Carl Stevens Devotions page 5

John 7:42

It is imperative for people to be taught through the mercies of God. For it was through David's seed that the Savior came. Through the seed of mercy in our lives comes an incorruptible seed. Mercy brings in the personal reign of a King. This King has defeated death, defeated the soul and crucified every part of man, so that mercy can reign over all of Israel and not just part of it. Where mercy is not allowed to reign, we will never know Christ as King.

We may know Him as Savior, but we will never benefit from the power of the Throne as He is seated in Kingship. Christ in His Kingship is only born in a heart of mercy. Mercy prepares a place for the Son of God to be born in our hearts. Mercy cannot prepare a place in the house of Saul for a king to be born. Saul was not a son of David, therefore is not a type of the Son of Mercy. Solomon was David's son and, therefore, the Lord promised David that He would never remove from Solomon either His kindness or His Spirit, no matter how wicked Solomon was. For Solomon was a Son of Mercy, and mercy receives the results of grace in its reproduction of life.

The Throne of David was set up because of the decision of Abner (2 Samuel 3:21), which stands for the will of man. The will of man chose mercy and mercy reigned and gave the man a feast of victory. We must know mercy before we can experience a King, and we must experience the life of the King before we can enjoy the reign of the Throne.

1 Corinthians 9-12

Isaiah 53:1-7

Isaiah 53 is a description of Jesus Christ suffering at the world's hands for others. He never once cried for Himself, nor did He live in self-pity. He is the Lamb and the High Priest Who took our place, and Who now intercedes for us day and night.

He identifies so totally with us that He is able to pray for us as if He were in our shoes. Just as He intercedes for us (2), He has called us to stand in the gap for others (3). A part of our identification with Christ is learning to pray for others as if we are praying for ourselves. Do you want to be touched by the feelings of others' infirmities? When you allow yourself to be touched by the weaknesses of others, you can pray much more fervently for them. God desires that we learn to bear one another's burdens (4); however, He never asks us to do anything we do not choose to do.

It is up to us to make our souls available to God - what we must do is become grounded in the finished work Gospel. When we realize who we are in Christ, we no longer need to be preoccupied with our problems. It is then that we can share in the burdens of others.

- Isaiah 53:1-

To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; - Hebrews 7:2

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. - Ezekiel 22:30

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2

Ruth 3:13

The call of the Kinsman-Redeemer was to "tarry this night." During the darkness, our mind is to stay in the place where our eye has fallen. Jesus Christ specifically points to a place of rest. It is at His nail-scarred feet that we realize in all humility not only our inadequacy, and also His great love for us shown in the act of Calvary. There is no way to follow any standard of law to establish a solution to the situation. The Law carries with it no seed of promise. Though it reveals the holiness of God's character, it has no redeeming value. It reveals the mind of Christ's desires, yet it is weak through the flesh and cannot secure for us salvation. Jesus Christ loved the Law enough to fulfill it, but He loved us enough to end it.

We do not strive to achieve a place of security. We put an end to action and then rest during the night seasons. We do not know Him in the plan (Ruth 3:14), but we trust in the integrity of His character, knowing He has fulfilled the plan in His foreknowledge.

We tarry in the night season until the entrance of the Word gives light (Psalm 119:130) and the morning comes. We rest in faith without knowing Him and the direction of His will in light during the darkness of a trial. We rest without explanation and then rise into a marriage union with the One who understood it all.

1 Corinthians 5-8

Ephesians 2:8

The greatest attack against the Gospel of the grace of God (2) in the first century was the fallacy that for one to possess initial salvation, one must be circumcised (3). Paul desired that the sponsors of this gospel would be "cut off" to prevent them from troubling his new converts in Galatia (4) with this incorrect concept involving works of human merit and human energy (5).

The great attack against the Gospel of grace today is even more subtle. Some will concede that we are saved by grace through faith without circumcision, baptism or any human merit. Therefore they confess that salvation is initially by grace, but will not concede that is totally by grace, from beginning to end. This philosophy subtly undermines a believer's sense of security in Christ, and his or her sense of assurance and destiny. Our salvation is not only initially by grace, it is totally by grace. In Ephesians 2:8, the Word of God says that "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God." The perfect tense here indicates a total salvation.

Being free from "trying to keep" this great salvation (6) leads to a life of true rest, power, genuine production, real spirituality, and love issuing from the heart. All of this is produced by the Holy Spirit who has engendered in us a perfect confidence in the total love of God toward us in Christ through the finished work (7).

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: - Ephesians 2:8

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. - Acts 20:24

And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. - Acts 15:1

I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off which trouble you. - Galatians 5:10-12

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? - Galatians 3:1-3

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; - Hebrews 2:3

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. - Romans 5:5

Isaiah 9:7

God is always interested in possessing you in totality. He never is in the market to share you with elements beside Himself. He never gives you out on loan payment to go into Egypt on an expedition. God does not allow others to have a share of stock in your life. Why?

God does not want His power to vacillate in your life, meaning that it experiences time when it decreases. You do not have to allow situations to affect you in such a way that you feel weak. There is nothing wrong, if a humble heart is your source, to be secure in your power over the enemy.

In Psalm 44:8, David spent his entire day boasting in God. It is also plain to see that God would like to boast in you, if you would receive the power He offers. Job was used by God as a showcase before the devil. Satan spends time accusing God when we so obviously live contradictory to the plain truth in the Word of God.

There is no length of time set upon ridding yourself of Adam. People seem to think that it takes certain measures of time and trial to be rid of their Adam nature. To reckon yourself dead takes less than a split second when you have a heart attitude of faith. Be enthusiastically zealous in performing in faith. An establishment in faith sets one free in Christ. No longer will you increase and decrease according to the rate of situational pressures. Adam is decreased that God's peace may be always on the increase.

1 Corinthians 1-4

Psalm 16:9

Sometimes people make decisions to think or act in a way that contradicts what God has said. Psalm 38 speaks of the result of wrong decisions in one man's life. King David sinned, and then covered his sin. He did not face God with honesty for one year. He paid a serious penalty in his emotions and body. "I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long. For my loins are filled with burning. And there is no soundness in my flesh. I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart" (Psalm 38:6-8, NAS).

The psalmist's emotions were burning with reaction and anxiety. They were not responding according to God's original design. Psalm 16:7 tells us how to renovate our emotions. "I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night season." When we saturate our minds with God's Word, our emotions respond accordingly - even in the night seasons or dark times of our lives.

As we receive His counsel, wisdom will control our emotions in times of testings. God desires to renovate every believer's emotions so that they can say with Daniel, "Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh shall rest in hope" (Psalm 16:9).

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. - Psalm 16:9

A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation. - Psalm 38:1-22

I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. - Psalm 16:7

Psalm 30:5

Satan's mastermind vs. the mind of who God is -Satan's second counterattack is against the result of love: joy. Satan brings sorrow in the night seasons to take away love and joy. He wants to take away the effect of joy because of love and leave us vexed with grief. Then, sorrow by sight and feelings will incapacitate us for love and faith. As we enter into sorrow through our reaction to sight, a deep line is drawn in our soul to give us a capacity to respond to sight. The more we live in response to what we see, the deeper our capacity grows. We become habitually addicted to live according to the evidences of sight. Satan charges God for being illogical and not proving what He says by immediate evidence. Satan will always give us sight and feelings to complement logically our experience in his lie.

Weeping in a night season makes us ready to receive the revelation of God in the morning. God does not want us to carry a burden when He has released us into life. Sorrow carries with it a burden, which refuses to be lifted because of unbelief toward the ability of Christ to supply the need. God identifies with our sorrow, for He wept over Jerusalem (John 11:35). This identification ends with our realization that God has the supply for the need of the world. We have fullness of joy because the truth of God's sufficiency is born in our hearts.

