The Word of God, the Bible, is Good News...........not Bad News. (Why do I see so many sad faces at chruch?)
Every issue of life that comes against you, God has Good News in response to it.
Everyday that you wake up, God has Good News waiting for you, but the world has bad news waiting for you. What news are you going to look at and hear and then respond to?
The doctor gives you a report that you are sick and there is no cure, and you will die because of it. Jesus gives you His report that He paid the price for that sickness by bearing that sickness in His own body for you (Matt 8:17) and that by the stripes that were laid on His back you were healed. (1 Pet 2:24) Also in Ps 118:17 God's promise to you is, "you shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord". Which report are you going to believe? The bad news or the Good News? It's your choice. Which ever report you believe will determine your outcome. If you believe the doctor more than you believe Jesus, then you will die. If you believe Jesus more than the doctor, you will live.
God is a good God Who has declared to us Good News!
Jesus said, " according to your faith, be it done unto you." (Matt 9:29) If you believe the Good News, then the Good news will come. If you believe the bad news, then the bad news will come. Life and death are in the power of the tongue (Prov 18:21), because what you believe dwells in your heart (Rom 10:10) and what you believe in your heart you will say with your mouth. The words that come out of your mouth will always tell you and God what you believe.
Fill your heart full of God's report, the Good News, instead of the doctor's report, bad news, and the words that come out of your mouth will sound just like God's report and you will have what you say because Jesus said you would. (Mark 11:23). Do you believe Him? It's a matter of life and death. God's news is always Good News. Good News awaits you everyday. The choice is all yours. Now that is God's will for you. What will you do with it? Because your will and not God's, will be the determining factor for God has already declared His will to you by declaring His Word of Promise to you.
Choose the Good News and live.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you. It takes faith to choose the Good News of God over the bad news. That is why God said, "the just shall live by faith" (Heb 10:38)
Romans 1:1 -- The Apostle Paul was separated to the Good News of God. We that believe in Jesus must separate ourselves to the Good News just like Paul did and live our lives according to that Good News.
Good News or bad news, the choice is yours!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Just Shall Live By Faith--How Come?
Why does God say, "the just shall live by faith"? (Heb 10:38) Why does a born again man need to live by faith?
So that Jesus can live His life through that man/woman. When I'm born again, my old spirit died, and Jesus' Spirit came and replaced it. (Gal 2:20, Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me). Terry died and Jesus lives within me.
The only way Terry lives now is by me allowing my flesh body to reign and rule me according to the old man, the old way of being. But if I surrender to the One who now lives within me, the Spirit of Jesus, then it will be Jesus living His life in and through my body. To allow Jesus to live His life through me, requires me to live by faith (in God and His ways that I see in the Word) and not by sight (what I think or feel about it).
To live by faith is to be surrendered to God and His ways. I live my life through the Spirit of Jesus that dwells within me. The way Jesus shows me how He wants to live through me is by revealing His Word to Me. He is the Word and the Word is God (Jn 1:1). When I look at the Word, I see the One dwelling within Me and I also can see how He wants to live. I can see what He wants to do. I see Him as He walked this earth teaching, preaching and healing and that is exactly what He still wants to do now, except He is using my body to do it with instead of His. Jesus said, "Whatever I see the Father do, I do." (Jn 5:19), so I say, "whatever I see Jesus do, then that's what I'll be doing, because it's Jesus who lives within me and He is going to continue to do what He always did. To live by faith is nothing more than to allow Jesus to live His life through me.
Why did the Father call me to Jesus? So that I would be willing to be born again with His Spirit and make a place for Jesus to live His life through me with the benefit of me getting to live my life through Him. When I lay my hands on sick people, I'm doing that out of obedience to the Word of God (Jesus) which tells me how Jesus lives, and the purpose of Jesus' life. Jesus' purpose has now become my purpose. My only reason for living is for Him.
But God has said in His Word that if I would choose to live by faith and allow His Son Jesus to live His life through me, then I would be His son also, and that He would supply everything I need for this life and even give me the desires of my heart by adding those things to my life. (Ps 37:4)
Living by faith is the highest calling of life for a man. It's the reason for man to be here. God created man for fellowship and Jesus put His Spirit in the first man Adam that brought God's life to him. Adam's spirit that was filled with God's life, died when Adam sinned, but Jesus sacrificed Himself on the Cross for sinful man, and now man once again can have the Spirit of God (Jesus) living within him, and God the Father can now have the sons and daughters He has always wanted.
My responsibility as a born-again child of God is to live by faith, which means to let Jesus live His life through me, while I'm on this earth, and if I'll do that, God will be well pleased with me, and I will forever live with God throughout eternity.
My goal in this life on earth is not only to be like Him, but to let Him live through me, for if I'll do that, I will look just like him of course.
Am I willing to let Jesus live through me? If I won't live by faith, then I'm not willing to let Jesus live His life through me. I don't ever want to be found at this place. To live for myself is to keep Jesus hidden from a world that desperately needs to see Him.
Am I willing? Are you willing? The way you and I live will answer that question. To live by faith, is to live by what Jesus believes. Jesus is the Living Word. He believes what He is. That same Word lives in me. I believe what I am also, and bless God I'm going to live that way.
So that Jesus can live His life through that man/woman. When I'm born again, my old spirit died, and Jesus' Spirit came and replaced it. (Gal 2:20, Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me). Terry died and Jesus lives within me.
The only way Terry lives now is by me allowing my flesh body to reign and rule me according to the old man, the old way of being. But if I surrender to the One who now lives within me, the Spirit of Jesus, then it will be Jesus living His life in and through my body. To allow Jesus to live His life through me, requires me to live by faith (in God and His ways that I see in the Word) and not by sight (what I think or feel about it).
To live by faith is to be surrendered to God and His ways. I live my life through the Spirit of Jesus that dwells within me. The way Jesus shows me how He wants to live through me is by revealing His Word to Me. He is the Word and the Word is God (Jn 1:1). When I look at the Word, I see the One dwelling within Me and I also can see how He wants to live. I can see what He wants to do. I see Him as He walked this earth teaching, preaching and healing and that is exactly what He still wants to do now, except He is using my body to do it with instead of His. Jesus said, "Whatever I see the Father do, I do." (Jn 5:19), so I say, "whatever I see Jesus do, then that's what I'll be doing, because it's Jesus who lives within me and He is going to continue to do what He always did. To live by faith is nothing more than to allow Jesus to live His life through me.
Why did the Father call me to Jesus? So that I would be willing to be born again with His Spirit and make a place for Jesus to live His life through me with the benefit of me getting to live my life through Him. When I lay my hands on sick people, I'm doing that out of obedience to the Word of God (Jesus) which tells me how Jesus lives, and the purpose of Jesus' life. Jesus' purpose has now become my purpose. My only reason for living is for Him.
But God has said in His Word that if I would choose to live by faith and allow His Son Jesus to live His life through me, then I would be His son also, and that He would supply everything I need for this life and even give me the desires of my heart by adding those things to my life. (Ps 37:4)
Living by faith is the highest calling of life for a man. It's the reason for man to be here. God created man for fellowship and Jesus put His Spirit in the first man Adam that brought God's life to him. Adam's spirit that was filled with God's life, died when Adam sinned, but Jesus sacrificed Himself on the Cross for sinful man, and now man once again can have the Spirit of God (Jesus) living within him, and God the Father can now have the sons and daughters He has always wanted.
