Pamela Harrison Ministries Blog

We do not break fellowship with God when we sin 1 John 1:9

Let's look at 1 John 1: 1-10 in context:

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. (Jesus)

² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. (Jesus)

³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. (Believe upon Jesus and become a son of God as well)

And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (Because they believe upon Jesus- cleansed by Jesus' blood) ⁴ We write this to make our joy complete.

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. (Walk in the dark: denying that we do wrong/ sin)

⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (The light: God is Righteous, no evil, no darkness. However, man does sin and in order to recognize the need for God's Son, each person must come to realize that he does sin and needs to be forgiven and cleansed by blood- the blood of His Son- Jesus)

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned (this is walking in the darkness), we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

The above verse is often read as: You must first confess your sin, ask God to forgive you and then you're forgiven, but if you don't confess a sin, you're not forgiven and therefore unrighteous and have broken fellowship with God - This is man's theology.

In context: John was addressing the Gnostics (Non- believers) and was contradicting their heresy.

The Gnostics believed that all Matter - including the human body, was entirely evil, while spirit, including God, who is wholly spirit, is entirely good, and they believed salvation is the escape from the body, achieved not by faith in Christ, but by special knowledge.

Gnostics denied that their immoral actions were sinful. They denied having sin in their lives. Gnostics did not walk in the light, they did not believe they sinned when they committed un-righteous acts, and thus did not believe they needed to believe upon Christ Jesus to be made righteous.

This is where the hairs have been split.

Many believe that when we sin, we, due to the sin just committed, we break fellowship with God, and that our advocate, Jesus, can not plead on our behalf until we confess our sin.

This is true for the un-believer: The un-believer does not have an advocate UNTIL He believes upon THE Advocate- Jesus.

The un-believer does not have fellowship with God UNTIL he comes to understand that he is a sinner in need of a savior, and in that moment that he realizes, confesses with his mouth Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God raised Him from the dead, he is saved and now walks in the light, cleansed of all un-righteousness, ONLY because of his faith in Jesus. (Romans 10: 9&10)

This is the fear of teaching that we've been made permanently righteous by the Blood of Jesus.

"What is going to keep people from sinning? If they are told they are righteous, even when they sin, why would they stop?"

If we taught as the Gnostic's believed, that everything a person DOES is now righteous- this would be heresy!

Righteousness by Faith in Jesus' Blood is this: I am only righteous because of Jesus' sacrifice. The believer is now righteous, but is still capable of un-righteous actions.

And when a believer does sin (commits an un-righteous act), because the Spirit of God lives in the believer, who is righteous and reminds the believer of their righteousness before God (only because of Jesus) the sin the believer just committed, be it action or thought, is pointed out by the Righteous Holy Spirit, convicting the believer that he is Righteous, and that brings the believer to repentance (to the place where he changes his mind)

Because the believer walks in the light, knowing that we do un-righteous acts, however, understands that out of God's great love for us, He sent His Son, Jesus, to keep the believer right before God, even when the believer does wrong, it's the revelation of this great kindness of God that brings the believer to the place of repentance.

Repentance means: Change of mind. When we make a decision to change our mind- we change our lives. When we believe we're righteous, we will live righteous... when we believe right- we live right.

Although the believer may commit an un-righteous act, it does not make the believer un-righteous, it does not constitute the believer breaking fellowship with God, nor God breaking fellowship with the believer.

1.When we sin, we commit an un- righteous act that has ALREADY been punished in the body of Jesus, who IS my Righteousness.

2. It's the revelation that God's kindness provided for my punishment/ forgiveness / my right standing/ my righteousness before Him in advance, that leads me to repentance, which means to change my mind.

3. It's when a mind has been changed that the actions will change. From un-righteous actions to righteous

4. It's the revelation that God loved me first, and provided the blessing of Righteousness that brings me to a place of love for Him which results in grateful obedience.

When we realize that when we sin, (and we ALL do) and the fact that He loves us so much that He sent His Son- Jesus, not to condemn us but to save us, and by THAT sacrifice that keeps us right before God, that is the Kindness, the Love, the Goodness of God that it draws us to the place of REPENTANCE, which means to change our minds, which results in our making the decision, "I no longer want to do ______".

