Flesh vs Spirit

When I found this post, this person sounds so much like me that I could not resist bringing it over to you. If I were to write a post on deliverance ministry I would use those exact words.  This article is courtesy of: http://www.surewordministries.net/articles.html
by: By: Donna J. Kazenske

Here we go:

Are you an individual that likes quick fixes and drive-thru Christianity? If so, you're not alone in this dilemma.

The church worldwide desires quick fixes. Most of us don't like to wait on God, nor do we want to spend hours studying His word in a manner that would transform our lives for all eternity. Why is this? It takes effort to spend time with God, study His word and do what He has called us to do.

Our world, as we know it, operates in fast speed mode. We are a people that desire instant gratification of both the flesh and the spirit. We enjoy drive-thru experiences because it doesn't waste our time. But what are we doing with all of our extra time? Are we spending it on spiritual things, or are we wasting it on the things of this world?

I believe God is raising His standard (the word of God) in our lives. He is calling His church to walk in the Spirit so that we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The flesh desires quick fixes. The Spirit desires whatever it takes to fulfill God's plan and purpose.

Galatians 5:16-21 - I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Over the years, I have seen many Christians attend deliverance seminars and counseling sessions which seemed to work over a short period of time, but eventually proved to be of no avail in the lives of these individuals. Why is this type of ministry common practice in Christian circles? Why are so many people not delivered?

I know there are various answers to these questions, but I want to focus on one possibility in particular.

Galatians Chapter Five defines the works of the flesh. It does not list adultery, fornication, dissensions, idolatry, lewdness, heresies, revelries, sorcery, hatred, murder and drunkenness as demonic spirits. It lists them as works of the flesh.

If these are in fact works of the flesh (which they are), why are we calling them demonic spirits? Could it be that Christians are not getting delivered from these so-called demonic spirits because these are not spirits at all, but instead are works of the flesh? Is it possible to cast out the flesh? Of course not! Flesh must be crucified, not cast out.

There are no quick fixes when it comes to the flesh.

Galatians 5:24-25 - And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Are we as Christians walking in a manner that is pleasing to God? Are we walking in the Spirit, or are we still walking in the flesh?

If we are truly walking in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh mentioned in Galatians Chapter Five. If a person is truly converted, they should not be fulfilling the lusts of the flesh; they should be living a victorious life in Christ.

Scripture tells us that those who walk in the flesh to fulfill its lusts thereof will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Why are so many leaders preaching a watered down gospel message today? Or, let me take it a step further. Why are so many leaders preaching another gospel today? Why are we not preaching true repentance which leads to true conversions and godly lifestyles? Why do we have so many so-called 'seeker friendly' churches in our society today? Is it because we are afraid to preach the truth of God's word? Is it because we don't want to offend people with the true message of salvation and what it really means to be saved?

We can't live with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. It just doesn't work that way. We are either in the kingdom of God or we are in the kingdom of Satan. There are no in-betweens.

Matthew 16:24 - Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."

Denying oneself speaks of denying self or denying the flesh. The cross speaks of crucifixion or death. If we want to truly follow Jesus, we must deny our selfish nature and all of its ungodly attributes. We must crucify the flesh and live by the Spirit of God.

I believe it's time for the church to return to the Lord. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to come and root out everything in us that's not of Him. We need to get back to preaching the true message of the kingdom of God which leads people to true repentance.

True repentance brings true conversion, deliverance and healing. True repentance negates the need for counseling and deliverance sessions. True repentance, according to God's word, converts the soul and allows one to walk in the Spirit.

May God grant us mercy as we work out our own salvation

http://www.surewordministries.net/articles.html

Yesterday there were a few emails between a kindred sister in Christ that I met on LinkedIN website a few months ago. Through our emails we shared how our lives both suck yet God does not light up at all. We are both surrendered to Him, we both have been through very hard times with Him and we both have intimacy with Him. Yet, through our emails we were amazed to see how God keeps testing us for the same reasons.  So we encouraged each other and I went to bed. To my surprise I read Oswald Chambers devotional today and it is exactly what we talked about in our emails. I give you my word that I did not read the devotional yesterday nor I knew what the subject was about. It is just one more way God uses to strengthen those who are committed to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9)

I already shared in different posts how my life with God seems to suck. Even though I am out of the wilderness, God does not seem to be in a hurry to do anything that I have come to expect from all the testimonies I read and heard from friends after they left their wilderness time behind. It got so bad that for a few minutes a doubted that I was in His will for my life. To me, it was either that or God had chosen to pick on me. At one point I was pleading my case with Him to share with me what was going on because if indeed I was out of His will for my life I needed to correct the situation. But He never answered me, yet He seems to come at me at all angles. In fact, I did not label what was happening to me “spiritual warfare” nor that I saw Satan in it. I knew very well it was God’s doing. I got a bit annoyed because I could not see the use of it.  I kept asking why when I just finished spending seven years in the wilderness with you, why is it the testing is not going away? What is going on? I got to the point where I really got stressed out. The answer came recently when I insisted on one question “am I doing something wrong in the way I follow you?  Then He basically said to me “bingo”

It turns out by getting all riled up about how my life sucks it was exactly the lesson I missed. He wanted to show me because I have gone through a surrender process with Him for about nine years now (I surrendered all almost two years before He took me to the wilderness) I am to constantly be very aware of thinking that I cannot stumble into that area. To prove His point, He shared with me, while in the wilderness I would have surrendered in a flash all those things that have been happening to me and caused my life to suck, and He was right. When I realized how I failed Him miserably, I surrendered all the mess my life has become since my so called “coming out of the wilderness.” Even though in some of those things, I needed Him to act now, but I learned to say “may your will be done regardless what I expect or desire.”

