Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath set you free!
How well we all know that the flesh is easily enticed! Without Christ in us, we have no hope. But I have been reading Romans 6-8, Second Corinthians 5 and the entire book of Galatians and over and over God is showing that we are new creations, and the flesh no longer has a grip on our souls. Satan has succeeded in lying to us and we have bought it, hook, line and sinker. The salvation our Lord has purchased for us, the glorious liberty of the children of God, has been turned into a place of defeat and holding on, rather that one of joy unspeakable and full of glory.
But in these last days, God is revealing the truth of the new covenant that applies to all who love him in truth. No more are God’s children to labor under the bondage that the old covenant, the law, generates in our souls.
Let us finally accept the pronouncement of guilty the law has for any who breaks even one of the commandments. And what do we deserve as the penalty? Death. But listen, saints of God! When Jesus died, becoming sin for us, He paid our penalty! We died with him! And as Christ arose from the dead, we have too.
We are now new creatures, and we cannot be declared sinners any longer. Why? Because the law has no more hold on us, as it only have a hold on a man as long as he lives, and we died with Christ.
The law can no more tell us we are sinners, for it does not any longer apply to us, we who have Christ inside. Do we still have character flaws that need to be infused with the character of the one living inside us? YES! ((and some, like me, more than others!) But it is so very important that we see ourselves as Christ sees us. We are justified, thoroughly cleansed of the old nature, from where the lusts of the flesh are born.
The law has no more sway on us. We have escaped it, not by ignoring it, but by having submitted to it in Christ! We accepted its punishment- death. We that have accepted Christ were baptized into His death. Why? So that like as Christ rose to live ever more to God, so should we!
I have found it is only as I stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made me free (IT IS FINISHED!) that I find the power to defeat the flesh's wishes. I have found that what is hard now(...no...impossible!) becomes easier and easier as we walk in our new nature by faith, and the things that tripped us up before so very easily, lose their power over us.
But if I allow myself to listen to the accuser of the brethren, and agree once again that I remain a sinner with an old nature still intact, I am placing myself back under the law. I am saying to God "No, I am not clean. No, I am not justified. I am still a sinner!" and the strength of the flesh remains and thus the sins that follow it.
Oh, how I wish I could crawl into the hearts and minds of all of God's children and rip out the lie satan has had us all buy into. We were sinners. As Paul says so beautifully:
"And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
1 Corinthians 6:11
For us who are in Christ, the law pronounced its sentence. We received it....death when we accepted Jesus, for His death became ours. Once dead, we are out from under the law's grip, and we can be pronounced sinners no more.
Who are we then? We are the righteousness of God in Christ! We are justified, pronounced thoroughly clean! There is therefore now no condemnation on us, if we slip as we walk towards Jesus.
And if we slip, what then? Do we run back under the law and accepts its judgement and the condemnation it brings? NO! We aerve now in a new and living way. We repent, we confess our failure and we receive cleansing...full cleansing.
What is the state of our souls? Sinners? No! Justified, thoroughly cleansed children of God! Thus we walk on again with Him, all the while understanding we have been justified, and as we are now children of God, then His blood, the blood of the new covenant, continually cleanses us. It is a fountain that never runs dry, continually keeping us pure before our God. Amazing God that we serve!
Without this shield of faith, and if we buy into the lie that we are once again just sinners saved by grace, trying the best we can to become new for Him, we inadvertently are placing ourselves back under the authority of the law, and guilt follows, as does separation from God. Understand, dear brother.Let it sink in deep, sister in the Lord, We cannot walk in grace and law at the same time. It is serving two master and it is impossible.
Why? Because in our minds and hearts, we have laid down the truth of our FULL justification and accepted as fact from the mouth of our enemy that the blood of Christ does NOT cleanse us from ALL sin and thus, the condemnation that comes with the law comes back upon us. The battle now is not between God and satan. It is the battle in our minds and hearts, and we are urged to fight the good fight of faith. Shall we not believe our God?
"for as a man thinketh in His heart, so is he."
