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Faith

Romans 8:28


Jesus, the Healer of Our Souls

Jesus, the Healer of Our Souls

He was flat on his back, groaning. It wasn’t the pain that brought him back to consciousness. It was the choking dust. The pain came a few seconds later. The fear of never breathing again was overwhelming. This was the second time he had been thrown off a cliff. The wind had been knocked out of him, but, as he began to draw in that first, blessed, breath of air, the dust floating around him from the impact of his fall was choking him. The pain came when he tried to roll over and stand up. It felt like every bone in his body had been broken. He gasped for breath while he ran his hands over his body to check if his bones were not broken. Nothing broken, but it sure felt that way. It was a good drop from the edge of the cliff. It was a miracle he wasn’t broken to pieces and killed.

When his ears stopped ringing, he heard shouting from a distance above him. He staggered around in a circle until he could focus his eyes and look up. Steadying his stance, he looked up and saw the people who had thrown him off the cliff. They were shaking their fists at him, screaming curses at him, wishing death on him, and telling him he should never come back.

Less than a year ago, this had happened to him at another place. He was dismayed that it had happened again. Greater than the physical pain was the hurt that he had been rejected again.

He could just make out the towering spire of the temple, behind the screaming crowd. Leading that crowd was the Chief Priests of that community. They had contacted him and asked him to come. They had heard about him, and thought that he could bring about the changes needed in their community. Others had tried and failed, including the Chief Priests. One of the High Priests even told him that the Creator had given him a vision of how he was the person to lead that community into the future.

HE had accomplished much of what he knew the Creator had sent him to accomplish. The people had caught the vision he laid out. The changes came, not because of him, but because he shared the vision with the people. All He had to do was deliver the message the Creator had told him to deliver, and to do specific things the creator had told him to do. As long as he did this, things went very well.

There were a certain group of people he had to work the hardest with and for. They fought him every inch of the way. Still, change happened, and things slowly improved. One of the people in this particular group had the ability to hide his falsehoods in a web of half-truths, and cause people to believe his words. This was a slowly dripping poison that had the potential to destroy all he had accomplished. Still, he pressed on.

There was a monument in the center of the village that enumerated all the creeds of their forefathers. It was the forefathers that had founded this town, and the creeds that had held it together through good and bad times. These creeds stirred his heart every time he read them. He knew he was new to the walk, but he was determined to embody these creeds, and lead by example, just as the forefathers had done. He could tell that very few people in the village took the creeds seriously, and acted on them only when the High Priest happened to be looking. This frustrated him a great deal that such duplicity could live in the hearts of the villagers. Did they not understand that it was by the Godly leadership of the forefathers that this village even existed. Yet, here they were, willing to use them as a superficial tool. They spoke bravely of these creeds, but were too afraid to walk in them.

Eventually, he grew weary of the Chief Priests and the people swearing their dying loyalty to the creeds that they boasted of, and he grew weary of fighting the prophet of falsehoods. Instead of responding in the manner that the Creator had told him to do, he took matters in his own hands. He grew angry and impatient with the utter hypocrisy that seems to surround all religious people. He betrayed the trust of those who had asked him to come there. All his good efforts were undone in that single moment. It seemed that, once again, the Enemy of our souls had won another round.

He faced his accusers, and was charged, and was thrown over the cliff, and told never to return. All the work he had accomplished was in jeopardy of being destroyed because of him.

His heart was broken. He wept. He didn’t feel self-pity, just a deep disappointment. God had sent him here, and had worked a few miracles to bring him here. He had not done as the Father had told him to do.

As he wondered why God had arranged him to be here, the crowd suddenly grew silent. They covered their mouths and pointed at something behind him. The cliff formed a U-shaped wall around a valley. He was standing in the very back of the cliff walls, where he had been thrown off.

He turned around to see what all the silence was about.

Standing about 50 feet in front of him, in a semi-circle, blocking his escape, were the most hideous beings he had ever seen. These wraith leered at him and slathered their delight at his downfall. He heard the High Priest shouting to the people to turn away and go home. That he was getting the punishment he deserved, and they need to run away if they don’t want th wraith to chase them. Such was the beliefs of the village.

