What is His will?

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Is it Gods will for you to be sick?

 

What is Gods will?

Are you sick? Have you prayed? Are you still sick? Could it be God’s will for you to be sick?

One of the first challenges to receive divine healing is to understand God’s will.

One popular belief taught by several churches is that God “works in mysterious ways” and you can never know His will. The truth is quite the contrary!

When we study Jesus life and diligently seek understanding in the Word of God, His will becomes clear:

Jesus is the expressed image of the invisible God (Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:15).

God talked to us through the life of His son (Hebrews 1:1-2).

When we get to know Jesus we know the Father (John 14:7).

His will is explicitly stated in several areas

Follow His commandments (Deuteronomy 28:1, John 14:21).

Repent and turn from evil as sin against God (Psalm 51, Acts 3:19).

Take up your cross and Follow Me (Matthew 16:24).

Seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:23).

Transform your mind to see things from His perspective so you can do his will (Romans 12:2). 

What are even more powerful are His promises to those who follow Him and His commandments.

He promises life and life in abundance to believers who follow Him and His commandments,

He gives us the authority and power to make it happen.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.(Romans 8:28)

 

Barry’s message reinforces the need to study the word to gain proper understanding. Illness is never Gods will! It is the work of the devil. It is form of bondage. It is clear from the words used in each situation.

He has delegated authority to us to continue His work. In order to do that, we must understand that authority, believe what the word says, and act in faith.
Those who do not diligently seek to understand the word of God will continue to suffer.

His children continue to be destroyed for lack of understanding (Hosea 4:6).

Are you seeing life in abundance? Maybe there is room for more understanding. Spend some more time in the word and gain understanding of the expicit healing scriptures, pull close to the Lord, and he will pull close to you. Based on my experience.., life in abundance is very real! Divine healing is very real if you diligently pursue it! You have free will. It is your choice.

Why do folks get sick? 

We live in a fallen world and suffer the consequences of generations of sin operating all around us with compounding circumstances.

Our individual sin seporate us from God and His promisses, and it does open the door to the devil so he can make things even worse for us. Sometimes this is the root caue of your own illness, other you are merely a victum of the fallen world and Your owns sins may just be contributing to it.

The devil administers all the consequences we suffer. We struggle not against the flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. (Ephesians 6:12).

The kingdom operates entirely by faith (Hebrews 11:6) and you must believe to recieve. (Mark 11:24).

What He has taught me over the last couple years is that I need to focus on the actual word of god rather than what others teach or believe about it.

I began to see miraculous healings as soon as did the following:

  1. Understood my identity as born again son of God
  2. Stood in the righteousness and redemption He paid for on the cross
  3. Repented of my individual sins (including unbelief in the actual writen word of god)
  4. Accepted the commission and authority He give me as a believer
  5. Stood on the promises explicitly stated in the word….
  6. Acted in faith based on my belief in the word.

His grace has manifested in miraculous ways to fill the gap between my prior observed reality and those amazing promises.

Hope this makes sense.

 

Even if our personal sin was not the original cause of a situation, it can make things worse and/or get in the way of recovery (pride and unbelief in my case). Repentance is always good practice.

Because of the unconventional way I learned this stuff I was unconstrained by a lot of formal doctrine. I have learned to read and reread the scripture, ask the Holy spirit for guidance, and follow where He takes me. He has helped me get some clear revelation in the word:

Pretty clear message in Ephesians 6:12 – what appears to us as a physical battle is really a spiritual battle:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”

Pretty clear message in Acts 10:38 that Jesus was healing folks by kicking out devils:

“…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

When I got to Mark 16:17-18, my new reality sunk in. It didn’t say just Jesus could heal folks, or just the apostles, or just folks with a specific healing gift…it said “believers”. and I am a believer..so that means me!

“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; … they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

That propelled me into deeper study…If Believers are to do this stuff, and I am a believer, How do I do it.

I certainly would have called this religious hocus pocus before the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to it several years ago. But now it is just practical and routine application of the word of God. As it is written, let it be done.

Results have not always been immediate or miraculous but I have found excellent and amazing progress pursuing this approach in dozens of real life situations. The more deeply I study and understand it, and the more diligently I apply it, the better the results. All glory goes to the Father because no man can accomplish those kinds of results in the natural.

My Prayer: May you go to the Father when you are good and ready, and not when some disease has drained your energy. I speak life in abundance In Jesus Name. AMEN.
Bless you and Have a wonderful day.

Happy to chat sometime at your convenience and we will pray God’s will into place to liberate you from the load of consequences you are carrying. He promises life and life in abundance, and I stand on that promise in Jesus Name.

 

 

Key Beliefs For Healing

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

 Key Beliefs for Divine Healing

 

I have been involved in this informal ministry for about 5 years. My focus has been split between learning how spiritual processes work and helping people become healed from physical ailments.  A vast majority of my encounters with healing have bad two aspects: spiritual development, and healing execution. While in some cases there was an instantaneous and miraculous healing flow, In most cases the healing flowed in after a period of spiritual development. Spiritual development is a learning process and can take a while depending on how aggressively you approach it. This blog post is intended to facilitate the teaching / learning / growth aspect of this process and accelerate believers on the path towards healing.

The first part of the blog is a discussion on belifs and the process of establishing beliefs and developing faith; the second part is a listing of key beliefs which provide a foundation for Divine Healing. Ground yourself on the learning process then run through the list of beliefs and see where you are on each one. I have scripture and process logic to support exploration and discussion for each one to help you on your journey.

Some definitions:

  • Truth: A principle that flows from God, All truth flows from God. God is truth.
  • Belief: Something you know in your heart to be true.
  • Faith: Acting on something you Believe to be true, even if you do no evidence for it

Establishing Beliefs / Building Faith

Spiritual knowledge must be revealed to us; We are not born with it, and we can not derive it by observation in the earthly world. Spiritual knowledge can come a variety of sources including preachers, teachers, writers, friends, and most is rooted in holy scriptures.

Learning is a process that goes through progressive stages:

  • Exposure to new information leads to Awareness
  • Gathering and reviewing more information leads to familiarity and Knowledge
  • Investigation, study, and rationalization in your mind leads to Understanding
  • Application to various situaiotns leads to practical experience and Wisdom.

Learning is an active process; You must invest some mental energy to work through the learning stages. The level of understanding we develop on a topic depends on how much energy we are willing to invest gathering, contemplating and rationalizing. How much energy you put into something is related to how important it is to you. It is either already important because you intrinsically value it and you want to fully explore it, or it becomes important because you discover the topic has consequences and you want to better understand how it works. You can learn quite a bit on most topics if yo put your mind to it. You can learn even more if you apply what you are learning as you go.

Think about how you go about any sort of serious learning, whether for school, or problem solving at home or at work. We think through a topic; What are we seeing in front of you? What do we know about it? How does it fit with our experience? How does it fit with our understanding of how things work? If it fits, we log it in our mental database of experiences and move on.  If it is different, we rationalize it: Either dismiss it as a special case we are not going to worry about, or choose to spend the time to figure it out in detail so we are prepared to deal with it again in the future. As we dig into it, we try to figure it out ourselves, we look for published information, we talk to friends with experience in this area, we pursue friends of friends and even track down experts. Once you convince yourself you understand something, you then figure out how best to deal with it:  What are the options, what are the likely outcomes, how would I pursue them, what are the risks. You select a path forward based on your best reasoning. You proceed down that path and check to see if you are getting the results you expect and adjust as necessary.

Once you are moving forward, you have established at least two beliefs:  1) What you are facing,  and 2) how best to deal with it. The criticallity of those specific beliefs depends on the significance of the results… is it a life or death situation or are you choosing whether to eat your picnic supper on a real plate or a paper plate. 

Firm belief and a sense of urgency lead to commitment

At some point in your lives, we learn to power through difficult situations with determination, commitment, and perseverance.  We act with more confidence and conviction when we have established truly solid beliefs. You believe you understand the situation at hand, and you believe the path you have chosen will get you to a better situation if you apply enough energy and drive through it. You will not commit the energy necessary to make much progress on serious issues unless you firmly believe you are on the right path to success.

The other piece of the conviction puzzle is a sense of urgency. You must believe it is more important to act to change the course you are on than to let it take its course. There are plenty of potential sources of urgency, you just need grab on to one to drive you forward: 1) You are going to die someday, Where are you going to spend eternity? , Eternity in Heaven is better than eternity in hell; Peace, Joy and Love in this life is better than Hate, Angst, and Fear; Divine healing is better than continued illness;  I better get to know Jesus before I have to stand before Him.

You have likely spent significant time and energy understanding this earthly world and your physical body. How it all works, what to feed it, how to keep it active and strong.  Most of us will spend less than 100 years in our physical body but we will all spend eternity in our spiritual body. Where and how you get to spend eternity is a direct result of how you choose to spend this life. How much energy have you put into understanding how the spiritual world works and how to develop your spiritual body to be ready for it?  How long does it take to develop muscle? How long does it take for muscles to atrophy if you stop being active?  How quickly does it take to build a healthy lean body through diet, how quickly does it deteriorate into disfunciton and disease if you have a poor diet? It is the same for your spiritual body – it needs food and exercise to be vigorous. The consequences of your spiritual development are significant and eternal. It is well worth the investment of some energy here and now while you can still impact your eternal path. 

