Walking in Fulfillment

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Receiving "THE" WORD vs. "A" Word - Identity

INTRODUCTION

It's been a very mixed season but mostly good because God is always good. Yet I have encountered confusion, manifestations of dreams and visions, miracles, open doors, and great overall blessings from God. He has truly been amazing to me. However, for various reasons I will not get into here and now, it has been too long since I posted on this blog. Therefore, I must apologize to all of those who consistently read and are encouraged by the word of the Lord to and through me in the form of these blog posts. He is good. I must mention that although I have not blogged in a while, it does not mean He has not been speaking. He speaks all the time to you and to me - if we have ears to hear. Yet, it is up to us to stop, listen, and let His Word change us. Finally, by way of explanation, there has just been too much happening to stop and blog about it. But folks, make no mistake, we have a great God and He is mighty and able to do anything impossible for man. I cannot say enough about His awesome character and loving nature. HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE!!!!

I'd like to share what the Lord shared with me while I was streaming a sermon from Time Square Church in New York City, a strong Bible-believing, miracles-are-for-today, God-honoring church in the heart of Manhattan. The message today was quite appropriate for the times in which we live: "The Oldest Trick in the Book." Although, this post is not specifically about the rich message through pastor William Carroll, an associate pastor at TSC, it is about what I heard in my heart that applies to me and I am sure you, too, during the message. You can get the sermons at http://www.tscnyc.org/ . Today's is already posted. Remember that the enemy's primary tactics are ones of diversion. He uses anything to get us to walk in something parallel, yet not quite, what God had in mind when He created us. Oh, it may be satisfactory in the short-term but it will fall tremendously short of what the Lord had for us. Many have passed onto glory not having accomplished the full extent of His will for them here on earth.

THE WORD vs. A WORD

What the Lord was saying to me - because there is a voice within the voice. That means every pastor, leader, or minister should be so yielded that we hear the Lord's voice within the minister's voice. Many refer to this as the anointing and it is how the Good Shepherd is able to feed all of His sheep, through an under-shepherd or directly, with the word we each need for our individual lives. I call it receiving THE WORD and not just A word. Anyone can give you A word either from the Bible or another source. However, only those connected to the Vine, Jesus Christ, can give you THE WORD.

While the sermon was a wonderful one about God's loving us and drawing that love out of us toward Him, the keys to combat "the oldest trick in the book," and so much more, I was hearing the voice within the voice. That's because this message was clearly coming from a vessel who is submitted and therefore saturated in His love. It was truly rich!

Yet, for me it went a bit further. God was speaking more truth within this framework of His love and the pastor's message. That is proof that this sermon was THE Word due to its multidimensional nature, which brought application to other areas of the Word to impact our daily lives.

THE WORD AND OUR IDENTITY

The Oldest Trick in the Book is to attack our commitment and revelation about our identity, and believing that we are whom He said we are. [The pastor share this as well] And I remembered in Matthew 4:6, where the enemy initiated a questioning of Jesus' identity.

That's why I say this sermon, for me, was really addressing our identity in Christ and how the enemy tries to make us doubt it. Remember he told Jesus - as he tried to out-maneuver Him - "If you are the Son of God..." Matthew 4:6. IF???

MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD; GIVEN A MANDATE TO RULE

Friends, we know that enemy is nothing but a copier; he can create nothing - at least anything good. In the very beginning when God made earth, He told us who we were and we certainly knew Whose we were. God first told us our identity in Genesis 1:26.

This is who we are: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

God not only made mankind in His own image, as in just like Him, He gave us charge over every other thing on the earth. Of course that is not the end of the story but we will leave it there for now.

INTIMACY WITH GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

God is the One who used the If statement to point out identity when in Numbers 12:6

Then He said,

“Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream.
⁷Not so with My servant Moses;
He is faithful in all My house.
⁸I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant Moses?”

Shocking! We know that God came, and stayed, near in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But even in the Old Testament we see that God had servants (the Prophets, also see Amos 3:7 - "Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.") and friends (this ref. to Moses).

Notice what gave Moses even more access to God in friendship than your average prophets and servant, his faithfulness to God. We know Moses was not perfect and without fault, yet God counted His faith above his faults (the same as He does for those of us who are in Jesus). Given a choice I would take friend over servant any day and that is what we have through Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

INTIMACY AND FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Not only did not offer friendship through faith in the Old Testament to fathers of the faith such as Abraham and Moses but in the New Testament, when God came near to all humanity, not just the Jews, in the form of Jesus Christ, He offered friendship to all. In
John 15:15, He says -

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Now, because of John 3:16, anyone who chooses, can be a friend of God and it's still offered through faith in the One who made the Way to the Father, Jesus Christ, and He still received us through faith regardless of our faults. Notice I did not say sin, because sin will continue to separate us from God until it is confessed and therefore forgiven. Therefore you sin from the past and present can be forgiven and you receive a release and justification from them. Not so for future sin as that would nullify the whole Gospel of repentance and forgiveness, the very foundation of the Christian faith. So be careful (and read and memorize if you can, Hebrews 10:26 to the end.)