But praise God! Why should we who are dead to sin and guilt and condemnation give place for one minute more to the devil, the ultimate liar? There is therefore now NO condemnation in God's judgement. Shall we not cling to Him with broken thankful justified hearts?
I have found this in my own walk towards the glorious light of God. If I walk with a clean heart towards Him, holding fast my profession of faith in what my Lord has already accomplished, I do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. But if I allow myself to be blinded to who I am in Christ, or begin to think I can stand on my own, then I lower my shield, the accusations of the enemy find their mark once again, and I am brought back under guilt as I make myself a sinner. It is guaranteed that condemnation is sure to follow. So does more sin.
At the end of Galatians Paul says this:
"For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."
Galatians 6:5
We are new...NOW! We are not trying to become new. We are not to die to the old nature a little at a time. The old nature is a never ceasing cesspool of selfishness and lusts of the flesh. The only way to finally defeat the lusts of the flesh is to walk with our minds and hearts agreeing with God on the matter.
And what is that truth, the truth that really does set us free? Listen to God! Believe his amazing words! We are not in the flesh, we are told, but in the spirit. We are not the old man trying with all our might to be good. It is impossible! We are now new creatures in Christ. Old things are passed away...gone! The old man is dead! Long live the new man!
Therefore we do not let satan get an advantage over us any longer. If we fall, we confess to God, repent and IMMEDIATELY get up and again hold up our shield of faith, knowing this to be true, for our God hath declaried it.
I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
This is truth, and if we continue in it? The truth SHALL set us free indeed. And the sins we have found impossible to defeat will fall away from our lives like withered leaves from a tree that has had the ax laid to its roots.
How I wish that my words could open up eyes to see the truths of the full glory of our new covenant, and that the hold that the old covenant, the law, is been broken forever. The law, and the guilt it brings, is past. It has no more hold on us as children of God.
But my words cannot do the work. This is the job of the spirit inside us that must illuminate and draws all men to Him. I just pray right now that the spirit illuminate the truths of what Christ really accomplished for us on the cross. Forgiveness of old sins? Absolutely. But oh, if we could but understand and accept willingly, hungrily, the gift of the new nature He has freely given to us!
In Him we are free. Stand fast!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
His Strength is Made Perfect in Our Weakness- One hard lesson
"And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
2 Corinthians 12:9
How very different the new covenant of God is from the old! In the old covenant of the law of commands, God simply laid out the expected results and said, now do it.
"Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.."
Jeremiah 7:23
Yet even a brief overview of the history of Israel reveals how ineffective this commandment was. Israel and Judah lived in a constant state of backsliding, calling on the Lord again only when their safety was threatened. God would lovingly rescue them, only to see the same pattern repeat again and again.
But not so in the new covenant, the covenant of grace thru faith. God knew what was in the heart of man, and realized the new covenant, in order to be effective, had to change our hearts. For us to obey, we must be given a strenght not found in ourselves.
"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD"
Jeremiah 31:31-32
Here is the problem with the old covenant of law. It tells us what to do. It even gives us the desire to do it. But it cannot give us the ability to perform what we want to do, so the result is condemnation, not walking pleasing to God.
Is this not what we find in Romans 7? Many Christians mistakenly assume that this was Paul's testimony. Let's clarify that. It was, when he was Saul.
Paul had been a pharisee of the pharisees, and his righteousness was at one time by the law. But Paul had a come-to-Jesus meeting with God face to face on the road to Damascus, and all changed in an instant.
Look at Romans 7:1. Paul has just finished telling us in chapter 6 who we are in Christ, new creatures, and that sin shall NOT have dominion over us. He then says, now conversely, what I am about to describe is one who tries to obey God under the law of commandments.
And what did he share with us? The result is death. The things this man tries to do good, he does not do, The sins he hates? He has no power to resist and he falls, again and again. This was not theory to Paul. This had been his testimony.
Where does it bring one who truly wants to obey God, love Him with all his heart and love his neighbor as himself? It leaves him a hopeless mess, crying out "O wretched man that I am!"