It's what ever the Holy Spirit has pointed out to us- individually, be it, "I no longer feel right about watching rated R movies"- I shouldn't reject this person" - "I shouldn't dress like this" to " I should not continue in this fornication or adultery"

Sin is NEVER acceptable to God; however, when we sin, we never loose our right standing before God, and THE only reason that we don't, is because of Jesus' sacrifice- Him taking the punishment that was due us - is what keeps us from breaking fellowship with God.

Under the law, when the people sinned, they had to not only acknowledge they had sinned, but also bring a blood sacrifice to the priest to cover that sin, and that is what made them re-qualified for God's blessing= Works, self-effort/ self- righteousness.

Now, we are under a better covenant, we have a High Priest that does not go before God with the blood of bulls and goats, but by His own blood, He is our 'Once for ALL' sacrifice, thus making US (not our actions/thoughts) Permanently Righteous. (Hebrews 9 &10)

Hebrews 10: 10 ... we have been made Holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Because we have believed man's theology, that our un-righteous act or thoughts (sin) does break fellowship with God, the result is our feeling condemnation for the wrong done, and that is what causes us to shrink back, feel unworthy and unacceptable.

And this is what God say about shrinking back (due to condemnation)

Hebrews 10: 38 & 39

But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those that believe and are saved.

Our righteousness come by faith in Jesus' complete work on our behalf, and this believe is what saves us, as well as, give us confidence to boldly approach God's throne of Grace, and gives us a sound mind, peace and joy. (Romans 3: 21- 26 & Romans 5)

 

 

 

 

 

Holy Spirit in us - proof we are permanently cleansed! Hebrews 9

The fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer, and made the Temple of the Holy Spirit, is proof that Jesus' blood cleansed us from all sin: past, present and future = a clear conscience, which allows us to boldly approach God, develop relationship, to the point of daily fellowship, that God has long desired to have with His people.  This was His original plan, and through Jesus, He made a way for us to be worthy to not only enter His presence, but to STAY in His presence.

It is by Grace that we are saved (Eph 2: 8-10).  Grace being God's unmerrited favor, that while we were still in sin, He sent His son, out of His great love and desire to fellowship with us, to put us in right standing before Him. 

Under the old covenant, there was a High Priest that went before God on behalf of the people, which was just a Shadow of what was to come. 

Jesus is our High Priest, and instead of slaughtering animals or sacrificing Himself over and over, Him being perfect, and Him taking on all our sins at the cross, this is what has cleansed the believer permanently, and this is what enables us to go into His presence, and we connect with the source that empowers us to change- effortlessly.

But we must first understand how this ties together, otherwise, we will believe that when we sin, we have lost our righteousness before God, lost our right standing before God.

Hebrews 9 shows the comparison of the sancturary built by Moses, specs given by God as it was a replica, a copy of the heavenly sancturary, and it had to be cleansed by blood, by the High Priest, before God could dwell in it, and the temple that God now dwells in, the believer, by His Spirit,  has been cleansed with the blood of Jesus, our High Priest. ( 1 Corinth. 3: 16 & 1 Corinth. 6: 19)

Under the old covenant, blood was shed only to COVER sin, not cleanse man from sin.

Cover: To deal with; hide from view

vs.

Cleanse: to clean or purify   Clean: pure

Under the new covenant, Jesus' blood CLEANSED us; thus making it possible for us to not just be forgiven of past sins or present sins (as under the old covenant), but stay forgiven, a clear conscience before God. 

If we were not fully forgiven, then the Holy Spirit would have to leave every time we sinned.  Thus proving WE'RE required to make ourselves right- that we would have to do something to be cleansed again- impossible!  We can not make ourselves right before God.  All our righteousness is as filthy rags to God. (IS. 64)

Side note: When we sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us we're righteous (John 16: 7-11) and in that moment of realizing we're righteous, however, a thought or action is not righteous, yet by the Holy Spirit we're reminded as to WHY we're righteous, only because of the Blood of Jesus, which was shed for us only because of the kindness of God - it is the revelation of God's kindness, His grace thru Jesus, who is Grace, that leads us to repentance, which means to change our minds - Romans 2: 4. 