My responsibility as a born-again child of God is to live by faith, which means to let Jesus live His life through me, while I'm on this earth, and if I'll do that, God will be well pleased with me, and I will forever live with God throughout eternity.
My goal in this life on earth is not only to be like Him, but to let Him live through me, for if I'll do that, I will look just like him of course.
Am I willing to let Jesus live through me? If I won't live by faith, then I'm not willing to let Jesus live His life through me. I don't ever want to be found at this place. To live for myself is to keep Jesus hidden from a world that desperately needs to see Him.
Am I willing? Are you willing? The way you and I live will answer that question. To live by faith, is to live by what Jesus believes. Jesus is the Living Word. He believes what He is. That same Word lives in me. I believe what I am also, and bless God I'm going to live that way.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The Schemes of the Devil--You Better Know Them
Every thought of temptation that comes from the devil is always a thought that is in direct opposition to what God has declared as Truth in His Word. Every thought that the devil brings to you is for the intent of leading you away from the Truth. The devil always waits until you have left your time of fellowship with Jesus and the Father to bring his thoughts to you. When you are looking at the Lord by looking at the Word (the Word is Jesus Himself--Jn 1:1) and fellow shipping with with God by meditating His Word, there is no place available for the devil and his thoughts. You're in that secret place (Ps 91:1) called faith, for faith comes as you hear and look at the Word.
But when you leave the place of fellowship with God, the devil will come and try to steal the Word that you received from God, by giving you another thought that usually will try to generate fear. The devil is after your faith, and he uses fear to get it. The devil also uses one other tactic to steal from you. He uses the very same thing against you that separated him from God and got him thrown out of Heaven. The devil uses pride. Pride is where you think more highly of yourself than you ought to. Pride is what tempts you to exalt your throne above God's (by exalting what you think about something over what God thinks about it), just like the devil tried to do (Isa 14: 12-14). God said, "you'll have no other God's before you" (Ex 20:3), and that includes yourself. When you exalt what you think above what God thinks, you're in serious trouble and most vulnerable to the devil.
You see the perfect example of this as you look at Jesus on the Mount of Temptation (Matt 4:1-11). Jesus had just fasted and prayed, or you can say it this way, Jesus had just spent 40 days fellow shipping with the Father, and with that completed, He realized He was hungry. Jesus knew that His Father would supply the food that He needed because His Father is the Lord God Provider ( Jehovah-Jireh meaning "the Lord will provide". This is one of the seven redemptive names of God). But the devil came immediately and tempted Jesus to look away from the Truth, and exalt Himself in that situation by trying to get Jesus to take care of Himself by having Jesus prove that He was the Son of God by speaking to the stones (see, even the devil knows how the Kingdom of God works) and telling them to turn into bread so that Jesus could take care of Himself by eating that bread. But instead of Jesus taking the devil's bait of temptation, He responded with the Word of Truth (His Father's Word), and said, "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt 4:4).
If you don't have the Word of God abiding in you, then you'll not be able to resist the devil's temptation when he comes to kill, steal, and destroy you. For example, when the devil comes and says, "you are sick, the doctor said so, and he said your going to die, and that's exactly what is going to happen to you", and unless you have the Word of Truth abiding in your heart (your spirit, the real you), you'll give into the fear the devil has brought to you and you'll believe the lie. And when you believe the lie, then that is what you will speak from your mouth. You'll hear those words out of your own mouth and they will produce fear. And if you are in fear, you are not in faith. But, if you have God's Word in your heart in abundance, you will respond to the devil's temptation in faith by saying, " Jesus bore my sicknesses and carried my diseases (Matt 8:17) and by His stripes I am healed (1 Pet 2:24), therefore, I shall live and not die and declare the works of the Lord (Ps 118:17), for God has said to me, because you love Me (My Word) I will satisfy you with long life and show you my salvation (Ps 91:14-16)." With God's Word in my heart, I'll take my stand of faith and resist the devil's lies with the Word of Truth.
Let me say it again, every word (thought) that the devil speaks to you is always in direct opposition to God's Word of Truth. You'll believe the lie if you are moved by fear. But you will believe God's Word if you are moved by faith. Which ever word you believe and act on, that is what you will receive.
Meditate on the Word day and night (Josh 1:8). Keep it in your heart in abundance, so that your mouth can be filled with the Word of God whenever you need it, and trust me, you'll need it, because the devil is always after that Word that is in your heart (because it will produce faith) and he will do anything you let him to get it.
Now Jesus said in Mark 11:23, " he (a man/woman) who believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatsoever he says". Now this scripture has so riled up the Church over these last 40 years. It's caused divisions and splits among Christian brothers. Who does that sound like? Who do you think is behind that? The devil knows the Word of God better than most Christians. He has distorted that truth (believing what you say) by tempting man's flesh with it, and men have carelessly misused this Word to fulfill their own lust. But, nevertheless, the Truth behind what Jesus said is still true (today). It's a spiritual law. It works just like the natural law of gravity. It always works when applied. ALWAYS! And the devil knows this, so he knows if he can get you believe with your heart (the lie) and say out of your mouth what he says (instead of what God says), then you will have what you say and he will kill you with your own words.
If you want to live and not die, then you are going to have to do what Jesus did. He said, "I only do what I see the Father do (John 5:19), and I only say what the Father says (John 8:28).
Whatever situation of life that stands before you, you must say what God says about it and live and have victory, for if you say what the devil says about it, you will lose and be destroyed.
Read Josh 1:8 and Ps 1 and do what it says. The key to strong overcoming faith is meditating the word. If you don't like the word meditate, than I'll say it this way, just spend time in the Word, for that is where the Life of God is hidden. And that God life will come alive in you when you put that Word in your heart. Hold fast to the Word of God and it will hold fast to you.
And remember this Truth as well. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Gal 6:7)". Sow the seed of God's Word in your heart today and when the devil comes to plant his seeds, run him off. Which crop are you going to allow to grow in your heart?
But when you leave the place of fellowship with God, the devil will come and try to steal the Word that you received from God, by giving you another thought that usually will try to generate fear. The devil is after your faith, and he uses fear to get it. The devil also uses one other tactic to steal from you. He uses the very same thing against you that separated him from God and got him thrown out of Heaven. The devil uses pride. Pride is where you think more highly of yourself than you ought to. Pride is what tempts you to exalt your throne above God's (by exalting what you think about something over what God thinks about it), just like the devil tried to do (Isa 14: 12-14). God said, "you'll have no other God's before you" (Ex 20:3), and that includes yourself. When you exalt what you think above what God thinks, you're in serious trouble and most vulnerable to the devil.
You see the perfect example of this as you look at Jesus on the Mount of Temptation (Matt 4:1-11). Jesus had just fasted and prayed, or you can say it this way, Jesus had just spent 40 days fellow shipping with the Father, and with that completed, He realized He was hungry. Jesus knew that His Father would supply the food that He needed because His Father is the Lord God Provider ( Jehovah-Jireh meaning "the Lord will provide". This is one of the seven redemptive names of God). But the devil came immediately and tempted Jesus to look away from the Truth, and exalt Himself in that situation by trying to get Jesus to take care of Himself by having Jesus prove that He was the Son of God by speaking to the stones (see, even the devil knows how the Kingdom of God works) and telling them to turn into bread so that Jesus could take care of Himself by eating that bread. But instead of Jesus taking the devil's bait of temptation, He responded with the Word of Truth (His Father's Word), and said, "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt 4:4).