The key to commitment and conviction is solid belief and a sense of urgency. This is just as true for physical earthly things as it is for spiritual things.   

Knowing in your “knower”

Engineering is a practice of making progress by applying truths that you can verify by physical evidence.  Faith is the practice of making progress by acting on truths you do not have earthly evidence for. You ca only verify those truths in your internal  “knower”.  They are very similar but also very different.

One of the amazing design features of our soul is a pair of sensors. One detects acts of divine love, the other detects elements of divine truth. The first one manifests as a warm feeling in your heart when you see a fireman risks his own life to go into a burning building to rescue a baby. The other one is less obvious, but it is a sort of resonance in your mind when you know in your “Knower” when something is true. It is a cousin of the sense you get when your conscience is telling you something you are thinking about doing is wrong. For this exercise you will need to tune in to your knower!

Establishing beliefs

The first step toward a belief is to establish something as True in  your mind. If we intellectually “Believe” something is true then we perceive and acknowledge that “it is so”; yes, indeed, that is the way the world works. Once we acknowledge something as a truth, we hold it as a belief, and we can choose to act on it!

We “Hold” beliefs. We “Act in faith” on our beliefs.

Truth: a properly rigged parachute will allow a skilled operator to descend from altitude and land safely.

Beliefs: Parachutes work, This one is packed correctly, I have been trained and know how to use it. 

Faith: Jumping from the plane trusting your belief in the parachute to work.

So the basic flow is, lock in the truths, establish the beliefs, and then build faith.  Faith is build by practice and experience. 

Love of Truth

“Love of the truth” is key to opening spiritual doors. When you choose to be inquisitive and seek the spiritual truth, you are using your free will to consciously invest energy to explore the spiritual dimension. Reading, Listening, Watching, Talking, Thinking, Meditating, Praising, and Worshiping are each conscious acts of free will aligned with the love of truth. As you purposefully seek the truth with your outer mind, your inner mind becomes open to receive inflow from heaven. This is a crirtcal step to transition from knowledge and “intellectual truths” to perception of “spiritual truths” and beliefs you will become willing to act on in faith. 

Divine Healing

Each of us is a three part being:  We have a physical body, we have am eternal soul which includes our conscious thoughts and emotions, and we have a spirit which connects us with the Lord. Divine Healing flows from the Holy Spirit, through your spirit, into your soul/mind, and then into your physical body.  To optimize this flow we want to develop your spirit or “spiritual body” so it can function effectively and fill this role, overcome the inherent resistance in your soul/mind, and flow healing into your physical body.  

Beliefs for Divine Healing

There are a series of beliefs that form a foundation of truth for receiving healing. We can become familiar with them and develop understanding of each through reading or listening. We should be able to rationalize each through a combination of scripture and logic and they should resonate in our knower. The next step will be to practice acting on them in our life. 

Key beliefs for divine healing

  1. God is Love, His love powers the universe and everything in it.
  2. God is Truth, His truth provides structure and order so His love can produce usefulness.
  3. God created us in His image, put us in eternal paradise, and gave us dominion over the earth.
  4. All sin is against God – It happens when we choose to ignore His rule and put our agenda first.
  5. When we sin we separate ourselves from God’s protection, we become exposed to consequences from the devil. The wages of sin is death.
  6. Adam sinned, got separated from God and paradise, gave authority to the devil, we inherit our sinful nature from Him
  7. We live in a fallen world: Bad things happen, The devil creates them, We suffer the consequences of sins from others, and we make things worse by our own sins.
  8. The devil is real and we struggle against him. He lies, steals and destroys. Illness is work of the devil, Jesus came to defeat the works of the devil and to bring light and life in abundance.
  9. The Hebrews sacrificed a perfect lamb every year to atone for their sins. Jesus was an innocent man and sacrificed himself as a lamb for the sins of all of mankind.
  10. God loves us so much He sent His son to suffer and die for us
  11. Jesus sacrifice provides the path of “redemption” for followers – it reunites us with the father, restores His image in us. What we lost through Adam, we regain through Jesus. He is the way back to the Father.
  12. His blood cleanses the act of sin from our mind – it is represented in the communion wine. We must receive it, and we most flow forgiveness to others.
  13. His body was broken to bare the consequences of sin for the world – it is represented in the communion bread broken at the last supper
  14. When we accept Jesus as lord and savior, we are born again – sins are forgiven, our spirit is renewed
  15. When we ask, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us – the spirit that raised Jesus from the dead
  16. We are the body of Christ – His arms and legs on this earth – We are to become love in action – People are to see Jesus through us.
  17. We have a commission to continue Jesus work on earth – Defeat the works of the devil – as the father sent me, I send you
  18. We have authority to use His name, and do the works He did while on this earth.
  19. God’s will is healing, Jesus is the expressed image of God, Jesus healed all, God’s will  is unchanging
  20. We need to pray God’s will into place; God gave us dominion, He will not violate it, we must give him permission to act.
  21. The word of God is a powerful sword. The Word of God is perfect and permanent. The spiritual world operates as a legal case –- as it is written, it is done.
  22. God works all things to our advantage: Each challenge is a growth opportunity – You will get increasingly challenging opportunities until He gets your attention.
  23. God created you with a purpose. Our purpose is to apply the gifts and opportunities He provides to become useful to others in our sphere of influence. We are to become His love and His truth in motion.
  24. In order to accomplish His purpose, we must transform our mind, see things from God’s spiritual perspective, overcome the physical world with the help of the Holy Spirit, and shine in this fallen world so that others can find Jesus through us.
  25. We need to develop and care for our spiritual body just like we care for our physical body
      • Eat spiritual food (Word of God), We do not live by bread alone but by every word of God.
      • Exercise spiritual muscle (Build Faith)

Exercise:

Work through each of the 25 items one by one.

Do you understand it? Does it make sense?  

Can you explain it in rational terms – how it works / how it fits / why it is important?

Can you identify scripture that supports it?

Do you “Know ” it is truth in your heart? Do you believe “it is so”? 

Can you apply it in a prayer ? for a real situation?

Are you willing to stake your earthly life on it? Would you stake your eternal life on it? 

Supporting scripture:

I will build a catalog of supporting scriptures as next step 

Prayer:

Use your reading/watching pursuit of this topic as an opportunity to get close to Him. Start it off with … 

“Lord,  Thank you that you have put me on this journey.    Lord, you said ‘seek and ye shall find’ : Guide me to the right information to start me off. Help me find you, your love, and your truth as I engage with this material.  Lord, you said ‘ask and it shall be given’ ; Give me eyes to see things from your perspective so I can understand your messages. Help me apply what I learn. Help me develop my spiritual body with the proper beliefs so I can act in faith to overcome this fallen world and become more effective for others in your kingdom. I ask this in Jesus name”

 

Second Death ?

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

How do you avoid a second death? 

 

Thought for the day: Dying once is hard enough to deal with, What is the scond death and how do you avoid it?

The bible mentions a second death several times, It is associated with a sinful person spending eternity in Hell, burning with brimstone in the Lake of fire. Brimstone is sulfer and makes nasty sulfuric acid fumes as it burns; It would be best to avoid getting anywhere near such a fire.   

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelations 21:8)

To understand a second death, lets be clear on the first death; To do that we need to understand our basic nature. We are spiritual souls born into a physical body. The physical body is formed of earthly flesh in the mothers womb and experiences physical death. The soul is formed of spiritual substance in the mothers womb and is released to retern to God after physical death of the body. 

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)

“And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

The soul is eternal and will exist forever.  Once it is released after the death of our physical body, the first death, it will transition to either eternal “life” in heaven or eternal “death” in hell.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

The concept of spiritual Life and Death is introduced as a tree metaphor thorughout the bible. Eating of the “tree of life” comes from becoming righteous and following Gods commandments. When we Love Him first, and Love others as ourselves, we become fruitful and prosperous in this life and will experience eternal life connected with God in paradise.

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life…” (Proverbs 11:30)
“…To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7)
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.” (Revelation 22:14-15)

Eating of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” is the opposite; Operating on your own self-centered agenda, separate from God and his protections. If you operate in this way, you will gain knowledge of good and evil from first hand experience. Your self-centered sinful ways will lead you on a downward spiral of poor decisions and destructive consequences. Hopefully, at some point, you will reflect and realize this path might not be working out for the best. You have your entire life to discover the Lord as your savior and change your ways. If you choose to leave this earthly life in self-centered sinful mode, you will have missed your chance. Your soul will spend eternity separated from God and His life giving Love and Truth; You will be open to torment from the Devil without the civil laws of society on earth, “burning” in the lake of fire.

