The Welfare System of the Church 3: As Intercessor

Job 42:10

And the Lord turned the captivity of Job and restored his fortunes, when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. AMP

This is a prophetic picture of what God will do in the Church as she learns to recognize His Son, Jesus, who bought her back from sin by shedding His blood, and as she abides with Him and in Him as her first love all over again and obeys the principles of His Kingdom.

Job had to go through a stripping process of everything he knew and possessed. This stripping involved his family, his body, his finances, his friends, his emotional state, his reputation, and most important, the fear (Job 3:25) that drove him to make many decisions that supposedly came by instinct initially, which caused him to stumble into his purpose, but now God was calling him to a higher place of spiritual maturity where he was to acknowledge the Lord in all his ways that He may direct his path.

Dictionary.reference.com gives us several meanings of the word acknowledge. Among them are:

1.    To admit to be real or true; recognize the existence, truth, or fact of:

2.    To show or express recognition or realization of:

3.    To recognize the authority, validity, or claims of:

4.    To show or express appreciation or gratitude for:

5.    To indicate or make known the receipt of:

6.    To take notice of or reply to:

God is saying here that He is calling us to a higher place of spiritual maturity and in our walk with Him. Many things were done out of instinctive behavior and by adopting the ways of the world and of our cultures to engage in endeavors in the name of God in every area of our lives. This was not a bad thing because God still used it to show us His purpose for our lives. But the time has come for His Church to learn to become His bride. The bride of Christ as a lifestyle lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4). She also does whatever it takes to seek His face so He can open her eyes to see him in a new way. This will include obeying His commands for us and those we influence. There are many implications to doing this. There is no denial of the struggles, pain, and discomfort encountered as we set about to endure the process that will lead us to the opening of our eyes to see God in a new way. This will also take us to a higher dimension in the understanding of our walk with Him that is necessary for the fulfillment of His purpose for our lives as it happened to Job. Verses 1-6 explain,

1Then Job replied to the Lord:

2     ”I know you can do anything,

          and no one can stop you.

3      You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’

           It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,

           things far too wonderful for me.

4      You said, ‘Listen and I will speak!

           I have some questions for you,

         and you must answer them.’

5         I had only heard about you before,

           but now I have seen you with my own eyes.

6         I take back everything I said,

           and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” NLT

Surprisingly, Job stated in chapter one something he only had head knowledge of, but it seems that this acknowledgement of the ways of God had not made its way to his heart through experience and for this reason, he had to go through the process that God purposed in order for him to stop the fear that caused him to violate a key principle of the Kingdom of God: the principle of trust and reliance on the Lord. Job 1:21-22 says that Job understood that he had come naked from his mother’s womb and in the same way he will leave this earth for the Lord gave him what he had, and he had the right to take it away. When we come to this understanding, it will keep us from murmuring and complaining whenever we are enduring trials and temptations, and instead will lead us to praise him in a whole new way for murmuring and complaining are a sin against God since it is blaming God for our trials. Inclusive to this sin is also complaining about God's vessels He sends to deliver His messages to the people, slandering, and fighting against them. That also constitutes a violation of a law called touch not God's anointed and do His prophets no harm (1 Chronicles 16:22; Psalm 105:15).

In addition, this is the same as committing the violation of not trusting God and relying on him in all our ways as it is commanded in Proverbs 3:5-6,

5      Trust in the Lord with all your heart;

            do not depend on your own understanding.

6       Seek his will in all you do,

            and he will show you which path to take. NLT

As stated before, this is a key principle that we must learn to abide by in order for us to mature in the knowledge of God through His Son, Jesus. As we receive the necessary revelations of who He is and of the ways of His Kingdom that will help us reach our destiny, we will be able to remain and grow in a solid ground of dominion and authority in the earth as well as in the spirit realm. That is why Matthew 6:33 says to seek first the Kingdom of God above all else and live doing the right thing in the eyes of God and He will give us everything we need. The meaning of this passage is that we must seek or go after knowing God and knowing the way He does things first and foremost. By this we can learn the way He operates and the principles of His kingdom so we can obey them.This may take a process designed to take us to the place we lost with Adam's fall in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) where the communion with God and obedience to His ways allowed Adam to walk in the supernatural glory of God that made everything possible in a way that only God and not man or anything else received the glory.

Furthermore, another reason we go through the trials and temptations that God allows for us to endure for a sensible season is that the trials are not meant to destroy us, but are fashioned to enlarge our capacity to receive more of Him and of the wine of His Spirit. This is necessary to overcome the enemy at every level of our journey to our destiny in a supernatural way. Thus, as it has been said among many believers, there is a new devil (demon of a higher level of wickedness) at every level we reach and we need to be capacitated to overcome it when we say yes to God at every level. This also serves for us to be stripped of all anti-Christ influence that entered with Adam’s fall and that we used as instinctive ways to live our lives while we did not acknowledge God in all our ways. Doing this caused us to remain in a place of defeat without the power and authority to drive out the anti-Christ enemy that has oppressed us through its influence in our lives that we thought was the normal and right thing to do for us and for all God has entrusted to us such as our families, our children, our ministries, our businesses, relationships, finances, our bodies, etc.