If you don't have the Word of God abiding in you, then you'll not be able to resist the devil's temptation when he comes to kill, steal, and destroy you. For example, when the devil comes and says, "you are sick, the doctor said so, and he said your going to die, and that's exactly what is going to happen to you", and unless you have the Word of Truth abiding in your heart (your spirit, the real you), you'll give into the fear the devil has brought to you and you'll believe the lie. And when you believe the lie, then that is what you will speak from your mouth. You'll hear those words out of your own mouth and they will produce fear. And if you are in fear, you are not in faith. But, if you have God's Word in your heart in abundance, you will respond to the devil's temptation in faith by saying, " Jesus bore my sicknesses and carried my diseases (Matt 8:17) and by His stripes I am healed (1 Pet 2:24), therefore, I shall live and not die and declare the works of the Lord (Ps 118:17), for God has said to me, because you love Me (My Word) I will satisfy you with long life and show you my salvation (Ps 91:14-16)." With God's Word in my heart, I'll take my stand of faith and resist the devil's lies with the Word of Truth.
Let me say it again, every word (thought) that the devil speaks to you is always in direct opposition to God's Word of Truth. You'll believe the lie if you are moved by fear. But you will believe God's Word if you are moved by faith. Which ever word you believe and act on, that is what you will receive.
Meditate on the Word day and night (Josh 1:8). Keep it in your heart in abundance, so that your mouth can be filled with the Word of God whenever you need it, and trust me, you'll need it, because the devil is always after that Word that is in your heart (because it will produce faith) and he will do anything you let him to get it.
Now Jesus said in Mark 11:23, " he (a man/woman) who believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatsoever he says". Now this scripture has so riled up the Church over these last 40 years. It's caused divisions and splits among Christian brothers. Who does that sound like? Who do you think is behind that? The devil knows the Word of God better than most Christians. He has distorted that truth (believing what you say) by tempting man's flesh with it, and men have carelessly misused this Word to fulfill their own lust. But, nevertheless, the Truth behind what Jesus said is still true (today). It's a spiritual law. It works just like the natural law of gravity. It always works when applied. ALWAYS! And the devil knows this, so he knows if he can get you believe with your heart (the lie) and say out of your mouth what he says (instead of what God says), then you will have what you say and he will kill you with your own words.
If you want to live and not die, then you are going to have to do what Jesus did. He said, "I only do what I see the Father do (John 5:19), and I only say what the Father says (John 8:28).
Whatever situation of life that stands before you, you must say what God says about it and live and have victory, for if you say what the devil says about it, you will lose and be destroyed.
Read Josh 1:8 and Ps 1 and do what it says. The key to strong overcoming faith is meditating the word. If you don't like the word meditate, than I'll say it this way, just spend time in the Word, for that is where the Life of God is hidden. And that God life will come alive in you when you put that Word in your heart. Hold fast to the Word of God and it will hold fast to you.
And remember this Truth as well. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Gal 6:7)". Sow the seed of God's Word in your heart today and when the devil comes to plant his seeds, run him off. Which crop are you going to allow to grow in your heart?
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The Language of the Spirit
The Word of God (the Bible, the one you have and look at) is the Language of the Spirit realm. Jesus said in John 6:63, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are Life.
God's Word is spiritual language. God's Spirit is the only One who understands this language. Many can read this language, and actually know it, BUT they can't understand it.
The only way a man can understand the language of the Spirit, is by having the Spirit of God dwelling in his heart. Jesus said, "unless a man is born again, he can not see the Kingdom of God"
(John 3:3). That word "see" means to know, be aware, behold, consider, look on, be sure, and to understand what you are looking at. You can physically see something, but not know what you are looking at or seeing. Have you ever heard the expression, "that just dawned on me?" That comes from someone who just had their eyes opened to see something they had never seen before even though they have looked at it many times before (this is God's revelation to man. God reveals Himself through His Word). Or have you ever heard someone say, " I've looked at that scripture for years, but I never saw what I saw today?". They just had their eyes opened beyond what they could physically see to understanding the language of the Spirit.
There is a language for the natural realm as well. It's the one that man is most familiar with. The natural language is understood by our physical senses. The knowledge and understanding of natural language come from man, whereas the knowledge and understanding of the spiritual language come from God.
Spiritual language sounds like a foreign language to the natural man. He can hear it and see it, but he doesn't understand it (Matt 13:14-16, please read this) and may even think it sounds foolish. The Spirit of God said through the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (the natural, unborn again man), BUT to us (us born again ones who understand the language of the Spirit) who are being saved, it is the power of God."
The natural man can not understand the spiritual language. The Holy Spirit says, "but the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor 2:14)
Now the problem for the natural man to understand God goes beyond the ungodly or unborn again man. It's made it's way into the church (the body of Christ) as well. The Holy Spirit calls them Carnal Christians. They are born again men and women who don't understand the language of the Spirit, because they prefer to stay with the language they understand and are familiar with, the natural language. They don't want to learn the new language of the Spirit. They won't do what the Holy Spirit tells them to do. They won't renew their minds with the Word of God so that they can understand the Spiritual language and begin to think like Jesus thinks (Phil 2:5)
The Apostle Paul said (under the influence of the Holy Spirit), "I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as to carnal, as babes in Christ . You can't receive what I want to give you
because you are still carnal." (1 Cor 3:1-3)
This is God's voice to the church today; There are too many within the church that don't know the Spiritual Language and the main problem with that is, that God can not speak to His people the way He wants to, because they choose to remain carnal.
One major problem with so many carnal Christians in the church is their condemnation of those who understand the Spiritual Language, speak it, and live their lives according to it. The carnal Christian finds himself at odds with the spiritual Christian and he will fight him every step of the way. Of course the carnal Christian is really not fighting against his spiritual brother, he is fighting against God, and trust me when I say, the carnal Christian will not win this fight, but he can hinder the church in many ways (who does this sound like I am describing? What power or influence is leading the carnal Christian?).
This is why we have so many denominations, splits, factions, cults and whatever. All of which are being led by the spirit of Antichrist to do his work, and to hurt God in every way he can.
(2 Tim 2:23-26 now read this, and really focus on verse 26 until it becomes loud and clear to you)
This is serious business. It's the responsibility of every born again man and woman to learn and understand the language of the Spirit, so that when you hear God speaking His Word to you like,
"by His stripes you WERE healed" (1 Pet 2:24), you will see yourself healed, just like God sees you, instead of seeing yourself sick like your natural man is telling you that you are. Now if that statement I just made riles you up and sounds foolish and stupid, then you've just told on yourself that you are carnal, that you don't understand the language of the Spirit, and that you are not willing to think like God thinks.
It's time to grow up Church. It's time to think and talk like God our Father and Jesus our Lord, Savior and Brother. It's time to learn the language of the Spirit. When you do then the above statement I made will sound normal and right, and you'll walk in that Truth, and the Truth (of the Spiritual Language) will set you free and if it's Healing that you need, then you'll receive it.
It's time to learn a new language. Jesus' Spirit said it was reasonable for you to do this (Rom 12:1) and more than that, the Church is commanded by Jesus to do it for he said so in
John 13:34 and then He said in John 14:21, "He who has My Commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me and in verse 23 Jesus continues and says, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him".