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

This is a season where we need to receive "THE Word" of God and not only "A word..." from God. Most churches in America have "A word" not necessarily "THE Word" for God - grab a Scripture, book quote, throw it out there with some anecdotes and application and call it a day. Not so with THE Word. THE WORD is the NOW word. A word could be legitimate but we live in a time when we need THE WORD of the Lord. THE WORD will equip us to meet the challenges we NOW face. It is great to have both but most important to have THE NOW WORD.

Crucial to note: Only one who is intimately connected to the Vine, Jesus Christ will have THE NOW Word of God. A Word will be generally applicable, but THE WORD will be specifically applicable. Our NOW God speaks in specifics. Be discerning.

CONCLUSION

This is my takeaway and what the Lord ministered to me that I share with you in addition to the richness of what was shared by Pastor William Carroll of TSC.

What is our multidimensional God speaking to your heart today? Listen. He is equipping you for the upcoming week.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Every Knee Will Bow and Every Tongue Confess That Jesus Christ is Lord

Every Knee Will Bow and Every Tongue Confess That Jesus Christ is Lord

I am so amazed and loving the Lord on a whole new level because He humbled Himself and put off the heavenly glory that is His, to come to earth the 1st time as none other than a vulnerable baby. A baby that is completely dependent upon others for his needs. He grew into a man and experienced every emotion and temptation we do, but He CHOSE not to sin. There is always a choice with sin no matter how strong the temptation. He was modeling for us how we ought to walk humbly with each other. And more importantly our posture toward God and how we are to come to God with the faith and trust of a little child. He is our model, and not men, for how to walk before God and man.

But, the 2nd time, I said the 2nd time!....He comes in ALL POWER AS A MIGHTY KING and every knee, I said EVERY knee will bow, and EVERY tongue will have to confess - as the evidence will be right in there faces their hard hearts no longer having an excuse - that Jesus Christ is Lord!!! And those who are true believers, with the fruit thereof, will be in awe because with Him comes the full manifestation of their redemption and salvation! What a glorious day that will be!! I just want to shout! That's what's in my spirit today! Had to share it!

And P.S. that day will so far exceed any attempt of Hollywood's to portray the end of this age. Are you ready to face the Maker and Creator of all! The Bible says in Romans 14:11 that one day every knee will bow in submission to Him, and every tongue will confess that He is in fact the Lord of all! You might as well do it now while there is time.

In love He waits until all have heard the Good News. And friends, with technology the way it is, we are very very close to that time when all have heard. Don't wait until it is too late! Bow and confess now!

JESUS LOVES YOU WITH AN INCOMPARABLE LOVE! HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN LOVE YOU WITH HIS TRANSFORMING LOVE FROM THE INSIDE OF YOUR BEING!

Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ Was Dead Long Before He Died on the Cross

Jesus Christ was Dead Long Before He Hung on a Roman Cross

September 9, 2009 at 11:29am

The fact that Jesus Christ was Dead long before He died on the Cross is not an original statement but today it is new revelation to me. I heard it before and understood it but it has now been revealed. Jesus was totally submitted to the will of His Father. He had no consciousness of Self apart from God. And we are to function in exactly the same way. It is not impossible because although He was God, He did not walk in His full glory as God while on the earth. If He had, it would make it impossible for us to imitate Him. He was fully man and fully God but walking as fully Man. Hard do describe and even harder to understand.

But I don't want to get into all of that. What really hit me today as I laid in bed processing what He was revealing was how Jesus was dead to self before he physically died on the cross. He walked in total submission to God as we must to be true carriers of His glory. Last night as I was signing 3 sympathy cards for friends who have recently lost loved-ones I went to Romans 8:38 & 39. And I left my Bible open there for the night. This morning I was pondering on how Jesus was really dead before He ever experienced the Cross not realizing what I would read minutes later. Then my loving Father knowing that I needed this revelation for my own life, confirmed it to me in Romans 8:10, 11 & 13. Don't you love how you can read a Scripture over and over again, high light, circle and bracket it over the years and then one day voila! The revelation comes. Romans 8:10, 11 & 13 reads:

"And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." ...[Then on of my favorites, v. 13] "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God these are sons of God."

I will be pondering this all day. I am sure there is so much more there but wanted to share. Plan to revisit later.

Have a wonderful day in the presence of the King of Glory!

Friday, May 6, 2016

Identity Series: Why No One Else Can be You - Interactions Between Body, Soul, and Spirit

We know that God made each person individually and that no 2 people are the same, not even identical twins. We each have our own set of fingerprints, irises, retinas, ears, lips, tongue, voice, toe print, teeth, gait (how you walk). Isn't that amazing? And that only covers the physical attributes; then there is the personality.

Why discuss this? We all need to know that we are the original piece of art and to value that fact. I can't be you and you can't be me so there is no need for envy and jealousy. We each have the same value to God - whether potential or realized. That makes jealousy of another person not only ridiculous but wasteful. Why would you want to be someone else? The world needs you to be you. Let other people be themselves.

A few days ago, in my post on "True Encouragement of the God Kind," I covered the difference between the soul and the spirit and the importance of first encouraging a person's spirit before building them up in their soul. That is, speaking over them the word of God as Holy Spirit reveals ensures their ability to receive the soul edification in a fruitful and beneficiary manner. Actually, in most cases, the word of the Lord to their spirit will have the effect of encouraging their soul. That's because a word from God causes everything in a person's life to rise.

