Gary Preble
Senior Member
Joined: 05/14/2012
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 72
|
|
Posted: 12/17/2016 at 1:44pm
|
IP Logged
|
|
|
The High Cost Of Maintaining Your Identity
(TRUE PROSPERITY IS BIRTHED IN OUR DEATH)
Submitted by Clay Sikes
A Call To Discipleship
The Word of Faith movement has done a great job of teaching us of our
entitlements in Christ, but conversely done little to explain the true cost
of discipleship. A 'sold out' man or woman of God is a 'surrendered'
saint; one who is not living for his glory, but rather for the glory of the
one who sent him. His purpose in God in not a focus on entitlements,
but rather a focus on his assigned purpose in the earth - his destiny in
God! A man of true destiny will seek to 'Be' rather than a man who
seeks to 'Do.' In 'being' who God has called you to be you will always
'do' what God called you to do because the greater always includes the
lesser. The Word of Faith message has centered us upon "who we are
in Christ," contrasted with 'The Surrender' message which is knowing
'who he is in us.' Contrary to popular Church opinion God is not about
improving us, He is about removing us. God is indeed looking for a few
dead men!
Let us awaken to the fact that our journey here on earth is not about us,
but rather to glorify the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the creator of
heaven and earth; and in so doing, we, those of us who are willing to
sell out completely, will walk in every entitlement the Lord can give
(Matthew 6:33). We must look unto the "narrow way," the way traveled
by the few, not the "wide path" traveled by the multitudes. The way of
true surrender and death to self will separate the few from the many,
because "manyare called, yet few are chosen."
Let us fall in love with our God; let us be willing to die for the one who
died for us, for our surrender, our death will produce His life through us
and glorify God in the earth.
In every circumstance of life we are faced with decisions, which
ultimately determine the outcome of those circumstances. While God
has ministered much to us about death to self during the last ten years,
only recently have we begun to understand the extraordinary life that is
produced in our death and complete surrender to God (John 12:24).
What I submit to you here is that there is a decision we can make in
almost every situation we face, especially critical ones, that will
automatically bring God on the scene and into our specific situations.
While there are many biblical examples of identity surrender, none is
greater than Jesus who completely surrendered his identity for God's
ultimate purpose on earth (Philippians 2:5-8). To willingly surrender our
identity in the circumstances of life has but a single requirement - our
death. Our death produces His life, the abundant life that Jesus speaks
of in John 10:10. Will this death to self come easily? No! Will we be
tested repeatedly and often unexpectedly in our commitment to walk
this way? Absolutely!
Understanding The Words "All Things"
As you read this chapter it is important to remember that God orders
the steps of righteous men and God ordered steps have God ordered
goals. It is important to remember that 'all things' in our life work
together for our good if we are called for His purpose (Romans 8:28).
This chapter brings focus to the fact that our trials, persecutions,
failures, and difficulties are part of God's design to release His glory
through our life (Acts 14:22). Our mistakes and failures are often the
catalyst to great successes. It is also important to remember that what
the devil means for harm, God will use for our good. Our all-knowing
God is in 'all things;' He is the God of the Universe, the ultimate
Commander-in-Chief. All things are of Him, through Him, and to Him for
His glory (Romans 11:36). It is particularly important to embrace the
fact that this scripture does not say 'some things;' it says "all things" are
of God. It challenges our religious minds to accept that God is the God
of "all things." Begin to recognize the interrelationship and connectivity
between the words "all things" in Romans 8:28 and "all things" in
Romans 11:36 - "All things" are of God and working together for our
good if we are called for His purposes. It is extremely important to
recognize that God will use even that which appears destructive in our
life, to be turned around for a greater and higher purpose.
If we accept the fact that we are known by God and predestined to fulfill
His purpose upon the earth (Romans 8:28-39), coupled with the fact
that our steps are ordered with a God ordered goal in mind, then can
we begin to see God in ALL THINGS in our lives; and subsequently
become less willing to judge good and evil based on 'outward
appearances' (Isaiah 11:3/I Corinthians 10:7/Romans 8:15). 'Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is
written: "For your sake we face danger all day long; we are considered
as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in ALL THINGS we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us' (Romans 8:35-37). Again we
see those important words "All Things." We are promised victory over
'all things' that we will ever face in this life. Seeing God in 'all things'
means that God has a message, he has specific instruction, He has
revelation, He has a plan in 'all things' and by seeing (seeking) Him in
'all things,' He reveals His purpose (Romans 8:28). Oh boy! This was
tuff on my theology!
The purpose of this chapter is to extricate us from the curse of living
from the fruit of the Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil. Let me
say in advance that the challenge of this teaching will be to see God in
'all things,' equaled by the difficult task of not judging "good and evil"
from the mind of the flesh (John 8:15). As mentioned, there is a
righteous judgment that God allows, but only in the event that we are
led of the Holy Spirit in that judgment (John 5:30). We will talk more
about this later in the Chapter.
This message has changed my life in dramatic ways; initially I did not
accept it, yet it drew me into its truth from one phrase in an Arthur Burt
tape written on a desk calendar in early 1998: the phrase was, "You
must lose your identity to gain God's." As I pondered this quote for
almost three years I finally felt convicted to search it out and find its
relevance in my life. "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to
search out a matter is the glory of kings" (Proverbs 25:2).
As children we were trained to think rationally, evaluate mentally and
take an action accordingly, and always to make decisions from the
arena of logic and reason. As adults the indoctrination continues as our
education process teaches us to draw all conclusions from the mental
realm. As our mind develops so too do our built-in defense
mechanisms. In most instances our natural inclination in this process is
to protect our turf, stand up for our rights, take a position and gain an
IDENTITY. Turf can simply be our traditions, our point of view, our way
of doing things, the way we project ourselves to others, what we stand
for, what we own or what we think we own. Turf is territory - that which
we deem as ours; that which requires us to have a self appointed
identity! If you have turf to protect, you also have an identity to protect.
Self-given, self-appointed identities are deeply rooted in pride; and that
which is born of pride will surely fall in a man or woman of God who has
a God-appointed destiny. We spend years building our identity as we
enlarge our turf.
Turf! - Secretaries fight over it, gangs kill over it, bureaucracies' battle
over it, countries war over it, individuals guard it, and even pastors
protect their turf. . . and yes we, you and I, also naturally protect our
turf. This protection has one specific mandate; maintain your identity -
the specifics of who you are and what you stand for. Identity, the image
we present, is our seemingly strongest protection against turf invasion.
We also call this phenomenon territorialism, keeping up with the Jones,
maintaining an image, keeping up a front, all of which require often-
unreasonable ideals such as standing your ground, fighting to maintain
your point, an eye for an eye, and doing whatever is necessary no
matter the cost. My first bold statement in this teaching is, "When we
struggle to maintain any identity other than our God appointed identity,
we are really struggling with God!"
If you are presently experiencing a loss of turf, take heart, you are
probably in the center of God's will. There is a dissolution process now
taking place with many Christians, which for the most part has been
grossly misunderstood. Since the bulk of our present day Church
doctrine is built around "getting my stuff," any reflection of decrease or
diminishment in one's life is left without explanation. Wrong doctrine will
shipwreck your life when chaos ensues: Said differently, enough fire will
separate false doctrine from truth! For those who are experiencing
these trials, be encouraged, God must empty us of ourselves before He
can truly replace us with Him, and in many cases, He must empty us of
our things in order to replace them with His things. God won't always
give us what we want, but He will always give us what we need, and
yes we, you and I, sometime need losses to find (His) gains.
Some will not experience the surrendered life until they have reached
the end of their natural lives and some will not experience it at all; but
for those who have ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying, be
aware, God is doing something mighty in your life, but you must know it
and embrace it for the fruit to come forth from it. God is not the God of
decrease, He is the God of increase; but often He must dismantle us
and our doctrines in order to rebuild us much like Joseph, Moses,
Abraham, and Paul.
God is doing something in this hour and it involves a true identity crisis
- the clashing of wills; God's will versus man's will. Whenever we seek
to maintain our identity in a given situation, we are a direct threat to
God's glory." The glory of God cannot appear in places in which men
get glory by enforcing their strong identity or need to be recognized. To
walk conformed to the image of God demands that I lose my image. It
is not our natural tendency to shrink back and not defend, to the
contrary, we want to be heard, to be seen, to make a name for
ourselves, to be thought well of, to protect our rights, to insure that our
needs are taken care of, that our point of view dominates, yet God is
saying something important to us in this hour; "SURRENDER YOURS
AND GAIN MINE!" Some have suffered devastating events in life;
events that have destroyed pride, taken identities - all seemingly
horrible situations. Again, rejoice! Your life is about to be used for his
glory.