Is that promise from Jesus enough to get you to take the time to learn a new language? God's language. The language of the Spirit.
I pray you heed the voice of the Lord today and do what He has shown you. If not, then I would ask you to extend grace to those who speak a language that you don't understand. The Church will be a better place if you can do that.
Now go start talking like God. He is more than willing to show you how!!
God's Word is spiritual language. God's Spirit is the only One who understands this language. Many can read this language, and actually know it, BUT they can't understand it.
The only way a man can understand the language of the Spirit, is by having the Spirit of God dwelling in his heart. Jesus said, "unless a man is born again, he can not see the Kingdom of God"
(John 3:3). That word "see" means to know, be aware, behold, consider, look on, be sure, and to understand what you are looking at. You can physically see something, but not know what you are looking at or seeing. Have you ever heard the expression, "that just dawned on me?" That comes from someone who just had their eyes opened to see something they had never seen before even though they have looked at it many times before (this is God's revelation to man. God reveals Himself through His Word). Or have you ever heard someone say, " I've looked at that scripture for years, but I never saw what I saw today?". They just had their eyes opened beyond what they could physically see to understanding the language of the Spirit.
There is a language for the natural realm as well. It's the one that man is most familiar with. The natural language is understood by our physical senses. The knowledge and understanding of natural language come from man, whereas the knowledge and understanding of the spiritual language come from God.
Spiritual language sounds like a foreign language to the natural man. He can hear it and see it, but he doesn't understand it (Matt 13:14-16, please read this) and may even think it sounds foolish. The Spirit of God said through the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (the natural, unborn again man), BUT to us (us born again ones who understand the language of the Spirit) who are being saved, it is the power of God."
The natural man can not understand the spiritual language. The Holy Spirit says, "but the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor 2:14)
Now the problem for the natural man to understand God goes beyond the ungodly or unborn again man. It's made it's way into the church (the body of Christ) as well. The Holy Spirit calls them Carnal Christians. They are born again men and women who don't understand the language of the Spirit, because they prefer to stay with the language they understand and are familiar with, the natural language. They don't want to learn the new language of the Spirit. They won't do what the Holy Spirit tells them to do. They won't renew their minds with the Word of God so that they can understand the Spiritual language and begin to think like Jesus thinks (Phil 2:5)
The Apostle Paul said (under the influence of the Holy Spirit), "I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as to carnal, as babes in Christ . You can't receive what I want to give you
because you are still carnal." (1 Cor 3:1-3)
This is God's voice to the church today; There are too many within the church that don't know the Spiritual Language and the main problem with that is, that God can not speak to His people the way He wants to, because they choose to remain carnal.
One major problem with so many carnal Christians in the church is their condemnation of those who understand the Spiritual Language, speak it, and live their lives according to it. The carnal Christian finds himself at odds with the spiritual Christian and he will fight him every step of the way. Of course the carnal Christian is really not fighting against his spiritual brother, he is fighting against God, and trust me when I say, the carnal Christian will not win this fight, but he can hinder the church in many ways (who does this sound like I am describing? What power or influence is leading the carnal Christian?).
This is why we have so many denominations, splits, factions, cults and whatever. All of which are being led by the spirit of Antichrist to do his work, and to hurt God in every way he can.
(2 Tim 2:23-26 now read this, and really focus on verse 26 until it becomes loud and clear to you)
This is serious business. It's the responsibility of every born again man and woman to learn and understand the language of the Spirit, so that when you hear God speaking His Word to you like,
"by His stripes you WERE healed" (1 Pet 2:24), you will see yourself healed, just like God sees you, instead of seeing yourself sick like your natural man is telling you that you are. Now if that statement I just made riles you up and sounds foolish and stupid, then you've just told on yourself that you are carnal, that you don't understand the language of the Spirit, and that you are not willing to think like God thinks.
It's time to grow up Church. It's time to think and talk like God our Father and Jesus our Lord, Savior and Brother. It's time to learn the language of the Spirit. When you do then the above statement I made will sound normal and right, and you'll walk in that Truth, and the Truth (of the Spiritual Language) will set you free and if it's Healing that you need, then you'll receive it.
It's time to learn a new language. Jesus' Spirit said it was reasonable for you to do this (Rom 12:1) and more than that, the Church is commanded by Jesus to do it for he said so in
John 13:34 and then He said in John 14:21, "He who has My Commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me and in verse 23 Jesus continues and says, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him".
Is that promise from Jesus enough to get you to take the time to learn a new language? God's language. The language of the Spirit.
I pray you heed the voice of the Lord today and do what He has shown you. If not, then I would ask you to extend grace to those who speak a language that you don't understand. The Church will be a better place if you can do that.
Now go start talking like God. He is more than willing to show you how!!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The Religious Mind--It Can Limit You
There are two big Truth's out of the Word of God that the religious mind has trouble with and can not accept, therefore it refuses that truth and is unable to receive the benefit of it. Those two truth's are:
1. That Jesus (God) lowered Himself from the Throne of God (as the Son of God) to the realm of man (as the Son of Man) and walked as a man on this earth and not as God. God became like a man.
2. That man was raised up to sit together with Christ in heavenly places (now in this lifetime, not after we die). That man became like God.
Now, if you are being led by religious spirits, you are already in an uproar and you are ready to fight for your doctrine, but I say, just chill out, relax, put your gun back in the holster, calm down, grow still, and hear what the voice of the Spirit is saying.
Jesus has always been God, but when He came to this earth, He lowered Himself to man's status (Phil 2:6-8) and everything He did on the earth was as a man totally dependent upon God the Father. Jesus walked by faith in God (the Father) demonstrating perfectly to other men (women) what this relationship between God and man looks like.
Jesus was perfect in every way and you and I are not. We are imperfect vessels with flesh bodies that are dead because of sin. But it's our spirit when it becomes born again, that I (and you) become just like Jesus on the inside, but not on the outside. But the real me, my spirit, is just like Jesus, therefore I am like Him on this earth just as He was and still is and will always be. (1 John 4:17)
The problem that now exists for me (and you) is that my flesh body is dead and it wants to act like a dead person, one who is separated from God and doesn't want to act godly. Have you ever heard the term, "dead man walking", well, you are alive and dead at the same time and this perfectly describes the condition of the born again man. Only big difference is that when I lay this dead body of flesh down and my spirit departs, I'll be soaring free from that body of death right into God's opened and welcoming arms in Heaven and those that are not born again will be ushered to the kingdom of death, satan's domain, Hell itself. You see, my spirit has been born again with the Spirit of Jesus, and my spirit (the real me) is alive unto God, no longer separated from God, but now joined with Him, and my spirit now wants to act just like Jesus.
There is a fight that exists between my flesh and my spirit for control over my life. My flesh is dead and it wants to act the devil, or, like a sinner. My spirit is alive with the Spirit of Jesus in me and my spirit wants to act like God (Jesus). The child of God (that's me (& you) with my new born again spirit) wants to be just like his Father, but the old dead flesh wants to act just like the one who controlled it before I was born again. Eph 2:2 calls him the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who works in the sons of disobedience (this speaks to the devil and his family).
Now, which one of these two (God or the devil) are going to control my life? There is only one who can make the choice, and that is me (you). God said, "I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, (you) choose life, that you may live" (Deut 30:19). I must choose who I am going to follow. Who will I allow to dominate and control me? My flesh body or my spirit man? Do I really have a choice? How can I follow my spirit instead of my flesh?
