When we talk about the world of the Spirit, scripture tells us that we have to discern things with the mind of Christ. We received His mind the day we became born again. In Luke 12:56 Jesus rebukes the crowd of people He was talking too when He said, “You people can use your own minds to intelligently discern and interpret when it is going to rain by looking at the sky. However, why is it that you have no discernment to understand your present condition with in your own hearts and recognize the sign of the times as I do?”

I have a profound scaring concern for the many Christians who have come across my path these past forty years and I am amazed of how little they have tasted God’s love and goodness. Recently my wife and I attended some church services for a few weeks and met some wonderful people who loved the Lord. Many had been saved some forty years or more. What grieved my wife and I was that, there was a religious spirit at work in this congregation because; there was no fresh discernment operating in the lives of these believers. There was a religious spirit in such control there that, the people were spiritually going through the motions of following denominational rules and did not see their bondage. When this condition exists, the people live on the milk of the word and stay as babies in their Christian growth.

In Hebrews 5:11-14 Paul the Apostle talks to people who are in this condition and says to them, “You have become dull of hearing and sluggish even slothful in achieving spiritual insight. By now, you ought to be teaching others. However, you still need some one to teach you over again the very first principles of God’s word. Because of your condition, you need to drink milk, because you’re not able to eat solid food. Every one who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness.

This meaning, you have not learned how to conform to God in His thoughts, purposes, and actions. You are mere infants and not able to talk yet. However, solid food is for full-grown men and women. These are maturing people who are having their senses and mental faculties exposed to the Holy Spirit and are being trained by practice to understand things that are not openly obvious between what is either good or evil.”

The gospel is being preached on every continent and thousands are coming to Christ, and we thank God for it. This gets people saved and they escape hell for eternity. Now that they are in God’s kingdom, we have to train them to function with the new nature that they have received. It is an absolute disgrace when we teach man made religious concepts to new babes in Christ and get them hooked on denomination teachings and converted into separate camps. When this is done in any form, it separates God’s kids from receiving His favor in their lives. When the body of Christ does this in any form, they sell God’s children into slavery and they stay co-dependent and never grow up.

John the Apostle in the book of Revelations in talking to the seven churches was explaining to them God’s opinion of the condition that they were in. He ends each discourse to these different churches by saying, “Those that have their spiritual ears open and are receiving Holy Spirit discernment, are the only ones who can pay heed to what the Holy Spirit is saying.” Scripture tells us that the truth is what sets us free to explore God’s grace and favor. How can we have ears to hear the truth if, our ears have become deaf because of doctrines of Devils being preached and taught in born again churches. When the body of Christ in any form tries to conform the people in their care to denominulation teaching, they sell God’s children into slavery and they stay as a co-dependent people who never grow up to be mature Christians.

2.) Though he falls, he shall not utterly be cast down for the Lord will uphold him with His hand. The word fall is naphal: meaning, to fall away, feel inferior, become a deserter and not receive your inheritance. The word cast down is tuwl: meaning, to pitch over and reel. The word uphold is camak: meaning, to stand fast and lean hard on and to take hold. The word hand is yad: meaning, we receive power by being given direction with an inner strength as we yield to this entity.

This scripture is so marvelous in explaining to us God’s tender mercies. With this definition, we will define this verse. “There will be times when, we will miss the mark and stumble in our endeavor to complete our race to maturity. When this happens, we go through a period when we do not hear God clearly and our inheritance is slow in coming. At these times, we will stagger in unbelief and become double minded. When this happens, we need to stand fast, run too and lean heavily on God’s mercy and He will give us the inner strength and make us know that He is holding on to us tightly.”

What really gives me righteous anger is when I hear from pulpits, God’s judgment with no mercy and patience for the growing pains of born again believers. Scripture tells us that the process of learning spiritual principles is first, us looking at our physical growth. Infants from birth have to be potty trained, learn how to eat and dress themselves etc. In our physical body, God made our bodies to store good food to strengthen and nurture us. The body then has a way of throwing off the waste material so it can function in health. Tell me which one of you reading this newsletter have arrived at complete maturity and do not understand that, when we die to self we are throwing off those things that could corrupt our souls. In the spiritual, this is done by us as we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. As born again children we are a work in progress.

Us accepting Jesus sacrifice at the cross, allows us to participate in this process and because we accepted His sacrifice, we can now throw off our old man and live in the life of the Spirit. This is only going to happen as we are hearing the Holy Spirit’s voice telling us daily, “turn here to the left and turn here to the right.”

Unless we get serious in our pursuit in seeking the Lord, we will continue to be controlled by religious concepts of what kingdom living is all about.

