Put On Christ
In Colossians 3, Paul by the Holy Spirit of God is giving major spiritual truth here. We are told that WE have the responsibility of putting on the New Man created in Christ!
Then Paul tells us what that looks like. It looks like everyone who calls on Christ and is in Him behaves a certain way.
We are to wear like a garment tender mercies, kindness, gentleness, humility meekness and do it without complaining against anyone.
He caps it off in Colossians 3:14/15 “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”
Some might say, “I have this issue “ or “but you don’t know how they treated me” but there is not an exception given.
There is nowhere in the Bible where we are told to run about angry, accusing, belittling, and raging at anyone. All of that is unrenewed mind and fleshly.
So put on Christ today and don’t allow the flesh to lead! I know it’s not easy to start, but it’s Gods direction for us.
Start today with this simple prayer and make your purpose!
Prayer “Father I come now in Jesus Name and I humble myself to your word and your way and I put on Christ and I declare I will not make way for my flesh to rule over me today in Jesus Name.”
Faith and Fear
Revelation 3:20-21 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.
If we listen and yield, He comes and when He in, our reward is that we are victorious and sit with Him on His thrown!
We are victorious and we know it’s true, because it says so right there. Jesus Himself said so.
If we can’t depend on Him to do this, then we have no hope at all. We must believe it by faith.
When we doubt this, and believe it may not be true we doubt, or fear, that what God said, isn’t true for us.
I will say that faith and fear are identical forces, because faith believes what God said is true and fear believes what Satan or your flesh tell is true. The word “faith” in the Greek is Pistos, and it simply means believe
What do you believe? I believe He is living inside me
I believe He is desiring to sit down and talk to me, I believe he wants to sup with me.
If we both go to dinner and have the same thing, we are eating the same thing and we are full with the same thing.
Faith and Fear, Life and death, blessing and cursing, light and dark are all spiritual forces.
Fear is the most natural thing in the world, the world succumbs to fear always, they’re absorbed in fear.
When we get saved our flesh still fears things because our minds are still in fear of things like lack, death, pain.
We are dripping in fear, because we are taught fear from birth, it’s a stronghold that must be brought down.
When we start practicing and dwelling with God then we wont fear, we will have faith, belief that God is true.
The Holy Spirit was always in the earth, He would come ON people and talk to them and lead them like the Prophets and Judges and Holy men and women of God
When Jesus said in John 14:27 You know Him because He has been with you but then He will be in you.
They knew the Holy Spirit, they had been with Jesus, Jesus didn’t do His own thing neither is the Holy Spirit. They knew the long History of the Holy Spirit working with Gods people.
He is a still small voice, a knowing that doesn’t go away, an unction that doesn’t leave us,
He’s so close that we can get into His presence any time!
He lives in us and He brought all of Him to that dining table and wants to share all of Himself with us!
The same life that Jesus operated in while He was on the earth
The same mental ability and physical and spiritual ability is in us
We have to access Him and move from fear to faith.
The mind, must be renewed by faith
The more we dwell in Him and read His word and pray in the spirit the more we ill be like Him and see His results
It’s just true. Faith is not a movement – it’s a lifestyle, the lifestyle of God
The Just, or Justified Ones, will live by faith, God rewards faith, he’s a rewarder not a spreader.
He’s not just doting out salvation evenly to everyone, He gave every person faith so they can believe or fear.
We must make the choice, Gods not forcing anyone to open the door, He could make the door go away, or suddenly appear on the other sides the door.
But he doesn’t.
He doesn’t make you tithe, you must choose to do it, He even said not to give grudgingly or because you feel forced to.
It’s by faith – our belief that He is our provider and He will open the windows of heaven and poor out blessings for us
It is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him without faith
Listen, this is the key right here:
“who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.””
Romans 4:18 NKJV
He says in verse 16, We are the children of Abraham by faith
And its through that faith in God like Abraham had that we are heirs of the promise of being blessed by God
David and Goliath
Goliath said he was going to kill David, so he had a choice to make, faith or fear.
He looked at that giant and called him uncircumcised Philistine not even a man, but someone without covenant with God.
He built up his faith He said, “I killed the lion and the bear and I’m killing you too!”
He went running at his fear head on, slung his rock and hit him right between the eyes, and cut his head off.
He said in his heart, confessed with his mouth, and put action to his faith.