He recognized who these wraith were. He dared not speak their names, or listen to their taunting curses and laughter. But he knew them well. Their names were Fear, Doubt, Curses, Blame, Anger, Despair, and Destruction. He knew them very well, as they used to be the only friends he ever had before Jesus, the Son of God, had touched him, and healed his heart, about 8 months ago.

He knew that if he listened to them, he would consider their accusations and succumb to the temptations they offered. Their presence was strong, and their words very enticing. He shook with the effort of trying to ignore them. As they inched closer, he began to panic. He wondered if this was why God had sent him here. To be destroyed by his own demons, that he thought he had been delivered of.

He remembered what Jesus had told him at his healing: “God is not judging you. While life has natural consequences, you are forgiven, because I bore all your sin and disease and failings on the Cross, and have given you all that I am and have in exchange for your sin. Never let doubt and fear distract you. There is nothing in all of Heaven or in Earth that can ever separate you from His love, ever again. You are his child, now. Call on Me when you are in need, and I will answer.”

Despite his misgivings, in spite of his fear and doubt, he raised his hands and said:

“My Father, I come before you in the name of Jesus. I thank you that I am acceptable to you, because I am in Christ, and He is in me. I come before you with all confidence and boldness because of the sacrifice of Jesus. (Eph. 1:6, Heb. 4:16)”

“You are my Father, and I am your Child.”

“I thank you that nothing can ever take me out of your hand again.”

“Because of the Lord Jesus I am adopted into the Family of God.”, “Because I am in Jesus, I am an heir to the everlasting Kingdom, that, because of His sacrifice, he exchanged all He has and Is for all my sin; He had given me all He has.”

“God, my Father, I am seeking, first, YOUR Kingdom and Your righteousness, and you meet ALL my needs” (Matt.6:33)

“Because You are my Father, you reveal your perfect will for my life.” (Matt. 11:25)
“Because I love and trust You, I seek to do Your will.” (Matt. 12:50)
“Because You are my Father, I love Jesus, who You sent to be my Savior.” (John 8:82)
“Because I am in the Lord Jesus, and He is in You, I am in you, too. I will always abide in your presence.” (John 10:10, 17:21)
“Father God, I abide in Your glory, which was given to Jesus, who, because I am now in Him, He has given to me. You crown me with dignity and worth. I am the redeemed of Christ. I am all You say I am. Father, I glorify You in the Earth.” (John 17:22)

As he was saying these things, joy flooded his broken heart. He felt the presence of the Spirit of GOd arrive and fill his every fiber. He danced and sang praises to God, because of Jesus Christ.

While he was praising, a presence appeared right in front of him. He stopped moving. He didn’t make a sound. He just stood staring in awe at who was standing right there in front of him.

Jesus stood looking him in the eye.

The prophet fainted.

Jesus said, “Please, get up.” And he held out His hand to pick up this soiled little prophet.

Jesus dusted him off, and smiled at him, and gave him water from the jug He had been carrying.

The prophet was utterly speechless. Jesus grinned and gave him a friendly smack on the shoulder, and said, “Well, for once, you are speechless!”. Then Jesus laughed at his own joke. This made the prophet relax, and eventually, he was laughing along with Jesus.

Christ walked the prophet over to an outcropping of rock, under a shade tree. He asked the prophet, “Where are your little wraith?”, That is when the prophet looked around, as if he was finally taking in his surroundings. “Gone, Lord. GONE!!”, said the prophet. And he grinned. Jesus chuckled and said, “Of course, nothing can stand in the praise of the Father, and no attack from them can befall one who has faith in the promises.”

The prophet said, “But Lord, I know you sent me to that village. I have ample evidence it was you that sent me there. But I have been kicked out. I have failed you again, and now I don’t know why I am here. I just know you sent me.”

“So, what will you do now?”, asked Jesus.

“I don’t know, just wait for you to tell me what to do, I guess.”, said the prophet.

Jesus said, “You guessed right. Wait for my instructions. I have sent you to be where you are. Never doubt that.”

“But I really blew it, Lord!”, pled the Prophet, “How can I possibly carry on after such a colossal failure?” “What will I do?” “My behavior turned my confession in to a lie!”