But even after this sharing time with Him, instead of getting a break He sets out to test me once again. This past Sunday I worshipped Him for about two hours without anything big happening. In the third hour He came and divulged to me two things that He wants for me because He is going to use me to reach other people. These things He told me, I do not want them anymore in my life. In fact I was praying for one of them to go away, and when I realized the answer to my prayer was no, my heart ached but I could feel the Holy Spirit in me praying where my strength was lacking and all of the sudden I sang with all the strength I could muster “I stand with arms high and heart abandoned to the one who gave it all. I stand my soul Lord to you surrendered, all I am is yours. (This is a Hillsong song)

Just one I thought the testing was over, I got a phone call last night about my little brother who has been hospitalized and apparently it is so bad that everyone has gone over to see him and said goodbye. After they shared the complications he was facing along with his last word of love for me, my heart sank down like it contained bricks. I also realized I cannot hop on a train right away to see him because of all the complications in my life now that God decided not to remove or work out soon. So, I realized I had two pains to deal with: one my brother over the years has become an atheist, so he is on his deathbed  unsaved. The second thing is that I have not seen him for years and I might not see him before he died. As I was crying I said God when is enough is enough? At that time, I could feel the Holy Spirit strengthening me and reminded me, that it is one opportunity to give it all to Him and let Him deal with the consequences of it all. What my pain might be like tomorrow is irrelevant tonight, right this moment. I realized in that moment all that God cares is that I surrender all once again, and through His grace, I did. In exchange He gave me His peace. I am now praying and hoping for a miracle that my brother would live.

God tends to test us over and over again like He did with the Israelites in the wilderness. It is hard to remain strong unless we make it a point to walk in the Spirit because our flesh will fail us every time. If we are not walking in the Spirit through surrender, often times, we miss the point altogether because we cannot hear the Spirit or feel His nudges. The Israelites not only did not pass one test out of all those tests God set for them in the wilderness, and they also got tired of them. Oswald Chambers is right in his assessment because many of God's strong man stumbled over their strong points. When I look at my trials now, in this light, I realize God is not picking on me He is actually strengthening me to avoid more pain later in my walk with Him. As I got hold of what is truly happening with me, my heart was filled with tenderness toward Him and I felt bad to the need of repentance for being so upset, blind, resistant and ignorant these past few months. 

Beware of the Least Likely Temptation

04

19

2013

Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom —1 Kings 2:28

Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.

We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.

“. . . kept by the power of God . . .”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).

Courtesy of: http://utmost.org/

A Melancholic Day With Him! - Part 2

I found out my post on Tuesday April 2, 2013 has reached an all time high. The reason seems to be that it is being downloaded by the same people as they revisit the site to read the post again.  While I am happy, the post got some people thinking, I would not want you to be ill-informed by reading too much into what I wrote.

Let me explain what I mean. Remember this life is a long journey and constant battle. Personally, the more I am growing in the Lord I am finding out Christianity is truly serious business and cannot be a past time even for a moment. So, what we learn from God, as blogger we write about it, often time it is what you would call a “to be continued” type of thing. Because by the time I wrote the blog on April 02, God has been talking to me on this issue, leading me to understand better and directing me in how He wants me to handle the situation. I am now at a point where I found peace about it because I know my will is not my own, it belongs to Him to do as He pleases, and also the fact that I was at fault in sinning big time.

I would not want you to misunderstand the idea behind it all. While it is true God wants us to understand and apply His Word as it is in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 but, understand that my motive to want these people in my life was not right with God. Every time I met with them I offended God in more ways than one because not only I was being disobedient to His Word, I also break my union with Him on purpose. This attitude was one of disrespect, offensive and ungrateful on my part. Furthermore, I failed on purpose to capture my selfish thoughts and bring them into captivity for His glory. I failed to fulfill His desires to cultivate the mind of Christ because you will find that once God sets you apart inwardly, it is exactly what happens. All of the sudden you know a life where I am tempted to say the Spirit takes control of your mind as He keeps injecting his thoughts in your mind to the point that sometimes it feels like you are flooded. I am sure some of you know what I am talking about; you find your mind 24/7 focusing on God no matter what you are doing. The strange thing is, when you sit and think about it, you are aware it is not you doing it, but the Holy Spirit’s work in you. 

To make matters worse, I have been in that frame of mind for years, and I was somewhat blind to my sin. I said somewhat, because deep in me I knew it was wrong to want to break the union with Him especially in this manner, but I minimized the sin, so it gave me an excuse to commit it over and over again. While God allowed it to be an ongoing thing in my life for years, but He also knows what is best for me and I know now that I have reached a place with Him where I cannot keep committing the same sin over and over again without affecting His plan for me. 

