men

14        And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten Son of the Father full of grace and truth.

(Jesus is the only one without earthly dad since Adam (Gen. 1:26-27, Gen. 2:7)

Death came into the world with Adam and Eve’s disobedience (Gen. 3:1-24)

 All things were created through Jesus and Father sent Him to earth to show us how we can come back into the kingdom of God – John 3:16)

16        And we all have received of His fullness, grace for grace (by grace we are saved!, Eph. 2:8-9)

17        For the law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ

18        For no man has seen God at any time except the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father and has declared Him

(Moses didn’t see God’s face.  Like us, Moses experienced Him Exod. 33:17-23) but he did ‘literally’ experience God.  Father allowed him to see His backside.  The glory of God is so awesome, that even Moses had to cover his face, after having been in the presence of God, when he came before Israel (Exod. 34:34-35)

That Word is the light of man.  He shows us and is the way into eternal fellowship with Father by Coming into this world and living as we do for a season.  He brought grace into this world.  He gave us grace, enabling us to attain that fellowship thereby experiencing the Father in our own lives.  

I got curious about that word ‘bosom’.  I know what I think about first so I checked out Strong’s Concordance.  The Greek word is kolpos (2859) means bosom or creek (like a bay).    Now when John lay his head on Jesus’ bosom (John 13:22-23) I assumed that the word meant ‘chest’.  I wasn’t totally wrong.  I understand Strong’s definition to indicate ‘running’ or ‘living’ ‘water’ yet ‘all encompassing’.  I envision like a Wellspring of Life with protecting arms surrounding us.  Then Father said take a look at Webster’s definition and as I did, the Holy Spirit said “what do you see?”.  I did and I said “oooh”.  The part of the definition citing ‘center of secret thoughts and emotions’ and ‘close relationship” caught my attention.  Can we get any closer in a relationship than that?  ‘Nuff said?

That explains the relationship between the Father and the Son.  Well, for me anyway and now we bring in the Holy Ghost

John 14:23-26

23        … If a man loves me, he will keep My words.  My Father will love him and we will come and make our abode with him

24        He who doesn’t love me does not keep my sayings.  But the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me

25        I’ve spoken these things being in your presence

Jesus said “I’ve spoken the things” trying to get the light to come on in our hearts that He wants the same type of relationship with us as He has with the Father.  which is why He says:

26        But the Father will send you the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, in my name and He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance whatever I have said to you

The NIocene Creed, which the church generally refers to as the Apostle’s Creed and is what the Christian church generally believes, states in part:

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.  With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.

Thus identifying the fullness of the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) which dwelled completely in the body of Jesus Christ (Col. 2:8-10) as He walked this earth.  

So in celebrating Jesus, we also celebrate all that God is.  That means abiding in His love for which he has given us His example.  So, as the Holy Spirit dwells in our lives (through salvation), Jesus has not only told what type of a relationship He wants with us, but through the Holy Ghost, He has given us the ability to accomplish this – as we yield our lives to Him. 

 So, in celebrating Jesus, there are some things we need to know and do.

1 John 4:7-19

7          Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God.

8          He that doesn’t love doesn’t know God for God is love

Our connection with the Father is His love which He showed us in and through Jesus and shares with us through the Holy Ghost.  As we love God, we will show that love in our own lives – to some degree as we grow.

9          God’s love was manifested towards us because He sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.  (while we were yet sinners – Rom. 5:8)

10       This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atonement/replacement) for our sins  (no greater love than to lay our life down for our friends, John 15:13)

Don’t get me wrong here.  This doesn’t necessarily mean literally dying for someone else. It could but it also means setting our own egos aside and not withholding the Love of Christ from people.  It also means that when we interact with them, we do what is best for them and not ourselves.  We don’t forget ourselves but we consider others first (Phil. 2:3)

11        Beloved, if God so loved us, we should also love one another

How can we show this?  God told Abraham to sacrifice his most beloved son.  As Abraham readied to plunge the knife into his son’s body, God sent an angel to stop him and showed him a ram caught in the bushes nearby to use instead.  Earlier, Abraham had told Isaac that God would provide Himself a lamb for sacrifice (Gen. 22:1-14).  Abraham showed his obedience to God was more than even his love for own beloved son, Isaac.

12        No man has seen God at any time.  If we love one another, God dwells in us and His love is perfected in us

As God’s love abides in our hearts, He enables us to love those around us.  Need any further explanation?

13        This is how we know that we dwell in Him and He in us because He has given us His Spirit

(Ezek. 37:12-14 [God’s Spirit in us], John 15:1-12 [the vine], Acts 1:8 receipt of HG). 

We receive His Spirit with our confession of faith that Jesus is Lord and Savior as the Holy Spirit takes up residence within our heart (John 20:22-23).  But we receive power through the baptism of the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:8, Acts 2:1-4).

14        We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world (Apostle John speaking but ought we not do the same?)

15        Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God

16        We have known and believed the love that God has towards us.  God is love and he who dwells in love, dwells in God and God is in him.

Where does God live, and why?  In case you missed it – God (through the Holy Ghost) lives in our hearts to we can give our love back to Him  and share that love with those around us.

17        This is how our love is made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as He (God) is so are we in this world

We reflect who God is by living in Him and for Him in front of the world.

18        There is so fear in love because perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment.  He who fears is not made perfect in love.

Fear is being afraid and when we love God with all our heart, we fully trust Him for anything and everything.  If we are afraid to die in this world, our love for Father still needs perfecting because we aren’t trusting Him for everything.  When we truly love God with all our heart natural death is spiritual gain for when we die physically in this world we gain presence with Almighty God (Phil. 1:20-24).  It just might happen a little quicker with some than with others.  Martyrs, etc.  but we don’t take ourselves out of this world.  All is in God’s timing and for His purpose (Ecc. 3:1-14).

19        We love Him (Father/Son) because He first loved us

Amen?

This lesson was presented to our fellowship on December second.  It is fitting that this lesson coincided with this day of this month.

December is the twelfth month.  Twelve is governmental perfection (authorities over us), God’s power and authority

It was the second day (#2) of the month.  Two represents union and/or witnessing

This reading from 1 John helps us to understand the Father’s power and authority, which He has given us, in partnering with Him to be witnesses for Jesus.

We celebrate Jesus because He is the Father, come in the flesh, into this world and after His departure He has given us the Holy Ghost so that the love of the Father can dwell within our heart. 

The best way we can celebrate Jesus is by living in His love and expressing that love towards those whom we encounter.  Christians are the only image of the living God the world sees – until they give their hearts to Him.  Once we’ve let Jesus into our heart and we seek His love, He will grow us and mature us so we can be His effective light in this dark world.  We celebrate Jesus with everything that we are and that we have (Psalm 150:1-6).