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” . . . Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

Let’s understand how this works; God offers us protection from evil. Sin causes separation from God and His protections

“But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:20)

“These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9)

Sin has consequences, Continued sin leads to death of the soul, or spiritual death

“For the wages of sin is death,…” (Romans 6:23)
“Behold, all souls are mine;…the soul who sins shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:4)
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 3:36)

So how do we avoid spiritual death?

We have two levels in our mind – an inner spiritually oriented mind – and an outer carnal / flesh oriented / emotion driven mind

“I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Romans 7:21-23)

The two levels of your mind are in conflict with very different priorities. Our outer / emotional self wants to pursue fleshly desires – ignoring God’s commandments – sin. The inner self (our mind) recognizes God’s love, the law/commandments, and wants to avoid sin and pursue goodness.

“For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.” (Galatians 5:17)

One level of your mind will always be dominant.

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5)

Our carnal oriented outer mind is actually at war with God

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” (Romans 8:7)

If we let the outer mind continue on its selfish fleshly agenda it will take us to spiritual death.

“Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” (James 1:15)

We are born with the outer mind dominant which gives us our sinful nature.

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5)
“Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:3)
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. (Romans 7:18)

We must turn from evil as sin against God to drive a wedge against the carnal mind.

“…for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13)
“For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!” (Ezekiel 18:32)

When we truly repent of our sins, Jesus gift of forgiveness allows us to move forward without the burden of guilt that buried us under the law, and allow us to prosper in eternal life.

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”(Acts 3:19)
(Are they worse sinners?) ” I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3/5)
“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions” (Colossians 2:13)

We must develop the inner mind with sufficient knowledge and discipline to counter and totally overcome the dominance of the outer mind, and escape the corruption of self-centered agendas in the flesh.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust..” (2 Peter 1:4)
“Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11)

The outer mind is so dominant that the only way for the inner mind to actually win this war is to completely submit yourself to Jesus as your lord and savior.

“ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 8:24-25)
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:7-8)
“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

We become born again with a fresh start and spiritual support system, Say good by to the old man, hello to the new.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.’ (2 Corinthians 5:17)
“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:6-11)

And to use the holy spirit to help you put aside all fleshly agendas that compete.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3)

To become committed to living a life worthy of the price he paid.

“Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Philippians 1:27)
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Conclusion:

The risk of second death is a really big deal – It is eternity – and it is Hell. As long as we are reunited with God through true repentance for sins and belief in Jesus’ resurrection – the second death has no power over us.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.” (Revelation 2:11)
“Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6)

 

  1. Turn from Evil as Sin against God. Repent of your sins
  2. Accept Jesus as your lord and savior
  3. Actively pursue transformation of your mind to see things from God’s perspective
  4. Listen to the Holy spirit for guidance
  5. Strive to live a life worthy of the price HE paid.

 

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions or comments.

 

 

 

 

Finding God’s purpose for my life

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

How can I find God’s purpose for My life?  

 

Thought for the day: He has a purpose for you, He will help you find it, and help you pursue it if you let Him.

His direction or for your life can be found at the intersection of the passions in your heart and the gifts/talents in your brain and body. Your passion shows you Where to focus your attention, your skills show you How; They give you a way to engage in the world and be useful. Head in the general direction of your passion, develop the skills He gave you, apply yourself to the opportunities that emerge, stay on the high road, and He will guide your steps as you go.

Key points and supporting scriptures: 

  • HE has a plan for you.
    • “all the days fashioned for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16)
  • HE knew you before He sent you here.
    • “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5)
  • HE formed you in your mothers’ womb.
    • “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)
  • HE continues to form us as we go through life – as a potter works a clay pot.
    • “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8)
  • We can start to figure out His intentions if we notice the unique gifts we have been given – talents / capabilities. These are the things that come easily to us; These are the things that stand out and others notice as special in us: Physical capabilities, Mechanical aptitudes, Mental capabilities, Social Skills, etc.
    • “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…” (James 1:17)
  • He expects us to prudently use the gifts (talents/capabilities) He provided to serve others in his kingdom; this provides a return on His investment in us.
    • “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).
  • All gifts come in seed form and must be planted in good soil and nurtured before the develop, mature and bear fruit.
    • “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground…; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”  (Mark 4:3-8)
  • We have been given affections – interests / passions. These are the things that excite us, inspire us, and give us fulfillment as we pursue them: Save the planet, Help people, Build things, Read a book, See the world, Lead a team, etc.
    • “..for it is God who works in you both to willand to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13)
  • His plan for each of us involves being useful to others.
    • “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…” (Ephesians 2:10)
  • There are many ways to engage and be useful.
    • “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.” (1 Cor 12:4)
  • God will help you as soon as you start pursuing the purpose He intends for you.
    • “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
  • Once you start moving in the right direction, he will guide your specific steps. Look for His hand in your life (People, Places, Opportunities, Unique timing)
    • “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
    • “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.” (Psalm 37:23)
  • Even if you have not found your ultimate purpose, Always apply yourself to something useful; doing something useful is always better than doing nothing.
    • “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.” (Proverbs 13:4)
  • Do the best job you can in every situation, even if just for Him. He will reward you in the long run.
    • “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24)
    • “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
  • Stay on the high road at all times. He gave us two key rules, the great commandments: Love God with all your heart, Love your neighbor as yourself.
    • “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
  • Avoid self-centered selfish agendas which lead to sin and dishonorable actions as they will get in your way. Your choices affect you, they can affect your ability to be useful to others, and they can affect God’s ability to use you.
    • Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
    • “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:20-21)
  • When faced with challenges, ask for Help via prayer. Humble yourself, state your intention, state what you see as a need, and Ask for His help to see the path forward. Then watch and listen carefully for His answer and follow where He leads you.

My prayer:

Heavenly father, thank you for loving me. Thank you for this life and the plans you have for me.  Thank you for the gifts and talents that you have given me; Help me to nurture them and find good ways to apply them to bring goodness to your kingdom. Help me to see the opportunities you present in front of me and to engage with them. Help me to learn and grow through this journey. Help me to cast aside my selfish self-centered tendencies and focus on flowing your love out to others through my thoughts and actions. Help me to find ways to serve you and your kingdom as I grow in capability and experience.  May my life become a bright beacon for you and your kingdom. I ask this in Jesus Holy name. AMEN. 

Supporting Graphic

Conclusion:

Life is a journey, It is amazing how much better the journey goes when you know He put you here for a reason, He is with you and Helping you as you go. Find the direction He had in mind for you and start moving that way, things will start to come together for you.

Hope this helps. Leave a comment about what you have learned about God’s purpose for your life.

 

Is God’s love perfected in you?

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Have you perfected the flow of God’s love through you?

 

Thought for the day: Have you perfected Gods’ love in you yet?

1 John 4 is a powerful chunk of scripture once you unravel it – Love is indeed the answer!
God is pure love. We know Him through His love. He “abides in us” when we acknowledge He loves us so much He gave His son to save us. We are “born of God” and we get to “know God” when we flow His love out to others. Our challenge is to get our own self-centered interest out of the way of the flow. For example: If we harbor any hate in us, we do not love God. We need to purposefully reflect on our thoughts and actions, figure out what is in the way, and make changes to maximize the flow of Gods love through us and out to others. As we improve the flow, His love becomes “perfected” in us. When we “are” God’s love in action, we can have confidence on judgement day.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7)
“…God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.” (1 john 4:16-17)

Key scriptures:

  • At His very essence God is pure love:

“God is love” (1 John 4:16)

  • He loves us so much He gave his son for us

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

  • We bring God’s love alive inside us when we acknowledge His love and what you did for us.

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)

  • We begin to “know God” when we love others

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7)

  • It is your love that enables us to love others

“We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

  • His love becomes alive in us when we flow love to others, The chain of love is “perfected”; from Him to Us to Others

“No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:12)

  • We are to do “Everything” in love, not just some things

“Do everything in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14)

  • Our mission in this life is to recognize and receive God’s love, bring it to life in us by flowing it to others, and “become” God’s love in action in this world.

“…God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.” (1 John 4:16-17)

  • The ultimate goal is to “become” pure love – like God

               “…God is love…. as he is so also are we in this world.” (1 John 4:16-17)

My prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me and never giving up on me. I thank you for helping me understand that Love is the answer. Your love is in me as I acknowledge the sacrifice you made for me. I am committed to becoming Your love in action in this world. Help me see things from your perspective, Help me hear your word and know how to apply it to my life. Help me to identify and remove the self-centered things impeding the flow of your love through me. With your continued help, I will make my life a bright shining beacon bringing glory to you and your kingdom. Please help others gain an appreciation of your love, and recognize the opportunity they have to set their own self-interest aside and maximize their flow of your love to others. By perfecting your love in them, they can have confidence in the inevitable day of judgement. I ask this in Jesus’ holy name.

 

Act like you Believe

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Do you act like you believe?

 

Do you believe in God? Do you act as if you believe in God? Both matter.

Many people claim to “believe” only because they think it will get them into heaven. They don’t act any differently than those who don’t believe. They will be disappointed when they are not on the access list at the pearly gates.