In this post I want to focus on the intersections between the spirit and the soul, the soul and the body, and the spirit and the body. There is indeed a biblical hierarchy in the functioning of the human being as a triune being. There are numerous Scriptures on God's soul being delighted in someone upon whom He consequently pours out His Spirit. Jesus is a prime example at His baptism. See Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 12:18.

THE BLESSING OF INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

This may seem somewhat out of place but it is very important.

Having been made individually unique by God means that we each have an individual responsibility to Him, particularly in terms of a relationship. Our first responsibility is to love and obey God, the to love everyone else, (Matt. 22:37-40) and obeying those whom God has placed in authority over us, (Ex. 20:12; Eph. 6:1, including government (Rom.13).

I Peter 1:22-23:

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,

²³having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,²⁴because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, ²⁵But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

WHAT ARE THE BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT?

Your body is your physical presence; your soul is your mind, will, and emotions; and finally, your spirit is the part of you that connects with God (which is alive for the Christ-follower). However, the spirit of a person who does and is not connected to the leadership of Jesus Christ, is dead. (See post on "True Encouragement of the God Kind," for more details).

BODY AND SOUL INTERSECTION

For the average interaction for the average person on a daily basis. A person makes a decision and follows through with physical actions. In other words, you decide to get out of bed to go to work so you get out of bed, wash your face, brush your teeth, take a shower, get dressed, fix the hair (women do their make-up,) get in the car, and go to work. That's pretty self-explanatory. However, how a person makes certain decisions, particularly, those on which God has expressed an opinion, makes a difference. That is where the difference between someone who is saved and someone who is not would make a difference. And that is where the spirit and soul interaction would kick into gear. Knowing that God approves or disapproves something would make a difference to a Christ-follower but little to none to someone who has not given over control of his life to Jesus Christ.

SOUL AND SPIRIT INTERSECTION

This is where the Holy Spirit goes to work on a submitted repentant saved (Christ-follower) individual. This person has seen the need for a Savior and has accepted the Lord's gift of salvation to be redeemed to God the Father in fellowship. Now the soul, as we saw from the previous post mentioned above, is essentially what the Bible refers to as the flesh; it's the personality. It is comprised of the mind, the will, and the emotions. It's the "stuff" on the inside that makes you, you and not like any other person on the planet. The soul is the part that became unregenerate when Adam sinned and lost fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden. That loss of fellowship meant that all future human beings would have to live apart from God for eternity. His action banished theirs and all future mankind from God's presence for ever. That is why Jesus died - He obeyed the Father and came to earth to die to redeem that intimate relationship that man once had with God. That God's original plan when He made man, because He knew man would sin. He made a family, and He was going to get that family back if He had to come to earth and die Himself. What does that do to your definition of love?

So the lost soul became corrupted by sin after the Fall and the Bible says that the flesh, or soul, is naturally at enmity with God. That enmity remains until a person come to God in repentance and receives His Son's gift of salvation. At that point, the Holy Spirit comes and begins the sanctification and transformation process and the spirit awakens from death. It is a form or resurrection. That means the difference between the unsaved and the saved is the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside the new believer to transform the person until they meet Christ face to face. In other words, it is a transformation that lasts a lifetime.

The Holy Spirit is constantly revealing Christ to us so that we can walk in the Way of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is the way of the Lord Jesus Christ? He had one aim, to obey the Father's wishes at every turn, As One Who is, and was, one with the Father never operated outside of the Father's will. The Holy Spirit's job, so to speak, is to make us an exact replica of the Son within the unique person God has made you and I to be.

Some scripture references to the soul and spirit connection:

1 Thessalonians 5:23

²³Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Isaiah 26:9

With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

SPIRIT AND BODY INTERACTION

I have on several occasions made a decision to do or not do something and "found myself" doing the opposite of what I had decided. Sound odd? Once I remember making a decision to stay home on a snowy day instead of going to see David Wagner, a prophet. I found myself going to my closet, choosing an outfit, getting dressed, and going to the event. I was happy that my spirit obeyed God's directions to go and moved my body to do so. I can only count a few occasions of this as normally, you make a decision in your will then follow up with physical movement of your body. I find that the Lord will do this for those who have submitted their will to Him as the One Who knows best for them anyway. I was making a decision not to attend something I had already intended to attend, only to renege on that decision based on the weather, as if God has no control of the weather. Thank God because I was really touched during that meeting.

However, on the other side of things is doing what you know is not good and what God has forbidden because it is not beneficial to us or anyone else. Even the Apostle Paul had the same struggles we do.

Romans 7:15-20 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁵For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

CONCLUSION

No matter who you are or whether you feel like it. I am telling you, you are unique and special, God's rare jewel that no one can imitate. Once we discover our need for God and get into a right relationship with Him, we are able to discover, often with some guidance, our reason for being. Knowing why you are here and getting on the path to accomplishing you destiny gives you a spark to operate in a passion that can only come from knowing who you are in Christ. It is how you begin the journey to becoming the men and women He created us to be. That may take a lifetime, and is designed that way so that in dependence on God we can finish our journey well. Please realize that God is not looking for perfection as in without mistakes, before He can use us in His Kingdom, He can use anyone who is willing to become His child operating in childlike faith. He is looking for those who will walk in the type of perfection that says I will follow Christ's example in obeying my loving Father and letting Him, by His Holy Spirit, direct my life. That is entirely our decision.