The circumstances in life that call for the greatest levels of 'MY
IDENTITY' are precisely the areas in which God's glory is cut off. It is
far better to have an identity in heaven than to have one on earth.
Identity in Heaven is not only futuristically eternal, but in the present as
well, because heaven identifies with acts of selflessness (Psalm
14:2/Psalm 85:11-13). When we live to glorify God in the earth we
produce light that can be seen by heaven.
Trials often come by fire; and fire deals with the 'what' and reveals the
naked 'why.' As has often been said, Circumstances do not make the
man; they simply reveal him to himself. Often in life we have sought to
maintain our self appointed identity in given situations. It has been our
understanding and orientation to life to always protect our turf. Perhaps
like you, I have faced many of life's situations in which I have thrust my
identity into the middle of a crisis; and, inevitably the results were not
good. Yet, what I now see is that as I continue to escape the burning
need to have an identity, or even to defend myself, I am seeing the
glory of God in unprecedented ways. No flesh can glory in His
presence. God shames the wise with the foolish, and the mighty with
the weak, so that no flesh will glory in His presence (I Corinthians 1:27-
29).
The events of life in which I must maintain a strong 'identity' are
precisely the areas in which God cannot be glorified in, AND
REVEALINGLY, the precise areas of my greatest pride. Remember,
God ordered steps have a God ordered goal and often His God ordered
goal is to reveal areas (in me) that need to be put to death, areas of
pride, areas of ego, areas of self appointed identity. God will use
circumstance upon circumstance to expose pride in our hearts - our
judgments, insecurities, and selfish motives. Circumstances in life that
call for our strong identity are often no more than God ordered events
that test the true nature of our character. Recognizing the test, as such
is important, but of even greater importance is what we do when our
character flaws are revealed. Do we ignore them or do we embrace
them?
I must lose my identity (my pride) for the glory to appear. Is this easy?
Is this natural to man? Absolutely not! Can I accomplish this on my
own? Absolutely not! In order for me to decrease, I must humble myself
before God for His grace to enable me (James 4:6), otherwise I fail
miserably because God resist the proud. The only way this surrendered
life can remain alive in us on a continual basis is to stay bowed and
humble before the Lord, to acknowledge our weakness and inability,
and to come as a little child for the Father's help. John-the-Baptist said,
"I must decrease that He might increase." "Whosoever shall seek to
save his life shall lose it; and whoso ever shall lose his life shall
preserve it" (Luke17:33). "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
deathof his saints"(Psalm 116:15). When we chose to die to ourselves,
we become "precious" in God's eyes, a grace comes, and with that
grace a peace that passes understanding.
When we empty ourselves of self, it opens the void to be filled with
God: This is the point in which we commit to only do what God puts in
our hearts to do, and only say what God puts in our hearts to say - this
is the life of those who live from The Tree Of Life, this is the life of the
second Adam (John 5:30) "Of my own self, I can do nothing. . . ". Those
that are led by the Spirit of God are the true sons of God; they know the
Lord as "Abba Father," they trust Him implicitly and come to Him as
little children (Romans 8:14,15). We all need a true identity crisis; one
in which we come to recognize that maintaining our strong identity in
any circumstance circumvents the power, authority, and glory of God in
that circumstance.
TRUE FREEDOM IN GOD OCCURS WHEN WE GET FREE OF
OURSELVES, when we for the first time recognize that our death
produces His life. "Except and corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abides alone, but if it die it brings forth much fruit" - Death
produces fruit (John 12:24). The key is to recognize that our surrender
(death) produces His abundant life (fruit) in us (John 10:10). "Whoever
finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses is life for my sake will find it"
(Matthew 10:39).
When we WILLINGLY SURRENDER our image (identity), the image of
God appears in us. When we surrender our rights in a situation and
accept our spiritual responsibility not to judge it or people that may be
involved, a spontaneous miracle occurs: God is now in our midst, and
His presence releases His power and glory. His power and glory
destroys all yokes and bondages of the enemy and releases His
blessing - "The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and he addeth no
sorrow to it." When we refuse to eat from wrong tree, which we do
when we refuse to judge, we automatically entitle ourselves to partake
of the right tree - The Tree Of Life. The fruit of this tree is grace to hear
the Father, to receive His anointing, His enabling, and His favor.
Is it not the purpose of God that we should be conformed to His image?
"Let us make man in OUR IMAGE; after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26).
Get a revelation of the fact that God made us in His image, but in order
for that to be, WE MUST LOSE OUR IMAGE. We have a call on our
lives to be conformed to the image of the Son, but such a call demands
that I lose my image. "Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven
images." We all have an image of ourselves that we have created from
the vanity of our own minds, in the blindness of our own pride. If I am
going to conform to the image of the Son, I must lose the image I have
created for myself - I'm cute, I'm beautiful, I'm smart, I'm a good
businessman, I'm an educated man, I'm a good preacher, I'm a sharp
dresser, I'm a wonderful parent. These things, in and of themselves, are
not wrong UNLESS we let our image of them replace the image God
desires for us - true humility is the governing factor, our true
brokenness and submission to the Father.
Before leaving this subject, I think it important to relate to the images
and ideas we impart to our children, which often and unwittingly come
from the influence of the world. As parents, we have a distinct
responsibility to rear our children in the image of God, not the image of
the world. When we place images within our children, even in their
adult lives, that are distinctly NOT from God, what level of fire must
come one day to correct what we as parents have created for our own
sons and daughters. Our pride, as parents, is our number one enemy
as it relates to our children, because children will not always do what
you say but they will always do what you do. A phenomenon of
leadership, and specifically our leadership as parents, is that we will
always produce fruit that looks like us. It may manifest in a different
form, but it will manifest! "Be not deceived for God is not mocked,
whatsoever a man sows, so shall he reap." Three key words can spare
our children much pain; "Be not deceived. . . " If we sow pride, if we
sow anger, if we sow manipulation, if we sow arrogance, if we sow
high-mindedness. . . whatever we sow, we will be sure to reap.
The Church Has Reached The Prophetic Hour Of Restoration
Amos 9:11-15
"In that day I will restore David's fallen tent. I will repair its broken
places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, so that they may
possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,"
declares the Lord, who will do these things. "The days are coming,"
declares the Lord, "when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman
and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the
mountains and flow from all the hills. I will bring back my exiled people
Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant
vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their
fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from
the land I have given them," says the Lord your God."
God is the God of RESTORATION and God's restoration is exponential:
RESTORATION is a result of God's power and glory appearing. What is
being seen in this environment is that our death produces life in many
areas other than the single circumstance in which our death was
required - Our willingness to die, to remain without an identity in given
situations releases a supernatural power that brings restoration in many
different facets of our lives.
We are in the hour of RESTORATION; an hour in which God is building
His life, blessing, and glory into the earth through His people. As has
often been said, "sometimes the best way up is down" and
RESTORATION is coming to those who are willing to die to
themselves, to lose their identity, to lose their image IN ORDER that the
glory and image of God can appear. Again, our death (rest) in a single
situation can and will release the restorative power of God in multiple
areas of our lives. All restoration is preceded by rest, and true rest is
the place where we have quit grumbling and complaining, where we
rest content in the Lord no matter the circumstances of life! "Godliness
with contentment is great gain."
As restoration comes to the Church so too will a great separation
between the carnal and spiritual seed. Just as Ishmael taunted and
ridiculed Isaac, so too will the carnal antagonize the spiritual - Think it
not a strange thing! We are approaching a time in which Ishmael
cannot live in the same house with Isaac - this spiritual phenomenon
has global as well as local and personal implications as God continues
to separate the carnal from the spiritual within us.
Glory: God Gives It And God Demands It
John 17:21-22. . . "Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May
they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as
we are one: I in them and you in me."
The glory that God gives men is from the Greek word Doxa, which
means the presence of God, the blessing of God. Yes, there is a glory
that God freely gives His people. The glory that God reserves for
Himself is from the word Kabhod, which literally means the glory that
God demands for Himself (Isaiah 42:8). God will share the Doxa as
long as He gets the Kabhod. An example that most of us can relate to
is the doxa that comes or doesn't come into our Sunday worship
services. No place is doxa moreevidently determined than in Church
pulpits and praise and worship services. In those places of worship in
which worship leaders and ministers seek their own glory the true
presence of God cannot be found; chill bumps and entertaining
emotionalism yes, but no real evidence of God's Spirit and Power. The
best of our flesh is our worst enemy. However, in those places in which
man's only desire is to worship and glorify God, His presence is
strongly felt and observed, and His power released.
Will It Work At Work?