Jesus answered, “Friend, you will learn from me, and of me. You will be made in to my image. One way or another, when this is done, you will resemble Me.”, “For now, know you are loved of the Father, and by Me.”, “I promised I will send the Spirit of God to you, and I have. Listen to the leading of the Spirit. Get used to hearing and obeying when the Spirit speaks. Stay your ground, and do not look to the left or right. Have faith.”

The prophet asked, “What about the Village?”

“You have no idea,” replied Jesus, “what your influence has done there. Let me worry about the Village, and let the Village decide how it will believe. I will turn your curses into blessings, and I will see that the seed you planted, where it was planted, will be watered and will grow at the hands of another. What you may see as a failure, I will turn into a blessing in the end. You just have to decide what you believe is true about me.”

The prophet knelt before Jesus and said, “My Lord, Jesus, I thank you for dying on the cross for me. You paid for my sins. You made it possible for me to come before the Father. You carried the punishment for my sin, so I would not have to carry it. You rose from the dead, so I could have a new life. You shed your blood for me and removed all my sins. Jesus, I worship you and call you my Lord. (I Cor. 15:3-4, Gal. 3:13. 2 Cor. 5:17, Heb. 10:19, Rom. 5:9)

“I thank you, Jesus, for bringing me in to the family of God. You are my Elder Brother, and God is my Father, and I worship you this day. You have made me to be an heir of Your Kingdom.” (Heb. 2:11-13, Rom. 8:17, Col, 1:12, Rev. 5:10)

Then the prophet stood kissed Jesus on both cheeks.

Jesus stood up and said, “My little brother, rest assured this is not the end of your walk with me. Remember when I told you that things would get really dark?”

“Yes, I do, Lord.” said the Prophet.

“What did I say to you when I told you this was coming?”, asked Jesus.

“You told me that, no matter what happened, I am to cling to you, and have faith that you will turn this darkness into bright daylight, and this curse into a blessing. That, in the end, I will serve you successfully.” The prophet answered.

“Then do not fear. Know I am with you. It is like your elder brother, Paul said, ‘And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purposes.’ (Rom. 8:28). So know this, my brother, I have called you. I have prepared a way for you. Even when you fail, I love you and forgive, before you even ask. I will turn all your curses into blessings. Just stand your ground and keep believing.”

Then Jesus vanished.

The prophet stood there mouth gaping. He didn’t know what to do first, laugh, or cry. He was too blown away to begin walking again, so he sat on the rocks he and Jesus had sat on earlier. While he was thinking of all that had happened, he had a feeling that someone else was watching him. He looked up the cliff to see who it could be. Sure enough, there was a lone figure leaning against the rail at the edge of the cliff.

It was the High Priest.

 

 

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Faith, Observations

Albert Einstein

“You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.”

― Albert Einstein

Adversity Happens.

What you do with adversity will greatly affect how your life will turn out.

Adversity can be brought on by ignorance, evil, selfishness, bad judgement, or simply by circumstance.  If the same adversity happens repeatedly in your life, the chances are great that you are the cause of your pain.

Psalm 119:67 ESV

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

Chances are that the problems that plague you are because you keep repeating the same old habits, hoping for a different result.  It may be that you are repeating them without even understanding that that is what you are doing.  However it happened, here is hope:

You recognize that you are afflicted.

You know that you brought this on yourself.

You understand that something must change in order to get out of this destructive cycle.  One of the earliest mistakes I make when I really reap what I sow is, over analyzing the past.  The more you study your past, the more you will defeat yourself on the memories of all your failures.  Look at your past if you can learn from it.  But you have to come to terms with the fact that:

“You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” – Einstein.

There is an old saying that goes something like this:  “If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you have always got.”  (Apologies to my English teacher.)

So, you may be asking yourself, “How do I change this mess?”

Here you go:

1. Let go of your past.  You are a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17).   The OLD you is DEAD.  Let go of your old evil self.  That person is dead.  He or She dies the second you confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ died of your sin and rose from the dead..  You cannot solve your problems by doing the same thing over and over again.