The goal is to submit to God so that your human spirit aligns with God's holiness, continually transforming your soul, which in turn commands your body to act in agreement with God's ways. That is how we live lives of blessing. Deuteronomy 28 is full of the promises of God for complying with His ways, as well as the curses that come from ignoring and disobeying them. That's because disagreement with God leaves us open to the wiles of the evil one. It is how we got into this predicament in the first place, where the Garden residents decided to question what God had already told and shown them. Now we know that all of the commandments come down to only 2: 1st loving God (through obedience) - most importantly, and 2.) Loving each other - 2nd most important.

My prayer is that you discover Him so that you an discover the true you and avoid the need to imitate others in ways that threaten the essence of the amazing person He has made you to be. Paul said, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." That means there is only one person we imitate, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Author of salvation.

God bless you!

Thursday, May 5, 2016

The Cross and Spiritual Warfare - Colossians 2

ALL OF YOUR WARFARE ENDED AT THE CROSS OF CALVARY!!!

COLOSSIANS 2

YOUR NEW IDENTITY

13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.

This Scripture speaks about our death to sin when we come to Christ repenting of our sin and turning to Him Who is the one resurrecting us to live in His overcoming power. And as if that were not enough, His death on the Cross removes our need to adhere to the law which was stacked against us; we could never obey all of it. So He accepts us, kills our evil fallen flesh and causes the human spirit to be alive in Him. In doing so He makes us holy, righteous, clean, and justified (just as if we had never done anything wrong.) So that is our new identity in Christ, 2 Cor. 5:17 calls us new creations, with the passing away the old you, and the arrival of the new you. Now that's exciting! But there's more.

AT THE CROSS: VICTORY IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE

And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

¹⁵Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

This is where we win over the enemy of our souls, who resists and attacks us whether or not we are aware of it.

AT THE CROSS, JESUS:

1. NAILED THE DEAD LAW TO THAT DEAD TREE,

(THEN HE ADDRESS OUR ACCUSER BY)

2. COMPLETELY DISARMING SATAN AND HIS DEMONS. As if that weren't enough

3. HE ALSO MADE A PUBLIC SPECTACLE OF THEM, MEANING HE HUMILIATED THEM, AND FINALLY,

4. TRIUMPHED OVER THEM.

DON'T LET ANYONE STEAL YOUR REWARD IN CHRIST

18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

¹⁹and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

The Lord knows that even when we know the truth and even when that truth has been revealed to us where we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is truth. The enemy, the world, and at times even we ourselves will go against that revealed truth but we are to "hold fast" to Jesus our Vine, so that we can be continually nourished us and remain in unity as the Body of Christ. As we remain united in Christ, God will bring increase. It's amazing how important unity in Christ is to spiritual warfare. No one makes it as a lone ranger. That's a sure-fire way to be a casualty in this invisible war; a war more dangerous than all natural ones combined. However, even though it is dangerous because the stakes are much higher, it's one that's already been won.

DON'T RETURN TO THE LAW; STAY IN CHRIST

20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations---

Finally, Paul reminds us that in addition to remaining connected to Christ and His Body, we need to avoid the tragedy of returning to the impossibility of life under the law, which He has already "taken out of the way." The world is under the sway of the law and its penalty for sin. Not so for the believer who has trusted Christ as his Savior. ANYONE CAN BECOME A BELIEVER! He came for everyone. "FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE SENT HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE." John 3:16.

CONCLUSION

If you remember nothing else, hold fast to the fact that at the Cross Jesus removed our need to fulfill the Law because He has already dealt with that impossibility; and as we follow Him, we do, too. He has disarmed our enemy at the Cross, and has absolutely humiliated Satan and his entire governmental structure, triumphing over them once and for all. In a nutshell, Jesus' death on the Cross ended spiritual warfare. That is the reason He was able to say, "it is finished." He had done His part; now it is our turn to walk in that revelation as we are seated with Him in heavenly places according to Ephesians 2:4-7. It's up to us to stay seated with Christ on His throne of victory.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

God bless you!

Monday, May 2, 2016

True Encouragement of the God Kind

What do I mean by "True Encouragement of the God Kind?"

We often think of encouragement as telling or hearing nice things about ourselves to lift us up. Sometimes, we need it because we are experiencing difficulty. Other times, we need encouragement because we rarely receive it; while at other times it's because we have done or said something praiseworthy. All this is true. But for true encouragement of the God kind, the kind that transforms the soul, it does not end there. But before we get into that discussion, let's talk about the soul and the spirit. We know the body is our physical presence, but not everyone knows the difference between the soul and the spirit. Many just link the together but they are very different components of the triune being of body, soul, and spirit. I'd like to point out the differences (and similarities) to get to the crux of our discussion about true encouragement. Please refer to your Bible's concordance for additional foundational Scriptures.