Believing is necessary and it is a great starting point.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Believing starts in your head when you acknowledge that you understand the sequence of events in the bible and you accept they are true. The next level is to comprehend the significance of those events and their ramifications. The next level is to understand your role in the story, what Jesus did for you, and what you need to do as a result. The next level is to embrace your role and become committed to the journey; That commitment to doing is what it means to “believe in your heart”. 

“…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Many current church programs miss the mark: They market Christianity with an exclusive focus on getting into heaven. They get peoples heads believing then rush them into a confession of salvation and declare success. Not a good long term strategy for the kingdom.

Once you properly understand the Gospel, you discover it is not about speaking a promise so you are qualified to get into heaven someday, it is about doing the work of transforming yourself today so that you can bring heaven to earth hear and now.

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

Jesus never asked anyone to make a pledge of belief just so they could get into heaven someday. He asked them to stop focusing on themselves in this earthly life and then to be willing to suffer any consequences now for the promise of eternal life in the kingdom with Him.

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’ ” (Matthew 16:24-26)

He made it clear that believing in your head is not enough, you must be committed to self reflection and adjustment to turn from sin and gain alignment with God’s principles.

“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ” (Matthew 4:17)

“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3, 5)

Let’s see what true belief might look like:

If you genuinely believe there is a God, then you will live in fear (respect) of the lord, knowing He is watching your thoughts and actions, knowing you will be judged on the day of reckoning, and knowing you will suffer or be rewarded based on how you lived your life.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor 5:10)

“If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth” (1 Peter 1:17)

If you genuinely believe, you know that Jesus paid a huge price for your eternal life, and the least you can do is live this life worthy of that price.

“…let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27)

“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

Jesus made it clear that merely believing is not enough, nor is going through extensive religious motions; To get into heaven, you must change and come into alignment with God’s will.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23).

What does it mean to do the will of the Father? Or for Jesus to ”Know You”? Or to not practice lawlessness? The answer is pretty simple: You must keep His commandments!

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (1 John 2:3)

The two great commandments are to love God first and foremost, and to love your neighbor as yourself. You must bring yourself and your life into alignment with these two big rules to get into heaven.

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

Many folks view the commandment as restrictions, what they don’t realize is they are wonderful tools. They help us discover and overcome the flaws in our inner nature. We live in a fallen world; We are each born with self-centered, self-serving agendas in our heart. Generally, they sound a bit like “It is all about me here and now”. Those self-serving agendas tend to cause problems for us and others as we go through life; They are the roots of all sin and can rear up and get ugly if we allow them to continue to live in us. They also limit us; We cannot reach our full potential until we discover them, root them out, and move them the out of our way.

In order to accomplish God’s will and comply with the commandments, we must change or focus from earthly or worldly things, start to see things from His heavenly eternal perspective,  and then modify our behavior to align. 

“…do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

I find it most helpful to look at this is as a flow; A flow of Love. Love is the answer. The entire spiritual world is driven by love.  The Lords love must flow through us to get to others and to attract them to His kingdom. When there are kinks in our pipes, we impede the flow of His love, and limit His reach. God is Love (1 John 4:8). He loves us (John3:16). His love flows into us (1 John 4:16). We love others because He loved us first (1 John 4:19). His love is perfected when it flows through us (1 John 4:12). Everything we do is to be done in Love (1 Corinthians 16:14). 

The Lord has given us a life, talents and gifts, a network of family, friends and associates, a bunch of worldly resources, and many opportunities. How we use what we are given is up to us. When our ego gets in the way, or we hoard the resources or squander the opportunities He provides us, or we get wrapped around the axil on petty selfish concerns, we impede the flow of His love into us or through us to others. So the challenge is to find the kinks in our pipes and straighten them out.

I offer A couple of exercises to help you:

  1. Look at your activities: Go through your typical day or week, Ask yourself Why you do each of the things you do. Is it for God? Is it for someone else? Or is it for you? If it is for you, is it just for you, are you really the only person benefiting? Those are opportunities. Many times it is a mental connect the dots activity. ex: I am exercising 3x per week. Why: so I can stay healthy. OK Why? Because I want to live a long life. OK why? So I can be of service to others? Now we are getting somewhere! What is your root motivation for doing the things you do… start connecting each activity either to serving God directly or enabling you to serve others and it will shift your focus. If you are spending energy on things and you can’t connect to a higher purpose, you have a kink to work out.
  2. How do you view God? Is He the creator, the source of all that is good in the world, your provider, your shepherd, your savior, your redeemer, your healer? How much do you know about Him? Can you see His hand in your life? Do you know him personally? Do you talk with him often? Do you hear His voice? Do you feel His presence? Are you letting Him lead you? If not, you have a kink on the incoming side and are not getting the full load of His love into your life.
  3. How do you view other people? Are they obstacles to deal with as you go through your day? Are they resources to help you get things done? Are they each God’s children struggling to live in a fallen world? How you think of them shapes how you interact with them. Do you have any kinks in the outflowing side of your love? Become His Love in action.
  4. How do your view your material possessions? Are they fancy things to acquire and show off? Are they God’s resources you are prudently managing to be of service to yourself and others? Are there any kinks or plugs in your internal pluming. How is His love flowing through your resources?

Your life is an interview for heaven. How is it going so far?

Remember: Believing is only a start; Love is the answer. Reaffirm your commitment to keep the commandments. Recognize the opportunities to get “yourself” out of the way, ask the lord for help to root out your selfish interests.

Find ways to flow some of His love today: Smile, Be pleasant, Be supportive, Be encouraging, Be helpful, Be generous, Become God’s love in action.

God bless you, and may God bless the USA

 

Blog Intro

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

 Blog – What, Why, How

 

What:

This blog is an online dialog aimed at improving peoples lives through sharing lessons I have learned through an active relationship with the living God. 

Why:

 He tells us very clearly that His people are harrmed by a lack of knowledge, so this is my way to improve the situation

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…:” (Hosea 4:6)

I have been led through an amazing series of learning and practical experiences that have opened my eyes, changed my life, and changed the lives of many others in the process. This blog is an opportunity to share lessons with a larger audience so they can live a better life here today and build themselves a better eternal home in heaven.

How:

Each individual is on their own spiritual journey.  There are some common points that can either impede progress or facilitate and greatly accelerate the journey. This blog will work through a range of topics including those listed below.

  • God and His love
    • How can you know if God is real?
    • Why do bad things happen to good people?
    • Does God really love me?
    • Why would He love me?
  • Building a relationship with Him
    • How can you learn about Him?
    • How do you get to know Him personally?
    • How do you discover His purpose and plans for you?
    • How can you hear His voice?
    • What are the voices in my head? Are they mine?
  • Who is Jesus and what did He do for me?
    • What are salvation, redemption, and righteousness and how do they work?
    • How do belief, faith, grace and mercy work?
    • What will happen when I die?
    • Is it enough to live a moral life?
    • Can I “do” Christianity to get into heaven?
  • How do we live a life worthy of the price He paid?
    • How do you “become” Christ-like.
    • What does it mean to be born again?
    • What is baptism, how many are there, and how do they work?
    • What does it mean to carry your cross
    • How can you know the will of God? Isn’t it a mystery?
    • Isn’t God in control of what happens on this earth?
    • What authority do we have as believers? What happens if we don’t use it.
    • How do make your prayers more effective?
    • How do you receive Healing?
    • What kind of barriers can get in the way?

Each blog post will shed some light on one or more of these topics with some practical experience.  

– Insights and Lessons Learned
– Key scriptures
– Hints for Practical application
– Personal Testimonies
– Prayers / Confessions

The intent is to help each of us overcome the dull hearts in this fallen world: 

“For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” Matthew 13:15

My Prayer:

Heavenly father, thank you for loving us and never giving up on us. May each of us: Develop Eyes to see things from your perspective; Develop Ears to hear your word and learn more about you and your will; Develop Understanding in our heart so we can find ways to apply your will in our life so we can become a bright light for your kingdom.

In Conclusion:

If you have comments or suggestions for this Blog or for the parent My God In Motion website, please leave them in the comment form linked below.

Thank you

 

 

Who do you love more God, or yourself?

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Who do you love more: God? or  Yourself? It does really matter

 

Thought for the day: Who do you love more God, or yourself? It really does matter.

I have come to appreciate that we each have 4 main types of love competing inside us: Love of Yourself, Love of the World, Love of God, and Love of our neighbor. The sooner we get them sorted out and into the right priority order, the better for ourselves and those around us.

Love of yourself is your self-centered focus on “ME”: what I look like, what I can do, what I have accomplished, what others think of me, how I compare to them. You need a level of self-awareness and self-confidence to function effectively, but If this love is driving your life, you end up focused on doing things to make yourself look good compared to others, at least in your own mind.

Love of the world is focused on your experience in this earthly world: physical pleasures, amassing wealth, collecting fancy possessions, etc.. If this love is driving your life, you end up with a bunch of “stuff” you can’t take with you when you die, or running the rat race to get ahead or stay ahead, often at the expense of others.

