Jesus went to the cross to get God's (the Father) man back to Him. However the devil has challenged and frustrated the recovery process each step of the way and one mighty weapon that the devil has used is Religion. The devil so likes religion for it has a form of God, but no power to it (2 Tim 3:5).
Man has bought into the lie of the devil and substituted religion for fellowship with God. Man was created to fellowship with his Maker. God desired to walk with him and talk with him. God created man for a place for His love, for that is who God is, Love. And man was the intended object of His love. Then satan deceived Adam and stole His man away from Him, and robbed God of the very fellowship He desired with His man.
But Jesus went to the cross and got His man back to the Father once again, and fellowship was once again restored between man and God. Now if we (man/woman) will walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7), therefore we can walk hand in hand with God, which was God's original purpose for man.
But satan has introduced religion to man for the purpose of drawing man away from fellow shipping with God (that will probably rock a few boats in the theology harbor). Religion keeps man at a distance from God (the devil claims it will draw you closer). In religion you get a sense of God but you never know Him, because the only way that happens is by walking and talking with God, it's in fellowship with God that you get to know God. (Maybe now you'll understand Matt 7:21-23, especially verse 23). This (fellowship)is where God chooses to reveal Himself to man. He makes Himself known to man, and man is filled with the life of God, and then so chooses to live that way with his God.
There is no better place to be for a man than in living fellowship with God. But satan offers religion as a substitute for fellowship and the only thing man gains from religion is relationship (the legal right) with God and satan causes man to be satisfied with this, therefore he never seeks fellowship. There is no life that is produced in a man through relationship only. (You married folks already know this. The marriage license gives you legal right to be married (the relationship), but it's the fellowship of the married couple that produces life through that fellowship with one another, for this is where you truly get to know your mate).
Relationship is what opens the door to fellowship, where God is calling every man/woman to participate in, but most men stop at the door (relationship) and never continue on to fellowship and in this place (relationship) man is no threat to satan, and satan will continue his dominion over the man who stands in the doorway, but the man who moves from the doorway of relationship into fellowship with God will soon find out that the devil is under his feet and that he has dominion over the devil, and this is the truth the devil so desperately wants to hide from man, so he uses religion to get this accomplished.
Today is the day for you to break free of religion and come and walk and talk with God. When you get there, you'll find me there, and you'll not only have fellowship with the Father, but you'll have fellowship with me as well and I have come to find that I desire this fellowship as much as God does. (Why wouldn't I? His Spirit dwells within me. What He wants, I want).
Now the choice is yours. Turn loose of religion and turn towards God and join Him (and me) for fellowship. Get to really know Him. I'll see you there.
PS
The Lord just revealed this scripture to me today, which is a day after I posted the above message. It so fits into what God laid on my heart yesterday that I wanted to add it to the post today. The scripture comes out of my old Living Bible (not the new version) found in Ps 27:8 which says, "My heart has heard You (God) say, "Come and talk with Me, O' My people." And my heart responds, "Lord I am coming". That scripture so easily says what was on my heart when I wrote the above message. My prayer for you is that you join me in saying, "Lord I am coming."
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Are You a Seeker of the Truth? Don't Ever Stop!
I've been led of God to share with you a letter I wrote to an individual that I know and respect very much. This person is seeking the truth about God and His Word, but is challenged by what they already know about God and their willingness to change their thoughts and move on to higher ground with God. There are many who read this blog site that find themselves in the same situation and that is why God wants you to see this. So read on.............
My letter begins;
I've been thinking about last Thursday evening and also about our phone conversation last night and I have asked God to help me explain to you where you find yourself when you are hearing things from other believers (like ----, -----, myself and others) that you don't understand or personally believe. I know it can be an awkward situation for you, but also it's an opportunity for you to grow in the Lord. The devil will do all he can to discourage you from learning more about your Lord, because he knows you will become a tougher opponent the more you learn and grow. He would rather you argue and challenge the messengers God puts before you and keep you right where you are at.
So God has put something on my heart for you that I'm going to share with you and I am believing that you will receive it in the right spirit so that it will be a help to you instead of a stumbling block. Here what the voice of the Lord is saying. I'll be writing by the influence of the Holy Spirit so receive the content of it from Him and not from me. I am just the messenger that God is using to get this information to you. Be Blessed!
When I (Terry) speak while I'm ministering to someone, I am speaking from a position of revelation that I have received from the Lord. (Ex: 1 Pet 2:24 "by His stripes you were healed". What you believe about that scripture and what I believe about it maybe very different because of the revelation, the light of the word, that has been exposed to me verses how much light you have received about that word. It's not that God favors me more than you, it's that I have dug deeper and made myself available to whatever truth God would share with me about it and when He did I received it as truth and just accepted it without fighting it by trying to make it conform to what I thought about it. When God finds an open heart, He pours out His Truth into it.)
Now, the position I am speaking from may be different from the position of understanding that the person I am ministering to is at. This was always the case when Jesus ministered to people when He walked this earth as a Man. The people that heard Jesus said such things as Mark 1:22 states, "and they were astonished at His teaching for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes" (ministers of the word in a religious setting, what we call the church). Verse 27 says,"then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, what is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him".
Mark 4 gives another good example. This is when Jesus spoke to the wind and the waves in the middle of the storm. He first spoke to the storm (how does that make you feel?), then He spoke to His disciples in the boat with Him who were afraid they were going to die. Jesus says to them in Verse 40, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have NO faith? (would you be offended if Jesus asked you this same question? How about if Jesus asked you this same question through the mouth of another believer today. Jesus and the Father dwelling in the believer's heart, and that believer steps up and does and says what Jesus does and says, because Jesus is living His life through that believer who is submitted to Him and is directing his steps as well as his mouth, for Jesus is filling his mouth with His words and as the believer speaks he sounds just like Jesus, because that's who is doing the talking. Jesus is using the heart, the mouth and the voice of the believer who is standing there ministering in Jesus' Name, and now it's the Father and Jesus who dwells in the believer's heart that is doing the work.)
Now back to what Jesus said. "how is it that you have NO faith?" Verse 41 (of Mark 4), and they (the disciples, those who walked with Jesus and believed him to the level of their understanding) feared exceedingly and said to one another, "who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!".
When you fear something you don't understand you can become offended at what you see and hear, and you actually turn against it instead of receiving it. That for the most part is the condition of the church (the body of Christ) today. Jesus will be working in their midst through a believer that actually believes what Jesus has said to him through His Word and is willing to do it, willing to act just like Jesus, for he is doing nothing more than acting out the One who lives within him. And many are offended by the messenger, and therefore do not receive the Truth of the Word spoken, nor do they receive the promise of that word.