Monday's work is just as much a proving ground as Sunday's service -
God is still looking to be glorified. If we are working as unto ourselves,
then our dependence will totally be upon what we can do and what we
can produce; however, if our work is specifically appointed by God and
done as unto the Lord and for His glory, He will show up as will His
power, glory, presence, and provision. Since my ministry is in the
business field, let me address some parallel points from a Christian
spiritual perspective. These principles have application in any God
appointed Christian endeavor. When we are (God's) purpose minded,
we will not have to chase money - this is a major Kingdom principle.
God pays for what He orders.
First and foremost God is in the people business, not the money
business. As such, every business transaction must be approached
with a priority on people, not money. As we seek God about the people
involved, often He will assign a role that we are to play in the lives of
those we are involved with. As we now stand in the gap for the people
as the Lord leads, we are simultaneously enacting our faith because
"faith works by love and faith comes by hearing." When the love of God
is operating in us for the people, our ability to hear is magnified. "Faith
comes by hearing;" now, the priority of God and the will of God are all
working together and WE WILL HEAR GOD with specific direction.
Why? Because faith works by love and faith comes by hearing
(Hebrews 11:1); faith comes by having heard God and no other way.
How can one have faith for what he hasn't heard? God will speak
directionally when our business priorities are aligned with His priorities,
which is His love for His people SAVED AND UNSAVED ALIKE.
Business done for the glory (kabhod) of God will produce the glory
(doxa) of God in the lives of those being directed by God.
Ministry that is done to the glory of men will not share in God's glory
(Doxa). Let us examine a single popular teaching in the Church today:
Real Kabhod and Doxa are nowhere to be found with many who teach,
preach and participate in what the Church world calls "the prosperity
message." Man is getting all the glory man can achieve for himself
through this diabolical system; a system similar to what we see in
corporate America - bigger buildings, larger and faster planes, bigger
houses, bigger salaries and bank accounts, while the people gasp for
financial life! This one-sided man induced doctrine will soon be
exposed for what it is - FRAUD IN THE NAME OF GOD! God will not
share His glory with men who seek their own.
The very essence of the prosperity message is selfishness and self-
centeredness - it is all about 'me' and what 'I' want and leaves little
room for God. When we desire 'things' more than God, we are creating
our own form of idolatry. Promises like "give to my good ground ministry
and get all of your needs met" saturate Christian television and radio. It
artfully uses scripture to base its message, but if the message is truly
understood one can see that it leaves little room for the glory of God.
As previously mentioned, in the hours following my monumental
financial failure I cried out to God "Why?" He would only answer "my
mercy!" What I now realize these years later is that the motive in my
giving was not to the glory of God, it was to my glory - this is the fruit of
a man inspired World System, man glorifying man; and indeed men are
glorified but as with all systems of men, ONLY ONE SIDE TRULY WINS
WHILE THE OTHER SUFFERS.
Recent history has revealed a plague of employee retirement accounts
being wiped out in some of America's largest and supposedly
successful corporations, yet CEO's and former CEO's have socked
away millions in stock sales with little to no regard for the people that
once were the backbone of their empire. As sad as this may seem, the
prosperity message runs a similar path inspired by greed and self-glory
while packaged as 'the work of God.' The Bride has been raped, and to
some extent prostituted by men who have taught us to serve God for
the money he will provide.
Only when we are living our God's appointed destiny and true God
appointed purpose can we bring glory to God. Anything less is the glory
of man brought on by the efforts of man. When we yield to and strive for
the glory we can achieve for ourselves, we are only seeing the best of
our flesh. When we forgo our best and only move by the Spirit, we
begin to see the emerging life of God that ultimately brings glory to
God. In only doing the things that God appoints can we produce Kabod;
and almost simultaneously God provides the Doxa.
The Best Of Our Flesh Is The Worst Of It
This new life demands surrender; complete and total surrender to never
again go back to trusting the flesh. Arthur Burt whose heavy impression
on me influences this teaching states, "The best of your flesh is the
worst of it: the best YOU CAN DO is an enemy to God." THE SUBTLY
OF THE THINGS YOU DO WELL ARE THE VERY THINGS YOU
MUST BE CAREFUL OF. It is not our raging flesh, our bitter
disagreements, fights and quarrels, or lusty behavior that we put any
trust in - we know flesh when we see it! Or do we? The best of our flesh
is the worst of it, not the worst of our flesh, but the best of it! The 'good
things' we do naturally is the enemy of the best, and the best is God,
and the enemy of God is 'our good' - our ability to preach, our good
deeds, our musical talent, our wonderful compassion, our natural
abilities, our good heart, our great education or professional skills.
There is nothing good in us except God: Our righteousness is as filthy
rags. Our good, if not led by God's Spirit, is dangerous because it is the
birthplace of pride. The same pride that puffs up the raucous rock
singer, though packaged differently, also stirs in and among us as we
pride ourselves in our ability to preach and teach - the proud look, the
strutting and theatrics are eerily similar. How subtle is our pride, the
enemy of God, to park itself in God's own house.
Pride evolves when our good works replace God's appointed task. We
are given to pride when we do good things on our own: what real
danger evolves when self-righteous pride arises - "We have just built a
gorgeous new sanctuary, our sound system is state of the art, our
preaching and teaching really moves people, I helped widow Jones get
to Church this morning, we give to missions, we are leaders in our
church." As stated, we are not likely to trust in our drunkenness, anger,
hate, envy or bitterness; those are obviously what they are, works of
the flesh, but danger lurks when we trust in our good works! It is here
again that we visit the Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good and Evil,
except here we face the greatest danger of all - judging our good as
God! How often does the Church confuse good with God?
God desires to give us His blessing, but this blessing can only come as
we render ourselves dead and only move by the Spirit. Our death
releases His life, His blessing, His abundance, His protection, and His
anointing - a spontaneous God filled life.
Our "old man" fallen Adamic nature thrust us under the spell of The
Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil even though we have been
appointed to live from the Tree of Life, but how many of us really do?
God has annulled the curse of living from the wrong tree through the
atonement, whereby the two are brought back together as one.
Originally, Adam simply heard and obeyed God, which resulted in his
every need being met, but at his fall one turned into two - the
Knowledge of Good and the Knowledge of Evil. We too are under that
spell - we see life divided into two - good and evil! We judge everything
as one or the other INSTEAD OF SEEING GOD IN EVERYTHING!
When my businesses collapsed in late 1997, I could only see it as bad
and judged it as such; perhaps I didn't have enough faith, if I had given
more money, prayed more, fasted more or worked harder. Had I known
then what I now know, my burden would have been much lighter for I
would have known that what appeared to be for my harm was actually
working for my good. The results of this tumultuous time in my life have
been extraordinary. I wouldn't trade the relationship I have with my God
or the truth that He has allowed me to see, for all the success those
businesses could have obtained, which came as a direct result of the
difficulties I faced. There is no physical gold that can replace the true
gold that God gives as a result of our time in the fire!
We must come to a place where we see (seek) God in all things -
poverty, wealth, good days, bad days, sickness, and health. When we
chose to see God in all things, there will be no such thing as good and
evil. We will not see things as good and evil - It is all God! When we get
to the point FINALLY, where we judge NOTHING as good or bad unless
God appoints us to do so (John 5:30), but rather see it as all God, then
we begin to realize it is not about us, but just simply 'what God is doing
in us, or what God is saying to us;' such is the privilege of those who
partake of the Tree Of Life. God is in everything in my life. WHEN I SEE
ME (MY CONCERNS) IN THE CIRCUMSTANCE, I'M NOT SEEING
GOD (WHAT GOD IS SAYING); when the circumstance rules, I'm not
seeing God; I am seeing my point of view through my judgment of the
situation. When we truly LOSE our identity, we will quit seeing
ourselves in the circumstances, and instead see God in it, and more
importantly what God may be saying to us through the circumstance.
We tend to (carnally) see things divided into TWO PARTS; this is good,
this is bad, I'm rich, I'm poor, I'm in, I'm out, I'm up, I'm down; but finally,
to see God (spiritually) in all things, not some things, not in half, BUT IN
ALL THINGS, THEN God is able to reveal things to me that need
changing in me. It is at this point that I am able to embrace everything
that I don't want and don't like, and more importantly, I'm not willing to
leave it UNTIL I have embraced it! We must be willing to stand in the
pain of the question until the truth of our heart can be revealed. Truth,
ugly truth has to be embraced! For example, when I see someone
misbehaving, God would rather me see 'my judgment' of the person
rather than the person's bad behavior, because 'God is in all things.' If I
accept that God is in all things in my life and I am free from judging
"good and evil," then God is free to allow me to see a true reflection of
my heart in the situation. To do this I must lose my identity and gain
God's. I must escape my normal good/bad evaluation to truly hear what
God is saying. In denouncing the good/bad mindset, I invite the Spirit of
God to instruct and guide me (Proverbs 3:5/Psalm 32:8), because now
I am partaking of the Tree of Life; now I am freed from the curse of The
Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good and Evil.
