We need to go back and touch on the example given in Gen. 14. You will notice that when Abraham
gave his ten percent of the loot he brought back from the battle, his name was Abram not Abraham. Abram means a man at his
age having the capability of having children. In Gen. Chapter 15 we have an encounter in a dream that Abram had with the Lord
after the battle and him giving Melchizedek his tithe, where God told him "He was his shield and the one who would give
Him an abundant compensation and his reward would be exceedingly great." Abram ask God "what He would give him as
he was childless." God said, "Your heir will be from your own body. He then took him outside into the starry sky
and told him as many as the stars in the heaven so will his descendent be." When
this took place; Abrams believed God and this is when it was credited to him as being righteous in God's eyes. This is
the same promise God gave to us the day we made Jesus our Savior. After this encounter his name was then changed to Abraham
meaning a father who would have many children.
We talked about earlier where Peter's
name was changed from Simon Barjona to Peter and the significance of this change. The body of Christ needs through the word
of God and repetitious teaching finally come to understand the meaning stated in 1Cor. 5:17. "If any man is engrafted
in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, he is (a new creature altogether) a new creation: the old (previous moral and spiritual condition)
has passed away and behold the fresh and new has come. The body of Christ has stayed in an infant stage of understanding and
even though they are born again believers and have all of God's characteristics with in them, they have no spiritual understanding
how to function with their new name given to them by God.
The born again church
teach about giving, but never instruct the believer about receiving because, their need to keep the ship afloat and their
security of paying the bills and the people are looked on as trophies. This is not God's desire and priority of the people
sitting in the pews Sunday after Sunday. In these last days, God is preparing a army of believers who He can trust to present
a gospel of anointed power and all engulfing love to a sick and dying world. Church assembling is only a nursery of children
being guarded and nurtured by God called Pastors so the family can be trained and go out in the highways and byways of society
to do the works of Jesus Christ. Church was never meant to be an entity in it self as a play pen of constantly changing diapers
of the same people year after year after year.
The only way God's kingdom
can be built is on the firm solid foundation of righteous teaching of our position in Jesus Christ. This can only happen if;
the ones doing the teaching are strong in the word and they themselves understand that only God's grace and favor get's
the job done. If this is being done; the ones that are being built on this foundation; will be coming back to the assembly
and giving testimony of their works of faith in their arenas of life. What really is going on in most assemblies; the people
sitting under preaching and teaching are continually in a mode of learning and never coming to the truth of their righteous
position in Jesus Christ.
In Hebrews 6:1-3 the Apostle Paul tells us "we
need to go on and grow up and get passed the basic skill teachings and doctrines of Christ, the Messiah and advance steadily
towards the completeness and perfection that belongs to spiritual maturity. Let's not again be laying the foundation of
repentance and abandonment of dead works (dead formalism) and by the faith by which you turned to God. Of the doctrines of
baptism and of the laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment and punishment. These are
all matters of which you should have been fully aware of long ago. It is God's will that we now go on to advance teachings."
Let's define these basic doctrines that we need to leave behind and go on to maturity.
The first is the doctrines of baptism. John the Baptist; water baptized people because they realized that they were sinners,
However; when Jesus came on the scene; John emphasized that; his ministry was coming to an end and Jesus act of dying on the
cross and us accepting that fact and becoming born again; He would baptize us with His spirit. We still have some denominations
water baptizing infants under the guise that this has some spiritual significance of them getting into heaven. The next doctrine
is the purifying of the laying on of hands. This is an Old Testament doctrine where the Levi Priest offered up animal sacrifice
for the people's sins in the temple. They would with their hands put in a ritualistic sense the sin's of the people
on the animals and when the animal was sacrificed their sins were burnt up and forgiven by God.
When our righteous position in Christ does not take fore front in our teachings and we harp on our behavior
and the fact that we are still sinners saved by grace, this constantly reminds us of our fallen nature with out Christ. In
turn, this keeps the body of Christ focused on the negatives in our lives rather then explaining to them how their new nature
works in unison with the Holy Spirit. We were a sinner before we accepted Jesus into our hearts; and we have now become saints.