The man or women who is standing in the midst of Jesus, because they are standing in the presence of a believer who is declaring God's word by the leading of the Spirit that dwells within him, this man or woman has the same choice that every man or woman who has ever come into contact with God and His Glory has ever had and that choice is either to humble yourself and receive from the Lord by believing Him (which is "by faith") through the word that is being proclaimed before them through this believer, or be offended at the messenger and his message because it doesn't look and sound like the Jesus you have come to know through your previous religious training and understanding of Him. So you turn away from Jesus in anger and frustration by turning away and turning off from the believer who is standing before you speaking the very words of Jesus. And just as those same types of people kicked Jesus out of their midst because they were offended at Him, they will kick this believer out of their midst and will not receive what God was offering to them.
God will send His believing ones into the midst of His church (His body), to speak His Truth and to do His Word. Much of the Church responds the same way the Jews responded when Jesus was in their midst. Some believed and received, but many were offended and turned away from the very one who could save them (help them).
The question you must ask yourself today is, "which person do I choose to be?" Believe and receive, or be offended and not believe and therefore not receive.
Be careful not to strike out at the messenger when he says something that on the surface sounds offensive to you, for what you are feeling at that moment is that two edged sword, the word of God, cutting into you and doing what only the Word can do, and that is to make you a believer just like the believing one who brought the word to you.
I pray you hear the voice of God in this message and it's intended mission to penetrate your heart with the Truth. The choice is yours, that is always God's way. You are seeking for the Truth, and that is why God has used me this way and I'm glad He did.
Be Blessed,
Terry
My letter begins;
I've been thinking about last Thursday evening and also about our phone conversation last night and I have asked God to help me explain to you where you find yourself when you are hearing things from other believers (like ----, -----, myself and others) that you don't understand or personally believe. I know it can be an awkward situation for you, but also it's an opportunity for you to grow in the Lord. The devil will do all he can to discourage you from learning more about your Lord, because he knows you will become a tougher opponent the more you learn and grow. He would rather you argue and challenge the messengers God puts before you and keep you right where you are at.
So God has put something on my heart for you that I'm going to share with you and I am believing that you will receive it in the right spirit so that it will be a help to you instead of a stumbling block. Here what the voice of the Lord is saying. I'll be writing by the influence of the Holy Spirit so receive the content of it from Him and not from me. I am just the messenger that God is using to get this information to you. Be Blessed!
When I (Terry) speak while I'm ministering to someone, I am speaking from a position of revelation that I have received from the Lord. (Ex: 1 Pet 2:24 "by His stripes you were healed". What you believe about that scripture and what I believe about it maybe very different because of the revelation, the light of the word, that has been exposed to me verses how much light you have received about that word. It's not that God favors me more than you, it's that I have dug deeper and made myself available to whatever truth God would share with me about it and when He did I received it as truth and just accepted it without fighting it by trying to make it conform to what I thought about it. When God finds an open heart, He pours out His Truth into it.)
Now, the position I am speaking from may be different from the position of understanding that the person I am ministering to is at. This was always the case when Jesus ministered to people when He walked this earth as a Man. The people that heard Jesus said such things as Mark 1:22 states, "and they were astonished at His teaching for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes" (ministers of the word in a religious setting, what we call the church). Verse 27 says,"then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, what is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him".
Mark 4 gives another good example. This is when Jesus spoke to the wind and the waves in the middle of the storm. He first spoke to the storm (how does that make you feel?), then He spoke to His disciples in the boat with Him who were afraid they were going to die. Jesus says to them in Verse 40, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have NO faith? (would you be offended if Jesus asked you this same question? How about if Jesus asked you this same question through the mouth of another believer today. Jesus and the Father dwelling in the believer's heart, and that believer steps up and does and says what Jesus does and says, because Jesus is living His life through that believer who is submitted to Him and is directing his steps as well as his mouth, for Jesus is filling his mouth with His words and as the believer speaks he sounds just like Jesus, because that's who is doing the talking. Jesus is using the heart, the mouth and the voice of the believer who is standing there ministering in Jesus' Name, and now it's the Father and Jesus who dwells in the believer's heart that is doing the work.)
Now back to what Jesus said. "how is it that you have NO faith?" Verse 41 (of Mark 4), and they (the disciples, those who walked with Jesus and believed him to the level of their understanding) feared exceedingly and said to one another, "who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!".
When you fear something you don't understand you can become offended at what you see and hear, and you actually turn against it instead of receiving it. That for the most part is the condition of the church (the body of Christ) today. Jesus will be working in their midst through a believer that actually believes what Jesus has said to him through His Word and is willing to do it, willing to act just like Jesus, for he is doing nothing more than acting out the One who lives within him. And many are offended by the messenger, and therefore do not receive the Truth of the Word spoken, nor do they receive the promise of that word.
The man or women who is standing in the midst of Jesus, because they are standing in the presence of a believer who is declaring God's word by the leading of the Spirit that dwells within him, this man or woman has the same choice that every man or woman who has ever come into contact with God and His Glory has ever had and that choice is either to humble yourself and receive from the Lord by believing Him (which is "by faith") through the word that is being proclaimed before them through this believer, or be offended at the messenger and his message because it doesn't look and sound like the Jesus you have come to know through your previous religious training and understanding of Him. So you turn away from Jesus in anger and frustration by turning away and turning off from the believer who is standing before you speaking the very words of Jesus. And just as those same types of people kicked Jesus out of their midst because they were offended at Him, they will kick this believer out of their midst and will not receive what God was offering to them.
God will send His believing ones into the midst of His church (His body), to speak His Truth and to do His Word. Much of the Church responds the same way the Jews responded when Jesus was in their midst. Some believed and received, but many were offended and turned away from the very one who could save them (help them).
The question you must ask yourself today is, "which person do I choose to be?" Believe and receive, or be offended and not believe and therefore not receive.
Be careful not to strike out at the messenger when he says something that on the surface sounds offensive to you, for what you are feeling at that moment is that two edged sword, the word of God, cutting into you and doing what only the Word can do, and that is to make you a believer just like the believing one who brought the word to you.
I pray you hear the voice of God in this message and it's intended mission to penetrate your heart with the Truth. The choice is yours, that is always God's way. You are seeking for the Truth, and that is why God has used me this way and I'm glad He did.
Be Blessed,
Terry
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Are You Really Looking At The Truth?
