Posts
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:Their feet are swift to shed blood:Destruction and misery are in their ways:And the way of peace have they not known:There is no fear of God before their eyes. Romans 3:10-18
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
Psalm 53:2-4
I hope it is our desire to truly know God and really seek Him. This is not going to be one of my traditional posts. This post is to express something that God did earlier this week and after He led me in the scriptures I felt impressed to make it the next blog. The Lord is so faithful to reveal to us when we become slack at times and thank goodness He is so long-suffering!
Earlier this week I felt impressed to read Romans chapter 3. I only posted part of it on purpose as I really want to focus on what really stuck with me as I believe that is what the Lord wanted me to get out of it and then share with everyone else. Notice in Romans 3 it reads, "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." After I was finished reading the chapter I began to think what God wanted me to get out of this, then all of a sudden Psalm 53 shot through my mind. I did not know what Psalm 53 had to say so I decided to read it and it is what Paul was using to cross reference this part of Romans 3! Psalm 53 reads, "God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.". After I read this I knew this was all beyond coincidence. I began to pray and talk to the Lord about this issue, this prompted me to discuss with my wife if we truly know what it means to seek Him.
Needless to say I felt impressed to write it on the blog so we can begin to dwell on it. It is something we all need to work on, making Him our all-in-all. Remember the reference in Daniel when he prayed and fasted for 21 days? What did the angel of the Lord say to him again? The angel said, "From the day you set your heart to understand and did chasten yourself your words were heard and I have been sent because of your words." Read the devotional entitled "An Understanding Heart", I talk about this in greater detail there. I believe we need to purchase from Jesus, "gold refined by fire". Do you remember Him saying this to the Laodicean church in Revelation? They had said they were rich and in need of nothing and Jesus said they did not even realize they were pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I think because we have all of our needs provided in our richness that it tends to blind our true spiritual needs. I think what Jesus is saying here is this, that the way we purchase from Him gold refined by fire is to chasten ourselves, discipline ourselves to do the greater thing which is to develop an intimacy with Him in prayer. It is something we could all grow in. I believe prayer is the main vehicle in developing a relationship with Him. Don't get me wrong, Bible reading is great, and breaking down His Word is great but direct communication is key. Remember, before the New Testament was written all they had was prayer, in fact, I would venture to say this is where doctrine was revealed to them at...in prayer. Let's commit ourselves to spending time with Him this week. Even if you just start with 5 minutes or 10 minutes, its a START! Even if you do not know what to say just show Him you desire to seek Him by quieting yourself. Wait for Him to put things on your heart and mind to pray about. Jewish oral tradition has it that James, brother of Jesus, had callouses on his knees from being in prayer so much. I cannot imagine that kind of devotion but I would like to think I am one who is willing to learn. I personally walk around when I pray because I am one who can tend to get too comfortable if I sit or kneel too long, so do not think that you have to bow all of the time. I do, however, feel at times we should bow, whenever you feel led to bow do so, He is a real King who really loves us. I am not saying to kneel the entire time, but sometimes as a symbol of devotion to Him, acknowledging with our actions that we believe He is so real that we bow. I know alot of revelation that God has graced me with has come during or after spending time with Him.
Thank you for reading brothers and sisters. I hope this is a blessing to you! We serve a great God! This was not an indictment on any of you as I myself have some more disciplining to do as well!
I hope this has not offended, let's strive to seek Him more than we seek our own desires all of the time. God showed me once an easy way to tell if I am erecting any idols in my life. It's a simple test really and it's this, if I begin to get more excited about something than I do about Jesus and His sacrifice, I now have a heart issue. I need to go back to "purchasing gold refined by fire" whenever this begins to happen and guess what? He forgives me and reignites me to do whatever I was called here to do as He desires for us all. All of our lives we will have to continue to consecrate things, put them under us, so do not get bummed or depressed when it happens, it is God reminding you to re-align yourself through the vehicle of prayer.
Again, even if you do not know what to say in the moment, just begin praising Jesus until you get excited about Him and then bask in that fresh presence. Even if you do not speak when His presence is stirred within you it begins changing you. Kind of like a tea packet in hot water, it's not doing anything but sitting there, but slowly the hot water begins to bring things out of it.
Praise Jesus for all of you! Everyone who sends me nice comments and keeps encouraging me to keep this website up to help others grow! We help each other grow.
Thanks again!
Sincerely
Chris Goff
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Hierarchy Of Priorities
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27
"Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." (In reference to the people who tested God in the wilderness)
1 Corinthians 10:11&12
"Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it."
Hebrews 4:1
“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”
Revelation 2:2-7
"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
John 15:5
"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live."
Luke 10:25-28
Priorities...everyone has to have them if their life is going to function properly. All successful people adhere to a list of priorities. For instance, police officers have a list of priorities when dealing with their day-to-day duties. If you are a police officer and you catch someone speeding and then hear on your radio a serial killer was just spotted in the area, I have an idea you are going to now pursue the serial killer and forget about the ticket. One priority overshadowed another. Well it appears it is not so different for Christians. I have seen Christians abandon the most important of priorities in the name of "reaching out" to others and then themselves eventually doing and saying what the people who do not know God do and say. I was one of those Christians until God graced me with teaching me how to truly fear Him and that fear propelling into love. Biblically speaking what does it appear our main priorities are? I see us struggling all the time with priorities and unfortuneatly the consequences can at times be severe. Let's see what the Word of God says our most important priorities are.
James gives us two ingredients in having a healthy relationship with God. First he lists to comfort and attend to the needy, particularly widows and orphans. The second thing he lists is to keep oneself from being stained by the world. I don't think his intentions were listing them in order, because it appears our first priority to God is to keep ourselves pure and unstained. The reason I say this is because to the church at Ephesus Jesus said "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent." Let's notice that despite all the hard work Jesus commended them for He still had something against them, they had abandoned their first love. That first love was Him and in abandoning Him they were beginning to stain themselves and Jesus had to put a quick stop to this through John. They apparently forgot they were working for Jesus. Religion had crept in it appears and Jesus told them to repent of this before He removed their lampstand. Jesus says REMEMBER FROM WHERE YOU HAVE FALLEN; REPENT AND DO THE FIRST WORKS. So we see they lost a sense of priority probably in the area of their daily disciplines (i.e. prayer) and to neglect this is to not put on our spiritual armor and to not put on our spiritual armor is to subject ourselves to Satan's fiery darts and to subject ourselves to Satan's fiery darts is to allow a strong, negative influence that subtly leads us astray. When we lose focus of priorities we get reprimanded for our benefit. Thank God for His discipline! For without it we could not shar in His holiness!