2. Do away with your old patterns of thinking.  Change what you believe about yourself, and understand how God views you now that you are in Christ, and you have HIS MIND. (Bible Verses About Our Identity in Christ: God’s View of Us)

3. Take Responsibility for your every thought.  God did not invent a bunch of brain dead, mind washed robots.  He gave you the ability to think for yourself.  But choose your thoughts wisely.  Whatever you believe is true about yourself WILL be the life you create for yourself.  We gained this autonomy from God Himself, BEFORE THE FALL, and His Gifts are without repentance.  It IS written, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he… Proverbs 23:7 KJV

4. Watch your mouth.  This follows from #3 – The things you say are born in your heart.  “A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. “  – Jesus – Luke 6:45 HCSB  The best way to learn to do this is by thinking about what is good, right and pleasing to the Lord.  It is written:  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8 NASB  

5. Speak new truths about yourself.  Your mind is your greatest enemy or your best asset.  Speak what you believe.  Speak it.  When you do, you will discover if you believe it or not.  If you don’t believe it, stop lying.  Gain an understanding about how God sees you, and understand that He has not destined you for failure,. but success .  When you speak it, feel it all the way into your bones, deep in your heart, see it in your mind’s eye.  Know that it is true.  Changing the pattern of what you believe about life, the world, others and yourself will dramatically change your life.  We have the power of life and death in our tongues.  Just be aware that the life you bless or curse is you own.  You will affect the rest of the world according to what you believe is true about yourself.  HERE is what the Bible says about SUCCESS.

When you change your view of yourself, by learning and believing what God says about you (Bible Verses About Our Identity in Christ: God’s View of Us), you will develop the mind of Christ, and THEN IF you do these things, you will know success.

Taking these steps takes discipline, and does not necessarily happen overnight.  A great many successful people have built their successes on their heaping pile of failures.

God made you for a purpose.  If you want to find that real, authentic you, that he purposefully created for this time, this life, this moment in history, step away from your old self, and see how God views you.

Then act on it.

“Let’s Be About It!”

I love you.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Change Your Life

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Faith

His Refining Fire


Even in the solitude of our pain, God is there.

Even in the solitude of our pain, God is there.

And we know that God causes all things

to work together

for good

to those who love God,

to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 NASB

The temptation to despair looms large when things around you have completely gone to hell.
The difficulty lay in seeing the hand of God even in this situation.
I have to remember that God is not mad at me.
God is not judging me.
When I reap the consequences of my behavior, it is not God that is punishing me.
When I am in a storm of my own making, I understand that it is not God that brought the storm.
It IS God that stands with me in the midst of the storm.
It is God that sustains me when I feel faint from the effort of having Hope.
Just like Nebuchadnezzar saw, “One standing like the Son of God“,
I can say with all confidence that, even though I lit this fire,
God stands with me in this pit,
and God protects me from the harshest elements of it.
The experience is still mine,
but the strength to endure and the ability to gain wisdom comes from God Himself.
Because I am crucified with Christ, my old sin nature was put to death.
Because He rose from the dead, I rose anew, a new life form.
 I know that after this trial, I will walk out refined and purified.
 I cannot make this claim unless Christ is my life.
“I have been crucified with Christ; 
and it is no longer I who live, 
but Christ lives in me; 
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, 
who loved me and gave Himself up for me. ” 
Galatians 2:20 NASB
When this refining fire is over, I will be stronger in the Lord.
I will know God in intimate ways I never would have comprehended had I not been subject to the logical consequences of my behavior.
God has not punished me.
Jesus took on that punishment when He became all my sin on the cross.
Because of this great gift, I am now the adopted child of God.
God will allow consequences to come my way, natural and logical, when I step out of His will for my life.
I praise God that He has given me the freedom to think for myself.
And I praise God that He upholds me when I reap what I sow.
From this lesson, I have learned that doing things God’s way is far better than seeking the praise of men.
 God has, and is, and does work even this situation out to His glory,
to my best good,
because I am called according to His purposes.
I may not understand why, sometimes, it seems as if He is a thousand miles away.
It may be that my fear of the flames has distorted my view of Him, and He has been right here all along, holding me.
Through this fire, I have seen my unnecessary beliefs, behaviors and attitudes disappear in smoke.
All I thought was important couldn’t stand in the fire of God’s just mercy.
What remains is a grace that I never imagined could exist.
 Now I have joy, love, and peace, and I comprehend the love of God.
I am His beloved.
Now I am useful for His purposes in me.
 I thank you God that you allow me to go through these things.
 I cannot be Your new creature and cling to My old things.
They are incompatible.
As God’s adopted child, and co-heir to Heaven, my old belongings would only pollute the things and places God intends to give me.
I praise you God for a wisdom that in infinitely more than any human wisdom.
Where the world sees a failure and a loser, you see a new creation, fresh from the master’s refining fire.
I am happy to lose everything I thought was meaningful and important, knowing that what God will be giving me is worth more than anything the world has to offer.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;