Love of God is recognizing His love and His truth, Recognizing His Creation, The Bible, His son, The gospel (The Fall, His virgin birth, sinless life, innocent death, resurrection, ascension, redemption, and salvation). You commit to live your life worthy of the price He paid for it; Looking forward to Him telling you He is proud of you when your time comes to stand before Him.

Love of your neighbor is treating everyone in the world with love and respect. Because God loves you, and you love God, you love all his children; You see them as His creations struggling to live in a fallen world, and you help them in any way you can with your gifts and resources.

As an exercise, go through an inventory of what you do during your typical day/week and ask yourself why you really do those things. If answers comes back “for Me” rather than “for God” then challenge yourself. For each “for ME” item, can you connect it to something useful you are doing for God and His kingdom? Ex: I am exercising 3x per week. Why? Is it so I look really good? Or is it so I am fit enough to continue doing things for others. If you can’t connect the dots to God with each of your activities, you have some opportunities to improve. There is a big difference in the root of our motivation if you can connect the dots, and it all starts in how you think; Change your thinking and you will change your being.

My prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and never giving up on me. I thank you for sending us the Word, first in written form, and then in the flesh. I Thank you for releasing the Holy Spirit as a teacher and guide. I thank you for helping me understand our self-centered human nature and your intention for us to transform by renewing our minds. I thank you for helping me sort out my life; I love you, and I am committed to living a life worthy of the price Jesus paid. I thank you for continuing to help me root out any selfish self-centered agendas that are still at work. It is my intention for your love to flow through me to others unimpeded by any selfish agendas. I pray all your children develop eyes to see things from your higher perspective, may they develop ears to hear your word and learn to apply it to their lives and their specific situations, may they develop hearts receptive to your love and to seeing all others as your creations worthy of their respect and love. May they get their loves into the proper order so that You and Your kingdom of first, as you commanded. I ask this in Jesus’ Holy name. AMEN

Supporting scripture 

The greatest commandments are to Love the Lord and our neighbors above all

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)

To do that we need to get our own self-interest out of the way

“For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” (Galatians 6:3) 

“For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” (James 3:16)

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24 )

“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4)

We need to focus on Him and His Kingdom rather than the things of this world.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1 John 2:16)

We are to live a life worthy of the price He paid

You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men (or this world).(1 Corinthians 7:23)

“I beseech you therefore… present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.(Romans 12:1)

Transform by the renewal of your mind:

“…do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”(Romans 12:2)

The ultimate goal is to get your “ME” out of the way and let Christ and His love live through you

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Hope this helps

 

All Sin is against God

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

All Sin is against God Alone

 

Thought for the day: All sin is against God

God set some rules in place so His kingdom can operate properly.  Most folks dont realize it, but those rules are also designed to protect you from yourself. We Sin when we decide to violate one of those rules. Ex: He said thou shalt not steal. If we decide to take something that does not belong to us, we have sinned. The person we took it from is a victim, but the actual sin was the decision to go against God’s rule; We chose to ignore His rule; We decided that our agenda was more important than His; That our will was more important than His. It is really a battle of the wills. He will let you wage the battle and suffer the consequences. When you choose to sin, you separate yourself from His protection and open yourself to attack from the devil who brings on the consequences. Eventually you are supposed to figure out that maybe there is a better way; some of these decisions might not be working out so well. I hope folks figure this out quickly before there is too much unnecessary suffering.
I have come to appreciate that one of the primary reasons we are on this earth is to work through the transformation from being selfish and self-centered to embracing the bigger picture: God’s love for us, Jesus’ sacrifice for us, our eternal life, how to live a life now worthy of the price He paid for it and lay the groundwork for our eternal life somewhere nice. Once you get that perspective and work through the process, you begin to see that your best you is release when you remove your ego and self-centered motives from getting in the way. That improved you is the you what Jesus paid the price for; the you that focuses on the Lord, and does things for others because He loves you and He loves them. This brings great value to the kingdom, and brings glory to the father.
Figuring out that all sin is against God was a key step for me to get my mind on the right path for this journey. Challenge yourself: are you really loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, are your really loving all others as yourself? I hope it helps you get “you” out of the way.

My Prayer:

Heavenly father, I thank you for loving me, putting me here with a purpose, and never giving up on me. Jesus, I thank you for coming here, leading a sinless life, demonstrating the power of the holy spirit, and suffering and dying so we could live. Thank you for presenting me righteous to the Father, I am fully committed to living a life worthy of the price you paid. Thank you for releasing the Holy Spirit to teach me and guide me. Thank you for continuing to work inside me, helping me transform. Thank you for continuing to help me root out these self-centered agendas and become ever more focused on you and your kingdom. Thank you for putting me in a position to continue your work as a proud member of the body of Christ. I ask that you continue to help folks develop eyes to see things from your perspective, to develop their ears to hear your word and apply it to their life, and to have a warm heart to receive your love and flow it to others through their lives. I ask this in Jesus name. AMEN

Reference verses:

All sin is against God:
David to God after committing adultery and conspiring to murder: “Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight….” (Psalm 51:4)
Sin separates you from God’s protection:
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
Without His protection, you become exposed to attack:
The Lord to Hosea when discussing ongoing sin in early Israel: “For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf; Now the Lord will let them forage like a lamb in open country. (Hosea 4:16)
Sin is a product of our mind:
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8)
Our mind is at war with God:
“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” (Romans 8:7)
Our job is to transform our mind from being selfish and self-centered and to loving God and bringing His will into place on earth:
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
And when we do it right – His will is done on earth through us:
“Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed by thy name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

Approach to Prayer

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Are your prayers being answered?

Are your prayers being answered? If not, it might be in your approach.

Do you pray timidly as a lowly sinful servant pleading for a distant God to come and do something for you?

Or

Do you approach boldly and thankfully in the righteousness Jesus paid for, forgiven and purified by His blood, born again as a spirit filled son/daughter of God, committed to live a life worthy of the price Jesus paid, seeking to see things from His perspective, striving to become His love in action, taking hold of the authority He gave us as believers and members of the body of Christ, proclaiming His promises, and serving as an active agent to have His will be done on Earth as it already is in heaven.

This later approach has proven more effective for me and builds off of several key points

Key points and supporting scriptures:

God created Man perfect in His image and gave him eternal life in a paradise wih one rule.

“So God created man in His own image” (Genesis 1:27)

“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”, Genesis 2:16-17)

God formed you in your mother’s womb, giving you gifts/talents/skills and a purpose.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5).

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13).

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. “(1 Peter 4:10).

Because of Adam’s sin in the Garden, You were born a sinner into a fallen world, facing a death sentence from your sin, separated from God and his promises and plans for you.

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection created a path for you to get out of that situation. His innocent body suffered the consequences of sin so that we don’t have to. He shed His blood as an innocent lamb, a perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Following Jesus will commute your death sentence and reconnect with God the Father.

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.”(Romans 3:24)

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 13:10)

When you choose to accept Jesus as your Lord and savior, and commit to follow His ways, You are Born Again, reconnected in harmony with the father, and adopted as a son of God, righteous and Holy in His eyes.

“…that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24-25)

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.””(John 14:6) 

Jesus paid the price for your sins. As you confess your sins, repent, and choose to turn from them, your sins are washed away by His blood as the innocent lamb sacrificed for all mankind. It Is a free gift of mercy so you can move forward.

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1 John 1:9)

As soon as you ask for Him, the Holy Spirit of the Lord comes and lives inside you to help you and guide you.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26) .

When you follow his ways, He is in you, He knows you, and you know Him. He is truly your father, You are truly a son, no longer just a friend or a servant. He is no longer distant, but close and personal.

‘”Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'”.(Matthew 16:24)

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”(1 Peter 2:21)

Jesus has full authority in the heavens and on the earth. He delegated power on the earth to us to execute on his behalf. As the father sent me, now I send you.

“So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you’ “(John 20:21)

We are the body of Christ, His arms and legs to execute action on this earth.

“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually”(1 Corinthians 12:27).

We are to “Put on Christ” when we get up in the morning and do our best to imitate Him; Avoid self centered fleshly pleasures; See things from His perspective; To act in positive and constructive ways as He did; to flow the Love He gives us into the lives of others.  We are to to be a bright shining light in the darkness.

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”(Romans 13:14).

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”(Ephesians 5:1-2).

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14) 

Fervent and effective prayer is a key ingredient, It is our prayers that bring His will into place on earth. They are not for you, they are for Him. To allow you to fulfill His purpose for you and His Kingdom.