In our desire to be a part of God’s family, we can become controlled by denominational traditions, lose our freedom to discern things in the Spirit and sell out our birthright as Esau did for a bowl of pottage. This happens when we put our trust in the arm of the flesh for acceptance. When we have novices in the pulpits teaching their own ideas of kingdom living, scripture says, they are led away by their own pride of importance and are insolent. When this happens, we take away or add things to the scriptures that God never intended. When we talk about novices, we are not talking about physical age. This means, these people have a baby mentality as to their walk in the Lord. They can be ten years or more in the Lord.

Paul in his letter to the Colossians tells them, “Have your roots firmly planted in God and continually be built up in Him. See that no one carries you off as spoils or makes you a captive by his so-called philosophy, intellectualism and idle fancies and plain nonsense, following human traditions. These are man’s ideas and inaccurate opinions and do not follow the teachings of Christ. For only in Jesus Christ can we be whole full of the Godhead and only as we follow His example when He was in His bodily form that can give us an example and complete expression of God’s divine nature. We are in Him and are filled with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and this is the only way for us to reach full maturity.”

Paul goes on further in defining what these doctrines of men were in His continuing dialog in the book of Colossians. If you feel that you are living in some misinterpretation of scripture, read on in the book of Colossians and use the discerning spirit that God gave you. For now, we will go on in defining our main text.

3.) I have been young and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread. David speaks with authority herebecause, he has had many encounters with God over the years and had found that, God was faithful to His word. Now here is the main issue. Are we righteous and if so, what does this mean? If we have to qualify for God’s blessing, we had better know the meaning of this.

This word forsaken is azab: meaning, to be let loose and be left destitute. Have you ever found yourself going threw some trial that made you feel that you had done some awful thing or made some mistake and God had abandoned you? The word righteousness in the Greek is dikaiosune: meaning, justified= (blameless), innocent= (free from evil) and holy= (set apart as God’s own handy work.)

It is very difficult at times to realize that God looks at us as blameless, innocent and holy in His sight every day because, we have to deal with being tempted to look at our faults and failures as we walk with the Lord. We have to be reminded by God on an every day basis, of how much He cares for us. That is why we have to hunger and thirst after Him. We need to function and understand what it is to be righteous in His sight in our daily encounters. This constant reminding by Him of how highly He esteems us helps us to clearly understand and constantly reinforce our righteous position in Him.

As we experience righteousness, it acts as seasoning or a spice to our daily walk, just as spices in our food enhance and create flavor to our palates. Its makes us experience peace and joy in our walk with the Holy Spirit and in this way it is acceptable and pleasing to God. Unless we are skilled and have come to understand what righteousness is, we will continue to live as babies because we lack the skill of living in the righteousness mentality of Christ.

Jesus was betrayed and put to death because of our misdeeds (or sins) and was raised from the dead to secure our justification (or put us in right standing in God’s sight). This act by Him alone absolved us from all guilt before God.

Jesus did not save us because of any works of righteousness that we have done. God knew that man could not be trusted to help save himself. This was the basic reason why Adam and Eve put fig leaves on in the Garden of Eden. This was their way of justifying themselves after their eyes were open to reason in right and wrong concepts.

God never called us to judge ourselves. We inherited Adams fallen nature and this is unrighteous thinking and the curse that has continued on mankind ever since. It was God’s pity and mercy that made Jesus die on the cross for us and it was His preordained plan of uniting Himself to man without us doing anything to earn or deserve it.

This verse goes on to say, David never saw the righteous seed begging for bread. The word seed is zera: meaning, a season to sow seeds, like a farmer, or to scatter over wide areas and make something known. to yield, fructify or to conceive by receiving an inheritance. This concept of sowing and reaping is a subject in it self. The main characteristic of kingdom living is learning the principle of sowing and reaping. When God gave us His best love gift by giving up His Son to die for our sins, he also gave us freely all things pertaining to our inheritance from Him. It does not cost us a dime. Scripture tells as we have freely received, we should freely give to others.

One of the biggest golden calf idols being worshiped in the Christian community is the principle being taught of tithing.

This is where we are told from pulpits all over America that, we should not rob God of what we owe Him. Tithing is defined as us giving the first ten percent of our income into the Gospel, either in your local church assembly or where ever you are being fed the word of God. As I said this is a subject in itself. I will only use this as an example about sowing and reaping for now. In the next coming months I will have a newsletter on the principle of giving or sowing seed into the kingdom, so we can walk in God’s real prosperity.

You may be saying to me, “don’t you believe in giving to the Lord’s work?” My answer to you is, “there is a huge difference in being a tither verses being a good steward of our gifts, talents and the money that God gives us to supply our daily needs.”

What example are we teaching and giving to the people under our care as leaders in the body of Christ, when we tell them that we are only to give God ten percent of our substance. When we do this, we set people up to live in a self-centered life style and a ten percent commitment in their seeking after God. This is nothing but controlled obligated observances of measuring up.