Now in Luke, Jesus tells the lawyer that he is right in his answering of how one inherits eternal life. The lawyer tempting Him said, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live." So we see our first priority is to love the Lord our God with all our soul, strength, and mind; AND to love thy neighbor as thyself. So we see we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, we are supposed to work for Him and glorify Him in that manner! But first we must love HIM with all our beings. This means communing with Him in prayer and notice when we do this we begin to love people a whole lot more! When we honor God in drawing closer to Him all of the other things will begin to fall into place! Our desire will be for His work from our hearts because we are communing with Him and that is what appears this church in Revelation had lacked in. But remember Jesus said in John 15:5, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." We must ABIDE IN HIM, and in order to abide in Him we have to CLEANSE OURSELVES with His provided sacrifice on Calvary, then our actions for him will be anointed, done in the Spirit where there is power!
I remember there was a point in my life where I had to settle down and remember that yes, Jesus died for all so they could come to Him, but let me never get so caught up in "works" that I forget He also died for me to COMMUNE WITH ME! That is God's desire! Sometimes we "forget" with how we conduct our lives, that God died for us and wants us to abide in Him! If I am getting drunk, watching things I shouldn't watch, agreeing with things I shouldn't agree with, not seeking Him and loving Him, I may be indicating to myself that I have become religious and am leaving my first love! Don't sacrifice your integrity in the name of "reaching out"! The biggest and best way to reach out is to show people that Jesus power is genuinely active in you not having to partake in certain things for your fulfillment! "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall!" Remember, you do not have to be in active agreement with the world in order to reach them! Let us not defile ourselves we have Jesus Christ! Let us strive for the completeness God is calling us to!
Thank you Lord for all you have given and all you have done! I pray God that we will be a people able to hear, "Well done Thou good and faithful servant!". I pray this over myself, my family, and all your saints! We love you Jesus, let us know when we are breaking your heart! Discipline us Lord we pray! In the precious name of Jesus we pray! Amen!
With love brothers and sisters!
Sincerely,
Chris Goff
"Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." (In reference to the people who tested God in the wilderness)
1 Corinthians 10:11&12
"Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it."
Hebrews 4:1
“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”
Revelation 2:2-7
"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
John 15:5
"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live."
Luke 10:25-28
Priorities...everyone has to have them if their life is going to function properly. All successful people adhere to a list of priorities. For instance, police officers have a list of priorities when dealing with their day-to-day duties. If you are a police officer and you catch someone speeding and then hear on your radio a serial killer was just spotted in the area, I have an idea you are going to now pursue the serial killer and forget about the ticket. One priority overshadowed another. Well it appears it is not so different for Christians. I have seen Christians abandon the most important of priorities in the name of "reaching out" to others and then themselves eventually doing and saying what the people who do not know God do and say. I was one of those Christians until God graced me with teaching me how to truly fear Him and that fear propelling into love. Biblically speaking what does it appear our main priorities are? I see us struggling all the time with priorities and unfortuneatly the consequences can at times be severe. Let's see what the Word of God says our most important priorities are.
James gives us two ingredients in having a healthy relationship with God. First he lists to comfort and attend to the needy, particularly widows and orphans. The second thing he lists is to keep oneself from being stained by the world. I don't think his intentions were listing them in order, because it appears our first priority to God is to keep ourselves pure and unstained. The reason I say this is because to the church at Ephesus Jesus said "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent." Let's notice that despite all the hard work Jesus commended them for He still had something against them, they had abandoned their first love. That first love was Him and in abandoning Him they were beginning to stain themselves and Jesus had to put a quick stop to this through John. They apparently forgot they were working for Jesus. Religion had crept in it appears and Jesus told them to repent of this before He removed their lampstand. Jesus says REMEMBER FROM WHERE YOU HAVE FALLEN; REPENT AND DO THE FIRST WORKS. So we see they lost a sense of priority probably in the area of their daily disciplines (i.e. prayer) and to neglect this is to not put on our spiritual armor and to not put on our spiritual armor is to subject ourselves to Satan's fiery darts and to subject ourselves to Satan's fiery darts is to allow a strong, negative influence that subtly leads us astray. When we lose focus of priorities we get reprimanded for our benefit. Thank God for His discipline! For without it we could not shar in His holiness!
Now in Luke, Jesus tells the lawyer that he is right in his answering of how one inherits eternal life. The lawyer tempting Him said, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live." So we see our first priority is to love the Lord our God with all our soul, strength, and mind; AND to love thy neighbor as thyself. So we see we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, we are supposed to work for Him and glorify Him in that manner! But first we must love HIM with all our beings. This means communing with Him in prayer and notice when we do this we begin to love people a whole lot more! When we honor God in drawing closer to Him all of the other things will begin to fall into place! Our desire will be for His work from our hearts because we are communing with Him and that is what appears this church in Revelation had lacked in. But remember Jesus said in John 15:5, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." We must ABIDE IN HIM, and in order to abide in Him we have to CLEANSE OURSELVES with His provided sacrifice on Calvary, then our actions for him will be anointed, done in the Spirit where there is power!
I remember there was a point in my life where I had to settle down and remember that yes, Jesus died for all so they could come to Him, but let me never get so caught up in "works" that I forget He also died for me to COMMUNE WITH ME! That is God's desire! Sometimes we "forget" with how we conduct our lives, that God died for us and wants us to abide in Him! If I am getting drunk, watching things I shouldn't watch, agreeing with things I shouldn't agree with, not seeking Him and loving Him, I may be indicating to myself that I have become religious and am leaving my first love! Don't sacrifice your integrity in the name of "reaching out"! The biggest and best way to reach out is to show people that Jesus power is genuinely active in you not having to partake in certain things for your fulfillment! "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall!" Remember, you do not have to be in active agreement with the world in order to reach them! Let us not defile ourselves we have Jesus Christ! Let us strive for the completeness God is calling us to!
Thank you Lord for all you have given and all you have done! I pray God that we will be a people able to hear, "Well done Thou good and faithful servant!". I pray this over myself, my family, and all your saints! We love you Jesus, let us know when we are breaking your heart! Discipline us Lord we pray! In the precious name of Jesus we pray! Amen!
With love brothers and sisters!
Sincerely,
Chris Goff
Monday, September 14, 2009
Paul's Thorn In The Flesh
"Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!
Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
What was Paul's thorn in the flesh? I have heard some say it was a physical infirmity but I have also heard people say it was some sort of struggling with sin. I feel this problem was Paul's eyesight. Now before you disagree with this assessment let's go through and see if we cannot support this claim. I understand that this is speculative as I feel the other side is speculative, however, I have heard people use this reference as a crutch in supporting their own misconduct. So needless to say it is very important how one interprets this passage of scripture in either living a defeated life in sin or a victorious one over sin. First we will discuss Paul's blinding experience.
I will start with the road to Damascus, Acts 9:3,8&9 state,"And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:...And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink."
Notice that this light was so bright that Paul was instantly blinded, he had to have help getting back to Damascus. Now God sent a fellow brother to lay hands on Paul so that he could receive his sight back, Acts 9:17&18 states, "And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized." Ok so he was healed right? It appears to a degree he was. Notice the Bible says "immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales."
Remember when Paul back-talked the high priest? Acts 23:2-5,"At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck! Those who were standing near Paul said, You dare to insult God's high priest? Paul replied, Brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.' Now notice with me that Paul didn't even recognize the high priest, he even said "brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest"! By what I understand, the high priest wears attire that distinguishes between him and the others in the group, so for Paul not to see him suggests bad eye sight! Also in Galatians 4:15 Paul says, "Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me." So now we have Paul admitting himself that he has an eye sight problem that bugged him enough to mention it to this church. We also have Galatians 6:11, "See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!" So it is clear it appears he had a problem with his eye sight.
Ok, now for the reason I believe this was the "thorn" in Paul's flesh and not a sin. Notice how Paul says, "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Now correct me if I am wrong but if he was struggling falling to a sin in his life I believe I could properly render this verse as "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my sin, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Wait a minute! The same Jesus who said in John 5:14, "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee." Ok now this doesn't sound quite right, could Paul actually boast in his sin? If that wasn't enough look at what Jesus said to Paul,"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " So could I render this verse, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in sin."? Would Jesus tell one man in the temple, "go and sin no more lest something worse befall you." and then turn around and tell Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in sin."? NO WAY! This violates the scripture that tells us to not quench the Spirit and quenching the Spirit is to sin, 1 Thessolonians 5:19 "Do not put out the Spirit's fire;" We know that when we walk in the flesh it actually puts out the Spirit's fire in our lives and when the Spirit is not flowing in our lives this keep's us from being effective!
So what about the "Messenger of Satan to buffet/torment me" part? Can you imagine healing people just by praying over cloths just because they touched them? Can you imagine seeing the power of God demonstrated through you to others in that magnitude and all you want is to be healed with that same power you are exercising over other people? This is where alot of heavy speculation comes in but this is my take on it, the demon was trying to effect Paul's faith. I can hear the mocks and jeers now going through Paul's mind, "God uses you to heal others but you are not worthy enough to receive it yourself! You think God is with you? Then why won't he heal your eyes Paul?" So what did this cause Paul to do (in my opinion)? It caused him to fall face down and ask God not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES to take his infirmity away from him. I am not saying that my assessment is gospel, but this torment sounds oh so familiar in regards to Jesus dying on the cross. Matthew 27:42, "He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him." I will forever maintain that Paul was not talking about gross misconduct being the thorn in his flesh or how else would he have been able to call out sin in the churches in good conscience? Do not take my word for it, pray over these issues and research them.
Finally, the reason I feel this passage is so important to understand is because I have heard believers use this saying of Paul to support settling with their own personal sin. We are to appropropriate Jesus word and what will happened? John 8:32 "The truth shall make you free!" We are not just saved in theory! That same power that rose Jesus from the dead not only has the power to save you but also to set you free from what makes you a slave. 1 John 3:8 says Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil! "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." Now please do not hear me wrong! We will all stumble on occasion but it must be immediately taken in repentance to the cross, not this settling attitude that says, "Well Paul had sin so I might as well give into it when it beckons me." This is a scary attitude and will lead to a complacent attitude towards sin, which leads to perpetuated sin, which leads to death. When we sin it should genuinely be a blindsiding event, if you fall GET UP! But do not say you are bound to fall to that exact same sin your whole life, that is a defeated attitude and may prove true in your life! So fight! (See devotional, Rhema Resistance) There is a difference between stumbling and fighting verses stumbling and accepting and please never let Satan convince you otherwise! Thank you for your love and support brothers and sisters! Let's stop using crutches and fight!
Sincerely,
Chris Goff
Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
What was Paul's thorn in the flesh? I have heard some say it was a physical infirmity but I have also heard people say it was some sort of struggling with sin. I feel this problem was Paul's eyesight. Now before you disagree with this assessment let's go through and see if we cannot support this claim. I understand that this is speculative as I feel the other side is speculative, however, I have heard people use this reference as a crutch in supporting their own misconduct. So needless to say it is very important how one interprets this passage of scripture in either living a defeated life in sin or a victorious one over sin. First we will discuss Paul's blinding experience.
I will start with the road to Damascus, Acts 9:3,8&9 state,"And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:...And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink."
Notice that this light was so bright that Paul was instantly blinded, he had to have help getting back to Damascus. Now God sent a fellow brother to lay hands on Paul so that he could receive his sight back, Acts 9:17&18 states, "And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized." Ok so he was healed right? It appears to a degree he was. Notice the Bible says "immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales."
Remember when Paul back-talked the high priest? Acts 23:2-5,"At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck! Those who were standing near Paul said, You dare to insult God's high priest? Paul replied, Brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.' Now notice with me that Paul didn't even recognize the high priest, he even said "brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest"! By what I understand, the high priest wears attire that distinguishes between him and the others in the group, so for Paul not to see him suggests bad eye sight! Also in Galatians 4:15 Paul says, "Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me." So now we have Paul admitting himself that he has an eye sight problem that bugged him enough to mention it to this church. We also have Galatians 6:11, "See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!" So it is clear it appears he had a problem with his eye sight.
Ok, now for the reason I believe this was the "thorn" in Paul's flesh and not a sin. Notice how Paul says, "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Now correct me if I am wrong but if he was struggling falling to a sin in his life I believe I could properly render this verse as "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my sin, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Wait a minute! The same Jesus who said in John 5:14, "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee." Ok now this doesn't sound quite right, could Paul actually boast in his sin? If that wasn't enough look at what Jesus said to Paul,"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " So could I render this verse, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in sin."? Would Jesus tell one man in the temple, "go and sin no more lest something worse befall you." and then turn around and tell Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in sin."? NO WAY! This violates the scripture that tells us to not quench the Spirit and quenching the Spirit is to sin, 1 Thessolonians 5:19 "Do not put out the Spirit's fire;" We know that when we walk in the flesh it actually puts out the Spirit's fire in our lives and when the Spirit is not flowing in our lives this keep's us from being effective!