Today I have another word of truth that God deposited on my heart that I want to share with you. If you have been reading this blog for awhile, then you know some of the things I share with you come as a teaching, which I love to do, for God has called me to teach His Word. But sometimes I'm led to just pass on or relay to you what God has spoken to me personally. I do this knowing that God spoke this to me for my own spiritual growth in Him and it's directed at me for where I find myself with Him. He knows just what I need to hear to take that next step up closer to Him and His ways. It's at these times I feel like I don't want to change a thing He said to me by teaching it, but just to share it with you as is and allow the Holy Spirit to minister it to you in the way it would be most helpful to you. So that is what I'll be doing today.........
God spoke the following to my heart. I did not hear an audible voice, but I heard Him loud and clear in my spirit (that is where God communicates with man, Prov 20:27 says, "the spirit of a man is the lamp(the candle) of the Lord" (this is where the Lord turns the light on for you to understand His word and what He says to you)--see, I can't help myself but teach. I'd love to run off in a tangent right now and discuss this subject thoroughly but lets get back to what God has assigned me to do today........
God said to me, "I have told you something, but you choose to believe something else. This is why I call you a faithless and perverse generation (Matt 17:17). I declare Truth to you and you hear Me. But if My Truth does not look like your situation in life, you disown My Word and you accept what you see as truth over what I have declared to you. I have said that My Word is Truth, but you have said, "what I see is truth", but I tell you this day that what you see is not the Truth. My Word is the Truth and that is the only place Truth resides.
Everything you see has been created by Me, but that creation has been cursed because of Adam's sin and transgression. That what you see with your eyes is cursed, but that what you see through your heart (spirit) is blessed. You can only see the Truth through your heart. That is why I have said if you will believe My Word in your heart and confess what you believe with your mouth, than you will see the Truth manifested in your presence. My people know this Truth and desire it, but are not willing to do what it takes to live their lives at this place. You must meditate My Word day and night until all you see is My Truth. What you see in My Word must become more real to you than what you see with your eyes. Everything you see with your eyes is subject to My Word. If what you see does not look like what My Word declares, then hold fast to My Word by looking at it, until that what you see with your eyes now looks like what My Word declares.
My Word is Truth, what you see in this world is not, but My people are not willing to do what I declare to them to do, so they take what they see before them as the truth, and they disregard My Word because it doesn't line up with what they see and therefore what they see directs their steps instead of My Word directing their steps, and their way seems right to them, but the end of that way is death (Prov 14:12), but the end of My way is Life (John 10:10). I have set this Truth before Me, from the beginning of time. Adam lived this way until he took his eyes off My Words, and listened to someone else's words. And those other words changed what Adam was seeing with his eyes. He was no longer looking at things through My Word, but he was looking at things through satan's word. Adam's view became distorted, and he bought into the lie, and the words of the devil took him to that tree that I forbid him to go. What Adam saw through the devil's words became more real to him than My Words. This happened because he took his eyes off Me (My Word) and put his eyes on the devil (his words) and this forever changed the destiny of man.
But I sent My Son Jesus to you, to live among you, to show you how a man lives by looking at My Word only and not being moved by any other word in the land. Therefore Jesus only saw Me, and My Word was Truth to Him over what He saw in the world. Jesus My Son has shown you how to live your life on the cursed ground that you walk upon. I have made a way for you to live on this cursed earth, and I have sent My Son Jesus to show you as an example on how to live My Way. The chose is now yours. How do you choose to live your life? By looking at Me and seeing the Truth through what I say in My Word, or by looking at what you see in the world around you, then hearing the voice of the devil confirming what you are seeing as the truth, then buying into the lie, following it to your death and destruction.
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), no one comes to the Truth except through Me, for the Father you see is the Truth, and My Son is the Truth, and you can look just like Us if you will keep your eyes only on the Truth, that is My Word. And My Word will not only show you the Truth, you will become that Truth just like Me, then what you see clearly will be the Truth.
This is the way My Father (Jesus speaking now) chooses for you to live your life, are you willing to do it? Most aren't, but what about you? Are you willing to live this way? I did, and there is no higher way to live. Now go and live your life My Way says the Lord............. so ends the saying of the Lord.
I have revealed to you my place in my walk of faith with the Lord and I have shared with you His instruction to me to help me grow and move up to a higher place of believing. He always challenges you to take that next step, so where ever you are on this journey of faith, let it be a challenge for you as well, to take the next step to higher ground. Faith, it's the only (right) way to live!!
God spoke the following to my heart. I did not hear an audible voice, but I heard Him loud and clear in my spirit (that is where God communicates with man, Prov 20:27 says, "the spirit of a man is the lamp(the candle) of the Lord" (this is where the Lord turns the light on for you to understand His word and what He says to you)--see, I can't help myself but teach. I'd love to run off in a tangent right now and discuss this subject thoroughly but lets get back to what God has assigned me to do today........
God said to me, "I have told you something, but you choose to believe something else. This is why I call you a faithless and perverse generation (Matt 17:17). I declare Truth to you and you hear Me. But if My Truth does not look like your situation in life, you disown My Word and you accept what you see as truth over what I have declared to you. I have said that My Word is Truth, but you have said, "what I see is truth", but I tell you this day that what you see is not the Truth. My Word is the Truth and that is the only place Truth resides.
Everything you see has been created by Me, but that creation has been cursed because of Adam's sin and transgression. That what you see with your eyes is cursed, but that what you see through your heart (spirit) is blessed. You can only see the Truth through your heart. That is why I have said if you will believe My Word in your heart and confess what you believe with your mouth, than you will see the Truth manifested in your presence. My people know this Truth and desire it, but are not willing to do what it takes to live their lives at this place. You must meditate My Word day and night until all you see is My Truth. What you see in My Word must become more real to you than what you see with your eyes. Everything you see with your eyes is subject to My Word. If what you see does not look like what My Word declares, then hold fast to My Word by looking at it, until that what you see with your eyes now looks like what My Word declares.
My Word is Truth, what you see in this world is not, but My people are not willing to do what I declare to them to do, so they take what they see before them as the truth, and they disregard My Word because it doesn't line up with what they see and therefore what they see directs their steps instead of My Word directing their steps, and their way seems right to them, but the end of that way is death (Prov 14:12), but the end of My way is Life (John 10:10). I have set this Truth before Me, from the beginning of time. Adam lived this way until he took his eyes off My Words, and listened to someone else's words. And those other words changed what Adam was seeing with his eyes. He was no longer looking at things through My Word, but he was looking at things through satan's word. Adam's view became distorted, and he bought into the lie, and the words of the devil took him to that tree that I forbid him to go. What Adam saw through the devil's words became more real to him than My Words. This happened because he took his eyes off Me (My Word) and put his eyes on the devil (his words) and this forever changed the destiny of man.