Through reading Leviticus, I understood God patience, mercy, grace, faithfulness and so on. But He is clear on the fact that we are not to mistake these attributes and take advantage of them, which is exactly what these Christians in 1 Corinthians 5 were doing. So, I have failed God because I used my own judgement in the flesh and put away righteous judgement as I was taught by the Holy Spirit while I was in the wilderness.

I needed a reminder from Leviticus because God could clearly see that I used righteous judgement to deal with some people in my life, as a result they never have the power to affect my relationship with Him. Yet, because it suited me, I did not use righteous judgement for another group and I allowed them to affect my relationship with God to the point that I dishonoured Him every time. God did not miss a thing in what I was doing. I really minimized those friends careless attitude toward God to suit my purpose.

When I had a chance to put it all into perspective (after my pity party) I realized my melancholy came from the fact that I was losing what I consider good friends but really behind it all, I knew I was found out and called into accountability by God. The other thing that caused my melancholy was also the fact that I needed to put away something that was pleasing to me.  It is really an amazing thing when we put God first, the angle we view what is happening to us changes completely.   

When we decide to apply those verses in our lives such as 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, and cut off people who are considered toxic to our relationship with Him, we better make sure we find balance through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Before we cut ties with them, put it all in the hands of the Holy Spirit, remain willing to do as we are told with an open heart and He will come through for us (which is what I was supposed to do to begin with.) In fact in the past week, God showed me even though I sort of cut ties with these people, meaning the idea behind the friendships and the visits have stopped,  He still wants me to be available to interact with them, but  only whenever He sees fit. However He also made it clear that my relationship with them moving forward, will take the tone of a teacher for lack of a better word. 

Secondly, I questioned God because I have a couple of people in my life that are as bad if not worse (spiritually speaking.) He made it clear to me that He had His reasons for not including them. First, I am in a different frame of mind when I am with them. While I see these people often enough because I do not have a choice, but knowing who I am dealing with, I never let my guard down spiritually. So right then and there you can see how the motive and attitude matter to God. In my interaction with them, I never allowed their attitude toward God affect my relationship with Him and I can see a mile away, when Satan is using them to talk to me. The second reason He gave me for not including them is that He wants to use me in their lives, every time I see them.  

I hope I was able to shed some light on the first post and that while God is God and expects certain behaviour from us, we have to make sure He is leading before we get rid of some of our friends because we do not know who He wants to use us to help reach out to them. We find the right balance in Him alone. 

Groping in the Dark

By James Smith, 1859

It is very unpleasant to be in the dark, especially if you are in a strange place. This was my lot a few nights ago. I knew what I wanted, and I knew where I wanted to get to — but it was so dark I could not find the right road. I groped and fumbled about. For a long time I had not felt my need of a light so much, nor realized its value as I did then. It was a considerable time before I found my way, and in doing so, I got several knocks, and became very chilly. To be alone in the dark is unpleasant, and a friendly voice under such circumstances is very cheering.

After I had gained my point, I began to think of darkness as representing ignorance, cruelty, and crime. What a solemn testimony is that of the prophet, "Darkness has covered the earth, and gross darkness the people." How affecting the prayer of the Psalmist, "Have respect unto the covenant, for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty." And how cheering the announcement of another, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them the light has shined." And what a lovely representation Jesus gives us of himself when ne says, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall not walk in darkness — but shall have the light of life." I wonder not that Solomon should say, "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing, it is for the eyes to behold the sun." What would the world be naturally without the sun? Just in such a condition would we be morally, and spiritually, without the truth, and without the Savior!

My soul was in the dark once. In total darkness. I knew not my sin, I saw not my danger. I wanted something which I had not. I had heard of the way in which it was to be obtained, and thought I could find it — but I groped about in the dark in vain. At length I was led to God's Word, and I found the truth of Solomon's testimony. "The commandment is a lamp, and the law is light." By that word, I obtained a correct view of myself, and clearly discovered my danger. By that word, I saw the way of escape by our Lord Jesus Christ, and was led into it by the Holy Spirit. There I enjoyed the light of life, the light of God's countenance, and the light of joy and peace. I escaped from danger, obtained salvation, and saw with tolerable clearness the path of the just, which shines more and more onto the perfect day.

Since then, God's Word has been my light, and God's Spirit has been my guide. Nor can I do without either of them, for I need both a light to shine on my path, and a guide to lead me in it; and if left without either, I would find myself as I did the other night — groping in the dark. What obligations I am under to the Word, the Spirit, and the Savior; the Word is the light, the Spirit is the guide, and the Savior is the object to which I am led.

What home is to the poor traveler who has missed his way, and become bruised and chilly by groping in the dark, that, and more, oh how much more — is the Lord Jesus to me! In him is my food, my warmth, my rest, my every comfort. Without him I am hungry, cold, weary, and destitute of all real joy. O my Savior, leave me not in the dark — but if you do, I shall grope after you, and however cold and weary, I shall find no rest, until I find you!

