So if we are promised to always triumph in Christ Jesus, when we don’t are we In Christ Jesus In that moment, that situation, that need? Not that we lose our position but our perspective and that makes all the difference in the world. Does it really boil down to an identity crisis? These works and greater shall you do said Jesus. What stops these works and greater? The condition of our hearts effects how we see; that instead of waiting for results and then believing, we believe and then results must follow. But it’s not a mental assent, or confession, or working up, it’s revelation.
“Only believe” what a word of freedom. Only believe Him...Only believe His Word...Only believe who He said you are, Only believe what he said you could do through Him. (Pretty exclusive word only). Only one way to the Father.....that’s not just for eternal life that’s for everyday life, every moment, every situation, every healing, every hurdle.
Do we know Who we belong to?
And Who is in us?
And who we are?
And who He is?
- Christ in us the hope of Glory
- The fullness of Him who fills all in all
- The righteousness of God in Christ Jesus
To name a few.......
Following Jesus will cost everything you are not! Even your thoughts, your words, your worries.....as HE said to the scribe Matthew 8:22 ,”Follow Me and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Every thought/feeling that does not bring His peace, that refuses to recognise His truth and that denies the Word of God is dead....it’s death. Life and death are in the tongue (but what about in the mind?). Why are we told we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind not our tongue...the tongue...speech follows the mind and if the mind does not follow Jesus, than neither does our tongue.
We can’t follow Jesus and what is dead at the same time...it’s one or the other. When thoughts just like pain ( e.g. a migraine) strikes, we either follow Jesus whose stripes we were healed by or we follow death and agree with the pain. If I am in a crisis why should I count it all joy? Because to follow Him brings joy....freedom...life. Negative thoughts are painful...so when they swoop into the attic of our minds it’s exactly the same as the pest of pain...you cast it out. Otherwise they roost and rot and decay...in a word bring Death.
Jesus asks for no compromises because if we do compromise we will suffer, and if we do compromise there is only death. We are either with (follow) Him or we are with (follow) death. He is called the way, the truth and the life. We can’t serve two masters; Jesus and fear at the same time.
Follow Me and let the dead bury their own dead. Let us follow you Lord in our very thoughts and let the dead (negative thoughts) bury their own dead, In Jesus name.
There is No Substitute for the Gospel
For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:2-6
The glamour and glitz of signs, wonders,healings,and miracles have recently in many church circles come to replace the raw eternal power of the Cross of Christ. Yet we are told in the Scriptures "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" Many are being seduced by a lust for power, yes God's power, His dunamis for their own promotion. The insidiousness of this is that it appears as godly....Let's admit, who doesn't want the sick healed, the dead raised and the demonized delivered? The problem is the focus is not on Christ and His Cross (1Cor.2:2-5), but on miracles, signs and wonders. This is how the enemy perverts what is right, what is true, what is of God and twists it for his own agenda. The only reason this perversion works is mankind is still often controlled by the lusts of the flesh, the pride of life and lust of the eyes (1John 2:16). This is of the world the Scripture says, not of the Father. A "look at me and what I have done" attitude is brimming in the Church. Competition and rivalry of who has accomplished more in the marketplace is rampant. What may have began as a desire to reveal the goodness and power of GOD, has become a contest to see who heals the most. Accolades are given to those in the streets 'demonstrating His power'; it has almost been transformed into a series of congratulatory events....pats on the back. Little if any mention is given to the Gospel. If people are confessing Christ because of a 'sweetner', a healing, a sensation, a word of knowledge or prophesy where is the Cross of Christ? When trials and difficulties encroach, as they will, what keeps someone following after Jesus, picking up their cross daily, living for HIM? Yes we can glibly say, the Holy Spirit will take care of it.....but what of their original understanding that we have shared, what quality does it have; if they were introduced to HIM as a treat, a fix, a temporary solution to a temporary problem? They are being set up to fail, for when testing comes they will often be the first to fall away. When we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts Jesus Christ, it is for life; it is meant to be union, relationship, eternal...not a fad , something cute or alluring. When Jesus performed many miracles , He did not entrust Himself to the people (John2:23-24). Why? The Scripture states because He knew their hearts. And He knows ours. We are all familiar with the verse that declares many will come to Him and say Lord, Lord look at the mighty works I have done in YOUR name and He will say, depart from me I never knew you, you workers of iniquity. Let us never fall into such a horrific category.
In some circles, people are using healing because well, the Gospel didn't work, so to speak. The adage of “People rejected it so let's get them in by healing.” As if it is us “getting them” in the first place. If the Gospel is rejected, it is between a person and GOD. We are not to try to entice them by the spectacular . One of the main reasons some in the West reject the Gospel, is it is a false Gospel being preached. There is no power in a false Gospel but all power in TRUTH. In 2Cor. 4:2-6 it states that “...light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God... is what transmutes hearts. The transforming work of the Gospel is not by our hands, but by His Spirit. The blood shed by Jesus Christ for the remission of sins is the power of the Gospel. We ask the Holy Spirit how to share the Gospel to a hungry world; perhaps with signs following, perhaps with tears flowing and always with humility in our hearts.
“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."( 1 Corinthians 2:2-5 )This demonstration of power by the Holy Spirit, is regularly claimed to be miraculous in a physical nature only, but that is limiting the Spirit. He draws mankind through the Gospel.....the power is within the very nature of the Gospel itself. Once one accepts the call , then by the Holy spirit they are transformed. I”f anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor.5:17). Yes we can heal the sick, cast out demons and the set the captives free, through Him and Him through us; but let us ensure healing/miracles/deliverance does not supplant salvation. For it is not healing the sick, but setting the captives free by preaching the Gospel that is our commission from the Master. His final words. (Matthew 28:19-20) Let us not metamorphose into showmen, selling our wares: healing, miracles, signs....for when the Gospel becomes about us, it is no longer the Gospel.
“"For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel." 1 Corinthians 9:16-18
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