Broken Communications

The Bible is a spiritual book. It is written to you Spirit, not your head. You will never be able to understand or fulfill the commands and calls of God with your nature mind. People have gone crazy and fallen into terrible deceptions through trying to understand the Bible with their head alone. This is what happened with the Jews and many other people through history, and is still happening today. I am not talking about a brainless, thoughtless gospel. There is a place for us to use our minds, but we are to renew them to think like Jesus thought.

A major part of that renewal is learning to hear and listen to the Holy Spirit. If you are not daily led by the Spirit of God and cannot discern his specific voice, it only takes one misguided sermon, one misunderstood scripture, or one well meaning friend with bad advice, to turn you from fighting for God, to fighting for the enemy. What was the difference between Saul, and Paul? Saul had the word of God, but not the Spirit to lead him. He tried to guess what God wanted from him based off his carnal knowledge of the Word, and ended up bring great harm to the Church. Paul on the other hand still had the Word, but also had the Spirit, and the Spirit led his actions daily.

God spoke clearly to me that this is the reason the body of Christ is so torn apart. The best military strategy in the world can be broken if the communication between the commanders is stopped, or if the enemy broadcasts false messages posing to be allies. Without communication and leadership, the allies are likely to destroy each other with friendly fire and lose the battle even though they were the stronger force. The worst part is, they will do it under the belief that they are fighting against the enemy.

God didn’t leave us to figure out his battle plans with our carnal intellect. He gave us the Holy Spirit as our helper and field commander. It is imperative that we get tuned into his frequency and hear his voice clearly so that we know what he is doing, and so we don’t end up fighting him the way the Jews often did. Though the disciples were fully trained by Jesus, he told them not to leave the city until they had received the Spirit. The knowledge they had learned from Jesus was not enough! They need the Spirit to help them to live as Jesus had asked them to, and we do also.

“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” Luke 24:49 NLT

The Holy Spirit is the one who tells us what the Father is doing so that we will work with the Father and not against him.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. John 16:12-14 NKJV

How can we over look the importance of this scripture? If we really believe that Jesus was telling the truth when he said this, shouldn’t hearing his voice be our top priority in life? Let me ask you, if the body of Christ was really hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit daily, do you really think the Church would be so divided? Do you really think that pastors would be suffering so much attack from their own congregations? Paul said in Ephesians 4:3 that there is unity in the Spirit. The Spirit is never divided.

Right now in the Church, we have many self appointed generals who are giving it their best guess as to what is right and bombing anyone they disagree with. I don’t doubt that they have zeal for Lord, but they have the wrong orders. Like Saul (who became Paul), they are doing their best to destroy anything in that conflicts with them. This is what Paul said of the Jews.

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Romans 10:2-3 NKJV

Jesus said God is Spirit, and he must be worshipped in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). The Jews had the truth in the Word, but they didn’t have the Spirit, so the truth they had did not profit them. Jesus said it is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing (John 6:63). Without the Spirit opening our minds to true meaning of scripture, and revealing the deep things of God, we are just carnal minded.

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:7-8 NIV

The carnal mind is, and always will be an enemy of God and those who truly follow him. It is a rogue soldier that answers to no authority, and will seek to destroy everything it doesn’t understand. It is impossible to follow God with properly when your mind is carnal. Jesus said,

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 NKJV

The Holy Spirit is predictable in that he is always good, he always acts in love and brings glory to God, and he is always true to the Word (although not always our understanding of the Word). But he is very unpredictable in his methods of doing things. All through the Bible, it seems that God always acted in unexpected ways to see if his people’s hearts were in the right place. He sent shepherd boys, slaves, and those who were least in their family to be kings and leaders. He sent his Son to be born in a stable. He sent uneducated fishermen to the educate Jews, and he sent the educated Jew to the uneducated gentiles. Jesus rarely did a miracle the same way twice, and new forms of miracles popped up throughout the New Testament.

Why the madness? It is because God never wanted us to fall into the pit of tradition. No one will ever be able to stand before God, and say, “I would have known you if you had came the way I expected.” There is no excuse, and no one will put God in a box. I have found through the Bible, and through personal experience, that God will often speak through what you despise or look down on the most. If you look down on people with tattoos, or people that are old fashion, or even your enemies, guess who might be carrying God’s Word for you? If you are proud in your knowledge, God might send someone who just got saved with a word for you. This is why the proud will always have trouble hearing from him. He doesn’t want us to follow our expectations, he wants us to follow the presence the way Israel did in the desert. Only those who follow the Spirit and hear his voice will be able to keep up with what he is doing. The Jews could not understand Jesus because he spoke the words of the Spirit, so they killed in the name of the God they thought they served.

To avoid making the same mistake, we need to be slow to judge and make sure we are not speaking against God own. Especially those who are anointed for ministry. We also need to evaluate ourselves to see if we are acting in the Spirit or in the flesh. There are many ways to do this but one easy way is to compare yourself to the attitudes of Jesus, the disciples of Acts, and other examples of scripture such as this one.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are  done in the meekness of wisdom… But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:13, 17-18 NKJV

I have made this passage a mirror for my actions. When I want to do something, I check myself with this scripture. I ask myself, “is this thought I have of, ‘the wisdom that is from above, ‘ or is it something I came up with to nail someone?” This is how scripture helps us discern the voice of the Lord.

Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God is a sword that pierces even to the division of soul and Spirit. In other words, it helps you divide the things that come from you from the things that come from the Spirit of God. We need to be able to hear the Spirit, but we need the Bibles help. We need both the Spirit and the truth to be complete.

There are many great teachings out there on how to be led by the Spirit and I encourage you to search them out. I have heard it wisely said that as long as you can live without hearing the voice of God, you will. Until you hunger for the voice of God to the point that you can’t live without it, you will live without it. The purpose of this post was to show with scripture that hearing God’s voice and being led by his Spirit was not meant to be optional. I hope this has stirred some hunger in you!

Wow what a mess!

It looks like my posts are pretty messed up as far as center spacing and such. I am using my phone app because I do not currently have a computer. Sorry about the inconvenience and hopefully I will soon have a pc!

New Testament Life Scripture Montage Part III

                                                                                                                                      The power of God in you

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Corinthians 3:16 NKJV

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11 NKJV

                                                                                                         God confirms his true word with signs of his character

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name (Jesus) they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;  they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they
will recover.” Mark 16:17-18 NKJV

And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them  and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Mark 16:20 NKJV

And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:7-8 NKJV

Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. Acts 3:6-8 NKJV

So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:18, 24-24, 29-31 NKJV

If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” John 10:37-38 NKJV

Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. Acts 14:3 NKJV

                                                                                           Greater works than Jesus will we do because he sent his Spirit

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus) , the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12 NKJV

And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Acts 5:12, 15-16 NKJV

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Acts 19:11-12 NKJV

                                                                                             Barnabas and Paul confirmed by the confirming works

But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. Acts 15:5-6, 12 NKJV

                                                                                                         Not in the wisdom of man, but in power

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. I Corinthians 2:4-5 NKJV

having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! II Timothy 3:5 NKJV

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; I Corinthians 3:16, 18-19 NKJV

Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. I Corinthians 4:18-20 NKJV

                                                                                                     Power comes from awareness of God’s power in you

Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;  nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21 NKJV

that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Philemon 1:6 NKJV

…because as He is, so are we in this world. I John 4:17 NKJV

…we have the mind of Christ. I Corinthians 2:16 NKJV

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I John 2:20 NKJV

and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:6 NKJV