More New Year's advice

My idea about this new year is that I need to act without fear as much as possible. I am tired of being on the treadmill, always trying to prove myself. I realize a lot of this comes from my desire to please people, to always have them think well of me.

What I really want is to be the Lord's "free man," without trying to be anything. I want to be free of the constraints, just interested in sharing information I find vitally important, most especially for my own continuance in this life I often find increasingly hard to be content in.

I will be getting much more serious about "finishing my book" now that the holidays are over and I don't have such physical constraints imposed by my relentless 40-hour week job.

I am ready to take the leap, making this year be the be-all and end-all of my whole life.

All I know is the time is short for someone like me to bring some God-given truth to the world and I want to give it my all, not worrying about all the massive amounts of time I have already wasted in carrying out what has, by default, been a "life mission."

****

“When you’re out trying to seek the approval of men, you know what that is? That’s really idolatry. You’re giving men, people, whether it’s you or someone else, the position that only God ought to have in your life, says Richard Jordan.

“The antidote is this complete forgiveness and acceptance in Christ and you just simply resting in that perfect identity that God gives you in the beloved and in the love of God to you in Christ Jesus.

“Romans 8:35-39 is a passage, if you’ve never memorized, you ought to be getting this passage into your everyday frame of reference:

[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
[36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
[37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
[38] For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
[39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“What does tribulation do if you’re walking in the wisdom of God’s Word, living in God’s grace? It works patience!

"If you’re thinking about it the way God thinks about it, instead of saying, ‘Here’s trouble coming into my life—God’s after me, God’s trying to get me, God’s going to nail me!’ you think, ‘Wait a minute, I’m accepted in the beloved. God has equipped me, whether it’s personal problems, economic problems, or peril, or sword, or nakedness . . . I can stay with the Word, stay with who I am and that will work some experience.’ 

*****

“Exodus 28: [36] And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
[37] And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.
[38] And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

“What’s the first thing you notice when you notice people? You’re supposed to say their eyes. So He’s going to take this plate, this little crown or nameplate, and put it right across this high priest’s forehead and it’s going to say, ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD.’

“Have you ever noticed you’ve got this blank space (your forehead) that would be a good place to write things? So God writes across Aaron. Every time they looked at Aaron (he’s going to go into the holy of holies, into the presence of God) he’s got ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD.’ That’s why it’s called the holy crown.

“Just as Aaron would go in and it’d be the holy crown upon his head, the first thing they would see (even with all the beautiful garments he had on), that stood above all the rest, was his forehead. When you and I stand before God we have on our forehead, ‘ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED.’

"The burning passion that sin ignites is never to be satisfied, but Jesus Christ takes all of that--my guilt, my failure--so that I might be made the righteousness of God. That's the great exchange.

"I get His righteousness, His acceptance before God and I'm in the Beloved. I be loved and I be loved because He made me so, and on my worst day or on my best day, when I'm not lovable in myself, or when I thought I was and 'let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,' I have a real acceptance," explains Richard Jordan.

"To be guilty is one thing, but not to settle the issue . . . Psychology can't do that. They pull it out, you know, and wear it as a medal around your chest: 'I confess my sin.' It doesn't resolve guilt; it's still there, but Jesus paid it all. He took care of it and gave me His righteousness.

"You get a sense of being trapped by your sins; enslaved by them, hemmed in. But in Ephesians 1:7 he says, [7] In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

"That word 'redemption' means to pay the price and set it free. It's really freedom. You're liberated from the control of sin. It means you don't have to sin anymore. You don't have to have that irritable spirit, that nasty disposition, that lustful eye, you know, envious, jealous. You don't have to do that; you're free in Christ from all of those entaglements. Christ died to set you free. He died to MAKE your free.

"There's a great song Down South we used to sing: 'He set me free, He set me free, He broke the bonds of prison for me.' But somebody pointed out to me one time that the Bible doesn't say that. It says He MADE me free. He made me a free person. He didn't just take me and set me free; He completely transformed me into someone who's free.

Romans 6: [17] But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. [18] Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

"That's what redemption is. Look, be strong in THESE things! Don't try to go out and be strong in, 'I gave money to the church, I passed out tracts.' Don't try to be strong in what you do because it always comes up short--'cut off my legs and call me Shorty.'

"What He did always answers it. He says in verse 7 we have 'forgiveness according to the riches of his grace.' Say what you will, sin haunts us. We need peace. The anger, the hurt that comes from sin. The hurt that comes from hurting others and be hurt by it.

"To know what it is to be forgiven allows you to forgive. You'll never be able to forgive until you understand how it is to be forgiven. The entanglements of sin. He says, 'I give you freedom.' The word 'forgive' means to send it away. But where do you send it? The only place you can send it where it's dealt with completely is the Cross.

"You send it into the vacuum of your memory but you know what happens? It belches back up at inconvenient times and it haunts you and you wind up hearing its footsteps. He says, 'I can show you a way to peace,' because that's what we want.

"You don't have to be angry anymore, at war with the world, or your neighbor, or your family, or yourself. He paid the penalty. The war's over and we have peace with God and when you have peace with God you can have peace with everyone else through our Lord Jesus Christ."'