Well, what is the common denominator between my spirit and my flesh? What dictates who I will follow? It's your mind (which is your soul that houses your mind, will, and emotions). Whatever thoughts reside in your mind the most, those thoughts will dictate to you how to live your life. Your flesh body already knows how to act ugly, or act just like the devil. It's trained to act that way and it will continue to act that way unless it is retrained. That is why Jesus said in
Rom 12:2, that I must be transformed (changed from one way of living to another. From my flesh body leading the way to my spirit man leading the way) and this transformation takes place in the mind and I have to renew it to think like God thinks instead of how the devil thinks, and the way I renew my mind is by looking into the Word of God, meditating it day and night until that Word changes my mind and I start thinking God thoughts instead of devil thoughts.
2 Cor 3:18 says if I'll look into God's Word long enough, I'll be transformed into looking just like what I'm looking at. I'll look and sound just like the Word of God in my old flesh body. Yes, this old ugly dead flesh body of mine will look alive and just like Jesus if I'll keep my heart full of the Word of God, and cast down every thought that comes to my mind that does not line up with and agree with the Word of God (2 Cor 10:5).
If my mind is renewed to think like God, and my spirit is full of His Word, then my flesh body will change to do something new because it will be following my spirit and my mind. My body of flesh will be under control (of my spirit) instead of out of control and led by the influence of the devil.
Now I said all that so that I could say this about the original thought that God gave me about the religious mind. The religious mind (one that has been trained and renewed to man's doctrines instead of God's) can not grasp or accept what I just shared with you nor can it accept what I'm about to share with you.
The religious mind wants to exalt Jesus to a place a man can never get. They make Jesus out to be some super human man that is different from them and of course if Jesus is different, then what Jesus did is unique to Him and no one else can do it. Now who do you think would author a thought like that? It's the doctrine of demons, the spirit of error, for one purpose only, to stop you from acting on the truth and being like Jesus, because the devil knows that if you ever understand this truth, his days of victory over you are over as you place him under your feet where he belongs.
The religious minded man has Jesus exalted so high, that they could never see themselves in that same place with Him. The religious mind can't accept Phil 2:6-8 where it says Jesus lowered Himself to man's place and lived as a man on this earth totally dependent upon God the Father for everything. The religious mind doesn't understand or accept all that was accomplished by Jesus on the cross. The religious mind does not understand about the finished works of Jesus on the cross. The religious mind doesn't understand the victory of Jesus over the devil and it's significance to them. The religious mind will agree that Jesus was raised from the dead, but they don't see themselves raised from the dead. You see, if you can't see yourself raised from the dead to new life, then you'll always act like a dead man.
And finally, the religious mind can not accept and agree with Eph 2:6 which says, man (the born again man) has been raised up to God's status by by God raising man up to sit at the right hand of Jesus (the position of authority and dominion) in Heavenly places. This is the place man was always supposed to occupy. It's the place Adam occupied before his fall from grace because of his sin. The religious mind can't see himself as his Father (God) sees him. If you are God's child, then you have God's DNA in you. That's who you are. (Now get this straight before the devil leads you astray. You and me, we are not God. There is only One God in three Persons. But we are God's offspring, His children, but we are made like God (read Gen 1:26-27). As He is, so are we in this world ( 1 John 4:17).
The religious mind can not accept that he has been raised up together with Christ, therefore the religious mind can not act like or do what Jesus did, because he doesn't believe he has the right to it, but all along he has an inheritance that belongs to him, but he will never take advantage of it and walk in that blessing, because the religious mind can not think like God thinks,and the religious mind will for the most part be easily led astry from the Truth of God's Word by the influence of the devil and his demonic spirits.
So just who do you want to be today? What God has made you to be, or to be what religious man says that you are, " just a poor old miserable sinner saved by grace." I'll tell you, just saying that is pathetic (but it sure is religious) for when you see the born again man's position through God's eyes.
It takes courage to believe God over what religious men say, especially when these men say they are speaking for God, but wouldn't know Him if they walked by Him on the street, because they don't know His Word and they have built a doctrine about God that they understand, but it looks nothing like the God our Bible, the Word of God portrays.
So, who are you going to be like? The God that religious man has defined for you, or the God Who has declared Himself Who He is, what He did, and Who He made you to be like.
Well I know which one I'm following. The hard part is getting past all those religious minds that want to hinder or even stop your walk and growth with the One True God.
Press on my brother and sister and be blessed as you grow up in Him and take your rightful place. Your Father would have it no other way!!............
Side Bar**
Religion--A system of faith or worship.
Religious-- pious, godly, belonging to a religious order, conscientious, faithful (did you know that you can be faithful to man's doctrine and unfaithful to God's?)
Christianity is not a religion. A religion has been made out of Christianity.
Christianity is a relationship with God Almighty through our Lord and Savior Jesus. Are you walking daily hand in hand with God? If you are you are experiencing Christianity. If you are not you are experiencing religion. There is no life in Religion, but abundant life (John 10:10) is found only in an active fellowship with Jesus ( 1 John 1:7).
1. That Jesus (God) lowered Himself from the Throne of God (as the Son of God) to the realm of man (as the Son of Man) and walked as a man on this earth and not as God. God became like a man.
2. That man was raised up to sit together with Christ in heavenly places (now in this lifetime, not after we die). That man became like God.
Now, if you are being led by religious spirits, you are already in an uproar and you are ready to fight for your doctrine, but I say, just chill out, relax, put your gun back in the holster, calm down, grow still, and hear what the voice of the Spirit is saying.
Jesus has always been God, but when He came to this earth, He lowered Himself to man's status (Phil 2:6-8) and everything He did on the earth was as a man totally dependent upon God the Father. Jesus walked by faith in God (the Father) demonstrating perfectly to other men (women) what this relationship between God and man looks like.
Jesus was perfect in every way and you and I are not. We are imperfect vessels with flesh bodies that are dead because of sin. But it's our spirit when it becomes born again, that I (and you) become just like Jesus on the inside, but not on the outside. But the real me, my spirit, is just like Jesus, therefore I am like Him on this earth just as He was and still is and will always be. (1 John 4:17)
The problem that now exists for me (and you) is that my flesh body is dead and it wants to act like a dead person, one who is separated from God and doesn't want to act godly. Have you ever heard the term, "dead man walking", well, you are alive and dead at the same time and this perfectly describes the condition of the born again man. Only big difference is that when I lay this dead body of flesh down and my spirit departs, I'll be soaring free from that body of death right into God's opened and welcoming arms in Heaven and those that are not born again will be ushered to the kingdom of death, satan's domain, Hell itself. You see, my spirit has been born again with the Spirit of Jesus, and my spirit (the real me) is alive unto God, no longer separated from God, but now joined with Him, and my spirit now wants to act just like Jesus.
There is a fight that exists between my flesh and my spirit for control over my life. My flesh is dead and it wants to act the devil, or, like a sinner. My spirit is alive with the Spirit of Jesus in me and my spirit wants to act like God (Jesus). The child of God (that's me (& you) with my new born again spirit) wants to be just like his Father, but the old dead flesh wants to act just like the one who controlled it before I was born again. Eph 2:2 calls him the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who works in the sons of disobedience (this speaks to the devil and his family).