So what about the "Messenger of Satan to buffet/torment me" part? Can you imagine healing people just by praying over cloths just because they touched them? Can you imagine seeing the power of God demonstrated through you to others in that magnitude and all you want is to be healed with that same power you are exercising over other people? This is where alot of heavy speculation comes in but this is my take on it, the demon was trying to effect Paul's faith. I can hear the mocks and jeers now going through Paul's mind, "God uses you to heal others but you are not worthy enough to receive it yourself! You think God is with you? Then why won't he heal your eyes Paul?" So what did this cause Paul to do (in my opinion)? It caused him to fall face down and ask God not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES to take his infirmity away from him. I am not saying that my assessment is gospel, but this torment sounds oh so familiar in regards to Jesus dying on the cross. Matthew 27:42, "He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him." I will forever maintain that Paul was not talking about gross misconduct being the thorn in his flesh or how else would he have been able to call out sin in the churches in good conscience? Do not take my word for it, pray over these issues and research them.
Finally, the reason I feel this passage is so important to understand is because I have heard believers use this saying of Paul to support settling with their own personal sin. We are to appropropriate Jesus word and what will happened? John 8:32 "The truth shall make you free!" We are not just saved in theory! That same power that rose Jesus from the dead not only has the power to save you but also to set you free from what makes you a slave. 1 John 3:8 says Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil! "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." Now please do not hear me wrong! We will all stumble on occasion but it must be immediately taken in repentance to the cross, not this settling attitude that says, "Well Paul had sin so I might as well give into it when it beckons me." This is a scary attitude and will lead to a complacent attitude towards sin, which leads to perpetuated sin, which leads to death. When we sin it should genuinely be a blindsiding event, if you fall GET UP! But do not say you are bound to fall to that exact same sin your whole life, that is a defeated attitude and may prove true in your life! So fight! (See devotional, Rhema Resistance) There is a difference between stumbling and fighting verses stumbling and accepting and please never let Satan convince you otherwise! Thank you for your love and support brothers and sisters! Let's stop using crutches and fight!
Sincerely,
Chris Goff
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Is There Sin In Your Camp?
"The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan!
"O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?
"For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?"
So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
"Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
"Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst." Joshua 7:8-12
"And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." Jude 1:23
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him." 1 John 3:21&22
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" Psalm 66:18
Israel's defeat at Ai, what a scary event. Because understand, God told Joshua that He would be with him as He was with Moses, and the fact that this defeat took place suggested, for some reason, God did not back them this time. This event drove Joshua to his knees in prayer, seeking to find out what had happened which is a response God adores. It appears Joshua even subtly "threw in" a little blame because of a lack of understanding, we will discuss this below. Do we want to be a people that hear from the Lord when we pray? Joshua was heard but as the leader he was told to take care of some things before God would back them again, let's analyze these verses.
Everything was going peachy in Israel as far as battle was concerned. They were striking fear in the hearts of all the surrounding kingdoms... until Ai. God had told them not to take anything for themselves in the last battle they fought, but a man named Achan decided not to regard this command. Because of this mans sin, God decided to pull His power away from the armies of Israel. At the time though, Joshua was unaware of this sin, so he fell before the Lord in prayer. Notice he asks God why he even brought them there just to lose, sounds like he was throwing a little blame God's way. The reason I say this is because look at God's response to this statement,"So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them." Whoa, a pretty harsh rebuke in my estimation, GET UP! Why have you fallen on your face? This is not my fault, it is Israels sin! Have you ever been there? Opened so many doors to the enemy through YOUR sin that you believe the Satanic lies that are being fed to you in blaming God for your condition? I think we all have probably at some point, but it is important to remember that God is perfect, He doesn't do petty things like we do and sometimes we interpret Him as such. I am not saying our bad conditions are always because of personal sin either, Job is a perfect example of that.
Now I love how the Old Testament gives us so much truth into God's character. Jesus quoted the Old Testament non-stop, so for any of us to say it is not necessary is arrogance. We have a few verses that still illustrate that God was the same yesterday, today and forever! In Psalms David said, "If I regarded iniquity in my heart, my prayers would not have been heard." And then in the New Testament we have John saying, "if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask" Does this mean God doesn't really hear us when we sin? Not in the sense of not actually hearing what we say but in the sense of response. And now, for probably the scariest part of this verse, "I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst." We must consecrate ourselves to the Lord! See the Bible is full of promises, but all of those promises have conditions. This should not sound foreign to us, we do it all of the time ourselves. "If you get good grades in school than I will reward you", see that "if,than" statement? That suggests a conditional promise. I have promised to reward you but only if you receive good grades.
And finally for the verse in Jude, "hating even the garment stained by the flesh". This is a challenge to all of us (me included), could we in fact substitute, "hating even the DVD stained by the flesh"? Or maybe this, "hating even the MUSIC stained by the flesh"? How can we partake in something that God absolutely hates? If God is up there pounding His throne in anger about a movie I have allowed myself to watch and I am down here laughing about what I am watching, I would assume something is wrong with my heart. We have accepted so much in our culture, we constantly quench the Spirit and then we wonder why we are not feeling used of the Lord. Or we convince ourselves we are being used in a very powerful way and God is up there going, "You have no idea what can actually be done with the power of my Spirit if you would not quench Him, if you would just allow me to cleanse you". Let's encourage one another to be careful what we watch and hear, maybe we are not actually doing what is being done on th silver screen, but make no mistake, we are becoming partakers with it by giving it our approval through laughter or merely enjoyment. We see how angry God was with Achan's disobedience, let's make sure we are not angering our God either! We need to turn our laughter into mourning and our joy to gloom (See devotional Joy and Gloom).
God revealed to me once that if I find something perverted funny there is a problem. Now I can force myself not to laugh, but forcing suggests I still thought it to be funny, so when this happens fall on your face and begin to seek out what is wrong in your heart. I don't know about everyone else, but I do not want to regard iniquity in my heart so I can see God really move in my life! Are we getting rid of things in our lives that are considered "banned" by God? If not, we probably can not expect too much in prayer. Remember, the same God that said "I will never leave you or forsake you" also said, "I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst." This is not a contradiction, as a whole God is faithful to us even to point out our sin, but God cannot condone our sin by giving us blessings and what we want if we refuse to deal with sin in our lives. Think if I reward bad behavior? All that will teach people is I am not really serious about what they are doing! I appreciate you brothers and sisters! Let's strive to perfect holiness in reverent fear of our God!
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan!
"O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?
"For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?"