Reader, may I say to you, as Paul wrote to his friends, "You were once darkness — but are now light in the Lord!" Have you discovered the darkness you were in? Have you felt your need of supernatural light? Have you endeavored to grope your way out of the darkness? Have you come to the light, and found rest unto your soul? My groping in the dark the other night, ended in a warm room, a comfortable bed, and refreshing sleep; and my former wandering in the dark, ended at the feet of Jesus, in rest of soul, and a place in the church of God. Has this been your case?

Believer, as a child of light, walk in the light. Walk in the truth. Walk in the Spirit. Walk in love. Walk in holiness. Let your course be that marked out by God's Word — that into which the Holy Spirit leads — that which unites and attaches you to all the Lord's people — that in which holiness shines forth resplendent — that all may see an illustration of the prophet's prediction in you, "And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it!" Isaiah 35:8

Walking in the Spirit

I had people asked me “how do one walk in the Spirit?

Walking in the Spirit really does not need a formula. However, there needs to be an attitude of openness toward God. When the Spirit started teaching me to walk in the Spirit He made it clear that this openness toward Him is not open for negotiation. You cannot have a plan A and a plan B and be dead set on wanting Him to negotiate your terms with you.

More often than not, we do have plan A & B but we do not even realize that. There are times our contingency plans are more obvious to us. But sometimes they are not, while they might not be obvious to us, but they are obvious to Satan and he used them against us. If you take for instance someone who reads something from Chambers, Spurgeon, Tozer, Paul Washer, etc then, dismiss it while saying well, this guy is out of his mind and these things he is talking about, I do not need them to be saved.

Then the conclusion here is that you do not have the Holy Spirit in you to begin with to help you understand the truth of God. Or it could be you utter such words simply because in the depth of your heart you know what you read upset your plans. But because your plan B is more important to you than God’s plan A, you stick to your guns. With a mindset like that, you forfeit your walk in the Spirit. The spiritual darkness that is looming over your heart and soul comes from the fact that you know something but you have no intention of obeying God. No matter how beautiful or successful your life might look on the outside, no matter how hard you appear to work for God, well, none of it is being done in the Spirit and you are not walking in the Spirit. This is just one tiny example amongst all those examples that I could give you. But I hope you see where I am getting here.

A test that will never fail us as to whether or not we are walking in the Spirit is the depth of Christ being revealed to us. Understand that I am not talking about us exercising gifts we may or may not have.  Now, I am not saying that He cannot work this life in you because as I mentioned in my book, I have seen God working this Christian life through people, in spite of themselves. But, you are as useful to Him as Pharaoh was in His hand. The only difference between you and Pharaoh is that you have found more grace in His eyes. Openness to God keeps us surrendered to His will, teachable and obedient, hence, you are not perfect, you still have a long way to go but you are walking in the Spirit.

After I learned to walk in the Spirit, God with His sense of humour took one of my pet peeves to show me how easy I can be separated from the oneness with Him and how important I keep focussing on Him and walk moment by moment to keep this oneness. My greatest pet peeve is people who pick their noses. I find it so gross and I cannot understand why not using tissues. Anyway, a lesson that I cannot forget no matter how much I want to, is that God showed me one day, after I experienced His awesome divine nature that could be compared to oxygen so pure that you know it is out of this world. It is so pure that you cannot imagine living without it and if we could see what we are missing, we would indeed make sure we walk moment by moment so that we do not spend one minute out of His nature.  

He showed me even if I have a sin so small that it could be the size of a tiny booger, He said to me, even though you could hold it between your fingers and re-enter your union with me, it would not be possible because this tiny booger however small cannot find a place in my nature. He said if I allow you to get in without the repentance and the cleansing of the blood, you would introduce dirt within me. For someone else this might not be important, but to me, I can't live without this visual, to remind me where I am at in my oneness with Him. I need to constantly ask myself, have I moved away from Him without even knowing it?

With that in mind, I leave you with a good description of the subject with pastor Philpott

This is just an excerpt from J. C. Philpott's sermon preached in 1862

"Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1

1. To walk, then, after the Spirit is to walk after and in a revealed Christ– not a Christ in the letter, but a Christ in the Spirit; not a Christ in the word only, but a Christ in the heart, formed there the hope of glory. The work of the Spirit is to reveal Christ, to glorify him, and make him precious to believing hearts; to apply his blood to the conscience, to discover his righteousness, and to shed abroad his love. To walk, then, after the Spirit is to follow his gracious discoveries of the Lord Jesus to the heart, and to realize them by a living experience of their sweetness and blessedness.

2. But again, the Spirit leads into all truth. This was the promise given by Christ to his disciples– "Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13.) It is impossible for us to know the truth savingly and experimentally, except the blessed Spirit guides us, as it were, into the very bosom of it. Until then its beauty and blessedness, its liberating, sanctifying influence are hidden from our sight. But if I am guided by the Spirit into all truth, if he himself condescends to lead me into the truth as it is in Jesus, and enable me to walk in the truth as he leads me into it, then I may be said to walk after the Spirit.

