Gabriel

I came across a man the other day and I introduced myself after we were talking for a few minutes. Naturally,  the conversation shifted to God and his word. I just can’t help it, I love talking about Jesus and God’s word. He revealed to me he believed Gabriel was his saviour. I said, really? He was dead serious.

This guy was not some 18 or 20 year old that had been polluted from government run public schools. This guy was about 70 years old. He was tall and lanky but I sensed he was timid. When I asked how he could believe Gabriel was his saviour he proceeded to tell me about these books he had read.

So I asked him, have you read the Bible? He said yes. So I asked him, if you read the Bible, how can you believe Gabriel is your saviour? He referred back to his other books. When I first got saved I might have said to him something like – oh, so you are calling God a liar, right? You just don’t believe God or his word, you choose to believe heretics, right?

Since then, the Holy Spirit has worked overtime with me to teach me how to manifest the “fruit” of the Spirit – love, patience, longsuffering, and such as mentioned in Galatians 5:22-24. But one key the Lord has shown me is their minds are blinded to the truth. And it is not God blinding people but they choose to believe a lie because they are deceived.

It is only when someone, with a pure heart to know the real truth, asks God to show them, teach them truth, then God teaches them. And God may use examples from this earthly realm but all real truth comes from God’s word. If people do not believe God’s word, they willfully choose to be ignorant Romans 10:3 KJV  “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

And just because someone does not believe God’s word or even parts in God’s word, does not mean what God says will not come true. It is like the rapture of the church. Some believe it will be before the Great Tribulation and some do not. One day, both will see.

But this guy trusting Gabriel as his saviour troubled me. I remember when we said, talk to you later and I walked away, I said, Lord, how can people believe that stuff. The Lord put 2 words on my heart and those 2 words were – “my word”. The Lord was telling me he does not believe God’s word.

The name Gabriel means angel by definition. Students of the word of God know there are spirit beings. There are angels, Seraphins, Cherubim, principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, seducing spirits and Archangels, to name a few.

When it comes to archangels we learned from scripture, there were 3: Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer. Michael is the archangel of battle as we see in many areas but one example is Jude 1:9 KJV  “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”

Gabriel announced or revealed things as we read in Daniel 8:16-27 he interprets Daniel’s vision, he reveals the prophecy of the 70 weeks in Daniel, he announced the birth of John the Baptist in Luke and he announced the birth of Jesus Christ in Luke. In these mentions of Gabriel, we are told that God dispatched Gabriel. Gabriel did not decide to come on his own.

Then there was Lucifer and we know he rebelled against God and convinced one third of the angels in heaven to follow him, not God. God cast them out of heaven and they are now, the prince and powers of the air. They can access heaven and go before God but they don’t stay in heaven.

But we also know there is a coming war, a big one. A war like we have never seen. A war that takes place in heaven between angels. Revelation 12:7-9 KJV
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
[8] And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
[9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

Many believers say it will be Gabriel sent to call the bride home. Gabriel sounds the trumpet they say. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 KJV  “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
[16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
[17] 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.”

Angels are created beings, not a god. Speaking of Jesus Christ God’s word tells us, Colossians 1:12-19 KJV
“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
[13] Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
[14] In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
[15] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
[16] For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
[17] And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
[18] And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
[19] For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;”

Some believers think the rapture of the church is coming around the time of year when the Feast of Trumpets happen. Others believe the rapture to be in springtime because that is when God sent the Holy Ghost ( on Pentacost). The Feast of Trumpets is when many believers believe Jesus was really born and the announcing, by Gabriel, of the birth of Christ.

It is not about when these things happen. It is about are you ready? Have you settled things with God in your heart and mind before hand so you are not left out? Gabriel is no Saviour, only the Lord Jesus Christ. John 14:6-7 KJV
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
[7] If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”

Philippians 2:9-11 KJV  “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
[10] That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
[11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Happy Feast of Trumpets / Rosh Hashanah a holiday not from man, but a holiday and celebration declared and set up by God. So let’s celebrate.
Until next time.