Now, which one of these two (God or the devil) are going to control my life? There is only one who can make the choice, and that is me (you). God said, "I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, (you) choose life, that you may live" (Deut 30:19). I must choose who I am going to follow. Who will I allow to dominate and control me? My flesh body or my spirit man? Do I really have a choice? How can I follow my spirit instead of my flesh?
Well, what is the common denominator between my spirit and my flesh? What dictates who I will follow? It's your mind (which is your soul that houses your mind, will, and emotions). Whatever thoughts reside in your mind the most, those thoughts will dictate to you how to live your life. Your flesh body already knows how to act ugly, or act just like the devil. It's trained to act that way and it will continue to act that way unless it is retrained. That is why Jesus said in
Rom 12:2, that I must be transformed (changed from one way of living to another. From my flesh body leading the way to my spirit man leading the way) and this transformation takes place in the mind and I have to renew it to think like God thinks instead of how the devil thinks, and the way I renew my mind is by looking into the Word of God, meditating it day and night until that Word changes my mind and I start thinking God thoughts instead of devil thoughts.
2 Cor 3:18 says if I'll look into God's Word long enough, I'll be transformed into looking just like what I'm looking at. I'll look and sound just like the Word of God in my old flesh body. Yes, this old ugly dead flesh body of mine will look alive and just like Jesus if I'll keep my heart full of the Word of God, and cast down every thought that comes to my mind that does not line up with and agree with the Word of God (2 Cor 10:5).
If my mind is renewed to think like God, and my spirit is full of His Word, then my flesh body will change to do something new because it will be following my spirit and my mind. My body of flesh will be under control (of my spirit) instead of out of control and led by the influence of the devil.
Now I said all that so that I could say this about the original thought that God gave me about the religious mind. The religious mind (one that has been trained and renewed to man's doctrines instead of God's) can not grasp or accept what I just shared with you nor can it accept what I'm about to share with you.
The religious mind wants to exalt Jesus to a place a man can never get. They make Jesus out to be some super human man that is different from them and of course if Jesus is different, then what Jesus did is unique to Him and no one else can do it. Now who do you think would author a thought like that? It's the doctrine of demons, the spirit of error, for one purpose only, to stop you from acting on the truth and being like Jesus, because the devil knows that if you ever understand this truth, his days of victory over you are over as you place him under your feet where he belongs.
The religious minded man has Jesus exalted so high, that they could never see themselves in that same place with Him. The religious mind can't accept Phil 2:6-8 where it says Jesus lowered Himself to man's place and lived as a man on this earth totally dependent upon God the Father for everything. The religious mind doesn't understand or accept all that was accomplished by Jesus on the cross. The religious mind does not understand about the finished works of Jesus on the cross. The religious mind doesn't understand the victory of Jesus over the devil and it's significance to them. The religious mind will agree that Jesus was raised from the dead, but they don't see themselves raised from the dead. You see, if you can't see yourself raised from the dead to new life, then you'll always act like a dead man.
And finally, the religious mind can not accept and agree with Eph 2:6 which says, man (the born again man) has been raised up to God's status by by God raising man up to sit at the right hand of Jesus (the position of authority and dominion) in Heavenly places. This is the place man was always supposed to occupy. It's the place Adam occupied before his fall from grace because of his sin. The religious mind can't see himself as his Father (God) sees him. If you are God's child, then you have God's DNA in you. That's who you are. (Now get this straight before the devil leads you astray. You and me, we are not God. There is only One God in three Persons. But we are God's offspring, His children, but we are made like God (read Gen 1:26-27). As He is, so are we in this world ( 1 John 4:17).
The religious mind can not accept that he has been raised up together with Christ, therefore the religious mind can not act like or do what Jesus did, because he doesn't believe he has the right to it, but all along he has an inheritance that belongs to him, but he will never take advantage of it and walk in that blessing, because the religious mind can not think like God thinks,and the religious mind will for the most part be easily led astry from the Truth of God's Word by the influence of the devil and his demonic spirits.
So just who do you want to be today? What God has made you to be, or to be what religious man says that you are, " just a poor old miserable sinner saved by grace." I'll tell you, just saying that is pathetic (but it sure is religious) for when you see the born again man's position through God's eyes.
It takes courage to believe God over what religious men say, especially when these men say they are speaking for God, but wouldn't know Him if they walked by Him on the street, because they don't know His Word and they have built a doctrine about God that they understand, but it looks nothing like the God our Bible, the Word of God portrays.
So, who are you going to be like? The God that religious man has defined for you, or the God Who has declared Himself Who He is, what He did, and Who He made you to be like.
Well I know which one I'm following. The hard part is getting past all those religious minds that want to hinder or even stop your walk and growth with the One True God.
Press on my brother and sister and be blessed as you grow up in Him and take your rightful place. Your Father would have it no other way!!............
Side Bar**
Religion--A system of faith or worship.
Religious-- pious, godly, belonging to a religious order, conscientious, faithful (did you know that you can be faithful to man's doctrine and unfaithful to God's?)
Christianity is not a religion. A religion has been made out of Christianity.
Christianity is a relationship with God Almighty through our Lord and Savior Jesus. Are you walking daily hand in hand with God? If you are you are experiencing Christianity. If you are not you are experiencing religion. There is no life in Religion, but abundant life (John 10:10) is found only in an active fellowship with Jesus ( 1 John 1:7).
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The Process of Becoming a Believer
I've written on a lot of subjects over the years that God has placed in my heart for all of you. It's all been good, but there are times when God brings a Truth that just over shadows other truths and this is one of those times. The following message is long but filled with truth that will forever change your life. Take your time with this and let God show you what He says about true believing. Unless you understand the following and do it, your ability to believe God will be for naught. God wants you to believe Him, let Him show you the way......
You know the Word, you agree with that Word as being true, but this is not believing. Believing only comes from meditating on the word ( this is what plants the seed of the word into your heart). Faith (Believing) comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17).
Now Jesus calls the Word a seed in Mark 4:3-4 & 14. When the seed of the Word is sown in a man's heart, that seed begins to grow and what is growing from that seed is man's (your) ability to believe (God). You keep meditating upon the truth of the Word until faith grows up to the place where you can really believe the Word. This is a place that is beyond knowing and agreeing that the Word is true, this is the place of real (the God kind of) believing and now it is harvest time (Mk 4:29) for what you are believing for. Now is when you receive what you believe.
You had nothing to do with the believing process other than availing yourself to the Word of God. God's only requirement of you to be a Believer (in the truest sense of this word) is for you to look upon His Word by seeing it and hearing it. That is all that we do. God is the One who enables you to believe. (You can not believe apart from Him). You just can't make yourself believe by choosing to be a believer, you become a Believer by choosing to meditate God's Word day and night (Josh 1:8) until that seed of the Word grows up faith on the inside of you to the point where you can believe the Word you are meditating on. God is the only One who can get you to this point of believing. Even at the very beginning of your walk with God, Eph 2:8 says God gave you the gift of faith (or the ability to believe Him by what you heard Him say about His Son Jesus) and you believed Him and then you received His Son as your Lord and Savior. Now God gave you the gift of faith to get you started with Him, but faith for you now to walk with God does not come by way of a gift, it comes by the seed of the Word of God planted into your heart and God making you responsible to water that seed by continually meditating it until you believe (it).