THE SOUL

Your soul is the essence of who you are as an individual, your personality, meaning your individual mind, will, and emotions. Your mind is where you process, file, and store information and memories, etc. Your will is just that, you decide to do or not to do something and you follow suit. Your emotions are you feelings a bout something or someone in a nutshell. Now, the soul may be operating from a place of true perception or delusion, that is completely false perception with no basis in the truth. In other words, a person may be making decisions that affect themselves and others from facts and the truth, or from fantasy and lies. When the Bible refers to the "flesh", it is actually referring to the soul of the person. The soul is very much active, alive making demands on the body all the time. This is the only unique part of us that is all us that is eternal. Until a person is individually and volitionally born again spiritually into Christ, the soul rules the roost and the spirit is dead.

THE SOUL OF THE BELIEVER BECOMES MORE CHILDLIKE AND ACTS MORE AND MORE LIKE JESUS AS HE GROWS IN CHRIST; BUT THE SOUL OF THE UNBELIEVER IS MORE COMPLEX, MANGLED, AND INTERTWINED THAN A RUBIX CUBE.

THE SPIRIT

The spirit of the unregenerate person who has rejected Christ and does not have a personal relationship with Him, is dead. That is what happened at the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Man's spirit died and can only live again when revived, similar to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, upon submitting Jesus as Lord. Once the person gives his life over to Christ, He begins to take on the image of Christ. In other words, the Spirit of God comes to dwell in him to begin the transformation process, which lasts a lifetime. The Father's goal is to transform all Believers to look exactly like His Son. That is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:18 about true followers of Jesus Christ:

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Do you see that? Those who follow Christ, which is doing as He did and still does, obey and do the will of the Father, are being transformed into Christ's image. And I might add that in the Father's eyes, that is a finished work. It is the Holy Spirit's job to get us to the finish line.

So the human spirit, which becomes indwelt by the Holy Spirit at salvation [This is the model Jesus shared with Nicodemus in John 3 about entering the Kingdom of Heaven, makes the believer into another 'smaller' Jesus. You see the Father wants to fill heaven with His Son's lookalikes, not with registered aliens. By this I mean, people who sign up at some earlier point to follow Christ, but somehow forget the following part. They have registered but they are still aliens, strangers to Him. These are the ones to whom He refers when on that day, many will way, we did this thing or that thing in Your name, and He will reply, "I never knew you."

Matthew 7:21-23

²¹“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²²Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

No, we know that God is not mocked (duped). Whatever a person sows, that's exactly what he will reap, Galatians 6:7:

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

So a person into whom the Holy Spirit seals the imaged of Jesus Christ is growing in His likeness all the time. There is on attempt to dupe or deceive God that Jesus is Lord where it is not borne out in the person's life.

THE REGENERATE SPIRIT OF A PERSON IS MARKED BY A CHILDLIKE SIMPLICITY AND FAITH AND LOOKS MORE AND MORE LIKE JESUS AS TIME GOES ON.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE SOUL AND SPIRIT

Both the soul and the spirit are eternal. Both come into being at conception. Both are destined to look like Jesus and be like Him in word, in deed, and in thought.

GETTING A WORD FROM THE SOUL OF THE PERSON VS. GETTING ONE FROM GOD FOR THEIR SPIRIT

The soul also gives off information that a person who is a soul reader can pick up in the soul realm. This is dangerous territory on which to tread as that is the "business" of the occult and witchcraft. One needs to tread very carefully here not to use information gained in the soul realm to manipulate and control a person. You are not listening for the screaming loud voice of the soul but the still small voice of the Spirit. And if you are a soul-reader, never give a word from here to gain an advantage or some level of benefit. Always seek God for a word to encourage the person in their spirit. There are those today who instead of operating in a prophetic gift (which is always in service to God and not for our own gain) are actually engaged in the occult, which defined as "peering." These people peer into people's souls for their own benefit. I have even caught people trying to peer into my soul.

Word to the wise: A mature prophetic person is not so enamored of his or her own gifts; instead, their only object of admiration and adoration is God. We all go through that phase of amazing ourselves with the gift until we realize it's not so amazing to hear God and to do what He says. It's rather expected according to John 10:27. The encourager is simply acting in service to others as He represents the interests of God.

TRUE ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE GOD-KIND

Now that we have that background, back to our subject matter of true encouragement.

True encourage of the unregenerate and that which is aimed at the regenerate is not altogether different. Why? Because the spirit is the foundation of the person. To the one, unregenerate, their spirit is dead and not alive to God. To the other, regenerate, their spirit is alive, pointed to and defaults to a "yes" to God. It is the soul that battles against the spirit's desire to obey God.

So no matter how you slice it, encouraging the soul of a person who has not accepted Christ yet, will only make the person prouder and less likely to see their need to submit to God. TRUE ENCOURAGEMENT ADDRESSES THE SPIRIT OF THE PERSON. If the encourager is in touch with the living God and His Mediator Jesus Christ, God gives that person the key to open up the unregenerate spirit in an encouraging manner that sets them up to receive freedom in the Savior. Encouraging the regenerate soul and believer in Christ, gives another key to advance the person in his or her calling in God.

Therefore, if the desire is to "encourage" a person to walk in and toward Godliness, the person should first and foremost be encouraged in their spirit. The only difference between the type of encouragement is in the key God gives to encourage them, believer or non-believer. For example, an encouraging word from God for an unbeliever will contain a key to their salvation and subsequent freedom. Any word that works against that is not from God.