But I sent My Son Jesus to you, to live among you, to show you how a man lives by looking at My Word only and not being moved by any other word in the land. Therefore Jesus only saw Me, and My Word was Truth to Him over what He saw in the world. Jesus My Son has shown you how to live your life on the cursed ground that you walk upon. I have made a way for you to live on this cursed earth, and I have sent My Son Jesus to show you as an example on how to live My Way. The chose is now yours. How do you choose to live your life? By looking at Me and seeing the Truth through what I say in My Word, or by looking at what you see in the world around you, then hearing the voice of the devil confirming what you are seeing as the truth, then buying into the lie, following it to your death and destruction.
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), no one comes to the Truth except through Me, for the Father you see is the Truth, and My Son is the Truth, and you can look just like Us if you will keep your eyes only on the Truth, that is My Word. And My Word will not only show you the Truth, you will become that Truth just like Me, then what you see clearly will be the Truth.
This is the way My Father (Jesus speaking now) chooses for you to live your life, are you willing to do it? Most aren't, but what about you? Are you willing to live this way? I did, and there is no higher way to live. Now go and live your life My Way says the Lord............. so ends the saying of the Lord.
I have revealed to you my place in my walk of faith with the Lord and I have shared with you His instruction to me to help me grow and move up to a higher place of believing. He always challenges you to take that next step, so where ever you are on this journey of faith, let it be a challenge for you as well, to take the next step to higher ground. Faith, it's the only (right) way to live!!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
God's Intimate Word to Me and You
God has spoke the word that follows this introduction to me just minutes ago. He's been dealing with me for quite some time about being transformed into the image of Himself, His dear Son Jesus. Everything He has been speaking to me has been just for me until He spoke to me this morning. When He finished, and I thought He was done with what He was showing me, He said I have one more thought for you but I want you to proclaim it for all to hear, so that is what I'm doing.
God declares, " There is nothing worse (in My sight) than a man who declares My ways and My Word to others but doesn't look anything like Me. They have tried to make themselves look like Me, by what they think that should look like, instead of allowing My Word to fill their spirit which would change them from the inside out to look just like Me. But they fill themselves with men's words, and they look just like those words, but they don't look like Me. And when they see a man that looks like Me, they don't recognize Me, but rather they are offended because I don't look like them. They are forever trying to change what I look like, but I never change. I look just like the Word and they don't know Me, because they don't know My Word. My Word is in the world today, because it lives in the hearts of men who look just like Me. The world and those that live according to the ways of the world hate them, because they hate Me. I need men that look like Me to stand in their midst and proclaim My Truth. I have made you to be that man, so let My light shine brightly before them, says the Lord."
Now I share this truth with you in fear and trembling for I must receive what God has spoken to me by faith, for if I go by my feelings and what I think I look like, I'll turn and run. But God has said it to me and therefore I believe it and therefore I will be that man.
The reason He had me share this with you is because He is saying the same thing to some of you who are reading this and He has brought you to this place to hear the truth, and now He wants your light to shine before men, because you look just like Him as well. You know who you are, because of the One living inside you. He has made you that way, and it's now time for you to reveal Him to the world. I'll see you out there, and I'll recognize you, for as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17).
Be Blessed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God declares, " There is nothing worse (in My sight) than a man who declares My ways and My Word to others but doesn't look anything like Me. They have tried to make themselves look like Me, by what they think that should look like, instead of allowing My Word to fill their spirit which would change them from the inside out to look just like Me. But they fill themselves with men's words, and they look just like those words, but they don't look like Me. And when they see a man that looks like Me, they don't recognize Me, but rather they are offended because I don't look like them. They are forever trying to change what I look like, but I never change. I look just like the Word and they don't know Me, because they don't know My Word. My Word is in the world today, because it lives in the hearts of men who look just like Me. The world and those that live according to the ways of the world hate them, because they hate Me. I need men that look like Me to stand in their midst and proclaim My Truth. I have made you to be that man, so let My light shine brightly before them, says the Lord."
Now I share this truth with you in fear and trembling for I must receive what God has spoken to me by faith, for if I go by my feelings and what I think I look like, I'll turn and run. But God has said it to me and therefore I believe it and therefore I will be that man.
The reason He had me share this with you is because He is saying the same thing to some of you who are reading this and He has brought you to this place to hear the truth, and now He wants your light to shine before men, because you look just like Him as well. You know who you are, because of the One living inside you. He has made you that way, and it's now time for you to reveal Him to the world. I'll see you out there, and I'll recognize you, for as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17).
Be Blessed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Adam, the son of God?
My wifes nephew is a new believer and he is diligently diving into the word of God. He came across something in Luke 4:38 that was the end of the list of the genealogy of Jesus where it says "the son of Adam, the son of God". His question was, "I thought Jesus was the only begotten son of God, what does this mean that Adam was the son of God? So I felt like I wanted to share the answer that the Lord gave me for him with you all. I was thrilled with what the Lord put on my heart so that I was able to answer his question. It was the first time I even heard some of this. Be Blessed!
You are right in your understanding that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. The one and only Son that came forth from the loins of God Himself. John 1:1 says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 2 says, He was in the beginning with God." Jesus (at the beginning) was not born or created, He always was, just Like His Father, no beginning and no end. The Son came forth from the inside of the Father when the Father spoke. Everything that the father spoke, the Son was and did. But the Son did not come forth from the Father until the Father spoke. The only begotten Son (Jesus) came from within the Father and because the Father always was, the Son always was. There is no other Son of God that came forth this way.
Now in Gen 1:26 , "Then God said, "Let Us (Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit), make man in Our image, and Our likeness.....27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them." Man was created, Jesus was not (He always was).
God created/formed Adam out of the dust of the earth. Then God breathed His life, His Spirit into Adam and Adam came alive with the Spirit of God in him. Adam was exactly like the Ones who made him. He was like Them, but he was not Them which is the only difference between them. God gave Adam dominion over everything on the earth and empowered him with God's power and authority to rule and reign the earth. Adam was God's son, just like His Son Jesus. This is the image of man that you must see so that you can understand the original plan for man. Actually, this reveals the purpose of Jesus coming to this earth as a Man. Jesus got back for man (his rightful place with God) what Adam had lost.