Romans 9-11

I Samuel 15:22

The desire of God's heart is that all men might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and that none would perish (2). "He that winneth souls is wise," because he knows the desire of God's heart, and manifests His character to the lost in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth (3).

However, in the same way that unsaved men have rejected Christ throughout the ages, so His very own children deny Him the desire of His heart - to produce in them the character of His Beloved Son. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29a). His heart breaks at the thought that so few choose the path of selflessness because they are afraid of losing some corruptible, earthly treasure. He has made every provision for the Body of Christ to function as the manifestation of His character to the world by indwelling us with the Holy Spirit and equipping us with His Word. To those who choose to obey His call, there is laid up for them a crown of righteousness (4).

And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. - 1 Samuel 15:22

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. - 2 Peter 3:9

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. - Acts 1:8

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. - 2 Timothy 4:8

Job 3:25

Satan has nine categorical temptations that go against the fruit of the Holy Spirit. His first attack is with fear to cast out love. We think Satan's projected thoughts, we confess them and then they come upon us through the natural law of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:7). Satan allows the natural law to finish off his supernatural attack. Satan resists love with fear. Man receives love, but Satan says, "Do not trust God, He will hurt you without cause." Satan wanted Job to be insecure toward the plan of God, which had love as its cause, and then to choose to walk in the security of sight and feelings. Satan wanted Job to fear God's cause and God wanted to use Job as a mighty showcase of His cause.

A mind that receives love does not care what happens to its possessions because it is possessed by love. Even though we are challenged and tested, the loss of possessions should never bring confusion.

Think of the thrill it brings to God when we are persecuted without cause and we live in first-class faith. We are a showcase of grace that threatens the kingdom of darkness. Grace allows God to use us though we do not know why. Grace on our part toward God will allow God to use us as a showcase in tribulation when we have done nothing to deserve it. Our grace toward God is responding to God's love toward us in grace. We will be called upon to reveal God's grace and confuse the enemy's order of disorder.

Romans 5-8

John 1:4-5

We were created to reflect the image of our Creator, and one attribute that was included in the ability to choose. The volition is God's greatest gift to mankind. "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19, NAS). And how do you choose life? "By loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him" (Deuteronomy 30:20a, NAS).

There is a danger we must watch out for - not recognizing the Lord when He comes (in life's situations). "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him" (John 1:10-11, NAS). In order for us to discern the Lord, we must know His character. We have been given the Word of God - the revelation of His nature. "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory" (John 1:14a). "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness" (John 1:4-5, NAS). As we hold fast to the Word of God, and to the Lord Jesus Christ, we choose life!

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. - John 1:4-5

Isaiah 50:10

In a trial, you may be deliberately left without light. There, you become a negative to be developed into a picture of light for that situation. Not for its benefits, but for God's glory. Situations are not used to prove God's ability, but to produce God's power to glorify Him in their midst.

In this large room of darkness, God does not even allow you to fellowship your way out. You may not have peace in it. There may not be any feelings of security or any evidence that God is even in it. Its purpose? That your mind would stay itself upon God. You are not there to prove God, but you trust Him without any proof. You don't require answered prayer, because you believe God even when prayers seem unanswered. You don't require God to bless you to experience His blessing. You experience His blessing on the basis of not being blessed because you are satisfied with Him alone, not with anything that He does. You are ready for the furnace, for the jail at midnight, for the rejection, because your mind is stayed. You do not feel love and, yet, you are not troubled. God is not revealing anything and there is no answer. You are not operating in life that you have experienced, but you are operating in a measure of God's life that you have never experienced.

If you are being used as God's man or woman, you have either been there or you are going there or you are there now, walking in darkness with no light.

Romans 1-4

John 6:63

Many people despise the word "doctrine." They think of it as lifeless, biblical teaching that chokes out the immediate presence of God. Occasionally, they quote II Corinthians 3:6b which says: "For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." What they do not realize is that one cannot separate the person of Jesus Christ from what He has said. Christ said in John 6:63b, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

Doctrine is the organization of God's words according to the wisdom of His Holy Spirit providing His full thought on every subject. God wants our fervency to be guided by His objective Word. The apostle Paul comments on the misguided zeal of his Jewish brethren, "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge" (Romans 10:2). In Hosea 4:6 the Lord exclaims, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." II Corinthians 13:5 admonishes, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves."

Let us cling to God's Word, for it is Spirit and life. Then we will know God's character, and therefore, be able to discern His plan in life's situations. And as a result, our path before us will be straight (2).

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; - Luke 3:5

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. - John 6:63

Luke 10:30-33

Does your schedule regulate your expression of love? Are you too hurried to stop and care for the needs of others? Do you count the opportunity of ministering to the least of the brethren as an opportunity to minister to Christ Himself (Matthew 25:40)? To please God is to exercise a faith that works by love.

Many are so caught up in their own religious exercises that they are void of the substance of God's love. Their priority is fulfilling a duty for God instead of being directed by God to bring fulfillment to others as an ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). The Levites exalt the Law. This law reveals the character of Christ yet has no compassion with which to redeem them. The Levite looks at the need, but judges it by the same law he fails to live by and passes by on the other side of grace.

The Samaritan came to the dying man and expressed love. His heart was filled with compassion. He was neither hurried nor slothful. His schedule was constrained by love. When he arrived on the scene, love took a risk because love works by faith.

We don't encounter people in need by chance; rather, we come to where they are in the purpose of God. Instead of being hesitant and delaying God's plan, love takes a risk in the boldness of faith and reaches down to give to the half-dead the wholeness of life.

Acts 26-28

Psalm 126:5

As we continue to grow in our Christian lives, we experience the matchless honor of receiving the impartation of His character. We know His everlasting love for others because it is burning in our own hearts (2), and though we are nothing before Him, we can do all things through Him (3). Our communion with Him takes us beyond our human limitations, and we become an expression of His Person to those around us. We become living vessels revealing the mind, power and love of a living God to those who have never known Him.

God truly "works all things together for good." There may be times when we will serve Him by sowing the Gospel in tears, but God has promised that we will always "reap in joy" (Psalms 126:5). There may be times when we will have to go forth weeping, bearing the precious seed of the Gospel. But the Word reassures us that we will return with rejoicing in our hearts (4).

At the end of the road, we shall see that these heartaches have worked for us and for others a "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (II Corinthians 4:17b). All of heaven will look back with us, shouting and rejoicing, because a single life was committed to the praise and glory of God.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. - Psalm 126:5

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. - Romans 5:5

Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. - Philippians 4:1

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. - Psalm 126:6

Ephesians 1:5

God the Father finds pleasure in the purpose of His plan to take an alien stranger and, through the redeeming Blood of His Son, make him an adopted child. Just as a father experiences joy over the birth of his first son, so too does God the Father joy in our birth into His Kingdom. He is building His Family through and with the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son is drawing His Bride; the Father is building His Family; the Spirit is shaping a Body.

We have an experience with each member of the Trinity in the perfect unity of God's plan. Therefore, the trials in our lives are now explained in terms of a three-fold purpose. They are used not only to glorify God by faith, but to glorify Christ in us as His faithful Bride, as the obedient child to the Father, as a member of the Body who reveals the Godhead.

When we sin (and God forbid), we are forfeiting more than just life itself. We lose the enjoyment of a family relationship. We do not share in the communion of our Bridegroom's love. We forfeit the temporal privilege of manifesting eternal grace in the Body. Therefore the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are left without the pleasure derived from our portion. Nevertheless, though the mystery of iniquity draws us away, the mystery of love covers the multitudes of sin and works all together for the good. We receive the grace of forgiveness and work together with the Son as His Bride to reproduce eternal children to be placed in the Body to bring pleasure to the Father.

Acts 23-25

Romans 9:23

"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some of honour, and some to dishonour" (II Timothy 2:20). There are different vessels for the Lord's service - vessels of grace and of disgrace. The only way that we can become vessels unto honor is to have godly thinking in our minds.