“…The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16)

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5:17-18)

Life and death are in the power of the tongue – We need to speak things into existence and realize the promised benefits.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21)

My prayer for each of us, and for this country:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me and never giving up on me. Jesus, I thank you for all you did for me 2000 years ago, your sacrifice gave me a path to righteousness and reconnection with the Father. I have repented of my sins and I thank you for forgiving them as my Lord and savior. Lord, I thank you for releasing the Holy Spirit to me and helping to transform my mind. I am beginning to see more things from your perspective, I am caring about things I didn’t care about before, and I am shedding self-centered agendas in as they are revealed to me. I thank you for helping me understand the authority you gave me and your need for each of us to actively engage; as the father sent you, you send me.  I use that authority here and now: I rebuke all evil spirits working to harm my-self, my family, my friends, my neighbors, my community, my state, my nation, the church, and this world. I command their agendas to be exposed, their actions to fail, and their works to be destroyed; I ask this in Jesus Holy Name, the name above all powers in this world. Life and death are in the power of the tongue.  I speak the Love and Truth of Jesus to flow across this land. May each of us develop intimate personal relationships with the living God. May each of us gain eyes to see things from His perspective. May each of us develop ears to hear His word and know how to apply it in our situations. May each of us set aside our self-centered interests and find more ways to flow God’s love out to others through our actions and our lives. May each of us live lives worthy of the price Jesus paid and be a shining light in this dark world.  May each of us learn to be effective as empowered spirit filled believers. May each of us be fervent and effective in prayer to bring your will into place on this earth. May the church become a more effective force for the kingdom by setting aside doctrinal differences and focusing on the core message of personal transformation through lives of love guided by truth. May our leaders, both elected and unelected, develop a fear of God sufficient to understand they will be held accountable for their actions and every word they speak; and may they find ways to overcome the corruptions and conflicts of interest in our current systems and act in the interest of the people.  May the people repent of their ways and return to following God, and may He then heal this land as promised. I ask this in Jesus Name.

 

Put On Jesus

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Are you putting on Jesus? (or just pretending to be a Chrisitan?)

 

Do you get up every morning and “put on Jesus”?

“… put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:14)
 
Some people pursue Christianity just so they will know the secret password to get into heaven someday. Some people say the sinner’s prayer and then continue on with their sinful life assuming they are all set. Some folks adopt selected Christian rules and rituals where they are convenient and fit into their current life. All those folks are missing the primary expectation of true Christians, to become “Christ-like”; To live your life differently now as an investment for glorious returns to come in heaven. Folks not pursuing transformation in this life will be more than a little disappointed in where and how they end up spending eternity.
 
When we are serious about it and “Put On Jesus” every day, People should be able to see Jesus operating in us and through us:
1) Subordinate your self-centered interest and focus your energy on God and His Kingdom
2) See others as valuable children of God and help them pursue their divine purpose
3) Be a bright light in an otherwise dark world through our consistent behavior and attitude
4) Don’t let sin against you become sin inside you
 
As this starts to happen you will begin to see God’s will being done on earth as it already is in Heaven.

Supporting scripture points:

We are all born as sinners into a fallen world.
“… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
We all face the death penalty for our sins.
“… the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
Jesus paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross.
“… he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
He purchased our debt, the least we can do is give Him our life, the life he paid for.
“…you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:20)
He is merciful and will gladly forgive that debt if we truly repent of our sins and follow Him.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
In return for following Him, He promises a better life now in this world and even greater glories in heaven.
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you (the choice of) life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
You are promised eternal life (Salvation) if you confess your sins and genuinely accept Jesus as your Lord.
“…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)
You are saved by God’s grace based through you position in faith (belief and commitment to action), not by any specific things you have done or results of your efforts.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Faith is built by acting on your beliefs; do you just talk about believing, or do you actually walk the talk. If you are not actually living according to Christian beliefs (loving God with all your heart, subordinating your self-centered interests, loving others more than yourself, actively repenting and turning from sin, seeking ways to use your gifts to serve others) your faith is dead.
“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:26)
How you live your life really matters. You will be held accountable for every word you speak, and every thing you do.  So make good choices.
“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”(Matthew 12:36)
“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:24)
We as believers are called to use the Holy Spirit inside us to live a life transformed.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind….” (Romans 12:2)
We are part of the body of Christ; We are His arms and legs on earth.
“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
We are commissioned to continue His work here on earth.
“… As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21)
 
We are asked to “put on” Jesus Christ – embrace Him, be like Him, imitate Him
“… put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:14)
“Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked”. (1 John 2:6)

My prayer:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me and never giving up on me. Jesus, I thank you for the work you did for me through the cross; you are the author and finisher of my faith. I am committed to follow you and pick up where you left off. Jesus, I thank you for my water baptism, I went down with you and all my sins, and came up in you washed clean and born again. Lord I thank you for establishing a direct connection with me via your Holy Spirit; He teaches me, guides me, and convicts me as I work to follow you. I thank you for helping me as I transform my mind and begin to see things the way you see them. I thank you for helping me transform my heart by rooting out all the self-centered agendas I got from this fallen world. I am committed to truly loving you with all my heart, and loving others as myself. I ask for your continued help as I strive to imitate you, to cloth myself with you as I get up every day, and become your Love in action for others. Guide me to live my life as a shining light in the darkness, and to act in ways that serve as a beacon for your kingdom, to bring glory to you and to the Father. I ask this in Jesus Holy name. AMEN.

Are you being led by the Lord?

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Are you being led by the Lord?  

 

Are you on the right path with your life? Are you facing some big decisions ? Are you facing a big challenge in your life: Health?, Finances?, Relationships? Would you like to be working with the Lord to achieve the optimum results, or would you rather go it alone, work against Him, hope you have everything figured out, hope there aren’t many surprises, and hope you aren’t making things worse. 

One of our greatest opportunities is to be led by the Lord; He knows all things, He knows why you are here, He knows the best path for you to follow, and He will share it with you if you draw close and ask. It is then up to you to follow where He leads.  If you do, He promises blessings; He will provide for you, He will protect you, He will ensure you enjoy the journey and that you bear much fruit along the way.

The following is a discussion of how to be led by the Lord. It starts with a bit on why it is important to let Him lead and some consequences if you don’t, then shares some how-to’s and then a few examples from recent experience.

Put the Lord first, and then His Kingdom

The first and greatest commandment sets a clear expectation that we are to love the Lord first and above all things:

“…you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)

To love Him means to esteem Him, long for Him, promptly obey Him, to give him preference, and to be grateful for what He has done. To Love Him with all our heart means with our inner being, our passion, our drive, our conviction.  With all of our soul means with our every breath as an individual human being. With all of our mind means with our thoughts and attention.  With all of our strength means with our physical ability, force, power, mental toughness.  

The second great commandment is to not put yourself above others: 

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31)

This combination makes it clear we are to be putting Him and His kingdom at the forefront of our attention and our agenda. They should make you question if the things you are focused on as you live your life are serving Him or others, or if they are entirely focused on you.   

Avoid Idolatry

Idolatry occurs when we hold something as more important or a higher priority than God.  

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Deuteronomy 5:7)

When we devote significant attention to something, we are worshiping it; we are positioning it in competition with God.  Things that get worshiped include: money, possessions, our physical body, our work, or our reputation.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)

If we continue down a path of focusing our energy on self-centered interests it can lead to some very destructive behaviors.  As we pursue that path, we are worshiping ourselves and have put ourselves above God.

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” Philippians 2:3)

“…but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness – wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil.”(Romans 2:8)

While not as obvious or blatant, this concept of idolatry also applies to those who do not let the Lord lead them.  They are putting all their trust in themselves, their own capabilities, their own thinking, there own ability to get through issues.  They are elevating themselves above Him. This is a form of pride. 

“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

“Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility.” (Proverbs 18:12)

“Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”(1 Timothy 6:17)

The Lord makes it clear that His providence will make things gradually harder on those who resist Him until he finally breaks their pride.

“But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,… I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you. And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit…” (Leviticus 26:14-30)

Let Him Lead you

God expects us to let Him lead us; He sees the big picture, We have a limited view; We need to put Him first in all things, trust that He has a good plan, and when we do, He will help us set the optimum path to follow.  

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

He has a better perspective, He knows all things, He sees things we can not see, He has plans that we do not yet see. His approach is better than we could come up with on our own.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

He wants us to connect all we do to God and the Kingdom, pursuing purpose that ultimately benefits others, and always recognizing Him as the enabling source. And when we do, He promises to help us along the way, and promises we will be better off in the long run.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17)

“for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)

“And anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39)

We have Help available

So how do we do that? Can we get some help?  The answer is YES, and it is free. As soon as we accept the Lord as our savior, He makes the Holy Spirit available to us. All we have to do is ask.

“Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

“When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”(Ephesians 1:13)

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13

“By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” (1 John 4:13)

We have the Holy Spirit available inside us: Ever present, All knowing, All seeing. He will reveal the mysteries of God.

“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him’. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”(1 Corinthians 2:10)

Your spirit can access this knowledge and make use of it

“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:13)

“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:2)

The holy spirit will help us.  It will teach us, guide us and empower us.

Teach us: He will reveal God’s nature to us, help us understand scripture and the key messages.  

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26)

“(I pray) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” (Ephesians 1:17)

Jesus said “He will glorify Me (reveal my greatness), for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore, I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14)

Guide us: He will help you recognize the truth when you find it, He will reveal God’s future plans for you if you ask

“…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. (John 16:13)

He will help us understand the amazing power we now have inside us; The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

“(I pray) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,  the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:15-22)

The intention is for us to be led by the spirit rather than our natural understanding and risk being prideful or assuming we know the right answers.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)

“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go’.” (Isaiah 48:17)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5)

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23)

The long term game is to use the Holy spirit inside us to help transform our mind. This is the primary purpose of the Gospel: Living a fully transformed life now and bringing heaven into place on earth. I will elaborate on this later.

