NOT OF THIS WORLD

 

NOT OF THIS WORLD

 

John 8:23   ²³ And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

What is being said here is that people are lost without Christ Jesus in their life. Being of Christ means you have accepted him as savior and you have been recreated and sealed by the Holy Spirit and are no longer of this world.

John 15:19   ¹⁹ If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

If you are of the world you would be looking to a way other than Christ Jesus and the cross. Because you are no longer of the world, you must refuse to accept the proposed solutions presented by the world.

Jesus says he has chosen us out of the world, meaning he has brought us out of the system of the world into the way of the Lord. This is why the world hates you. because you deny its proposed solutions and claim that Christ is the only answer. This impacts the pride of man.

John 16:33   ³³ These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Whenever things look dark, despite how they look we are to seek peace in Jesus’ words. He has all things under His control, trusting in what He has said.

He told us that we would have tribulation in this world but for us not to worry because He has overcome the world.

We must rely on these words to experience the divine life in this world. The world is in direct opposition to Jesus’ words because it is Satan’s objective to disturb our peace and trust in Jesus.

Jesus has overcome the evil of this world through the cross so that we can overcome the evils of this world too.

John 17:14-17   ¹⁴ I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

¹⁵ I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

¹⁷ Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

As long as believers are in this world, living for the Lord, their spirits are protected from the evils of Satan, marked by the Lords truth. God promises one day he will take his children home to Him. Until then Jesus prays for our spiritual well being and pleads for our safekeeping.

We are called as Christians to be engaged in the world but not of the world or opposing God in their ways and thoughts. We as Christians should be a shining light in the darkness to reach people for the Lord.

Sanctify them through your truths is referring to the word of God. it alone must be the criteria for all things. Your word is truth is saying that the bible doesn’t just contain truth, it is the truth of God.

John 14:17   ¹⁷ Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

This is referring to the word of God, which those who are not of Christ Jesus can not understand. Christ Jesus is the truth; without him the world cannot receive the truth.

The Holy Spirit cannot come into the heart of an unbeliever until that person makes Jesus his or her savior. The unsaved don’t see Jesus and do not know him. Only by being born again can they understand the word and the Holy Spirit and have that personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As a believer we know Him. He dwells within and shall be with us. This is as it was on the day of Pentecost and every day since then for those who accept Jesus as savior. He has paid for our sins and wiped our debt of sin clean by his work on the cross. Forever giving us access to the Father and forgiveness for our trespasses.

Romans 12:2   ² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We must not fit into this world’s ways, or come in agreement with its ways, but transformed by the renewing of our minds with the word of God. We can not serve two masters, the world and God.

Your mind is part of your soul. We must start thinking spiritually and realizing that all things are furnished to us through the cross and are obtained by faith and not works.

The acceptable and perfect will of God presents that which the Holy Spirit is attempting to bring about within our lives and can only be obtained by making the finished work of Christ Jesus the object of our faith.

1 John 2:15   ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

God the Father will not share the love that must be exclusively to him and not the world. Satan is the one who orders the systems of this world, therefore if you love the world the love for the father is not within you.

1 John 4:17   ¹⁷ Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Our love is made complete by a continued confession of Christ Jesus as the son of God and knowing what He did for mankind.

As He is, so are we in this world. Christ is totally victorious: due to the fact that we are in Him we too can be totally victorious in this world.

Remember always that we are not of this world, we are just passing through on our way to Heaven.

The Purpose of Repentance

 

The Purpose of Repentance

 

Matthew 3:1-2   3 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

² And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

In those days immediately preceding the introduction of Christ Jesus, came John the Baptist preaching in the area near Jericho. He was encouraging the people to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. John recognized the people were going in the wrong direction.

John was saying, I baptize you with water unto repentance. Water baptism was an outward act of an inward word being carried out. He spoke of Christ who was coming after him. Saying of the Christ, who was to come after him that He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit with fire.

John was only a forerunner for our Lord and savior, Christ Jesus. When Jesus came to John to be baptized it was signifying the greatest moment in human history thus far, the beginning of the earthly ministry of Christ Jesus.

This baptizing of Jesus was to testify of his death, burial and resurrection, of which the water baptism is a type of. As Jesus came up out of the water, he came up praying. The heavens opened up. Heaven had been closed to man since the fall in the garden of Eden. Now through Jesus it would open up.

