Blinded by Truth.

  

   You know, one of the most effective tools of the spirit of religion, otherwise known as the devil, is to blind believers with the truth.  That was the plight of the Pharisees.  They were full of truth, protectors of truth, worshippers of truth. In fact, their truths so filled their eyes that when God came to them,  in the flesh, He was obliterated from their view by their beloved truths.  God gave them those truths, many generations before and those truths became all they knew of God.

  

     Here is how it works. What is most important in Christianity is to know God and have a relationship with God.  So, all the enemy has to do to rob you is insert something, a very true something, between you and your view of and contact with the reality of God.  (Oh, by the way, if God is not real to you, you don't have a personal relationship with Him.  It takes reality to make personal.)   For example, those who love and adore the Bible; who can argue against the wonder, the infallibility, the power of the Word? It is all that and more but it was never intended to obscure your view of God, to be something that stands in the way of your relationship.  The Bible is God's Word, He will stand behind it but He never intended the Bible to take His place.   Then, for example,  there are those who get hold of a message, such as prosperity or faith, or even praise.  They dive in so deep into the teaching of that subject that everything else becomes hidden from view.  All they see when the read the Bible is that favorite truth they are hooked on.  Is the message wrong?  No!  Not until it is inserted between you and your passion for God.  Those, and other messages are not substitutes for the reality of God.  Are they good?  Yeah...but not that good.  Nothing is better than the touch of God.  Nothing!

    Those who have been snared with the net of out-of-place are those who may love the promises, shout over the promises, preach the promises, witness of the promises but when the promise becomes, or threatens to become, reality....they turn away.  They held those promises up so close to their face for so long that they obscured the glory of God just out of sight, obscured by the promises.  That my friend, is bondage. God set us free!  When Jesus told the Pharisees that the truth would make them free, He was literally saying this, "you will know the reality of the promise and the reality will make you free from the promise".   (The word for truth He used means "verity, reality").   In my life, the promise of being Spirit filled almost kept me from being Spirit filled.  The promise of joy almost kept me out of joy.  The promise of deliverance almost kept me away from deliverance.  The promise so filled my vision that it was difficult to admit I did not have the reality of those promises.  However, truth, reality, verity, eventually made me free.  I am free indeed!!!  You can be too.

  

Corrections from God

    Ever been corrected by the Lord God?  Bet you have more than you think, and, I bet you might have missed the corrections more than you imagine.  Over and over, God corrects us, both on an individual scale and as well on a universal scale.  In fact, often what we call a "move" of God, or perhaps a blessing, or even a sign and wonder is more likely to be a correction.  In fact, often what we call a "move" or a "blessing" is a chastisement.  We are not illigitimate kids. We are His and He loves us and therefore He chastises (corrects) us.

    Setting slightly to the side, correction on the individual scale, let me tell you some corrections I have seen in my few short almost sixty-nine years.  None of these corrections contained anything new, they were just corrective reminders.  There was the healing move, with the tents, the crowds.  God revealed His healing power, correcting the body of Christ, telling them that healing was His will for us.  Then there was the latter rain move, known for its worship and especially for prophecy.  God was speaking to us that this gift is to be coveted above others.  There was the charismatic move in which God reminded us, across the world and denominational lines that He wanted us baptized in the Holy Ghost.  There was the worship and praise move close to the same time where God re-instituted the sacrifice of praise demand.  Then there was the discipleship move where God reminded us that relationships and submission have always been a part of His plan.  Then there was the faith move which was God reminding us that faith pleases Him, that we are to be bold sons and daughters of God.  Then there was the joy move where in God reminded us that He wants the redeemed to approach Him with singing, with everlasting joy exhibited on their head and face and in so doing, obtain more joy and send sorrow and heaviness running (Is. 51:11).  There was the prosperity move, or teaching that reminded us that God intentions toward us is to prosper us and not harm us.

    

    Not one of these moves, or others I did not mention, contained anything new.  Just things made new.  Chastisements from the throne.  Having participated in all these particular moves, I know that with every move, there were excesses, mistakes, flesh and other reasons to reject the move.  Many focused on the reasons not to receive and missed the chastening.   They are kind of like my kids when young. They always could find ample reasons for me not to spank them, but spankings they got.  You see, I loved them.  Even if they ran from the paddle, I would always catch up with them, sooner or later.   In a way, I feel sorry for those who have spent a life time of dodging the spankings from heaven.   They missed something wonderful. and I pray God catches up with them soon.   "Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty", Job 5:17,   "My son, despisth not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: for whom the Lord loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighth",  Prov. 3: 11-12.