David Livingston used to say that he ate, drank and slept for the people he ministered to. He said he was dead to anything else. We need to allow God's Word to sanctify us (set us apart), and make us available for the Kingdom of God just as David Livingston was. We must remember - it is only when the furnace becomes hot that the Word of God is revealed in our lives.

How does a Christian come to know his calling in God's work? He becomes sanctified by the Word of God. He finds that there is no need to be concerned with the details of life, for God arranges them (2); (3).

God continually works His life in us through His Word so that we will be vessels of honor fit for His service. "And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory " (Romans 9:23).

And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, - Romans 9:23

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, - Ephesians 1:4-5

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. - Psalm 119:133

Isaiah 51:3

Have you ever been troubled by sins that you committed in the past? Have you read the Bible but found it didn't mean anything to you? Did you receive counsel that didn't seem to have value? Have you cried out for help and still not sensed God entering your problem? Of course, you have had isolated times when some of these things have happened to you. Every believer has. These have been times that are wasted, wilderness places.

Each of us has within him a nagging atheist, along with the beautiful and precious Holy Spirit of our God. This atheist, our unbelieving Adam nature, will prompt us to doubt and to disbelieve the character of God. It will accuse us of things we've done and remind us of sins that have long ago been forgotten in the mind of Christ. It will discredit the character of the Lord and try to depersonalize His ministry. It will tell us that our sins are deeper than God's reservoir of mercy.

God knows all about this. Many of us have accepted Christ's identification with us on Calvary and we praise God for salvation. But many have not received the identity Christ has for them today, which is that they are brand-new creatures, perfect in their position and looked upon by God the Father as being in His Son. The Lord wants us to know experientially what it means to have the life of Christ in us through grace, moment by moment. Each time we fail, the Lord says that He will comfort all our waste places.

Acts 19-20

1 Corinthians 13:12

Everyday is another chance for us to know God in watching His character flow through humanity. "Wherefore henceforth know we know no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more" (II Corinthians 5:16). We must base our observation on this fact that we know no man after the flesh. Calvary is God's answer to the flesh.

"But if any man love God, the same is known of him" (I Corinthians 8:3). God knows all about us in His foreknowledge (2), (3). To know Him is eternal life (4). We get to know Him through everything that comes into our lives. The plan brings out what God already knows, and He takes the difficult situations and turns them into blessings.

Through these, we get to know Him more. "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death" (Philippians 3:10). This means to know Him in power. Our entire life is devoted to knowing our God. Look for Him as you face each day for He is there.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. - 1 Corinthians 13:12

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: - Isaiah 46:10

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: - Ephesians 1:4

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. - John 17:3

John 3:30

Jesus Christ is our source and what we receive from Him is exactly what He wants us to have. We cannot have beyond what He grants us. And, yet, within the heart of each believer is a yearning that He may speedily increase within us and that we may speedily decrease. Having God's life increases inside us and having our own selfish lives decrease comes through growing. It isn't something we can legislate or establish overnight. This growth isn't something that stems from inner dissatisfaction, but rather it reveals an anticipatory satisfaction with God's full thought for our lives.

We experience the joy of the promises and the purity of personal holiness in the knowledge that Christ is ever increasing and that we are ever decreasing. As self becomes less, Christ has the opportunity to become more. A child of God is not naturally obedient. We learn obedience by the things which we suffer. We aren't intimidated because we haven't reached a certain goal that others may have already reached. As long as our attitude is for God to increase and self to decrease, we know that God is having His way in our lives. By faith, we can know that the Plan of God is working Jesus Christ into every part of our spirit, soul, and bones and that the flesh is being worked out. How we rejoice in His presence in our lives and yet earnestly and fervently echo this cry unto God: "Lord Jesus, you must increase. And, Lord, I must decrease."

Acts 13-14

John 14:23

Do not despise the day of small things (2). Everything begins small. I Peter 1:23 tells us that the incorruptible seed of God's Word has an entire kingdom within it! As we receive God's Word with meekness, we will not see the magnificence of what has been received all at once. At first, we may not see any growth, but the soul that retains truth has an earth-shaking potential. As time passes and certain conditions are met, growth eventually will be experienced and perceived.

The seeds of doctrine grow into the illumination of God's thoughts. They preserve the soul. But in order to yield a full harvest, the seed must be carefully sown. Therefore, receive God's Word on purpose, with deliberation and forethought. Take special interest in going after it. We cannot afford to be mentally lazy, because a whole kingdom is contained within each word.

Truth comes in seed form. Begin a planned process of taking in Bible doctrine. Love wants to break the heart, not crush the will. Christ died in weakness when He could have exerted His power over us. His victory, now, is getting us to receive His seed through a response of love. Growth is silent (seeds do not make much noise). Receive the Word of God in quietness without trying to stir up an emotional response. When reality is the root - fruit ultimately follows.

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. - John 14:23

For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. - Zechariah 4:10

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. - 1 Peter 1:23

Exodus 33:7; Hebrews 13:13; Ephesians 1:17-18

Much of Christianity is weak and powerless because it has not received a revelation from God of the Corporate Body. Many people choose to live in their natural human existence because of the expense of the Cross of Christ. They have a mental concept of what it means to be a member of the Body of Christ, but they lack the power of the One New Man who is the only spiritual man in all the earth. We are either a member of the spiritual man, or we are natural.

You cannot attain an understanding of the Corporate Body through much studying because it takes a revelation of the Holy Spirit to reveal the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.

So many people are sentimentally attached to a natural system of Christianity that they refuse to bear His reproach and go forth unto Him outside the camp. While they live within the confines of the camp, they will never receive a revelation of Him Who is without. When Moses came down from receiving the commandments, Israel was worshipping the golden calf, In response to this demonstration of idolatry, Moses pitched the tabernacle of the congregation outside the camp. Christ sees thousands worshipping something that they can see or feel that symbolizes God but has no Cross. He has demonstrated against this idolatry. He has pitched His tabernacle, His One New Man, outside the camp. The only way in is through the Cross.

Acts 10-12

John 10:28

Every individual has the same opportunity to become a brand new person to moment that he receives Christ. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new" (II Corinthians 5:17).

Salvation is not based upon a system of human achievement or good works, nor does God place a believer on probation once he is saved. After spending time in riotous living, the prodigal son returned home to his father, who received him with unconditional love and abundant mercy. "For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry" (Luke 15:24). His father actually ran to him in an expression of total forgiveness, accepting him, not as a servant, but as a son. "And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" (Luke 15:20).

This story reflects the Father-heart of God! The son's rights of inheritance had not been jeopardized by his sin. Salvation is a perfect work on the part of Almighty God and is in no way dependent on man. The One who saves us is also able to keep us from falling (2) and assure us that our salvation is eternally secure. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28).

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. - John 10:28

- Jude 24

John 6:63

Consider the importance of the Word of God today. It is for us the very bread of life; the sustenance of our spirit and the health of our soul. Have you ever shared with someone a portion of Christ and had them retort to you, "That's your interpretation?" How great is the need for understanding. The Word of God is not known through correct interpretation, it is known through revelation!

What is revelation? It is the manifestation of the Person of Christ, and that is all. Human understanding is like a thick curtain drawn across the Person of Christ. Flesh, our Adam nature, cannot understand or interpret the Word of God. The Word of God is a thing of the Spirit and the natural man cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:13-14). It is necessary then that we each receive revelation from God, but how? If the flesh is the obstacle preventing us, then removal or abolition of the flesh is the solution we seek after.

Entrance into spiritual quickening, wherein is an abundance of Life through the Word of God, comes only by the Cross of Calvary. Meeting Jesus Christ at Calvary and receiving the grace of God that causes me to realize that I am crucified with Him is the only way to become available to receive revelation. Problems with the Word seeming dead, dull and dry actually stem from a lack of an experiential Cross. Problems with many and diverse interpretations have the exact same root.