That being said, what then is the purpose of repentance. Repenting is when you are telling God that you are sorry for your sins, asking him to forgive you. Never say you have no sin in your heart, the word says different.

Romans 3:23   ²³ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

The word All represents all humans saved and unsaved. Even the most righteous among us continue to come short of the glory of God on a continuing basis. Why, because we live in a flesh body, in a corrupt world that is under Satan’s deception and wickedness.

John 10:10   ¹⁰ The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The devil says I come to steal and destroy, Jesus says, I come that you might have life and life in abundance. We shouldn’t focus on negative thinking; we need to stay focused on the word.

Luke 24:47-48   ⁴⁷ And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

⁴⁸ And ye are witnesses of these things.

Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name. There are not a lot of preachers that are teaching repentance from their pulpit. This is how we present Gods method of proclaiming His word and carrying out his will, any other method is unscriptural.

Gods plan of salvation is for all regardless of race color or culture. It is meant for the whole world.

We are witnesses of these things through the written word of God Christianity was not begun due to enlightened philosophy as with some religions, it was begun by men and women who witnessed the incarnate son of God in all his earthly ministry, as well as his death and resurrection.

They saw it happening and they testified to it.

2 Peter 3:9   ⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Sometimes God delays the fulfillment of His promises for the purpose of getting more people into the Kingdom of God. God is long suffering with man, hoping man will reach a place of repentance.

The dispensation of the cross has been the longest of all and it is because God keeps calling sinners to be saved. He made a way through the cross and the finished work of Christ Jesus for all to be saved. Sadly some refuse to repent and accept the way of the cross, they continue in their sin and do not repent.

Now that you understand the purpose of repentance you might think: but brother Andy when I had a conversion change by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior didn’t that remove all my sins? Past, present and future sins? Yes if your conversion experience was a heartfelt meaningful meeting with the Lord, your conversion will do that.

Ephesians 1:13   ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

When at the time you were saved all your sins were set apart from you. that is called sanctified, which means as if you had never sinned. At this time your spirit was sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Now your spirit can not sin, however you still live in a flesh body in a corrupt world. You still have human desires and weaknesses. You are made up of body-soul-and spirit. Your spirit has been sealed and can’t sin but your soul and physical body can and will sin.

This is the reason we need to repent every day of our lives. When you make Jesus the Lord of your life you will be in a battle with the world the flesh and the devil. You will be faced with many temptations, and give in to some. Some days I must repent multiple times. I want my Lord and God to know I love him and am sorry for sinning.

When we sin and repent, God puts our sins in a sea for forgetfulness and they are gone forever. We already have the victory because of Jesus’ death on the cross. I have confidence that you and I will win this battle by the grace of God. Jesus walks with us no matter what is going on in our lives.

Continue to repent, continue to thank God. The word tells us to pray unceasingly. I believe you can do this. Remember the battle is already won.

Stay in the word,

Brother Andy

VICTORY OVER THE DARKNESS

 

VICTORY OVER THE DARKNESS

 

John 8:32   ³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Jesus promises His people that, “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” If it takes the truth to make us free, then we must seek the truth that John is speaking of.

Our identity in Christ Jesus is a fundamental truth that we believers need to understand, if we are to experience this promised freedom and grow to maturity in our Christian faith.

We tend to identify ourselves and each other by what we look like, what we do and perhaps even our denominational preference. Is who you are determined by what you do, or look like, or believe in or is what you do, look like and believe determining who you are.

Your understanding of who you are is the critical foundation for your belief structure and your behavior patterns as a Christian. The only identity equation that works in Gods kingdom is you plus Christ. You plus Christ equals wholeness and gives your life meaning.

In Gods kingdom everyone has the same opportunity for a meaningful life. The wholeness and meaning of life are not products of what you have or don’t have. What you’ve done or haven’t done. In Christ you are already a whole person and already possess a life of infinite meaning and purposes because you are a child of God.

The truth is the key to having victory over darkness. The truth is His word. His word is His will for our lives which is the glory of God within us through Christ Jesus.

Colossians 1:26-27   ²⁶ Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

²⁷ To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

As you were born again, that rebirth, caused the glory of God in you. the faith of God is in you and the mind of Christ is in you. More important the love of God is in you. you have to walk in that glory even in the face of the devil’s attacks on your life.

Dare to release your expectancy of glory and before long you will realize you have it and more. There is no glory in the god of unbelievers because Satan and all he stands for is their god.