 “ …put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22)

In the short term, the Holy Spirit can also provide a specific “Word of Wisdom” to help us understand some specifics about our best path for the future.  This is a spiritual gift, and it is available for the asking.

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:  for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit…” (1 Corinthians 12:7-8)

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5)

A “word of wisdom” is a piece of information given to a believer to help them gain insight and understanding (wisdom) for a specific situation. It is part of a personal conversation with the Lord.  What does this scripture mean? What is His will in this situation?  What is my best choice between two paths ahead? When a word is received it helps them build faith by knowing they are on the right path, the path the Lord wants them to be on.

A “word of knowledge” is usually a unique piece of information given to one person about the situation of another. This nugget of information can guide the receiver to minister specifically to one individual in a crowd (ex: Someone has a sprained wrist…raise your hand), or it can guide the receiver to minster to a stranger in public ( Hi, What is going on with your ankle, The lord told me it is some sort of sports injury, can i pray for you).  This cross pollination of information reveals the power of the Kindgom and can open the door to non-believers, or deepen the fiath of believers.

How does the spirit talk to you?

He can insert thoughts into your brain. When you quiet yourself and enter a calm reflective/meditative state, The Holy spirit will insert positive, constructive, suggestive thoughts in your mind.  These will be in stark contrast to the multitudes of loud, obnoxious, demanding, destructive thoughts inserted by devils as you go through the day.

Quiet yourself and ask, “Lord, How can I best help in this situation?” or” Lord, Help me see this situation from your perspective, so that I can be of best service to you?” or “Lord help me understand this specific scripture?”  Sometimes the answer will be one word, or a message, or a piece of scripture, or an understanding.

“Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3)

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” (Psalm 32:8)

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” (Isaiah 30:21)

He can engage your feelings.  There are a variety of signals you can recognize if you pay attention. When you are working through a series of thoughts trying to make a decision, He can send you a distinct sense of calm or peace as you arrive at the correct one; You will “know in your knower”, that it is right.  This is often how you know you have found the right school, or spouse, or job.  When you are working through a topic in your mind and you are reading scripture, one verse will stand out or resonate in your mind, it will come to life and become particularly meaningful. You feel it is talking to you. If something is not right, you can feel an unction, or an unsettled feeling knowing something needs to be addressed.

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12)

How do you ask for a Word of Wisdom?

It is a simple process of quieting your mind, picturing the Lord in front of you, asking him a question, and staying quiet until He answers… I highly recommend getting in the habbit of using this process.

Click here for a step by step How-To.

Some examples:

Words of Wisdom have been very helpful to several of my friends as we navigated issues they were struggling with.   

One friend was faced with several options for dealing with a severe injury disabling his arm.  He had options including complete amputation, nerve reconstruction, muscle transplantation, or hoping for a miracle. We asked God for a word of wisdom to help focus our faith. While he was in the CT scanner the Lord placed the word “The Surgeon” prominently in his thought. At that point he knew in his knower that he was to pursue the surgeon who recommended a path.

Another friend was facing a complex cancer diagnosis where it has spread out to many internal organs. Because of the late detection and extent of spread, the oncologist immediately began chemo. Her options at that point included, continued chemo, extensive surgery, and faith in a miracle. We prayed for a word of wisdom to focus our faith.  While in the CT scanner, the Lord planted the words “The Healer” in her thoughts.  She immediately knew in her knower that she was to complete the course of chemo she was on to shrink the cancer and that the remaining cancer would be fully cured through faith in Jesus as by his stripes we are healed.

 

Click here for more examples…

Each of these words helped build faith and guided our path forward. As we build faith, we begin to better embrace God and put our trust in Him.

In conclusion

Allowing the Lord to lead you is powerful.  The sooner you invite him to lead, the sooner you can get in sync with His plans. I encourage you to practice and get used to engaging the Holy Spirit in Words of Wisdom. Ask for clarity on specific questions. If you are facing a significant decision ask for a Word of Wisdom to guide your path. Each time you hear His voice and follow His lead in Faith, you better understand Him and strengthen your connection with Him.

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ “(Romans 1:17)

Living a life lead by the Lord will make you a powerful force for change for others as you:  model a life freed and saved from sin; demonstrate the blessings which flow to a righteous fully redeemed believer; and destroy the works of the devil who has already undergone judgement.  

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.(John  16:8)

Let me know how this works for you. Happy to discuss.

 

Get your hopes up

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Get your hopes up!

 

Facing a difficult situation or a significant challenge?  Have you ever heard: “don’t get your hopes up, you will just set yourself up for disappointment!”  Well that is a lie the devil uses to keep you a slave to your current situation.  You need to do just the opposite; Latch on to God’s promises, Get your hopes up, and press forward in Faith so God can help you realize your full potential.

The following is a discussion of how Hope plays an essential role in your success.

We are spiritual beings

We are a spiritual being born into a physical body. Our job in this earthly life is to develop our soul (Mind, Emotion, and Will) which will live on in a spiritual body.

“…There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:44 part 2)

“…and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless…” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

“Physical life comes first, then spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46)

Things related to the physical world are visible but they fade away when we die;  Things related to our spirit are invisible but they last forever.

“…do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)

“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1)

The physical world is designed to work in tension against the spiritual world.  We are born entirely dependent on others for survival. The physical world continues to reward us for pursuing our self-interest, and it plays into our sinful nature which wants more and more for ourselves.

“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” (Galatians 5:17)

Our spiritual development involves learning that there is more to this life than this physical world, and how we choose to live this life has eternal consequences. We are to transform from being  earthly oriented and dominated by our sinful nature to becoming spiritually oriented and dominated by a love of God and pursuing things that help his Kingdom.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romns 12:2)

We must learn about God,  come to love Him as He loves us, and decide to subordinate our self centered interest (Wants) in favor of pursing things that help Him and His Kingdom. We build our soul through beliefs, praise/worship, acting in faith, subordinating our own self-interest, and doing good for others. These things last forever in our spiritual body and in the soul of those we have impacted (His Kingdom).

“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:26)

Faith is the spiritual substance that connects us to God and his kingdom.  It is created when we put our trust in God and act on our beliefs, even when we can not see evidence to support them.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith = Belief in your head + Hope in your heart + Taking Action

Faith is built from a combination of belief in our head, hope in our heart, and a conscious decision to take action from our will:

Belief in God, Understanding His unwavering love for us, His promises for us, and the role of Jesus Christ as our savior;

Hope in God to provide a bright future, Loving Him as He loves us, building Anticipation strong enough to motivate us to relentlessly pursue Him as our only path of success for this life and the next;

Both brought together by a conscious decision to take action with our physical body, publicly confessing our faith, praising the lord for His role in our life, spending time building a relationship with Him through prayer, investing time to learn more about Him through scripture or bible study, committing to turn from sin, doing things for others, choosing to have patience while you believe for a better path in life.   

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God… For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy, To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.” (Psalm 33:18)

“Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name.  Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, Just as we hope in You.” (Psalm 33:16-22)

God is the source: You can do nothing without Him

We need to get a couple of beliefs straight in our head: We need to become humble and recognize God is the source of all success. He provides everything for us. We are entirely dependent on Him. We can do nothing useful without Him. We need to put our trust in Him, and pin all of our hopes on Him.

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) 

“I (Jesus) am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

“Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.” (Psalms 16:1-2)

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” (Lamentations 3:24)

Reconnect with God: Repent and Get rid of your baggage

We need to put our past behind us and get rid of our emotional baggage: Recognize our history of self-serving actions as sins against God; Sins have separated us from God; Turn from those sins and ask His forgiveness and you will be reunited with Him; God’s love washes them away so we are no longer burdened by them; As God forgives you for sinning against Him, you must forgive all who have sinned against you. He will not let you move forward until we have processed the past. Once we have processed the past, we can put our hope in God as He builds a path for us to move forward into the future.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”(Acts 3:19)

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

“(Like the shepherd who) calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”(Luke 15:10)

“For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.”(2 Chronicles 30:9)

“‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Zechariah 1:3)

“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”(Proverbs 28:13)

“…if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:15)

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

It is not all about “You”

Moving forward, We need to subordinate any purely self-centered agendas and bring more love and goodness into Gods kingdom in how we choose to act, and how we choose to use our time and resources. When we finally make this shift, we will be rewarded in this life and the next.

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)

“Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:  He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.” (Psalm 37:3-6)

“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20-22)

“To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” (Romans 2:7)

Latch on to His promise

Life has plenty of challenges, Each challenge creates an opportunity to build our spiritual foundation, and Hope is one of the key building blocks in the process.