This is man under the law. This is not Christianity. This is not our birthright. But how many, multitudes today, have accepted the lie from Satan that they are in good company living in this state, and so they have no conviction to move from this place, even though it is clear that the result of serving God under the law is death. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Our Father has made that perfectly clear.
How blessed is a man who refuses to move the line even a little that "without holiness, no man shall see the Lord", even if it means it condemns the very ground he finds himself standing on!
If we find ourselves living examples of Romans 7, does it mean we are not His? Not at all! This is the wilderness of self effort and self confidence we all must pass through in order to enter the promised land of rest from our own efforts. The wilderness for the Israelites was meant to be a three week journey, not a 40 year wandering, ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth.
How we must read the next verses Paul says:
"O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
How many have never arrived here and instead lowered the standard of holiness God has laid out for us and gotten satisfied on the leeks and the onions of Egypt. How many have never learned the lesson Romans 7, and the law was to teach us. And what was the lesson? It was simply "Without me, you can do nothing."
The law was not to lead us to life, but to break us of all hope that some day, we can be changed to be like Jesus if we just try hard enough! Our self confidence in the flesh, in our diligence, in our resolve, in our self control, must be broken to the point of despair.
How God wants his people to see His goodness towards them, but he cannot until they see the depths of the flesh and its inability to ever truly obey with a pure heart.
Dear brother in Christ. O my dear sister. If you are weary, if your heart pants after Christ, longing to walk pleasing to Him but you find you cannot, take hope. There is an answer. In brokenness, ask Him for Hos strength, and believe He longs to give it to you.
"unto them that have NO strength, He increaseth might."
2 Corinthians 12:9
How very different the new covenant of God is from the old! In the old covenant of the law of commands, God simply laid out the expected results and said, now do it.
"Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.."
Jeremiah 7:23
Yet even a brief overview of the history of Israel reveals how ineffective this commandment was. Israel and Judah lived in a constant state of backsliding, calling on the Lord again only when their safety was threatened. God would lovingly rescue them, only to see the same pattern repeat again and again.
But not so in the new covenant, the covenant of grace thru faith. God knew what was in the heart of man, and realized the new covenant, in order to be effective, had to change our hearts. For us to obey, we must be given a strenght not found in ourselves.
"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD"
Jeremiah 31:31-32
Here is the problem with the old covenant of law. It tells us what to do. It even gives us the desire to do it. But it cannot give us the ability to perform what we want to do, so the result is condemnation, not walking pleasing to God.
Is this not what we find in Romans 7? Many Christians mistakenly assume that this was Paul's testimony. Let's clarify that. It was, when he was Saul.
Paul had been a pharisee of the pharisees, and his righteousness was at one time by the law. But Paul had a come-to-Jesus meeting with God face to face on the road to Damascus, and all changed in an instant.
Look at Romans 7:1. Paul has just finished telling us in chapter 6 who we are in Christ, new creatures, and that sin shall NOT have dominion over us. He then says, now conversely, what I am about to describe is one who tries to obey God under the law of commandments.
And what did he share with us? The result is death. The things this man tries to do good, he does not do, The sins he hates? He has no power to resist and he falls, again and again. This was not theory to Paul. This had been his testimony.
Where does it bring one who truly wants to obey God, love Him with all his heart and love his neighbor as himself? It leaves him a hopeless mess, crying out "O wretched man that I am!"
This is man under the law. This is not Christianity. This is not our birthright. But how many, multitudes today, have accepted the lie from Satan that they are in good company living in this state, and so they have no conviction to move from this place, even though it is clear that the result of serving God under the law is death. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Our Father has made that perfectly clear.
How blessed is a man who refuses to move the line even a little that "without holiness, no man shall see the Lord", even if it means it condemns the very ground he finds himself standing on!
If we find ourselves living examples of Romans 7, does it mean we are not His? Not at all! This is the wilderness of self effort and self confidence we all must pass through in order to enter the promised land of rest from our own efforts. The wilderness for the Israelites was meant to be a three week journey, not a 40 year wandering, ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth.
