The Talents and Ranks of the Warrior Bride of Christ 5: The Force of Honor

Malachi 4:1-6 MSG

^1-3 “Count on it: The day is coming, raging like a forest fire. All the arrogant people who do evil things will be burned up like stove wood, burned to a crisp, nothing left but scorched earth and ash— a black day. But for you, sunrise! The sun of righteousness will dawn on those who honor my name, healing radiating from its wings. You will be bursting with energy, like colts frisky and frolicking. And you’ll tromp on the wicked. They’ll be nothing but ashes under your feet on that Day.” God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.

⁴ “Remember and keep the revelation I gave through my servant Moses, the revelation I commanded at Horeb for all Israel, all the rules and procedures for right living.

^5-6 “But also look ahead: I’m sending Elijah the prophet to clear the way for the Big Day of God—the decisive Judgment Day! He will convince parents to look after their children and children to look up to their parents. If they refuse, I’ll come and put the land under a curse.”

Many of you might have heard by now that God is closing the lines of communication between His children and others that have rejected Him and rejected those He has sent in His name. This scenario may also be seen among family members, friendships, job relationships, ministries, and so on, where God is removing those He will bless in this season from those that will experience the consequences of being dishonoring to Him and His people. The reason for this is because He is looking to those that have obeyed His command during the past seasons which says in Luke 10:27, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” NKJV

You see, it is a big deal to God that we show honor to Him not only with our mouths and acts of obedience because of our relationship with Him. But also that from our hearts we include Him in every aspect of our lives daily, counting on Him to guide our every step because He is the sole object of our adoration and obedience. I have learned over the years in my walk with God that He is a jealous God who, after a while, rejects those who hate and reject Him. This is found in Exodus 20:5 which says, “You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,” NKJV

This happens because He created us to worship Him alone and not the work of our hands, positions or titles, power, greed, or other people. Therefore, His jealousy will show when the wrong foundations are shaken because people have gone to worship His creation instead of Him who created it. Also, another aspect of His jealousy is demonstrated through the intimate times of communion and fellowship He wants to share with us. Those times are not to spend with Him on our own terms, but His. He guides us also during those times to show us what He wants to talk about, so we can pray those things and war with His promises as our weapons, believing that we will see them come to pass.

Moreover, the Lord contends with those who dishonor His chosen people, His true prophets, and apostles, who are sent ones to point the way to the people to where God wants to take them and prepare them so they can partake of the next moves of His Spirit. But many have rejected them, mocked them, opposed, and obstructed them, and in essence, have violated the spiritual principle of honoring God`s prophets and do them no harm (1 Chronicles 16:22, Psalm 105:15). To them, God has a response similar to what happened to the youth that mocked the prophet Elisha, if they do not repent and show behavior or fruit that demonstrates their repentance. Elisha was going about doing good and God was performing miracles through him on behalf of the people of the city, but some youth intercepted him and started to mock him as He was going up the mountain of the Lord. This is found in 2 Kings 2:23-24 NKJV.

^"23 Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”

²⁴ So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths."

The New Testament version of this passage is found in Galatians 6:7-8 which in the Message Version says,

“^7-8 Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.”

In addition, 1 Samuel 2:29-30 reiterates what people reap when they reject God and the grace He has given them to change their ways because there comes a time when He says “Enough is enough” and those people will not be allowed to continue doing what they have been doing. It says,

“But now—God’s word, remember!—there is no way this can continue.

I honor those who honor me;
those who scorn me I demean.” MSG

For this reason, the Lord is sounding the alarm through His prophets who come under the anointing of Elijah to restore honor in God`s house to God and to His true prophets and apostles. Through them, God is inviting them to come to this place where there is a crying out for repentance and seeking the Lord`s face to be found with a pure heart and clean hands in this season, according to Psalm 24:1-6,

^1-2 God claims Earth and everything in it,
    God claims World and all who live on it.
He built it on Ocean foundations,
    laid it out on River girders.

^3-4 Who can climb Mount God?
    Who can scale the holy north-face?
Only the clean-handed,
    only the pure-hearted;
Men who won’t cheat,
    women who won’t seduce.

^5-6 God is at their side;
    with God’s help they make it.
This, Jacob, is what happens
    to God-seekers, God-questers. MSG

To God alone be all the glory. ▪

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The Talents and Ranks of the Warrior Bride of Christ 4: How to be Perfect

Matthew 19:20-21

“²⁰ The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”

21Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

A person that has reached the spiritual status of perfection required for this end times is one that has come to the understanding that as children of the Most High God, we are also stewards of everything God has entrusted to us, be it the people placed under our care, our businesses or ministries, our finances, and everything else that God has decided to give to us to multiply for His Kingdom. But in reference to the Scripture above, God is talking about perfection that comes through selling. This means that God gave us the ability to acquire some things that were placed in our possession for us to grow, but in the end, we were doing that so others could have the benefit of it.