3. But again, the Spirit is spoken of in the word of truth as an Intercessor, teaching us how to pray and what to pray for; no, he himself is represented as "interceding for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." If, then, I pray in the Spirit, I walk after the Spirit, for I walk in that path of prayer and supplication in which he is pleased to lead me. He has promised to help my infirmities; and therefore if I find my many infirmities helped by his grace and overcome by his power, then too I may be said to walk after the Spirit.

4. But the Spirit is also the author of faith, hope, and love, for these are fruits and graces which spring from his work upon the heart. If, then, I believe in Jesus with a spiritual faith, if I hope in him with a spiritual hope, and love him with a spiritual love, I walk after the Spirit; for the Spirit moves me both to will and to do those things; and as he leads I follow.

5. But the Spirit is also a Spirit of contrition, of brokenness, of humility, of godly sorrow for sin and honest confession of it. If, then, I am ever blessed with humility, contrition, repentance, and godly sorrow for sin, I walk after the Spirit.

6. But the Spirit is also the Comforter of God's people, for that is the name which our blessed Lord himself gave him. So that if he ever comforts your heart with his choice consolations, and you walk after his comfort, desiring to drink into it, and following after everything which may promote it, you follow in the steps in which the Comforter leads you.

7. But if we walk after the Spirit, we shall also be spiritually-minded, which is life and peace; our affections will be fixed upon heavenly realities where Jesus sits at the right hand of God; for all this is his special work, and nothing short of his power and influence can produce it. If then we are favored at any time with this spirituality of mind and these heavenly affections, it is a proof that we are walking after the Spirit.

8. But again, through the weakness of the flesh and the power of temptation, we often fall into a state of coldness, darkness, hardness, and even miserable carelessness in the things of God. Then the Spirit has to revive our drooping graces, bring us out of this miserable state of carnality and death, to lead us to the fountain once opened for all sin and uncleanness in the blood of the Lamb, to renew our hope, strengthen our faith, and impart to us fresh confidence. As we then walk in the light, life, and power of these gracious revivals, we walk after the Spirit.

Thomas Brooks (Puritan)

Thomas Brooks on the title page of his book The Riches of Christ.

Courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Brooks_(Puritan)

This post  by Thomas Brooks below merged well with my post on April 12 :  Complete & Effective Dominion

 

I mentioned how important it is to test the spirits. A minister who is not breaking your heart with the word of God almost every time he takes the pulpit, there is a strong chance that he has not been hand picked by Him. A real minister of God will cause you to go home somewhat, if not fully offended every time you hear him. Why? Because it is the nature of the true Gospel it offends unbelievers as much as it offends believers that are not right with Him.

 

Sadly, Satan has worked it so nicely for us to make us comfortable with a half truth, that in the Church, we scream “apostasy” when we are offended by the truth of  the Gospel and in our state of spiritual we have no idea that we are led by Satan to react this way. Satan has done such a great job that we love our mediocre preachers, they make us feel good, we agree with them, we say AMEN, HALLELLUJAH! We get all emotional and drunk on “god”   yet, we go back home with the same compartmentalized lives, wrong attitude toward Him, stubborn hearts,  lack of obedience and our rituals that make us feel good because we found “religion”

 

Even on my death bed, I will keep saying over and over again. The reason we are offended by the preaching, the posts or the books that call for examination of our hearts, or to a deeper life and make us feel inadequate is because we are not where we should be. Deep inside of us, we know something is wrong, but we shut if off and slap our mask on again. For a lot of us, often the subtlety of Satan acts like a snooze alarm we keep pressing the button just so we can get a few more minutes of sleep. Before we know it, time passes us by, we get so deep with Satan, and in our slumber it would take a bulldozer to get us out of our lethargy and laziness. By then, it is easier to say Oh! Well God is good!

 

May God have mercy on us!

Thomas Brooks (1608–1680) was an English non-conformist Puritan preacher and author

Consider carefully what you hear." Mark 4:24"

It is sad to see how many preachers in our days, make 

it their business to enrich men's heads with high, empty, 

airy notions; instead of enriching their souls with saving 

truths. 

Fix yourself under that man's ministry, who makes it his 

business, his work to enrich the soul, to win the soul, and 

to build up the soul; not to tickle the ear, or please the 

fancy. This age is full of such light, delirious souls—who 

dislike everything—but what is empty and airy.

Do not judge a minister . . .

  by his voice, nor

  by the multitude who follow him, nor

  by his affected tone, nor

  by his rhetoric and flashes of wit;

but by the holiness, heavenliness, and spiritualness 

of his teaching. Many ministers are like empty orators, 

who have a flood of words—but a drop of matter.

Some preachers affect rhetorical strains; they seek abstrusities, 

and love to hover and soar aloft in dark and cloudy expressions, 

and so shoot their arrows over their hearers' heads—instead of 

bettering their hearers' hearts. Mirthful things in a sermon 

are only for men to gaze upon and admire. He is the best 

preacher, not who tickles the ear—but who breaks the heart.