How we must read the next verses Paul says:
"O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
How many have never arrived here and instead lowered the standard of holiness God has laid out for us and gotten satisfied on the leeks and the onions of Egypt. How many have never learned the lesson Romans 7, and the law was to teach us. And what was the lesson? It was simply "Without me, you can do nothing."
The law was not to lead us to life, but to break us of all hope that some day, we can be changed to be like Jesus if we just try hard enough! Our self confidence in the flesh, in our diligence, in our resolve, in our self control, must be broken to the point of despair.
How God wants his people to see His goodness towards them, but he cannot until they see the depths of the flesh and its inability to ever truly obey with a pure heart.
Dear brother in Christ. O my dear sister. If you are weary, if your heart pants after Christ, longing to walk pleasing to Him but you find you cannot, take hope. There is an answer. In brokenness, ask Him for Hos strength, and believe He longs to give it to you.
"unto them that have NO strength, He increaseth might."
Thursday, February 25, 2010
If the question is put forth to one hundred Christians as to what exactly our reponsibility is as a child of God, we will most likely get 100 different answers. Do good. Go to church. Read your Bible. Pray. Tithe.
But here is the common thread for all of us as children of God. We must all realize that for all of us, Catholics and Protestants alike, we will each individually one day be held accountable individually as to whether we fully walked in what light we have been given, and continued seeking for more light. God will not be asking us what denomination we were a part of or what was the extent of the knowledge we had on Bible mysteries, and if we answer correctly we are handed a free pass. He will be examining the thoughts and intents of our hearts.
We must all understand that it will not be acceptable to say "well, I knew my church had the truth so I just listened to what I was told and faithfully attended."
Nor will it be acceptable to say "But Lord, I had full understanding of the Godhead, and nailed it on my conclusions as to tongues and the rapture and the nature of Hell!" God expects us to be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving our own selves. God expects us to walk in the light we have thus far been given, and seek more of Him.
Nor is it not an option for any of us to plead ignorance of certain truths if, in fact, through sheer neglect of so great a salvation, or because we became enchanted with worldy pleasures rather than with the kingdom to come, our Christian walk simply became our "religion" that comforted us but caused no holy fruit to be produced.
Jesus has told us that if our eye is single towards Him, our whole body will be ful of light. But if our eye is "evil", as we try to serve two gods, great darkness and deception awaits us.
I was reading Phillipians today and this is what the apostle Paul said to us as to His walk....
"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Phillipians 3:13-14
Was this just his calling from God because he was an apostle? Paul lays that arguement to rest with his words that immediately follow:
"Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample."
Phillipians 3:17
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, this man HAD seen and talked to Jesus face to face. This man HAD been taken up to the third heaven. And still he pressed! Peter echoed this sentiment, urging us:
"Seeing that all these things are about to be dissolved, what manner of men ought we to be in all holiness and chaste conversation!"
2Peter 3:11
Better a man with a basic knowledge of salvation who walks in it to the best of his understanding, pressing for more light, than a man who has keys to all the truth, or belongs to the "right" church, but never unlocks many rooms in his heart to allow the light of God's love to shine in and change him more and more into the image of the Son.
This is an extremely important topic. How God's body needs to hear the message that He has for all of us. PRESS! WITH OUR WHOLE HEARTS! Walk in the light you know to be true, and seek MORE!
Shall we rest with correct doctrine in our heads, or understanding all mysteries, or be a member in good standing of "God's true church". Is our journey over and now we just sit down and wait to be taken to heaven? No. A thousand times, no. Satan will pull out all stops to lie to our own hearts and say this is simply extremism, but deep down, if God is indeed in us, we know what our God has clearly asked of us is truth, even if right now we do not much like it.
Let us remember, "God IS a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." None will ever have one regret if they truly seek the light of walking in Him.
In Him, Bruce
But here is the common thread for all of us as children of God. We must all realize that for all of us, Catholics and Protestants alike, we will each individually one day be held accountable individually as to whether we fully walked in what light we have been given, and continued seeking for more light. God will not be asking us what denomination we were a part of or what was the extent of the knowledge we had on Bible mysteries, and if we answer correctly we are handed a free pass. He will be examining the thoughts and intents of our hearts.