There are examples of this in the Bible. You may have read the examples I am about to mention in some of my other blog posts, but they are the best to illustrate this understanding that comes to us by the grace of God and for which the end time Church needs to wake up. The essential reason for this is that God wants to remove poverty from the Church, but it takes all of us to partake of this. God gave to some stewardship of more and to some stewardship of less, but regardless of the amount or the ability to obtain wealth, it is not for our hoarding. It is to advance His Kingdom and one of the main ways to do it is by helping others in the Church to be relieved from poverty and lack.   

Acts 2:44-45 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.”

Acts 4:32-37 “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.”

This is necessary during this Jubilee year because everything that is rightfully ours as children of the Most High God will now make its way back to us. I am referring to the great grace God bestowed upon the early Church which caused them to realize that nothing was for them to use by themselves, but to share with others. In this way, we will also be demonstrating the perfect love of God to our brothers and sisters as it is described in 1 Corinthians 13:10 which says,

“But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.”

In this context, we were doing things partially, but did not have a full understanding of the ways of the Kingdom of God needed for us to operate in these end-times, and this move of the Holy Spirit in this hour brings a form of sharing that is part of the glory of God`s latter house that will be greater than the glory of the former. God also promised that in His Church there will be peace (Haggai 2:9). This peace is the Shalom that encompasses all the abundant life Jesus died on the Cross to give to us and for which the Church is to have an active operation to do away with poverty among her members.

In this manner, God is doing war against the Antichrist spirit of Mammon that has stood in the way of the healing His people have been crying out for. That is why Jesus Himself went to the temple with a whip to drive out the money changers. Matthew 21:12-14 explains,

“¹² Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹³ And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

¹⁴ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.”

Another thing that has been affected by the presence of the Antichrist spirit that has occupied God`s house is that the true kind of prayer that God is calling us to do corporately has been lacking in zeal and in some churches it is non-existent, making the Church ineffective to remove hindrances and the demonic that has oppressed her people. The end time Church is an apostolic Church that not only prays for the lost and the fallen but also engages in warfare by praying against the enemy and his obstructions against God`s people, prays for the advancement of the Church, as well as everything that is necessary to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom. The early Church also demonstrated this.

Acts 2:34-35 says,

“³⁴ “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand (of authority and power),
³⁵ Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’”(Emphasis mine).

Acts 4:23-30 also says,

“²³ And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. ²⁴ So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, ²⁵ who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:

‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?
²⁶ The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’

²⁷ “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together ²⁸ to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. ²⁹ Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, ³⁰ by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.””

That is why the apostle Paul earnestly desired that we become perfected in Christ as a Church (because Christ was both a Priest who died to save the lost and a King who confronted Satan and took the keys of the Kingdom back from him and also set the captives free) as it is explained in Ephesians 4:13-16.

“¹³ 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; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Colossians 1:28 also states, “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

For this reason, the Lord God admonishes us in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” To God alone be all the glory ▪

All Scriptures are from the New King James Versión  NKJV

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The Talents and Ranks of the Bride of Christ 3

Recently I went to a meeting where we, among other things, discussed how to develop deeper relationships in the church and how to increase fellowship among members in the body of Christ.  When I got home the Lord continued to minister to me from this theme and answered some of the questions we had raised and from the Bible showed me the root of the issue and how to appropriate what Jesus did for us in this area.

Genesis 3:6-11 says, ⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of the two of them were opened [that is, their awareness increased], and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ He said, “I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” ¹¹ God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten [fruit] from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” AMP

As seen in the passage, Adam and Eve had a wholesome relationship with God. This means that they could be open with Him and not be afraid of being judged or misunderstood. God also revealed Himself to them and showed them many facets of His deity. Both, God and the humans were comfortable and able to fellowship and become deep with each other freely. They valued each other`s company and demonstrated their appreciation for their companionship and friendship. But when the serpent came, it took that away from them. Then they were afraid of being naked and vulnerable before God and fearful of being underestimated, undervalued, and misjudged. That is why they chose to put on fig leaves which represent a covering of their true identity and a way to act as if everything was fine. They were now afraid to allow others to see them for who they were and the fig leaves were also a mask to hide the fear that was in their lives which kept them from being effective vessels because now they were toiling for what had once come easily to them before the fall when God`s grace was upon them.