Summarized: When we sin, we realize we're wrong, thanks to the Holy Spirit, who reminds us we are righteous, and that is when we desire to repent (acknowledge/ confess) to God that we recognize we were wrong, and then we RECEIVE the forgiveness that is already ours, and continue on in the presence of God, uninhibited, as if we never sinned.  (Hebrews 8: 12)

I John 1: 9

⁹ If we confess (acknowledge) our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

This is often read as:  You must first confess your sin, ask God to forgive you and then you're forgiven, but if you don't confess a sin, you're not forgiven and therefore unrighteous.

The above scripture is confirmation that though we all sin and all fall short of the Glory of God (Romans 3: 21-26), that God is faithful, He is just, true to His word, and that as we confess/ acknowledge what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us as unrighteous behavior, gives us the confirmation/ the comfort of knowing, we are STILL RIGHT before God -  our conscience may REMAIN clear, AND goes on to give the promise that God will cleanse us from the unrighteousness in our lives- clearly showing He is the one that cleans us up- not our self- effort.

 This clear conscience is what enables us to stay connected to the source that empowers us to live a righteous life aka: cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Important: However, when we believe that we have transitioned from righteous to unrighteous when we sin, and must confess every sin to be right before God, that is being sin- conscious, which is law conscious, which put the believer under condemnation and condemnation empowers more sin.

The law in 2 Corinthians 3: 9 is called the ministry of condemnation.  The ministry of condemnation is the 10 commandments, which is the making one self - righteous.

FACT:  Condemnation keeps us out of the presence of God. 

Condemnation brings fear and expectation of punishment; however!  Now, under the new covenant, cut in Jesus blood, we've been given a Spirit that cries Abba, Father, and does not make us a slave to fear again (Romans 8: 15) 

Fear has to do with punishment (I John 4: 18)

God, who is Love, and out of His love for us, He sent His Son, not to condemn the world (us) but to save us. (John 3: 16)

This all ties together:  When we know we're forgiven, we realize how much God loves us, and as a result, we trust that He is for us and never against us, never the one withholding anything good or desirable or sending/allowing anything evil in our lives.  He's a giver, not a taker.

Comparison:

The old covenant, not fully forgiven, constant slaughtering of animals.

New covenant, no slaughtering of animals, rather Jesus was the last and final sacrifice for all sins (Hebrews 10: 1-18), and also known as the sacrificial lamb (John 1: 29).

 

Hebrews 9 

Hebrews 9

Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle

 ¹ Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. ²A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lamp-stand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. ³ Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, ⁴ which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

 ⁶ When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. ⁷ But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. ⁸ The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. ⁹ This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. ¹⁰ They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

The Blood of Christ

 ¹¹ But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

 ¹⁵ For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

 ¹⁶ In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, ¹⁷ because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. ¹⁸ This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.

Side note: While Jesus walked the earth, the law was still in effect.  It was not until He cut a new covenant in His blood, died and was raised from the grave, that the New covenant, putting us under grace, was made effective.

¹⁹ When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰ He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”²¹ In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²² In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

 ²³ It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. ²⁵ Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶ Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.  

²⁷ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many (for those that would believe upon Him); and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin (not to punish sin), but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

 

 

He takes our mistakes and works them for our good! Romans 8: 28

Got yourself between a rock and a hard place?  Damaged a relationship?  Feel like you've blown it good this time, and no hope of recovery?  God says different!

Exodus 34: 6-7   ... “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin...

Encouragement: Receive the love, forgiveness and mercy of God, and forgive yourself.

  What ever we've done to put ourselves in a disappointing and painful situation, God doesn't say, "You made your bed, now lay in it!"  NO-  He is merciful and compassionate!

He will take our mistakes and work them for our good! (Romans 8:28)  Our part?  Simply - believe.