We must all understand that it will not be acceptable to say "well, I knew my church had the truth so I just listened to what I was told and faithfully attended."
Nor will it be acceptable to say "But Lord, I had full understanding of the Godhead, and nailed it on my conclusions as to tongues and the rapture and the nature of Hell!" God expects us to be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving our own selves. God expects us to walk in the light we have thus far been given, and seek more of Him.
Nor is it not an option for any of us to plead ignorance of certain truths if, in fact, through sheer neglect of so great a salvation, or because we became enchanted with worldy pleasures rather than with the kingdom to come, our Christian walk simply became our "religion" that comforted us but caused no holy fruit to be produced.
Jesus has told us that if our eye is single towards Him, our whole body will be ful of light. But if our eye is "evil", as we try to serve two gods, great darkness and deception awaits us.
I was reading Phillipians today and this is what the apostle Paul said to us as to His walk....
"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Phillipians 3:13-14
Was this just his calling from God because he was an apostle? Paul lays that arguement to rest with his words that immediately follow:
"Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample."
Phillipians 3:17
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, this man HAD seen and talked to Jesus face to face. This man HAD been taken up to the third heaven. And still he pressed! Peter echoed this sentiment, urging us:
"Seeing that all these things are about to be dissolved, what manner of men ought we to be in all holiness and chaste conversation!"
2Peter 3:11
Better a man with a basic knowledge of salvation who walks in it to the best of his understanding, pressing for more light, than a man who has keys to all the truth, or belongs to the "right" church, but never unlocks many rooms in his heart to allow the light of God's love to shine in and change him more and more into the image of the Son.
This is an extremely important topic. How God's body needs to hear the message that He has for all of us. PRESS! WITH OUR WHOLE HEARTS! Walk in the light you know to be true, and seek MORE!
Shall we rest with correct doctrine in our heads, or understanding all mysteries, or be a member in good standing of "God's true church". Is our journey over and now we just sit down and wait to be taken to heaven? No. A thousand times, no. Satan will pull out all stops to lie to our own hearts and say this is simply extremism, but deep down, if God is indeed in us, we know what our God has clearly asked of us is truth, even if right now we do not much like it.
Let us remember, "God IS a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." None will ever have one regret if they truly seek the light of walking in Him.
In Him, Bruce
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thoughts on sola scriptura and the eroding influnce of the Bible in God's own church
Here is the danger of veering from the truth of the word of God. Am I thus an advocate of sola scriptura? I guess I am guilty as charged.
In Ezekiel, God prophesies of the new covenant. He outlines its benefits and how it will differ from the old covenant, the one we "continued not in".
Under the old, we had need of a high priest to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. None themselves could go into the holy of holies and be in the presence of God. All had to be in submission to the teachers of the Jewish law, the Pharisees, and we see how well that went.
But not so in the new! God promised would be in each of us as the temple of God and each would know Him and be instructed by Him. Listen to this wonderful promise of the coming new covenant:
"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD; I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them."
Jeremiah 31:33-34
Do we fully realize that the entire Christian church was founded in rebellion to the authorized church of that day, the Jewish synagogue and its sacred teachings, the law of commandments? How was this accomplished? By direct intervention by God into the hearts of individual unlearned men. They no longer submitted themselves to the priests, nor took part in the sacrifices. Everything was turned upside down. The traditions long held as the key to being pleasing to God were overturned as God said that now, in this new and living way, He would speak directly to each man's heart though the gift of the Holy Spirit inside us. Even in the early church itself, in which some believe Peter was the first pope, Paul withstood Peter to his face. Was he wrong to do so? No. Peter himself was to be blamed for his actions.
I find it strange today that we see history being repeated. The very thing we rebelled against we are to duplicate? Are we not rebuilding what He destroyed? The temple of God is inside us. Man so wants to be an intermediary and speak for God, and so many more love to have it so. It removes all responsibility for our actions, because instead of saying "The devil made me do it", we can say in complete confidence "Well, the church said it was OK."