So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
"Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
"Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst." Joshua 7:8-12
"And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." Jude 1:23
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him." 1 John 3:21&22
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" Psalm 66:18
Israel's defeat at Ai, what a scary event. Because understand, God told Joshua that He would be with him as He was with Moses, and the fact that this defeat took place suggested, for some reason, God did not back them this time. This event drove Joshua to his knees in prayer, seeking to find out what had happened which is a response God adores. It appears Joshua even subtly "threw in" a little blame because of a lack of understanding, we will discuss this below. Do we want to be a people that hear from the Lord when we pray? Joshua was heard but as the leader he was told to take care of some things before God would back them again, let's analyze these verses.
Everything was going peachy in Israel as far as battle was concerned. They were striking fear in the hearts of all the surrounding kingdoms... until Ai. God had told them not to take anything for themselves in the last battle they fought, but a man named Achan decided not to regard this command. Because of this mans sin, God decided to pull His power away from the armies of Israel. At the time though, Joshua was unaware of this sin, so he fell before the Lord in prayer. Notice he asks God why he even brought them there just to lose, sounds like he was throwing a little blame God's way. The reason I say this is because look at God's response to this statement,"So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them." Whoa, a pretty harsh rebuke in my estimation, GET UP! Why have you fallen on your face? This is not my fault, it is Israels sin! Have you ever been there? Opened so many doors to the enemy through YOUR sin that you believe the Satanic lies that are being fed to you in blaming God for your condition? I think we all have probably at some point, but it is important to remember that God is perfect, He doesn't do petty things like we do and sometimes we interpret Him as such. I am not saying our bad conditions are always because of personal sin either, Job is a perfect example of that.
Now I love how the Old Testament gives us so much truth into God's character. Jesus quoted the Old Testament non-stop, so for any of us to say it is not necessary is arrogance. We have a few verses that still illustrate that God was the same yesterday, today and forever! In Psalms David said, "If I regarded iniquity in my heart, my prayers would not have been heard." And then in the New Testament we have John saying, "if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask" Does this mean God doesn't really hear us when we sin? Not in the sense of not actually hearing what we say but in the sense of response. And now, for probably the scariest part of this verse, "I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst." We must consecrate ourselves to the Lord! See the Bible is full of promises, but all of those promises have conditions. This should not sound foreign to us, we do it all of the time ourselves. "If you get good grades in school than I will reward you", see that "if,than" statement? That suggests a conditional promise. I have promised to reward you but only if you receive good grades.
And finally for the verse in Jude, "hating even the garment stained by the flesh". This is a challenge to all of us (me included), could we in fact substitute, "hating even the DVD stained by the flesh"? Or maybe this, "hating even the MUSIC stained by the flesh"? How can we partake in something that God absolutely hates? If God is up there pounding His throne in anger about a movie I have allowed myself to watch and I am down here laughing about what I am watching, I would assume something is wrong with my heart. We have accepted so much in our culture, we constantly quench the Spirit and then we wonder why we are not feeling used of the Lord. Or we convince ourselves we are being used in a very powerful way and God is up there going, "You have no idea what can actually be done with the power of my Spirit if you would not quench Him, if you would just allow me to cleanse you". Let's encourage one another to be careful what we watch and hear, maybe we are not actually doing what is being done on th silver screen, but make no mistake, we are becoming partakers with it by giving it our approval through laughter or merely enjoyment. We see how angry God was with Achan's disobedience, let's make sure we are not angering our God either! We need to turn our laughter into mourning and our joy to gloom (See devotional Joy and Gloom).
God revealed to me once that if I find something perverted funny there is a problem. Now I can force myself not to laugh, but forcing suggests I still thought it to be funny, so when this happens fall on your face and begin to seek out what is wrong in your heart. I don't know about everyone else, but I do not want to regard iniquity in my heart so I can see God really move in my life! Are we getting rid of things in our lives that are considered "banned" by God? If not, we probably can not expect too much in prayer. Remember, the same God that said "I will never leave you or forsake you" also said, "I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst." This is not a contradiction, as a whole God is faithful to us even to point out our sin, but God cannot condone our sin by giving us blessings and what we want if we refuse to deal with sin in our lives. Think if I reward bad behavior? All that will teach people is I am not really serious about what they are doing! I appreciate you brothers and sisters! Let's strive to perfect holiness in reverent fear of our God!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Your Ultimate Reward
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:20&21
"His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." Matthew 25:21
"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" John 15:5
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:3
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." I Thessolonians 4:17&18
"And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Revelation 21:21-23
"And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." Oh I pray Jesus is always our treasure! We want our hearts with Him correct? Well, we must abide in Him! Isn't it so interesting how His love grows inside of us the more we appropriate His commands in our lives? I hope we are getting closer and closer to Him! The scripture says in James, "Draw nigh unto Him and He will draw nigh unto you!" We reap what we sow right? Sow to the Spirit and we reap knowing Him better (Gal 6:8), remember? I love how the Word of God, although many different authors, still harmonize with each other. We can use scripture to interpret scripture which proves to me it was Holy Spirit inspired. Anyways, without further delay, let's camp on the eternal rewards of following Jesus.
It looks like quite a life Jesus has for those that love Him! I look at those verses and am just flat out amazed. Streets of gold...gates of pearl...a house He is preparing for us! Wow, "that where I am, you may be also." Look at all of this neat stuff! But what makes these promises so awesome? I was praying one day and wondering why God list's all of the wonderful stuff. Because I thought in heaven we will not even be materialistic. We will be (I assume) in a perfect state, therefore could not be a materialistic people. No sooner was I thinking about this that the answer came bursting in my mind. "The value of all the gift's is not within themselves, it is in the one who will give it to you." Have you ever had a moment when you were simply awestruck? It was beautiful! Of course! CAN YOU IMAGINE HEARING THE LORD SAY "Well done thou good and faithful servant, ...enter thou into the joy of THY LORD!" For the Creator of heaven and earth to feel you deserve these "trophies" signifying your overcoming Satan "By the blood of the Lamb and the WORD OF YOUR TESTIMONY" (Revelation 12:11) There is nothing to do but to praise Him!
So what does all of this mean? JESUS IS THE TREASURE OF TREASURES! He is your ultimate reward! See, John mentions in Revelations that he saw no temple, which was considered one of the ultimate "material" possessions here on Earth. But why? Because it will now be comprised of the Lord God Almighty and THE LAMB! There will be no sun either! One of the main sustainer's (if not the most important) of life is the sun and it will not be needed! Why? Because of Jesus! Jesus is the glory of the Father and He will illuminate the city! He is coming back for us! Are you ready? We are to comfort one another with these words..."Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." And so shall we ever be with the Lord! Folks, I pray this causes tears of joy! Let's get more excited about Him than we do whatever we are preoccupied with in this life! He is our treasure!
