Love Each Other Because He Loves Us

We have a hope, we have an Advocate with the Father, who can through and by the Holy Spirit, usher us into the presence of God, once again. We have been given access, direct access by the blood of Jesus.

Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

We are justified, or declared right with God, when we believe and receive what He said, and let it govern our lives. We surrender our hearts and place our faith in what He said, and let His Word have its way in our lives. Believing without change is not salvation. The devils believe and tremble. But they are not saved. But through Jesus, we are declared right, and have peace with God by faith, because of what HE did. He gave us the right to approach God, where would could know we are accepted by Him because of Christ. We have the assurance because of the blood, and His love for Christ, whose we are, that we will have favor with God. When we are redeemed and born again by the Spirit of God, we have a fixed position in Jesus Christ, as part of His Body. God will never reject part of His own Son...He's not going to look at His Son in the face, and say, I accept your head, but not your feet-cut them off. God isn't going to do that! He accepts His Son completely and totally, who is perfect and one with Himself. They agree on everything. They think alike, they talk alike, there is no division or strife between them. They love one another. And when God draws us by the Holy Spirit to Christ, (no man can come except the Father draw him, Joh_6:44) and we come, we repent, and He washes us and cleans us up and places us inside the Body of Christ, what a protected place! What a secure place! Unless we decide we want to move out and do something else, or go back, unless we allow the devil to deceive us, we have a place secure, because we are in Christ, who is the Rock of our salvation! 0h praise the Lord! We're not a guest, or a foreigner, but He has declared us who are in Christ natives of Heaven, traveling through the earth, on our way home! We are declared saints, set apart for the HOLY ONE in heaven, whose very presence in us makes us holy inside and clean! The blood washed us clean, so He could move in, and His presence keeps us! He lives in us! He would not live in someone He did not love, care for, and intend to protect and keep! We were born into the House of God, by the Word of God (remember He spoke, He commanded and it was done!) He begot us by His Word! (1 Pet 1:23) He has put us in this Perfect and Precious Body of the Lord Jesus Christ-fitting us and shaping us together, to be a holy temple, a place where He can live and dwell among and in us. What an awesome honor He has bestowed on us! He purposed in His Son we would have a way back into His presence, where we could come with assurance, and freely without condemnation come to Him. We could have the admission into the presence of this Holy God who is our Father now, and we can rely on Him, just as Jesus did because we are in Christ! But oh, how should we look at one another, because of this great revelation? If we look at our brother or sister and criticize or bad mouth them, then we are bad mouthing Jesus Christ Himself. And we can't touch Christ without touching God. That is serious business. If we love HIM, we can't just love His Head and despise His feet or hands! We have to love the whole Package! We don't know which part of the body we are, but we need to have respect to the Body! Those who don't pay a terrible price!

1Co 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
1Co 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
1Co 11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

We can't casually consume the things of God. We can't lightly esteem His Word or His people. We must have reverence and respect for God, His Word, His Son, The Holy Spirit, the promises of God, and the people of God. The word for 'discerning' here means to separate from with a hostile spirit, in opposition to, striving against with dispute, to contend with. It says nothing about recognizing the Body...it means don't think you can bite and devour the people of God, and get away with it. Don't think you can turn on them, in discord and split them apart and get away with it. Because of things like this, many have no strength, no power, they are spiritually impotent, they may be physically or spiritually sick, and many are either spiritually asleep or physically dead.

1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

The word for judge here is the same as the word for discernment above. It means we should turn this willingness to separate ourselves from other people, out of strife and contention, over issues of disagreement, on ourselves. Whatever in us does not line up and agree with the Word of God, we need to turn on it, separate ourselves from it, cast it out, after it has been judged by us according to the Word...If we do this, if we contend with ourselves, by the Word of God, make a distinction in judging things in us that are not conforming to the Word, and passing sentence on them, then we will not be judged. Different word in the Hebrew for this one. This last word "judged" means to be put asunder, selected, and judged at trial before THE JUDGE, and have sentenced passed by HIM. If we judge ourselves, we will find forgiveness.

1Ti 5:24 Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.

Some sins are obvious, evident, not secret. They have been sent on, after being confessed, to the the judgment seat of Christ to be put under the blood, and cleansed. They will not be held against us. They go before us, and are dealt with. But woe to those who let their sins, unconfessed, not dealt with, follow them to the judgment. If we judge ourselves, and let the Lord deal with us as children, and endure the discipline and instruction He deals out, we do well.