As stated, "ugly truth must be embraced!" When I embrace it, I own it. I
don't own it to stop in it!" says Arthur Burt, "I own it to disown it!" "I
CANNOT DISOWN IT UNTIL I OWN IT." I cannot lose something about
myself UNTIL I am able to acknowledge it is there! As long as I live
from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, I will fail to be able to
own it, therefore it will be impossible for me to disown it - this is why
many people cannot find deliverance. Those who constantly blame
other people, other circumstances, other situations for the pain in their
life will never see the freedom and joy deliverance brings! Today, like
many others, I am faced with situations that in the natural seem very
negative. It would be easy to tag them as "bad," but God speaks to me
and says, "Allow the heat from these situations to mold and change
you." What I am realizing in these situations, as negative as they are, is
that it is not about good or bad, it is about change IN ME, change that I
need to embrace.
A Religious Mind Will Nullify One's Ability To See God In All Things
We frustrate the grace of God when we don't see God in all things. I
blame the devil, I blame man, I blame my wife, the government, and
circumstances and thereby limit my progress because I am not seeing
God in ALL THINGS. As stated, we tend to only see God in the good,
which makes us only see half, not the whole of what God is doing.
When we view things this way, we frustrate the grace that could be ours
and limit our own growth. A pure heart will see God in all things.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." When we are
failing to see God in all things we have relegated ourselves to the curse
of the Tree of Knowledge, a place in which we judge based on what we
see and hear. This curse demands that I make my own decisions,
looking to 'me' for answers and judgments - I have become like God
because I judge all things for myself; I decide the direction of my life
and independently make my own decisions. Anything that stands
between God and us is an idol, even if that idol is us. "Those who cling
to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs" (Jonah 2:8).
Grace is God's unmerited favor and blessing and grace will follow those
who make their decisions by the Spirit and not by the vanity of their
own minds. Here is where the war is fought, escaping the mental
intellectual realm and gaining spiritual understanding.
God is looking for a few dead men whose trust is not in themselves but
in God alone. To these men a grace will come; an enabling grace to
fulfill their purpose in the earth, for they have divorced themselves from
the World's System and gained the Kingdom method of receiving -
hearing and obeying the Spirit of God.
When God purposes to leave me out by allowing some failure or
disappointment, it is because He is purposing to put me in. "Why is He
leaving me out or allowing this" we ask? Because he doesn't put me in
just to put me in; he puts me in for the glory of His name; and so He
test me by putting me out! If I squeal and moan and groan I reveal that
the thing is still living in me, and truly I want to be in for 'my glory;' pride
still has a place in me. I want to be in, not for the glory of God but for
myself. When the thing is truly dead in me, I will not complain but live
contented that God is doing something special in my life, and though it
hurts and feels like the fires of hell, God's grace is sufficient and I am
content no matter the situation.
While it is difficult to arrive at this point, we will finally come to a place
where God is seen in all things and we will only judge good and evil by
God's Spirit (John 5:30). The Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil
can no longer effect on our lives. Toil and strain will be replaced by
simply hearing and obeying God and seeing His word manifest in all
areas of life. One word from God can turn your life around. When we
stop seeing things as "good and evil," we will know that we have come
to the resources of The Tree Of Life; a place where we come into the
presence of God, a place where we hear and obey God for His
Kabhod, a place where He freely dispenses with His Doxa, a place of
dominion and rule under the direct unction of the Holy Spirit.
When we refuse to see good or bad from our flesh (John 8:15), we will
automatically reflect inward to elements and aspects of ourselves that
need changing. Perhaps we were engaging the wrong system,
impatient, ill prepared, overbearing, unloving, critical, or judgmental.
Perhaps we were unduly angered or greedy but we can only see this
reflection of ourselves IF we stop judging everything, every
circumstance, and everybody as good or bad. When this work is
completed in me, I will begin to see God in all things. What was
unavailable to me before, can now be seen with great clarity.
What is being said here is that "to judge not is to sin not." Isaiah 11:3
says, "Judge not by the site of your eyes nor reprove by the hearing of
your ears." We are simply not to judge by what we see or hear. Man
has always seen "the naked" in the naked, but God sees the positive
with the naked. If we are going to come in line with God, we must in line
with His mind. The worse thing that has ever happened in this world
was the murder of the Son of God; how easy that would have been to
judge, and yet, "before the world was Jesus was the Lamb slain."
Calvary was not a mistake of God. We must rise above our worldview
of failure and judging by the outward appearance.
Mercy Triumphs over Judgment
In late 1999 the Lord began to deal with me about the relationship
between mercy (not judging) and His true prosperity. As the year ended
the Lord spoke the following to me:
"Wash your heart with mercy for the poor (those who have great
needs), for those who oppose you, those who speak against you, those
who unfairly judge you. In doing so, you will release my hand to bless
you both financially and spiritually. In washing your heart, you must
totally release those who have offended you, not just as an act, but also
deeply in your heart. Treat them as if they have a clean slate against
you. I will give you the ability to totally wash your heart of any
misgivings or apprehensions, thus enabling you to avoid resentment in
the present or future. Unless your forgiveness and mercy are total in
nature, you will hold a deep grudge that will surface later. Your release,
mercy, and forgiveness must be total. To do otherwise is short of my
intended purpose and will block the flow of my blessing to you."
"Trust me in revealing to you that your mercy given, will invite my mercy
for you; I will appoint blessings and mercy to you each and every time
you operate in this power. My anointing will come upon you and
blessings will flow, however, you must understand that I am looking at
your heart and your motive must be MY WAY (The Kingdom's Way).
Your motive cannot be to get a blessing."
"Your trust for MY WAY will continue to grow. Evidences and testimony
will soon be revealed as a result of your recent actions of extending
mercy. Realize the difference between your mercy, which is conditional,
and my mercy, which is unconditional. It takes my power to extend my
mercy - ask for it and you shall receive it by faith and remember I am
looking at your heart."
"Recognize that there is a definite relationship between giving mercy
and needs being met in your life. My hand is often moved by the
willingness of my people to extend mercy and, conversely, it is stopped
when my people judge and condemn (even in their heart). Also,
recognize the relationship between the areas of your needs, and the
areas I am requiring your mercy in. As with my word, debt released
releases debt, debt unreleased produces debt. Understand MY WAY
(Get a revelation) of relational mercy. When you need money, have
mercy on those who owe you money, when you need love, have mercy
on those who you think owe you love, when you need understanding,
have mercy on those who do not give you understanding. I say again,
understand the relationship between mercy given in a particular area
and My mercy given you in the same area. You will grow spiritually and
materially in an enormous way as you operate in this power."
The above word has sent me on a journey to understand the depth of
its meaning, and though I feel I have only scratched the surface, I am
truly beginning to see a relationship between mercy (lack of judgment
on my part) and prosperity. It is important to remember and understand
John 5:30 as you seek God for a deeper revelation of the tie between
mercy and prosperity. There is a righteous judgment that can only come
from the Holy Spirit, as opposed to the natural judgment that most of us
make from the carnality of our own minds.
God will permit failure, whether it is physical, financial, professional,
personal, spiritual, or whatever; God will permit it, even ordain it, and if
He permits it, IT MUST BE FOR HIS GLORY! "Now if we are children,
then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we
share in his sufferings in order that WE MAY ALSO SHARE IN HIS
GLORY. I CONSIDER THAT OUR PRESENT SUFFERINGS ARE NOT
WORTH COMPARING WITH THE GLORY THAT WILL BE REVEALED
IN US" (Romans 8:17).
My trials are producing His wisdom, His life, and His success. In God,
failure and tribulation breed success if I will not judge it as bad, but
rather a part of the process which leads to my salvation and
deliverance. I will have to embrace the very thing that I want to get out
of, but before I can get out of it, I MUST EMBRACE IT. I must come to
the Father as a helpless child, acknowledging my complete and total
dependence upon Him. My true humility and brokenness before the
Father draws His grace, which brings the enabling (James 4:6/Matthew
23:12). IT IS HERE THAT THE GLORY OF GOD IS MADE MANIFEST
UPON THIS EARTH, THROUGH OUR COMPLETE DEPENDENCE
UPON GOD. Is it farfetched to think that God perhaps foreordained our
lives with what the world would call pathetic, difficult failure? Most of us
have faced and witnessed extreme difficulty and failure. All of us have
been pathetic people in one area of our life or another. The times of our
greatest failures are catalysts to our greatest successes. TO THOSE
WHO SUFFER GREAT FAILURE TODAY, AWAKEN! YOU ARE BEING
CHAMPIONED BY GOD! You are not a failure in God's eyes, but a
chosen vessel through which the pure glory of God can flow. Recognize
that you are simply in a process where there is hope and a future
(Jeremiah 29:11).