When your belief system is intact and your relationship with God is based on truth you will have little if any difficulty working out the practical aspects of daily Christianity.

1 John 5:4-5   ⁴ For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

⁵ Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

If we follow Gods prescribed order, we will overcome the darkness of the world. Faith in Gods word and what was finished at the cross gives us the victory over the darkness of the world.

This darkness that I am speaking of is some of the evil things that we are seeing on the news of today, killing for no reason, cheating, hating each other, stealing, looting, and many other sorts of meanness.

These things are the works of darkness and the devil is having a hay day. Convincing people that this is ok, it is not ok and never will be. An unbeliever cannot understand what I am trying to say, because they know nothing of God and live carnally.

Until they make Jesus the Lord of their lives by accepting him as savior, they will never have this spiritual wisdom. Wisdom comes by the Holy Spirit, people who have not accepted Jesus as Savior do not have the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit does give spiritual knowledge. Wisdom and knowledge are not the same.

1 Corinthians 12:8   ⁸ For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

Jeremiah 4:22   ²² For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

God is saying here that people are sots, or stupid, or drunks and do not know me. They are wise to do evil but have no idea how to do good.

They have no knowledge of God, despite the fact that they were Gods people. Their lack of knowledge of God was due to their abandonment of the word.

To many people listen to the knowledge of men and have no desire to learn of the knowledge of the word.

Proverbs 9:10   ¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Once again, the Holy Spirit tells us that all of our knowledge is futile unless we have the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.

This truth will give you victory over the evil spirit of darkness.

Stay in the word,

Brother Andy

CREATED IN HIS IMAGE

 

CREATED IN HIS IMAGE

 

Genesis 1:26-27   ²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

The creation of humans as male and female, forms the high point of the chapter. Unlike the rest of creation man and woman were created in Gods image, able to reason, to create and to commune with their creator. Gods desire is always to rescue that which he values most highly, the human race.

 We are made in the image of the triune God, which is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, not only us but they too are relational beings. Likeness indicates physical similarity, not just a spiritual resemblance.

Both male and female at creation was made in Gods image. Proving that neither gender is superior to the other. They each equally reflect his character and are Gods masterpiece.

Genesis 3:16   ¹⁶ Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

This change came about after they disobeyed God in the garden of Eden. It is what God said to Eve.

Genesis 3:17   ¹⁷ And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

God said this to Adam. Adam bore the weight of the curse of the ground, not humans. No curse was put on Adam and Eve, only the serpent and the ground.

When Christ returns after the seven-year tribulation to rule and reign on this earth during the millennium, life will resume as it was before the curse. Full resolution will be the eternal state.

Being created in the image of God is like when you take a photo of another person, the photo you have taken is only an image of the person, not the person itself.

God desires we as humans to seek Him as our heavenly Father, not just as an image. He walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden before the fall. He just wants to love us and for us to love Him and put Him first in our lives.

Your image of who you are is your identity and we must guard our identity and shift it to reflect God in our every day lives. The way to do that is to believe in Gods word. It will produce faith. Faith grows out of us reading and believing in the word of God, not by praying for more faith.

Prayer does not cause faith to work, faith causes prayer to work. Our faith should never be allowed to stand still, we must expect the word of God to come to pass and believe it will manifest what we pray.

Faith is released by your words, supported with action. Once you understand how faith works you will understand how to bring things from the unseen realm of God to the seen realm of planet earth.

Romans 8:37-39   ³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Gods eyes we are more than conquers, we are in Christ, and Christ is in us. It is called the great exchange.

Not only was man created in the image of God but was created in Gods class to be the associate and companion of Deity.

Mark 9:23   ²³ Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

All things are possible to God, and we are born of God: which makes all things possible to the new creation, which are the believers. He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

2 Timothy 1:7   ⁷ For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

The person who realizes he is actually been born again in Gods image will no longer be lorded over by Satan through fear and sin.

Isaiah 54:14-15   ¹⁴ In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.

¹⁵ Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.

We have been trouble minded, poverty minded, sickness minded, weakness minded, and death minded. We have therefore been busy attending to all of these things.

Proverbs 4:20-23   ²⁰ My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

²¹ Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

²² For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

²³ Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

We must look to Gods word as the final authority in our lives bringing our spirit into the ascendance by meditation on the word of God. You can’t be a doer of the word and talk in unbelief.