That is why in Job 42:7-8 Job’s friends aroused the anger of God and were commanded by Him to go to him with a gift of provision to help him be restored with a double portion of what he had before. They had been blaming Job for the trial he was enduring and accused him of having committed a sin that caused the trial. This turned them into children of the devil for he is the accuser—opposer of the brethren (John 8:44). They were also speaking out of the lack of knowledge they had of the Lord and of His ways and also were trying to force him to go back to the old ways (the ways they were accustomed to that were influenced with the anti-Christ spirit and were a normal and right thing to do for them). The anti-Christ ways are filled with the control, manipulation, and witchcraft of Jezebel, the pride and fear of religion, and mammon worship—worshiping our possessions and the work of our hands instead of giving that place solely to God.

But Job had reached another place spiritually that caused him to see God in a new way and have understanding that He rules and reigns any way He desires for the earth is His and its fullness as well as all who live in it (Psalm 24:1). At this point Job could pray for them so they could be restored to the power and authority they needed to endure their process to remove the anti-Christ influence from them by the renewing of their minds and by obeying every command that comes from the mouth of God. To Him alone be all the glory. ■ © 2014.

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The Welfare System of the Church 2: Firstfruits

This post is another edited excerpt from my upcoming book. It explains the principle of the firstfruits offering and why it is important to understand and apply it especially at this time in God's calendar.

FirstFruits

Exodus 13:2 describes, Sanctify (consecrate, set apart) to Me all the firstborn [males]; whatever is first to open the womb among the Israelites, both of man and of beast, is Mine. AMP

Leviticus 23:9-10 also explains, ⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 

This means that we are required to give to God everything that becomes the first in our lives because it opens our wombs in every area of our lives, be it our first born son, the first paycheck when we get a new job and even from a promotion we received, our first house, our ministry, our business, etc. Thus, when we are planning to acquire something new to us we must always ask the Lord how He has planned for us to consecrate it to His service and do exactly what He commands us to do. For example, for our child, He might say that the child will be raised to serve Him in ministry as a minister or worshiper. Of a house the Lord might say to make it a house of prayer for all nations or something more specific like pray for families or leaders. At other times He may ask us to give our house away to someone else with no mortgage payments for them to make. A new car may be used to drive people to church or prayer meetings, and every first in our finances as well as every increase are to be given to God because the root sanctifies the branches.

It also means that the part we give to God because we are obeying this principle will sanctify the rest with prosperity and protection from the enemy. Romans 11:16 explains, For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. This is not the same as the tithe. The tithe is a 10% of your income (from every paycheck) or an offering which is what we give above and beyond the tithe for the things we want to increase in our lives. An example of giving firstfruits, tithes, and offerings comes from Abel. Genesis 4:1-5 says,

¹ Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” ² Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. NKJV

Verse 4 says that Abel brought the firstborn of his flock (the firstborn of his flock represents the firstfruits offering) and he also gave the fat of the animal (which represents a 10% or tithe because he always consumed the fat of the animals he offered to the Lord whether they were the firstborn or not). Other firsts we are required to give to God are: the first of our day (our first thoughts should be towards God and seeking His presence in intimacy with Him through the reading of the Word, prayer, and seeking His guidance for the day), the first of every calendar year we are to consecrate which means that every January we seek the Lord with prayer and fasting to sanctify the rest of it.  We also give a firstfruits offering at that time.

In addition, we give to God the Sabbath which is the day of rest and the first day of the week (most people do this on Sunday) in which we dedicate to seeking Him by going to church and fellowship with other brothers and sisters to talk about God and His ways for our lives. Isaiah 58:13-14 defines this,

¹³“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the Lord honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
¹⁴ Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord;
And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

One last firstfruits principle I want to mention is the firstfruits of every Sabbath year. This is every seventh year according to God’s calendar, not the Gregorian calendar. The same principle of the first day of the week applies here, except that we do this the whole year and are also commanded to help the poor in the Church and around us so we can all obey God’s command to spend consecrated time with Him during this year and not be worried about where our sustenance will come from. The seventh Sabbath year is also called the Shemitah year of rest for our lands. This is an agricultural Jewish term, but it also applies to every means we use to generate income. The land must rest according to God’s prescription for each one of us, so it can replenish and produce bountiful crops the next six years. We also are to forgive any debt owed to us by other believers. This does not apply to unbelievers, they still must pay what they owe us. The current Sabbath year 5775 is from October 8, 2014 to September 28, 2015. Leviticus 25:1-7 says,

¹And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. ³ Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; ⁴ but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. ⁵ What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your unatended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.⁶ And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, ⁷ for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.

A demonstration of this principle of the Sabbath year firstfruits in the early Church is found in Acts 2:44-45, ⁴⁴ Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, ⁴⁵ and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. This signifies that the finances they obtained from the selling of their possessions and goods were given to the apostles as firstfruits offerings. In other words, they gave the lump sum of the proceeds to the apostles in order to sanctify and protect their possessions during the next six years. 