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and

 persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's

 power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom,

 but on God's power." 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

The Doctrine of Repentance - Part 13 - Last Post

Finally the last post of the serie

As I mentioned at the beginning of this serie on the nature of true repentance.  I wanted to find something on repentance but I needed it to be as close as possible to what I have personally learned from the Holy Spirit directly. I have read several version of true repentance, while they are all saying the same thing, but some are harder to understand and some leave room for guessing games. So, once again I have decided to g with someone you know by now if you are used to my Blog. Thomas Watson wrote this piece in 1668. As I read it today, I realize it is the same process the Spirit took me through, to enable me to understand why I had to go through the process of repentance, how it was done, who does what and what was the overall result. There is nothing like true repentance entering your heart to find out who you truly are in Him. 

By Thomas Watson, 1668
 

The Nature of true repentance

Use 2. It reproves those who are but half-turned. And who are these? Such as turn in their judgment, but not in their practice. They cannot but acknowledge that sin is a dreadful evil, and will weep for sin—yet they are so bewitched with it that they have no power to leave it! Their corruptions are stronger than their convictions. These are half-turned, "almost Christians" (Acts 26:28). They are like Ephraim, "as worthless as a half-baked cake!" (Hos. 7:8).

They are but half-turned, who turn only from gross sin—but have no intrinsic work of grace. They do not prize Christ—or love holiness. It is with mere moral people as with Jonah; he got a gourd to shield the heat of the sun, and thought that he was safe—but a worm presently arose and devoured the gourd. So men, when they are turned from gross sin, think that their morality will be a gourd to defend them from the wrath of God—but at death there arises the worm of conscience, which smites this gourd, and then their hearts fail, and they are in a dreadful condition!

They are but half-turned, who turn from many sins—but are unturned from some special sin. There is a harlot in the bosom which they will not let go! This is as if a man should be cured of several diseases—but has a cancer in his breast, which kills him. It reproves those whose turning is as good as no turning, who expel one devil and welcome another. They turn from swearing—to slandering, from extravagance—to covetousness. Such turning will turn men to hell!

Use 3. Let us show ourselves penitents, in turning from sin to God. There are some people I have little hope to prevail with. Let the trumpet of the Word sound ever so shrill, let threatenings be thundered out against them, let some flashes of hell-fire be thrown in their faces—yet they will keep their beloved sin. These people seem to be like the swine in the Gospel, carried down by the devil violently into the sea. They will rather be damned—than turn from their sin! "these people keep going along their self-destructive path, refusing to turn back, even though I have warned them!" (Jer. 8:5).

But if there is any sincerity in us, if conscience is not cast into a deep sleep, let us listen to the voice of the charmer, and turn to God as our supreme good. How often does God call upon us to turn to him? He swears, "As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness! Why should you die?" (Ezek. 33:11). God would rather have our repenting tears—than our blood.

Turning to God is for our benefit. Our repentance is of no benefit to God—but to ourselves. If a man drinks of a fountain—he benefits himself, not the fountain. If he beholds the light of the sun—he himself is refreshed by it, not the sun. If we turn from our sins to God, God is not advantaged by it. It is only we ourselves who reap the benefit. In this case self-love should prevail with us: "If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer." (Proverbs 9:12).

If we turn to God—he will turn to us. He will turn his anger from us—and his face to us. It was David's prayer, "O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me" (Psalm 86:16). Our turning will make God turn: "Turn unto me, says the Lord—and I will turn unto you" (Zech. 1:3). He who was our enemy—will turn to be our friend. If God turns to us—the angels are turned to us. We shall have their tutelage and guardianship (Psalm 91:11). If God turns to us—all things shall turn to our good, both mercies and afflictions. We shall taste honey at the end of the afflicting rod.

Thus we have seen the several ingredients of repentance:

1. Sight of sin

2. Sorrow for sin

3. Confession of sin

4. Shame for sin

5. Hatred for sin

6. Turning from sin

Complete & Effective Dominion

I had no intention of touching Oswald Chambers subject this morning. But during my time with God, the Holy Spirit had decided otherwise. I found myself learning through Oswald Chambers and the Holy Spirit something that I did not realize at the time I wrote my book “Apprehended & Apprehending”.

When I wrote my book “Apprehended & Apprehending” which by the way is not for people who are interested in sampling Christianity but rather for those truly yearning to know Him personally, those who already know Him personally and those who have reached the stage in their Christian walk with Him that Oswald talked in his devotional of April 11 & 12. Otherwise, the book would be meaningless to you.  By the time I had written the book, I had experienced that true Salvation will always lead us to find the “Pearl of Great Price” which to my surprise I found is God the Father. Believe me every bit of this verse is true and it is so GRAND that when you find the pearl of great price in Matthew 13:46 your life will never, ever be the same again. And whether we like it or not shoddy Christianity is left behind and you can only go forward with the Father.  “Who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”   

In my book, my writing was based on what the triune God taught me and my experiences of it though Him. This is one of the beautiful things about learning directly from God. I was taught what Oswald Chambers teach today in his devotional where he used Romans 6:9-11.  In my book I used the same analogy but I learned it from Philippians 3 as God set out to impart to me what He meant through Paul in verses 10-12. 