Adam bowed his knee to Satan and committed high treason in the Garden of Eden when he listened to satan and obeyed him, rather than obeying God. Adam sinned, and separated himself from the Father, for sin can never be in the presence of the Father for there is no union there between light and dark. Adam was no longer the son of God, but in reality Adam was now in union with his new father, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience (Eph 2:1-3)
Listen to 1 Cor 15:47-49 (I'm using the New King James Version)
The first man (Adam) was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man (Jesus) is the Lord from Heaven. As was the man of dust (Adam), so also are those who are made of dust (the man who does not have the Spirit of the Living God in him); and as is the heavenly man (Jesus), so also are those who are heavenly ( the ones who asked Jesus into their hearts and now have the Spirit of the Living God abiding within them). And as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man (Jesus) (just as soon as His Spirit is living in you or just as soon as you invite Him into your heart).
Jesus is known as the 2nd Adam. The 1st one failed, the 2nd One didn't. The 1st one was exactly like the 2nd One before the fall. Jesus looked just like Adam did before Adam sinned. Jesus now had to do what Adam was supposed to do. The 1st son failed and lost his sonship, the 2nd One walked in victory and defeated the one (satan) who destroyed the first son. When Jesus was born into this earth through Mary, He came to us as the Son of Man, not the Son of God (even though He was; Phil 2:5-8). He had to live on this earth as a man, in complete obedience to the Father, and live by faith in God's Word, just as the 1st man was designed to live by, but he failed when he chose to obey another word from another god (the god of this world-satan).
Jesus has defeated satan and has gotten back what Adam lost. Those who accept what Jesus did on the cross and receive Him as their personal Savior receive the Spirit of God into their hearts and they are born again and now made in the exact image of Jesus. Jesus went from being the only begotten Son of God to what the New Testament declares Him to be which is "the Firstborn from the dead" (Col 1:18, Rom 8:29) and all those who receive Jesus as Savior become born of God just like Jesus and just as Jesus is the Son of God, the born again man /woman is now the child of God.
Rom 8:14 says, "for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the Sons of God....16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. 17 and if children, then heirs---heirs of God and JOINT HEIRS with Christ...........
(Read 1 John 3:1-3 to establish this thought).
God has always wanted sons and daughters to bestow His love on. That is the whole purpose for our being here. And that which God has created to love, now is filled with that love, and desires to return that love to the Father. That is the way it was always supposed to be and thank God the Father, for His Son Jesus, for because of Him, I am a son as well.
God is still increasing His family to this day, but the soon coming King (Jesus) will be returning soon to gather up His family, so now is the day of salvation. Jesus was the firstborn from the dead, what number are you?
You are right in your understanding that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. The one and only Son that came forth from the loins of God Himself. John 1:1 says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 2 says, He was in the beginning with God." Jesus (at the beginning) was not born or created, He always was, just Like His Father, no beginning and no end. The Son came forth from the inside of the Father when the Father spoke. Everything that the father spoke, the Son was and did. But the Son did not come forth from the Father until the Father spoke. The only begotten Son (Jesus) came from within the Father and because the Father always was, the Son always was. There is no other Son of God that came forth this way.
Now in Gen 1:26 , "Then God said, "Let Us (Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit), make man in Our image, and Our likeness.....27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them." Man was created, Jesus was not (He always was).
God created/formed Adam out of the dust of the earth. Then God breathed His life, His Spirit into Adam and Adam came alive with the Spirit of God in him. Adam was exactly like the Ones who made him. He was like Them, but he was not Them which is the only difference between them. God gave Adam dominion over everything on the earth and empowered him with God's power and authority to rule and reign the earth. Adam was God's son, just like His Son Jesus. This is the image of man that you must see so that you can understand the original plan for man. Actually, this reveals the purpose of Jesus coming to this earth as a Man. Jesus got back for man (his rightful place with God) what Adam had lost.
Adam bowed his knee to Satan and committed high treason in the Garden of Eden when he listened to satan and obeyed him, rather than obeying God. Adam sinned, and separated himself from the Father, for sin can never be in the presence of the Father for there is no union there between light and dark. Adam was no longer the son of God, but in reality Adam was now in union with his new father, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience (Eph 2:1-3)
Listen to 1 Cor 15:47-49 (I'm using the New King James Version)
The first man (Adam) was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man (Jesus) is the Lord from Heaven. As was the man of dust (Adam), so also are those who are made of dust (the man who does not have the Spirit of the Living God in him); and as is the heavenly man (Jesus), so also are those who are heavenly ( the ones who asked Jesus into their hearts and now have the Spirit of the Living God abiding within them). And as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man (Jesus) (just as soon as His Spirit is living in you or just as soon as you invite Him into your heart).
Jesus is known as the 2nd Adam. The 1st one failed, the 2nd One didn't. The 1st one was exactly like the 2nd One before the fall. Jesus looked just like Adam did before Adam sinned. Jesus now had to do what Adam was supposed to do. The 1st son failed and lost his sonship, the 2nd One walked in victory and defeated the one (satan) who destroyed the first son. When Jesus was born into this earth through Mary, He came to us as the Son of Man, not the Son of God (even though He was; Phil 2:5-8). He had to live on this earth as a man, in complete obedience to the Father, and live by faith in God's Word, just as the 1st man was designed to live by, but he failed when he chose to obey another word from another god (the god of this world-satan).
Jesus has defeated satan and has gotten back what Adam lost. Those who accept what Jesus did on the cross and receive Him as their personal Savior receive the Spirit of God into their hearts and they are born again and now made in the exact image of Jesus. Jesus went from being the only begotten Son of God to what the New Testament declares Him to be which is "the Firstborn from the dead" (Col 1:18, Rom 8:29) and all those who receive Jesus as Savior become born of God just like Jesus and just as Jesus is the Son of God, the born again man /woman is now the child of God.
Rom 8:14 says, "for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the Sons of God....16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. 17 and if children, then heirs---heirs of God and JOINT HEIRS with Christ...........
(Read 1 John 3:1-3 to establish this thought).
God has always wanted sons and daughters to bestow His love on. That is the whole purpose for our being here. And that which God has created to love, now is filled with that love, and desires to return that love to the Father. That is the way it was always supposed to be and thank God the Father, for His Son Jesus, for because of Him, I am a son as well.
God is still increasing His family to this day, but the soon coming King (Jesus) will be returning soon to gather up His family, so now is the day of salvation. Jesus was the firstborn from the dead, what number are you?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
It's Time to Get That Swine Flu Shot
I feel led by the Spirit of God to speak about this potential world wide swine flu epidemic. The reason for this is because the media has enlarged this problem to a Pandemic already. From the first day they reported it, fear has gripped this world and now there is a frenzy out there concerning the swine flu.