the old things passed away; 

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;

behold,

new things have come.”

II Corinthians 5:17 NASB

Come to Jesus and be refined in the fire of His love.

You will not regret it for all eternity.

I love you.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Growing Pains – Lessons From The Kindergarten of God – Part III – Well Intentioned Dragons


“the more i sing and play my music in front of people, the more advice i get. it’s well-meant, coming from people who care about me, but it’s all conflicting. b. says i should play acoustic more. r. says i should rock harder. c. says i sing too loud. k. says i sing too loud too (ok, maybe i sing too loud). but the point is, who do i listen to?”

When dealing with yourself, use your mind. When dealing with others, use your heart. John Maxwell

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?  I Kings 19:11-13

“Jesus asked, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”(Matthew 7:3 NIV). Christians seem to be uncontrollably motivated by some deep need to “take the dog by the ears.” (See Proverbs 26:17.) They are always meddling in other people’s stuff. This is one of the main reasons the world hates the church. We have declared ourselves to be the world’s police force. We are the self-proclaimed militant army that is here to police and judge the world, when we should be a loving family who brings hurting people into the family circle by adoption! Our concept of presenting what we mistakenly call the Gospel is to let people know they are sinners so they will realize their need for Jesus. This erroneous concept leads the Christian to think that the best way to let people know they are sinners is to point out their faults-that is, to find the speck in their eye.

Your Heart Dictates How You See

The way we view something is the product of our heart. If we have a critical eye, it is because we have a critical heart. The Bible says, He that hath a froward heart findeth no good” (Proverbs 17:20). A ‘froward heart”is a crooked heart. It is a heart that has been reshaped through the pressures of sin, legalism, religion, or life circumstances. It is a heart that sees only the bad; it cannot find the good. Some people seem to have mistaken criticism for discernment. Criticism is not a gift of the Holy Spirit; it is the product of a corrupt heart. Religion has forged the church into a critical, reactionary society not much different than that of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.”   James B. Richards. How to Stop the Pain. Kindle Edition.

WELL INTENTIONED DRAGONS

As a New Creation, I sometimes look to other, wiser, Christians for sound advice.  There are some, I have learned through experience, who see through my questions, and hear what my heart is actually asking.  This is a gift of discernment I find most mature Christians have.

There are new Christians, like me, who need to spend much more time in the Bible and Prayer, so we can develop a finely tuned sense of God’s Voice, and God’s Will.

Then there are the well-intentioned dragons.  These are the ones who genuinely love God, and are saved through the blood of Jesus Christ, and even know scripture very well, but something about them sets my teeth on edge.  Figuring out what that something is has taken me some time.  I took that time to look for patterns, and build a baseline that demonstrates the difference between what I hear them say, and the way they say it, against what and how Jesus spoke to people.

THAT IS WHEN I FOUND IT!

Jesus, being God, and unchangeable (YHWH), speaks, and when He speaks…

He doesn’t change, but loves eternally, speaks gracefully, and uses the truth to heal, not hurt.

He is Lord of Lords, meaning His word is the first one, and the last one, because His judgement is true.

He is the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, as these three are one…when He speaks, all have spoken, they are their own witness, and need no outside verification.

He is the Lord Most High, sitting eternally on the throne…and because we have accepted his free gift of life, we sit next to him, as he is our brother, and GOd is our Father.  THere is none beside him, and no one higher in authority than him.