Acts 3-5

Matthew 25:21

Psalm 34:1 states, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Imagine a believer blessing the Lord at all times. Psalm 150:6 says, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord."

Why can a born again child of god praise the Lord at all times? First, because he is forever seated in heavenly places (2). Second, he is made a joint-heir with Christ (3). Third, because God will always cause him to triumph (4). Fourth, the Lord has cast his sins forever into the deepest sea (5). Fifth, He has been made more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus (6). Sixth, because all things are for his sake (7). Seventh, because any suffering that God might call an individual to go through is not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in him (8).

Let the Lord teach us how to give thanks and praise for these promises which cannot be taken away (9). God will reveal to you many things through His Word for which to praise Him continually.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. - Romans 8:18

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. - Romans 8:37

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. - 2 Corinthians 4:15

He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. - Micah 7:19

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2 Corinthians 2:14

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. - Romans 8:17

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: - Ephesians 2:6

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. - Matthew 25:21

And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. - Hebrews 12:27

Ephesians 4:15

We may say many things that sound true but in reality are not. Simply because some speech contains verified fact and precise data does not constitute its truth, especially in regard to the Word of God. The greatest thing about God is found in 1 John 4:8, "God is love." Every thing He speaks is spoken within His own character. Love is not an emotion; love is a Person. Neither is truth an understanding; it is a Person. When that which I speak ceases to convey the personality of God, Who is love, then what I say ceases to be truth.

How quick we are to stand up for truth when we are challenged. More often than not our stand is upon insecurity and self-defense rather than truth. Jesus Christ stood for truth when He allowed the angry mob to crucify Him and spoke forth the character of His own life, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Christians are too quick to be at one another over points of doctrine. Even if they could prove they were right, they would be wrong for their lack of love. There is no truth apart from the character and essence of God, and God is love.

In Ephesians 4:14-15, Paul gives us instruction to cause us to avoid deception. That is, "Be no more children." Spiritual children make issues whereby many are hindered and confused. Spiritual adults are "grown up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."

Acts 1-2

Galatians 1:15-16

There is an interesting principle that the apostle Paul brings out in Galatians. Paul says he was separated from his mother's womb. "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace" (Galatians 1:15). He was separated into God's grace. He used the same phrase as the Pharisees. A Pharisee can literally quote 435 laws of God, and know all the smallest details of the law. He was the same unto grace that the Pharisees were to the law. Nothing was able to turn him from grace.

We need to mark off a boundary line by placing a limitation on our past. To the extent we allow this to happen, the enemy will be less likely to pull us away. Satan tries to get us to be re-oriented to the past, but we have been severed just as Paul was. We are now called unto God's grace. "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee" (Jeremiah 1:5a).

God has set us apart unto grace. We have been severed from anything of the old life, including condemnation. As we implement the fact that we are separated from our old life, grace will in turn be revealed to us and we will be able to reveal it to others.

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: - Galatians 1:15-16

Isaiah 50:4

Many people are saved and love God, but they do not know how to have an open ear for God. It is the secret of how to live and it determines how you think. Without thinking God's thoughts and letting them be established as the conviction of our mind, we lean to our own understanding. Because our thoughts do not correlate with God's, we are always trying to search out His understanding. No one has a right to search out what God does. God does not endorse our mind. Isaiah 15 states the case of our mind - it is ill. Our natural faculties are not within the realm of His life.

God will give us a channel to receive communication (1 Corinthians 2:16). Then, we can love and think in terms of God and reason in terms of divine logic. Be renewed in your mind that you are strengthened in definition from the mind of God. Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. First, we wait upon the Lord, upward, to have our strength renewed, inward, so we are able to walk, onward. We either get up in Adam and try to be good or get up in Christ knowing we are good in Him. Either we know we are conquerors, or we wait to be conquered by the world. As a man thinks, so is he. The thoughts of God will lead you in faith while the thoughts of man cause you to search for understanding, questioning the promise and the character of God.

John 18-21

Matthew 25:21

If we were to ask the Lord, "Why did you come?" He would answer, "I came to seek and to save the lost." And if we asked, "What have you done about it?" He would say, "I come seeking...and I am still seeking. I seek them in the marketplace, the church and the valley. I seek them in trials and in their pleasure pursuits. I go after them. I seek."

In Luke 15, Jesus gave the illustrations of the lost coin, the lost sheep and the lost son. The coin was lost because of carelessness, the sheep on account of ignorance, and the son because of his own rebellion. Yet what is emphasized in these parables is not "why" the loss, but that in each situation there was a person who would seek with diligence until the object of search was found, or wait with expect until its return.

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). You cannot simplify the divine purpose more than that. His primary mission was to reveal the good news of His grace to those perishing. Once we see the principle with a fresh vision, which only the Holy Spirit can teach properly, it will invade every area of our lives. Then, we will hear the Father's words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21a).

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. - Matthew 25:21

Matthew 5:5

Marriage reveals God's heart in giving. It is called meekness, the transfer of one's rights to let the other person be happy where they are, providing him an opportunity to discover life in his state.

Unconditional love must be the basis of true meekness. God transferred His right to enjoy His fullness and came and shed His Blood and bore our sins. He met us in our sinful condition so we could discover grace while still in our sin, giving us the life to live in victory above that sin. Meekness produced a family for Christ. He in turn was given many blessings through the grace He has given.

A heart does not have to adjust if it is divinely oriented. A life does not have to constantly reorient itself if it is divinely adjusted. Some people take a year in marriage before they are meek. Others are nothing less than meek. If you lay down your life, the other person is blessed and so are you. That life in you reproduces a capacity in another person. A selfless life is received as a consequence of grace. Christ is glorified and the flesh is not exalted.

The principle of marriage that Christ displays with the Bride is that He is always giving us His nature and in return He receives a great family. The greatest privilege is to give the grace given by God in a union. Give love to each other instead of rationalizing rights toward each other.

A giver is a winner, and he always receives what he gives.

John 14-17

Romans 9:23

"Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (Luke 6:36). It is so important that we echo our heavenly Father by being full of mercy and grace when we deal with people. This part of the nature of God is so important that God placed a restriction on our receiving it. "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered" (Proverbs 21:13, NIV).

Our thoughts, words and actions must show forth mercy (1). It should be so noticeable in our lives that it almost cries out. Mercy cries louder than judgment. "For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment" (James 2:13). The blood of Christ cries out - "Mercy!" It should be the only policy between two men and when relating to other people. "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" (Matthew 5:7, NIV).

We are God's children, and since our heavenly Father is rich in mercy our lives will echo it for all the world to see. "And his mercy is on them that hear him from generation to generation" (Luke 1:50).

And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, - Romans 9:23

Luke 14:34-35

Our ways are not God's ways. We see a friend in trouble. Yet, God's way sees a need for that trouble to do something in them in the situation. To us, it seems that certain people do not listen to God's Word. God says that every message gone forth has accomplished what He has pleased. The Word will never return void. Never question the Word with your thoughts. The Word shall prosper.

A lot of people are not fit for the Kingdom. They only fit so far. In the Kingdom God, has a plan for people to take up His Cross. The Cross makes us fit into grace, or we do not make it in the plan. A lot of people, after the transition of a trial, are left only with Adam and are not seasoned with grace.

Prosper in the trials brought into your life. When you think someone has hurt you, think again in God's thoughts and prosper in the thing God sends. Do not be sent out of a trial by the circumstances therein, but send the life of Christ in to disperse the thoughts that the enemy plotted against your victory. When you get in God's way by being in God's thoughts, you will prosper (Psalm 1:3). You touch a situation with Heaven. With every commitment made, we are responsible. God made a commitment when He gave us the Word. He took the responsibility of the Word and made a commitment that it would never return void. We are after God in everything, living as a product of the Word of God.