Making the INSIDE adjustments

Here’s an outtake from last Sunday morning's adult Bible class at my church:

Paul begins Romans 5 with, [1] Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
[2] By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
[3] And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
[4] And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

You have peace with God, you have the access to it and you have an eternal hope, so right now when the troubles come, you can glory—you can realize these things are going to produce some opportunity for spiritual benefits to occur in my life that otherwise I couldn’t have had.

What Paul knew and what he understood about going through tribulation is what this passage is about.

He understood that here you are as a Believer with all these benefits and now you’re living in time with the difficulties of living in this fallen world--the difficulty of making bad decisions and reaping the consequences, the difficulty of living godly in Christ Jesus and having the blowback from that--and those difficulties produce spiritual benefits, so they are spiritually beneficial.

So don’t fire your best workers; look at them for what they really are.

When I hear that word “glory” I think about the tabernacle. Moses builds the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord fills it. There’s this bright glowing light that demonstrates the presence of God. The glory isn’t the light; the light demonstrates God’s presence. It’s the visible evidence that Jehovah is there.

So, when you think about the glory of God, there’s the evidence of God’s life in us as Believers. We literally put on display the evidence of the grace of God as we go through these circumstances.

Paul’s perspective about trouble, pressures, difficulties is you glory in them. You say, “Whoa.”  He said, “There’s an opportunity to give a tangible evidence of the power of God working in the Body of Christ.”

“There’s a tangible evidence; I can experience the inner power of God’s grace working inside of me. I already have it, but now here’s the outworking of that, and I never have any access to that without a problem/situation. In normal times I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

You glory in it because, “Now I have an opportunity to manifest something that without the tribulation I couldn’t have manifested.”

II Corinthians 12:7: [7] And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

Paul’s got this problem that humiliates him; that’s why he says, “Lest I should be exalted.”

[8] For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

It was bad enough that three different times Paul crawled off into a corner and said, “Lord, could you just get rid of this; could you just take it away? It’s hindering the ministry; it’s discouraging me from what I’m doing. Lord, I could do so much better if I didn’t have this.”

Now, what He said to Paul is an example for you:

[9] And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
[10] Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

His strength is always in you, but you access it by faith and it’s made perfect—it works the edification, the strengthening--where?

When you’re weak, God’s grace works. He says, “I glory in those things because when I’m weak then the power of Christ rests upon me.”

*****

Here is a related study from several years ago and will have a new article tomorrow:

The great old hymn, Christ Is All, includes the stanza:

“I saw a martyr at the stake,
The flames could not his courage shake,
Nor death his soul appall;
I asked him whence his strength was giv’n;
He looked triumphantly to Heav’n,
And answered, Christ is all. Christ is all, all in all,
Yes, Christ is all in all;
Christ is all, all in all,
Yes, Christ is all in all.”

A very famous verse even unsaved people love to cherry-pick from Paul’s epistles is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Just off the top of my head, I can think of two superstar athletes--Stephan Curry and Tim Tebow--who use Philippians 4:13 as their motto. What's so fascinating, though, is the testimonial Paul gives beforehand that leads him to his conclusion.

Paul writes in Philippians 4:10-12, [10] But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.

[11] Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
[12] I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

“Contentment is that peace of God,” explains Richard Jordan. “Contentment is that emotional stability that comes from that renewed mind that’s dependent on Christ being enough. It’s that strengthening of your inner man by His spirit to give you peace in the circumstances of life. It’s that emotional stability.

“Now, you notice how Paul got it? He says, ‘For I have learned.’ How do you learn? Verse 12 tells you.

“Paul was instructed in some sound doctrine that allowed him to have emotional stability in whatever circumstances there were. Abounding and suffering need; having overabundance and having nothing.

“The circumstances of his life were not what controlled his inner contentment and strength. He learned, meaning he took in some sound doctrine and had an edification that produced a maturity that gave stability.

“It doesn’t come because you pray for it; it comes because the doctrine produces a mindset that then you can apply to the details of your life. It doesn’t come automatically; it comes through the faith application of His Word.

“Paul made an adjustment on the INSIDE, based upon some doctrine, that produced inner strength and gave him the ability to deal with the outside.

“When you find the outside to be a challenge, the way you deal with it is make that internal adjustment that gives you the contentment.

“That’s why verse 13 says, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.’ That ‘all things’ is the ‘all things’ in verses 10-12.

“I can abase; I can abound. I can have people love me; I can have people hate me. I can be rich; I can be poor. I can be hungry; I can be fat. I can live in whatever circumstance through Christ who strengthens me. That’s spiritual strength that comes from having Christ be everything.

“If you follow down through the rest of the chapter, what that did is it produced and resulted in a visible ministry.

“If you look at verse 14 and on, there’s something spiritual going on there: [14] Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.
[15] Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
[16] For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.
[17] Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

“There’s an activity inside of you that’s producing some life outward. Where did this outward working come from? They weren’t trying to gain something from God; they were just being a part of who they were.