His word and will is our provision.  He meets all our needs, to grow, to love, to show mercy, to be graceful, because when he became all sin in our place, he gave us all that he is in exchange.

His word smites sin.  No other has this authority.  All other judgement is accusation and comes from the father of lies and his children.  God’s judgement is true, and he deals mercifully with us, as he destroys sin, in us, and in the world.

He is the one and only one who sanctifies us.  His death on the cross paid for your fall, and his resurrection gave us new life…if we will accept this free gift.  He alone is what sanctifies us.

He is the one who marks us with his banner and ensign.  We are his, paid for with His blood.  Our mission in life is to become like Him so that when people see us, they see Him only.  We are his banner, and he is ours.

His blood, and his word heals us.  All he gives us in His love, grace and mercy.  He will do us no harm.  He is not mad at us.  He heals us by the stripes he bore.

He is my ever-present shepherd.  He guides me in the midst of trouble, and leads me to his peace, even in the midst of the storm.  Even His rebuke of me brings me hope and life and health.  No other has this ability, or authority.  He keeps watch over me day and night.

Well intentioned dragons will use the scriptures and their overrated opinion and religion to criticize, destroy, rob you of peace, take your joy.  THe well-intentioned dragons are the first to point out what you did wrong.  Why you should have done it better/different/ or not at all.

Well intentioned dragons have no faith in the genuine work of the cross because they are too busy being religious.  That is why, when GOd sends you to do a thing, they rail against it, they fail to see your vision, they try to improve you so that you will better resemble their opinion of the truth, and fail to comprehend what real truth actually is.

Well intentioned dragons do not feel ok until they have spoken their judgement over you, and “improved” you, and judged you inadequate.  They did this to Jesus, and they will do the same to you.

IF YOU LISTEN

If you listen to the dragons, you will end up worse than they are.

If you listen to the still small voice of the Lord, you will know joy, peace, healing, direction, purpose, strength, courage, and you will know HIM.

IT IS ALL A CHOICE OF WHOM YOU CHOOSE TO BELIEVE.

Do as he sends you to do, even if it makes no sense, and seems crazy, and no one else trusts you, believes you, understands what and how you are doing it.  You were sent by God, not by well-intentioned dragons.

His presence will calm you and empower you through even the hardest trials and storms.

This is the God I serve.  This is the God I choose to obey.  No matter what it will cost, I have no desire to give ear to the dragons.  I will wait for the still small voice.

I love you,

David Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

Let’s be about it.

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Growing Pains – Lessons from the Kindergarten of God – Part 1


When dealing with yourself, use your mind. When dealing with others, use your heart. John Maxwell

“When dealing with yourself, use your mind. When dealing with others, use your heart.”  – John Maxwell

Introduction – Dedicated to my co-workers at Cates Control Solutions

I was writing about the Core Values of the company I work for. I feel I have to interrupt that series for two reasons: 1) My recent behavior betrayed that I adhere to those values only when it suits me, and 2) The lessons I am learning here are rich, meaningful, and important.

Something happened at work, the other day.  In my mind it was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.  It was time for me to take action and speak out.  That is exactly what I did.  I spoke out.  The end result was less than stellar.  My conversation had deteriorated to the point that I was not being constructive, but destructive.  The very people I wanted to reach were put off by my behavior and speech.  Nothing was gained, and any trust I had earned was in jeopardy of being lost.  I had let my mouth run before I had put my mind in gear.

All this time I had been praying about, speaking about, and writing about the finished work of the cross, and the exchange that took place between God, Jesus and Man at the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.  My behavior and speech betrayed an entirely different story, though.  And when I finally cooled off enough to listen, I heard a Loving God tell me that my conduct was less than becoming for His child.  It was a simple rebuke, and lovingly spoken, but I have not been the same since.  I am undone, and I hurt that I let my Lord down so blatantly.

Being filled with the Spirit of God doesn’t mean you are finally a fully grown child of God.  It means you have just been born again.  And being born, you are nurtured for a season in the sweet and warm light of the Spirit.  As you grow, however, the Spirit of God will begin to gently and lovingly teach you lessons on the character of Christ.  If you pay attention, and receive these lessons, you grow, and it doesn’t hurt.  But if you are a jackass, like I tend to be, the Spirit will let you have your way, and deal with you lovingly, but in a way that you can see your selfishness in the same light as God sees it.  That is where the pain is.  When I see myself behave badly, I feel the same pain as the Spirit must feel when looking at rebellion.

