Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4 ("overcome them," referring to physical adversaries of the gospel, to anything that hinders the flourishing of the gospel in our lives). For most of us, our worst enemy is ourselves. Our carnal man is one enemy that Paul refers to in Romans 7:15 to the end, but as Paul also says, "greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world." Therefore, it is a matter of nourishing our spiritual selves. It comes down to a choice: do I want to be honest with God and enjoy the benefits of being in fellowship with Him, or do I want to go it alone, living a "lukewarm" life?
The following promise should provide you with all the motivation you need.
There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance -- the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give them (how will Joshua be strong?) Joshua 1:5&6
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have success. Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:8 & 9 (this promise of victory is for all believers. Whatever your "assignment" is, this is how you hit it out of the park).
So here is my question. I've shared two fantastic promises, some of my favorite ones. One is from the Old Testament and one from the New. These promises have been there forever. Why then do we fear? Why then do we get defeated? God says He is greater than he that is in the world and that no one can stand before Him. So then why do we live defeated lives? God's promise of conquering is prefaced on our obedience to reading the Bible. Most of us don't like to do things when we are told to, and some of us do not like to read. So what then?
We need an attitude shift, a different perspective on God's commands. Instead of seeing God as telling us to read, which He, as God, has every right to, what if we see Him as inviting us to dine with Him? Would that change our attitude?
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh(the world) I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Revelation 3:20
And His invitation is far beyond just eating with Him, but also ruling with Him. Now that is one dinner invitation I do not want to miss!
So, changing our perspective from being forced, which is the devil's spin on God's command, to the truth of it, is an invitation with great rewards attached to it.
Next question: Is there something secret about reading the Bible, like a formula, or is there no secret, but rather a relationship being cultivated between a Holy God and us? For this relationship to succeed, God commands us to be Holy, that's like commanding me to fly. That will never happen, yet if there's a command in God's Word to be Holy, then there's a means of attaining it. He never commands something without providing the means to attain it.
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation( the way we live our life), Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear ( reverence for the Lord) 1Peter 1:15&16
This next verse is a key verse because it applies to our whole Christian life, regardless of what we are doing or involved with. It's actually a verse that I need to quote more...
Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 4:6
Zerubbabel was God's instrument to rebuild the temple. It was not to be a work of man but a work of man yielded fully to God, where God, not man, gets the glory. God was going to infuse all involved with His Spirit and skill to do it, especially Zerubbabel, who would be directly answering to the Lord. And by implication, it is the same today.
It's not up to us to build ourselves up, to become Holy. We are God's living Temples, and just as He infused the workers with strength, wisdom, and skill to build the physical Temple, He sends the Holy Spirit to build His temple inside us.
When you plant a seed in the ground, provided you water it, the seed has all it needs to grow. In its DNA, it contains the coding necessary for root growth, which enables it to extract nutrients and water from the soil. Additionally, in the DNA coding, it produces leaves, a specific tissue that captures sunlight and produces food for the plant through the process of photosynthesis. The seed is a miracle, just like we are miracles. The ability to have the "seed" of the Holy Spirit in us is the same. Provided we soak ourselves in His Presence via His Word, He has all He needs to grow righteousness in us. Do you ever wonder why it is so hard for most Christians to make time to read the Bible? Because this is the one thing Satan fears, you will experience resistance from yourself, your day, and even feel too busy, etc. If you get into the habit of studying God's Word, satan knows he can't stop you. You become dangerous to his mission of destroying your life or, at the very least, nullifying your life.
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (Extravagant giving not required, only obedience ).
He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8
When we accept Christ, we enter into the Christian life, which we quickly learn is a wrestling match between our carnal man and the Holy Spirit. We never had this fight before. It is like having a third voice in our head that loves God. It takes time for the Holy Spirit to change us. Before the flesh said I want that and we said yes. Now our flesh says it wants that, and the spirit says you really don't. It won't fulfill you like you think. There's no peace in that. Our obedience to God's request is crucial in winning the struggle between our flesh and the spirit within us.
***And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:32
This is why we came to Christ in the first place. We are making a mess of our lives; we have no enduring peace.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 14:26 (thirsting, hunger, emptiness, restlessness, feeling lost are part of our life here, apart from Christ).