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Exodus 34: 7 (cont)

Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

IMPORTANT: The above scripture no longer applies to believers thanks to Jesus taking the punishment due us for ALL our sins, and cutting a New Covenant in His Blood- cleansing us from ALL our sins.

^{Galatians 3: 13} Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

Colossians 2: 13- 14

... He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness (the law/10 commandments) , which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

 NKJV: Colossians 2: 13-14

... having forgiven you all trespasses, ¹⁴ having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

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Never by right-doing- Only Right Believing! Faith Righteousness Romans 3: 21-26

For so many, it's a personal challenge to allow themselves to receive the unconditional love and acceptance of God.  Why?

To answer the 'why', we're going right to the Root:

The core belief we need to be without faults, to be lovable, is what hinders our ability to receive the love and acceptance that is already ours.

Where does this core belief that we need to be 'Right' before God before He will love us and accept unconditionally, as well as, bless us come from?

It comes from the teaching of what is called 'the Law' of God (the 10 commandments and the requirements of the law to be right before God / the Old Covenant).

Under the ' Law /Old Covenant', man had to be aware of what was sin before God, and then he had to make atonement for himself to be 'right' before God, making himself worthy to receive the blessing of God.

In 2 Corinthians 3: 9, the law is called the ministry of Condemnation (judgement, self- effort)

Romans 3: 20... no one will be declared righteous in his (God's) sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Being mindful of the law is what makes us sin- conscious, and being sin- conscious brings us under condemnation.

1 Corinthians 15: 56... the power of sin is the law.  What does that mean? Simply put:

Condemnation (The law (10 commandments) the ministry of condemnation) Empowers sin- perpetual sin. 

Condemnation triggers the need to make one self 'right' before God.  Earn His approval.

When we are sin- conscious, (law minded/ self-effort) the enemy, who is a LAWyer, comes to remind us of our short-comings, aka: Condemnation.

Satan is called the accuser of the brethren (Believer).  His one and only weapon he has is 'the Law', and the only reason it's ever successful is when a believer is not Rooted in Righteousness.

Romans 8: 1 says that there is No condemnation (no punishment)  for those in Christ Jesus.

For those that believe Jesus sacrifice has made them Righteous, and Him alone is their only qualification for being made worthy, acceptable- Righteous before God, this is called Faith Righteousness.

Romans 3: 21- 26  But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— ²⁶ he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

God is Righteous in making the sinner Righteous!

 Faith Righteousness means that though we as humans are unable to make ourselves righteous by our right- doing, God has made a way for our daily fellowship with Him to NEVER be broken, and that is because of the sacrifice of His Son- Jesus, who by His sacrifice has made us Righteous and our believing we're Righteous because of Jesus (ONLY) is Faith Righteousness.

In short: Jesus is our Righteousness. 

It's this revelation that brings us from being sin- conscious to Righteousness- conscious. 

When we're Righteousness- conscious, we're freed to stay God - conscious, aware that He is with us, and that His opinion of us, no matter how bad we blow it, NEVER changes, and that He NEVER wants us to do "works" to earn His approval.

Examples: "I'll go to church this weekend, that will make God happy.  I'll read my bible tonight, this will please God, and MAYBE then He'll bless me..."

When we believe we have to be right in actions to be right before God, then when we blow it, we will shrink back.  However, when we believe we're only Right before God because of Jesus' cleansing us from all our sins, this is when we will kick condemnation out and stay tightly connected to God, expecting ALL of His best- His blessings.

Hebrews 10: 38 & 39 

“But my righteous one will live by faith.
   And I take no pleasure
   in the one who shrinks back.”

 ³⁹ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

 This is saying, the faith that we have that Jesus is our Righteousness, our qualification for the Blessings of God, is THE Faith that God desires for us to have.  And it's this faith that can move mountains!!

The Good news: Today, we are no longer under law, for the requirements of the law have been fulfilled by Jesus, who shed His Blood, cutting a New and Better covenant, and His blood not just covered our past sins, but has Cleansed us from ALL our sins: past, present and future.  (Col. 2: 13& 14, Hebrews 9: 22 & Matt. 5: 17)

Simply put, Jesus' blood has made us permanently Righteous before God no matter how we blow it.