   For me, I eagerly await the corrections of the Lord and questions of anticipation fill my thoughts:  What will He do next?  What will the next move of God be?  And, I pray "Oh God, don't let me miss it....chastise me Oh God...I welcome you corrections"

Is there a Holy Ghost?

   

    Many years after the first instance of Holy Ghost baptism, Paul came across some believers at Ephesus.  His first question to them was not whether or not they were saved, but rather had they received Holy Ghost baptism.  That was the big concern.  Their answer could have been easily given by many of today's modern church-goers. They said "we didn't know there was a Holy Ghost".   So, after they were water baptized, Paul laid hands on them and they were baptized in the Holy Ghost and began to prophesy and speak in tongues.  You see, that is what happens when you get hold of what has hold of you.  The day you got saved, the Holy Ghost got you.  The day you got baptized in the Holy Ghost, you got Him.  Big difference.

   From the first instance of Holy Ghost baptism, the experience began to be referred to as the "gift" of God.  It was expected that every believer in Christ would also receive the "gift".   Understand, it is not the HOly Ghost that is the gift referred to.  It is Holy Ghost baptism.   That is the gift!    Jesus died to give us the gift of  Holy Ghost baptism.  He did not die to give you to the Holy Ghost, but to give the Holy Ghost to you to be a God-companion on earth.  From the time Jesus made it to heaven, back to His Father and was crowned Lord, He has been giving believers the gift of Holy Ghost baptism to confirm that crowing, glorifying moment (Jo. 7:37-39)

"Cahoots with the devil"

    

You know, the devil and some spiritual leaders are in cahoots, though perhaps, the leaders may not know it.  Let me show you ways they cooperate:  

1.The devil is driven to possess as many of God's people as he can.  That is the same drive many spirituals leaders and groups have. For them, it is all about getting more of God's people in the door.  "Just get'm in the door...we don't care if they know God, worship God, hear God, love God....just get'm in the door".  What an awful thing to lead someone to an altar but not lead them to a relationship with God.

2. The devil wants everything God has, except God himself.   Many are the churches of today that have every thing - money, prestige, blessings, respect and not a sign of God.  In fact, if God (the Holy Ghost) shows up, He and those who carry His presence, will be ejected.  Worse, in one way or another God and those radical charismatics will  be blamed for all the troubles and divisions in the church that might follow.  The sudden manifestation of God will split churches.  People, and the devil, want His stuff....but not Him.  Really, who is to  blame here?

3.  The devil  will not worship, but he will receive worship.   I have known far too many pastors, even in so called "spirit-filled" churches, who would not enter in to the worship of God by their congregation.  Some will just wait in another room until it is over and then make a grand entrance.  I knew one fellow who did this, and when he would make his entrance, the congregation would all stand and shout "WOW".    You know how long I would stay in such a church?  1/2 of of 1 second!  (Or, how ever long it took me to find the door).  I would rather be, and would stay longer, in a church that handled rattlesnakes.   Both are worthless, but at least snake handlers would provide better entertainment.  Anybody I call "pastor"  or leader, better be seen worshiping or I ain't a gonna follow!

4.  The devil will not allow worship and do his best to prevent it.  By a huge majority, the commands to praise, give thanks, worship, rejoice, sing, dance, etc., outnumber all other commands in the Bible.  Yet, in far too many churches you would not even know those commands were in the Bible.   Many Christians seem to have no awareness of their existence or the slightest thought of obeying them. A man is at a sorry stage of decline when he measures his spirituality by what he does not do rather than by what he does do.  "So, you don't murder?   But, do you obey the over 1000 commands to praise God?"  Think of the churches you might go to, next Sunday, wherein you got happy, shouted, danced a little, rejoiced with unspeakable joy, even praised God in tongues, all Biblical commands.  How many would throw you out to the sidewalk for your disruptive behavior? 

5.  The devil keeps the focus on man  From the garden to now, the devil has labored hard to keep the focus of man, on man, and not on God.  And, all he really has to do to accomplish this is flip the commands....put loving your brother  (command #2) above loving God (command #1).  Now, him having done that, we are witnessing people loving people with all their being. It looks so good, so admirable but it is awful.   They've got no time to love God - they are too busy loving their neighbor.  Plus, if they should  slip up and radically express their love of God,  with even half their being, it might offend that neighbor, so that is the end of that.  You are to love man, as you love yourself and you better not love yourself with all your heart, soul, mind, and body.  That is selfish, humanistic and sick.  But, you  are to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and body.  That is pure and divine.  About all the devil has to do to keep God in the shadows and away from His people is just to keep the focus on the people.

