In 11Cor. 10:3-7 Paul tells us, "For though we live in the world (or our own fleshly thinking),
we do not wage war as the world (our flesh) does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world (our natural
conclusions.) Totally contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we
will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. Look at this obvious fact that is before
your eyes. If any one is confident that he is in Christ, let him reflect and remind him self that we are also in Christ."
God's love ministers to the intents of our heart with love and forgiving acceptance
and does not condemn our out ward behavior. That's because; our outward behavior is founded on what the intents of our
heart dictates to us and if we are not walking in God forgiving love and grace; it will show up in our attitudes and actions.
The inner man of the heart is where the Holy Ghost wants to sit in supreme authority and direct our wisdom thoughts from God
to the heart of our soul.
Obedience to God is only obedience when; we walk with
a forgiving attitude as God does. Our obedience to God is a COMPLETED WORK as far as God is concerned. We must see our self
as God does and know as I have said that; our righteousness in Christ is God looking at us as blameless, free from evil and
set apart as God's child from the world we live in. Only then will we have the boldness to walk in heavenly places as
humble people because; we have matured to the point of knowing that; it was what Jesus made us into at the cross. When we
died with Him and rose again from the dead and became a finished work; it made us acceptable to becoming a child of God and
not through any kind of good works that we can do or any we have ever done. Our Christian walk is not us seeking a destination
called heaven but a daily progression of an intimate friendly relationship with God which transforms us into His image in
our mind and total being.
The majority of the born again church does not have
the knowledge and Godly wisdom from scripture of what happened to their nature when they rose from the dead and became a new
creation in Christ Jesus. They have a mentality of still wearing grave clothes rather then their white robe of righteousness
that God put on them. Because of this distortion of the truth of the scriptures that has been taught; it has been eroding
the meaning of God's word over these hundreds of years in the minds of people and has kept them a slave to their carnal
nature of forever learning and never coming to the truth of their pure state in God's eyes.
In turn; it has caused the fleshly carnal thinking of mankind to be reinforced to working harder at becoming
more perfect to get God's approval. God's love doesn't have to be earned; it is freely given at no cost of our
own. Unless the Holy Ghost gives you the confirmation of what I have said; you will find no liberty as God intended in trying
to follow any other doctrine or device conceived by mankind in his own understanding.
A
person can not take a negative or ungodly thought captive and reject it in their mind if; they do not know and believe their
righteous position in God's sight and have a standard that can be lifted up in their mind to fight against these obligated
thoughts. When the devil comes to condemn you in any way; God's righteous standard with power comes in like a flood of
accepted love and favor and cleanses your thinking to stay forgiving of your self. We must all recognize that: there are faults
which are weaknesses that are normal growing pains as we are maturing to adult hood in Christ Jesus as I have just stated
from scripture. You have no power to stay free when you don't understand the weapons you have and how to use them against
the onslaught of the enemy who is trying very hard to keep us poor and naked in a world of demonic influences which is totally
focused to destroy the creations of God; who is a jealous lover of our soul.
I
pray you are hearing me. If it seems to you that this is some thing you do not understand; spend some time with a humble heart
and a bowed knee in asking God for a clarification of what you are reading.
There
is no question from scripture that; we as Christians have to fight a warfare of the flesh being mesmerized with worldly thinking
and stay God faced focused in complete transparency before the God of glory by participating in His forgiving grace at work
in us and who made us to prosper as our soul prospers.
Paul defines this warfare
when he tells Timothy who he was raising in the admonition in the Lord and says this in 1 Tim 6:10-15 "For the love of
money is a root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have been led astray and have wandered from the faith and
pierced themselves through with many acute [mental] pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee from all these things; aim at
and pursue your righteousness (right standing with God and true goodness), godliness which is the loving fear of God and being
Christ like faith, love, patience, and gentleness of heart.
Fight the good fight
of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and what you are confessing as being your faith before
many witnesses in the presence of God, Who preserves alive all living things, and of Christ Jesus, Who in His testimony before
Pontius Pilate made the good confession.
I [solemnly] charge you to keep all
His precepts unsullied and flawless, irreproachable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), which
[appearing] will be shown forth in His own proper time by the blessed, only Sovereign (Ruler), the King of kings and the Lord
of lords."
We have here 6 verses of scripture and sometimes I wonder how
many born again believers have the inclination with tenacity and God like fervency to take the time to drink in God's
word which is an elixir to our soul. Let me first say that unless God's forgiving spirit of grace is the motivating force
in our life; there will be no way for us to see our self and others as unsullied, flawless and irreproachable.
Let's define with a little more clarity the meaning of the message that; Paul was trying to communicate
to Timothy. This teaching by Paul is only one example I could have used as the bible is full of the same message from all
the Apostles that being; know and walk in your righteousness in Christ and don't be led astray by any of these demonic
teaching influences through men of ignorance or those that deliberately oppose the gospel of Christ Jesus. I believe this
is the last round up before Jesus return and we must stay vigilant on God's course of thinking and actions.