1Co 11:33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

That word "tarry" means to accept, look for, wait for one another. Make sure all are taken care of, not just a select few. Just as we are accepted by Christ, we need to accept one another. Unity is something we can glory in...so long as it is under and in CHRIST, and not at the expense of truth.

Two natures at war

1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

I know there are many people who will argue about doctrines and beliefs on the rapture, but with so many Scriptures that tell us plainly HE is coming back our primary objective ought to be staying ready. What about those who are lost around us? When we see Jesus will we be able to say Lord, we thank you for giving us the love and compassion in your heart for them that urged us to pray them in, and strength to look past their sin to their needy soul, and not judge or condemn, but show compassion? We can't condone sin, but we must have compassion and reach out and tell them there is One who loves them and can help them and deliver them. I don't want to be ashamed at His coming, nor do I want to be found asleep. I myself have battled the pressure that comes against our minds when we set our hearts to seek God and surrender fully to God. The devil does not want this, and our own flesh will conspire with the enemy of our soul. It's a willing accomplice. He says He is coming back (1 Thess 4:16-17) for His own.

He warns us in Luke 21:34 to be careful not to get caught up in the things of this world because we will get overcharged with the wrong thing-and in the process we will neglect the One we must have and end up like the foolish virgins of Matthew 25, left out in the cold when the Lord comes for His own. We will see Him one day, face to face. In my heart I know this: He said if we deny Him before men, He will deny us before the Father and the angels. If He deals with me about something in my life, and I refuse to yield it to Him, and agree with Him that it needs to go, I deny Him. If I feel Him drawing me to prayer and I make excuses not to meet Him in the secret place of prayer, I deny Him. Yes, it is a struggle, the flesh and carnal mind does not want to go there. That is why we must present it to Him daily so He can kill it. We can feed on HIM and grow stronger. The two natures inside of us war, and the one we feed the most will be the one to overcome. We can't afford to feed our selves what flesh desires at the expense of the life of Christ inside of us who are born again of the Spirit of God. There is a real warfare, the prince of the power of the air (Satan) does not want us to pray, he wants us to feel unworthy, he wants us to feel afraid and be convinced by his lies that God is mad at us for our failures and flaws, and mistakes, and there is no point in continuing to pray. If we believe and yield to the despair he tries to weigh us down with we agree with our enemy and by our own behavior we are saying we don't believe God and that is tantamount to calling Him a liar.

I know we can't walk with God unless we are in total agreement with Him. (Amos 3:3). It's up to us, who we will believe. Whose report will we believe? The enemy that lies and says we can't make it, we can't have the fullness of Christ and the baptism of the Holy Ghost to give us power to live the life that glorifies God? Or will we believe the Word of God? Our behavior tells which one we believe. We must endure to the end. He says they that endure to the end shall be saved, not those who profess the name of Christ but by their works and lives deny they know Him.

Tit 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Sacrifice of the Lord

I have been reading in 1 Kin 17, 18.

It took me back in time to the place on Mount Carmel where Elijah confronted the false prophets of Baal, in front of King Ahab, and Israel, and it was clearly demonstrated when fire fell on the altar that the Lord, He is God, not Baal. That has had me thinking...what would it take for the fire of God to fall again on the altar and consume the sacrifice? Do I really want to be consumed? What does that mean? God used this to illustrate what it would take. You can read the directions in Lev 1:6-13 for how the sacrifice must be laid out and dressed and prepared before the Lord. It had to be cut to pieces, (broken-see Psalms 51:17), it had to be laid on the altar, head (carnal mind) and fat (excess flesh), first, and the inwards must be washed with water (Eph 5:26, we are washed as we expose ourselves to and yield to the Word of God). The sacrifice must be broken, humble, contrite, repentant, sincere, and willing to yield all to God. Elijah didn't have to spend hours begging and pleading for God to send the fire. He just had to have everything ready and he believed God.

There is a prescribed order of God and we must be aware of it, and when we see it, be willing to fall in line with it. The fire off the heavenly altar was what purged Isaiah and prepared him to be sent AFTER He got a revelation of the utter holiness and purity of the Lord that left him trembling with reverent fear and awe, and seeing his own sinfulness in comparison with such perfection. Oh, he wanted to be sent, and after the Lord sanctified him and purified him with fire off the altar, he was. In Acts 2 the disciples were touched by tongues of fire when the Holy Ghost came and purified and empowered to lay down their lives for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. Before this, they had cast out devils, healed the sick, opened blinded eyes, etc, worked many miracles. But when Jesus was arrested and abused, they fled in fear. They could not lay down their lives or be the witness God demanded without the power of His Holy Spirit infusing their bodies and burning up the carnal mind and replacing it with the mind of Christ. We need this...I long for this...and we are promised this. We must do our part. Give up, give all, don't look back, and fall on the Word of God and let it break us into pieces so there is no hardness against the demands of the cross, and surrender our whole lives to the thrilling purposes of God. What a privilege. He fixed it so we must depend on HIM to accomplish this.