“…glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)

We need to grab onto God’s promises of a bright future for believers no matter our past or our current struggles.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

“…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion…” (Philippians 1:6)

Build Hope in your Heart

Hope in God to deliver on His promise is an essential element for you to move forward.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance (composure) and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)

Hope is about setting high expectations in your heart; yearning deeply for something beyond what you can see with your physical eyes; believing for it with enough conviction that you pursue it fervently; and you are diligent, relentless and persist until it finally happens.

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”(Romans 8:25)

The Holy Spirit will help you build hope in your heart

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

“Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord.” (Psalm 31:24)

“…I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love. ” (Ephesians 3:15-17)

Embrace God’s love for you, have confidence in His promise of a bright future, and maintain hope

“Love suffers long and is kind; It… rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Become committed: Pin your Hope on God 

Being steadfast in your hope taps into Gods love and builds strength in us

 “… those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5)

It helps to find a specific scripture promise that resonates and focus on it as a promise for your situation.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.” (Psalm 130:5)

Hope in the Lord becomes an anchor for us, Centering our focus on God as an immovable force we can take shelter under or tie ourselves directly to as we face turbulent times.  

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20)

Commitment builds Faith

By hoping for something you do not yet see, you begin to build faith

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

We are saved through Faith

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…” (Ephesians 2:8)

If you remain committed to God, He will deliver on His promises

“The hope of the righteous will be gladness, But the expectation of the wicked will perish.” (Proverbs 10:28) 

Hope leads to the tree of life, so do not defer it!!!

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled, it is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12)

“To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’(Revelations 2:12)

Go ahead and get your hopes up, Pin your hopes on the Lord to help you in this life and and the next.

Hope this helps.  (Pun intended)

Leave a comment, Happy to discuss.

The Bible – Users’ manual for your life

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

The Bible : Users’ manual for your life 

How is everything going? Are you thriving? Feeling blessed? Confident in your future? Free from your past?

If yes – Great !!!

If no – Remember, He gave us a users’ manual for this life; The Word of God

The more we focus on it; understand it, internalize it, and apply it, the more He can help us transform ourselves and achieve the purpose He set for us.

You have a choice to find it now and realize your full potential or you can wait until life beats you into desperation and it becomes your last resort.

It has certainly changed my life. Happy to discuss if you wish.

What is it: 

The bible is the word of God

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

The word is permanent and unchanging

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”(Matthew 24:35)

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”(Isaiah 40:8)

Why:

God sent his word to help us and guide us

“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:4-6)

He has high expectations for his word to create value in us

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)

How:

The word of God is alive and powerful

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

We must focus on the word; read it, listen to people discuss it, study it until we understand it and believe it in our heart.  

“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.” (Proverbs 4:22)

We must pay attention, be receptive, and be willing to dig to find understanding

“The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. (Proverbs 18:15)

“…do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

You must dig a bit for meaning – it is an important investment

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 11:15)

“All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.” Matthew 13:34

“And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” (Matthew 13:10-13)

There are consequences if you do not understand and follow the word of God

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”(Hosea 4:6)

We must do what it says to receive the promised blessings

“…blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28)

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22)

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24)

If we struggle to understand the meaning, we have a living model of it: Jesus is the word made flesh

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Jesus took sin to the grave – By his stripes you are healed

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5)

“(He)…who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

God sent his word to heal you – Focus on his word (Written or in Flesh) and it will Heal you

“He sent His word and healed them” (Psalm 107:20)

Take the initiative – Speak to your mountain

“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” (Mark 11:23)

If you have faith and believe, you will receive

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”  (Mark 11:24)

As it is written, So let it be done

Hope this helps

 

Spiritual Process Improvement

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Spiritual Process Improvement

 

Intro:

I spent over 36 years improving processes in the business world. Now He has me working on processes as they operate in the spiritual world. It is exactly the same but totally different. He has helped me develop a wonderful understanding of His grand design, some of the processes at work on earth and in heaven, and how to align with those processes to get better results. The following discussion shares some insights into how this works, some key process principles, and how you can lead a better life by aligning with them.

Proceess Improvement in the Spiritual world

Folks who work process improvement in a manufacturing environment have the advantage of being able to touch the product and observe the physical step by step process with their eyes. Folks who work business processes often claim it is harder to see the process; It sometimes takes a bit of imagination to see those processes as a sequence of steps with flow. The spiritual processes take even more imagination to envision, and they take inspiration to understand. 

Some aspects of the spiritual process are explicit in the bible, but others require insight. He tells us in James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”  And just as you are instructed to let the Lord lead you through life, I let Him lead me into an understanding of His kingdom and it has been a wonderful experience.

Just like in the physical world, there are process that control how things work. He has led me through development of dozens of process maps and flow diagrams to describe several aspects of His kingdom. I’m not sure any of those specific diagrams would help others, but they helped me understand His will, key principles that control its execution, forces that help it work better and those working against it.

Several Key Spiritual Process Principles

Building faith is a process

The Bible provides information about the kingdom in the form of stories, prominent characters, parables, commandments, and proverbs/psalms. Each piece has surface meaning when read, There are layers of meaning available to those who choose to objectively dig deeper.

We turn information into knowledge by choosing to study it, listen to others share what they have learned, choose to actively discuss it with others, and reflect on how it all fits together.

We turn knowledge into wisdom by reflecting on how our understanding fits with reality and then choosing how to apply that knowledge to our life.

This process requires an interaction between our free will and our brain; We have to choose to read/study, we have to choose to listen and discuss, and we have to choose to reflect. Without this purposeful choice to invest our discretionary personal energy we do not build a deep understanding.

This process accelerates with inspiration as soon as you ask the Lord for insight and open yourself to receive it. The word Inspiration describes something literal flowing in from the spirit. He has direct connections to your Mind and to your Heart. He will point you to sources of information as you start to seek it; He will help your mind organize the infomraiton and build useful images as you contemplate how it all fits together.

 We are designed with a receptor in our heart. This receptor resonates when you are contemplating a truth. It is our “knower”.  You know when you know that you know.

Looking beyond the surface and finding the deeper meaning in the bible is called “Having eyes to see”.

Receiving and accepting Gods inflow in your mind and in your heart is referred to in the bible as “having Ears to hear”.

Belief is formed when we know in our heart that something is true. Faith is formed when we choose to act on a Belief; Speaking or Doing.

The flow of value is a useful lens for the spiritual world.

Value is defined in terms of “Usefulness”; Things that provide a practival benefit.

The flow of value takes follows a basic equation of the form:   “Love” flowing through “Truth” generates “Usefulness” and then “Growth”.

Love is the source of power for all things. God is love (1 John 4:8).  God’s love is the power created the heavens and the earth. God’s love powers every breath you take.  

Truth is the structure necessary to convert Love into constructive action. Truth is the master craftsman that turned chaos into the heavens and the earth (Proverbs 8:30). Truth is structure, knowledge of right from wrong, wisdom and discernment. The opposite of Truth is Falsity.

Usefulness is the desired result; Goodness that allows someone to benefit and improve.  Our individual value comes by being useful to others; by doing Good works that benefit others.

“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter (dishonor), he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:20)

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

This equation operates as a cycle,  the more you choose to flow Love through Truth to generate Usefulness, the stronger the flow becomes, and the more Love becomes available to flow into the next cycle; That is where we experience Growth. It is not a closed system; it is an expanding system. 

Free will is a really big deal and is key to the entire cycle.   In order to achieve the desired growth, You have to make a conscious choice to initiate the flow of love.  If you are forced to take the action, you are not vested in the entire cycle, and will not experience the growth to expand the cycle.  

Pushing truth without love creates resistance or animosity. This is a classic failure mode of highly committed folks who impose thier interpretation of truth on others rather than finding a compassionate way for otheers to discover the truth. 

“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13)

The opposite of Truth is Falsity. Love operating through falsity creates a false impression of goodness, but will end with undesired consequences. Adding another layer of nice new pavement on top of a flawed roadbed will feel like progress but will spend a lot of money and just make deeper potholes.    

The opposite of Love is Hate.  Hate operating through falsity creates destruction.  Hitler hated the Jews, He propagated a falsity that they were an undesirable element of society and should be eliminated. That combination cost 6 million lives.  

You can tell if we are on the right track, The fruit of your labor will not lie.  If there is goodness flowing and growth, the Love was operating through Truth.  If not, either the Love or the Truth was not pure. 

Our job is to ensure our motivations are rooted in pure love.  Then make sure we have the Truth to convert that love into productive actions.  

There is a spiritual pull system.

Your spiritual development is pulled by the goodness of love. If you attempt to push you create waste.  If you push Truth without Love you become a zealot and force your version of doctrine on others; If you push Love without Truth you end up with well-intentioned efforts which are often counter-productive. It is only when you pull truth with the goodness of love that you get sustained flow of usefulness for others and the desired growth. In practical terms, people need to appreciate the goodness that can come from doing things which help others before they become receptive to discussion of spiritual truths. This becomes an interesting framework to view the world to see some of where/how/when we get off track

We live in an expansive system not a closed system.

 Each cycle of generating usefulness reinforces the process and makes more fuel available to further increase production of usefulness. The system continues to grow and expand as it operates.