BOSM Right of First Born Part 2

Understanding why Jacob wanted the birthright of the firstborn so much is foundational to building our spiritman. Why? Because Jacob wanted something, the birthright, so much he bargined with his brother Esau to get it. Jacob wanted something he could not see, taste, smell or touch. He wanted something based on words, promises.

The blessings of the firstborn was established before the law was given. Abraham gives all he has to his firstborn between he and Sarah, Isaac. See Genesis 25:5,6.

The Lord tells Isaac’s wife Rebekah she is going to have twins and the older will serve the younger in Genesis 25:20-23. This meant something out of the ordinary was going to happen. Normally,  the first born male is responsible to take care of the family as second in command to the father. So when the Lord told Rebekah the older would serve the younger, Rebekah knew that was unusual.

The right of the first born was well established with Esau and Jacob in Genesis 25:31 but, Abraham practiced it too between Ishmael and Isaac. Although Ishmael was born about 13 years before Isaac, Ishmael was not born to Abraham and his wife Sarah. Ishmael was born to a bond servant, Sarah’s hand maiden.

So Jacob’s boys grow up and Esau willingly sells his brother Jacob his birth right for food and later blames Jacob for stealing it. Esau willingly sold it, see Genesis 25:27-34 and Genesis 27:32-41.

Moses acknowledged the right of the first born after the law was given, see Deuteronomy 21:15-17. So we see the right of the first born is before the law was given and after the law was given. So what can we conclude about the “doctrine of the right of the first born”?

The right of the first born is further explained by Moses in Deuteronomy 21:15-17 KJV  “If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:
[16] Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:
[17] But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.”

Remember when Jesus told of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32? The younger son wanted his inheritance and when the younger came back is when the older (first born) son was told Luke 15:30-32 KJV  “But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
[31] And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
[32] It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”

And then, a “better” explanation of the right of the first born and how it applies, is in  2 Chronicles 21:1-3 KJV  “Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
[2] And he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.
[3] And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn.”

Notice the father gives silver, gold, precious things, fenced cities in Judah to his sons? But the kingdom he gave to Jehoram because he was his firstborn son.

Yes there were times when the first born lost his birth right. Esau lost his to Jacob. Jacob first married Leah and 7 years later Rachel. Reuben was Jacob’s first born with Leah. But years later, after 10 sons and 1 daughter, Joseph is born to Rachel as her first born son. Then Benjamin. But King David was not the first born.

Jesus is the firstborn, the Son of God. God manifest in the flesh. So by definition in the scriptures, Jesus gets all the Father has, even the kingdom. And the Father gives his children silver, gold, precious things, fenced cities, he gives the kingdom to his son, the first born among many brethren.

The next question, is this gold, silver, precious “things” for this physical earthly world? 1 Corinthians 3:11-21 KJV  “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
[12] Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
[13] Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
[14] If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
[15] If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
[16] Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
[17] If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
[18] Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
[19] For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
[20] And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
[21] Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;”

Until next time.

Footnote:
BOSM stands for Building Our Spirit Man.

Building Our Spirit Man

Understanding our spirit man is foundational to living in the spirit, walking in the spirit and being led by the Spirit as Paul tells us to do in Galatians 5. When we understand the spirit realm is something we can not see and even though we can not see spirits, we know there are spirits working. We know there are angels working. We know God is working. But we can not physically see any of these in this world, with our earthly eyes.

Building our spirit man is not about spirits or angels but about building our inner spirit man that we can not see. As I have said many times, it is not about what we see, feel, smell, taste and hear in this physical world. It is about what we do not physically see as Paul has made quite clear, to the church, the bride if Christ.

Can you see what you think? No. Oh you could imagine some things but you do not physically see your thoughts. So how can you “renew your mind” another words, change they way you think, if you can not see the need?

What you think and how you process information is determined by the way you think, your foundation for processing thoughts. That foundation helps you to set guidelines between right from wrong. Then you carry your conclusions into your physical earthly realm.

Hunger is a good example. When your body is hungry, your thoughts start to focus on getting food. If you can not find or get food, anxiety starts to set in. If you continue not getting food you start to plan what you must do to find food. So is it, your spirit man that needs the food? Or is it your physical body that needs food?