When we blow, and we all blow it, we're to quickly remind ourselves: "I have been made permanently Righteous before God, only because of Jesus.  I refuse condemnation, and I insist on expecting only the very best from my loving God- my loving father."

Thanks to our savior Jesus, we are no longer under law, but Grace. (Romans 6: 14)

 This Grace, this priceless and precious gift of Grace, when understood and believed, will bring about a life led by the Spirit of God.  Where the Spirit of God is - there is Freedom. (2 Corinthians 3: 17)

This is that Freedom:  We are Free to be ourselves, the good and the really bad.  It's as we believe that we stay acceptable and loved when we say, do or think wrong, that knowing we are still accepted and blessed, not on our 'right - doing' but only because God so loves you, He sent His Son to make it to where you could be 'right' before Him, so that you would be free to stay in relationship/ daily, moment to moment fellowship with God, receiving His love and acceptance and all His blessings and favor, this revelation brings freedom, this freedom affords a person to come to their own conclusion, "I don't want to sin". 

It's when we're rooted in Righteousness, being constantly conscious we're Righteous, ONLY because of Jesus,  then we will realize that God is so kind that He set us up for His best, no matter what we do wrong, it is this revelation that brings us to the place of repentance, which means: Change of mind.

When we believe we're worthy to stay in the presence of God (NO MATTER WHAT), then this is what causes us to transform by His Spirit, and we will bear the fruit of His Spirit- EFFORTLESSLY:

Galatians 5: 22- the fruit of the Spirit is: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self- control. 

Fruit of the Spirit is evidence of time spent with the Spirit, which is God, and is not fully achieved and permanently established as part of our character by self-effort.

 "I must make sure I show these fruits in my life."  Self- effort only gets us so far, and more times than not, leads to frustration, which often leads to giving up and saying, "I tried, it didn't work... This is just who I am..."

No! Rather:  When we're Righteousness- conscious, and refuse to be law/judgment/condemnation/self-effort minded, we will stay mindful of God's presence with us and in us.  We will not expect punishment, rather know that we've been made worthy to stay connected to the very source of all Favor and Blessings, as well as, THE power to transform- effortlessly!

Connecting all the dots:

Free from sin- consciousness (The law is synonyms with: condemnation/ judgment/ self- effort)

 Now Righteousness- conscious

Resulting in us being free to be ourselves before God, who is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is (in us) there is Freedom (2 Corin. 3: 17)

Which causes us to stay aware of God's presence, acceptance, love, and to expect only His best

When we're blessed even though we know we don't deserve it, we realize God's kindness

Which leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4)

Because of these undeserved blessings, it's those blessings that empower us to obey out of a heart of gratitude

 And draws us to desire to spend time with God, receiving His Love

Which results in bearing the fruit of the Spirit

Bearing the fruit of the spirit (Love) enables us to fulfill the commandment given by Jesus under the New Covenant: Love one another- effortlessly

The law demands: Love God with all your heart, forgive before you're forgiven, clean yourself up

Grace Provides:

Under Grace: Grace was given out of Love for us first (1John 4: 10)

Under Grace: We have been forgiven before we have forgiven, and this empowers us to forgive.

The law demands, but Grace Provides!

 

 

Dust yourself off and try again! Romans 11: 29

Don't give up- Keep running!

Receive mercy and love from God who is Love, and don't give thought of what people may think, the only thoughts that count is God's- just dust yourself off and try again!

The call on your life, the gifts given to you by God are Never revoked!

Romans 11: 29- for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable.

No matter how far off the path one may get, God never gives up, never turns His back or revokes what He has given to you to do His will!

How do I love the unloveable?

“Why, if I love God, do I find it hard to walk in love?”