In addition, Acts 4:32-37 emphasizes, ³² Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. ³³ And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, ³⁵ and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need. ³⁶ And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, ³⁷ having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. NKJV

It is crucial to understand that when we are giving our firstfruits offering, it must be the whole lump sum, not just a portion of the proceeds. The latter is dangerous to do for it could bring death to our lands in any area, not just financially. Three times a year we are to give firstfruits offerings: in January (beginning of the Gregorian calendar year), during the feast of Passover, and during the feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot. Therefore, if your income is weekly, then give a week’s pay at the beginning of the year as mentioned above, if it is biweekly, give accordingly, and so on. Chapter 5 of the book of acts, in verses 1-11 exemplifies what happens when we do not give the whole portion of the proceeds. It says that both Ananias and his wife Sapphira lied at separate times about the amount of the profit they received from the selling of their land and they both died for testing the Spirit of the Lord, one first, and the other one shortly after. 

1 But a certain man named Ananias, and Sapphira his wife sold a possession. 2 And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. NKJV

It says  in verses 1 and 2, and as mentioned in the previous post that Ananias and Sapphira were not believers, but they came to partake of this move of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in the land without knowledge and understanding of the ways of the Lord and under the influence of mammon, and by choosing not to tell the truth about their giving which was customary to them. Hence, they lied to the Holy Spirit and died. Not giving the firstfruits offering or giving only a portion of the total amount gives entrance to the spirit of mammon, and the influence of this spirit in our finances brings death to the whole of it and that is why our land would have to eject and shake everything that can be shaken because it is contaminated with mammon in the area of finances, so that the things that cannot be shaken because they came from the Holy Spirit's influence that we obeyed, may remain pure. Hebrews 12:27 explains,

Now this, "yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. NKJV.  

In the Church, the office of the Prophet is the one assigned by God to remove the spirit of mammon and its contamination from the tithes and the offerings and to point out the way the contamination has come in so that the door that gave entrance to the famine in the camp and in the land may be closed to that spirit. An example of that is seen with the prophet Elisha and the sons of the prophets that had tasted the poison of contamination in their midst because they had sought to obtain provision for food for the house by any means possible. However, these means were outside of God’s will due to their contamination with the mammon spirit, but thankfully the people were able to discern it and cry out for help. Consequently, as it is seen in the passage, the prophet had to put the flour in the pot. This stands for the office of the Prophet providing the elimination of the contamination by the spirit of mammon through their firstfruits offering. 2 Kings 4:38-41 says in the New King James Version,

“³⁸ And Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” ³⁹ So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were. ⁴⁰ Then they served it for the men to eat. Now it happened, as they were eating the stew, that they cried out and said, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.
⁴¹So he said, “Then bring some flour.” And he put it on the pot, and said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot. To God alone be all the glory. ■© 2014

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The Welfare System of the Church 1: As Helper of Many

^{Romans 16:1-2
1}Now I introduce and commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae,

² That you may receive her in the Lord [with a Christian welcome], as saints (God’s people) ought to receive one another. And help her in whatever matter she may require assistance from you, for she has been a helper of many including myself [shielding us from suffering] AMP.

The Church has an apostolic call for which it has been cleansing, preparing, and for which God has been and will continue to do a thorough job of removing anything that was not born of His Spirit. The works of the flesh that God is consuming through His fire will help her walk in purity and with the maturity and stature of Christ He commissioned the five-fold-ministry to guide her to. By the time this work of cleansing and restoration leading to maturity is reached, several things will be manifested through the Church:

First, the demonic doctrines and humanistic theories taught through many pulpits that has caused her to leak out impurities and have made her bruised and marked from strife and division within (the works of the influence of anti-Christ in her midst), and have also made her pretty much repulsive to those in the world will be eradicated and the people of God will continue to be brought back from rebellion against God and His ways to embrace Him as they see Jesus with brand new eyes and return to their first love.

In addition, during this Schemitah Sabbatical year (See the post “The Seven Year Sabbath Shemitah 5775” posted 5/14/2014) and beyond, the Church will also be brought to the understanding that she has been commissioned to be a soccurer of the people in the land—a job that the government had taken, but was not called to do without her help, and that is why it has been difficult to fulfill. The reason is because the Church has been anointed, appointed, and prepared to help remove needs in the lives of people.

As a processor and distributor of wealth in the land, and as she walks in Kingdom of God dominion, Salvation will take care of the people’s spiritual needs; teaching and continual exposure to the Gospel of the Kingdom that models Jesus Christ for them to follow after, will help the Church recognize Him for the time of His second coming, so she does not run to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Physical needs will also be met through the healing power released through her. But Proverbs 6:16-19 says,

These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷ A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren. NKJV

These are the works of the anti-Christ spirit that have caused the Church to be bruised and wounded, spotted and wrinkled, powerless, and ineffective to the world, but the healing power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the redemptive work done at the Cross will cause her to walk in the power and authority she had lost. The more the Church will give herself to allow the Lord to heal her of the wounds in her soul, the more she will be more apt to walking in the great grace the early Church walked in that removed poverty and lack from her midst. As mentioned in other posts, a couple of examples of the great grace that removed  poverty and lack as modeled in the Early Church as she begins to walk in Kingdom of God dominion again are: Acts 2:44-47 says,

⁴⁴ Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, ⁴⁵ and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. ⁴⁶ So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. NKJV

Also, Acts 4:32-35 explains, ³² Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. ³³ And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, ³⁵ and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

For this reason, Jesus is coming to heal the wounds of the Church and to put salve in her eyes that she may see Him with new eyes and will see Him and her destiny with a new and renewed focus. The mindset of the Church will be transformed from being like Rachel’s to thinking like Ruth and Mary, the sister of Lazarus (See the posts “Ruth and Mary’s Example” posted 1/30/2013 and “The Stewardship of God’s Grace: Standing Firm in His Righteousness” posted 9/17/2012).