And that is what makes the example of Esau and Jacob so interesting. Esau was hungry and he got to a point that he was so hungry he would sell his birthright for food. Even though after he sold his birthright to eat eventually, he would get hungry again.

In both examples we discussed last time in our post Every Word Jacob and Esau and when Jesus was speaking to Satan in Matthew 4, nothing physically changed in this world, this realm. After Esau ate did anything physically change? No. After Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, was Jesus still hungry? Yes.

But was there a change? Absolutely. Esau did not loose his position as a son of Isaac. But Esau lost the birthright of the first born. And maybe it did not matter to him at the time he sold the birthright, but one day in the future it would matter to him. Scripture tells us later when the time came for the birthright to come into play, Esau cried and wanted it. In Genesis 27:32-41, Esau even blames Jacob when it wasn’t Jacob’s fault. Esau willingly sold his birthright to Jacob for food. See

Genesis 25:27-34 KJV  “And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
[28] And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
[29] And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
[30] And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage ; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
[31] And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
[32] And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
[33] And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
[34] Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.”

Jacob valued words, something he could not see. Those words made a promise of blessings and a double portion. Those words were all based in a future event. When the birthright was to go into action. We too have promises as the bride of Christ. These promises are going to go into action at a future time. Remember when Jesus said you have been faithful with little, I will make you ruler over much?

Yes, there are blessings in this world God gives us but our promises are all rooted and grounded “in Christ” and remember Romans 8:28-37 KJV
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
[29] For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
[30] Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
[31] What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
[32] He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? [33] Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
[34] Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
[36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
[37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

And we will continue this Strengthening of our Spirit Man. Until next time.

Every Word

As we said last time – In Matthew 4 when Jesus was tempted by Satan –

What was Satan’s focus? Turning rocks into bread to prove Jesus was the Son of God. So Satan was focusing on the rocks, the stones. Where were the stones? Laying on the ground. Satan and Jesus could see the stones, touch the stones. The stones were in this physical realm. In this world.

Jesus focused on what was not seen, the bread. Satan was focused on something in this physical earthly realm and Jesus focused on something not seen, the bread.

Last time I mentioned Esau and Jacob.  Sometimes I think of Esau selling his birthright for pottage to his brother Jacob. Genesis 25:28-34. Esau was focused on his hunger. He wanted food. The food was for his physical earthly body and Esau was willing to give up everything, his birthright, to satisfy his flesh in this physical realm. But Jesus would not change the stones into bread because his focus was not on food for his hungry body. Jesus focused on the spirit, something spiritual, and,  how man does not live by bread but by God’s word.

Did you ever wonder, why didn’t Jesus turn the rocks into bread? Could he have? Yes. Would turning rocks into bread be sin? No. Clearly, Jesus could have turned rocks into bread and after 40 days and nights without food and water he had to be hungry. So why didn’t he turn rocks into bread?

How he answers Satan tells us. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Jesus was teaching us that no matter what trials, tests or even hardships we face, don’t focus on the rocks turning to bread but focus on every word of God to get you through. Even when it doesn’t make sense.

Think about that. If you had gone 40 days and nights without food and water where would your focus be? Esau chose to focus on his stomach, on food for his earthly body. That choice made him loose all the blessings of the first born, the rights of the birthright.

When we choose to dismiss the promises God makes to us by getting mad at God, walking away from God or ignoring God, we loose on the promises God has made to us. Why? Because we focus on our flesh, our body in this physical world.

Friends, it is not about our flesh, our body and making things fluffy and nice for our flesh. When you think about Esau sold his birthright for food for his earthly body you can understand it is not about what we experience in our flesh, our body. It is about standing firmly on the word of God no matter how things look.

Paul warns us in many areas, we live in the spirit, not in the flesh. Our battles are not fleshly battles but battles against “spiritual wickedness”. We do not fight people in the flesh, we fight spiritual wickedness that is working through others. We are not told to hate people and we are not told to hate sin per say. But we are told to hate evil.