A growing, personal relationship with Jesus is incredible. That we can actually have a personal relationship with the God of the Universe is beyond an honor. To have victory over all our vices, insecurity, lust, self-hatred, anger, etc., by following His lead, is nothing short of a miracle, just like the seed is a miracle. And it's essential to note that we follow Him, not the other way around.
There are times in everyone's life when you question God. Why did He allow this, or not stop that, or not heal me, etc., and yes, I understand. I can take the next 5 Vidas trying to explain why God doesn't answer the obvious and still not address everyone's specific situation. Overall, and this may offend some of you, we are being too myopic, which is soeasy to do when you are not able to offset it with another greater truth. What about His pain? Bearing the sin of the whole world, past, present, and future, for every single soul, whether they accept Him as Lord and Savior or not, was placed upon Him. I can't imagine the sense of filth and guilt He must have felt, a Holy, Holy God having to bear this. Or what about having been one with the Father for all of Eternity past, and then on the Cross, when you need your Father the most, He abandons you. You who do not have a father or an irresponsible father, you will never have to fear this with the Lord.
And I'm not saying we don't experience pain, but we will never experience rejection from Him. He bore our sin so that we would not be rejected. He is here to comfort and strengthen us. I was so hurt one time that it felt as though my heart died. I had no feeling of love for anyone, not even my wife and girls. I just looked at them and felt nothing. I went downstairs to my study, closed my door, and just cried. I opened the Bible to 1 Corinthians 13, the chapter on God's Agape love, and God met me. His presence was there, and He felt like a wave at the ocean when it hits you. Except as the wave of His presence passed through me, I felt His love, and with each wave, the pain was being washed away, and my heart started to come back to life. By the third time (one of God's numbers, 3, 7, 12), life and love were back. I've never experienced that before. The only feeling I can relate that to is when I accepted Christ in my life. This experience felt just like that. Also, being blamed for my brother's death has caused me much pain for most of my life, but remembering that Bobby is in Heaven helps tremendously.
So, if I am talking to you, having perhaps gone through similar struggles, lean hard into Christ. The worst thing you can do is blame Him or be bitter at Him, as many people do. All you are doing is prolonging the pain and your healing, and probably damaging the relationships you value most because bitterness has a way of seeping into other parts of our lives. To help you heal, read the events leading up to, at the time of, and of course afterwards of the Crucifixion in all four gospels. Understand that though He did that for all, He would have died just for you.
"So when this corruptible (our bodies) shall have put on incorruption( our new bodies), and this mortal shall have put on immortality,( Paul is making the point that we have a glorious future so stop living as though this is all there is) then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? -- The sting of death is sin (for sin damns us); and the strength of sin is the law ( for we naturally do what we are told not to do, and that makes us guilty. Just review the 10 commandments and see how many we violate daily. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ( as John the Baptist titled Him, "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World").
So any suffering, however severe, is not forever. Forever is Eternity, which is the gift that Christ has brokered for those who have made Him their Lord. Therefore, we must bend our lives towards His holiness. Just as I would if I wanted a suntan, I must expose myself to extra sunlight. Holiness is not attainable by humans, but if we expose ourselves to Him regularly, we will transform.
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; John 14:16
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 14:26 ( Amen to this Truth)
Some sins of the flesh are just part of our sin nature. Temper, anger, lust, and so on, these are often passed down through family genes and are the hardest to overcome. Yet that doesn't mean we have to give in to them. We can absolutely resist, experience healing, and have the victory. Read Numbers 14.11
The LORD is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
Sometimes it feels like these emotions/ vices are too strong, that I will never achieve victory. Yet God is the Creator of our being, and via His Holy Spirit, He is making us a new creature. Time, patience, and the memorization of specific verses that address our struggles are key to defeating these strongholds.
Therefore, any man who is in Christ is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Cor. 5:17
Father,
Thank you for this time and this teaching. Let our souls be as soft ground that readily takes in the water of the spirit. Let our lives be radiant as we live out our lives being examples to those around us, especially to our families.
Thank you,
Your son by Grace,
Arthur