In 1Cor 15:56 Paul the Apostle tells us that, "the judgment of God states
that, death comes by sin; and the strength of sin comes by us, trying to obey the Ten Commandments." Now the grace of
God which is His (unmerited favor) saved us from that thinking therefore, our nature is now that of being a Saint not a sinner.
We have put the old man shame nature into the ground because; it died with Jesus Christ and we have been raised to a new life
the same as Jesus was raised from the died to a new life.
This whole concept
that I have stated from scripture can not stay as mere head knowledge by humanistic evaluation with our natural mind. It must
be spiritually revealed to us by the Spirit of God. Sinner mentality lives by trying to obey the Ten Commandments. Our new
created mentality lives by loving our neighbor as we love our self. This concept must be securely understood if; we want to
identify with power what walking in the Spirit is all about.
The next part of
these doctrines is the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment and punishment. A person who has been transformed and
now possess the Spirit of God with in him can never be judged to an eternal judgment and condemned to hell no matter what
happens in his life. Unless this foundation is permanently in place in the believer's heart and mind; you can not go on
to build any more revelation of truth with action in the believer that has any righteous substance.
When we allow God's Righteous Spirit to continually flow through our soul it produces a giving and loving
heart felt foundation of transparency in our entire being in all areas for God causes. Scripture tells us that, "We love
God because we have learned how to allow Him to love us." As we experience His love, a joy and exposure to His presence,
it begins to dominate our lives.
Love gives the reason to obey and gives us value
and worth. The hungering heart will seek with Passion the kingdom of God. The complacent heart will grow restless in his walk
with God.
When a person is complacent, they are self absorbed, suffering lack
and not able to seek their Godly purpose. This happens because, they are not true God seekers and their spiritual ears have
never recognized the still voice of the Holy Spirit talking to them during the day and night hours.
I am constantly amazed how much there is in enjoying God's fellowship daily and the unending revelation
of him showing me His way of thinking and keeping me focused on His face and purposes for my life. It is beyond me how a born
again Christian can live in such poverty in all areas of their lives. In my understanding and relationship with the Lord,
he has continually been delivering me from myself with out condemning me which has caused me to run to Him when I fall down.
Jesus said in John 12:32, "If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw
all men unto me" We know that our Christianity exists because Jesus rose from the dead and is alive today. There are
no other so called god's that people can worship; that rose from the dead and are alive today that they can have a running
dialogue with. The most grieves thing that can happen to a born again child of God is being saved many years; and never have
been truly discipled under mature leadership who know what our righteous position in God represents.
This causes
them to sit under a watered down weak gospel of what kingdom living represents. Born again people have been given at their
new birth all of God's characteristics and a righteous robe of awareness security and unless they are truly letting the
Holy Spirit show them their wealth and how to sow it; they will be living far below their position as God's children.
The bar of teaching must be put up higher so that we and the world can really see a God of total love. Even though people
are getting saved daily; my concern is what kind of family are they getting saved into.
In
I Peter 2:9. Peter describes what we are after salvation "We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a peculiar people; that we should show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light."
John the Apostle states in Revelations 1:5-6 "Jesus Christ is a faithful and trustworthy Witness
and the First person to be bought back from the dead and the Prince ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who ever loved
us and has once and for all loosed and freed us from our sins by His own blood and have made us kings and priests to His God
and father, to Him belongs power and majesty and the dominion." We must finally believe and know in our hearts, who we
really are in God's family. We will never know our true position as a being a king and priest if; we are being tutored
by leadership that keeps us as children on the milk of the word because of their novice position of leadership.
In Matthew 11:12 Jesus says, " From the day John the Baptist walked the earth, until this present
time the kingdom of heaven has endured violence and assault, and the violent men seize it by force ( as a precious prize).