“Paul writes in verse 18 and 19, ‘But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
[19] But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’

“God’s going to supply everything they need. It doesn’t say needs plural—it’s not talking about your physical stuff. It’s talking about God gives you everything you need according to His riches in glory.

“Everything you need to be everything God’s ever made you to be, He’s made available to you, whatever the work of the ministry is, whatever the outreach. He strengthened you with MIGHT in your inner man because you can do ALL things through Christ.

“God has revealed the mystery and you’ve learned it; you’ve got the material. That material will develop maturity as you keep your eyes on His majesty. It will result in an unshakeable motivation to be, in all the details of your life, just who God has made you to be and to have God’s Word 'work effectually' in you that believe.

"Praise God for that and the privilege to be a recipient of such love. Just relax and let God love you and let that be enough.” 

It's ALIVE!

(new article Tuesday evening)

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

“That word 'quick' means alive but it doesn’t mean just alive. It means ALIVE like, ‘Productive ALIVE!’ That’s why it’s translated ‘quick,' " explains Richard Jordan. "The idea of it being quickness; it’s alive. Really the word means to ‘function in all the parts.’ Efficiently. You’re functioning, you’re in a state of activity, but it’s the idea of being able to respond without delay.

"Can I tell you that God’s Word doesn’t take forever to work in your life. You’ve got a problem and you bring the Word of God into that problem, you know what God’s Word says about that problem? It won’t take 6 weeks, 6 months, 2 years to fix the problem. If it takes that long it’s because you aren’t believing it.

“God’s Word will work quickly; it will function quickly! It’s alive! And it doesn’t hesitate to do its work. It doesn’t hesitate to energize you. It doesn’t hesitate to change your attitude about things. Or to change your actions. You know your actions come from the way you think.

“The Word of God works internally in you because it’s life. And let me say it again, it will work QUICKLY. It will give life without hesitation. It’s powerful. It’s a ‘discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart.’ That’s a quality of God.

“It’s like the Book is. When you talk to that Book, you’re talking to God. Now the reason for that is is because it’s the Word of God. When you read that Book, it reads you. It’s a weird book in that sense.

“Because it’s a Book that literally reaches into your heart and evaluates what’s going on inside of you and He says it’s powerful. There’s a dynamic, living quality and ability to God’s Word.

*****
“Psalm 33 says, [1] Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.

[2] Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
[3] Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
[4] For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
[5] He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
[6] By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

“I love that ‘play skilfully.’ You know, a lot of folks play with loud noise but He says ‘play skillfully.’ That means be on pitch. Here’s what you’re to sing and praise and be excited about: ‘For the word of the Lord is right.’

“The first criteria of your Bible means to be right. God’s Word is associated with the breath of His mouth with His speaking. And all of the things you see out here were made when God SPOKE some words. You see that?

“Hebrews 11:3 says, ‘Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.’

“There’s Psalm 33:6! You weren’t there, you see. You have to take it by faith. By faith we understand. By the way, He doesn’t even say we know. He says we understand. You understand some things.

*****

"They had this debate the other week between Ham and Nye. You can look at the facts; the bare biology, geology, anthropology. That kind of stuff, you can look at the facts, but by faith you get understanding.
“You find out what’s behind all of this. There’s a wisdom, a knowledge, an understanding by God by which He created those things that you can only know by faith in what He tells you.

“ 'So the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.’ So the physical reality of the universe was made that it was not made out of things that appear! Well, if it’s not made out of something that appears—if it doesn’t appear, what is it?! if it’s not visible, it’s invisible. Wow, that’s smart!

“God used some resources within Himself to create a physical universe. The physical universe was a manifestation of a spiritual reality that resided in God.

“Have you wondered why in the beginning, God created two realms--visible and invisible? Colossians 1:16 says, ‘For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.’

*****

“Have you ever wondered why He says in Genesis 1:1, ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.’ Why'd He do it that way? Why didn’t He just say, ‘In the beginning God created the universe,’ because that’s what He did. Isn’t the earth part of the heaven?

“Why would Paul say ‘visible and invisible’? He’s communicating something to you about what you’re reading here. When you understand what He was doing, what you understand is that the physical were made by things that are not seen. He took something out of the spiritual reality in Himself and created the visible.

“So the physical is going to really be a manifestation of a spiritual life. So, in your Christian life, when we talk about the outward being an expression of the inward, what are we really talking about? Exactly that! That’s how God works in His creation.

*****

“II Timothy 3:16 says, ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.’

“You see that word ‘script’? He’s talking about all the stuff written down. Scripted. It’s given by inspiration of God. You see that word inspiration? God literally took His Spirit and put it into some words and somebody wrote them down. He breathed out some words. He said some things.

“And all Scripture, all the stuff that’s written down here, is given by God, putting His Spirit in some words that somebody then wrote down.

“Inspiration has to do with God putting His Spirit into words that are then written down. What’s written down is given to you by God putting His Spirit into some words. That’s what inspiration is. It’s God giving some words that are then written down.

*****

“Job 32:8 says, ‘But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.’

“I read that just so you can see again that issue about inspiration has to do with there’s a spirit in man and the inspiration gives understanding. There’s a connection between the spirit and inspiration.