People do evil things but it is the influence of evil through spiritual wickedness. People are either influenced by God or evil. And the way God influences us is always through his word. Then we decide to believe God or not.

Learning to separate our flesh, our flesh’s desires and the sin of our flesh from our spirit man is key. Esau did not. And Jacob? Jacob knew the value of the birthright and he wanted it so bad he was willing to bargin with his brother to get it. Could Jacob see the birthright? No. But Jacob knew the birthright was based on promises made by God. So Jacob focused on something he could not see physically in this realm.

So Jacob focused on the promises of God regarding the birthright and Esau focused on food for his belly. Down the road, would Esau get hungry again? Yes. But he would never have the birthright again. And Jacob, down the road, will he still have the birthright? Yes.

We have promises from God. Don’t sell them  or sell out God because you might loose your home. Or maybe your body has a disease.  Or you lost your job. Or you may be going through a divorce or lonliness. All these are things of the flesh for this world. Things of the flesh. But hold fast to the promises of God because God heals diseases, gives people jobs, provides a roof over their head. And even if the flesh suffers, the spirit man will grow stronger and receive the promises and blessings.

Jacob and Esau knew the value of the birthright. But Jacob valued the birthright more than Esau, why? The birthright was not something they could see, touch, smell, eat. The birthright was based on God’s word, God’s promises. And Jacob valued God’s promises, God’s word more than Esau.

That is a lesson behind Jesus responding to Satan in Matthew 4. There is great value in living by what God says, what God promises and Jesus knew the value of living by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. We know God tells us he can not lie.

We have to question what we do to determine if it is a fleshly thing or spiritual. Then we can make informed decisions. Until next time.

Changing Focus

Did you ever stand in front of an orange tree or your garden and yell, grow? Then why do believers judge and condemn other believers because they have not grown in the Lord as fast? Or when a believer makes the wrong choice and falls, other believers are quick to condemn and point out their sins and write them off.

Jesus gave us examples of people who fall when he spoke of the shepherd who has 100 sheep and 99 stayed but one wondered off. The “good” shepherd leaves the 99 to go get the 1. And when Jesus taught about the prodigal son. In this case, the father did not go get him but he watched for his son to come home. In neither example did the Lord write them off. But today, Christians call people names and write them off. How is that Christ like?

Just as God created all of us uniquely and different, we have to understand believers grow differently too. Just as a squash plant grows differently that a tomato plant. Sure, water, sunlight and fertilizer may influence the growth of plants, humans are different. Humans have a free will. That free will does not come from one’s head, their mind, but it comes from their heart. An example?

Our parents. God has called each of us to use the gifts he has given us to further the gospel and to help one another. But what about your interaction with your parents and your children during these times of using your gifts for God. I am not talking about those who leave their families to follow Christ. I am talking about those who go back to their family to share Christ in hopes of winning their family members to Christ.

And when we win our family members we need to understand each one will grow at a different rate. What determines how fast they grow? Water (the word and the Holy Spirit teaching).
But there is one more ingredient specific to humans, free will. Another words, their heart’s desire. Even as we grow and are saved for 5, 10, 20 years and more, we still learn and grow. Some trees are 30, 50 and a 100 years old and they each have their own glory.

If we know that Jesus rose from the dead and gave us the Holy Spirit before he returned to heaven, then we know that God works through believers since Jesus went to heaven, through the Holy Spirit. And if you have pre-conceived thoughts, ideas or convictions about the Holy Spirit, how can God the Holy Spirit work with and through you? He can’t because you have set your heart like flint on your beliefs and your understanding.

As we pointed out last time, the Holy Spirit strengthens our inner man and our flesh fights what the Holy Spirit wants to do. Not only does our flesh fight the Holy Spirit but our soul ( mind, will and emotions) also fights because our soul tries to reason things. To understand things. And God’s word clearly teaches us God’s ways are not man’s ways.

So our flesh experiences things in this world through our senses. And our soul experiences things in our memory, reasoning, our imagination, affections and our conscience. The natural man, the unsaved person, lives in this realm. And sadly, many believers live in this realm too. God did not put verses about the spirit realm in his word to fill up copy in a book.