"And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who
called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm,
strengthen and establish you" (1 Peter 5:10).
"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been
approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised
to those who love him" (James 1:12).
Do We Ever Have The Right To Judge?
Church doctrine is challenged by subjects like sufferings and trials are
for an ultimate purpose, not judging good and evil from our carnal
nature, and seeing man's failure as a great preparation. Often difficult
messages are difficult to receive. Any truth that goes against common
belief is never accepted easily. God prepared me for this and other
seemingly radical messages by telling me "Ignorance often comes
disguised as tradition."
If we want to have "ears to hear" what the Spirit of God may be saying,
it is important to realize that just because something is hard to swallow,
doesn't make it wrong. We have a striking example of a hard saying
from the Master in John 6:51-66:
"51)' I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone
eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall
give for the life of the world is My flesh.'52) The Jews therefore began
to argue with one another, saying 'How can this man give us His flesh
to eat?' 53) Jesus therefore said unto them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you
have no life in yourselves. 54) He who eats My flesh and drinks My
blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55) For My
flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56) He who eats My flesh
and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him. 57) As the living Father
sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also
shall live because of Me. 58) This is the bread which came down out of
heaven; not as the fathers ate, and died, he who eats this bread shall
live forever. 59) These things He said in the synagogue, as He taught in
Capernaum. 60) Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this
said, 'This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?' 61) But Jesus,
conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them. . . 63) It is
the Spirit who gives life; the FLESH profits nothing; the words that I
have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64) But there are some of
you who do not believe.'. . . 65) 'For this reason I have said to you, that
no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the
Father.' 66) AS A RESULT OF THIS MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES
WITHDREW, AND WERE NOT WALKING WITH HIM ANYMORE."
Because many of the disciples really didn't understand what Jesus was
talking about, based upon what they interpreted in the knowledge of
their mind, they stopped following him. They made A JUDGEMENT,
and it was an erroneous one. In fact, Jesus said that their judgment
was unbelief (vs 64). This serves as an example of another hard saying
and its application toward us when we judge from our carnal nature!
This next section is dedicated to tearing away a mindset that has been
built in us through many years of TRADITION.
We Can Judge Only What God Appoints Us To Judge
Some will ask, "If I can't judge, how am I to use the mind that God gave
me? Am I not supposed to put on the mind of Christ, which involves
discerning right from wrong?" Excellent question. We need not go
further than Jesus' own words in the Gospel of John for an answer.
Much scripture is used here to enlighten us to the fact that Romans
11:36 is absolutely true. As we have often said, of the nine gifts of the
Holy Spirit, perhaps discernment is the most important in this hour is
which we now live, for there are many voices in this world.
John 5:30"I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and
my judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of
Him who sent Me. IF I ALONE BEAR WITNESS OF MYSELF, MY
TESTIMONY IS NOT TRUE."
The abounding and resounding message from heaven to those who
have ears to hear is "I can do nothing on my own initiative." God is
pointing us to a Spirit led life; a life of accepting the fact we are not to
move outside the boundaries of God's appointed Spiritual direction. Do
we have a righteous judgment? Yes we do, "As I hear, I judge. . . " We
are only to judge by what we hear; this type judgment is just in that it is
the judgment that God speaks. Judging from the flesh or from our
carnal nature is to partake of the Tree of Knowledge. We are strongly
admonished by Jesus in John 8:15,16 not judge from our minds, from
what we deem as good or evil - "You people judge according to the
flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is
true; for I am not alone in it, but I and He who sent Me."
We have all faced situations that seemed bad that actually turned out to
be good and good situations that turned out to be bad. God is teaching
us to see with the eye of the Spirit, which will enable us to see
situations for what they really are. "If a man receives circumcision on
the Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry
with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? DO NOT
JUDGE ACCORDING TO APPEARANCE, but judge with righteous
judgment" (John 7:23,24).
John 12:47-50 "And if anyone hears My sayings, and does not keep
them, I do not judge; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save
the world. 48) He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings,
has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the
last day. 49) For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father
Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and
what to speak. 50) And I know that His commandment is eternal life;
therefore, the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me."
The point of these scriptures is difficult to ignore or refute: Jesus only
spoke and acted under the direction of the Father and the Holy Spirit.
He did not judge ANYTHING by its appearance, or based upon His
knowledge of the situation. How does our judgment relate to eating
from the Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil? We directly
connect ourselves to the curse of that tree IF our judgment is not
through and from the Holy Spirit. A distinguishing characteristic of
Jesus was that He didn't judge based upon His knowledge. Here are
more scriptures to contemplate:
Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way which seemeth right to a man, but in
the end thereof is death." I may think it is good to do or say, but it is
death in the end. Judgment without the Spirit of God is death.
Luke 18:19 "And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one
is good except God alone." Luke 6:45 "The good man brings forth what
is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is
evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." By connecting
these two verses, we see that no one is good except God, so if a man
is declared good by bringing forth what is good, that "good" can only
come from God, can it not? And by deduction, what is considered evil is
that which did not come from God, correct? So, can judgment that did
not come from the Holy Spirit be God? The picture of the Tree Of The
Knowledge Of Good And Evil is hopefully becoming clearer. That fruit
was forbidden to be eaten, and still is forbidden fruit! And, if I may so
boldly assert, that is why Jesus did not judge anything without God's
direction, because it is partaking from the forbidden fruit, a poison that
relegates us to a life of toil and strain (Genesis 3:17).
John 2:24,25 - " But Jesus, on his part, was not entrusting Himself to
them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to
bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man."
Galatians 6:3 - "For if anyone thinks he is something when he is
nothing, he deceives himself."
1 Corinthians 2:11 - "For who among men knows the thoughts of a man
except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of
God no one knows except the Spirit of God."
Romans 9:14-18 - "What shall we say then? There is no injustice with
God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, 'I will have
mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I
have compassion. So then it does not depend on the man who wills, or
the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says
to Pharaoh, 'for this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My
power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the
whole earth'. So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He
hardens whom he desires."
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you. . . "
Isaiah 55:7"Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man
his thoughts. . . . 8 'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are
your ways My ways', declares the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My
thoughts than your thoughts."
Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine
own understanding. . . "
Proverbs 2:6 "For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come
knowledge and understanding."
James 1:5,6 "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who
gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to
him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting. . . "
Perhaps here are some scriptures that address the most difficult part of
the teaching that God is in all things. . .
Jeremiah 17:9,10 "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is
desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways,
according to the results of his deeds."
Job 1:8-10 "And the Lord said to Satan, 'have you considered My
servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless
and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.' Then Satan
answered the Lord, 'Does Job fear God for nothing? Hast Thou not
made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every
side? Thou has bless the work of his hand and his possessions have
increased in the land.'" 38: 4 "Where were you when I laid the
foundation of the earth?" 38: 12 "Have you ever in your life
commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place;"
"Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in
the recesses of the deep?" "Have you entered the storehouses of the
snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hall, which I have
reserved for the time of distress, for the day of war and battle?"
Exodus 10:1 "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh, for I have
hardened his heart and the heart of his servants. . . "
Genesis 2:5 ". . . for the Lord God had not caused it to rain. . . "
Jeremiah 12:14 "thus says the Lord concerning all My wicked
neighbors who strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My
people Israel, 'Behold I am about to uproot them from their land and will
uproot the house of Judah from among them."
Amos 4:7 ". . . and I (the Lord) caused it to rain upon one city, and
caused it not to rain upon another city. . . "
2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout
the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose
heart is perfect toward him. . . "
Luke 12:7 "But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered."
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked
and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
God is involved either actively or passively in all things! We may not
understand it all, but the evidence is irrefutable.
The Sovereign King
Lamentations 3:37. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when
the Lord commandeth it not? 38. Out of the mouth of the Most High
cometh there not evil and good?
For those called to walk in God's Kingdom upon this earth will come to
the revelation that God is in complete control. The key to a proper
understanding of THE KINGDOM and its dynamics is the recognition of
the complete control that God has over everything that takes place in
the universe. He holds it together by His very Word. The Law and the
Prophets are abundantly clear as to who it is that releases judgment
and blessing. There is no precedent in the scripture leaving any room
for chance, or the bringing forth of anything that God has not
proclaimed.
Few would question the truth that God is good and that God blesses.
