Pamela Harrison Ministries Blog

Change your identity, but how? Romans 12: 2

Identity: the fact or state of remaining the same 2. the sense of self.

Knowing first hand the pain that comes with being abused, as well as a host of other devastating life experiences, one can be left to feel like damaged goods and that the good life is only for others, but I have good news!

No matter if you have been abused or the abuser. Been a drug abuser or pusher.
The cheater or cheated on. Liar or lied to - no matter what we've done, do or have had done to us, these painful experiences are not our true identity!

There is hope! THE key to changing our identity is first believing that you are loved by God and out of that love He sent His son - Jesus, to reconcile us to Him and to change our identity from what we've been, done, do or had done to us to who Christ has made us before God - Our True Identity! (2 Corinthians 5: 18-19)

As a result of Jesus shedding His blood, all sins have been paid for. No more is God counting man's sins against him (Romans 4:8 & 5:13), rather, through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus, who Himself took all ours sins upon Him, took the punishment for us... the punishment that brought us peace - peace between God and ourselves, this is why we have unhindered fellowship / communion with God - this is called Grace! (Isaiah 53: 4 & 5 & Romans 5:6-11)

Contrary to a popular but incorrect belief, Grace is not a doctrine, Grace IS Jesus -

Grace is God's gift of Divine provision of right standing before Him - COMPLETELY unearned and undeserved, strictly out of God's unconditional and complete love for and passionate desire to be in constant communion with us. (Romans 5)

When we renew our mind with the word (the word is the message of Christ, which is the message of what Christ Jesus did for us on the cross - Romans 10:17 NIV) we experience the identity change that brings about the life change we all desire.

The Apostle Paul said it like this in Eph. 4: 24 "put off your old self... be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

In short, refuse to identify with who you were or are... refuse to identity with how others made you feel when they wronged you, rather, insist on renewing your mind to what Jesus did for you: made you clean, spotless, blameless, guiltless, worthy, holy - Righteous! (1 Corinthians 1:30 & Eph. 1: 4)

Jesus is our righteousness. Jesus is our qualification of ALL of God's best.

1 John 4: 17 says just as Jesus is, so are we in this world (right now)!

Did you know that Jesus, who committed no sin, but became sin for us ( 2 Cor. 5:21), that He made a beautiful exchange on our behalf?

Jesus- perfect, holy, blameless and righteous, became 'us' on the cross, took all the punishment due each of us, for ALL our sins, past, present and future (once and for all), so that our imperfections, unrighteousness and guilt would be removed before God.

Scriptures for: Once and For ALL forgiveness of sin... Past, present and future: Romans 6:10, Col. 2: 13 & 14, Heb. 7:27, Heb. 9:26, Heb.10:10, 12, 14, Eph. 1:7, 1 John 1: 7, 1 Peter
3: 18

Even though we are still not perfect in and of ourselves, and in this lifetime, never will be, Jesus, in HIS FINISHED work, perfected us through the shedding of His blood. Hebrews 9: 22: There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.

It is when we renew our mind to this understanding of what Jesus did, that we go from seeing ourselves as what we have done or do, as well as, what others have done to us, to who we REALLY are before God.

When we choose to believe what Jesus has done for us and made us as a result of His FINISHED work, we then begin to transform from the beliefs that we once held about ourselves and begin to take on our TRUE identity, that which Christ has truly made us before our God.

Encouragement: The only inroad the enemy has is through our thoughts. Thoughts provoke emotions and this is the realm that influences our will.

Until we are aware that our emotion can sabotage us, we will remain in a cycle of self- sabotage, defeat and dysfunction.

Fact: Emotions are compelling and convincing.

Though our emotions can be compelling and convincing, if what we are thinking and therefore feeling doesn't line up with the word, what Jesus has done for us and therefore made us, then our thoughts / emotions are INCORRECT and not to be trusted!

Jesus came to give us life and the only thing we need do is believe, receive and renew our mind to TRUTH, not reality, TRUTH - daily! (John 10:10)

You are an Overcomer!

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)

 

 

 

 

 

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!

 

 

New bLoG: Forgiveness becomes easier the more we freely RECEIVE forgiveness

This is the definition for Forgive: To cease to feel anger at or for.

How do we get to the place that we are able to cease to feel anger towards those that wrong us?

Answer: When we receive forgiveness freely, we will freely forgive.

Matthew 18: 21-35 (Msg)

A Story About Forgiveness

 ²¹At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"

 ²²Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

 ^23-25"The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

 ^26-27"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

 ²⁸"The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'

 ^29-31"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

 ^32-35"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt.  (And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.")

Verse 35 & Matthew 6:15 states we must forgive before we can be forgiven; however, these verses were before Jesus shed His blood cutting a New Covenant and putting us under Grace.  Because we are under God’s Grace, thanks to Jesus, we are freely forgiven. 