I don’t know about you but I am excited as I see the beauty of God’s Word and how everything stands by itself yet everything is intertwined together. Oswald said today that eternal life is not a gift from God but it is THE GIFT OF GOD. My dear friends, it is about possessing God Himself, that’s what Oswald means. While it is true eternal life is a gift from God but the gift is HIM.  You see, when you make the decision to leave it all behind, meaning intellect, pride, sin, knowledge, understanding etc and go forward with God to find out what those annoying people keep going on about, as if they know God better than the average Christian, you find God the Father, in the process. (Actually to a certain extend it is the story of the great C.S Lewis)

It is only when you find God the Father, you realize the goal of Salvation, the whole idea behind Salvation which God showed me is as big as the ocean, is in effect about finding God the Father. He is the endless gift behind it all.  Oh I wish you could see the beauty of it all with the eyes of your heart. I wish you could go on to experience the depth, the length, the strength, the width and so on, that is involved in finding the Father.  Make no mistake, I did not find Him when I was standing by myself under the law, and doing my things apart from Christ. He revealed Himself to me while I was inside of Christ. Understand what I am saying, we were both, inside of Christ. I found out He was always there all along, but could not reveal Himself to me until I was ready, because as much as it is a friendship and relationship with our father, it is also a process. This process it is the reason Oswald Chambers is pleading with us in his devotional to go forward apprehending what Christ had apprehended us for. The strange thing is, once you apprehend the reason why Christ apprehended us for which means possessing God the father, you are driven by that ambition to apprehend more and more of Him. It is so strange, you find that you can never get too much of Him and you cannot be quenched.

In my book I explained how the life that is in Christ is imparted to us. It is as if God is changing your very own DNA with His life. He feeds it to you slowly as if you were an infant in the mother’s womb, Christ becomes the mother here. I still find it mind boggling the idea of me being in Christ, Christ being in me, Christ being in God and God being in Christ. While in my walk with Him I have experienced it, but it still gives me a headache to think about it. I cannot wait for God to take away the limitation when I die so that my little pea brain does not explode with this beautiful truth.

While we sit there like a dog with a bone claiming one or two verses here and there to stand our ground and make excuses not to go forward, if we only bothered going forward, God would show us that all those things we tend to think are made up by other people to rock the boat, and our enjoyment of complacency. We would learn the depth of certain verses that escape us in the Bible. What I mean by that, some people would say, well, we do not need that and it is apostasy. This is why we have to test the spirits. We do not gobble up everything people say because we like them, or that they look good, or perhaps they agree with our idea of Salvation which keeps us in complacency with God to begin with.  If we do that, we are no better than unbelievers trying to decipher the Bible to make fun of us and show how stupid we are and how bad our God is. When we do not test the spirits first through the Holy Spirit, we are nothing less than fools. We give Satan’s ammunitions and he tightens up the chain that keeps us in bondage and in ignorance of the true God.

What Oswald wrote today, in the same way I concluded in my book that we need to go forward to claim the life we have in Him we can find one instance in the Bible where Paul said the same thing as well. Galatians 4:19 expressed so nicely why Paul was suffering like a pregnant woman about to give birth. He knew they were missing a big component which was needed. Hence “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,” this is a beautiful verse pregnant with meaning directly related to our eternal life. You are free to see this verse as the word of God and admit and commit to it. Or, you are free to see it as Satan wants you to. The choice is yours. Be forewarned that choosing Satan’s side by minimizing the meaning of this verse does not change God’s truth and does not let you and I off the hook.

Matthew Henry’s commentary is my favourite. Here is what he said about it 4:19, 20 “The Galatians were ready to account the apostle their enemy, but he assures them he was their friend; he had the feelings of a parent toward them. He was in doubt as to their state, and was anxious to know the result of their present delusions. Nothing is so sure a proof that a sinner has passed into a state of justification, as Christ being formed in him by the renewal of the Holy Spirit; but this cannot be hoped for, while men depend on the law for acceptance with God. The truth is every single time we walk without Him,  provide explanations and decipher the Bible on our own apart from the Holy Spirit, all we do is put ourselves right back under the law.

The beauty of all this captivates me so much that I could go on deciphering Oswald’s devotional because I lived it all out with Him in the wilderness. But, I want to make something clear. My comparing myself with the same deductions that I came up with Oswald has nothing to do with me thinking that I am close to walk in Oswald’s shoes. On the contrary, one of the reasons I got excited is because I can see that God can teach me in the smallest and the biggest things. I got excited because I learned something new today through the devotion and I am happy because I am learning from the same God who taught Oswald His Word. I am well aware that I have a long way to go and one will never arrive in this life.

Complete and Effective Divinity - Dominion

You know, I was reading Oswald Chambers today, I realize once again I have to change my post.

All the divisions amongst us Christian, the conflicts, the lack of power we Christians are living with, the anxieties, the fact that apostasy has taken over the Church and we are not capable of discerning those imposters  and live out the truth of true Salvation. All the need to build empires for our own greed and ego, pastors caught with their pants down, the need in the Church family to assign titles to ourselves to feel we matter. The dead works that we pass for Christianity etc, are all found in April 11 & April 12^th devotional.