Don’t let fear kill you
You are anointed, You are victorious, You are a giant killer, You are a fear killer.
You don’t have to fear lack
You don’t have to fear a bad report
You don’t fear Satan
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Seeds and Soil
Sunday I talked about the Seed that’s planted in us. How we are to cultivate it and nurture it. Sometimes seed will face hostile climates. Not enough rain or sun, maybe too cold or too hot. But the seed stays in the soil and it produces.
Two weeks ago I spoke on allowing God to auto correct our lives. We allow him to fix and adjust us mid sentence even, just like autocorrect on your phone does. Word documents if you misspell a word, will give you ideas on how to fix an entire sentence.
We need to allow God to fix us mid sentence sometimes. But that goes back to what I said the first week of February. We have to abide in Him, vitally joined with him. Not allowing soil conditions to kill us.
The enemy wants to kill the seed that’s in us. He wants to dry us out in the hot sun so we can’t produce for God.
It’s important, more than ever in these last days to stay vitally connected to him.
The writer of Hebrews (I believe it was Paul) said that as we see the day of the Lords return drawing close, to make sure we don’t forsake assembling together with other believers. That would be church. Don’t forsake church. Scripture says the last days there will be many who fall away. But if you’re staying close to Him at home and abiding with Him and others regularly you won’t be easy prey for the enemy.
Just some thoughts on February. That and it’s good to have a reliable generator and snow blower so you don’t “lose your cool”.
Bless you,
Pastor David
Tackling an Issue
I’m going to tackle a hot topic issue today. For most people, this is a “no-brainer“, especially for Christians.
Abortion.
“They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them but mingled with the nations and adopted their ways. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood — the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; so the land became polluted with blood.”
Psalms 106:34-38 HCSB
This passage refers to the Israelites mingling and becoming like the pagans, sacrificing their babies to idols. It is the shedding of innocent blood as they sacrifice their children to demonic spirits. They believed these pagan gods were in charge of every aspect of life and needed these offerings.
Today, the same kind of evil spirit is at work in the world, making people believe that children are inconvenient and disposable. Over 53 million of babies have been murdered since Roe V Wade. As of 2015 California census reports a total population of nearly 40 million people. That’s more people that’s populate California.
My wife and I lost 2 sons at separate times, both at 20-21 weeks. Our daughter was born at 25 weeks. I can tell you emphatically that I know, these are not clumps of cells. I held both of our deceased sons. However, it is legal to kill those children, and has been for years. Our youngest son was born at 35 weeks. It is legal to kill him at 35 weeks. NOW in many states it is legal to kill a child during labor at full term. I’m not going to get into political parties and percentages, but most of you know and are aware that overwhelmingly Democrat Politicians (Majority) support abortion on demand. Recently you could watch Democrats in New York cheering an abortion to the point of labor Bill Passing and being signed.
We are reaching a critical mass with this thing. While some states are pushing abortion/infanticide others are saying no abortion at all or after a heart beat is heard. Our doctors said you could or could not be pregnant until you hear a heart beat. Some pregnancies self terminate before that point and there are other issues that can cause the same similarities. But a heart beat is a good point to say NO.
But what does GOD say about abortion. He abhors it. It is an abomination to him. We are told to hate what God hates.
Ephesians 5:11-12 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
Psalm 94:16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand for me against those who practice iniquity?
1 Corinthians 6:2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
We cannot have ANYTHING to do with works of darkness, rather we are to expose them. Judge them.
I know some will say there are other things God abhors. There are.
Let’s look at the Words of Jesus:
John 10:10 A their come only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
This is where our Founding Fathers got the concept of the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness from.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Abortion removes all the rights that Jesus Himself came to exalt.
In fact, he draws a line in the sand on abortion. He says Life comes from him and death(kill, steal and destroy) come from Satan.
Anyone standing for abortion is an abomination and God abhors it. We are to judge that person as unfit to lead in our nation. We cannot vote for a culture that exalts death and believe we serve God. Every person has flaws, but no matter your other convictions, you cannot support a politician that supports abortion.
Last week our President announced it will bar Federal funds from being allocated to any organization that refers for abortion. Praise the Lord! That is a man after Gods Heart. This strips MILLIONS of dollars from Planned Parenthood.