Answer: we can not give out what we are not full of

1 John 4: 7 & 8- let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

One of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) is Love

For us to be able to bear any one of the fruit of the Spirit with must get to know the Spirit (God), and that Spirit is God (2 Corin. 3: 17)

This is the definition of Know in the Greek: ghin-oce'-ko (Verb)

Definition:
to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel
to become known
to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of
to understand
to know
Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman
to become acquainted with, to know (Intimate)

Many of us have been long time Christians, however, have struggled with being able to walk according to the Spirit.

It’s actually quite easy, however, the challenge comes in slowing down and spending time with our Living, Loving, yet invisible God.

 We as humans are Not love, but we're capable to love; conversely, God is not just capable to love, He IS Love.

When we spend time in the presence of God (Love) believing He love 'me', receiving His love, we will in turn, out of the fullness we receive from God, give out love to His people- Effortlessly... we always become like those we spend time with.

All summed up: When we get to know God by spending time in His presence, we will give out what we are full of- Effortlessly!

If we believe and receive we’re freely forgiven, we will freely forgive.
If we believe and receive mercy, we will give out mercy.
If we believe and receive Love, we will give out Love!

 

 

Fear Not- Only Believe! Luke 8: 50

About to lose your home or car? Can’t find a job or may be losing your job? Children making decisions that may jeopardize their future? Sick and in pain, and medical bills piling up?

All the above are the cares, the worries, so many carry on a daily basis.

There is hope! 1 Peter 5: 7- Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

“I try, but I’m not sure He will do this for me…”

Encouragement: God is always setting you up for His Best! God does love you, and His love is perfect (complete) for you. His love is the kind that you don’t have to second guess.

Many fear that He may or may not help them with their problems, it’s almost like a crapshoot; however! When we believe that God’s will is to prosper us, that He is always setting us up for His best (Jer. 29:11), no matter what it looks like right now, and no matter how it “plays out” during the process of getting to that "Best" place for us, but are fully persuaded that God is for you- loves you and IS working on your behalf, THAT is being made Perfect (complete) in His love.

Perfect Love casts out Fear, because fear has to do with punishment.

Jesus took all the punishment due us on the Cross. He paid for our right standing before God at all times, no matter how bad we’ve blown it.

When God looks at us, he doesn’t see our failures, the things we’ve done to get ourselves in the trouble we may be facing, he doesn’t wait until we put ourselves in the right, NO! All our doing right is as filthy rags to Him; it’s His Son that has put us in the right and it’s our faith in Him, Jesus, that makes us righteous, worthy and qualified for God blessing us.

Be at peace and strive to enter into rest (Heb. 4:11) knowing that Jesus has already given all we need to experience victory in all situations, it is God’s will for us to remain on top and He is always at work on our behalf to set us up for His best.

Fear Not, Only Believe… in the finished work of Jesus:

1. Salvation: the forgiveness of ALL our sin/ making us righteous, worthy and qualified- permanently- never based on our doing right.
2. Healing: we are ALREADY healed- body and soul
3. He became poor- making us rich
4. Stripped the enemy – gave us authority

1 John 4: 18- There is no fear in love. But perfect (complete) love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment (Jesus took the punishment due us). The one who fears is not made perfect (Complete) in love.

If we continue to meditate on Jesus/ Grace, that He took the punishment due us, see ourselves complete (perfect before God) in Jesus and because of Jesus, we will renew our mind from the old way, the sin- conscious (which is law- conscious) expecting punishment way of thinking to being fully persuaded that we are now under Grace thanks to Jesus and  we're ONLY to expect that ALL Jesus paid for us on the cross is - Our Victory in every circumstance- this is when we will experience the Peace we all long for, and has already made available to us through our faith in Jesus.

God loves us- perfectly, completely, and just as we love our children, and would do anything within our power to help them (in a healthy way), how much more our God?! 

He's already sent us what we need (out of His love for us John 3: 16) for us to focus on to bring the manifestation of His blessing- Jesus.  It is our Faith in Jesus- which is the kind of faith that moves mountains that takes us from lack to full.

When we look to Jesus and His fullness, as our source of supply in every circumstance, we will experience His Grace- His fullness, the result is our lack will disappear.  This is the kindness, the love of God for us, He provided everything through Jesus because of His Great love for us.