John 11-13

Proverbs 3:13-18

Our happiness must depend upon the Word of God and we must not become attached to things that will take us away from it. Too many times we place our happiness in temporal things. Then, when they are taken away, our joy soon fades too. Just knowing about wisdom is not enough. Happiness cannot be produced by knowledge alone; it is always a result of wisdom. It can only come from the Word of God. It is an effect of God's righteousness.

When we have wisdom, we have insight from above. "She (wisdom) is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her; and happy is every one that retaineth her" (Proverbs 3:18). All of us need to have a regular diet of wisdom, for it "is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom" (Proverbs 4:7a)

It is worth more than rubies (2) and gold (3). When you get wisdom, a promise of happiness comes with it. "A man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed" (Ecclesiastes 8:1b).

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. - Proverbs 3:13-18

For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. - Proverbs 8:11

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! - Proverbs 16:16

Isaiah 55:8-9

Think about the hours people spend with thoughts that are not God's. Your thoughts will make you nervous, angry or pacify you as they minister outside of God's mind. Anything that is not God in thought is under the category of vain thoughts. But how do we not think our own thoughts if we have a mind to think with? Through Proverbs 16:3, we commit our works unto the Lord and our thoughts shall be established.

The only work we have left to commit is the work of believing (John 6:28). Committing faith becomes your only source of work. Our faith in His work establishes our mind in grace.

Our thoughts are like what our environment, our education and our religion has affected us with. But God eliminates our thoughts and speaks to us in His faith about our life. Do not become passive toward your thoughts, but revenge Satan's thoughts with obedience. If we do not do this, then we will not be in God's way. Thoughts produce ways. Many times people will not follow in the way of discipleship because they have their own thoughts. Jesus called people without definition. If He had given definition, they would have put it in their own thoughts and interpreted His call. Our thoughts always lead us to a way of temporal security. If Christ's thoughts had been that, He would never have gone to the Cross to end the old and start the new way through grace.

John 7-10

John 8:31

The great historian, Will Durant, expressed it well when he said, "The first condition of freedom is its limitations." In today's culture, man's freedom and liberty are limited to himself. Man has placed himself as the end result and solution to all things.

The call to freedom is for people to realize how destitute they actually are without Christ. One might say, "I have never heard of Adam's sin," or "Is it fair for God to see me as totally depraved?" However, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the doctrine of total depravity is very comforting. It releases God to work on our behalf. It also lays the foundation for many blessings we have in Christ. It allows an omniscient, omnipotent, all loving, compassionate and merciful God to be our only limit.

The Word of God is the highest form of spiritual authority; and that authority must govern, regulate, and maintain our Christian life. The Word must be that which sanctifies us (2), orders our steps (3), and heals us (4).

True freedom is limiting ourselves to God and His Word and allowing that Word to be lifted up as a standard of truth. If God and His Holy Scriptures are your only limitation, you are free. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him. If ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; - John 8:31

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. - John 17:17

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. - Psalm 119:133

He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. - Psalm 107:20

Ephesians 3:14-19

If we have unconditional love, we can bear others' burdens. Unconditional love does not charge another person. It loves beyond the knowledge of the fact of what the person has done. Other people get love not from us, but through the Holy Spirit in us. The fruit of our lives is God. No longer are we regulated by what our senses tell us in situations. We do not spend time comparing the spirituality of those we see, but we live in an absolute love toward all involved despite the changes brought about by the pressures of situations.

Do not cut off the opportunity for God's mind to be expressed because your life is regulated by standards toward other people. Only an unconditional love can be the basis for the will of God to be executed. God's thoughts are not our thoughts. Therefore, we must live in faith to forsake our own interpretations of what we think should be. We have no right to question sovereignty. Sovereignty does what it wants with its own power. Standards are used as a means to know instead of allowing people to grow in the grace of life.

What would be more beneficial? To be ministered to with unconditional love, receiving grace for weakness, or to be confronted with the knowledge of inadequacy without any way of escape to life through grace? Do not fret over people's lives that do not measure up to your standard. Let God work in and out what is pleasing in His sight.

John 4-6

Colossians 3:1-2

God's grace is inexhaustible. It comes to believers from God the Father, then Jesus Christ, the Son. One must understand that the natural man does not receive the things of God (2). He (the natural man) cannot manifest the life of God by himself. Yet, when we received Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we received a treasure in our earthen vessels.

It takes a vessel to be broken for the treasure to be manifested. If it does not happen, then the treasure will not be expressed. This is why there are times of pressure an trials in a Christian's life because God wants His life to shine through our mortal bodies.

I Peter 1:7 tells us that God tests us for the purpose of approving us. After he approves of us, He gives us an abundance of His grace. Now, the believer receives this love and than extends it to the world, making an invisible God visible. Those who do this reveal the heart and purpose of Jesus Christ in Satan's backyard (this world).

God wants us to grow int he inward man, and He does it through the death of the natural man (4). The believer must live from faith to faith (5), according to an eternal value system. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1).

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. - Colossians 3:1-2

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. - 1 Corinthians 2:14

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: - 1 Peter 1:7

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. - 2 Corinthians 4:16

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. - Romans 1:17

Galatians 5:4-9

God uses the spotlight of conviction through the Word to reveal truth about us. God wants us to come out of our systems to live in an attitude. A system is an absolute way of doing things because of knowledge that works through reasoning. Some lives are made up of systems. People get saved and carry their systems into their Christian walk. They add to salvation a system of works, instead of believing in a faith that works by love.

Live in God's perception instead of Satan's system. God has a perception caused by the Word. It is faith, the attitude that produces life rooted in grace. Christ desires man to live in a perceptive faith by the Word. Do not analyze why something happened. Do not live by reason based on what you have learned rationally, that which has been seasoned by culture and senses. This avails nothing. Just live by faith instead and let that avail. Walk from faith to faith as your attitude of perception. Live in the order of Christ's Word, which produces the life of Christ's Spirit.

You reveal your system of living and you reveal how you perceive by the nature of your conclusions. When you present a situation with faith, that perception will lead you and guide you through that situation and conclude in that attitude. Do not always try to live in the reasoning powers of a system, but instead live in the faith attitude of perception.

John 1-3

Philippians 2:13

He wants you to learn of Him. He has many things to teach you and to do for you, and He has a tremendous plan for your life. He as provided the Body of Christ and the assembly of believers as a place to be rooted, grounded, stabilized, healed and strengthened. He as provided other believers to bless you and he wants to make you a blessing to them. It is in the Body of Christ that we learn of Him - of His grace, His finished work, His plan and purpose, and it is there that we learn how to reach out to others in practical evangelism.

Jesus said seven times in the book of Revelation for each individual believer to "hear what the Spirit says to the churches." It is hearing what the Holy Spirit teaches in the churches that causes us to consistently overcome in life and glorify the Lord Jesus in time (2).

There are many commandments that Jesus Christ has given but He first wants us to know that He has finished the work. When we fulfill these commandments, it will be God in us both willing and doing of His good pleasure (3).

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. - Philippians 2:13

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. - Revelation 2:7,11

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. - Philippians 2:13

Joshua 1:7-8

Meditation makes me strong. Worship is precious, and when occupied with praise I will not be occupied with anything short of what God deserves in my attitude toward Him; but that which gives me substance for adoration, for praise, and for worship is meditation.

Meditation leads to concentration. Concentration leads to an amplification of the singularity of thoughts that God wants me to experience in the darkroom of my potential, so I can experience the revelation of His purpose in the particulars of my life. Meditation causes me to be pregnant with the Word of God, and this pregnancy has a chance to deliver the life of substance in my experience to produce the character of God's life.

As believers learn to worship based on meditation, praise based on concentration, and response based on adoration, those believers enter into an amazing deliverance by the Word. They have entered into the pregnancy of the Word that they have been subjected to through the concept of faith in the grace of creative receptivity. When believers do not worship, praise, meditate or concentrate, they become people who are not good receptors for God's revelation. All things leave them wanting. The only time they experience glory is when they are rested or have a need. We can live in the continual Word deliverance brought through meditation.