2 Corinthians 4:18 KJV  “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

John 6:63 KJV  “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

All those verses in Ephesians stating we wrestle not against flesh and blood but principalities, powers, rulers of darkness were put in scripture to teach us who we fight and how to fight our enemy, how we can succeed and win. And Jesus himself not only tells us but shows us how to fight and what to focus on, when he was tempted in Matthew 4.

None of the temptations had to do with things in this earthly realm from Jesus’ point of view. Remember,  Jesus was 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness without food and water. Matthew 4:1-3 KJV  “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
[2] And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
[3] And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

What was Satan’s focus? Turning rocks into bread to prove Jesus was the Son of God. So Satan was focusing on the rocks, the stones. Where were the stones? Laying on the ground. Satan and Jesus could see the stones, touch the stones. The stones were in this physical realm. In this world.

We would say, stones are turned into homes, walls, counter tops, walkways but not bread. But Jesus did not look at the stones from this world. Jesus did not focus on the stones in this earthly realm. How did Jesus respond? Yes he quoted scripture but did he ever mention the stones? No. Matthew 4:4 KJV  “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Jesus focused on what was not seen, the bread. Satan was focused on something in this physical earthly realm and Jesus focused on something not seen, the bread.

So when Satan tries to tempt, he will tempt in areas in the physical realm you can see. But there is more to this and we will look at it a little deeper next time. In the meantime, do you need a clue? Okay, Esau and Jacob.  Sometimes I think of Esau selling his birthright for pottage to his brother Jacob. Genesis 25:28-34. Until next time.

Getting The 7 Things

One of the prayers Paul prayed was the believers, saints, would know some keys.

Ephesians 3:14-21 KJV  “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
[15] Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
[16] That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
[17] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
[18] May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
[19] And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
[20] Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
[21] Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

Believers need to be strengthened in their inner man. The interesting thing about these verses is the preceeding verses in that same chapter. As I have mentioned before, Ephesians, Romans and Thessalonians are doctrinal books for the church age. And Paul was called to be an apostle to the church in the dispensation of grace. Not the old testament law and not during the great tribulation, but to the church in the age of grace.

The age of the law was from Moses to Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. The age of grace is from the resurrection of Jesus when Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to his disciples first and then to all believers who are in Christ. Until the removal or catching up of all believers before the great tribulation. Paul lays this out in 2 Thessalonians when he says,

2 Thessalonians 2:7-14 KJV  “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let , until he be taken out of the way.
[8] And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
[9] Even him , whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
[10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
[11] And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
[12] That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
[13] But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
[14] Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Some teach this is saying Michael the Archangel. I disagree. Clearly, scripture teaches there was a specific time God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell inside believers. There is also a specific time God has set when he will remove all believers in Christ before the great tribulation and Isaiah the prophet even declared this in Isaiah 57:1 KJV
“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come .”

Today, righteous people do perish, they die, and the world seems glad to get rid of them. But one day, the righteous will be taken away from the evil to come.

So back to Ephesians 3 we see Paul mentions principalities and powers in heavenly places – learn things about God’s plans, through the church. Ephesians 3:10 KJV  “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,”

Paul has been setting up how everything is based in Christ. Our blessings, promises, inheritance, our future is all rooted in and based in Jesus Christ. And Paul addresses our Heavenly Father God, based upon Paul being in Christ. And then Paul has a prayer to God the Father for believers. This prayer is written out at the top of this post. Paul lists 7 things he desires for believers. Can you find the 7 things? Once you find the 7 things, how do you get them? And we will pick it up next time.

Have a great weekend. Until next time.

Hiding Secrets?

Do you enjoy daytime and night time? Each has their own beauty and we can’t have the one without the other, here on earth. Just because we don’t understand why God does things the way he does, does not mean God does not have a purpose for things.

When we see God mentions two specific trees he put in the Garden of Eden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we have to believe God had a reason to put those trees in the garden.

We also know God does not tempt us with evil which tells us God did not put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden to tempt Adam and Eve with evil. So God had a reason why he put that tree there. Just because we do not know his reason does not mean he did not have a reason.