CONCLUSION:

This post came out of a prayer session where the non-believer was pumped up in the soul and in all of their accomplishments so that by the time the Spirit to spirit word came, "the Lord wants you to be like a childlike," the person was unable to align in order to agree and t submit to God. I pray that by God's grace it happened later on. To me it appeared as if the same hardness toward God came back. I was disappointed but I know that God is not moved by my disappointment and the fact is, His word cannot return to Him void. It will accomplish the task for which He sent it. My prayer is that the word took root and the Lord will work to bring life in dead areas of the heart and spirit..

Anyone can encourage the soul. As a matter of fact some of the largest churches are filled to the brim as the souls of the people are pumped up to self-importance, while God is touted as the blessing-machine and a sidekick. Friend, it takes a person who knows God, and whom God knows, to bring a now word of encouragement to someone who needs it.

The lesson I've learnt is that starting the prayer and encouragement time with a word from the Spirit of God to that person's spirit (not their soul) is foundational to the rest of the time and perhaps their life. It will cause them to decide whether to draw closer to God in humility or away from God in pride and smugness. I know God is still at work and will continue until He isn't. My concern is, we can never know when a person has rejected Him one too many times, or when their time on this earth is up.

As ministers, all members of the Body of Christ are sent to encourage people with the word of the Lord, not just a select few super-gifted people. And while there are different levels of gifting, anyone can prophesy if they have ever read the Bible. There's no higher form of prophecy than that. And the word may be as simple as "God loves you" or "God is going to help you today." Sometimes it's a directional word or a warning, but it is always the word of the Lord that the person needs at that time to encourage them.

Finally, I am not saying that God never addresses the soul of a person. After all, that is who the person is. However, when God (Who is Spirit) is the Source of the message, it is a spiritual word. In order for the word to be transformative He has to be the Source (via His Holy Spirit.) His keys are not soul keys but spiritual keys that unlock the soul. And you don't have to look far. The Bible is full of them.

KEY: WHEN GOD ASKS YOU TO ENCOURAGE A PERSON, BRING THE WORD HE IS GIVING OVER THEIR LIVES, NOT WHAT THEIR SOUL WANTS TO HEAR SO THAT IT CAN BE PUFFED UP. BRING THE SIMPLY WORD GOD HAS GIVEN FOR THAT PERSON THAT WILL OPEN THEM UP TO MORE OF HIM SO THAT THE ENCOURAGEMENT IS TRUE ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE GOD-KIND!!!!

Other Great Sources Along This Line and Right on Point are:

1. The Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest) for May 3 titled, "Vital Intercession." Today! Here is the link just go to May 3: http://utmost.org/ .
2. Ephesians 6:18
3. Matthew 6:24
4. Revelation 2:4

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

AWAKENING, STRONG DELUSION, AND TEMPTATION

This is the word of the Lord to whomever would heed it. There is a relationship between spiritual awakening, strong delusion, and temptation. I never thought of it before but the Lord explained it because we need to know it. Why is that? Because although this country is in a pretty significant moral decline and it appears we could fall no further or that the delusion has become quite pronounced, we still have not hit the level of strong delusion spoken of in the Bible. And, yes, we are in a time when Isaiah 5:20 seems quite prevalent: that which is good is labeled bad and that which is bad is not only labeled as good but is often applauded.

God said in Isaiah 5:20:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

But we know that God knows exactly what He is doing and He can never fail. That is why heaven always has a strategy no matter how dark the times appear. It is up to those who are intimate with God, His ways, and His modes of communication, the chief one being His written Word, to seek out the strategy. In this blog post, I believe the Lord is sharing strategy for winning back homes, neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries. He will come back when we have done our part to share His love with the world and to occupy in faith until He comes.

OUR MANDATE WITH ACCOMPANYING AUTHORITY AND MANDATE

The Bible tells us that we are to take the Word of God throughout creation preaching as we go that His Kingdom has come and as we go, heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead, and set the captives free. How many are doing this? Most of the Church is influenced by the world system so few believers are actually doing what Jesus said to do. Most people live under the same world system they were saved out of. Few see the evidence of the Kingdom having come near with the signs, wonders, and miracles we are told would follow the preaching of the Word. Perhaps the Word is not actually preached, since the Word of God cannot lie. We need an awakening.... AGAIN!

Lately God has shown some keys to awakening the Church in a particular location. That is because we live in a fallen world with certain areas being influenced by certain fallen angel, what the Bible refers to as powers and principalities. How can you have effective revival without dealing with the blockages to revival, and the reasons, and entities that prevent people for hearing, seeing, and responded properly to the Gospel, the God News! God does not want us to be ignorant! He wants us to be wise and to move with purpose and success as we depend upon Him. What do we need, STRATEGIC PRAYER! That is the first step to God revealing His invincible strategy to take back territory from the evil one.