Thankfully, this is one of the things Jesus paid the price for us to receive. He was wounded, chastised, rejected, and beaten beyond recognition, so we could be healed of the demonic oppression that, based on fear, came to rob us of that wholesome relationship with God and with each other. Isaiah 53:3-5 says in the Amplified Version,

³ He was despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief;
And like One from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him.

⁴ But [in fact] He has borne our griefs,
And He has carried our sorrows and pains;
Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken,
Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him].

⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing];
The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him,
And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.

When we have been wounded, offended, and we have sinned against others or others have sinned against us, we are now free to go to our heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus, who already took for us what we would not have been able to stand on our own. Because He went ahead of us to remove the oppression of the enemy, we can go freely to Him again and be open and vulnerable, naked before Him and not ashamed to give Him all our wounds, offenses, and pain from what we have done or others have done against us.

We are also to go to Him as many times as it takes for us to be completely free from what caused us pain and sorrow. Once we are free from the pain of the things done against us or the condemnation that the enemy brings when we fall short and miss the mark, we could perhaps, if circumstances allow it, give the person(s) another chance or hope that we can have another chance with them. We do this being mindful of what is their place in our lives because we have gone to God to give us that insight.

So when the first Church started after Jesus went to the Cross, rose again, and ascended to the Father, they were able to partake of the new freedom that Jesus made available to all of us to fellowship with the Father and with each other in a deep way again. This is demonstrated in Acts 1:13-14,

¹³ When they had entered the city, they went upstairs to the upper room where they were staying [indefinitely]; that is, Peter, and John and [his brother] James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew (Nathanael) and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas (Thaddaeus) the son of James. ¹⁴ All these with one mind and one purpose were continually devoting themselves to prayer, [waiting together] along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. AMP

Notice that verse 14 says that the men and women were of one mind and one purpose. This is how they were able to come together to pray and wait together on the Lord to move among them. Being able to be of one heart and one purpose did not come overnight. These people purposely gave themselves to fellowship and getting to know each other deeply so they could find out what each one stood for and devoted their lives to. This is what is going to remove the superficiality and mask of the fig tree from among us.

Also, it was revealed to me that this superficiality and masking gave way to cliques which is another form of racism. A person that is given to be part of cliques while rejecting others that may not have the same affinities or similarities in taste or thinking is a person with racial tendencies. The sense of superiority above others comes from fear and insecurities which are the bases of the Antichrist presence that came to the Garden of Eden. Not accepting others for who they are is not just seen when competing among the races, but this is also seen within every race.

Oxford Dictionary defines racism as such:

1) the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

2) prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

The superficiality in relationships that the enemy brought to the Church is only so we can see each other skin deep and not be able to go beyond the walls of prejudice that leads to injustice. The Bible says we are to think of others more highly than ourselves and not look down on them as the enemy influences us to do when we are wearing the fig leaves. That is why it is important to have sound judgment for God has given to each a measure of faith and purpose designed for service (Romans 12:3 AMP).

Moreover, the fig leaves were also used of the enemy to cause us to leave in condemnation which detours us from walking in authority to rule and have dominion over the things God has entrusted to us. This includes being able to defend those things He has entrusted to us and put the enemy to flight. From the beginning of the Bible we see that God gave us “complete authority,” but the enemy came in to steal it from us when Adam and Eve fell from the way. Genesis 1:26 says,

Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”

But once again we can walk in the victory Jesus obtained for us at the Cross where He regained the authority stolen from the enemy and delegated it back to us in the great Commission mentioned in Matthew 28:18-19 ¹⁸ Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.” AMP

1 Corinthians 1:10 reiterates this by saying, But I urge you, believers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in full agreement in what you say, and that there be no divisions or factions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your way of thinking and in your judgment [about matters of the faith].

Jesus also recovered for us the authority to speak to the mountains and see them moved from before us. So now let us come to the Lord our God in intimacy with Him to appropriate the authority to rule and walk in dominion over the things He has entrusted to us and the ability to fellowship with Him and with each other openly and as He leads us so we can see in our lives the manifestation of the withering of the fig tree that Jesus spoke to, because it was a tree of deceit and only gave leaves and no fruit as shown in Matthew 21:18-22, ¹⁸ Now early in the morning, as Jesus was coming back to the city, He was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a lone fig tree at the roadside, He went to it and found nothing but leaves on it; and He said to it, “Never again will fruit come from you. (The fruit of deceit)” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰ When the disciples saw it, they were astonished and asked, “How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?” ²¹ Jesus replied to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have faith [personal trust and confidence in Me] and do not doubt or allow yourself to be drawn in two directions, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen [if God wills it]. ²² And whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you will receive” AMP (Emphasis mine).