Believe, receive, expect - Experience!

When we look to Jesus in His Grace, He turns and see's us in our Faith! 

Renew your mind with the word of Christ = Renewed life- experiencing the promises made available thru Christ!

Did you know that when we love one another, we're fulfilling the Law (10 commandments)?

Romans 13: 9 ...  whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

When we believe we are Righteous, we will live Righteous

"Don't teach that! If you teach people they are forgiven of all their sins, why would they stop sinning?"

From the revelation that we have been made permanently righteous because Jesus paid for all our sins (Colossians 2: 13, 1John 2:2, 2Corin. 5:21) comes a greater understanding that God so LOVED the world (us) that He Gave His Son, not to condemn us, but to Save us (John 3:16).

When we understand what God's Love did for us by sending His Son, we realize God's kindness which draws us to repentance (change our minds), draws us into relationship and causes us to desire to obey.

So let's begin with what was accomplished by Jesus, for us, thanks to God sending Him to us:

These are the 4 accomplishments of the Cross, for our benefit/ our blessings out of the kindness of God:

1. Salvation/ the Forgiveness of ALL our sin/ Permanently Righteous before God/ Put us under Grace by fullfilling the law and set us free from the curse of the law.

2. Healing: Body and Soul (Isaiah 53)

3.  He became poor making us rich (2 Corin. 8:9)

4. Stripped the enemy/gave us authority (Col. 2:15)

All 4 accomplishments on the Cross by Jesus = Victory. 

We do not need to hope for victory; we are already victorious, because of the finished work of the Cross!

When we understand that we have been made worthy only because of the shed blood of Jesus, him taking the punishment for ALL our sins and making us right before God no matter what, it is then that we realize how good God is and how much He loves us -how much He desires to be not only in relationship with us, but desires daily fellowship with us.

It's this revelation that draws us to repentance ( change our minds).  Romans 2: 4 ... God's kindness leads you towards repentance.

When we realize and  mediate on the Fact/truth that we Are Righteous, ONLY because of Jesus- Never by our works, never by our doing anything right or good, we will feel what is already a fact/truth... We ARE Worthy to be in the presence of God, worthy of the blessing that is ALREADY ours and nothing we do disqualifies us from the blessing- thanks to Jesus.

The only reason we do not experience the fullest measure of God's blessing is when we are sin-conscious and we disqualify ourselves.  We go from expecting God's blessing to expecting punishment for our wrong-doing.

When we are sin- conscious, we are law minded, when we are law minded we are sin- conscious and fall under condemnation, which empowers more sin.

Romans 3: 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

We are no longer under law, but under Grace!

Romans 6: 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Remember, sin- consciousness is being law minded, being law- minded causes us to be sin-conscious and when we sin, we fall under condemnation, and condemnation empowers more sin... it's a cycle.

Romans 8: 1-4

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

What is the fear?  That if the law isn't taught, people will continue to sin.  This is why we have heard the teaching:

"If you knowingly sin, you are not blessed, and you've open the door for the devil to come steal from you..."

It's from this teaching that fear comes that people will not stop sinning if they have no fear of consequences that has continued the teaching of the law/ sin- consciousness.

The law brings fear of punishment. 

But we've been given a Spirit that does not make us a slave to fear again, but the Spirit that causes us to cry Abba Father! (Romans 8: 15)

We must teach and believe in what Jesus did for us, we must live by faith, faith that we are Righteous/ Worthy/ Qualified, ONLY because of Jesus and NO other way.

New converts as well as old will continue to sin, even perpetual sin, until they understand the Goodness/ Kindness/ Love of God. 

That Kindness is : that He has made us Righteous, worthy, healed, whole, prosperous, and authority over the enemy- we already have the victory, no longer waiting for Him to do anything for us, it is already done, we must simply believe we are worthy and receive, and the more we believe, the more we will receive, the more we receive, the more we will come to expect, the more we expect that more it will manifest.

Law vs. Grace / Sin- conscious vs. Righteousness - conscious summed up:

When we believe we are Righteous we will live Righteous.