But following chapter four in the book of Acts came a warning to anyone who would try to make a mockery of the Holy Spirit and His power to save. The warning came to those who, under the influence of the anti-Christ spirit and the workings of Mammon, were met with the judgment of God. Acts 5:1-11 relates the story of Ananias and Sapphira, two non-believers (rather sorcerers), who thought they could take advantage of the great blessings God had brought upon the Church and by conspiring to lie to the Apostle Peter, thought they could mock this mighty move of the Holy Spirit of King Jesus, the Judicial Christ, and fell dead to the ground.

This will demonstrate the two edged sword of authority and power that the Church will also learn to walk in as she is taught to apply the wisdom and knowledge of the times when the priestly anointing needs to be applied for the salvation, healing, restoration, and deliverance of souls, and of the fallen, as well as when to walk in her Kingship anointing to defend and advance the Kingdom of our Lord and see the other kingdoms become the kingdoms of our God. To Him alone be all the glory. ■

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A Call to Unity and the Pursuit of Truth 4

This is an edited excerpt from my upcoming book. It explains what is necessary for us to be carriers of the glory of the Lord to every place He has called us to influence and help in the transformation of the world around us as a united Church for His glory alone. The glory of God is the only means of transformation for our society and for the satisfying of our longing to experience what we were created to do—to be objects of worship, but the glory of God helps us get back to what should be the sole object of that worship: the Lord Most High through His son Jesus. That is why everything that is in the way of our worship of Him is removed when He takes over with His glorious presence in our lives.

Let me now direct you to what every believer should do in order to obtain a continual transformation within us that will help us get hold of the character of Christ we need to fulfill our destinies in Him as carriers of His glory that remain relevant to the moves of His Spirit.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

⁹And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. ¹⁰And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested. KJV

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

⁹Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” ¹⁰And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. NKJV

Reading these two versions of this passage would have caused me to go on a search hunt for the right words Jabez actually said, so I would have the “right” meaning of the context. But for now I will forgo doing that because I find it interesting that one version says that Jabez fervently prayed that God would keep him from evil, that it may not grieve him! But the second version says that the prayer was pretty much the same except that towards the end he prayed that if he was kept from evil, he would not cause pain!

This tells me that Jabez was indeed a man that gave himself to prayer and intercession. A very important key in our walk with God, also called ministering to the Lord. These two versions of the passage show that prayer should keep us both asking to be protected from the wiles of the evil one against us, and also that God would do a work of continual transformation in us, so we do not become snared by the world and its system and compromise and accept sin in our lives (Exodus 34:12-17), nor anything else that would exhibit a low level of our love walk and devotion to our God. We must pray fervently that the Lord would help us maintain in us a humble, obedient, and contrite heart that trembles at His word. In other words, our walk as citizens of heaven must demonstrate that we worship the Lord our God with ALL our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength, and that as we learn to receive the love of the Father for us that causes us to love ourselves, we can then extend that same love, mercy, and grace to others around us (Mark 12:30-31).

By the same token, being able to pray at the direction of the Holy Spirit against the schemes of the enemy involves that we are mindful of our love walk and devotion to God. Only then will we be free to be the vessels God uses to extend judgment against the enemy at every level and dimension He takes us in our process toward our destiny in Him and be effective at fulfilling every plan and purpose He has for our lives as we till the ground and build into our future through prayer, intercession, and worship.

Psalm 24:3-5 explains that in order for us to receive the victory of the battle against the enemy, we must have clean hands and a pure heart, and not raise any idols to worship in the place of our God, neither give ourselves to live in deception. This means that we should always pursue the truth of who God is and of the ways of His kingdom. It describes,

³ Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
⁵ He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation. NKJV

This will enable us to worship the Father in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). To worship the Father in Spirit and in truth means that it is very important to spend time seeking the presence of the Lord, not only in prayer, but in worship, fasting, consecration, reading His word, and seeking every word that comes out of His mouth as we learn to listen to the voice of His Spirit within us. The object of it is to seek continual decontamination from the pollution we obtained from the world and its system in our upbringings, our cultures, our generational background, or through any defiling means like traumatic events that caused us to receive the fear that leads to manipulation and control which is contrary to God's will for us and His nature in us, or sex outside of marriage—one of the biggest sources of defiling and contamination in us. We need to repeatedly come to the Father asking Him to have His way in us, so He can have His way through us by removing the things that hinder our obedience to Him and to His word, and that the fruit we bear is fruit produced by clinging to the vine because we are the branches and apart from Him can do absolutely nothing (John 15:5).