Just as we are freely forgiven, we are to freely forgive.

 The more we receive that we are freely forgiven and the more we insist on staying in right standing before God when we know we have blown it by choosing to forgive ourselves, the result will be that we will freely forgive others - We will refuse to hold things against people because we understand that God doesn’t hold things against us, and THE only reason He doesn’t is because of Jesus being the sacrifice for all sin in our lives, causing us to stay in right standing no matter what- this is Grace.

Hebrews 10: 11-18 (Msg)

  … Christ made a single sacrifice for sins that was it!

... It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process.

  … He concludes, I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.
Once sins are taken care of for good, there's no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.

Romans 4:25

²⁵He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Romans 5: 18 & 19 (Msg)

^18-19Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person (Adam) did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person (Jesus) did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man (Adam) said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man (Jesus) said yes to God and put many in the right.

To be able to forgive: either to forgive someone that has wronged us and has no intention admitting they have wronged us and asking of our forgiveness, or to be able to forgive someone that has admitted they have wronged us, but we find it hard to forgive, we must do one thing first… as believers, we must 1^st receive the forgiveness that is freely already ours and then forgive ourselves.

The more we are Rooted in Righteousness, meaning: the more we understand that we are freely forgiven. That we never lose our right standing before God, no matter what, only because of Jesus, who is our righteousness, the more freely we will be able to forgive.

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, His shed Blood, those that believe upon Him, we are forever cleansed, made Holy -  only because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

Righteousness is not an action.

Righteousness is never obtained by works aka: anything a human can do. 

Righteousness is a Person- Jesus.  He is our Righteousness.

Hebrews 10: 10

¹⁰ … we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Romans 3: 23- 25

…²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

Love = Forgiveness

Colossians 3:12 & 13

¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Ephesians 4: 31 & 32

³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Many want to know: How do I become so full of love that I am able to love others, even the unlovable?

Answer: Time in the presence of God- who is Love (1 John 4)

 When we receive His love, His forgiveness, and just as important- forgive ourselves- we will give out what we are full of = Love and Forgiveness

To sum it all up:

When we are full of love and fully aware of how much we are forgiven, we will walk in love.

These are the attributes of walking in love:

1 Corinthians 13: 4- 8a (NIV) 

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  ⁸Love never fails.

James 2: 8 – 12

 ⁸If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. ⁹But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

 ¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

What James is saying here is, if we will love one another, we will not commit adultery, we will not murder… we will in essence be keeping the law, however, not out of fear of judgment, not out of fear of not having God’s blessing, but we will be doing right to others out of Love, the right motive… we will be obeying the royal law effortlessly because we have chosen to spend time with God who is love, and in turn we will give love, which will be fulfilling the Royal Law.

Obedient out of a heart of Love not Fear

When we believe right, we will live right and experience all the spiritual blessings that are already ours.

John 14: 15

¹⁵"If you love me, you will obey what I command.

Notice, Jesus didn’t say: if you fear me, you will obey me.

Too many have been taught by fear tactics. 

“You must or God will not…”    “You must not or you will go to hell…” “If you do this or don’t do that, the devil will be allowed to…”

Jesus went about doing good.  He went about setting people free.  Never once did He make someone sick or cast a demon into someone- He set people free and that is what He is doing today.

FACT: We love God because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

The importance of receiving God’s Love

The #1 reason why people, even spiritual leaders, fall into immorality is due to not staying in close/ intimate fellowship with God, who is Love.

When we are not full of love, we will revert to our human nature of selfishness and as a result we will hurt people.

Immorality is  the result of selfishness, and is a direct reflection of a person’s relationship with God.

Encouragement: Spend time in God’s presence; allow Him to love on you.  Chose to believe you are righteous, not by anything you say or do, but only because of Jesus.  Receive the forgiveness that is already ours.

Important: Never, no matter what, allow any ‘feelings’ keep you from getting into the presence of God.  This  is the enemies trick to pull you away from the very connection that empowers us to do, be and stay in the will of God, and this comes from being connected with God on a daily basis.

Romans 8: 1

Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The Message version says it like this:

Romans 8: 1 (Msg)

 ^1-2With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

 ^3-4God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.

   The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.

 ^5-8Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.

We are loved & we are forgiven.  Believe it - Receive it- Live it!

 

Ministry this Saturday

Local: 21st & Garnett

in the Loaves & Fishes Ministry Bldg., Tulsa, OK.

Time: 10:00a

All are welcome

For questions or directions: contact@pamelaharrisonministries.org

 

Communion- Key to Health & Wholeness and NOT to be Feared!

 Communion:  KEY to Divine Health & Wholeness and NOT to be feared

1 Corinthians 11: 23-30 (nkjv)

²³ For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (Col. 2:15 ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.)

   
²⁷ Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. ³⁰ For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

According to the Apostle Paul, THIS is THE reason why many of God’s people are weak, broken, sick & dying.