Luke 22-24

Hebrews 11:27

What are we to do, now that we are Christians? Abide, rest and recognize what He has done, learn of Who He is and let Him motivate us from this place of rest into a life of good works (2); (3). We are now God's because He purchased us. He bought us (4) with the price of His own blood (5) - the purchase of his finished work.

"I beseech (urge) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, (All that God has accomplished for us in His Finished Work), that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, (which is already) holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). It is only reasonable now that Christ has sacrificed Himself for us and one the work to save us to the uttermost, that we now are left with simply presenting ourselves to Him, having already been accepted, and made holy on the grounds of His finished work (6); (7); (8). This means that we are not capable in ourselves, but available to His power and might (9); (10); (11). Together as a Body of believers, we make an invisible God visible (12) to a lost and dying world.

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. - Hebrews 11:27

This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. - Titus 3:8

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:10

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. - Acts 20:28

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: - 1 Peter 1:18-19

And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: - Colossians 1:20-22

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. - Ephesians 1:4,6

And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: - Colossians 2:10

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; - Colossians 1:9

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, - Ephesians 3:16, 20

1 Chronicles 4:10

God wants us more and more to come together in belief. In this particular age because of the light we are responsible for and with the teaching we have experienced, it is vitally necessary to enter in by faith to every step God advances with the Body.

God is cultivating within His Body corporate meditation, that the mind of God and results of power may be loosed in our midst. Meditation is not using the processes to think of something special, nor is it placing your brain in neutral to enter into passivity. It is simply quietly reiterating silence and quietness before God without being occupied with prayer or worship. When one meditates, he does not necessarily praise or adore God, but he just thinks of God and waits to come into the will of God for meditation.

Though, of course, the heart is filled with worship and praise, we are talking about the occupation of the mind. The entire substance of your soul is worshipping and praising. Your mind is now listening to God, so He can have an opportunity through your subjectivity and your objective openness to have you meditate on His choice. Meditation comes in and it reproduces and facilitates the neutralizing processes of amplification for your future concentration, adoration, worship and praise. Meditation: allowing God's mind to expand throughout your being with the power of its life, generating response from your heart and healing to your body.

Luke 18-21

I Samuel 17:47

A problem commonly faced by believers is subjectivity. Subjectivity is placing supreme value on what we think, feel, and experience instead of what the Lord reveals. We must see that the battle is the Lord's (1). It is not our battle. Even our lives are not our own (2). What have we to give that we have not received from the Lord? (3). The power is not of us, but of Him who gave us this treasure in our earthen vessel (4).

Satan's plan is to get us to take on burdens that are too heavy for us to bear. He wants to overload us with cares of this life and loves it when believers are anxious about things that are God's responsibility. Do you worry about the Goliaths in your life? Does the state of your personal resources regulate your joy? It is so easy to be overwhelmed by the details of this life.

After we have worked hard, prayed, loved at all times, and invested Christ in the lives of others, it is up to the Lord to come through. We sow the seed; He brings the harvest.

Embrace what the Word of Life says about your situation! Live in God's definition for your life, and you will win all the battles that come your way.

And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. - 1 Samuel 17:47

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? - 1 Corinthians 6:19

For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? - 1 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. - 2 Corinthians 4:7

Romans 16:17

"Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and AVOID THEM" (Romans 16:17).

"If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds" (2 John 10:11).

We are the instruments on earth that God uses to bind the forces of darkness. Peter was given the keys to the Kingdom, so that he might bind on earth the devil's work and loosen on earth Jesus Christ's life. We should be careful never to align ourselves with the enemy because our mind is so impressionable, and impressions can be made that last an extremely long period of time.

We should remember this doctrine and learn it well. Avoid what the devil is releasing. Even if what is said is true in terms of time, refuse to complement the kingdom of darkness by giving place to what the devil wants you to receive in terms of impressions. We are not to be affected by anything other than the life of TRUTH. Never give place by even listening to a negative statement; never entertain true facts that are not true in terms of God's facts. "Take heed what you hear" (Mark 4:24). Always bind the plan of the devil by never letting him have you carry an indelible impression that will only come out and be released to complement his kingdom six months later. Rebuke the party who is not binding but loosening the devil's plan of attack. Love as God does.

Luke 14-17

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jeremiah 29:11). Whenever problems arise there are some that react because they are not kept by the Word of God. We must stop in the midst of pressure and trials and think with God toward ourselves. God is for us (2). and "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

So many times we understand that He loves us, but we have a problem receiving it because it is free. The devil tries to deceive us into thinking that we must work for His love. It is free! Simply receive it and watch it transform your life. No matter what goes on around you, remember God is for you and He has no thoughts of evil toward you, only thoughts of peace.

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. - Jeremiah 29:11

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? - Romans 8:31

Matthew 16:19

The enemy has been released to the earth. His attack continually is through releasing. He releases his own opinions through supernatural projections and his own purposes. Wherever there are people available to join the enemy's plan of attack there is rejoicing in his camp. If people cooperate with his strategy of releasing, then the devil has made one more step forward in affecting the minds of men with his corruption of lies and darkness that leads them to Hell. The devil has literally no power over men who are in Christ but to persuade them of his lies. He is a serpent eating the dust, enjoying the filthiness of deceiving the earthly nature of man, a nature that is subject to his rule. The quickening power of the Holy Spirit alone is what delivers man from this worldwide deception.

The sadness of deception is that man now enters into the devil's strategy of releasing. Man receives an impression through another man, releases it and propagates it without the mind of Truth to bind it. The devil releases and releases again. He does it through people, worldly people, and through Christians as well.

A Christian should bind what the devil has released by never listening or receiving what he has released. We hear God and release what God is and what God has said. We are not subject to the reign of the serpent. We have been delivered from the folly of a fool. We are God's people. We speak through God the Word of God to release God!

Luke 10-13

I Corinthians 1:10

The mind of Christ revealed in the Word of God is the basis for unity in the church. As each member thinks with Christ, all members will have the same content in their minds. Through the Word and participation with the Holy Spirit, they will attain unto like-mindedness. This request was made "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ," which means by virtue of His character or divine disposition. Divine disposition is characterized by comfort, love, strength, communion, affection, compassion, forgiveness, graciousness, etc.

Paul said, "Fulfill ye my joy." The principle here is that like-mindedness produces joy and calm cheerfulness because the minds are sharing together a united purpose, the love of Christ, and the same content of thought. Like mindedness is the result of a positive, free volitional choice toward categories in the Word of God by the individual members of the Body of Christ in order to express His character and purpose. This oneness of mind is shared by the Body as a whole, because the mind of Christ is a constant, stable, unchanging, attribute or system of thought. Gifts, personalities, and methods are diversified, but they are not the basis for unity. Bible doctrine, the mind of Christ, and the expression of Christ are the premise for unity of the Body of Christ, which occurs with joint participation in the Holy Spirit.

Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. - 1 Corinthians 1:10

Genesis 3:14; Romans 8:2

Adam is the effect of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This tree is the first cause to produce the effect of what it is. Adam's nature now knows what is good and bad without the life of God. To Adam, God is not important. He thinks that he can live quite well with knowledge alone. So Adam becomes the second cause of a multitude of effects. He becomes the second cause of thousands of misconceptions, of lies and opinions that hold no water when tested by the eternal pressure of God.

Eternity bursts these skins. Let us consider the treading places of man and learn to walk softly. Why should we be the effect of a lie and then continually live in the effects of a liar? The law builds our life to the limitation of natural phenomena. We always are trained to think in terms of working to gain, of reaping what we sow, of knowledge giving us great gain, and of our natural temperament and personality being the cause of what we will now be.