The tree looked nice, had good looking fruit and it looked desireable. But the tree had something hidden that could not be seen. Sure, there are a lot of messages that could be taught from this. How when we are considering a new job, or a mate, or moving or a career change, we see what others want to show us but the hidden things they hide.

Then you move, or take that new job or marry that person just to later find out they lied to you or they finally revealed the things they were hiding. And then you realize, it is too late. Too late to stop or change your mind.

But the interesting thing about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the secret of the tree. What was the secret?

Genesis 2:16-17 KJV “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
[17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Genesis 3:6 KJV  “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

Clearly, the tree would give them knowledge. Eve thought the tree would make her wise. So she took of the tree and gave some to Adam. Sure the tree looked good but the desire to know something they did not know appears to be their motive.

Today, people are on the same quest. They want to know about the unknown. They try to explain away creation. They spend billions of dollars trying to figure things out. When it comes to life in this world, learning and creating “gadgets” to simplify life is one thing. Or building houses or buildings is one thing. But when man tries to explain things God has hid from man, then man looks like an idiot.

Man tries to genetically modify plants and food supplies. Man tries to clone only to realize they can not make “the breath of life” so they take living cells from living animals to make their clones. Now man is trying to blend machines with man (think of the Borg from Star Trek) and they call it transhumanism.

Sometimes I think God looks down from heaven and laughs at how man tries to explain away things or replace God. If God wanted Adam and Eve to know about good and evil, he would have made them with that knowledge. But God didn’t.

And there are some things God’s word makes very clear, he does not want us involved in evil or wickedness. He does not want us involved in astrology or the spirit world. He has us in the physical world.

So we learn from God’s word there is a spirit world and God explains some things to us in his word. But God chose to hide the knowledge of the spirit realm from us. And frankly, I believe it is because God wants to protect us.

Does it mean the spirit realm does not exist? Oh no. But it does mean God chose to protect us by not revealing everything about that realm.

There are some however,  who will be like Adam and Eve and seek the knowledge but just like eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought death, eating of the knowledge of the spirit realm brings consequences. I do not need to see or hear spirits physically in this realm to know they are there. But I choose to let God protect me and keep me. I choose for the Lord to reveal things to me when he knows I am ready and can handle it.

As we seek God for guidance and direction in this world and to manifest lies from people, companies and even governments let us trust God to reveal things to us in his time, not ours. Until next time.

Deal With Inner Hurt

Your body may be in one place but you are where your mind is. You can be 70 years old but if you are 40 in your mind, you will live like a 40 year old, not a 70 year old. The same is true if you have been abandoned, raped, cheated on, divorced, your mind tells you I am a failure as a husband or wife. In the case of sexual abuse or rape, your mind tells you – you are dirty. Those thoughts you carry with you throughout your life. So when you meet someone new and after time the same problems pop up, you convince yourself of things that are not true.

When people bring their thoughts, fears, failures and emotions from your past into a new place, a new job, a new relationship you can cause the new to be like your past. Another words, if you do not learn from history, history is bound to repeat itself. If you do not learn from your experiences you are bound to repeat them. So let us learn from God so we do not repeat the same mistakes and so we can heal and help others.

When the same “type” of problem seems to happen over and over again, to you, it is not that the problem happens over and over but you are carrying the problem with you. You have to deal with the problem. 

Someone who was sexually abused as a child or raped as a youngster has a hard time with relationships. Often they have been married and divorced several times, had relationships out of marriage and find committed relationships difficult. The question is, why?

Is it their portion in life? No. Was that in God’s plan for them? No. Did God make the abuse or rape happen to them? No. And what happens is the person grows up carrying the hurt, deep hurt in their soul (mind, will and emotions) with them through their life. They bury the pain and hurt inside them and that hurt and pain stays in them and alters all their relationships.

When a husband or wife is unfaithful, that inner hurt comes back. As many of my regular readers know, my father left my mother for many women. I watched my mother, who was sexually abused as a child, by her father, grow to believe all men were sex perverts. Although my mother remarried later in her life, it was not until she was 80 years old when, through Jesus Christ, she could forgive her father.