“Listen, there’s a spirit in man. Genesis 2:7 says, ‘And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.’

“How do you make man? You form man out of the dust of the earth and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.

“God inbreathed a spirit, the breath of God, and that breath of God has to do with what God’s doing when He writes His Word. Jesus said, ‘Man should not live by breath alone but by every word that proceeds out of the MOUTH of God.’

*****

“II Peter 1:20-21 says, Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

“Notice we are talking here about the Scripture. So, here’s how the Bible comes into existence. God speaks. He breathes out some words. Those words are then put into written form in a book. They’re written down in the Book of God. So what’s written down? The words that came out of the mouth of God.

“It starts out with a spiritual reality. This form that you hold in your hands, you’re talking about how God reveals Himself.

*****

“You ever heard anybody talk about how you can’t have a divine translation? You know how dumb that is?! What do you think it took for God Almighty (God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost)?!

“They’re talking among themselves before they ever thought about creating you. And they’re just talking among themselves. What language do you think they talked in?

“How would you take deity thinking and translate it into a finite language that a human could understand? There’s the real translation problem. Translating it from Greek to English, or from Greek to Swahili, that’s a cinch compared to taking deity words and putting it into human words.

“If God could do that, you don’t worry about translating between your languages. That ain’t no big deal! He could take His thinking and put it into human language and do it in such a way as to say, ‘That’s my Word.’

“I got over worrying about translating years ago when I realized that. God reveals Himself. God speaks His revelation to us. Then He has it inscribed in a book. Then He preserves that book through history. What’s He preserving? The spiritual reality that He spoke preserves it and it now resides in written form!”

Our surveillance future in plain sight

News out of Washington, D.C. ahead of Christmas, as reported by Shore News Network:

“President Donald Trump announced a sweeping directive declaring that the United States will ‘lead the world in 6G development,’ setting in motion a nationwide effort to secure technological dominance in next-generation wireless communications.

“In a presidential memorandum titled Winning the 6G Race, Trump framed 6G networks as critical to America’s national security, economic growth, and leadership in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and implantable devices. The document outlines an aggressive federal strategy to identify and repurpose key spectrum frequencies for commercial use while protecting existing military and intelligence operations.”

As one news outlet reported: “Speaking on live TV, Trump was quoted as saying, ‘So we’re into 6G now, yeesh. 5G — I was a leader on 5G, getting that done, and now they’re up to 6. What does that do, give you a little bit deeper view into somebody’s skin? See how perfect it is. I liked the cameras of the old days. Sort of just had a nice feature. Now they cover every little, let’s see Michael, you’re in good shape, you’re not going to… but I tell you… so the six is coming, hunh? It’s coming. Does it ever end? And what happens? You’ll be into seven, right? Before six gets old, you’ll be into seven.’ ”

Here is commentary from a Christian YouTuber:

“Trump asks, 'What does that do, give you a little bit deeper view into somebody’s skin?' How is that for a Freudian slip?! Donald Trump is even admitting that 6G, which is the human augmentation, bio-digital convergence--the mixing of man and machine and computer and AI--will enable Big Brother to see under your skin.

“Of course, laughing it off, using humor. Even the articles that were out there on the story of Trump announcing 6G were trying to peddle away from what he actually said and make it seem like he is a delusional old man.

“Articles like, ‘Trump bizarrely links 6G to camera tech in confusing remarks on nex-gen networks.’

Headline from MSN: ‘Trump sparks mockery after slurring through 6G speech, mistakes it for a camera lens in viral clip’

Headline from Daily Beast: ‘Grandpa Trump, 79, Struggles to Get His Head Around 6G’

“No, what he said was 100 percent truth and they laugh it off and dismiss this stuff because the truth is always in plain sight and they know that the majority of the citizens in this country won’t have the slightest clue about what’s coming forward with the 6G bio-digital convergence.

“What we’re talking about is metabolic energy harvesting, bio-field hijacking, mRNA immuno-suppression. What they won’t tell you about 6G is how they’re going to lean on terahertz frequencies and these frequencies go deep. So deep that it will allow them to actually see under your skin.

“What the majority of people believe is that all 6G will do is allow them to download things faster; it’s going to make their internet faster, as if anybody is complaining about their internet speed anymore at this point.

“You’re not going to see a difference between 5G and 6G in regards to how fast you can download music, but that’s what they’re going to tell you: ‘Oh, it’s more convenient.’

“What they won’t tell you is how it’s going to be able to penetrate your clothes and you skin. This is what 6G surveillance is going to look like. We’re talking about wearable implants, things like ‘smart tattoos,’ nano-tech, which will connect to networks such as health-tech, which is why they’ve been sabotaging the healthcare system as we know it. They’re doing it by design.”

New Year's Advice: Forgive and FORGET

New Year’s Day is upon us and now begins the annual flood of idolatrous advice about how to improve your life--by losing weight, exercising more, learning to slow down and experience mindfulness, better appreciating your self-worth, practicing small acts of kindness and gratitude, meditating daily on peace, love, happiness, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. None of it mentions the need for belief in Jesus Christ and God’s Word. 