I have heard people brag about how they have met certain movie stars, sports figures, know someone that knows someone that knows whoever. I am sure we have all done this, it is an exciting thing. But if we get more excited about meeting them than we are knowing Jesus, we need to pray until this is not the case. This is a challenge to all who do not get excited about Jesus, evaluate your heart! Can you imagine meeting the One who created the universes, set the framework for life as we know it! He didn't star in a film, and he didn't have a platinum album, He didn't win the World Series...He did something far greater than we could ever give Him credit for! Listen, I say this as a brother in Christ that is concerned for His people, there is something to say about being passionate about Jesus. If we are not, we are growing cold towards Him, and God-forbid this from ever happening! Sin is a joy killer because all we reap from it is corruption...a satanic foothold. This is why I am hammering so hard on how we live our lives. You and I will never experience Jesus to the dynamic we want if we do not strive for purity (not grieving the Spirit). And unfortuneatly, this leads to the deceit of believing the scriptures to be false, without us ever admitting it out of our mouths just how we feel deep down, and this my friends, leads to deadly religion. It leads to doing things day in and day out without joy! It leads to Jesus and the things of Jesus becoming a chore and a mask we put on rather than a genuine heart that longs for Him and His return! Please, as an act of faith (faith without actions is dead), pray this prayer with fervor and enthusiasm! "Precious Jesus! We love you so much! We repent for not being excited about You, for apart from you we can do nothing of true value! Lord, we acknowledge that life was meaningless, MEANINGLESS if we cannot hear your beautiful Words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant!" We want to hear well done Father! Put us on the track in our lives where we will be able to truly hear these words! We invite your discipline Father, for if we do not receive this we cannot share in Your holiness and are illegitimate children! Teach us how to fear you again Lord, we have so much that we consider treasure that is TRASH in comparison to you! Lord please! Take the whole world but give us the Light of the world! We love you Father! Show us everytime we are not in the Spirit that we may get in the Spirit once again and be an effective witness. Grant us repentance Father, for if You choose not to we will be without hope! Reveal to us when we are wrong through the precious power of the Holy Spirit! We love you Lord, in the precious name of Jesus we pray, AMEN!"
I hope you prayed that! Now in conclusion let's make our life goal to hear the Words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant!" Read this reference below, this helps me get so excited about our Lord and Savior. What He has accomplished is beyond belief! So much that in Revelation began to weep because no one was found who was worthy to open the all important scrolls. Then out of no where a savior...
Revelation 5
1And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
2And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
3And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
4And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
5And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
6And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
7And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
8And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
11And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
13And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
14And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.
This helps me get stoked again for Him! I hope it helps you! Remember, where our treasure is, there our heart will be also! Is your treasure Jesus which manifests itself with absolute joy over His sacrifice?
Sincerely,
Chris Goff
"His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." Matthew 25:21
"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" John 15:5
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:3
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." I Thessolonians 4:17&18
"And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Revelation 21:21-23
"And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." Oh I pray Jesus is always our treasure! We want our hearts with Him correct? Well, we must abide in Him! Isn't it so interesting how His love grows inside of us the more we appropriate His commands in our lives? I hope we are getting closer and closer to Him! The scripture says in James, "Draw nigh unto Him and He will draw nigh unto you!" We reap what we sow right? Sow to the Spirit and we reap knowing Him better (Gal 6:8), remember? I love how the Word of God, although many different authors, still harmonize with each other. We can use scripture to interpret scripture which proves to me it was Holy Spirit inspired. Anyways, without further delay, let's camp on the eternal rewards of following Jesus.
It looks like quite a life Jesus has for those that love Him! I look at those verses and am just flat out amazed. Streets of gold...gates of pearl...a house He is preparing for us! Wow, "that where I am, you may be also." Look at all of this neat stuff! But what makes these promises so awesome? I was praying one day and wondering why God list's all of the wonderful stuff. Because I thought in heaven we will not even be materialistic. We will be (I assume) in a perfect state, therefore could not be a materialistic people. No sooner was I thinking about this that the answer came bursting in my mind. "The value of all the gift's is not within themselves, it is in the one who will give it to you." Have you ever had a moment when you were simply awestruck? It was beautiful! Of course! CAN YOU IMAGINE HEARING THE LORD SAY "Well done thou good and faithful servant, ...enter thou into the joy of THY LORD!" For the Creator of heaven and earth to feel you deserve these "trophies" signifying your overcoming Satan "By the blood of the Lamb and the WORD OF YOUR TESTIMONY" (Revelation 12:11) There is nothing to do but to praise Him!
So what does all of this mean? JESUS IS THE TREASURE OF TREASURES! He is your ultimate reward! See, John mentions in Revelations that he saw no temple, which was considered one of the ultimate "material" possessions here on Earth. But why? Because it will now be comprised of the Lord God Almighty and THE LAMB! There will be no sun either! One of the main sustainer's (if not the most important) of life is the sun and it will not be needed! Why? Because of Jesus! Jesus is the glory of the Father and He will illuminate the city! He is coming back for us! Are you ready? We are to comfort one another with these words..."Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." And so shall we ever be with the Lord! Folks, I pray this causes tears of joy! Let's get more excited about Him than we do whatever we are preoccupied with in this life! He is our treasure!
I have heard people brag about how they have met certain movie stars, sports figures, know someone that knows someone that knows whoever. I am sure we have all done this, it is an exciting thing. But if we get more excited about meeting them than we are knowing Jesus, we need to pray until this is not the case. This is a challenge to all who do not get excited about Jesus, evaluate your heart! Can you imagine meeting the One who created the universes, set the framework for life as we know it! He didn't star in a film, and he didn't have a platinum album, He didn't win the World Series...He did something far greater than we could ever give Him credit for! Listen, I say this as a brother in Christ that is concerned for His people, there is something to say about being passionate about Jesus. If we are not, we are growing cold towards Him, and God-forbid this from ever happening! Sin is a joy killer because all we reap from it is corruption...a satanic foothold. This is why I am hammering so hard on how we live our lives. You and I will never experience Jesus to the dynamic we want if we do not strive for purity (not grieving the Spirit). And unfortuneatly, this leads to the deceit of believing the scriptures to be false, without us ever admitting it out of our mouths just how we feel deep down, and this my friends, leads to deadly religion. It leads to doing things day in and day out without joy! It leads to Jesus and the things of Jesus becoming a chore and a mask we put on rather than a genuine heart that longs for Him and His return! Please, as an act of faith (faith without actions is dead), pray this prayer with fervor and enthusiasm! "Precious Jesus! We love you so much! We repent for not being excited about You, for apart from you we can do nothing of true value! Lord, we acknowledge that life was meaningless, MEANINGLESS if we cannot hear your beautiful Words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant!" We want to hear well done Father! Put us on the track in our lives where we will be able to truly hear these words! We invite your discipline Father, for if we do not receive this we cannot share in Your holiness and are illegitimate children! Teach us how to fear you again Lord, we have so much that we consider treasure that is TRASH in comparison to you! Lord please! Take the whole world but give us the Light of the world! We love you Father! Show us everytime we are not in the Spirit that we may get in the Spirit once again and be an effective witness. Grant us repentance Father, for if You choose not to we will be without hope! Reveal to us when we are wrong through the precious power of the Holy Spirit! We love you Lord, in the precious name of Jesus we pray, AMEN!"