Unworthy manner is often interpreted to mean, “If you have sin in your life”. 

Not true. 

Fact: We all have sin in our life, from thoughts to blatant sin, we all have and do sin- daily.

It’s only because of Jesus’ blood that we are forgiven and stay in right standing before God.

The scripture states that what makes us unworthy is not rightly discerning the Body of Christ. 

So what does it mean to discern the body of Christ?

To discern is to perceive, to perceive is to understand.

We are to discern the Lord’s body-   which is to understand that the beating, brokenness- the crown of thorns, the stripes He took on his body was for our Complete health and wholeness.

Unworthily in the Vines Expository Dictionary says this about partaking unworthily:

Partaking in the Lord’s supper “unworthily” i.e., treating it as a common meal, the bread and cup as common things.

When Paul said in verse 28 “Examine yourself”

* He was saying each of us need to be sure we understand why we are taking communion.

* As well as, making sure we are not taking communion as a ritual. 

* And not because everyone else is doing it, rather do this with Full understanding and full of Faith, knowing that when we partake, we are not only remembering that all your past, present and future sins are forgiven, but our bodies and minds are healed because of what Jesus took upon His body for us.

The bread which represents Jesus’ body is the reminder that Jesus took upon Himself all our sin; He also became broken, weak, took all sickness and became poor for us.

 

What did Paul mean when he said, “You drink judgment upon yourself?

The word Judgment in this verse in the Greek is Krima

Krima means: Divine Sentence

When Adam sinned, a Divine sentence was placed upon the human race, and the result was weakness, brokenness, sickness & death.

The Holy Communion is God’s solution- God’s Divine provision for wholeness, healing & life.

What did Paul mean when he said in verse 30, “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep (die)"?

He was not saying God would send or allow sickness, no, that is going against His word, going against the finished work of the cross- the very reason Jesus suffered, died and was resurrected.

Allow me to explain, truth is parallel. What is the opposite of healed? Sick.  What is the opposite of Weak? Strong.  What is the opposite of Broken? Whole.

Here Paul is saying, if you don’t discern, if you don’t understand what Jesus did and why you are taking communion, then the fallen state of man due to sin CAN have effect in your body- weakness, sickness, even death- these are all opposite of healing.

When we partake in a “worthy manner” which we now know means to understand what Jesus did for us by being beaten, broken, wearing the crown of thorns and taking the stripes on His back for all sickness, becoming poor so that we may become rich and stripping the kingdom of darkness of its power, we will receive by faith the full effect of healing in our bodies, minds & soul- every area of our lives.

Do you have problems with your memory?  Take Communion and receive your healing.

Do you have a learning disability? Take communion

Need increased intelligence?  Take communion

There is no limit as to how many times a day we may take communion. 

There are testimonies of those that have taken communion up to 3 times a day and though that sound radical, they have experienced radical healings!

“I would take communion at home, but I’m not an ordained minister.”

1 Peter 2: 4-5 & 9

 ⁴As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁹… you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

If you have received Jesus as your Lord, you have been made “worthy” and are now a royal priest.

No longer be intimidated; no longer allow feelings of unworthiness.  Boldly partake of what is yours- Jesus suffered greatly so that each of us may greatly benefit.

 

 

The purpose of partaking in Communion is 2 fold

The Wine:

Represents the Blood of Jesus, which is for our Forgiveness.  His sacrifice made a way that freed us from having to make animal sacrifices for sin and freed us from ALL need to do right to be in right standing before God.  Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, because of His Blood, ALL our sins: past, present and future and ALREADY forgiven.

The Bread:

Represents Jesus’ body.  Jesus took the beating on His body; He bore stripes on His back and wore the Crown of Thorns for our healing.  He became broken for our wholeness, weak so that we are made strong, poor that we may become rich.

If you believe upon Jesus, received Him as your Lord  & Savior, you are now a son or daughter of God.

Healing is the children’s Bread.

 

Mark 7: 26- 29

²⁶ The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread (God’s chosen people) and throw it to the little dogs.”  (Gentiles)
²⁸ And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.”
²⁹ Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”

Another benefit of Communion:

Demonic oppression:

In the bible both demon possession/oppression and sickness were treated the same as they originate from the devil.

Both sickness & demon possession are oppression from the devil.

Remember, each time we take Communion we are proclaiming the Lord’s death.  In His death He stripped the devil of His power! 

Col. 2:15 ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Acts 10:38 says that Jesus went about doing good “… healing all who were oppressed by the devil.”

  

Ministry this Saturday!

Local: Loaves and Fishes Ministies Building

21st & Garnett, Tulsa, OK.

Time: 10a

Praise & Worship lead by: Nicole Napie

  

Ministry is open to all & both women & men

  

Questions or need directions you may email us: contact@pamelaharrisonministries.org