The first statement Paul makes is; the love of money
is the root of all evil. And it is through this craving that some have which has led them astray and have wandered from the
faith and pierced themselves through with many acute [mental] pangs." We have many pulpits preaching today that those
who want to have money so they can live the high life are evil. And on the other side we have those who preach nothing but
the prosperity message for selfish gain with selfish motives.
The Greek definition
of love in this context means; a person has their first love being a strong desire or covetous spirit of seeking for security
in the monetary system of this worlds thinking. Being loving and understanding of this dilemma; we can sympathize with this
deception which is a demonic bondage to our liberty of trusting in the Lord with all our heart and us recognizing that; we
should not lean towards our own understanding but to acknowledging Him as our Papa God who knows our needs and will supply
them only in accordance to our forgiving loving Spirit that is supposed to direct our steps to find security in non other
then Christ Jesus and His forgiving Spirit that was demonstrated at the cross.
That
being "greater love has no man then this that he lay down His life for His friends." While we were all born as God's
enemies with a cursed sinful nature; Jesus the Christ stepped out of His security in the heavenly realm and became human to
feel man's separation from God the Father and gave His life for man so he could be restored to a place of dominion and
rest at God's side as His child.
If that makes no sense to our natural mind
that is the way it should be and because this idea is so alien to God's spirit of love and forgiveness; we can have a
sure witness from with in of being able to identify the difference between living and knowing God's grace and forgiveness
verses the condemnation spirit of the devil trying to make the born again believer ashamed of their commitment they made the
day they became born again through God's Spirit.
Paul goes on the say; "they
have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many acute [mental] pangs with many sorrows"
When a person wanders from the faith or errs and puts their allegiance in any thing other then God's
forgiving grace; it is described in the Greek as a child giving up his loyalty to parents and family. Our spiritual Father
God is our parent and the family is our brothers and sisters in Christ. This makes us understand why we have what the bible
describes as schisms or different denominations and different beliefs in the body of Christ. The family of God is united in
the spirit of Christ but not united as to being single minded in Christ's righteous Spirit and living by God's unmerited
favor.
The Greek word for pierced is periokos: meaning; people who are pierced
have as their number one priority in their thinking housed around their daily needs and they are living in the fear of constant
loss because; they have no sure conviction of God's unmerited favor and rather then having God as a friendly neighbor
that will give them a cup of sugar or a cup of coffee when needed; they are constantly plagued with negative thoughts of loss
and abandonment due to them not truly knowing that their name as God's child is tattooed on the palm of God's hand
and He can never forsake what he has restored by sending His best love gift to earth in Christ Jesus to save mankind. Can
any of you reading this contact me and give me a amen on what you are reading. I sure would appreciate it.
Paul goes on to say; " But as for you, O man of God, flee from all these things; aim at and
pursue your righteousness which is right standing with God and true godliness which is the loving fear of God and being Christ
like faith, love, patience, and gentleness of heart.
You notice that Paul said
"being Christ like faith" rather then us being taught in pulpits for years that; we need to have faith in Christ.
To confirm what he said here he also said this to the Galatians in Gal, 2:20-21 who were born again people who had been led
astray in making God into their own image. " I have been crucified with Christ never the less I live; yet not I, but
Christ who lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh; I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and
gave him self for me. Knowing this; I do not frustrate the grace of God ( which is His unearned favor:) for if my righteous
standing came by me working at obeying laws through obligated works, then Christ died in vain." Only by God's working
miraculous power can this statement be understood and become a reality in a born again child of God.
Anything other then having the faith of Christ in operation in our life will never bring love, patience and
us having a gentle heart because; the spirit of strife in all its many forms brings with it an opening for the devil to bring
every evil work of his to bear in our life and the peace of God which passes our own understanding cannot guard our mind and
heart in the arena of our fighting between good and evil.
He goes on to say;
" Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and what you are confessing
as being your faith before many witnesses in the presence of God.
Do you truly
know what kind of conflicts are going on in your life and are you living at all times in the light of God's counsel and
do you know what it is to hold on to eternal life that now forever lives in you? Confessing what you are in Christ Jesus is
like God in the beginning say; "let there be light" and light happened. We need to call things as God does which
takes commitment of a person dying to self centered goals and this takes discipline and the courage to suffer at times for
Jesus sake.
If we are going to truly be God's Ambassadors to the world; we
will have a daily testimony of the goodness of God coming out of our mouth every day in the arena of our life with wisdom
from above to people we meet; who are burdened down and weary of the cares of life. If a born again child of God is not clear
in their heart and soul of the power they possess to do the works of Jesus over again; it is because they are not sure of
their position in Christ Jesus and there is a spirit of shame and lack of forgiving grace for them self and indirectly through
their ignorance they are ashamed of the gospel of Christ Jesus. A Kings kid who knows he has inherited his Father's business
and the wealth that goes with it; will walk in his anointed inheritance and pursue a vision of Godly purpose focused alone
on their destiny ordained by their Father who is now their Spiritual parent. Cont. p. 3