This helps us obtain the level of unity necessary to obtain great victories and do the greater exploits Jesus promised we would do which contribute to the advancement of the Kingdom of God and His message to a dying world. Psalm 133 helps us see that it takes for us to walk in unity for God to command His blessing upon us because it releases an anointing that breaks yokes and destroys the works of the enemy in an exponential way for us and those we are called to influence,

¹

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
²  It is like the precious oil [of consecration] poured on the head,
Coming down on the beard,
Even the beard of Aaron,
Coming down upon the edge of his [priestly] robes [consecrating the whole body].
³  It is like the dew of [Mount] Hermon
Coming down on the hills of Zion;
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing: life forevermore.

To Him alone be all the glory. ▪

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The Talents and Ranks of the Bride of Christ 2

This is an excerpt from my upcoming book that explains certain things that are happening now in the body of Christ which have caused many to either speculate out of fear or misinterpret what they are seeing in the spirit. Because we all see in part until what is perfect comes (1 Cor. 13:9-10), I felt compelled to clarify through this post what many are seeing. Some are seeing judgment and a financial crash, others are seeing redemption and mercy, but God is doing both in this hour to rescue His people from their bondage to sin and so they can walk with Him in the way He originally intended for us. But because Adam and Eve fell from the way, Jesus needed to come to earth to rescue us and demonstrate for us how to get back what was lost through them. This will mean something different for each person, family, ministry or organization as God is judging the Antichrist spirit and his Mammon worship (financial gain away from God’s ways and timing), his Religious ways (which cause people to walk independently from God and the ways of His Kingdom), and the control and manipulation of the Jezebel spirit (which causes people to want to reach their destiny in the same way the world does it and apart from God). So this is a time of reformation of God’s house to what was demonstrated by the early Church.

Ephesians 4:11-16

¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ 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; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Input from all five pieces of God’s heart is an essential requirement for us to achieve this fullness as the Church makes disciples that will go to the ends of the earth to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God. There is a Biblical assignment for the fivefold ministry designed to form Jesus Christ in us. This means that each one of the people that represent the fivefold ministry has a unique measure of God’s heart given to them to reproduce in us, and the Father has called them to help us walk in the fullness of who He is with one mind, ne heart, and in one accord. This was demonstrated in His Son Jesus Christ who went to the Cross to die for our sins, rose again and ascended to be seated at the right hand of the Father.

But as we return to verse 13 of Ephesians 4, note that the Scripture declares that we are raised to become "a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Observe that we are not called to just have the stature of the fullness of Jesus, but the stature of the fullness of Christ. The Hebrew meaning of the name "Jesus" is the One who "saves" or "Salvation" (Strong 2424 and 3091).6 but what the father requires of us is that we are transformed into the fullness of his son the Christ. This word means "the anointed one." This means that Jesus, who was made a man in order to dwell among us, needed continuous communion with the father, which helped him develop His kingly anointing to unleash judgment against the enemy and at the same time develop the priestly anointing to extended mercy to the people that were lost and contaminated with the influence of the Antichrist.

This signifies, that in order to counteract the evil of the Antichrist, we have to go through the same process that Jesus went through on this earth to make Him the Christ, the Anointed One. This process involves three phases at all levels in which God brings us up to our destination and also once we arrive to there:

1.       Go to the Cross. Carrying our cross is necessary to eliminate contamination of the Antichrist in our spiritual blood line and also for those we are called to influence.

2.       Rise from the dead. Once decontaminated from the influence of the Antichrist at each level of our process, we can have life in abundance and walk in the supernatural glory that Adam and Eve lost with their fall.

3.       Ascend to sit at the right hand of the Father. From this place we rule and reign in collaboration with the Father through His Son to release judgment against all Antichrist opposition to the advance of His Kingdom in our jurisdictional sphere of authority and influence. And because this is also the Mercy seat of God and His throne of Grace, we also co-labor with Him through His Son to extend this mercy and grace for the salvation of many that He is calling to become part of our family of believers as well as for the restoration of those who have fallen from the way.