The source of believing comes from the Word. If the Word does not get into your heart, you can not believe it. You can know it by memory, but you can't believe it that way. Believing comes from the heart, not the mind. This is why the Word of God is the target of the enemy of your soul. You are a three part being (1 Thess 5:23). You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. Your soul is made up by your mind, will, and emotions and it's your mind that the devil attacks. Truly the battle field is your mind and that is where you fight the good fight of faith, by casting down the ungodly thoughts of the devil, and you bring into captivity by only thinking what God's Word says about it in His Word. (2 Cor 10:3-5) The devil is after that seed that is sown in your heart and he gets it by way of your mind (your soul) if you will believe him rather than God.
Satan knows what enables you to believe, so he comes after the Word you've heard before it gets planted to deep into your heart and starts sprouting roots, because he knows that Word will grow in your heart, and one day you'll believe it and use it against him and he will be no threat to you any longer.
Joshua 1:8 is the key to believing. You can't will yourself to believe. We all start out as born again children of God and the first thing we try to do is believe God. We think that because we have seen a truth in His Word and now we know it and agree with it, we think we are now believing it, but we are not. And when the Word fails for us because we think we are believing it, we become discouraged and open the door to the devil and begin listening to his lies about how the Word of God is not working for you and he (the devil) will take you on a path away from being able to believe (God), and you will become frustrated with God, and blame Him for the failure of the promises of His Word coming to pass in your life because you think that you really believed God's Word, and that it didn't work for you, so you quit considering God's Word by looking away from it to something else that you hope will work. You've allowed the devil to steal what little seed you had growing in your heart.
The real truth of this matter is, the Word is true, but you failed to believe it. Now you thought you were believing it, but you weren't. The Word failed to come to pass, and you blamed God for it, because you were convinced that you were believing Him, but you were not. You were only assenting and agreeing that what God said is true, but you didn't let the seed of the Word that was in your heart grow up to the point of where you could believe it. The devil stole it and he stole your hope right along with it. You got discouraged with God and His Word and then you turned away from it. This is the classic picture of the defeated Christian. God is painting this picture today for you and me to clearly see what a true believer looks like and why so few attain to that place of believing.
A verse out of the Lord's prayer speaks very clearly to what God has shown us this day about believing. Jesus says in Matt 6:11, "Give us this day our daily bread." Jesus reveals to us the one and only true source of believing. We must consume daily the manna from heaven( did you know God's people could only take one days worth of manna to consume. If they took more than that, it would spoil and be unusable. That's why you must consume the Word every day (Matt 4:4) for if you try to store it up than use it later, it will be spoiled, unusable, and powerless). Now this manna from heaven is the bread of life which is Jesus Himself (John 6:32-35), and the way you consume this bread from heaven is by consuming the Word, for John 1:14 tells us that Jesus is the Word made flesh. If you are going to believe God, then you must consume the Word daily.
Believing is a process, don't get in a hurry. You can't force it to grow faster. All you can do is water the seed (the Word) daily that lives in your heart by consuming more of the Word until harvest time comes and you believe that Word and now your believing receives from God what you are believing Him for.
I've given myself way too much credit over the years that I was believing God (the Word), but I wasn't and in the back of my mind I thought God was holding out on me or it just wasn't working so I got frustrated with God and His Messengers who were teaching the Word of God. The devil had me right where he wanted me. A frustrated believer, who wasn't believing, but thought he was. It took a long time for God to get me back on the right track to believing Him again, because I was hurt and offended by what I once thought was "believing God." But now God has opened my eyes to how one becomes a believer. I don't struggle with it any longer, for I know that I can't believe beyond the amount of Word that is on daily deposit in my heart.
I can't make myself believe, I must grow into being a believer and that takes all the pressure off of me for now I know that my part is to meditate the Word daily by hearing it and seeing it, and God's part is to grow my faith up to where I can believe the Word (Heb 12:2). This is the process of becoming a believer. It's the only way to believing. It's all so clearly outlined in Mark 4:26-29.
You might as well start right here with Mark 4:26-29 and meditate this scripture until you clearly see the process of believing God's way. Is it worth it to go through God's way of becoming a believer? Well, I'll let you make up your own mind about that by looking at this scripture. Jesus said in Mark 9:23, "IF you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
I say that should be incentive enough to meditate the Word daily. That's where you will find me, looking at the Word until I believe it. I pray you join me on this journey to believing God.
These signs will follow those that believe..........(Mark 16:17-18). What signs are following you?
Be Blessed..........!!!
You know the Word, you agree with that Word as being true, but this is not believing. Believing only comes from meditating on the word ( this is what plants the seed of the word into your heart). Faith (Believing) comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17).
Now Jesus calls the Word a seed in Mark 4:3-4 & 14. When the seed of the Word is sown in a man's heart, that seed begins to grow and what is growing from that seed is man's (your) ability to believe (God). You keep meditating upon the truth of the Word until faith grows up to the place where you can really believe the Word. This is a place that is beyond knowing and agreeing that the Word is true, this is the place of real (the God kind of) believing and now it is harvest time (Mk 4:29) for what you are believing for. Now is when you receive what you believe.
You had nothing to do with the believing process other than availing yourself to the Word of God. God's only requirement of you to be a Believer (in the truest sense of this word) is for you to look upon His Word by seeing it and hearing it. That is all that we do. God is the One who enables you to believe. (You can not believe apart from Him). You just can't make yourself believe by choosing to be a believer, you become a Believer by choosing to meditate God's Word day and night (Josh 1:8) until that seed of the Word grows up faith on the inside of you to the point where you can believe the Word you are meditating on. God is the only One who can get you to this point of believing. Even at the very beginning of your walk with God, Eph 2:8 says God gave you the gift of faith (or the ability to believe Him by what you heard Him say about His Son Jesus) and you believed Him and then you received His Son as your Lord and Savior. Now God gave you the gift of faith to get you started with Him, but faith for you now to walk with God does not come by way of a gift, it comes by the seed of the Word of God planted into your heart and God making you responsible to water that seed by continually meditating it until you believe (it).
The source of believing comes from the Word. If the Word does not get into your heart, you can not believe it. You can know it by memory, but you can't believe it that way. Believing comes from the heart, not the mind. This is why the Word of God is the target of the enemy of your soul. You are a three part being (1 Thess 5:23). You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. Your soul is made up by your mind, will, and emotions and it's your mind that the devil attacks. Truly the battle field is your mind and that is where you fight the good fight of faith, by casting down the ungodly thoughts of the devil, and you bring into captivity by only thinking what God's Word says about it in His Word. (2 Cor 10:3-5) The devil is after that seed that is sown in your heart and he gets it by way of your mind (your soul) if you will believe him rather than God.
Satan knows what enables you to believe, so he comes after the Word you've heard before it gets planted to deep into your heart and starts sprouting roots, because he knows that Word will grow in your heart, and one day you'll believe it and use it against him and he will be no threat to you any longer.
Joshua 1:8 is the key to believing. You can't will yourself to believe. We all start out as born again children of God and the first thing we try to do is believe God. We think that because we have seen a truth in His Word and now we know it and agree with it, we think we are now believing it, but we are not. And when the Word fails for us because we think we are believing it, we become discouraged and open the door to the devil and begin listening to his lies about how the Word of God is not working for you and he (the devil) will take you on a path away from being able to believe (God), and you will become frustrated with God, and blame Him for the failure of the promises of His Word coming to pass in your life because you think that you really believed God's Word, and that it didn't work for you, so you quit considering God's Word by looking away from it to something else that you hope will work. You've allowed the devil to steal what little seed you had growing in your heart.