I am going to add, what may make some people upset, that in Luke 3:14 “don’t take money from anyone against their will, or make false accusations: be satisfied with your wages” High ranking Democrat officials and News Media constantly malign this president. Make false accusations against he and anyone he nominates while they stand and applaud abortion.
You can see clearly that a divide is occurring as Jesus warned that it would in the last days. In the USA states are separating out based on the abortion, religion, and political ideologies. As the church, we must make a stand and judge for ourselves as commanded, and have NOTHING to do with the fruitless works of darkness.
I have seen people (young and old) leave the church over abortion and political ideologies, because they see the Biblical view as archaic or not relevant.
Murdering an innocent child is not archaic or irrelevant. These are the issues we are seeing in this nation that are dividing it.
Jesus said when He returns many will think they had done His work, but he will say He never knew them because of sin. Murder is a sin. Stealing is a sin. False accusations are a sin.
It’s time we stood for right, make a stand for what is good and right and holy.
Pastor David
Addendum: Today the senate voted on the “Born Alive” Bill, which would require doctors to help save the life of a child from a failed abortion attempt alive. It failed along party lines. All the Republican voted Yes (while one abstained), three Democrats (3) voted yes and all 6 of the Senate Democrats running for President voted no. That means, not a single Democrat Senator running for President values the life of a baby born alive from a failed abortion, enough to keep it alive. Those are the majority of the candidates for president, thus far.
John 10: The Door, The Sheep, The Shepherd and The Pen
In reading through John during our 21 Day Encounter by prayer and fasting I have uncovered some amazing truths.
John is writing to a wide audience. He probably wrote the Gospel in the second half of the first century, and some think that he wrote this account to help correct some wrong teachings about Jesus that had begun to creep their way into the church.
One thing I have found interesting this time through, is how often John seems to separate himself from the Jews. Statements like “the Jews sought to kill him” or “A feast of the Jews.”
In John 10, I saw something that really caught my attention. Jesus says concerning Himself that He goes in through door of the sheep pen. But he also says He is both the door and the shepherd who goes in. The pen would be Israel under the law, we know this because Jesus said He came for Israel and then the lost sheep. Some say Lost Sheep means only the lost 10 tribes of Israel, but a sheep is anyone who will listen and follow The Shepherd. Paul says in Galatians that those under the law are kept by a tutor, “the pen.” The Pen and tutor didn’t save them, but kept them from being like the rest of the world, lost in sin.
Jesus goes into the pen, gets the sheep and leads them out of the pen. He leads them now, He leads us now, He leads us to green pastures. Hearing the voice of the Shepherd enables the sheep to go in and out. They can lead others under the law to the one true Shepherd. They can go get the lost sheep and bring them to Jesus, The Shepherd and Door of Salvation. Our destiny is not the Pen or Tutor, we have had the law (Love God, Love Others) in our hearts and minds and this enables us to freely go, lead by His Spirit who seals us into salvation, to lead others to Jesus! We can go after the lost sheep, because that’s what He would do. We can go out as Paul said, as a Gentile to the gentiles, as a Jew to the Jews, as weak to the weak.
Its time for us to realize this powerful truth and go out to the lost and bring them to the One True Shepherd, Jesus!
Pastor David
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Grafted In 2
Paul said in Romans 8:11 that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us and imparts His very Life to us! He makes alive our bodies from the inside out!
Being grafted into God brings HIS perfect life into us. It brings his nature, His love, it brings HIM.
If I truly understood that I am a part of God, I am branch in the tree of God. I am fed by God, I am ONE WITH HIM as Jesus said in John 17.
If i truly understood that, I would have, no lack, I would have NO infirmity in my body.
I would have HIS life flowing out of me and people in need would touch my shadow and be healed, just like happened with Peter.
Someone in faith could touch the hem of your jacket and be healed like happened with Jesus.
I could know which fish in the river has the tax money in it.
I would lack for no good thing! Psalms 34:10
This is what John meant in 3 John 2 that we would prosper and be in health as our souls prosper
It’s not a Cadillac anointing, it’s an abiding in HIM anointing. It’s not a Midas touch anointing, it’s a As you grow and develop in Him you’ll find Him giving you more of his spirit flowing through you to bring more of His ability.
You don’t give the keys to your car to someone who is flighty and inconsistent. They’re not going to take care of your car. It’ll come back (if it comes back) with no gas and dirty with McDonalds food bags on the floor. I’ve seen people get blessed with nice things and because they dont respect the blessings of God, They’re like locusts that just devour and destroy what they have.