In Luke 10: 25-28 Jesus was having a dialogue with the people. A lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test and asked Him, “What must I do to gain eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What does the law say and how do you understand it.” He said, “You must love the Lord your God withall your heart, all your soul all your mind.= do any less.

In Acts, 2:45 it tells us the attitude of the first born again believers. It says, “They sold their possessions (both landed property and their movable goods) and distributed the price among all, according as any had need.” These were people who were pretty well fixed and had more than enough to be able to share their over flow with the needy. It is not my intention to be mean and judgmental. Some of the church assemblies that are teaching tithing are an abomination in the sight of God. Tithing is an Old Testament principle.

Jesus came to fulfill the law not bring people into bondage to ritualistic teachings. When we allow God to build His church, He supplies the monies to get it done. If we are going to really live by faith, we must respond to the Holy Spirit and be givers because of our trust and openness by coming as children to our Heavenly Father to do His wishes. It is my prayer that these towers of Babel must come down and the people be scattered to find a healthy place of safety among healthy born again believers.

Some born again assemblies teaching tithing is nothing more than a way of running a business to raise money to pay salaries and pay the bills. If we do not have the money to support what we believe to be God building his house, God is not in it. God only blesses what He wills not what we will. Scripture tells us that, “Unless God builds His church, all of our endeavors will be labors in vain.”

Ritualistic religious endeavors in any form make our souls sicker and the prosperity that God intended for us, never takes place.

4.) God is ever merciful and is a giver and his seed is blessed. The word merciful is chanan; meaning, to bend in kindness to an inferior, is moved on to favor a person when being petitioned and to live in an encampment with them. The word giver is nathan: meaning, to give with many applications. The word seed is zera: as we have said, a season to sow seeds, like a farmer, or to scatter over wide areas and make something known and to yield, fertilize or to conceive by receiving an inheritance.

Putting this all together it reads, “God is moved upon when we come and ask Him to supply our needs and wants because, He has everything we need to become whole and steadfast in our commitment to Him. He is moved by His compassion and He wants to be a loving Father giving us every thing He has. He also wants to live through us and set up residence with in us because we are His people. ”

We have been taught that God has no needs and that, He has everything. From a sovereign standpoint or Him being the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords this is true. However, because of who He is and the nature that makes Him, who He is,

He has a one focused appetite and desire and if we say we want to please Him and we say He is first in our lives then, we have to co-operate with Him and allow Him to bless us in spite of ourselves.

It is the shame based nature that we were born with and nothing more then self hate in comparison of us knowing that we are the apple of God’s eye, which causes us to stay immature and unanchored in His total love for us. As we learn from Him and are maturing and getting to know Him better, we learn to put others first as He does and die to our own appetites. We learn that it pleases us as it pleases Him to, have the opportunity to sow a seed whether it be of finances or labors of helps or service into other peoples lives. You cannot be demanded by a rule of tithing and expect to co-operate with God in acquiring this characteristic, which is God’s own heart.

The reason for sowing is to have a heart like God. Even though we prosper in giving, it is not a law. It is an opportunity to function in Gods righteous Spirit and please God and ourselves.

In Hebrews 8:10-12 it tells us, “God wants to put His laws into our minds and write them in our hearts. It will no more be necessary for people to tell their neighbor or their brethren to get acquainted with the Lord because, all will know Him from the smallest to the greatest. For God will be merciful towards our sins and will remember our deeds of unrighteousness no more.”

We are talking here about a relationship of all knowing God on a personal, intimate relationship. Jesus tells us that, “His sheep will know His voice and want to follow Him.” When the Spirit of God lives in us and we learn to recognize the Holy Spirits voice, we will be drawn to the Lord like magnets.

We are constantly being bombarded daily in the world with concepts that go against God’s word. The Devil is constantly at work trying to steal God’s word out of our hearts and minds so it will not take root. This situation is compounded when we are sitting under ministries, preaching man made concepts of what righteousness means. We end up being as sheep led to the slaughterhouse.

Church settings should be like a hospital set on a hill, where people can come to be healed, be set free to mature and go on to do the works of Jesus on the earth.

God in His total love for us is in hot pursuit to give us every good thing that He possesses. His whole nature is too continually sow good seed into us so; we can grow strong and lack no good thing.

The perfect example we can live by is found in Hebrews 5:7-8 it states, “Jesus in the days when He lived on this planet, would offer up definite petitions for not only the things He needed but also for the things that He wanted. He did this with strong tears and crying. God always heard Him because of the reverential fear He had for Him and the fact that, He shrank from anything that might have offended God. Although He was a son, He learned how to have an active obedient life, because of the passion He had to follow God.” The key here is, having an insatiable hunger after God’s presence. Where there is no passion, there is no hunger, strong tears and crying, seeking God’s presence.  Continued in part two.