Do I believe fully in the ability of the word of God to lead us into all truth? I do indeed. What I find strange is that there are warnings to not add to or take away from the words of God. Paul warnsus as well that after his demise, grievous wolves would come in, not sparing the flock. It certainly happened as He said it would, in all areas of the church. But these warnings are being ignored as many ofGod's children from all denominations abandon the truth of the Bible for the wisdom of man.
Listen. I do not single out any church or denomination. If a church system is not doing it, individual man has chosen to form God to his way of thinking rather than submitting himself to the God of the universe, whether or not he understands fully the God he is submitting himself to. Did Abraham understand God'scommandment to sacrifice Isaac, the child of promise? I doubr it sincerely. But he obeyed and it PLEASED God that he did. He trusted God!
More and more I see the body drifting away from or "interpeting" the truth held and preserved in God's word, here a little, there a little. Is our God a deaf mute? Can he not communicate clearly what he expects of us? Our problem is that we have not wanted to believe what it says because in may cases, our lives will have to change and drastically. As a result, are there crazy interpretations of every flavor imaginable out there? You bet. Does it relieve us of our responsibility to seek God with our whole hearts, using the scriptures as doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness? You bet not.
In the end, we are told by God that we will be judged by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We are told that men shall depart from the truth of God's word and give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. There is much danger in leaving the word of God, altering it, or interpreting it to meet our own pre-conceived notions.
Ultimately, we are the only ones responsible for our walks with God. It is before Him we all will stand or fall. But o that we understood, it is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. How we nned to take our task with full seriousness and diligence.
Now, in truth, in looking at the whole body of Christ, and I mean all of it, we are a lifeless and joyless bunch. On one side, formalism reigns without life, and on the other every wind of doctrine divides the body down to the cellular level, and confusion reigns with the same lifelessness. Does any of it please God? Let us be clear. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Period.Thank God for a few exceptions but over all, there is not enough evidence in any of our lives to convince those hungry seekers in the world that we have the answers they seek or the "water that satisfies". Is this not the painful truth none of us want to face?
C'mon, if we cannot be honest with one another, what point is there? Do we as a body, catholic and protestant, walk in "joy unspeakable and full of glory"? Sadly, if "The joy of the Lord is our strength" , we are the 98 lb.weakling on the beach and the bully is kicking sand in our faces. If sin is not to have dominion over us, then God has a strange way of expressing that victory through His church.
But listen, all who truly love the Lord, and I do not care what church or denomination you are affiliated with, or what crazy doctrine the Lord has revealed to you that He has hidden from all the rest of us. God is not finished with us yet. Not by a long shot. Let us not underestimate the Holy Spirit's power to bring a disfunctional body back to life again and in the exact way He wants it assembled. Read Ezekiel 37. It is important. We are about to witness a miracle.
In Ezekiel, God prophesies of the new covenant. He outlines its benefits and how it will differ from the old covenant, the one we "continued not in".
Under the old, we had need of a high priest to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. None themselves could go into the holy of holies and be in the presence of God. All had to be in submission to the teachers of the Jewish law, the Pharisees, and we see how well that went.
But not so in the new! God promised would be in each of us as the temple of God and each would know Him and be instructed by Him. Listen to this wonderful promise of the coming new covenant:
"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD; I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them."
Jeremiah 31:33-34
Do we fully realize that the entire Christian church was founded in rebellion to the authorized church of that day, the Jewish synagogue and its sacred teachings, the law of commandments? How was this accomplished? By direct intervention by God into the hearts of individual unlearned men. They no longer submitted themselves to the priests, nor took part in the sacrifices. Everything was turned upside down. The traditions long held as the key to being pleasing to God were overturned as God said that now, in this new and living way, He would speak directly to each man's heart though the gift of the Holy Spirit inside us. Even in the early church itself, in which some believe Peter was the first pope, Paul withstood Peter to his face. Was he wrong to do so? No. Peter himself was to be blamed for his actions.