This will turn us into righteous believers that can be used of God to bring down the government of heaven to be established in our lives and in every situation we encounter, for we cannot come against the things that still influence us. They have to be overcome first. Prayer and seeking the presence of God continually put a stumping boot against those things in our lives as Jabez prayed so fervently for God to remove from him. The first part of verse nine of the above passage says that Jabez was found to be more honorable than his brothers. 1 Samuel 2:30 says that those who honor the Lord, He will also honor, and He despises those who think lightly of him.

Going to God persistently in prayer and seeking His glorious presence to be transformed by Him puts us on the side of those who honor God because we are showing Him by this that our relationship with Him is of chief importance in our lives and that we are willing to pay the price to obtain the great reward of the crown given to those who overcome the enemy at every level and dimension of our walk as citizens of heaven and in partnership with Him because many times that enemy “self”. That crown signifies that we increasingly become carriers of His glory and His Spirit can rest in us, so we can be conduits that manifest the atmosphere of heaven wherever we go in order to leave a lasting mark that changes not only the environment around us, but those we encounter, so they too can taste and see that the Lord is good and those who take refuge in Him can walk with joy (Psalm 34:8).

This is something that should put us on the path of going after our spiritual maturity that cannot be achieved without allowing God to turn every stone in our hearts in order to deal with the proclivities of our flesh and the traumas, pains, disappointments, hurts, and all other things that get in the way of our emotional maturity. Prayer, worship, and all other strategies like fasting that He will ask us to do, will help us reach this emotional maturity so we will prosper even as our souls prosper (3 John:2).

According to Ephesians 6:18-19, we must pray always with all manner of prayer and supplication. We must also pray in the spirit, and be watchful with perseverance and supplication for all saints. This is meant to explain that as we pray in the spirit and start following the flow of the Holy Spirit, He will show us people or situations to pray for. Sometimes we will be shown the root of a situation for us to pray for the uprooting of the cause of what is shown, and that way the manifestation that is seen on the surface will also disappear. Moreover, the Scripture also mentions to pray for all saints. This includes all leaders. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 says,

¹ Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, ² for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. ³ For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

As mentioned above and as verse 4 confirms, it is the pursuit of the truth of who God is and of the ways of His Kingdom that we are required to cry out to God for because pursuing lies and wrong doctrines, following our own selfish ambitions, and refusing to turn from our wickedness can turn us into objects of judgment according to Romans 2:8-9 which says, ⁸But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. ⁹ There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. NLT

Hosea 4:6 says that people perish for lack of knowledge and receive rejection. Therefore if we find our prayers being rejected by God, it could mean that we are violating the laws that govern prayer and are asking amiss according to James 4:3 which say, You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. NKJV

Some laws that govern prayer that will ensure God will hear us are:

1. We pray to God the Father in the name of His Son, Jesus (John 14:13-14). We also pray the Word of God about the situation. This means that we have taken the time to ask Him for a word about it, waited for His answer, and listened to what He has to say about it.

2. Then we must meditate on and confess that word to get it on the inside of us, so that our faith level to see the fulfillment of that word rises as we pray (Joshua 1:8) and we purposely take every step of faith God directs us to take towards its fulfillment; and after we have done all, then we can stand on that word believing that He will bring it to pass.

3. We need to make sure we have forgiven all trespasses and offenses done against us (Mark 11:25).

4. Also, because we are to be submitted and understand authority, we must all be submitted to God’s authority with reverential fear and awe like the centurion did when he said to Jesus to just send the word and his servant will be healed (Matthew 8:5-13). We also must understand authority, so we can be submitted the right way. We need to recognize all authority figures God has placed in our lives and honor and respect them and their position of authority over us. These are parental authorities, civil authorities, and spiritual authorities, teachers, coaches, guardians, etc. There are serious penalties for not obeying and honoring our authorities including prayers that go unanswered.

Honoring our parental figures of authority will ensure we live a long life on the earth. Obeying our civil authorities will also ensure that we do not pay the penalties established for the rebellious in the land (Romans 13:1-3). Furthermore, the Bible says not to touch God's anointed and to do His prophets no harm (1 Chronicles 16:22; Psalm 105:15). This disobedience will cause God to rise up and fight against those who touch God's anointed people He has placed in our lives.

5. Another part of the laws that govern prayer is the law of perseverance stated in Luke 18:1-8 which relates the parable of the widow who went repeatedly to the judge to ask him to avenge her of her enemy. Initially, the judge did not respond to her in the way she wanted, but her perseverance finally moved his hand speedily. In addition, Matthew 7:7-11 confers about asking, knocking, and seeking. These three are a progressive state by which one perseveres in prayer in a way that turns us into those that take the Kingdom by force (Matthew 11:12). This is because we have used steadfast endurance in our prayers until their fulfillment without fainting, and allowing the Holy Spirit to flow in us in all His fullness, according to His seven facets stated in Isaiah 11:2-5 which says,

² And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ He will delight in obeying the Lord.
He will not judge by appearance
nor make a decision based on hearsay.
⁴ He will give justice to the poor
and make fair decisions for the exploited.
The earth will shake at the force of his word,
and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.
⁵ He will wear righteousness like a belt
and truth like an undergarment. NLT