Divine Purpose

     Maybe it is just me, but it seems that very few of God's people ever gain a sense of divine purpose.  They may know God saved them, but never know why.  They lack understanding of divine purpose.  The Bible says that in all our getting, we should get wisdom and understanding.  Understanding is when you know "why".   If you never know why, you lack understanding and the same Bible says that when your understanding is darkened, you are alienated from the life of God.  In addition to not knowing the "why" of things, because of religious deception, we often come up with the wrong "why" and then the way back to the life of God becomes even more difficult.

      As to the matter of salvation there are a lot of "whys" that have been presented that are not  quite on target.  Such understandings might include thinking God saved us because He wanted to rescue us from hell, or our wretched life, or maybe because He just felt sorry for us.  Some even seem to think that it was God that got lucky and found them, like a great treasure they deem themselves to be.  Truth?  God saved you because He chose you for Himself.  You didn't choose Him.  Truth?  God saved you so He could give you the Holy Ghost.  Isn't amazing how many miss that little gem?   Most people in the work of the church, including pastors specialize in leading people to salvation, but never telling them "why".  The result is a house full of empty vessels.  The Bible says we were made to "drink" of the Spirit.  That is an ongoing activity.  That is divine purpose.  A pastor, an active leader that can not or does not lead people to the baptism of the Holy Ghost and teach them to drink and as well, how to drink, is missing divine purpose and so are those who follow him or her.  They are missing understanding. God doesn't just make us a vessel to hold nothing! He made us a vessel to be filled with the Spirit.     Truth?  God gives you the Holy Ghost because only by the Holy Ghost can any man call Jesus LORD.   Empty vessels confessing that Jesus is Lord is empty religion. Truth?  God saved you so you will worship Him.  He actively seeks those who will do so.  Truth?    He gives you the Holy Ghost so by the power of the Spirit, who has made Jesus the Lord to you, you can worship the Lord.
    Divine purpose? Oh, that God would open the eyes of our understanding!

Thank God For Mercy

    Thank God for mercy and mercy made new every morning!   You know, I don't think most people, including believers, know much about mercy.  And, if you know nothing of mercy, you know nothing of grace and if you know nothing of grace, you are being robbed blind and you may not know that either.  Think you have no need of mercy?  A lot of church folks actually think that way.  They are sure they have no sin and all past sin is gone and as a result, they are saved.  This, even though, the Bible says if we say we have no sin, we have deceived ourselves and made God  a liar.

    Why do believers think this way?  Because in their humanism, they always base their salvation on themselves rather than Him who saves.  If you start with the assumption you are "saved" on the basis of sin being gone, then the presence of sin threatens and instinctively, men will resist the threat with their own efforts, which in this matter usually means to deny the presence of sin.  "I dont' smoke, drink, cuss or chew".  The people who think this way, and they are many, are basing their salvation on their presumed purity. 

   

     The problem with this thinking is that it ignores the huge dimension of sin.  For example, the Bible says to know to "do good" and not do it, is sin (Ja. 4:17).  That is huge!  Who can escape the burden of that?  There are more Bible commands for us to do than commands to not do.  The Bible says that if we offend another person's conscience, we have sinned against Christ (1 Cor. 8:12).  Who has not offended another at some point?  If you haven't, you probably will - it is almost unavoidable.  Then, and this is a really heavy duty demand, the Bible also says that whatever we "eat", if we do not eat it in faith, is "sin" (Ro. 14:23).  Don't tell me you haven't eaten some fattening, scrumptious, delicious something and said "This is not good for me but I am going to eat it anyway!".    Sin -sin - sin - sin!   And, that does not include being short of the glory of God (Ro. 3:23).  And, it does not include trespass or transgressions, going and doing what you know you should not have.  And, it does not include iniquity, law-less, doing your own thing your own way, or guile, pretending to be spiritual when you are not in order to mask the real you.   So, you think you are pure enough to qualify as being saved?   mmmmmmh?  (Might want to think again).

   So, what is the point?   You are saved by grace!  Grace based on mercy!  Mercy granted because Jesus overpaid for the sin of mankind with His precious blood!   Until you really understand the unbelievable dimension and scope of sin, you will never understand  the unbelievable dimensions of His mercy and grace.  You will never understand how wonderful is His mercy, how mazing is His grace.  His mercy and grace are indiscribable!  And, free!  Only when you understand all the things that should damn your soul, can you understand the depth of God's mercy and grace that has save you in spite of everything that should haved damned you!