God WANTS us to grow in Him. He wants to give us the keys to the kingdom.
But he needs us to mature in HIM first. He needs us to be good stewards of what we have, and as we do, he will give us more, He needs us to be consistent.
And Ill be really honest with you, I think mostly we don’t see what the Bible shows because we just don’t know it’s available to us
I think if Peter could deny Jesus and then a month and half later Peters preaching in the Holy Ghost then we should be able to bounce back from situations and into the glory of God faster! Within two months of denying Jesus, he was preaching under the power of the Holy Spirit and 3000 got saved in one day.
As long as we have His spirit in us, and we do as believers, we should expect MORE!
Pastor David
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Grafted In
In John 15 Jesus says I am the Vine and you are the branches’. Here he is talking to his disciples who were all Jews. He tells them if they will stay abiding in Him, they will have His Spiritual Nature. The Vine feeds the branch it’s sweetness.
Paul in writing to the Gentile church in Rome says that branches had been cut off and that they, Gentiles, had been grafted into Jesus or true Israel.
Paul said that even though we were wild olives, we were grafted into the cultivated tree. The tree is Jesus, truly by His own words. Israel is those who truly follow Him.
Having done some study in this area, there are reasons to graft branches into different trees, naturally speaking. But you graft in this case because wild olives can be more fruitful. Jesus said in John 15, that unfruitful branches will be cut off.
In one study grafting a bitter apple branch to a tree that had sweet sap but was a low fruit bearing tree changed the flavor of the apples. The new branch produces more fruit and is sweeter now because of the sweetness of the sap from the root, but the branches appearance remains unchanged. In other words, it looks different than the natural branch. Same is true of olives. Ancient Greeks would even cultivate wild olives and the cultivating process changed the flavor of the olives.
Our root is God, the Vine is Jesus and as far analogies go, maybe our fruit was plenteous but bitter before, but now we are fed by the spirit and our fruit is sweet and aromatic. It’s the fruit of the spirit. The sweetness of the Spirit of God now flowing through us changes our flavor, aroma.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:15,16 we are the aroma of life and to God a sweet-smelling savor. That’s spectacular. Once we were apart from God, wild branches without God
Now in Christ we are grafted in and not only are we changed in flavor but we even smell good to Him!
This is all by that abiding in Him as, it’s not through laws, and sacrifices. It’s through faith that we are connected to the true vine, the true Olive Tree. We are all fed the same spiritual food and drink, which is Jesus.
That is why we can say:
I was weak, but now I’m strong
I was lost but now I’m found
I was dead in sin but now I’m alive in Christ
I was sick but now I’m whole
Say: “I am grafted into Jesus and I have his spirit in manifesting and working in me and and I am producing the fruit and gifts of the spirit in me because I abide in Him!’
Fasting
Everyone agrees prayer is communicating with God and that’s important, but so is fasting. Fasting gets us out of our comfort zone and brings more intimacy between us and God and opens our hearts to spiritual revival!
And it can break strongholds over us. Kenneth E. Hagin said “if I ever find myself “needing a coke” I fast from coke to break its stronghold over me”
See we can put other things before God but fasting takes them away and allows us to draw closer to God. Fasting allows us to connect with the Spirit.
Many people say “I’m gonna fast and see if God will move”. That’s all wrong, moreover, its manipulation or witchcraft. Fasting isn’t about God moving, its about us moving away from ourselves and moving closer to Him in The Spirit.
When we put things in the spirit first, praying and spending time with God, all the other things fall into place.
Don’t go do a 40 day food and water fast, you’ll die. You need water. Moses didn’t go into a fast for 40 days to get God to show up. God showed up and sustained Him for 40 days.
Daniel didn’t go on a 21 day fast, he knew all the fatty rich foods they were offered were bad for the physical and mental health.
Maria Woodworth Etter was having a tent meeting and went into a trance for several days – God sustained her.
Elijah in the desert, God sustained him.
Jesus was lead into the wilderness, God sustained him.
Praying and fasting will get us into a place where we can hear from him when we shut off the cravings of the flesh, and are sustained by Him.
Is it Social Media?
Is it jelly donuts?
Is it all food for a period of time? Is it just juices?
Whatever it is, do it and draw closer to God this year!!
From my message, “The Things of the Spirit, 2”