When Paul writes in Philippians 3:12, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus,” he’s saying, “I’m not where I want to be yet but I follow after that I may seize it.”

“Apprehend means to take hold of,” explains Columbus, Ohio preacher David Reid. “In other words, Christ Jesus had taken hold of Paul and Paul wanted to take hold of that life he knew he could walk in. He says in the next verse, [13] Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, [14] I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

“He’s saying, ‘I don’t count myself to have apprehended; I’m not there yet. But this one thing I do, ‘FORGETTING those things which are behind.’ The message is we need to forget the past.

“As we go through life there’s lots of things we can ponder on, and our minds can go in a million different directions. Have you ever said anything you wish you hadn’t said?

“I’ve done that a lot and there’s times after I do something that I think, ‘Well, I wish I could hit Control Z.’ You know what that is? That’s after you mess up the document and you don’t know what you did, you just hit Control Z and undo it. It’s one of my favorite functions because it just lets you get back to where you were.

“But you can’t get back the words you just spoke. You wish, ‘Why didn’t I handle this differently?!’ and if you dwell on those things, they’ll mess you up. You can spend all of your present—all this emotion and unending guilt because of that stuff in the past.

“Think about Paul for a moment. When Paul says he was the chief of sinners, he doesn’t mean he committed more crimes or had a bigger crime organization than anyone else. He’s saying he’s the leader of the persecution of the church. When you think about Romans 10: ‘How shall they hear without a preacher?’ . . .

“I will tell you this, what I think is the most wicked thing that can be done on the earth today doesn’t involve drugs or any of the fleshly sins we think of. The most evil thing that can be done today is to inhibit the proclamation of the gospel.

"The gospel’s the thing that delivers people from an eternal hell. So anything that’s done to inhibit that is the most wicked thing there is. That’s why Paul says he was the ‘chiefest of sinners.’

“Do you think Paul had some guilt issues? While he’s giving his voice, consenting unto people’s deaths, persecuting them even unto strange cities . . . In other words, he’s not just mad enough that, ‘Hey, the guys in my neighborhood preaching this false gospel need to be dealt with.’ He goes to the chief priest and says, ‘Hey, give me some letters because there’s people far away I’ve got to go find and persecute.’ Paul would look back at that and have guilt.

*****

“We have our own things in our lives that we regret and you just have to let those things go. Life is full of spilled milk. What’s the saying? ‘Don’t cry over spilled milk.’ The point is, you’ve got to let it go. I think that’s incredibly liberating because you can rehearse that stuff in your mind forever and ever and ever.

“Now, when Paul says ‘forgetting the past,’ is that just the 'Power of Positive Thinking,' or is it something greater than that? Look at Colossians 2:13: [13] And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.

“If God the Father considers all of our trespasses forgiven, we need to agree with Him about that. We need to not let the past mess up the present.

"One of the things a lot of athletic coaches say is, ‘Get ready for the next play.’ If you play any sort of sports, you learn you can’t stew on whatever bad happens. If you sit and stew and mope, you know what? You’re going to miss the next play.

“When Paul says, ‘I press toward the mark,’ the issue is, ‘Where are you going?’ When Paul says this, he’s not talking about, ‘I’m doing this now so I can get all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in the future.’ Paul already has them and he can’t lose them. What he’s talking about is his experience of those blessings in THIS life.

*****

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

Richard Jordan explains, “I love that statement, ‘He will subdue our iniquities.’ He literally will subdue. He’ll take care of your sin when you can’t. He’ll lick it. He’ll beat it for you. We sing that song ‘Glorious Freedom.’

“You couldn’t get freedom from your sin no matter how hard you tried, but God Himself promises to take care of it for us. When He says He casts it into the depths of the sea, that means never to be remembered. The extent of forgiveness in this regard is total. God doesn’t forgive piecemeal and He doesn’t forgive on probation. Forgiveness is an absolute thing. The sin is gone.

“Psalm 103:12 says, ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.’ That’s total removal. If you said, ‘As far as the north is from the south,’ if you go far enough north, your compass will tell you that now you’re going south because of the way magnetic field in the earth is. But if you get in an airplane and you start going east, your compass will never tell you that you’re going west because east and west never meet.

“By the way, this is one of the verses that proves the earth is round. I can’t figure out the east and west, where they never meet, if the earth’s flat.

“When He talks about forgiveness, He’s saying, ‘I’m going to separate your sin from you so far away that you never meet them again.’ That’s what that word ‘remember’ means. Something that is a member of something is a part of it. If it’s sent away, it’s not part of you anymore. He’s saying, ‘I’ll never take your sins and make them part of your account again.’

“Isaiah 38:17 is another verse to help you. King Hezekiah is sick and recovering and says, [17] Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

“If something’s behind you, you can’t see it and when it says God ‘cast all my sins behind thy back,’ that means He’s going to take the sins and put them out of His sight where they don’t remind Him of anything. They’re not seen and they’re not things He’s going to bring up again. That’s just another way to describe the completeness of the forgiveness God provides.