1. PRAYER MOVEMENT BEFORE AWAKENING

We know that no great move of the Spirit of God happens without a person or group engaging in fervent prayer. It happened at Pentecost when the 120 shut away in that upper-room for 10 days seeking God in unity. The result of their obedience brought the precious Holy Spirit to the earth for the first time and by God's grace and mercy, He is still here. He is our supernatural Enablement to do anything for God today. That just undoes me to think about it. And although I am not one to think that God needs to send the Holy Spirit again, since He is already here, I do believe we need a renewed awareness of our need for Him, and our submission to Him. There is no more amount of Holy Spirit for God to send, just more yielding for us to do. Therefore, an awakening is really just a renewed awareness of God in our midst and yielding to Him, individually and on a larger scale. Of course, as individual believers, we experience cycles of renewal that take us to deeper levels in God - if we are progressing. An awakening is a significant portion of the society experience it at the same time.

So how do we get there? Prayer! Prayer! Prayer! I was not always a revival focused person, but it's difficult to witness what is happening in society and ignore that if something does not happen to stem the downward flow, the end result will be devastating. One wonders how long will God stay His hand of judgment after showing mercy over and over again. How much lower can this society go before the end? We are there now! We need a prayer movement by locality, city, state and nation and globe. The world is off its hinges and only God can help. Notice I did not say God is out of control. God is in perfect control. He is allowing man a level of latitude, but there is a great level of restraint involved on His part. Yet, as the people of God, our job is to pray. 2 Chronicles 7:12-16 is a key Scripture for revival that is as true today as it was to Israel before the Gentile people were grafted into the family of God. In this Scripture, God is giving the people the antidote for when the land falls into judgement and under a curse. God 's cure:

“I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ¹³When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. ¹⁶For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

Breaking it Down

God's people were/are to:

1. Choose a place to dedicate prayer for the purpose of restoration

2. Humble themselves

3. Pray AND

4. Seek His face (not superficial cursory prayer but pursuing prayer)

5. Turn from their wicked ways (things that they know are wrong but do anyway)

God would:

1. Hear from His position in heaven

2. Forgive the sins of which they repented and

3. Heal their land

Bottom line: For an awakening, we need to pray fervent prayers of intercession for the land. That is, AFTER we have done our part in repentance and dedicating ourselves to God in prayer, an awakening will. It will not come accidentally or haphazardly. Heaven has protocol because IT IS A KINGDOM. Never listen to people who tell you otherwise. God is our Father and Jesus is our Friend but He is also Lord and King. It is not religious to treat the King of the universe according to His own protocol, that's order. Even the children of an earthly king adhere to protocol. How much more so, King of kings. Jesus made a way for us back to the Father, but He is still the Almighty One.

The Church United in Prayer

So how are we to respond to this need for awakening. Churches across denominational lines need put their differences aside, to come together in genuine brotherhood, to pray fervently for God to move in this land again. However, prior to that, we, the Body of Christ, need to seek God on individual level so that when we come together our hearts are pure and free of bitterness and pride. We need to come together in phileo love.

2. AWAKENING

In America, there have been two of these colossal moves of the Spirit and many are believing for a third and final GREAT AWAKENING before things fall apart and the Lord returns.

What does awakening look like? In a nutshell, there is such a manifest presence of God's Spirit, after those with a burden prayed and waited before God to manifest Himself in a greater way. Awakening comes for the purpose of impacting and transforming society. It's brought on by a type of hunger, thirst, and desperation for more of God. Once the Lord manifests Himself, often there is almost a tangible presence where people become more aware of their own sin and repent and experience the joy of the Lord in newness; complacent believers get "on fire for God," although not all; bars and clubs are emptied, and people can't get enough of God presence. People weep, fall down, and bow down.

There is a sense of holiness and that the Holy One is present and those responding just want to reverence His presence; many feel like they are about to or want to die because they know that they are unholy and unable to stand in His presence. Yet, God in His love for man sees the repentant through Christ's one massive act of redemption (buying back) on the Cross. He died for our sins so that those who believe in and follow Him can approach the Father without shame and condemnation. However, those who reject the Lord Jesus will remain in shame and condemnation until they accept His sacrifice for them.

That's just a snap shot of what a society-transforming revival looks like. You may read about the great revivalists like George Finney, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, etc. And the ones abroad such as Evan Roberts of Wales. (Link of a revival library: http://www.revival-library.org/pensketches/hr_menu.php).

The point is first the Church needs to be awakened before it can facilitate a Great Awakening to the greater society, locally, nationally, and internationally. An awakening is also, and really at its core, a spiritual cleansing and a rebirth. Do you think we need one? I'd say we do ... yesterday!

3. DELUSION

I am no psychologist but I believe the Bible has something to say about what causes people to be given over to strong delusion, it is a refusal to submit. Let me go out on a limb here; everyone who refuses to submit to God now, and certainly before the coming of the level of strong delusion spoken of in the Bible actually, will fall to it and if possible be completely lost through it. I do believe that. So what prevents people from being able to submit to God or anyone? Yes, that old culprit, pride. The thing about pride is not only that it come before a fall, (?) pride itself facilitates or causes delusion. There is no clear vision when operating in pride. That's what cause Lucifer's great fall that preceded his being thrown out of heaven. Pride is not a godly attribute; it causes God to turn against you. How do I know this? Well, the opposite of pride is humility. The Bible tell us that God gives much grace to the humble. That means those operating in pride are not getting grace as long as they continue in it.