Scripture is explicit as to where all good gifts (blessings) come from
(James1:17). 'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning.' Can our religious minds accept that God will
release His judgment in the earth? This verse from Lamentations
3:37,38 clearly shows that even calamity can ultimately come from Him
- 'Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord
commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there
not evil and good?'
The Great Question
The question people then logically ask is: "Is God then responsible for
the Calamity?" NO! WE ARE!
Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I
commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground
for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;18.
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat
the herb of the field;19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till
thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou
art, and unto dust shalt thou return.20. And Adam called his wife's
name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.21. Unto Adam
also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed
them.22. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of
us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take
also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:23. Therefore the Lord
God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from
whence he was taken.24. So he drove out the man;and he placed at
the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which
turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
The Key Words are "He drove out the man." The first great calamity
ever to take place came from the mouth of the Most High, yet it was
clearly Adam who was responsible for it by disobeying the first
commandment - "Thou shalt not eat of it. . . " Even today we live in
violation of God's first commandment by partaking of fruit from the
wrong tree. Adam's banishment by God was a death sentence, yet
often, like Adam, we fail to see the results of our actions and the
calamity God sends our way because He loves us. Often it takes years
of living by the fruit of the cursed tree and its accompanying toil and
strain just to realize that we are living from the wrong tree, that we are
living life on our terms and not His. Our wrong way produces God's
judgment in our lives in order to 'awaken us' to a better way - The Tree
Of Life. One has to look no further than the children of Israel for
multitudes of examples in both biblical and modern times to understand
this more fully.
It is also true that affliction can be allowed to test, prove and purify us.
Our state of not being what we should or where we should be
necessitates both testing and judgment. You cannot be righteous in
Dallas if you are called to be Holy in Cleveland (Acts 17:24-26). We are
often victims of the inefficiencies of works done with "human hands"
often in places we are not called to be. Only the afflictions brought on
by our wrong efforts will cause us to focus where God is calling us to
focus. Is there a better way? Yes, learn from those who have failed
miserably - the Bible is full of examples.
Job - A Picture Of God's Sovereignty
To say that somehow Satan is anything more then an instrument and
pawn in the hand of God is to make him out to be more than what he
is... a pawn in the hand of God.
Job 1:6. Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came
to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan also came among
them. 7 And Jehovah said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then
Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth,
and from walking up and down in it. 8 And Jehovah said unto Satan,
Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him in the
earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth
away from evil. 9 Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Doth Job
fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and
about his house, and about all that he hath, on every side? Thou hast
blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the
land. 11 But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he
will renounce thee to thy face. 12 And Jehovah said unto Satan,
Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth
thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah.
We see in these verses that God is up to something. He brings up the
subject of Job to Satan and plays Him like a fiddle. There is no question
as to the right of God to decide whether or not calamity was to come to
Job. In this case the calamity was for the sake of testing Job.
Back To Our Birthright
Total Surrender: The Key To Prosperity In God
If total surrender is the key to us living our lives in God's true prosperity,
we must first understand that our surrender is conditioned upon our
willingness to stop judging from our flesh. There will always be
someone or something that brings offense until we begin to see God in
all things. As this work in progress is completed in us, we will begin to
enter a place of bringing glory to God in our lives. In order to get to this
place, and thus allow God to bring me into my inheritance here on
earth, something on my part must be sought: My birthright must be the
ultimate goal. To seek my birthright (my destiny), I must first know
where it is. My birthright, as a blood bought human living upon this
earth, is to get back to that symbolic garden to the Tree of Life; a place
where I walk with God; a place where God speaks and I obey; a place
where my first priority in life is to glorify Him. As Arthur Burt so aptly
puts it, "Go back to the garden, the place where man made his first
mistake and obey the first commandment God gave man; "Of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17). By
refusing to eat of that tree we find ourselves in the greatest situation of
all - COMPLETE AND TOTAL DEPENDENCE UPON GOD. "I can of
mine own self do nothing" (John 5:30).
"Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let
him rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the
livestock, OVER ALL THE EARTH and over all the creatures that move
along the ground. So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God he created him; male and female he created them. GOD
BLESSED THEM and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it. RULE. . . " (Genesis 1:26-28).
If we now know that the place of our birthright can only be found
symbolically in the garden, then begs the question, how do we get
there? Here lies the core of this whole teaching; it is not found in my
forward motion and great successes; to the contrary, it is found as I
proceed backwards, through my failures; as if we are coming back to
our birthright in reverse. We're out, and God wants to bring us back in.
Symbolically, God drove man out of the garden that He might bring him
back in; but there is a block to our entrance to get back in - "After he
drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden
cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way
to the tree of life" (Genesis3:24). Grasp this important point; there is no
way back to this symbolic garden except you go through (flaming
sword) the fire! As Mr. Burt says, "There is no way back except you
have a revelation that is fireproof." So the fire will try every man's work
of what sort it is, and in the fire I get rid of my junk, my rubbish, my
wood, my hay, my stubble, my pride, my desire to impress you, my
desire for you to think I'm somebody, my desire to have an identity (I
Corinthians 3:12-15).
As we work our way back into that symbolic garden, to the Tree of Life,
the fire of God begins to burn, and what remains in us is WHAT
GLORIFIES GOD. I only want (in me) GOLD that is tried by fire, and
except it be tried by fire, it existence is worthless in the eyes of God.
The fire destroys everything that is not gold, but your gold, that which
you do to the glory of God is the only thing that can stand against this
fire. Why do I do what I do? "The fire deals with the "what" and reveals
the naked "why," and if there is no gold there is nothing left. "What" I do
in the eyes of God is not nearly as important the "why" I am doing it!
It is here that we build an argument with God; "I did this Lord, I did that;
I went to Bible School, I am a pastor, I gave thousands of dollars, I
support missionaries, I pray for the sick, I study my bible five hours a
day, I get up early and pray." So what! God is saying to us. All of those
things must go through the fire and only that which is done to the glory
of God will stand the fire. Great ministries that enjoy the glory of men
will one day stand before this great flame!
Once I have come through the fire there are only two things remaining;
gold and ash and you cannot burn ash, it has already been burned, but
when that which remains is gold, and when the gold touches the
flaming sword which protects the Tree of Life, THE FIRE CAN DO
NOTHING WITH IT! You will not walk in the cool of the garden, nor will
you rule upon this earth and walk out the dominion mandate UNTIL
YOU COME WITH THE GOLD, LIVING TO THE GLORY OF GOD,
HAVING BEEN TESTED BY FIRE. I pray that what is found in me is
gold that will bring me back to that initial birthright, which God
foreordained for me to walk in. It is here that we will be what God
purposed us initially to be; conformed to the image of God, MADE AND
PURPOSED FOR HIS GLORY.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Had A Revelation That Was
Fireproof
The miracle found in Daniel 3:16-18 of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego was not their miraculous deliverance from the fiery furnace -
the greatest miracle was their acceptance of God's will, no matter the
outcome. They walked in an understanding that GOD IS IN ALL
THINGS; they found no need to defend themselves, to squawk, to
squeal, to fight! They accepted their fate no matter the outcome. Like
the Apostles of the New Testament, their love and trust for God even in
death, exceeded their love of life (Matthew 10:39).
Daniel 3:16-18
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O
Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in
this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve
is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.
18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will
not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
Those that eat from the Tree of Life know that God is in everything and
they, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, accept God's will not
matter the outcome. Those still bound to the curse of the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil would naturally see the fiery furnace as
bad. As these three men lost their identity in this crisis, God was
brought on the scene: "He said, "Look! I see four men walking around
in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of
the gods" (Daniel 3:25).
Do you want to go from glory to glory? Do you want God to appear in
the midst of your situation? Look for life's daily circumstances in which
your death is required. Did God intend circumstance to circumstance to
be glory to glory? If our steps are ordered by Him, which they are,
circumstance to circumstance will become glory to glory. What we have
previously described as difficult situations can become glorious
testimonies unto the Lord. What was meant to be a bad day can indeed
become a blessed day. Our whole attitude must change as we escape
living under the curse of a tree that demands that we maintain an
identity. Anything growing will change, and change we must, to step
into OUR DEATH which releases HIS LIFE, which includes His
blessing, anointing, power and deliverance. RESTORATION is at hand
for those courageous enough to die for it!
A Final Glance At Getting Free Of The Tree
"For FROM Him and THROUGH Him and TO Him are ALL THINGS.
(For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live
through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to
end in Him.) To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it)" (Romans 11:36
Amplified).