I find it strange today that we see history being repeated. The very thing we rebelled against we are to duplicate? Are we not rebuilding what He destroyed? The temple of God is inside us. Man so wants to be an intermediary and speak for God, and so many more love to have it so. It removes all responsibility for our actions, because instead of saying "The devil made me do it", we can say in complete confidence "Well, the church said it was OK."
Do I believe fully in the ability of the word of God to lead us into all truth? I do indeed. What I find strange is that there are warnings to not add to or take away from the words of God. Paul warnsus as well that after his demise, grievous wolves would come in, not sparing the flock. It certainly happened as He said it would, in all areas of the church. But these warnings are being ignored as many ofGod's children from all denominations abandon the truth of the Bible for the wisdom of man.
Listen. I do not single out any church or denomination. If a church system is not doing it, individual man has chosen to form God to his way of thinking rather than submitting himself to the God of the universe, whether or not he understands fully the God he is submitting himself to. Did Abraham understand God'scommandment to sacrifice Isaac, the child of promise? I doubr it sincerely. But he obeyed and it PLEASED God that he did. He trusted God!
More and more I see the body drifting away from or "interpeting" the truth held and preserved in God's word, here a little, there a little. Is our God a deaf mute? Can he not communicate clearly what he expects of us? Our problem is that we have not wanted to believe what it says because in may cases, our lives will have to change and drastically. As a result, are there crazy interpretations of every flavor imaginable out there? You bet. Does it relieve us of our responsibility to seek God with our whole hearts, using the scriptures as doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness? You bet not.
In the end, we are told by God that we will be judged by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We are told that men shall depart from the truth of God's word and give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. There is much danger in leaving the word of God, altering it, or interpreting it to meet our own pre-conceived notions.
Ultimately, we are the only ones responsible for our walks with God. It is before Him we all will stand or fall. But o that we understood, it is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. How we nned to take our task with full seriousness and diligence.
Now, in truth, in looking at the whole body of Christ, and I mean all of it, we are a lifeless and joyless bunch. On one side, formalism reigns without life, and on the other every wind of doctrine divides the body down to the cellular level, and confusion reigns with the same lifelessness. Does any of it please God? Let us be clear. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Period.Thank God for a few exceptions but over all, there is not enough evidence in any of our lives to convince those hungry seekers in the world that we have the answers they seek or the "water that satisfies". Is this not the painful truth none of us want to face?
C'mon, if we cannot be honest with one another, what point is there? Do we as a body, catholic and protestant, walk in "joy unspeakable and full of glory"? Sadly, if "The joy of the Lord is our strength" , we are the 98 lb.weakling on the beach and the bully is kicking sand in our faces. If sin is not to have dominion over us, then God has a strange way of expressing that victory through His church.
But listen, all who truly love the Lord, and I do not care what church or denomination you are affiliated with, or what crazy doctrine the Lord has revealed to you that He has hidden from all the rest of us. God is not finished with us yet. Not by a long shot. Let us not underestimate the Holy Spirit's power to bring a disfunctional body back to life again and in the exact way He wants it assembled. Read Ezekiel 37. It is important. We are about to witness a miracle.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves.
Nehemiah 9:36
Nehemiah relays to us the story of the Jews, who had again rebelled against God, wanting to do their own will rather than His, dwelling in Jerusalem with the walls of Jerusalem torn down, charred and nothing but rubble.
Nehemiah was the Samaritan kings cup bearer and he lamented over the condition of the Holy city of his people. He then returns to Jerusalem with the kings blessing to oversee the rebuilding of the walls, even with great opposition.
The above scripture is a prayer Nehemiah made to God. How much are we as God's church like Israel, crying out to Him for help and deliverance when times are bad, but when He blesses us and times are good, we forget Him again, becoming satisfied with just a form of godliness, even as our hearts turn back to the world, or we become satisfied with sin remaining in our hearts when this was indeed the entire reason Christ died, so forgive and to cleanse us from its influence!