God is a spirit, those that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. The soul praises God the spirit worships God. Worship is man’s reaction to Gods holiness and his word. It means to bow down before Him. Putting His word absolutely as number one in our lives.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31   ³⁰ But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

³¹ That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

There are four major forces of the recreated human spirit. Faith, righteousness, wisdom, and love. Faith is not the product of reason, it is born of the human spirit at the time of conversion.

The reborn person is a faith being and is to live in the likeness of His heavenly Father. To live as one with God, is a far higher and more divine life than to simply live our life in submission to God.

We must seek to become righteous minded and lean hard on God given righteousness and believe that He can do all things. Don’t be inferior minded. Be bold in your praise and worship, seek Him as a loving Father. He is waiting for us to reach out to him in loving worship.

Stay in the word.

Brother Andy

HAVING DONE ALL TO STAND!

 

HAVING DONE ALL TO STAND!

 

Ephesians 6:13-14   ¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Because of the circumstances of what we are facing today, is referring to the resisting and opposing of the powers of darkness. We must stand, because as a believer we are not to give an inch. There is no plan B, there is no other option.

I’m going to try to explain what is happening in our nation. There are leaders in our government, some moral, others govern by evil, evil spirits are working in them to do their evil deeds.

Their god is not the God of the believer, it is a demonic god called Satan. He is the one influencing these leaders. As long as they follow him there will be chaos.

Matthew 6:24   ²⁴ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

The problem is the lust for money and power. I don’t judge these people because honestly, they don’t have a clue what the end is, most of them are old. God the Father will judge them.

This is what Jesus was talking about. You can’t serve two masters. The word mammon means money. Money is not evil; the love of money is the root of evil.

Hosea 4:6   ⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Spiritual wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discerning only come from God through the Holy Spirit. Gods wisdom is a wisdom that doesn’t belong to this world or to the rulers of this world.

1 Corinthians 2:7   ⁷ But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Gods wisdom leads sinful men to the great sacrifice, the offering up of Jesus on the cross which paid the terrible sin debt of man and all who will believe.

I won’t say these people in government that are getting ready to rip the American way of life from us are not saved, however, I will say I don’t know a Holy Spirit filled person of God that wants a government that operates on a socialist platform.

This insanity and demonic thinking is coming from a people you don’t want to socialize with.

1 Corinthians 1:19   ¹⁹ For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

In other words, God will reject the intelligence of the intelligent people and of this world system. If you only have worldly wisdom, your foundation will crumble. Your foundation must be framed on the inspired word of God, just as our constitution was.

Psalms 15:5   ⁵ He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

We were not purchased with such corruptible things as silver and gold but the precious blood of Christ Jesus.

Psalms 55:22   ²² Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

This should be a tremendous encouragement to all true believers. Give your burdens to the Lord and leave them there.

Psalms 62:6   ⁶ He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.

Once again, the word is used only concerning his Rock which is Gods salvation, I shall not be moved.

Psalms 66:9   ⁹ Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.

Holding our soul in life means the preserving of our salvation. Our feet not to be moves refers to having on the whole armor of God with which we are able to stand against all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Psalms 121:3   ³ He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

As long as our foot is anchored on the path of His word, he will see to it that nothing can move it off.

Hebrews 12:28   ²⁸ Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

This is referring to our entrance into the kingdom of God. all was made possible by the cross, and Jesus, and the means by which we obtain grace.

By staying in the word of God we can declare, I shall not be moved.

Here is affirmation of Gods eternal vigilance for his people, the believers. The danger could be great if God does not intervene in the dangerous days ahead. The ruin of America could be inevitable, Satan has already got his evil grip on our country.

Matthew 7:14   ¹⁴ Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Jesus consistently teaches the difficulty of following Him. There are two roads: one is to follow Him. The second is to follow the world. We still have two choices, if God the Father decides to send Jesus to rapture the church, His people, then the chance of having a choice is gone.

Matthew 7:21   ²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Without a personal relationship with Christ Jesus, religious words and religious ways that is attending church, performing good works have no value. It is in our personal relationship with Jesus, or Jesus will say to you I never knew you. These are words you do not want to hear. If you are ready to have a personal relationship with Jesus pray this prayer. Jesus, I recognize you as my savior, I want you to come into my heart and my life. Live in me and lead me daily with your Holy Spirit. Amen

Until next week,

Stay in the word.

Brother Andy