“Isaiah 43:25 says, [25] I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. That’s what Acts 3:19 said: [19] Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

“He’s literally going to remove the transgressions from the record. When you blot something out, you cover it over, you erase it, you make it like it wasn’t there anymore. That’s what the issue of forgiveness is.

“Paul uses the term ‘remission.’ I’ve heard people say remission isn’t permanent, but if I remit a check to someone to pay a bill that’s pretty permanent. They say, ‘Well, you can have cancer and it not go into remission.’ These are not medical terms in the New Testament and it’s not the same idea. The word ‘remission’ is an accounting term where a payment is made and it completely satisfies the debt and now the debt doesn’t exist anymore.

“Colossians 2:13 says He’s ‘forgiven you ALL trespasses.’ How many is ALL? That would be all of the past, present and future. Your forgiveness in Christ is total and complete.

******

“You’ll learn more about human psychology in I and II Kings than you will reading Rogers, Jung, Freud, or whoever else you want to study,” says Jordan in an old study. “You can read all the Christian psychology; you can follow Chuck Swindoll and listen to Chuck Stanley and all these guys who belch out this Christian psychology with their scriptural pabulum on the subject. You can listen to Dr. James Dobson . . .

“You’ll learn more about Christian psychology in I and II Kings than anywhere else, I guarantee you. I’ve read those books for years with my mouth just agape about how they reveal human nature to you.

“See, the difference is the Bible doesn’t just tell you about it; it tells you why it’s that way, looks under the surface and gives you some information, and fortunately, it also tells you what to do about it.

“The keenest observer of human nature really doesn’t understand what’s going on in the inner man of a person. It takes the Scripture to pierce that. I and II Kings will do it for you. But I and II Chronicles look at the same events from a divine perspective.

*****

“In the Old Testament you have some books that repeat things. For example, what’s in I Kings and II Kings is repeated in I and II Chronicles. God didn’t need to write two accounts of the same story just because He thought you didn’t read it enough the first time. There’s a completely different viewpoint.

“You know when you study Matthew, Mark, Luke and John you have four pictures of the life of Christ. You know it’s not designed to be a harmony, or one life of Christ. God could have written that if He had wanted to. But rather He gives you four pictures, four perspectives of Christ and there’s prophetic reasons for that. In fact, the Old Testament tells you there’s going to be a four-fold picture of Christ looking at the same person and same events from different perspectives.

“In Kings and Chronicles, it’s the same way. Kings looks at it from the human viewpoint. But when you look at same events in Chronicles, you’re looking more from the divine viewpoint.”

(will have a new article this evening for certain)

The Spirit's CHILL and ready to do the job for you

(new article tomorrow)

Paul advises in Galatians 5:16, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

“This is critically important because every one of us will be lustful,” says Alex Kurz. “The word ‘lust’ at its root means to long for something and our old self life in Adam LONNNGS for a lot of things. 

“When you begin to possess that desire and this sort of strong passion, how do you not fulfill that longing? Walk in the spirit. How do you do that?

“Verse 17 says, ‘For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.’

“This verse has nothing to do with YOU fighting your flesh; you’re going to lose!  Let the Spirit fight for you!

“When it says ‘the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,’ this has nothing to do with the flesh being in hand-to- hand mortal combat with the Spirit.

*****

“Some people live in kind of this dual, split personality kind of a thing where they tell you, ‘Wow, what a battle; every day I’m fighting the flesh.’

“The battle isn’t you suppressing, controlling, restraining your flesh. The Spirit has the answer. When it says ‘the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,’ it’s talking about the two operating systems that are completely diametrically opposed to each other.

“So here’s the key. The Spirit will never ever utilize the avenue the flesh is going to utilize. The way the flesh works is completely contradictory to how the Spirit works, and if you’re just walking over here, don’t worry, you’re not going to fulfill the flesh over there. 

“Let’s just demonstrate this. Romans 6:11-12 says, 11] Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[12] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

“Do you see the contrast being made? You know what the Spirit says? ‘Reckon.’ Count what those verses say about you to be true and by doing so you will not obey the lust--the affection, the desire, that innate longing that your flesh has.

“The answer is to reckon; it’s in the realm of the THINKING in contrast to the realm of the lust.

“Romans 13:14 says, ‘But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.’

“You know what it means to put on the Lord Jesus Christ? Renew the way you’re thinking. If you renew the way you’re thinking, as the verse says, you’re not going to fulfill—it doesn’t say you will never have inordinate lust. It says you’re not going to what?

“You know, that actually is a help because when you begin to long for something that is quite contrary to what you already possess in Jesus Christ, you need to say, ‘Wait a minute, am I thinking properly?’

“When you have a lust, don’t fall to the ground, condemn yourself and be overcome by shame, guilt, fear and this sense of unworthiness. Let it lead you to recognize, ‘I got to change the way I’m thinking.’ Nothing mysterious there; not some strange working. You see that? It’s not some metaphysical operation; it’s simply thinking.