All of these are done at different levels and dimensions as we journey in the process God takes us on the way to our destinies in Him and even after. As citizens of heaven, we are to always aim for more knowledge of God and of His ways, and as verse 5 of the passage states, always pursuing righteousness and truth with the acknowledgement that to whom much is given much is required. Luke 12:48 tells us,

But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. NKJV

In order for us to become agents of unity and carriers of His glorious presence as we continue to be transformed into His image and likeness, the pursuing of the fullness of who God is (the vine dresser) who engrafted us and made us partake of the vine as branches adopted in order to bear fruit that remains, we need to come and drink of the wine of the vine, and come back for more again and again. This is to become our lifestyle until He has His way in us and through us to His own satisfaction that only He can determine until every “no” we have said to Him turns into a “yes” to His will and His plan and purpose for us. We must complete this pattern at every level we reach in our walk towards our destiny and after because it will ensure we will remain relevant to everything God wants to do in us and through us as we partake of the moves of His Spirit. This is an important key to seeing the supernatural ways of God manifested in our lives. It is not by works that we can produce fruit that remains, but by drinking from the vine as many times as we need to (Esther 1:7-8).

Works of our flesh without drinking from the vine continually can wear us out and still we will see no fruit or at the maximum a small portion of it compared to what can be accomplished when God is greatly involved in our lives. This is the difference between King Saul and King David, and that is why, as mentioned in the last post, the women of the land sang about the thousands Saul could kill, but David was able to kill tens of thousands. James 4:8 admonishes us, Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. NLT

In other words, the Scripture is saying to many in the Church that they have one foot in the Kingdom and the other one in the world. But God is a jealous God who will not allow His name to be tarnished by giving His glory to anyone else (no one else will get the credit for what He does to rescue us for His name's sake), neither will He share His praise with any idols we may have raised in any area of our lives to replace Him (Isaiah 42:8; 48:11). Therefore, drawing near to God so He can draw near to us continually will help us produce more fruit in less time than if we did it by works. Our striving and struggling to make things happen ahead, behind or apart from Him is also something that God intends to remove from us as we come to Him again and again to be filled with more of Him so that among other things, He can expose and remove the idols we have raised. To Him alone be all the glory.© 2014.

A Call to Unity and the Pursuit of Truth 3

                                 Romans 3:21-23

21 But God has a way to make people right with Himself without the law. And God has now shown us that way which the law and the prophets told us about. 22 God makes people right with Himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all are the same. 23 All people have sinned and are not good enough for God's glory. ERV

Continuing with the last two posts from this series, we have observed that as believers we are to aim in a determined way at being carriers of the glory of God (the atmosphere of God in heaven that brings the supernatural to the earth) for that is the reward of every believer that chooses to follow Jesus Christ all the way until we obtain this goal so can take it to the spheres of influence God has given us. This is because the glory of God is what transforms our lives and makes us examples of what living a life of abundance in every area looks like with God’s supernatural help to a dying world that is desperate for something new and better than the chaos they know. That is why judging one another and becoming stumbling blocks to others only keeps us from demonstrating the light and the glory of God to the dark world.

Nothing else can transform us apart from seeking the presence of God that brings His glory into our lives and restores us more and more to His image and likeness. Man power won't do it, greed won't do it, our own strength won't do it, good intentions won’t do it, or presumption won’t do it either. For this reason, our focus on becoming the vessels that will carry this glory to the places of our assignments while accepting the process God chooses for us in order to remove the influence of what falls short of this glory in our lives should be our main objective. We must yield to His commanded process for us because it demolishes strongholds and breaks everything that is in the way of God having His way in our lives for His glory alone.

Seeking after our own ways gives us mediocre results, but seeking after the glory of God brings His signs, wonders, and miracles that cause us to accomplish things in a supernatural way because only by being dependent on His help can we do these things. That is why King Saul was jealous of David after he (David) killed Goliath the giant. The women in the area started singing and dancing, saying that Saul could kill thousands, but David could kill tens of thousands. 1 Samuel 18:7-8 says,

⁷ So the women sang as they danced, and said,

 “Saul has slain his thousands

And David his ten thousands.”

⁸ Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” NKJV

Notice that the jealousy King Saul had towards David also made the king suspicious of him—but he was innocent and only wanted to be a servant to the king and to God. The fear that led to anger and jealousy brought Saul to want to do something that was unnecessary and in the end caused him more because King Saul soon began to be tormented by an evil spirit and only David had the spiritual authority to drive it out through his worship. Saul was willing to not only be a stumbling block to David’s purpose, but he also wanted, under the influence of a spirit of sedition, to completely remove David. A spirit of sedition causes a person to undermine the established authority by dishonoring it and by applying his or her own agenda with the plan to overthrow the authority set by God. Some times this established authority can come from outside as a prophetic voice that God has sent to bring by his or her anointing the order necessary for Him to move in a given situation.