These are deep stuff that we can understand when we leave behind our standards of Christianity and take on His. We get what Oswald is saying only when we truly walk with the Spirit. Otherwise we are doing Christianity in our ignorance and sadly we are so busy doing Christianity and immersing ourselves in the culture we have never made the time to become true Christians according to God’s standards of what Christianity should be. If I do not control myself, I could go on and on. But, I am hoping if one of you could give some thoughts to the reality of what Oswald wrote, if only one of you surrender in complete abandonment to Him for the sake of becoming one of His own, then to God be the Glory.

One of the beauties of living in the Spirit and walking in oneness with Him (even when we are not mature Christian yet) is that He enjoys witnessing to our Spirit. So most of the time while this life is being worked in us, (impartation) we know through the Holy Spirit they are happening in us and through us. I know most of the time I sound like a broken record, but I also have to live with the reality of who the God we serve is about. Too many of us “Christians” are going to find out at a time when we cannot change things anymore. Too many of us dictate the terms of Salvation to God and too many of us do not realize God is not going to take all the Christians Churches to put them together and make up His bride. The Church will be made with those who have truly been identified with Him. Those that are truly His they hear His voice and they walk with Him.

When we bring the bar very low, we count on His love instead of Salvation, to get us there. But, God does not bow to anyone. His Word says in Romans 9:15 “For God said to Moses, "I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” When we bring the bar so low to accommodate our idea of what Christianity should be, when we spend most of our time finding loopholes in His covenant with us and when we spend most of our time claiming those verses that evoke His clemency and love we force His hand.

We put Him in a corner like Satan did, in our insolence, our greed, lack of humility, lack of reverence, harden and disobedient hearts we forget that He is God and no one can ever corner Him with His own Word. Sure He said I will never forsake you but He also said “woe to you” He also said Thou shalt not have any gods before Me. Then how come you have been so busy serving yourself while thinking you could fool Him? How come those words that Oswald mentioned in his devotional, after decades of calling yourself Christians you have no idea what they mean? Could it be you have been way too busy being your own master and you did not even noticed? Haven’t you noticed those verses in the Bible where God talked about the power of Salvation have eluded you? Are you hoping the fact that you fake it so well He is going to be impressed with you? Was God lying when His Word says Salvation has power to change us inwardly to make us like Him? The fact is, when we are not truly following Him, we get caught up in our own hypes.

Take heed to Oswald Chamber’s words while you can. They are the difference between imputation and impartation and whether the explanation suits you or not, does not change God’s Standards and plan about His Salvation.

HERE IS OSWALD CHAMBERS DEVOTION FOR TODAY & TOMORROW

Complete and Effective Divinity

04

11

2013

If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection . . . —Romans 6:5

Co-Resurrection. The proof that I have experienced crucifixion with Jesus is that I have a definite likeness to Him. The Spirit of Jesus entering me rearranges my personal life before God. The resurrection of Jesus has given Him the authority to give the life of God to me, and the experiences of my life must now be built on the foundation of His life. I can have the resurrection life of Jesus here and now, and it will exhibit itself through holiness.

The idea all through the apostle Paul’s writings is that after the decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus penetrates every bit of my human nature. It takes the omnipotence of God— His complete and effective divinity— to live the life of the Son of God in human flesh. The Holy Spirit cannot be accepted as a guest in merely one room of the house— He invades all of it. And once I decide that my “old man” (that is, my heredity of sin) should be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me. He takes charge of everything. My part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals to me. Once I have made that important decision about sin, it is easy to “reckon” that I am actually “dead indeed to sin,” because I find the life of Jesus in me all the time (Romans 6:11). Just as there is only one kind of humanity, there is only one kind of holiness— the holiness of Jesus. And it is His holiness that has been given to me. God puts the holiness of His Son into me, and I belong to a new spiritual order

Complete and Effective Dominion

04

12

2012

Death no longer has dominion over Him. . . . the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God . . . —Romans 6:9-11

Co-Eternal Life. Eternal life is the life which Jesus Christ exhibited on the human level. And it is this same life, not simply a copy of it, which is made evident in our mortal flesh when we are born again. Eternal life is not a gift from God; eternal life is the gift of God. The energy and the power which was so very evident in Jesus will be exhibited in us by an act of the absolute sovereign grace of God, once we have made that complete and effective decision about sin.

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . .” (Acts 1:8)— not power as a gift from the Holy Spirit; the power is the Holy Spirit, not something that He gives us. The life that was in Jesus becomes ours because of His Cross, once we make the decision to be identified with Him. If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we refuse to make this moral decision about sin. But once we do decide, the full life of God comes in immediately. Jesus came to give us an endless supply of life— “. . . that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). Eternal life has nothing to do with time. It is the life which Jesus lived when He was down here, and the only Source of life is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Even the weakest saint can experience the power of the deity of the Son of God, when he is willing to “let go.” But any effort to “hang on” to the least bit of our own power will only diminish the life of Jesus in us. We have to keep letting go, and slowly, but surely, the great full life of God will invade us, penetrating every part. Then Jesus will have complete and effective dominion in us, and people will take notice that we have been with Him

Oswald's devotional is courtesy of:http://utmost.org/