The concept of God being in "all things" in our lives is virtually a foreign
concept to most of the Church. The Church neatly packs God in the
box of good and the devil in the box of bad. We have assumed that
God only deals in the major events of our day, yet God knows the
number of hairs on our head; He knows when a sparrow falls from a
tree and upholds all things by the word of His power. He commands
every caterpillar, cankerworm and locust, which He once called "His
great Army" which He sent among the Israelites in Joel 2:25.
God controls everything - Romans 11:36 in the KJV says, "Of Him are
all things. . . ."He can send the messenger of Satan to buffet us lest we
should be exalted above measure; he can stop a business deal in its
tracks lest our great success lead us away from our destiny; he can
allow our flesh to be destroyed that our soul might be saved and our
great ministry to be crushed that His true purpose might arise within us.
In the past we have blamed circumstances, our parents, our spouses,
our congregations, entire races of people, and the devil for our troubles,
when all along it has been the Father molding and shaping us.
Again, you may ask "What about my difficulties and hardships?" How
do they bring glory to God? As we have stated earlier in this teaching,
only man sees our nakedness as naked, while God sees it as positive,
a time of phenomenal growth - ". . . it is through many hardships and
tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22 Amplified).
The Kingdom of God is within you, and yes, your hardships and
difficulties are not an accident, but rather preordained God orchestrated
circumstances designed to mold you into THE IMAGE OF GOD
(Romans 8:28-37).
It is important here to recognize that God is giving us His mind by
sharing with us His goal of HIS GLORY FILLING THE WHOLE EARTH
(Numbers 14:20/Psalm 57:5/Psalm108:5). "Now if we are children, then
we are heirs - heirs of god and coheirs with Christ, if indeed we share in
His sufferings in order THAT WE MAY SHARE IN HIS GLORY. I
consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the
glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:17,18). Our trials, our
tribulations, our difficulties are not only forging the character of God
within us, but also providing us with opportunities for God to be glorified
by and through our actions during these very trials!
Every time we bring glory to God in this earth, the light of God's Spirit
becomes brighter and brighter (John 4:21-25). When we begin to live
our lives with the single purpose of bringing glory to God, the oil in our
lamps stays plentiful and the light will stay bright. As millions of
Christians come into this revelation, HIS GLORY WILL FILL THE
WHOLE EARTH! For this light to stay bright within us we must die daily
to ourselves that He might shine forth - our death produces His life
(John 12:24). "As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long,
we are considered sheep to the slaughter" (Romans 8:36). Paul said, "I
must die daily."
When we recognize that our lives were designed with a purpose and
that purpose is to bring glory to our Lord, then the requirement of our
death not only becomes acceptable, but something truly to be longed
for.
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of
childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly
for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans
8:22,23). Our spiritual DNA enables us to yield, to surrender, to die, to
trust to such a degree that the "old nature" to fight, to mistrust, to
contend, to defend, to murmur and complain DIES WITHIN US.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made in His likeness, knitted together
in our mother's womb - we have His DNA (Psalm 139:14/James 3:9),
therefore we can do what He predestined us to be able to do. We, you
and I, have been predestined and called of God to fulfill His purpose
upon this earth. We have but a single purpose, which has many
purposes. The single purpose is to bring glory to God with our lives;
and once we accept this single purpose, God will provide many
assignments as we begin daily to become sensitive to the mind of the
Lord.
As we become sensitive to God's priority to be glorified in the earth, he
unlocks the mystery of how this will happen. I submit this to you for
prayer and discernment: It burns in my heart that the "how" is now
being unveiled and the mystery unlocked. We, you and I, have been
commissioned and foreordained by God to bring Him glory in the earth
and when we make His glory our first priority by choosing to lose our
identity, to lose our life, THEN the life God ordained for us, our true
destiny, our true prosperity in God will emerge as the glory of God is
released into the earth. The creation awaits us to step into our destiny.
God controls everything upon this earth; hence all of creation is in
God's command. Only man has a choice, and when he chooses to die
to himself and follow God implicitly, is adoption made complete.
"The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be
revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own
choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the
creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought
into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the
whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up
to the present time. Not only so, by we ourselves, who have the first
fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as
sons. . . " (Romans 8:19-23).
Provision for my weakness, deliverance for my sin, all needs met, a
place of "I shall not want" or need for anything; ALL THINGS are all
channeled into one final revelation - the glory of God! When the glory of
God is indeed a revelation within me, then and only then can I see the
enemy to God's glory, which is "my glory!" Once I see the enemy of
God's glory, which is my glory, my ego and pride standing in the way of
God's glory, it is then that I can begin to conscientiously choose as to
whether I will seek my glory or God's glory in circumstance upon
circumstance in my life.
When I willingly choose to judge not, to lose my identity, to avoid self-
righteous defense of my rights, I release God's glory into the earth. He
gets the kabhod (the glory He reserves for Himself), and in turn I get
the doxa, (the glory He freely gives man) the abundance of John 10:10.
It is at this point that we potentially go from living from circumstance to
circumstance to living "from glory to glory." Our circumstances or
"ordered steps" are almost daily opportunities for Him to get the glory or
for me to get the glory, setting up the classic struggle between my God
given humility and my man given pride.
Allowing God's Grace To Come
To cover my weakness is a frustration of the glory of God because His
strength is made perfect in weakness. Do you want the perfection of
the breath of God? Do you want God to be glorified? Why then do you
cover your weakness? Why do you pretend that you haven't got it?
Why do you hide the truth about how weak you really are, KNOWING
THAT THE TRUTH, LIKE A MAGNET, BRINGS THE GRACE OF GOD
FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. Only by humbling ourselves can any of us
be delivered. Humility will bring deliverance as sure as a rain cloud
brings rain, yet many of us sit smug, hiding the truth about ourselves in
order to protect our precious identity.
The evidence that you have chosen the Glory of God is that you will get
rid of your own glory. This is where the proverbial rubber hits the road.
This is not a case of talk; it is a demonstration of walk. When I'm up I
will humble myself and come down; knowing in so doing I am glorifying
God. To cover my weakness, I pretend it is not there, which is an insult
to the glory of God. When this revelation becomes real, you will begin
to humble yourself. Humility isn't a virtue; it is an obligation. We are
called to walk humbly with our brothers and sisters, wives and
husbands, and those about us. The measure in which you appreciate
the Glory of God, which is lifting Him up, is the measure in which you
come down. Said differently, the measure in which you appreciate the
glory of God will be reflected in your willingness to die daily. Once this
revelation begins to operate in you, your God-ordered steps will direct
you into opportunity after opportunity. Only that which is done to the
glory of God will last, all else is rubbish because every man's work will
be tested of what sort it is.
Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil
It is important not to confuse humiliation with humility: humiliation is
from the outside and humility is from the inside. Often God must bring
humiliation, like the stake in a tomato plant, in order to properly direct
our growth; this is not His best for us, however, He will allow it in the
areas we need it. Remember the last place in which you suffered
humiliation and you will find the last source of great pride in your life.
For those who are "called," humiliation is God's instrument to eradicate
pride, hence God's word "Pride comes before a fall." If we are humble,
we come down gladly and willingly because we know to do so we are
crowning Jesus in our hearts. ALL TRUE CHANGE IN US IS
BROUGHT ON BY HUMILITY - STAYING BROKEN BEFORE GOD.
When we become proud of our job, proud of our ministry, proud of our
church, proud of our new home, proud of our earnings, proud of our
accomplishments; pride in any area will bring a fall for our own
protection and destiny, AND HIS GLORY.
Let us be not like the Christian businessman who prided himself on his
earnings, the Christian parents who thought well of themselves on how
well they raised their kids, the pastor who gloated over the
congregation from his lofty position in the pulpit, our new cars, houses,
clothes, televisions or the like: all are subject to fall.
The "What" and The "Why"
As earlier mentioned, it isn't "what" you do, it's "why" you do it. Do you
do Christian things because you want people to know you are
dedicated to God? Do I teach, preach, sing, play an instrument,
witness, go on missions because I'm seeking something other than
God's glory? The glory of God should be the very heart of everything I
do.
The ultimate test of the fire is not the "what" but the "why" - its not the
"what" we did, it is the "why" we did it. If the answer is not for the glory
of God, the fire will burn it up. Some will say, "but my large well known
ministry, my huge new building, my tapes, my books" and the Lord will
say, "Yes yours, yours indeed!" Then to some little trembling
Grandmother, who hidden from everyone, prayed her entire family into
the kingdom - to her the Lord will say, "Pure gold my darling; well done
my good and faithful servant."
The Greater Includes The Lesser
A final point to this teaching is that we must get delivered from the
Church induced mentality of coming to God to get my needs met. Two
thirds of the Church is oriented to need; One third has been weaned.