I hope you prayed that! Now in conclusion let's make our life goal to hear the Words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant!" Read this reference below, this helps me get so excited about our Lord and Savior. What He has accomplished is beyond belief! So much that in Revelation began to weep because no one was found who was worthy to open the all important scrolls. Then out of no where a savior...
Revelation 5
1And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
2And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
3And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
4And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
5And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
6And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
7And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
8And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
11And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
13And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
14And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.
This helps me get stoked again for Him! I hope it helps you! Remember, where our treasure is, there our heart will be also! Is your treasure Jesus which manifests itself with absolute joy over His sacrifice?
Sincerely,
Chris Goff
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Bible's "How To" For Ceasing Sin
"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
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7
"Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
"and do not give the devil a foothold" Ephesians 4:27
"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Galatians 5:16
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Galatians 6:7-8
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 1:24&25
I know what you are thinking, "That's alot of verses to cover!". The reason I have used so many verses here is because I believe that this strand of verses help us understand how it is actually possible to overcome sin in our lives. I believe in some Christian circles it is taught that we cannot help but sin all of the time. While it is true that we stumble, the Bible separates this sin from the sin of gross misconduct. When we sin it should genuinely be a blindsiding event, not something we heartily give ourselves to, the Bible speaks against this kind of revelry. The Bible says that the wicked are the ones who enjoy sin and give hearty approval to others that do the same things. I have heard people say that some Christians have their "pet sins", and this should not be. If this is our mentality, don't think you should receive anything from the Lord in prayer! No wonder we come up with doctrines that say the gifts are not operable anymore! If we wouldn't grieve the Spirit and begin to fear the Lord again, I believe we will see things that will blow our minds! In the words of pastor Timothy Davis I quote, "The first miracle Jesus performed was He did not sin." Jesus is the one who said "Go and sin no more lest something worse befall you". Now those words of Jesus do not sound like a "sin everyday" attitude.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to CLEANSE us from all unrighteousness". This verse in 1 John is not a verse in theory. Sometimes we look at Christ's sacrifice as "in theory" and not an active support against our battle with sin. This verse not only says He will forgive us our sins, but also that He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness! Ok, this is great! But now you may ask, "how do I actively confess?". The answer lies in 1 John 1:7, which says if WE WALK IN THE LIGHT AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT THEN...THEN...THEN...THEN! THE BLOOD OF JESUS CLEANSES US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS! I put alot of emphasis on "THEN" on purpose. See we want it backwards sometimes, we want the feeling before we act, and Jesus commands different (see devotional, "But I Want You To Go First!"). This is a very insightful truth, you reap what you sow! Sow into the Spirit (walk in the light as He is in the light) and you will what? Reap eternal life! Sow into the flesh (retain "pet sins") and then what? You will reap corruption! See it can either be a beautiful helpful cycle, or it can be a vicious cycle that works against us, you will reap what you sow! Have you ever met someone that it just seems like everything is going peachy in their walk with Christ? That may not be an accident. The reason you are still struggling with the sin could be because you are not ceasing to sin and you are continually giving the devil a foothold, and the other person is not. You see, when we give Satan a foothold, that sin becomes harder and harder to overcome! Why? Because those that sow into the flesh will reap what? Corruption! Do you see this beautiful truth? What is everlasting life? To know the Father. Sin separates us from God correct? It fractures our relationship with Him! So if we want to reap eternal life a.k.a. reap knowing Him intimately now, we must begin to cease from sin! Now let's talk about the "How?"
2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
We have Paul telling Timothy to flee the lusts of the flesh and not only to flee but to pursue righteousness! Why? Again! Because he that sows unto the flesh will reap corruption (a worse struggle with their sin that will take them farther down) but he that sows to the Spirit (pursues righteousness, faith, charity, peace) will reap eternal life! And eternal life is what again? To intimately know the Father! So we need to pursue good Godly relationships, we need to be zealous for good works! We need to plug into our churches and give ourselves to the Lord Jesus' work! Build up don't tear down! When you purpose in your heart to genuinely please the Lord by ceasing to sin is when you will get the spiritual resource to actually begin stopping it.
Now what all of the previous acts do for us is enable us to get in the Spirit! Galatians 5:16 says, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." See that! If you walk in the Spirit YOU WILL NOT FULFILL THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH! But why? (lol ;)) Because he that sows into the Spirit will reap what? Eternal life! The blood of Jesus to literally cleanse us from our immediate, present sin, not my sinfulness in theory! When we sow into the Spirit, the Spirit is not grieved and we receive all the resource we need to beat up on the enemy. (see devotional entitled "Rhema Resistance") But when we sow into the flesh or a.k.a. give Satan a foothold, now the sin has become stronger and greater and we begin to be deceived to the point where we believe it cannot be overcome. I want to tell you right now that that's a lie from the pit of hell to keep you from receiving what God has for you! I have heard people blame God for their sinful condition, and it is simply not true! Understand what I am about to say, please! Even when you begin to cease from sin, it could seem difficult at first. The reason being is found in the verse 2 Timothy 3:12, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." That persecution is given by the enemy because the last thing he needs is another enlightened person making his job harder than it has to be. And also remember that we may have sown corruption for years, and at times, that harvest still must surface. Just as King David reaped the sword never leaving his home, so we can reap things here on earth that are flat out unpleasant. But do not, I repeat, DO NOT lose heart even when things do not seem right! Why? Because the Bible says in Galatians 6:9, "for in due time you will REAP A HARVEST IF YOU DO NOT GROW WEARY!"