The real truth of this matter is, the Word is true, but you failed to believe it. Now you thought you were believing it, but you weren't. The Word failed to come to pass, and you blamed God for it, because you were convinced that you were believing Him, but you were not. You were only assenting and agreeing that what God said is true, but you didn't let the seed of the Word that was in your heart grow up to the point of where you could believe it. The devil stole it and he stole your hope right along with it. You got discouraged with God and His Word and then you turned away from it. This is the classic picture of the defeated Christian. God is painting this picture today for you and me to clearly see what a true believer looks like and why so few attain to that place of believing.
A verse out of the Lord's prayer speaks very clearly to what God has shown us this day about believing. Jesus says in Matt 6:11, "Give us this day our daily bread." Jesus reveals to us the one and only true source of believing. We must consume daily the manna from heaven( did you know God's people could only take one days worth of manna to consume. If they took more than that, it would spoil and be unusable. That's why you must consume the Word every day (Matt 4:4) for if you try to store it up than use it later, it will be spoiled, unusable, and powerless). Now this manna from heaven is the bread of life which is Jesus Himself (John 6:32-35), and the way you consume this bread from heaven is by consuming the Word, for John 1:14 tells us that Jesus is the Word made flesh. If you are going to believe God, then you must consume the Word daily.
Believing is a process, don't get in a hurry. You can't force it to grow faster. All you can do is water the seed (the Word) daily that lives in your heart by consuming more of the Word until harvest time comes and you believe that Word and now your believing receives from God what you are believing Him for.
I've given myself way too much credit over the years that I was believing God (the Word), but I wasn't and in the back of my mind I thought God was holding out on me or it just wasn't working so I got frustrated with God and His Messengers who were teaching the Word of God. The devil had me right where he wanted me. A frustrated believer, who wasn't believing, but thought he was. It took a long time for God to get me back on the right track to believing Him again, because I was hurt and offended by what I once thought was "believing God." But now God has opened my eyes to how one becomes a believer. I don't struggle with it any longer, for I know that I can't believe beyond the amount of Word that is on daily deposit in my heart.
I can't make myself believe, I must grow into being a believer and that takes all the pressure off of me for now I know that my part is to meditate the Word daily by hearing it and seeing it, and God's part is to grow my faith up to where I can believe the Word (Heb 12:2). This is the process of becoming a believer. It's the only way to believing. It's all so clearly outlined in Mark 4:26-29.
You might as well start right here with Mark 4:26-29 and meditate this scripture until you clearly see the process of believing God's way. Is it worth it to go through God's way of becoming a believer? Well, I'll let you make up your own mind about that by looking at this scripture. Jesus said in Mark 9:23, "IF you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
I say that should be incentive enough to meditate the Word daily. That's where you will find me, looking at the Word until I believe it. I pray you join me on this journey to believing God.
These signs will follow those that believe..........(Mark 16:17-18). What signs are following you?
Be Blessed..........!!!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The Stand of Faith--What's That Look Like
When you are standing in faith believing the Word for what you need, it has the apearance that you aren't doing anything at all and the natural flesh man wants to be doing something. Always trying something. Always considering something because that is where hope comes from. It just might be that next thing that will meet my need. There is hope in that next thing. It's when there is no next thing that hope runs out for the natural man who lives his life by his five physical senses.
But when your hope is established in God alone and in His Word of Promise, your hope will never end. Mark 9:23 Jesus says, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." There is no end to hope in that verse unless you choose to stop believing it. There is always hope when God's Word is present. And when that Word is in your heart and mouth (Rom 10:10), you always have hope, and if you have hope, you have a place for your faith to do it's work. (Heb 11:1)
What is the greatest thing that you could do as you stand before a mountain of adversity? Be still and know that God is Truly God, and that His Word is Truth, and that His Word is all you need. All your hope can be and must be in His Word alone. Don't move from His Word to do anything, until you are directed by the Holy Spirit to do something. The hardest thing for man to do is to "be still". Man's comfort in adversity is his doing something. Anything, but just doing something.
But God's comfort zone for man is totally different. God's comfort zone is a place of waiting upon Him and being still so that you can hear His voice. (Isa 40:31 & Ps 46:10) When you are still, you can keep your focus on God and that is where your help and answer resides.
Man wants to bolt into action, and God tells man to sit at the feet of His Son Jesus and look into his face (2 Cor 3:18) until you receive what it is that you need. What makes a man bolt into action? FEAR! What enables a man to sit at the feet of Jesus? FAITH!
Faith will save (heal) you. Fear will kill you. It's man's choice, not God's. (Not a whole lot of folks like hearing that) Victory or defeat is in the hands of the man who stands before adversity. What a man chooses will determine the outcome. God gave man direction in Deut 30:19. I want you to look at that scripture with your own eyes and receive it from God.
So you make the right choice (God's way), now what do you do? Read Josh 1:8, This book of the law (the Word of God) shall not depart from your mouth................. now you finish it. Don't let anything come out of your mouth and through your lips that does not sound like the Word of God. Always speak the Word in every situation. You want to say what God says about it, not what you think about it. Say what God says about it, and it will come to pass just as He says (if you believe what you are saying--Mark 11:23). When I choose to say something other than what God says, that is when I begin to sink just like Peter did. ( Matt 14:30)
Now stand in faith and be blessed!!!!!!
But when your hope is established in God alone and in His Word of Promise, your hope will never end. Mark 9:23 Jesus says, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." There is no end to hope in that verse unless you choose to stop believing it. There is always hope when God's Word is present. And when that Word is in your heart and mouth (Rom 10:10), you always have hope, and if you have hope, you have a place for your faith to do it's work. (Heb 11:1)
What is the greatest thing that you could do as you stand before a mountain of adversity? Be still and know that God is Truly God, and that His Word is Truth, and that His Word is all you need. All your hope can be and must be in His Word alone. Don't move from His Word to do anything, until you are directed by the Holy Spirit to do something. The hardest thing for man to do is to "be still". Man's comfort in adversity is his doing something. Anything, but just doing something.
But God's comfort zone for man is totally different. God's comfort zone is a place of waiting upon Him and being still so that you can hear His voice. (Isa 40:31 & Ps 46:10) When you are still, you can keep your focus on God and that is where your help and answer resides.
Man wants to bolt into action, and God tells man to sit at the feet of His Son Jesus and look into his face (2 Cor 3:18) until you receive what it is that you need. What makes a man bolt into action? FEAR! What enables a man to sit at the feet of Jesus? FAITH!
Faith will save (heal) you. Fear will kill you. It's man's choice, not God's. (Not a whole lot of folks like hearing that) Victory or defeat is in the hands of the man who stands before adversity. What a man chooses will determine the outcome. God gave man direction in Deut 30:19. I want you to look at that scripture with your own eyes and receive it from God.
So you make the right choice (God's way), now what do you do? Read Josh 1:8, This book of the law (the Word of God) shall not depart from your mouth................. now you finish it. Don't let anything come out of your mouth and through your lips that does not sound like the Word of God. Always speak the Word in every situation. You want to say what God says about it, not what you think about it. Say what God says about it, and it will come to pass just as He says (if you believe what you are saying--Mark 11:23). When I choose to say something other than what God says, that is when I begin to sink just like Peter did. ( Matt 14:30)
Now stand in faith and be blessed!!!!!!
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