Was my mother a failure as a wife and mother? No. Did God make my mother go through that hurt? No. God does not make bad things happen, he walks us through the bad things, holding our hand. So my mom carried the hurt with her for years.

Until you deal with the problem, the hurt and pain inside you, you can not get free. People who have been sexually abused or raped, especially as a child, loose trust. Someone they trusted hurt them. Someone older and bigger than them, who they trusted as a grown up or family member, hurt them and hurt them deeply.

Often you see a change in someone’s actions or behaviour after they were abused or raped. As the person grows up, it is hard for them to trust people. No matter who the person is, they can not fully trust them. Jesus understood this when he helped Mary Madeline.

Regardless of where you are physically in your body, if your mind is in a state of anger, hurt, betrayal and you don’t trust people, you carry those emotions into all your relationships. But we are told by God to walk in the spirit not the flesh and not our mind. So when you are born again, God wipes the slate clean and you start afresh.
2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

It does not matter if it is a failed business, sexual abuse, rape, financial loss, mortgage foreclosure, abortion, abandoned, or anything, you have to take it to God and leave it with Jesus at the cross. Then learn from your mistakes so you don’t repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Remember, you are not what your mind says you are and you are not your body, you are spirit. So live in the spirit.
Until next time.

Did Your Brook Dry Up?

1 Kings 17:1-8 KJV  “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
[2] And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
[3] Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
[4] And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
[5] So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord : for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
[6] And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
[7] And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
[8] And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,”

God tells Elijah to go hide himself near a brook. God has birds bring him food and he has the water from the brook for water. But notice, after a while the brook dries up. What does Elijah do? He moves. Sometimes we look at our job or career as our brook God provided.

God opens doors for us to work in certain fields and everything goes fine for years. But one day comes when the brook dries up. Some people get mad at God and walk away from the Lord. Others try to think their way into relief by doing things on a whim including,  taking any job they can, even if it is not what God is directing.

The interesting thing with Elijah, right after the brook dried up was one of Elijah’s greatest moments. It was after the brook dried up when Elijah said,

1 Kings 18:19 KJV  “Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.”

And the rest of 1 Kings 18 shows how God used Elijah and Israel saw the mighty hand of God work, after the brook dried up. Then after that, Jezebel hears her (false) prophets were killed by God through Elijah. So Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah.

We live where our head is. In 1 Kings 19 we saw Elijah ran from Jezebel and God sent his angels to help Elijah. If you live with a fear of loosing your house, your job, your health and such, you are living in fear. If you truly know you are a believer, a child of God, even if your brook dries up, God has something else for you to do.

Like Elijah was tired and God sent angels to help him, our life is not over just because we get worn out.

When you get weary and your brook dries up, it is usually a time of transition. If you stick with God during these times, like Elijah, you will know it is God sending his angels to help you. You will know the Holy Spirit is comforting and strengthening you.

When your brook dries up and you are weary, it is generally a time of transition. Elijah wanted to die and he even asked God to take his life. Our life is like the seasons. Just because you have gone through your springtime, youth where you planted a lot of seeds, and passed through your summertime, time of growth and seeds bringing forth their fruit, and move into the autumn of your life, it is harvest time.

If you planted good seeds through life or not, you still have a harvest. But notice after harvest time is winter. And after harvest we still have gleanings. Those late comers from your seeds are your gleanings.

Just because a brook dries up or you enter another season in your life, you always have the opportunity to do something for the Lord. It most likely will not be the same as your labours during spring and summer or autumn but, God still has something he wants you to do or you would not be here.

Like Elijah, after everything else and his time on earth was coming to an end, he met Elisha. He taught Elisha. And when Elisha saw how God was with Elijah and how God worked through Elijah, then

2 Kings 2:9-12 KJV  “And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
[10] And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless , if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so .
[11] And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
[12] And Elisha saw it , and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.”

Friend, when your brook dries up, it is usually a time of transition. Pray and ask God to strengthen you and direct you to your next assignment. Remember,  we are a vessel for God to work through to accomplish his will, not our will.

Until next time.