My wife and I experienced this once before in 1976. We were living in Westland , Michigan and our first child was 4 years old. The media once again informed us about a swine flu outbreak in New Jersey and in a short period of time, the government decided that it would be a good idea if everyone got a swine flu shot for protection. Well, I chose not to do it, not because I was a big man of faith, I didn't even know the Lord Jesus then. I just didn't want to stand in line for hours. I saw thousands of people lined up at the local Shopping Mall getting shots. After the swine flu terror was over with, it was determined that more people died from the shots than from the flu.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not against doctors, medicine, and shots. But what the believing Christian must know is don't ever do anything that is motivated by fear. Fear will lead you where God never intended you to go. We all may be faced with this same decision again depending on how bad the flu epidemic becomes. Men will do their best to stop it, but men doing something without God is doomed for failure. I've not heard one news cast or one person say anything about seeking God and His wisdom on what to do with this crisis, but instead I hear panic and fear everywhere.
That leads me to what you and I should be doing right now. My wife and I sat down before the Lord this morning and we got our swine flu shots from Him. We have exercised our faith in God and His Word and are completely inoculated by the blood of Jesus. Just as the Israelites were instructed by God to paint the door posts of their homes with the blood of the sacrificial lamb so that the angel of death would pass over them, that is exactly what my wife and I did this morning. We plead the blood of Jesus over our house (the one with a roof over it) and then we plead the blood of Jesus over our physical bodies (the house where our spirits live) and we full well expect that spirit of infirmity to pass over both houses.
Prov 4: 20-22 says that the Word of God is life unto those that find it it and health (or medicine) to all their flesh. God has medicine for the believer, it's His Word. But just like those pills in the bottle, they won't do the person any good if he doesn't take the pill out of the bottle and consume it the way the doctor ordered it. God's medicine is just the same. If you just leave God's word sitting on the table between those two leather covers and never look at it and consume it into your heart (your spirit man), it will do nothing for you at all and you'll most likely get sick and blame God for it or at the least you'll accuse God of putting that sickness on you and that He is teaching you something. (you know, that almost pains me to write that junk).
You've got to take God's word and put it into your heart. And just like the medicine in the bottle, you've got to consume it as prescribed and this is God's prescription, "you shall meditate on My word day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success." (Josh 1:8). Now that is God's way of prospering, spirit, soul, and body. If you take God's medication any other way, you'll not get enough to stand against the wiles (the different ways) of the devil.
So you receive your swine flu shot by receiving God's word through faith. Eph 1:19 says that God extends His power towards us when we believe Him and Eph 3:20 says God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS IN US, or according to whatever we can believe, God's power will be there to bring it to pass. Jesus said, according to your faith, be it done unto you. All things are possible to him that believes.
So if coming to God to get your swine fly shot sounds foolish to you, then you must understand that you have not been chewing on the meat of the word, but you are still taking the milk instead. For the Holy Spirit said in 1 Cor 1:18, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved (that is an ongoing process, not a one time act. I need healing and deliverance on a continuous basis) it is the power of God (for whatever we need, and in this case, I need a swine flu shot). So what is the message of the cross speaking to you. That your sins are forgiven and heaven is your home. That's great and wonderful and thank God for it, but the message of the cross has much more to say about how we can live on this earth before we get to heaven. This is the message you need now, "that Jesus bore your sicknesses and diseases and that you have been redeemed from the curse of the law", but just like that first group of Israelites that stood before the Promise Land, they still had to go in and possess it, they had to kick the giants out, and you'll have to kick the devil off of your promises from God as well. But God said you could, so go and do it.
Now are you ready for your Swine Flu shot. Then step right up, there is no waiting or line. To receive God's shot, you must receive His word by faith and believe Him.
Here is the medicine and you can't overdose on it. Take as much as you can.
1. Psalm 18:1-3
2. Prov 18:10
3. Ps 91 This is your protective covering. Especially look at verses 9-10
4. Ex 15:26
5. Ex 23:25
6. Deut 7:14-15
Now, if you take the above scriptures and believe that is God speaking directly to you and receive the truth of that word, than that truth will come to pass in your life. You will be inoculated from this spirit of infirmity. However, after doing the above and the devil still shows up on your front door step with the symptoms of the swine flu, resist him and kick him off your property by just quoting this word to him and refusing to accept those symptoms. Don't buy the lie, hold onto the Truth. This shot is more potent than anything man will ever come up with.
Now you need to take this good news out there and share it with others that need a swine flu shot. Be Blessed and stand strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
My wife and I experienced this once before in 1976. We were living in Westland , Michigan and our first child was 4 years old. The media once again informed us about a swine flu outbreak in New Jersey and in a short period of time, the government decided that it would be a good idea if everyone got a swine flu shot for protection. Well, I chose not to do it, not because I was a big man of faith, I didn't even know the Lord Jesus then. I just didn't want to stand in line for hours. I saw thousands of people lined up at the local Shopping Mall getting shots. After the swine flu terror was over with, it was determined that more people died from the shots than from the flu.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not against doctors, medicine, and shots. But what the believing Christian must know is don't ever do anything that is motivated by fear. Fear will lead you where God never intended you to go. We all may be faced with this same decision again depending on how bad the flu epidemic becomes. Men will do their best to stop it, but men doing something without God is doomed for failure. I've not heard one news cast or one person say anything about seeking God and His wisdom on what to do with this crisis, but instead I hear panic and fear everywhere.
That leads me to what you and I should be doing right now. My wife and I sat down before the Lord this morning and we got our swine flu shots from Him. We have exercised our faith in God and His Word and are completely inoculated by the blood of Jesus. Just as the Israelites were instructed by God to paint the door posts of their homes with the blood of the sacrificial lamb so that the angel of death would pass over them, that is exactly what my wife and I did this morning. We plead the blood of Jesus over our house (the one with a roof over it) and then we plead the blood of Jesus over our physical bodies (the house where our spirits live) and we full well expect that spirit of infirmity to pass over both houses.
Prov 4: 20-22 says that the Word of God is life unto those that find it it and health (or medicine) to all their flesh. God has medicine for the believer, it's His Word. But just like those pills in the bottle, they won't do the person any good if he doesn't take the pill out of the bottle and consume it the way the doctor ordered it. God's medicine is just the same. If you just leave God's word sitting on the table between those two leather covers and never look at it and consume it into your heart (your spirit man), it will do nothing for you at all and you'll most likely get sick and blame God for it or at the least you'll accuse God of putting that sickness on you and that He is teaching you something. (you know, that almost pains me to write that junk).