Unfortunately, this scenario has repeated itself many times over in the body of Christ where there have been church splits, and new churches or denominations that were started at the expense of another person or group’s misfortune or fall. Another example of the manifestation of the spirit of sedition is when perhaps it was time for a ministry to go to a higher level in God, but the way God chose for them to enter a new portal in His supernatural ways was well beyond the comprehension of the leaders and because of that they persecuted the sent one of God that was chosen as the door by which they could enter this new portal, and as a result they allowed this spirit to enter the house of God due to ignorance of His higher ways (Isaiah 55:8). This is also seen in the marketplace.

There are instances in which someone’s anointing can break a demonic hindrance that is keeping others from moving forward, but there are other times when what is keeping us from advancing is our own sinful nature or works of the flesh. For that, the flesh needs to be put under the ruling of the Holy Spirit and crucified, and that requires at times that we go through a trial designed and allowed by God to bring the flesh into submission and ruling. In addition, when we continue to choose what is familiar and have grown accustomed to instead of accepting what may be new and far above what we can ask, think, or imagine because that is how God chooses to answer our prayers, we are hindered by those levels of revelation that have become obsolete. God is constantly moving and we move with Him at the speed of the revelations we receive that cause us to reach higher levels in the knowledge of Him and of His ways. For that reason, we cannot assume we have all the answers and think we can solve every situation in the same way we did before. Doing things this way will drive us to not be able to tap into His glory realm to bring down the answers to our situations in a way that only God can do out of the riches of His glory because we are offering sacrifices instead of obedience to His commands. As mentioned before, that attracts the wrong spirit into our lives since that is considered to be witchcraft and rebellion.

The spirit of sedition is accompanied by the spirits of strife and division, and betrayals like that of Absalom, David’s son who wanted to take his throne from him, or like Korah, who led the children of Israel to rise against Moses’ authority and leadership will follow us and cause division everywhere we go. The ones to suffer the consequences in a ministry, business, family or community and even a nation are not only those in leadership, but all who are under the leaders who operate from the influence of the spirit of sedition. There is chaos and not order which keeps us from having God’s power flow freely in our midst to demonstrate the riches of His glorious presence during the services or in our lives. This becomes a chain reaction to the detriment of all involved directly or indirectly and can affect every area of our lives.

This spirit ought to be cast out from among us first through repentance. Other actions may be rendered necessary such as removing the person or persons that constantly bring about the manifestation of that spirit from our presence (including the leadership). No progress can be made while there is sedition among us. The casting out and renouncing of that spirit are a necessary component of our deliverance, so we do not find ourselves in other situations that can hinder the advancement of the Kingdom of God through our lives because we have forfeited our authority and freedom in Christ through having something new that was the product of the downfall of other people, especially if they were innocent parties and victims of our wrong motives.

Another reason already highlighted in this post, but that I will expand more on is ignorance. Satan’s number one weapon against us is to keep us ignorant. Ignorance gives birth to fear, and this fear is the type that leads us to want to control and manipulate our way out of the things we do not understand, or that God is allowing to shake the wrong foundations and worldly mindsets, so He can replace them with the foundation of the Kingdom of God which is reverential fear of Him which leads us to want to pursue His wisdom and right standing with Him. But many leaders have led their people astray through their lack of knowledge of God which has led to idolatry because they first refused to seek or accept a higher level in the knowledge of Him because they became stagnant at the level of revelation they're fighting to keep which has turned them into idolaters of those levels of revelation and God is moving at higher levels than that, making their level of knowledge obsolete or just basic. Hosea 4:6-7 says,

⁶ My people are being destroyed

      because they don’t know me.

   Since you priests refuse to know me,

     I refuse to recognize you as my priests.

   Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,

     I will forget to bless your children.

⁷ The more priests there are

     the more they sin against me.

   They have exchanged the glory of God

     For the shame of idols. NLT    

That is why the Lord of Heaven's Armies is coming to His house to remove everything that is hindering His glorious presence among His people, what brings dishonor and sedition in the church, and setting things in order so that His bride can be made spot and wrinkle free and can be made ready for the coming of the Lord in unity. Malachi 3:1-5 explains how He will do this. 

1 "Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the LORD you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. 

2 "But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. 3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they once again may offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD. 4 Then once more the LORD will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past.

5"At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers, and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me." Says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. 

Sadly, what is described in verse 5 is seen in the church and He is bringing the reverential fear of Him back into His house first. The Bible says that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and it brings knowledge and understanding of the Holy One to us. It also spearheads us to walk in humility that eventually will bring us to a place of honor (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10; 15:33). So in essence, God Almighty is calling us to examine our ways and as He sheds His light on every wrong turn we have made that caused us to fall short of His glory, we can come boldly to His throne of grace and mercy. As we lay at the altar, let’s allow Him to have His way in us and through us so we can be set free to pursue the truth of His Gospel as well as the unity of the saints that transcends denominational boundaries.

Thus, His bride can be made without spot and wrinkle and become like the New Jerusalem which is illuminated by the light of His glorious presence and no shameful idolatry, dishonesty, or anything evil that could cause us to die spiritually can enter the gates of our lives, ministries or businesses (Revelation 22:23, 27). It is important to find out if we have experienced spiritual death since it is a subtle state that can happen without our realization and is demonstrated by our lack of hearing and discerning how the Spirit of the Lord is currently moving and struggles that are difficult to overcome get even worse. In other words. There is a deceleration and decrease in our walk with God and in our lives. Spiritually dead people also are influenced by the anti-Christ spirit which causes them to twist everything they see or discern, and in a legalistic way, they make themselves the standard by which they judge everyone else. They also are greedy.