*****

“I don’t want to belabor all this, but to walk after the Spirit is not complicated. People are looking for the Spirit to do some things, and they’ve been deluded by some teachings regarding how the Spirit is going to move and shape and lead and yearn, when there’s just this clear comprehensive knowing something.

“Ephesians 4:17. Verse 20. We got to learn some truths; that’s the answer to the lustful impulses that will drive and lead.

"When Paul says in Romans 13, ‘Put on the Lord Jesus Christ,’ he’s saying, ‘Put on the specific doctrines that are being taught,’ and it’s in this category called 'the grace of Almighty God' that we renew our thinking. We have to change the way we understand some things. By doing so, you’re putting Him on and you’re putting this guy off.

“You see this battle? The flesh says, ‘NOOO, you’ve got to operate in the realm of how you feel about things!’ The flesh is going to convince you that your feelings are a legitimate authority. The Bible says, ‘No, what you feel is NOT authoritative! The words that God the Holy Spirit is teaching—that’s the authority!’

"As Jeremiah 17:9 says, 'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?' 

“It’s good to be able to turn the pages of the Book,  and when you’re feeling beat-up and down and whatever else you might be FEELING, you read one verse and, ‘Wow, I’ve got to change the way I’m thinking about some things!’

*****

“Another passage in this regard, and these are just some of the more obvious passages, is Colossians 3:5: ‘Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.’

“Verse 10 says, ‘And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.’

“To mortify means you just put it to death. How do you do that? Verse 9 says, ‘Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.’

“The Spirit by the way, He’s chilled. He’s relaxed. He’s not fighting anybody!

“I just really want you to grasp that when Paul starts talking about being contrary, don’t envision having this struggle every day. No, it’s just two competing systems and which one are you choosing to operate under. That’s all it is.

“The Spirit’s relaxed and He’s already provided the resources. We already have the provisions. All we have to do is put it on.

“How do you put it on? That’s why Bible study has to be a very personal thing between you and God. No one else can do this for you. I hope when you study the Bible it’s so that you truly are minding what the Spirit is minding.

*****

"So when that lust starts rearing its ugly head, what do you have to do? ‘I got to think about what the Spirit’s thinking about and He just thinks about Jesus Christ.’

“In Galatians 5:17, what Paul’s saying is, ‘If you’re operating and abiding in the realm of the flesh, the realm of the emotions, you know what’s going to happen? You can’t do it.

“Paul says in Romans 7:19, ‘For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.’ He’s talking about living under the law! Verse 20 says, ‘Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.’

“Sin is going to deceive you. The weakness of our flesh; it deceives us into thinking you have the energy and the capacity to control your life and to live for God and to restrain evil and to produce good and to live.

“Paul says, ‘I’m over here. I can’t do what I want to do!’ Why? There’s something inherently wrong and flawed in the realm of your inner person.’ That’s why the law will always fail. It can’t change you. Oh, it can be a yoke and it can control you, but it can’t change something inside.

“Paul says, ‘Listen, you want to operate under the law system, you’re not going to succeed. You’re going to fail every single time.’

“Galatians 5:18 says, ‘But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.’ That’s the language of Romans 8. In this particular context, when Paul says, ‘If you be led of the Spirit,’ what does it mean to be led of the Spirit? It’s to mind the things of the Spirit. What is the Spirit mindful of?  Who you are; your life; the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

*****

“Galatians 4 says, [1] Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
[2] But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
[3] Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

“The Galatians were gravitating back to that child system of the law but the Spirit will never violate your position as an adult. You know what’s expected of an adult? You better start thinking. No more of the yoke and the chains of some system that operates in the realm of external constraint.

“The Holy Spirit will never do that. He treats you like a grown-up and the only motivation that honors and pleases our heavenly Father is the internal compulsion; the internal change of character. That’s what it means to be an adult!

“Being an adult means no one’s going to grab your hand. God’s not going to make you do anything. That’s high ground. You have Christians who seek comfort in the law like a little child, and God the Holy Spirit says, ‘I’m not going to violate who you are. You’re an adult. You can choose to mind the things of the Spirit. We can choose to walk that way.’ ” 

Alien agenda gospel?

In an interview Elon Musk was asked, “Who do you look up to the most?” He answered, “The creator.”

He was then asked, “What’s your current position on God?” He answered, “God is the creator.”

Interviewer: “You don’t believe in God, though, do you?”

Elon: “I believe this universe came from something. There are different labels.”

Commentary from a Christian YouTuber: “They’re all coming to the consensus that yes, there is indeed a creator; there’s no way we evolved from apes, but what they’re telling you is that that creator is some sort of an alien entity.

“They’re pushing an alien agenda gospel. They’ll mention creator, but they mean an alien creature which is nothing more than a fallen angel and a demon.”

Here’s an outtake from the Christmas Eve Bible study at my church:

Jeremiah 10 begins: [1] Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
[2] Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
[3] For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
[4] They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

The Lord’s saying, “Don’t start doing this star-gazing astrology, getting your doctrine out of the way the planets operate.”

The people are carving an idol. They bring the idol in and then they DECK it. You take it and hang fruit on it so that it looks like it’s alive. So you DECorate it and then you worship it.