You've got to take God's word and put it into your heart. And just like the medicine in the bottle, you've got to consume it as prescribed and this is God's prescription, "you shall meditate on My word day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success." (Josh 1:8). Now that is God's way of prospering, spirit, soul, and body. If you take God's medication any other way, you'll not get enough to stand against the wiles (the different ways) of the devil.
So you receive your swine flu shot by receiving God's word through faith. Eph 1:19 says that God extends His power towards us when we believe Him and Eph 3:20 says God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS IN US, or according to whatever we can believe, God's power will be there to bring it to pass. Jesus said, according to your faith, be it done unto you. All things are possible to him that believes.
So if coming to God to get your swine fly shot sounds foolish to you, then you must understand that you have not been chewing on the meat of the word, but you are still taking the milk instead. For the Holy Spirit said in 1 Cor 1:18, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved (that is an ongoing process, not a one time act. I need healing and deliverance on a continuous basis) it is the power of God (for whatever we need, and in this case, I need a swine flu shot). So what is the message of the cross speaking to you. That your sins are forgiven and heaven is your home. That's great and wonderful and thank God for it, but the message of the cross has much more to say about how we can live on this earth before we get to heaven. This is the message you need now, "that Jesus bore your sicknesses and diseases and that you have been redeemed from the curse of the law", but just like that first group of Israelites that stood before the Promise Land, they still had to go in and possess it, they had to kick the giants out, and you'll have to kick the devil off of your promises from God as well. But God said you could, so go and do it.
Now are you ready for your Swine Flu shot. Then step right up, there is no waiting or line. To receive God's shot, you must receive His word by faith and believe Him.
Here is the medicine and you can't overdose on it. Take as much as you can.
1. Psalm 18:1-3
2. Prov 18:10
3. Ps 91 This is your protective covering. Especially look at verses 9-10
4. Ex 15:26
5. Ex 23:25
6. Deut 7:14-15
Now, if you take the above scriptures and believe that is God speaking directly to you and receive the truth of that word, than that truth will come to pass in your life. You will be inoculated from this spirit of infirmity. However, after doing the above and the devil still shows up on your front door step with the symptoms of the swine flu, resist him and kick him off your property by just quoting this word to him and refusing to accept those symptoms. Don't buy the lie, hold onto the Truth. This shot is more potent than anything man will ever come up with.
Now you need to take this good news out there and share it with others that need a swine flu shot. Be Blessed and stand strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Paintings of God--The Pictures of Life
The word of God paints a picture. It allows me to see the Truth through my spiritual eyes. If my body is sick, and I look at God's word and it declares to me, "by His (Jesus') stripes you were (past tense) healed (1 Pet 2:24)", I must take this word and use it as a picture until I see myself the way God sees me, Healed. I must look at this word picture with my spiritual eyes and see myself as the word sees me (healed) and as I look at that picture I see myself strong and healthy, just exactly as the word sees me. I must allow the word to tell me what I look like . If I will believe the picture that the word paints for me, my faith will obtain it. In this case, seeing is believing. But you are seeing the truth (first) through your spiritual eyes and you are believing what you see there and what you believe will bring about what you see.
That is the reason that God declares through His word that man must meditate on His word day and night (Josh 1:8). Why? So the man can renew his mind to the truth of God's word. So that he can see things as God sees them, then agree with God instead of agreeing with himself, what he sees, feels, or thinks about it.
Here in lies the problem. The man feels sick, so he looks into the mirror and he looks sick so he agrees with that image. Then he calls his doctor and goes and sees him. The doctor checks him out and sure enough the doctor agrees with the man and he tells him that he is sick. The doctor even gives the man a written report that declares the details of his sickness and this report declares that he only has three months to live. Now this man has been looking at everything through his physical eyes and everything he is looking at is painting pictures of death. Instead of seeing himself the way God sees him(a picture of life), he sees himself according to what he sees (a picture of death). By the time he leaves the doctors office, he sees himself dead because he believes the doctor's report and he keeps that image of death before him every time he looks in the mirror or feels his body and eventually the day comes where the pictures painted in the man's mind by the prophetic voice of the doctor and his report come to pass and the man dies.
This is the natural way of man, and sadly enough it's the way chosen by a great majority of God's family, the church. Paul calls this type of believer within the church, "a carnal christian"
(1 Cor 3:1) for he has been born again and has access to the Kingdom of God, but chooses to live his life in the natural carnal realm where he gets to be god and believes what he thinks about it instead of what God says about it. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death (Prov 14:12). Settle it once and for all. God's way leads to life, man's way leads to death. Which way are you heading?
But God, BUT GOD declares to man,"whose report will you believe (Isa 53:1), yours or Mine?". One report is believed by the natural physical senses of the man and the other is believed by the spirit of man. Both reports paint pictures. One paints pictures of death and the other paints pictures of life. Whatever pictures you choose to look at the most, that is what you will believe. (here is good point to make sure that you understand that I am not talking about denying the reality of the situation that stands before, what I'm saying is that you have the right to deny it's right to be there if God has given you His word of promise that covers the situation. You have a God given right to believe something other than what you see or feel. You have the right to believe what God says, so I'm not talking mind science here, I'm talking faith in the living Almighty God).
When a man believes what he sees over what God sees (which has been declared to you through His Word), then the man has exalted his throne above God's (sounds like something satan tried, so I wonder why man does it to? Isa 14:12-14. The results weren't very good for satan and they won't be good for man either). Instead of declaring what God says about it, the man declares what he thinks about it (because that is what he believes). Man overrules God, then reaps what he sows.
Man was made to live by faith (Habakkuk 2:2-4 & Heb 10:38) in the God who made him. Adam's sin in the garden separated man from God and the Spirit realm where he lived by faith and it now placed him in the natural realm where man now had to have faith in himself and his ability to take care of himself. Jesus came to earth for man, paid the price for man's sin, and made a way for man to be reunited with his God, and once again live his life in the Spirit realm, where God is the Lord of all things and what He declares is Truth no matter what the physical realm is declaring.
God has shared this truth with us today so that we would clearly understand the Spirit realm where man lives by faith in God with every step he takes and the physical realm where man lives by sight, his physical senses, and exalts himself as god and directs his own steps through life.
Now the choice is yours. Where are you going to live your life? Whose report are you going to believe? If you choose God's way, you've chose the right way (it's right, because it's God's way) to live. But know this. If you live God's way , you will look strange and peculiar and people will criticize you (1 Pet 2:9 in the King James Version uses the word peculiar where the others use words like "special, His very own", and the word peculiar is right on and it's for this very fact that few in the church today live by faith). And most of this criticism comes from people in the church who choose to live carnal lives over living in the Spirit. The man in the world won't really have much to say about you, but the religious man surely will and he (the religious man) is easily used by satan, to steal, kill, and destroy the man who is trying his best to walk by faith. So which one of these are you? A man/woman who lives by faith, or a man who criticizes the man who walks by faith?