Do we hear His words? God has given us a land of victory, a land of great joy, a land where no weapon formed against us shall prosper, a land where God has not only promised to be with us, but in us!
Yet what do we find as we scan the conditon of the hearts of the people of God? We find God's own people captive again to the sins Christ came to set us free from. Slaves in the land of freedom! Is this what God has set us free for, a life of laboring, and not a land of rest? A land of much sowing, but little reaping? A land strewn with defeat, when He has clearly promised us victory? A people overcome by sin, when He has promised us that we will be more than overcomers?
How can we be content? Have we become so blinded to our own condition that we cannot see that our position is one of slavery in the good land God has given us freely? May each search his or her heart for the answer God has for us, not what our own minds want to convince us...saying peace, peace, when there is no peace.
Brothers and sisters, do not let the god of this world deceive you. For we are clearly told, that if we rebuild that which He destroyed, we make ourselves transgressors. If we choose to continue sinning willfully and not sigh and cry unto God for deliverance until He grants us our cry, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgement. Do we fully comprehend where we find ourselves? What ought to terrify us bothers us little if at all.
My dear brethren, these things ought not be so. The day of the Lord is approaching. This blog is dedicated to discovering the amazing promises given to us from our Heavenly Father, promising a life of overcoming the enemy at every turn. But oh, how we must see that we will not find it until we seek with our whole hearts, until we weep for remaining captives in the promised land.
Oh, that he finds us seeking to do His will, not ours, with 100% of our hearts. The blessings are beyond our imaginations, here in THIS life. Thew danger of continuing to ignore the call of God, immeasurable.
Blessings, dear friends.
Nehemiah 9:36
Nehemiah relays to us the story of the Jews, who had again rebelled against God, wanting to do their own will rather than His, dwelling in Jerusalem with the walls of Jerusalem torn down, charred and nothing but rubble.
Nehemiah was the Samaritan kings cup bearer and he lamented over the condition of the Holy city of his people. He then returns to Jerusalem with the kings blessing to oversee the rebuilding of the walls, even with great opposition.
The above scripture is a prayer Nehemiah made to God. How much are we as God's church like Israel, crying out to Him for help and deliverance when times are bad, but when He blesses us and times are good, we forget Him again, becoming satisfied with just a form of godliness, even as our hearts turn back to the world, or we become satisfied with sin remaining in our hearts when this was indeed the entire reason Christ died, so forgive and to cleanse us from its influence!
Do we hear His words? God has given us a land of victory, a land of great joy, a land where no weapon formed against us shall prosper, a land where God has not only promised to be with us, but in us!
Yet what do we find as we scan the conditon of the hearts of the people of God? We find God's own people captive again to the sins Christ came to set us free from. Slaves in the land of freedom! Is this what God has set us free for, a life of laboring, and not a land of rest? A land of much sowing, but little reaping? A land strewn with defeat, when He has clearly promised us victory? A people overcome by sin, when He has promised us that we will be more than overcomers?
How can we be content? Have we become so blinded to our own condition that we cannot see that our position is one of slavery in the good land God has given us freely? May each search his or her heart for the answer God has for us, not what our own minds want to convince us...saying peace, peace, when there is no peace.
Brothers and sisters, do not let the god of this world deceive you. For we are clearly told, that if we rebuild that which He destroyed, we make ourselves transgressors. If we choose to continue sinning willfully and not sigh and cry unto God for deliverance until He grants us our cry, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgement. Do we fully comprehend where we find ourselves? What ought to terrify us bothers us little if at all.
My dear brethren, these things ought not be so. The day of the Lord is approaching. This blog is dedicated to discovering the amazing promises given to us from our Heavenly Father, promising a life of overcoming the enemy at every turn. But oh, how we must see that we will not find it until we seek with our whole hearts, until we weep for remaining captives in the promised land.
Oh, that he finds us seeking to do His will, not ours, with 100% of our hearts. The blessings are beyond our imaginations, here in THIS life. Thew danger of continuing to ignore the call of God, immeasurable.
Blessings, dear friends.
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