God is bringing a Church, a company of people into the third third, and
until we come into the third third, we will never fulfill the purpose of
God, and the purpose of God is that in fulfilling His purpose we are
filled full. We are not filled full while we're in the two thirds: In the two
thirds we have been tied to deliverance but we need delivering from
deliverance - the third third brings you to a place where you are not tied
to man and his need, you're tied to God and his glory, yet the greater
always includes lesser. By moving up to the greater (bringing glory to
God with my life), it always includes the lesser (my needs being met).
There will be more souls saved when you don't seek to save souls;
there will be more bodies healed when you get delivered from healing
bodies; there will be more people blessed by your ministry when you
get loosed from ministering to people; there will be more financial
prosperity when you get loosed from chasing money. God says,
"instead of these things come and minister to me;" in other words seek
Him for His guidance and specific instruction. In hearing and obeying
Him you are ministering to the Lord and bringing glory to His name.
In ministering to the Lord by living your life for His glory, the Lord relates
to your need. This is being offered for your consideration; it for its
relevance and truth - Our Lord Jesus Christ did not come into this world
to save you; He said, "I came to do the Father's will," and in doing the
Father's will, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son." The greater includes the lesser. As the Son yielded himself in
doing the Father's will, incidentally he saved us. Jesus died for me is
true, but He wouldn't of if it hadn't been the Father's will, because He
was one with the Father.
To be loosed from a "results" mentality is to gain the mind of the Father
(seeking Him first), which will be the very thing that produces "all needs
met"- "The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want." When results are no
longer important, just the Father and His will, then the results will be
immeasurable. When we put our results oriented minds on the alter and
say, "God, get your glory in this arena," and truly do not care, the
results will come - God will get the glory! There will be more results
when you are not after them and God will be glorified in it! As we have
previously said in this teaching, obedience in one area causes needs to
be met in another.
The Church wants the power and blessing and there is nothing wrong
with that except that it cannot be the primary motive (Matthew 6:33).
The primary motive must be Him and His glory, and as we yield
ourselves to Him and His glory, as we surrender our lives that He may
be glorified, the greater includes the lesser. The Church today short-
circuits itself by pursuing power, blessing, and dominion without going
"OF, THROUGH, AND TO HIM." By not realizing that God is the God of
"all things" the Church has placed itself under the curse of The Tree Of
The Knowledge Of Good and Evil - all good things are of God and all
bad things are of the devil. This has been the mentality of the Church
for Centuries. In recent history a man promised an impoverished nation
to end pornography, poverty, joblessness, and high crime rates. He
accomplished all of these things and the Church and general
population accepted and applauded him - His name, Adolph Hitler. The
curse of judging good and bad eliminates truth and accurate
discernment from God, and often, like the Church of Germany, we are
deceived into judging by outward appearance.
Part of that divine power God wants to operate through you is the
empowerment not to judge good and evil. As you walk in this
empowerment "not to judge" you release God's hand to judge in the
very situation you refrained from judging. He will execute righteous
judgment and bring justice to injustice. He will correct those things that
concern me if I will but entrust myself to the one who judges justly! If I
won't judge or try to get His glory with my own hand of correction, I will
invite "His vengence." When we execute judgment without God's
specific direction to do so, we eliminate God's intention to intervene.
Those who chose to walk this narrow path, will find life and find it more
abundantly.
Obtaining: A Right And Wrong Way
As we learn to walk in the Spirit, many issues arise that shed light on
life as a Spirit being; a life of living in a body with an often contentious
soul (mind, will, and emotions). We constantly battle our logically
thinking minds as well as the years of tradition: We battle these on a
daily basis to escape into a place of being led by the Holy Spirit.
God is gracious in teaching and revealing the spiritual inertia that
blocks the Spirit life and keeps us penned in the prison of our soul (the
arena of logic and reason). To this extent, the Lord is bringing
revelation in the area of OBTAINING. What we are beginning to see is
the difference in OBTAINING on my own and RECEIVING from God.
Most of us have years of training in the art of obtaining: obtaining love,
obtaining money, obtaining respect, obtaining spiritual information; in
fact, obtaining any need we may have. Since these learned methods of
OBTAINING have taken years to master, we older types may have a
little more difficulty in letting go of these man instituted traditions and
social and psychological entrapments.
Lesson number one, as we stated earlier, the Holy Spirit is now
shouting from the housetops to refocus us away from being "NEED
MINDED" to becoming "PURPOSE MINDED." As I focus on God's
purpose alone and follow Him by His Spirit alone, my needs are met
and often met supernaturally. When my purpose is His purpose my
needs become His responsibility. As a Type A personality this lesson
has taken years to learn. God's dealing with me has been ever so
severe, showing me that without Him (His direction) I no longer have
the ability to do what I once routinely did with ease. This part of my life
has had to constantly be put to death in order to walk this out, but take
heart, if His grace can break me of this there is hope for everyone.
As God walks me deeper into this He continues to show me that when I
am seeking Him first and following His leading, I am also supernaturally
resisting the devil because THE GREATER ALWAYS INCLUDES THE
LESSER. When I am following His leading, He also meets my needs
because THE GREATER ALWAYS INCLUDES THE LESSER. As we
have mentioned, much of the Church today is "NEED MINDED" with
many attending Church primarily to get their needs met. Our Church
leaders preach it from the pulpit, sell it on TV and tapes and have
unconsciously, or perhaps in some cases consciously, led the saints to
believe that church attendance will get the job done, tithing and giving
will get the job done, giving into this or that "good ground" ministry will
get the job done, but where is God in all these spiritually rhetorical
promises? God must be first, and if He is, the needs will be met - "Seek
first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness AND THEN all these
things will be added."
Obtaining or getting needs met God's way is a true blessing - "The
blessing of the Lord makes (us) rich, and he adds no sorrow to it." For
years I read this scripture in Proverbs without much understanding. The
first part is easy enough to understand; "The blessing of Lord is good,"
but what does "adding no sorrow to it" really mean?
The following (for me) was revelation, not only about this particular
scripture, but also in understanding that, IN GOD, there is a proper way
to obtain (receive) and an improper way (the way of "sorrow").
Whatever way you obtain something will be the way you must maintain
it.
Whatever is obtained by power must be maintained by power.
Whatever is obtained by manipulation must be maintained by
manipulation.
Whatever is obtained by a lie must be maintained by a lie.
Said differently, "Whatsoever a man soweth, so shall he reap."
As you expand this principle into other areas of obtaining, it is clear to
see that only that which is obtained (received) from God is worth
having, whether it is money, job, respect (identity/image), spiritual
understanding, even our own ambition.
As an example, let me use the ever-so-slippery and socially accepted
category of ambition. In the world, ambition is looked upon with great
respect; unfortunately this is also true with much of the Church. Several
years ago a pastor friend of mine enthusiastically met me with a "Praise
the Lord Clay, I have just received a great miracle of God!" "Great!" I
replied. "What is the miracle?" He then told me that his little
congregation of fifty or sixty people needed a new Church building and
deserved better than the very adequate storefront building that they
were presently leasing. He went on to say that the miracle was that he
had found someone who was going to lend them $1.2M for a new
building, new offices and classrooms, a gymnasium and other perks.
My heart fell into my shoes and my countenance must have shown it as
he asked me why I wasn't excited for him. What I saw was a supposed
need being fueled by ambition outside of God (Galatians 5:20,21).
To make a long story short, the pressure on the congregation for tithes
and offerings was constant to maintain payments needed to feed the
beast of debt. Much of the congregation left and the building was
foreclosed upon. The principle is clear; if you obtain something through
your own ambition, you will have to maintain it through your own
ambition - in this case it cost the pastor everything.
How much better is it when, by His grace we obtain (receive), rather
than by other measures; for when we obtain it by His grace, by His
grace it will be maintained, whether it be ministry, marriage, business,
friends, relationships, church buildings etc., Our NEED MINDEDNESS
has short circuited God's plan for our lives, by seeking "things" first
instead of God. When we do this we circumvent God's ability to get
"things" to us because He will not violate His word that says to "Seek
Him first and then the things will be added." He warns us in Matthew
6:32 to be not like the pagans who run after things, but rather seek Him
and know that God always pays for what He orders.
Is there a sorrowful way to obtain? Indeed so, and I have a few
Ishmael's to prove it, but we have moved into "the time set by the
Father" and even though Ishmael (the child of the flesh) will continue to
taunt Isaac (the child of promise), those chosen by God (Matthew
24:14) will begin to see the true meaning of God's prosperity, that of
being an heir of God whose inheritance is beyond human
comprehension (Galatians 4:1-7).
Visit us at www.lighthouseprophecy.com
|
Topic: Repost: The High Cost of Maintaining Your Identity