We readily accept and believe the truths of cause and effect and readily fall at their mercy. We ultimately find ourselves to be the effect of the second cause who dictates and legislates to us on the basis of the first cause.

Jesus has eliminated the second cause completely and placed us into a position where we will never again be the effect of the first cause. We are now subject to God. Through Him, we have all power, subject to His Headship alone. In every realm we are more than conquerors.

Luke 4-6

Hebrews 2:14

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that has the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). Jesus took part in humanity, but not in its sinfulness. His blood was the blood of God. The blood of Jesus, then, is precious indeed, incorruptible, innocent and free from the stain of Adam's sin. It avails for us: it is efficacious (2), cleansing (3) and life-giving (4). The foundation for the whole New Testament is the blood (5; 6). No wonder we are warned against diminishing its significance. To do so is to outrage the Holy Spirit of grace.

The born-again believer who both objectively understands and intuitively knows the value of the blood of Christ is the believer who will be constrained to serve the living God with a purged conscience. He will not be a mechanical Christian who lacks the mystery of God's life. He will experience the animation, vitality and soul prosperity of knowing that the blood of Christ always, forever and daily avails for him. He will be able to achieve the goal of true Christian maturity through his good conscience, and express the proper gracious disposition of love.

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; - Hebrews 2:14

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. - Romans 5:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. - John 6:53

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. - Matthew 26:28

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, - Hebrews 13:20

Ephesians 3:14-21

It is truly amazing that people can stand so steadfast in what they know. Doctrine and knowledge are extremely important in the Christian faith; however, strength in the inner man is different from knowledge in the outer man. How often do people live in the knowledge of past moments, of doctrine, or in clear-cut objective facts of knowledge? Thank God for a prayer such as Paul's in Ephesians 3. He prayed that Christ may dwell in our hearts. Christ lives in hearts to take us beyond the letter of the objective into the power of the subjective inner man.

When we are strengthened with might in the inner man, this gives us a life that reveals to our hearts the breadth and length and depth and height of God's love. The Gospel is the news of such a life. It is not in word only but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20). It is not objective alone, but a subjective life based upon faith in the objective truths to grant us knowledge that goes beyond knowledge. What I know objectively today without subjective power can never take me beyond what another knows objectively. We may agree on all the facts, but never experience the oneness that only Christ dwelling in our hearts can give.

This love, through the power of the Holy Spirit, takes us far beyond the knowledge of the breadth, length, depth and height as we live in it by faith. Although we do not fall away from what we know, we experience a love that goes beyond what we know so that we might know Him in whom are all unsearchable riches. This is the Mystery of the ages.

Luke 1-3

Hebrews 10:23

There are so many products and services on the market that have special labels on them that promise a refund if you are not satisfied. They set up an interest trust. They want you to trust them enough to buy the product or use the service, but sometimes these items do not hold up. A product may need to be returned because of unsatisfactory service. There is always the element of uncertainty. There is one thing that people can truly trust without ever needing to have a clause of satisfaction. God can be trusted no matter what. We should have an attitude of complete faith, for this pleases God (2).

God as our trust because He is not a man that He can lie (3). He is the God of integrity, the only One who can be relied upon at all times. "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man" (Psalm 118:8). We are let down so many times because we place our trust in man when God is the only One who is faithful. "If we are faithless, he will remain faithful" (II Timothy 2:13, NIV). Let go and place all of your trust in God; He will never fail you. "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)" (Hebrews 10:23).

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) - Hebrews 10:23

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. - Hebrews 11:6

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? - Numbers 23:19

Psalm 121:1-2

God has designed man with inner eyes. Psalm 121:1 tells the story of a man lifting up the inner eyes of his heart to the hills. Creation has given man an amazing testimony that utters speech and shows knowledge day after day (Psalm 19:2). Creation speaks to the moral conscience of man because he has these inner eyes. The heathen may look at the stars, the moon and the sun and marvel at the workmanship of God. He has a capacity for truth because he has been made with a moral conscience. As the heathen lifts up his inner eyes to the hills, the Holy Spirit witnesses to his heart the truth of God's character.

He realizes now that he should follow after what he sees. This is not worshipping creation or false gods, but it is honoring the Creator in truth. Salvation is truly of the Lord and a great work of God. The Holy Spirit has been poured out upon all flesh ( Joel 2:28) and is so available to witness to the heart of man the truth of God's character.

How often Christians are touched by God's ministry through creation? We worship the Creator as we gaze upon the beauty of the trees and the starry sky. We marvel at the power that holds it altogether, the mind that designed it all, and the amazing purpose that it all has. It is no wonder that the genuine reflection and humility in the heart of a man can lead him to the mystery of salvation as he lifts his eyes unto the hills. The hills just may be the stimuli necessary to establish our thoughts in the peacefulness of Who God is.

Mark 11-13

Romans 8:32

The world system is set up in a way that tries to draw us away from one another. It speaks of maturity as being independent of one another. But the Word of God has something different to say. Victory is experienced by God's army as each soldier marches and co-labors together, and it is individually experienced only as it is corporately applied through every joint supplying its portion (2). "We are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us" (Romans 8:37, Amplified). Together, as a consecrated, devoted army, we experience His victory.

Even Moses, the great and wonderful prophet of God, needed Aaron and Hur to hold up his hands (3). Without his team, he was weak, frail and inadequate. He needed them to supply strength in his weakness, and through their supply the enemy was conquered. In Nehemiah, we see that many men were used to build the wall; they worked together as a team. Team concept was their motto. Alone it would have been impossible to build, but together it was easy. It was a joy to work as a team and manifest God's power.

"So we, numerous as we are, are one body in Christ, the Messiah, and individually we are parts one of another - mutually dependent on one another" (Romans 12:5, Amplified).

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? - Romans 8:32

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. - Ephesians 4:16

So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. - Exodus 17:10-12

Psalm 18:25-27

As the Bible reveals, God shows Himself merciful to him who is merciful and shows Himself upright to him who is upright, we see an amazing revelation. By no means can we work to become upright or merciful. It is impossible to give what you do not have. The truth is that we have become what God is, and that is love. No longer do we try to become something in the consciousness of ourselves. We are rewarded mercy now and built up supernaturally by God. As you behold Who God is and what He has done, you will have no problem experiencing the nature of what He has given to you.

The Finished Work always reveals the glory of God (Exodus 40:33-35). The Christian is supposed to grow from glory to glory. What is so glorious about our flesh? What is so glorious about our past problems, Adamic complexities, excuses and observations? What is so glorious about our selfish and egocentric exaltation over others or our great self-exhilaration of a fleshly pursuit for vainglory? What is so marvelously glorious about our knowledge in the flesh about issues, controversies and doctrines? The Christian life is not difficult-it is impossible!

You cannot serve with self-interest preserving what you think is God. God is now, and He does not include your flesh. He did not allow the flesh of Moses to enter the Tabernacle when it was finished. God wants glory to fill His house. We are present, but only to be quiet in Him and reap the benefits of who we are from God.

Mark 7-10

John 15:15

Deep in the heart of every individual is a cry to be loved and to have a true friendship. The word "friend" has a much deeper and more significant meaning than is commonly thought of in the world. Consider what the Scriptures teach pertaining to true friendship according to the grace of God.

"A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity" (Proverbs 17:17). This verse teaches that a true friend, or Christian friend, loves at all times. In order to understand what the Holy Spirit is teaching, we must go to the Word to define the meaning of love. God is love. When we express the kind of attitude toward one another as in I Corinthians 13, through our Lord Jesus Christ, we enter into true friendship.

Peter appreciated Jesus' friendship and His love even after failing the grace of God, after cursing and after denying our Lord. Jesus lovingly restored him and commissioned him to preach the first message at Pentecost (3). The Lord did not punish Peter. He loved him at all times. What a revelation of genuine love and friendship according to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, may we be true friends just as Jesus is! "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends" (John 15:15a).