When we can see things through His eyes, and see people through His eyes, and get a glimpse of His loveliness and eternity, our perspective will change. No longer will we try to grasp on to material things and that which is so rapidly decaying and passing away. We are fools if we try to hold on to that which has been marked for destruction by the owner and give up the promise of eternal life with the Lord. He is the owner of the world, and He has condemned her. He is going to make a new heaven and new earth. It will be full of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. We would be fools to want to hang on to this one and pass up the one to come.

Mind Warfare

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: I did some digging into the definitions, using Strong's Greek and Thayer's Greek definitions. So, I'm going to paraphrase here, for readability: Be watchful, aware, and alert, not sleepy; carefully observing everything around, guarding against expected attacks of your opponent, who constantly seeks accusation against and accuses and slanders us to our own minds, and to others, and to God. Just like God meant it when He said "Do not steal", He meant it when He said we have a very real enemy who will attack us. We should not be surprised, or yield to self pity, or allow confusion to rule our minds under an attack, because we have to remember God said HE is not the author of confusion. HE has given us a sound mind, and when it is unsound, that is not God's work. We should be on guard, fortifying our minds with the Word of God, seeking God to teach it by the precious Holy Spirit to us, and how it applies to us personally. He WANTS to makes this book personal to us. He wants us to understand this does apply to us and how. The devil doesn't want that because He knows when we know the Truth it will make us free, and worse, it will make us dangerous to his dark work. When we understand these things, we can help others understand these things, and the liberty spreads like wildfire. The devil will try to stop it, he howls and roars to scare us. He wants to intimidate us and paralyze us with fear at his noise, to prevent us going on the offensive. He follows and pursues us, circling us, (remember Job) occupied with plotting against us, to destroy us. (Remember, he follows and pursues, but can't just attack and destroy at will, because the ANGEL OF THE LORD ENCAMPETH AROUND ABOUT THEM THAT FEAR HIM AND DELIVERETH THEM; (Psalms 34:7) We can't see the angel but that old slew foot can. And he don't want to tangle with Him. And guess what else? The word "may" is in there. It means "to be possible, to ask for permission, (God, may I?) to ask for liberty, or license to be allowed." He has to get permission to try to drown our minds with lies, and swallow up our faith. For two examples of this, Job 1, 2. and Luke 22:31 (Peter) . ***He can only swallow up what we give up. He tries to drown us and destroy our faith by a constant barrage of lies to discourage and persuade us to give up and go back and not fight him and resist him as the Bible tells us to do. He can do nothing unless God allows it and God has already told us the devil is a liar. I looked up these words in the Greek after listening to a great message this morning that was truly a blessing! (Search the Scriptures to see if these things are true, remember-don't ever take man's word alone for it, search it out yourself prayerfully!)

We can remember, the Scripture says this:

2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;)

2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

We live in flesh, but it's not to rule us. We need to understand there will be a battle against the carnal desires of our flesh, understand this battle is in itself evidence that the Spirit of the Lord has moved in, else there is no warfare. There's no struggle, no desire to be holy, no love for holiness without the Lord putting this in us as by His Spirit in us we cry Abba, Father! But when these things try to regain pre-eminence in our temples, and try to hinder us from knowing the Lord, and growing in the Lord, we learn as we walk with Him to recognize what is happening, and to remind Him He said His strength is made perfect in our weakness, and His grace is sufficient, and we are already more than conquerors because the Conqueror lives in us. We have been given authority, via the Word of God to bind these vain thoughts, whether they be carnal desires, or lies of the enemies' fiery darts, and throw them out of our minds gleefully, joyfully, because HE said what we bind on earth He will in heaven. So, we can bind these vain imaginations that strike our mind, reject them, and throw them out, bind them with the promise of the Word. HE said we could bind them, so do it. Make them captive, don't let them take us into captivity. At the name of Christ, every knee shall bow, both human and spirit. Clean and unclean. He is Lord of all, and that includes our minds! (Phil 3:21).