A share in the heavenly kingdom is sought after with a most ardent zeal and intense exertion. For all the Law and the Prophets
prophesied up until John. Now if you are willing to receive and accept this, John who is Elijah functioned in their calling
before God's true kingdom had come. Those that have their true spiritual ears functioning let him perceive and understand
what I am saying."
Unless our true spiritual ears are open to hear what the
Holy Spirit is saying to His church; our labors are in vain. The real enemy to the born again church is simply our ignorance
because of our undisciplined life styles of not meditating on the word day and night and having a passionate hunger for Godly
priorities. I have found that if I allow God to search my heart and cry out for his wisdom with strong tears and crying with
unending requests for His presence and put demands on His promises from His word that, He is not like a man who lies.
You can not put demands on God if; you don't know what your promises are from Him and
recognize that He gives us the right to approach Him without worry of being rejected.
We
all have a need to prosper and have our needs and wants met because; God made us that way. When a person takes something by
force they have to lay siege to a thing. When one lays siege, it is like a military or police operation in which an army or
the police surround a place and cut off all outside access to force. If a born again believer is ignorant of the inheritance
that they already possess it's because; they have no intense study program of discipline in reading the word. Our strength
and empowerment is doubled and tripled by God's power as we practice the presence of God in our lives.
You will find that the Holy Spirit will lighten the load of life and there will come a trust and
surrendering to his leadings. It's like you begin to ride a wind or wave. Your priority becomes a search for peace and
joy with a thankful heart in all things. As His righteous spirit in us begins to take over our lives, it causes our focus
to be on His leadings not on our responsibility of having to do things to get Him to like us. We have the majority of born
again believers intensely in siege in warfare but totally deceived in who and what they are fighting. (In reality they are
fighting them self.)
It is us knowing our rights as kingdom people; that will
make us able to lay siege and fight the good fight of faith. The majority of the born again church is not fighting the good
fight of faith but; struggling and fighting a fight of trying to stay holy and trying to be good little doers in following
a vision of denominational teachings of what they think is the norm of Christianity. The people in the pews Sunday after Sunday
are to be commended for their endeavor and effort in trying to mature in knowing God and finding fulfillment.
However, as long as their endeavor in their lives is being motivated by obligation in any form, love
can never have its own way and their efforts are in vain. The true gospel is one thing and one thing only that being, experiencing
the love of God in ones life.
Sowing and investing into God's kingdom can
only increase and multiple as we experience God's love and total forgiveness. You can't buy God's love or loss
it by bad behavior. God doesn't need our money and He doesn't want us to be driven by paying tithes or offerings or
anything else. He wants us to enjoy our relationship with Him with out worry and fear of disappointing Him. Did you pay your
parents as a child to feed you and cloth you and take care of your booboos when you were little? Or did you just go your merry
way and smell the roses trusting in their care and love for you. "Thank you Lord for not putting conditions on me; to
experience your love for me."
It is as we learn and accept the fact that;
we have a choice with out judgment to say yes or no to the Lord that; we will better understand how loving He is. The judgment
and what we reap from unrighteous acts in our lives is like a child playing with matches. God never has any ill will for anybody.
The God who I follow is one who is a watchful loving Father who warns and instructs me daily and when I fall down not on purpose;
but because of my enthusiasm and some times getting a head of Him and trying to help him out. Scripture tells us that, "The
blessing of the Lord is indeed sweet and there is no toiling in it."
I would
suggest you ask God how much loving kindness verses how much obligation of being a good little doer is motivating your life.
Remember a joyful giver is one who is being motivated by the Holy Spirit for Godly purposes and is constantly looking for
opportunities in all areas and at all times to represent God as an Ambassador of planting over a large area in His kingdom
on the earth. The body of Christ must become independently dependent on their relationship with the Lord and their discretionary
discernment in the spirit world must become very clear and bold in recognizing the difference between man building his structures
and God building His church.