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. - John 15:15

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. - 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. - Acts 2:14-40

Ephesians 5:23-32

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church." Was Christ possessed and manipulated by the Church? God's love cannot be possessed. Christ died for us when we were yet sinners and did more for us through His love than He could ever do if he had settled to live in a love that could be possessed by the response or initiation of the Church in the flesh.

If our lives are dead and we are hid with Christ in God, then no one can hold us or possess us. We have liberty in the Spirit of God. We may be considered a prisoner by some, but we see no prison walls, only those who declare us to be a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 1:18). This is the bondage that grants us perfect liberty. We are bond-servants. This love is the best that can ever be offered. If we are possessed by another, we are not loving as Christ loved the Church. This kind of love goes beyond theology and self and is a new kind of unity.

Many try to hold other people's flesh together because of fear. Whether it be in a marriage or in a church, we are to live as a package of love that cleanses, ministers and loves continually without attempting to hold the flesh of Adam and all his fears, insecurities, and habits into a particular pattern. As Jesus has illustrated, as our example and as He taught, we love beyond the other party. We are not regulated by murmurings, reactions, or differences but rather, we love as Christ loved the Church.

Mark 4-6

I John 2:5-6

Thinking like God and with God is what doctrine is all about. The Lord tells us in Isaiah 55:7-9: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts... For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

He will never violate the integrity of His own nature. And we can depend upon the Holy Spirit to show us the essential issues at hand - yielding to the Lord's specific thoughts.

Knowing doctrine is the means to a satisfying relationship with God, because it grounds our communion with Him in reality and truth. Any other kind of association with God is merely a shadow, elusive and subjective in its origin. The Scriptures bear witness: "But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked" (I John 2:5 - 6). We must purpose to learn His thoughts on every subject, putting aside our own opinions when there is a conflict, and conform our thoughts to His thoughts. As we begin to think with God's thoughts, our ways will become His ways.

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. - 1 John 2:5-6

1 John 4:8

The natural, animalistic love man is capable of living in demands that it be satisfied. It is always thinking of a need. It has a wicked imagination and feeds from many sources without finding peace. This is lust-wanting and wanting continually. It is a love that is not love, such as we know Love.

True Love is satisfied with itself and not with what it does. It ministers and reaches out with a completely satisfied and understanding heart to give itself again and again. How wonderful! Without love doing a single thing to produce what people think it should be, it is successful in what it is. God is love. This love never does anything to produce a show. It is not seeking to become something more than what it is. It cannot be surpassed. Without it ever being understood, it is still love. Love is love. We cannot add to it or improve it, regardless of what it does; and we cannot take away from it to make it anything less. God is love, and we are as He is in this present world (1 John 4:17). We are love.

Have you ever met people who have God's love? They perhaps don't say much, but what comes out of their heart counsels you. Love is so present that you receive a ministry that goes beyond the thousands of words of counseling and humanistic psychology. It is no doubt that the penetration of love goes beyond knowledge and beyond our understanding, meeting the need in itself simply as a by-product of what it is.

Mark 1-3

Matthew 13:23

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman... every branch in me that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:1,2).

Jesus is addressing the disciples, whose lives were characterized by confusion and much trouble. He is not dealing with the world, but with the problems that the disciples would face in it. He is also giving the solution to their problems.

Jesus is the True Vine. He is our source of life (2). If we accept any other source, it will result in wounds and inward trouble. The Father will purposefully take away things in our lives that are not abiding in the Vine, because He wants us to be more fruitful. He is not a hard master; it is His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom (3). His purpose is always taking care of the branches to make way for the Word of God to be rooted and established in our lives (4).

It is after this process that we become clean. "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3). Marry wisdom (the application of the Word). Be teachable, abide in what you hear, and trust nothing outside of the Word of God as your source. The result is that fruit will be added to your life.

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. - Matthew 13:23

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. - John 14:6

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. - Luke 12:32

Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. - Colossians 2:7

1 John 4:17

Let's talk about three kinds of love: God's love, the devil's "love," and our own love. The first is completely unique. It cannot fail and will perform to meet the needs of people without living in lust, bondage, or introspection. God's love has been given to man so that he might be free to express the nature of God. God's love is not what we do to prove who we are, but rather it is what we possess because of who God says we are. Have you ever tried to love someone without understanding that you are love because of who Christ has made you to be? In Him, we are love. Love is never what we do, but it is knowing we are as He is in this present evil world. He is our peace as well as our all in all.

The second kind of love is the devil's love, which is an animal, natural love. The third kind of love comes from the goodness of my own soul, which initiates and absorbs love and will establish its recipient into a pattern of response. It expects response in a particular way; and if it doesn't get it, it feels uncomfortable. It says, "Love me according to my needs as I very definitely possess you with my own concept of love." As the years pass by, it becomes more and more possessive because the variability of the receiver's response has been "chartered and mapped" to confine him into this understanding of his pattern. This kind of love says, "I now have a great capacity to possess you as I live in the soul-life of love. It is my own."

Thank God for His love that makes us what we are!

Matthew 26-28

Proverbs 29:23

The outward man shall definitely perish, but our inward man is renewed day by day (2). We tend to get involved with outward things, but God always looks on the heart. When Samuel was looking for Saul's replacement, the Lord told him not to look at the outward appearance because God looks on the heart (3).

This is why we must guard our hearts, for when we do, we enter into the principle of humility. "A man's pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit" (Proverbs 29:23). A humble person has quietness and confidence as his strength (4). This is a great program for human relationships. God knew that because of being occupied with external things, we would have trouble relating to each other. But God has a way of dealing with natural, external relationship - the heart is revealed by pressures, finances , anxiety, etc.

We must take a positive step with our hearts and fix them upon God. Humility will take away every secret grudge. Let us not escape the issues. Let us deal well with our hearts. Than we can go forward revealing the nature of God through our lives.

A man's pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. - Proverbs 29:23

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. - 2 Corinthians 4:16

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. - 1 Samuel 16:7

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. - Isaiah 30:15

John 17:21; 1 Corinthians 6:17

What would happen if two Christians who were not getting along came together and agreed about the necessity for unity and attempted to unite on the basis of their soul. A few days after they had made a pact in the capacity they had in their soul, they would privately interpret what one another said or meant. They would react in their soul because they had no capacity for God, but a tremendous capacity for themselves.

The Church at Corinth had approximately 100 families when Paul left on his evangelical tour. Church history says, however, that their Church dwindled down to three families. Why? This Church had all the gifts. These gifts were genuine and real, but the problem was that unity was lacking because there was no capacity for God.

The devil wants us to follow God after our soul. It is possible that we could have all the gifts, as precious as they are, but lack the unity that comes only because of God. God is one, though three persons-the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son was one with God while He was in His humanity because He had a capacity for the Father.

Gifts do not reveal oneness; only God is true unity. Anything outside of God never will be one. Our gifts complement the Body as we live in our capacity for God. The Holy Spirit makes us one with God and one another, just as Jesus was one with the Father. "He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:17).

Matthew 23-25

Psalm 125:1

So many people reach out for security in anything they can find. But is it really possible for us to find true security? The dictionary defines the word "security" as "freedom from care, apprehension or doubt -- a well-founded confidence." In the midst of our struggling society and rising divorce rate (even among professing Christians), where do we turn for help?

The Bible says that true security is not found in something, but rather it is found in Someone -- the Lord Jesus Christ. "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever" (Psalm 125:1, NIV). God's desire is for everyone to come to know Him through having a personal relationship with Him and to experience His specific plan for their lives. He has made the way possible by sending Christ to die on a cross, making full payment for all of our sins. Christ offers true security for anyone who puts their trust in Him. What God does, He does forever! Although problems, trials and circumstances will inevitably face us, God's unconditional love, His perfect plan for our lives and His promise of heaven will never change. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, said he prayed that "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18).

A Song of degrees. They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. - Psalm 125:1