Running From Thoughts

Last time we mentioned Elijah the prophet of God, lived at a time, a very wicked man ruled in the northern kingdom of Israel. The wicked man was Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel. Interestingly, God tells Elijah to go to Ahab and speak to him and God even tells Elijah where he will find Ahab.

1 Kings 21 and 22 go into depth about Ahab but God tells Elijah to tell Ahab God is going to bring evil on him because Ahab sold himself to work wickedness ( 1 Kings 21:21-29). God also tells him his wife, Jezebel, is going to be eaten by dogs. (Not an allegory but real dogs).

Three years go by and sure enough Ahab is killed ( 1 Kings 22:37-40). Ahab’s wicked reign lasted 22 years (1 Kings 16:29). Now Ahab is dead but Jezebel is still alive.

Then we read Elijah is taken up (raptured) to heaven and Elisha takes his place ( 2 Kings 2:1-15). And then we read that Jezebel is standing in a window and Jehu tells the eunuchs to throw her down. They throw Jezebel out the window and Jehu tramples her. They go in to eat and when they come out to take Jezebel’s body to bury it, there is nothing left of her body except her skull, feet and palms of her hands. Just like God told Elijah years before in 1 Kings 21:23. And Ahab’s 70 sons were all killed. Why? Because Ahab and Jezebel did so wickedly and they caused their family and nation to sin greatly against God. Sound like any leaders you know today?

Imagine when Elisha saw what God told his master Elijah, come to pass. God was very upset with Ahab and Jezebel. Scripture says God knew Jezebel stirred up Ahab to do wickedness in 1 Kings 21. Not only did Jezebel come against God and God’s people but she also stirred her husband up to do things against God.

Revelation 2:20 mentions Jezebel as we explained last time. Clearly, there are those who deliberately lie, misguide, teach and seduce people into their teachings, not the word of God. Many do it by selling themselves for profit. Example: Someone asks you to do a mailing or hand out coupons and they are willing to pay you so much money to do that. What do you do?

Some would say yes, okay. And set up the details. Others would say, what is the mailing / coupons and say okay, that’s not what I believe but I need a job. And then there are the Elijah(s) who say no, I am not promoting something that clearly goes against God, his word and what God says. So how did each of the three come up with their decision?

Do you make decisions based on what you know? Do you make decisions based on what you think? What you believe? Have you ever made a wrong decision? Most people live by what they think. They live where their mind is, where their body is. You are where your mind is. That’s why you can be on vacation and not have a good time. Your mind is at work or some place else.

People lay in bed trying to go to sleep and their mind is going 1000 miles an hour. Then you can’t get to sleep. Elijah saw Jezebel kill prophets of God ( 1 Kings 18:4 ). After that Elijah called God to send fire from heaven and God did ( 1 Kings 18).  Ahab tells Jezebel how Elijah killed all their (false) prophets in 1 Kings 19.   So when Jezebel “said” she was coming after Elijah, Elijah had a picture in his mind of what she was planning to do to him. So Elijah ran. He fled. Was she chasing him? No.

Was Jezebel’s threat real? Yes. But Elijah had fear based on what he saw in his mind. So God reassures Elijah in 1 Kings 19:3-21. God had called Elijah and God was protecting Elijah.  Friends, we live by images we have in our mind. We see pictures of people starving and hungry so we try to stock up food. We see poverty and those images are in our mind. People run from images. They have images in their mind so they run.

People run from images in their mind and not what is really happening. We run from the devil when God tells us he will protect us and no evil thing will hurt us.

Satan creates fear in our mind. Then we get pictures in our mind. Then we act on those images or pictures and not on the promises of God. When Israel was trapped at the Red Sea they were afraid. Just because you are afraid does not mean you are in danger. Israel did not know God intended to part the Red Sea. They saw they were trapped and they had pictures in their mind of being slaughtered by Pharaoh.

Jesus told us, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And to comfort and strengthen us, Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit. That’s why God tells believers, be anxious for nothing.

You can not let yesterday’s hurts paint pictures in your mind that makes you afraid to step out some place new with God. We will pick it up from here  next time.