Now you try and tell people they shouldn’t have a Christmas tree and watch them go berserk. If you go to a home that has a tree and you sit there on the couch and they turn the lights down so you can watch it glow, you get that warm feeling of worship and there’s an attraction to that.

Where this stuff comes from is part of the vain religious system of Baal worship.

When you talk about the stargazing, understand that what they’re doing is counterfeiting the original truth.

Listen, there’s a reason they use December 21-25; they’re counterfeiting the things God put in His creation.

Genesis 1: [14] And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
[15] And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

When it says He made the stars also, that means He made the stars also to rule the heaven and the earth. There’s some truth God puts up there and they’re for signs. They’re designed to teach doctrine; sound doctrine, truth.

But when Satan corrupted things and the angelic host follows him . . .

Look what happens to them in Deuteronomy 4: [19] And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

That’s what the nations did. They started getting their doctrine--stargazing, prognosticating--so what they did is they literally corrupted the things God put in the heavens to teach truth, and they used these physical signs as messages from the invisible powers of the universe.

My point is, things God out in His creation to teach sound doctrine get corrupted, so it isn’t like Satan invented December the 25^th; he corrupted December 25^th.

Taking on supernatural provisions

(new article tomorrow for certain)

This issue we struggle with in life is a personal one, and it’s also a very confrontational one because it brings into accountability the fact that for most of life we aren’t very content.

For most of life, we’re much more discontent than we are content. We’re much more into the idea of gaining and getting and striving and pushing in life, rather than being just in a condition of peace, says Richard Jordan in a study of Philippians 1:

[21] For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
[22] But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
[23] For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
[24] Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
[25] And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
[26] That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
[27] Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
[28] And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
[29] For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
[30] Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

Contentment is that emotional stability. Philippians is a tremendously emotional passage. There’s rejoicing, there’s peace, there’s confidence and there’s contentment. To define it scripturally, it’s not being up one minute and down another in your heart, but it’s to be able to have that stability that comes from that relaxed mental attitude—faith—of dependence on the supernatural provisions God has given you already in Christ.

It's not trying to gain your peace of mind and heart from the circumstances out there (good or bad, positive or negative) but rather it’s living from a life, and a confidence, inside. That’s where peace has to be.

The peace of God that passeth all understanding that the passage talks about is something internal. It isn’t conditioned upon what’s happening in life. It isn’t conditioned upon the circumstances you find yourself in.

It’s the capacity inside to have this relaxed mental attitude; just being able to relax in who God has made you in Christ and understand that the supernatural provisions that are yours in Him have made you capable, and able to live in whatever circumstances, in a way that is for His glory and your own good.

When life comes it will carry you up or it will carry you down in your reactions to them. It’s about letting the supernatural provisions be the things that work in you and control your life.

Paul makes it clear there are four things needed to be content. First, you need to be grateful; you need to be rejoicing. Contentment is not tied to your circumstances. That's that verse in I Thessalonians 5: [18] In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Not FOR everything, because there are all kinds of things that come in life that you can’t be grateful for in the sense that they’re wonderful, exciting things. When Paul’s in poverty, suffering need, hungry—you don’t look at an empty plate and say, “Well, bless God,” the same way you do if you’ve got a big 24-ounce porterhouse in front of you and you say, “Whew, bless God I’ve got food.”

This is not tomfoolery we’re talking about. It’s not just blind, stoic, stiff upper lip kind of stuff that says, “Whatever happens it really doesn’t matter,” so you become so emotionally detached from life that you can’t be touched with life.

That’s not the issue; it’s to be right there in it and to understand there’s some resources that allow you live in it in a different way and it starts with gratitude.

If you can’t find something in the circumstances to be grateful for, you can at least thank God that in the circumstances, you’re blessing Him. If you can’t do anything else, you can at least go back and say, “Oh, how I love Jesus.” You can sing that song:

1.  
• Oh, how I love Jesus,
  Because He first loved me!
2. It tells me of a Savior’s love,
   Who died to set me free;
   It tells me of His precious blood,
   The sinner’s perfect plea.
3. It tells me of a Father’s smile
   Beaming upon His child;
   It cheers me through this little while,
   Through desert, waste, and wild.
4. It tells me what my Father hath
   In store for every day,
   And though I tread a darksome path,
   Yields sunshine all the way.
5. It tells of One whose loving heart
   Can feel my deepest woe;
   Who in each sorrow bears a part
   That none can bear below.
6. It bids my trembling heart rejoice;
   It dries each rising tear;
   It tells me, in a “still small voice,”
   To trust and never fear.

Or you can say, "When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

You sing that song to yourself. That song, by the way was written by a man who had lost his family. You know the story. He’d lost his family in a sea voyage and he later made a voyage across the same area and the captain of the ship had made an arrangement with him that when they got to the place where his family’s ship had sunk in a storm they’d have a little memorial.

He wrote that song, having lost his wife and two daughters, to memorialize that event. “Sorrows like sea billows roll”—they literally rolled in his life. And yet he had a peace and contentment that wasn’t tied to that—it was something supernatural inside, and it started with being grateful to God for the provisions that He’s made.