Now for probably one of the most beautiful, glorifying verses of our PRECIOUS LORD AND SAVIOR! "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 1:24&25 Wonderful! We are not bound because our Savior is fully capable of keeping us from stumbling! When we appropriate His truths and abide in Him, we reap the spiritual resource to keep us from falling. Why? (I am drilling this because I need it as much as you brothers and sisters!) Because when we sow into the Spirit we reap knowing Him better, eternal life! But when we sow into the flesh, we reap a foothold from Satan, which translates to corruption. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." He has provided a way of escape everytime! Just make sure you do not go far enough in entertaining the sin that you make that verse to appear to be a lie, because it is not! If the Word of God is not working for us, it is not that it is powerless, it is that we are not appropriating it correctly! I hope this has been a blessing to you all! Jesus wants to present us with joy and blameless! Isn't our Savior so beautiful, He gave us the comforter so we would not be powerless! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Sincerely, your fellow laborer
Chris Goff
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7
"Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
"and do not give the devil a foothold" Ephesians 4:27
"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Galatians 5:16
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Galatians 6:7-8
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 1:24&25
I know what you are thinking, "That's alot of verses to cover!". The reason I have used so many verses here is because I believe that this strand of verses help us understand how it is actually possible to overcome sin in our lives. I believe in some Christian circles it is taught that we cannot help but sin all of the time. While it is true that we stumble, the Bible separates this sin from the sin of gross misconduct. When we sin it should genuinely be a blindsiding event, not something we heartily give ourselves to, the Bible speaks against this kind of revelry. The Bible says that the wicked are the ones who enjoy sin and give hearty approval to others that do the same things. I have heard people say that some Christians have their "pet sins", and this should not be. If this is our mentality, don't think you should receive anything from the Lord in prayer! No wonder we come up with doctrines that say the gifts are not operable anymore! If we wouldn't grieve the Spirit and begin to fear the Lord again, I believe we will see things that will blow our minds! In the words of pastor Timothy Davis I quote, "The first miracle Jesus performed was He did not sin." Jesus is the one who said "Go and sin no more lest something worse befall you". Now those words of Jesus do not sound like a "sin everyday" attitude.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to CLEANSE us from all unrighteousness". This verse in 1 John is not a verse in theory. Sometimes we look at Christ's sacrifice as "in theory" and not an active support against our battle with sin. This verse not only says He will forgive us our sins, but also that He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness! Ok, this is great! But now you may ask, "how do I actively confess?". The answer lies in 1 John 1:7, which says if WE WALK IN THE LIGHT AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT THEN...THEN...THEN...THEN! THE BLOOD OF JESUS CLEANSES US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS! I put alot of emphasis on "THEN" on purpose. See we want it backwards sometimes, we want the feeling before we act, and Jesus commands different (see devotional, "But I Want You To Go First!"). This is a very insightful truth, you reap what you sow! Sow into the Spirit (walk in the light as He is in the light) and you will what? Reap eternal life! Sow into the flesh (retain "pet sins") and then what? You will reap corruption! See it can either be a beautiful helpful cycle, or it can be a vicious cycle that works against us, you will reap what you sow! Have you ever met someone that it just seems like everything is going peachy in their walk with Christ? That may not be an accident. The reason you are still struggling with the sin could be because you are not ceasing to sin and you are continually giving the devil a foothold, and the other person is not. You see, when we give Satan a foothold, that sin becomes harder and harder to overcome! Why? Because those that sow into the flesh will reap what? Corruption! Do you see this beautiful truth? What is everlasting life? To know the Father. Sin separates us from God correct? It fractures our relationship with Him! So if we want to reap eternal life a.k.a. reap knowing Him intimately now, we must begin to cease from sin! Now let's talk about the "How?"
2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
We have Paul telling Timothy to flee the lusts of the flesh and not only to flee but to pursue righteousness! Why? Again! Because he that sows unto the flesh will reap corruption (a worse struggle with their sin that will take them farther down) but he that sows to the Spirit (pursues righteousness, faith, charity, peace) will reap eternal life! And eternal life is what again? To intimately know the Father! So we need to pursue good Godly relationships, we need to be zealous for good works! We need to plug into our churches and give ourselves to the Lord Jesus' work! Build up don't tear down! When you purpose in your heart to genuinely please the Lord by ceasing to sin is when you will get the spiritual resource to actually begin stopping it.
Now what all of the previous acts do for us is enable us to get in the Spirit! Galatians 5:16 says, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." See that! If you walk in the Spirit YOU WILL NOT FULFILL THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH! But why? (lol ;)) Because he that sows into the Spirit will reap what? Eternal life! The blood of Jesus to literally cleanse us from our immediate, present sin, not my sinfulness in theory! When we sow into the Spirit, the Spirit is not grieved and we receive all the resource we need to beat up on the enemy. (see devotional entitled "Rhema Resistance") But when we sow into the flesh or a.k.a. give Satan a foothold, now the sin has become stronger and greater and we begin to be deceived to the point where we believe it cannot be overcome. I want to tell you right now that that's a lie from the pit of hell to keep you from receiving what God has for you! I have heard people blame God for their sinful condition, and it is simply not true! Understand what I am about to say, please! Even when you begin to cease from sin, it could seem difficult at first. The reason being is found in the verse 2 Timothy 3:12, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." That persecution is given by the enemy because the last thing he needs is another enlightened person making his job harder than it has to be. And also remember that we may have sown corruption for years, and at times, that harvest still must surface. Just as King David reaped the sword never leaving his home, so we can reap things here on earth that are flat out unpleasant. But do not, I repeat, DO NOT lose heart even when things do not seem right! Why? Because the Bible says in Galatians 6:9, "for in due time you will REAP A HARVEST IF YOU DO NOT GROW WEARY!"
Now for probably one of the most beautiful, glorifying verses of our PRECIOUS LORD AND SAVIOR! "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 1:24&25 Wonderful! We are not bound because our Savior is fully capable of keeping us from stumbling! When we appropriate His truths and abide in Him, we reap the spiritual resource to keep us from falling. Why? (I am drilling this because I need it as much as you brothers and sisters!) Because when we sow into the Spirit we reap knowing Him better, eternal life! But when we sow into the flesh, we reap a foothold from Satan, which translates to corruption. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." He has provided a way of escape everytime! Just make sure you do not go far enough in entertaining the sin that you make that verse to appear to be a lie, because it is not! If the Word of God is not working for us, it is not that it is powerless, it is that we are not appropriating it correctly! I hope this has been a blessing to you all! Jesus wants to present us with joy and blameless! Isn't our Savior so beautiful, He gave us the comforter so we would not be powerless! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Sincerely, your fellow laborer
Chris Goff
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