God has declared, "the just shall live by faith". Well, that is where you are going to find me. I pray you join me and encourage me in my walk, but if all you want to do is criticize me, then don't get offended if I ignore you. I'm choosing the way of life. I'm going to look at God's pictures and what it says I look like, well, that's what I'm going to believe I look like and if I look any different to you (in the natural realm) than what the word says, than I'm asking you to agree with the word and if you can't do that than just be still and take your critical and judgemental thoughts someplace else, because I don't want to hear it, I only want to hear what God is saying.
I hope that you understand that this has been written out of a heart of love, God's heart. Sometimes it may not sound that way, but God has a way of getting our attention.
Be Blessed and keep the faith. I got my eyes open for those peculiar people. Am I going to find you? I hope so.
Let me leave you with a promise from God. To the man/woman who chooses to live by faith God has this to say to you, "With long life I will satisfy him/her, and show him/her My salvation" (Ps 91:16). The good news about this promise is that God is willing to show you His salvation everyday of your life for this wonderful word "salvation", means much more than insuring that Heaven is your home when you leave this earth, but it also includes the things we need for this life in this cursed world; restoration, deliverance, being made whole, healing, fully complete, nothing missing, nothing broken. Now I think that should cover it for any day you or I will face.
That is the reason that God declares through His word that man must meditate on His word day and night (Josh 1:8). Why? So the man can renew his mind to the truth of God's word. So that he can see things as God sees them, then agree with God instead of agreeing with himself, what he sees, feels, or thinks about it.
Here in lies the problem. The man feels sick, so he looks into the mirror and he looks sick so he agrees with that image. Then he calls his doctor and goes and sees him. The doctor checks him out and sure enough the doctor agrees with the man and he tells him that he is sick. The doctor even gives the man a written report that declares the details of his sickness and this report declares that he only has three months to live. Now this man has been looking at everything through his physical eyes and everything he is looking at is painting pictures of death. Instead of seeing himself the way God sees him(a picture of life), he sees himself according to what he sees (a picture of death). By the time he leaves the doctors office, he sees himself dead because he believes the doctor's report and he keeps that image of death before him every time he looks in the mirror or feels his body and eventually the day comes where the pictures painted in the man's mind by the prophetic voice of the doctor and his report come to pass and the man dies.
This is the natural way of man, and sadly enough it's the way chosen by a great majority of God's family, the church. Paul calls this type of believer within the church, "a carnal christian"
(1 Cor 3:1) for he has been born again and has access to the Kingdom of God, but chooses to live his life in the natural carnal realm where he gets to be god and believes what he thinks about it instead of what God says about it. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death (Prov 14:12). Settle it once and for all. God's way leads to life, man's way leads to death. Which way are you heading?
But God, BUT GOD declares to man,"whose report will you believe (Isa 53:1), yours or Mine?". One report is believed by the natural physical senses of the man and the other is believed by the spirit of man. Both reports paint pictures. One paints pictures of death and the other paints pictures of life. Whatever pictures you choose to look at the most, that is what you will believe. (here is good point to make sure that you understand that I am not talking about denying the reality of the situation that stands before, what I'm saying is that you have the right to deny it's right to be there if God has given you His word of promise that covers the situation. You have a God given right to believe something other than what you see or feel. You have the right to believe what God says, so I'm not talking mind science here, I'm talking faith in the living Almighty God).
When a man believes what he sees over what God sees (which has been declared to you through His Word), then the man has exalted his throne above God's (sounds like something satan tried, so I wonder why man does it to? Isa 14:12-14. The results weren't very good for satan and they won't be good for man either). Instead of declaring what God says about it, the man declares what he thinks about it (because that is what he believes). Man overrules God, then reaps what he sows.
Man was made to live by faith (Habakkuk 2:2-4 & Heb 10:38) in the God who made him. Adam's sin in the garden separated man from God and the Spirit realm where he lived by faith and it now placed him in the natural realm where man now had to have faith in himself and his ability to take care of himself. Jesus came to earth for man, paid the price for man's sin, and made a way for man to be reunited with his God, and once again live his life in the Spirit realm, where God is the Lord of all things and what He declares is Truth no matter what the physical realm is declaring.
God has shared this truth with us today so that we would clearly understand the Spirit realm where man lives by faith in God with every step he takes and the physical realm where man lives by sight, his physical senses, and exalts himself as god and directs his own steps through life.
Now the choice is yours. Where are you going to live your life? Whose report are you going to believe? If you choose God's way, you've chose the right way (it's right, because it's God's way) to live. But know this. If you live God's way , you will look strange and peculiar and people will criticize you (1 Pet 2:9 in the King James Version uses the word peculiar where the others use words like "special, His very own", and the word peculiar is right on and it's for this very fact that few in the church today live by faith). And most of this criticism comes from people in the church who choose to live carnal lives over living in the Spirit. The man in the world won't really have much to say about you, but the religious man surely will and he (the religious man) is easily used by satan, to steal, kill, and destroy the man who is trying his best to walk by faith. So which one of these are you? A man/woman who lives by faith, or a man who criticizes the man who walks by faith?
God has declared, "the just shall live by faith". Well, that is where you are going to find me. I pray you join me and encourage me in my walk, but if all you want to do is criticize me, then don't get offended if I ignore you. I'm choosing the way of life. I'm going to look at God's pictures and what it says I look like, well, that's what I'm going to believe I look like and if I look any different to you (in the natural realm) than what the word says, than I'm asking you to agree with the word and if you can't do that than just be still and take your critical and judgemental thoughts someplace else, because I don't want to hear it, I only want to hear what God is saying.
I hope that you understand that this has been written out of a heart of love, God's heart. Sometimes it may not sound that way, but God has a way of getting our attention.
Be Blessed and keep the faith. I got my eyes open for those peculiar people. Am I going to find you? I hope so.
Let me leave you with a promise from God. To the man/woman who chooses to live by faith God has this to say to you, "With long life I will satisfy him/her, and show him/her My salvation" (Ps 91:16). The good news about this promise is that God is willing to show you His salvation everyday of your life for this wonderful word "salvation", means much more than insuring that Heaven is your home when you leave this earth, but it also includes the things we need for this life in this cursed world; restoration, deliverance, being made whole, healing, fully complete, nothing missing, nothing broken. Now I think that should cover it for any day you or I will face.
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