Proverbs 16: 18

Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 3:34

Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble. [scornful: proud].

James 4:6

But He gives more grace. Therefore, He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Proverbs 11:2

When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

1 Peter 5:5

[ Submit to God, Resist the Devil] Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

DELUSION DEFINED (I just Googled a few)

Delusion is a ...

a firm belief you have that is actually not grounded in reality or truth, often occurring as a result of a mental problem

a belief that has no evidence in fact — a complete illusion. The cook at the hot dog stand who thinks he is the best chef in the world?

a belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary.

belief in something that is not true. (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/delusion)

A false belief held despite strong evidence against it; self-deception.

As you can see, delusion is believing in something that is not true and being convinced you are right. Can you imagine what "strong delusion" would be like? If delusion is insanity, what would the strong version be like? One word: dangerous. However dismal this appears, the Holy Spirit Who is the revealer of Truth, Jesus Christ and obliterate all delusions, strong or otherwise. The problem with strong delusion is that for some, there will be no way back because God would have already given then over to their stubbornness.

So this relationship flows from a movement of prayer and intercession, which in many ways has already begun to spread. Then by God's grace and mercy the awakening will ignite the sleeping Church and usher many new and backslidden believers into the Family of God. However, strong delusion which has not yet come full force, is certainly coming as prophesied in the Bible. There are already signs that it is gaining traction.

Consider the following evidence of delusion in the public square:

1. Grown men able to use the same bathrooms as little girls seen as a good thing,
2. killing a child in the wombs seen as caring for the mother,
3. seeing some who do heinous acts to children and adults in the name religion as "misunderstood",
4. lauding politicians who life as though they were above the law, and who would have been behind bars if they were the average citizen, and of course
5. laws on the books that make it possible for people of the same sex to "marry."

These are just a few of the signs of insanity exhibited by those responsible for stewarding the resources and people of this great nation.

3. TEMPTATION

Paul warns us that we are most vulnerable to temptation when our guard is down and our pride is up. In other words, be careful not to say, "Oh, I would never fall for that." Really? Are you Jesus? Pardon me for waxing a bit basic but what is temptation?

Temptation is defined as "a desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise." "the wish to do or have something that you know you should not do or have."

Remember what even the great apostle Paul said:

Romans 7:15-17 (Carnality in our bodies Lead us to sin as Under the Law)

¹⁵For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

But thank God for:

Romans 8:1-4 (Following the Spirit of God leads us to fulfill the Law as Jesus did)

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

4. STRONG DELUSION

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

⁹The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, ¹²that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Although the examples of delusion above are pretty convincing, there is still more and worse to come. They are evidence that full blown strong delusion will be unimaginable to those who are in Christ and not given over to a spirit of fear but to power, love and clothed in their right mind (in Christ). (Paraphrased from 2 Tim. 1:7.) Based on the definition of delusion above, it is a level of insanity whereas strong delusion will be deeper, more widespread, and sent by God to those who rejected His love time and again. Even the elect, where possible, will be caught up in it. To put it simply, there will be two choices, get caught up in the life-giving waves of God's awakening and revival or those of the strong delusion and temptation which are coming.

Some people will make the mistake of waiting too long to submit to God in revival and get caught up in the strong delusion, at which point, it will be too late. They would not be able to choose at that point. The thing is, no one knows when any of it will begin or end. My advice to anyone reading this who does not know Jesus Christ as Savior, is to submit to God's Spirit now so that you will be well in the coming days, months and years before the Lord's return and with Him on into eternity. Make this choice today and you will be within God's move and covering upon His 2nd coming.

CONCLUSION (really important)

Fervent united intercessory prayer in obedience to Holy Spirit gives way to awakening, which then protects those who allow the waves of the awakening Spirit of God to overcome them. In other words, to be an overcomer, you have to allow yourself to first be overcome by God. Those who do not submit to God in allowing Him to overtake them will be overtaken by the waves of a stronger delusion than what is in the land today. People steeped in pride (inside and outside of the church), and who do not think they need awakening are in danger of giving into strong delusion because of pride and rejecting the Son of God. Pride is the main ingredient of this strong delusion. People will be sure they are right in their delusion and will be adamant and resist those of the Truth. Strong delusion and temptation are opposing sides of the same coin because the strong delusion will make its victims ripe for temptations of all kinds to which many would be susceptible in areas they were not susceptible before.

Again “pride comes before a fall will take on new meaning.” I also sense that many supposedly stalwart believers with large followings will give in to the strong delusion because the seeds are already in them, perhaps deeper than would be evident to the average discerner. Many will be surprised by the ones who fall during this time. Meanwhile, in this current level of delusion, we are not as surprised who falls because there has already been evidence of bad theology ad bad fruit. In this upcoming level of strong delusion, it will be more incredible to see who actually falls for it.

And finally, it is impossible to face temptation from the devil without submission to God. Therefore, ignoring the move of God's Spirit refusing to submit to Him puts one in direct line of the enemy to be deluded and to give into temptation. Hence, the relationship between Awakening, Strong Delusion, and Temptation.

By the time strong delusion is released on the earth to people who refuse to receive His love, grace, and Truth, it will be too late. They would have passed the point of no return. The Scripture bears repeating. Please take note.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12