Furthermore, spiritually dead people seem to appear submissive and are flattering, but rebel against authority. Also, the things of the world become more attractive to them even if they claim to be walking with God, read the Bible and pray for their hearts have become hard and even stubborn. Lack of a walk love towards God and those around us can lead to spiritual death and failure to pay attention to this realization can lead to a second death that can be manifested anywhere from losing our positions and offices to physical death because we are no longer fulfilling God's purpose for our lives (Revelation 21:6-8). Let's be a body that takes heed in this hour.To Him alone be all the glory. ■

A Call to Unity and the Pursuit of Truth 2

Continuing with the last post, with the help of Romans Chapter 14 and other Scriptures, I want to explain some of the reasons there are many arguments about doctrines and denominations as well as the need we have to refrain from judging our brothers and sisters. Only God can determine who will stand and who will fall before Him and God calls us to not quarrel over opinions or look down on those who are weak in faith (Romans 14:1).

Romans 14:4 says, Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. ESV

One example is observed in Romans 14:5-9. It says that while one person may esteem one day above others, another may esteem all days alike. Therefore, in everything we do, we should be fully convinced in our own mind that what we do and what we believe honors the Lord and we are thankful to Him. For we do not live to ourselves, but to the Lord.

Romans 14:10-12 admonishes, 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. ESV
There are more admonishments from this chapter that are important for us to understand that arguments and judgments of one denomination against another is not the will of God for us.

Verse 13 exhort us to refrain from passing judgment on one another and from becoming stumbling blocks that hinder the way of our brothers and sisters. It explains, 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ESV

Because the Lord gives us a measure of faith (Romans 12:3) that we are required to grow and develop by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), and by seeking first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), those that have received revelations at one level of faith and have not grown to other levels, should not be stumbling blocks to those who come to drink from the water of the word and the wine of the Spirit and thus receive revelations at higher levels because to whom much is given much is required (Luke 12:48). On the other hand, those that attain higher levels of revelations should not look down on those who operate at lower levels of faith (Romans 12:3). Please see my blog posts titled “The Extravagant Drink” 1 and 2 published in May of 2012 to go even further in this explanation.

Unfortunately, many who started strong in their walk with God and pursuit of truth, became deceived by other doctrines that were indeed demonic and humanistic. That is why Revelations chapters 2 and 3 give us examples of these doctrines of demons and the deception of many who were called to lead God's people, and of others who took it upon themselves to teach out of their abominable, deceptive, and lying influence. It is important for us to continue to obey God's word to pursue truth because on judgment day we will be held accountable for the truth we knew and obeyed as explained in the last post. Galatians 6:7 also warns, Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ESV

One important reason for us to pursue truth and unity in the body of Christ is explained in Galatians 6:1-4, 10. It says that those of us who are spiritual should help restore those that are overtaken in any trespass, but this should be done in a spirit of gentleness and meekness lest we are tempted. We are to bear one another's burdens and this way fulfill the law of Christ (which is the law of love). Otherwise we are deceived if we think of ourselves to be more than we really are. Instead, we should examine our own work and rejoice in doing good to all, especially those of the household of faith.

As it is mentioned in Ephesians 4:13 the goal that we need to aim for individually as well as corporately is to help each other till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; NKJV

Romans 14:16-19 confirms it this way, 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. NKJV

Joshua 12:24 adds what we are to do to fulfill our calling to help each other come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man (whose main objective is to serve God and his brethren to fulfill the law of Christ—the law of loving God and his neighbor as himself) that we may attain the full measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (as kings that fight against any anti-Christ influence and remove the government of Satan to expand and defend the establishment of the Kingdom of heaven in our circumstances and as priests that extend mercy and grace to the lost of the world and the fallen in the house of God), It says, Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! NKJV

Colossians 1:28-29 also ratifies the importance of becoming spiritually mature in Christ, so we can teach others the same, 28 So we continue to tell people about Christ. We use all wisdom to counsel every person and teach every person. We are trying to bring everyone before God as people who have grown to be spiritually mature in Christ. 29 To do this, I work and struggle using the great strength that Christ gives me. That strength is working in my life.

Thus, this way we will help others behold and partake of the reward of the glory of the Lord that transforms our lives. Just as we did in the last post, we will use 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 to explain that what God has planned and purposed for His people is for them to be transformed by His glory and experience freedom in Christ. It says, 12 We are so sure of this hope that we can speak very openly. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a covering over his face. He covered his face so that the people of Israel would not see it. The glory was disappearing, and Moses did not want them to see it end. 14 But their minds were closed. And even today, when those people read the writings of the old agreement, that same covering hides the meaning. That covering has not been removed for them. It is taken away only through Christ. 15 Yes, even today, when they read the Law of Moses, there is a covering over their minds. 16 But when someone changes and follows the Lord, that covering is taken away. 17 The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And our faces are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings more and more glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. ERV

To Him alone be all the glory.■