Hebrews 2:8-11 brings us to that understanding when it says, “⁸You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”

For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. ⁹ But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

¹⁰ For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ¹¹ For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,”

As it has been mentioned, in the Church (the Apostolic House of God), the Fivefold Ministry leads us to this Apostolic development so that our lives are also lived according to the order and Government of the Kingdom of God. This will produce a strong apostolic house with the following characteristics:

1. There is vision and strategy, government, rank, and order.
2. There is Prophetic expression.
3. There are stable families (where family centered values are established).
4. There is prayer (with intercessors and where the purpose of prayer is taught).
5. There is prosperity and blessings (based on what is being taught).
6. Healing, miracles, deliverance, missions to reach out and praise and worship are common.
7. Social care is done in a practical way (for what we have is not our own).
8. The gifts of the Spirit are in operation according to 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and Romans 12: 4-8.
9. There is also Leadership training, discipleship training, and children and youth are developed for the future.
10. Business entities and entrepreneurs provide for the Kingdom (with faith to step out).

As always, to God alone be all the glory.

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Covering the Naked

Because the time for the release of my book is approaching, I want to give you a preview and at the same time help many in the body of Christ that may not realize are violating an important spiritual law that could be detrimental to their destiny and the future of their descendants. I am referring to the principle of covering each other with prayer and intercession instead of slander and gossip. I pray you are blessed through this excerpt and get back to the right path if you have fallen from it and receive the grace of God to avoid this violation of a spiritual law.

 

...Continuing our study about fasting covered in chapter 5, Isaiah 58:6-7 raises the bar to God`s intended kind of fasting for His people and some important reasons why we must fast on behalf of others. It says,

⁶“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

We are commanded to do the things outlined in these verses not only on our own behalf or for our family members, but also on behalf of others we are called to intercede for. The dictionary definition of the word intercession is:

1.      The action of intervening on behalf of another.

2.      The action of saying a prayer on behalf of another person.

We are commanded to not only seek to satisfy our own physical or spiritual needs, but also the needs of others in the body of Christ. This also means that we need to stand in the gap for others that for a number of reasons may be showing a low level of the character of Christ in them. But one important reason could be that they have needs that we, as a body of Christ, should be mindful to help meet so that no one among God`s people is suffering unnecessarily when we should help carry one another`s burdens until the person gets strong enough to do it on their own. Galatians 6:1-3 says it this way, Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. ² Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. ³ If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. NLT

 

But returning to the passage in Isaiah 58, verse 7c says among the commands, when you see the naked, that you cover him. This verse is not merely referring to covering someone with clothes made of fabric. Besides that, it commands us to cover with our mouths those that may be going through trials out of their control or may have fallen from the way. One of the first things to do to help them restore is to pray for them and help them in any way we can instead of slandering or gossiping about them. Our prayers of intercession can help them find their way back and out of their fallen state.

In addition, Genesis 9:20-27 gives us the account of Noah’s nakedness and the two different reactions from his sons along with the consequences of those reactions. ²⁰And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. ²¹Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. ²²And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ²³But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. ²⁴So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him. ²⁵Then he said:

           “Cursed be Canaan;

A servant of servants

He shall be to his brethren.”

²⁶And he said:

“Blessed be the LORD,

the God of Shem,

And may Canaan be his servant.

²⁷May God enlarge Japheth,

And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;

And may Canaan be his servant.”

Canaan was cursed and sentenced to serve those who did the right thing because he did not. Now as you fast forward to when God promised Abraham the land of Canaan as an inheritance for him and his descendants (Genesis 17:8), don’t you think God’s decision for the land to be removed from the hands of the descendants of Canaan and into the hands of Abraham and his descendants could have originated with this incident? Thus, know that when something happens in which someone around you is being exposed and shown naked in front of you (their trials and testing being made public), God may be dealing with their sins or shaking their wrong foundations by taking them through a process that you do not understand, but He also may be testing you to see how you are going to use your mouth in the situation.

 Also, understand that people that claim to follow the ways of the Lord, but slander, gossip, and by this fail to have a true love walk, have poor discernment of the things of the spirit and become easy prey to be used of the enemy to turn them against others and attack them with their mouths. But these people are also sowing seeds for their time when their nakedness will be shown to others, and instead of receiving mercy, they will receive the same judgment magnified instead of mercy. The same pipeline from where the water gushes out gets wet first. This means that the damage they caused to others through their slander and gossip will come back upon them. This is indeed a warning to ask God for help if you are prompt to slander and gossip because you do not want to forfeit the great destiny God has for you and the future of your descendants because of this sign of spiritual immaturity and contamination with the spirit of this world. God is no respecter of persons, but He is a respecter of principles. So if you like me, have ever violated this spiritual principle, repent and receive the grace of God to have the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart be pleasing in His sight (Psalm 19:14). As always, to God alone be all the Glory.