“A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” ― John C. Maxwell

“For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.” Proverbs 3:12

Where Are My Roots?

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it that it may bear more fruit.” John 15:1 – Jesus

I have a choice.  I can abide in Christ, or I cannot.  I can choose to do either one.

Choosing not to abide at all has a consequence all its’ own, and I will not write about that here.

The choice to abide in Him is what this is about.

When I choose to know God and be transformed into the likeness (behavior) of Christ, I am aided by the very power of God to be conformed into Christ’s likeness.  When I chose to take matters into my own hands, I have stopped abiding in Christ.  This branch in me bore fruit, but not Godly fruit.  This branch must be pruned in order that it may bear good fruit.  The sap that runs in the branches, powered by the Holy Spirit, bears good fruit.  Good fruit is that which leads others to Jesus, that which demonstrates Love, Mercy, Grace and Forgiveness.

The Spirit of God will deal directly with you, without condemnation, and with all Love, Grace and Mercy. It is only Satan who accuses you and condemns you. The Children of God behave as Christ does, the Children of Satan, behave as Satan does. The evidence of who we follow is borne in the fruit we bear.

What is My Fruit?

“Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.” Matthew 7:16b – 18 – Jesus

Do my words and deeds bear fruit that others will enjoy and grow from?  Do the words of my mouth bring life or death?  Is my confession holy or unholy? If my words cause division, strife, scorn, hatred, and alienates my confession from my identity, then I am bearing bad fruit.   My first fruit has to be forgiveness of my own shortcomings, so I can forgive others of theirs.  I can do this when I remember that Jesus died of ALL sin.  He became all sin and bore the wrath of God.  In exchange, He gave me His holiness and His Grace and His Love and His Mercy and His standing with God.  This exchange, this fruit, has to grow in me as I abide in Him.  Apart from Him I can do nothing. There is no other way I can bear good fruit.

I am grateful to God that He chooses to forgive and prune me, rather than just throw me away at the first sign of my weakness.

Where Are My Thoughts?

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1 – Jesus

If I want to be received well by my fellow-man, I must treat my fellow-man with all the love and respect with which I want them to treat me.

It may be that, when my fellow-man judges me, that they simply do not really know what I am doing, or what my vision of my job is.  It may simply be that they are unhappy with the way I do things because it is not the way they would do it.  It may be that they cannot let go of a past whose spirit I embrace, but whose method have not grown to keep up with the amazing growth of Cates.

When I judge them, rather than accept them, I have closed any door of communication that could exist.  I have lost a friend.  If I want to have friends at work, I must first be a friend at a work.  “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.” Proverbs 17:17

I desire to understand my co-workers as well as be understood by them.  My words and behavior will determine if I can accomplish this.

What Am I Doing?

“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12 – Jesus

If I am forgiven, I must speak forgiveness to others.

If I have received Grace, I must speak gracefully to others.

If I have received Mercy, then I must be merciful to others.

If I am Loved of God, then I must love and be lovely to others

I Will Reap What I Sow.

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over — will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” 

This is a universal principle. You do not have to be any religion to see this happen in your life. You will always get back what you give to others, and you will get it more abundantly than you gave it out. The difference between the Christian doing this, and others doing it is this: When a Christian does this, the end result is the Glorification of God for what He accomplished through Jesus Christ.

I have a choice of where I want to store up my treasures. Being merciful and graceful doesn’t mean everyone will be merciful and graceful back to me. Some people are just evil in their hearts and delight in the demonstration of that evil. But, for the most part, people will always give back to you what you give to them, and they will give it back with interest, and they will invite their friends to do the same.

If I am reaping something at work, it is probably because I sowed it, first.

My Prayer:

My Heavenly Father, I love you and Praise you because of the finished work of the Cross, and all the gifts you have given me because of it. I pray, in the Name of Jesus, that you bind my tongue to the truth, and teach me mercy, grace, forgiveness and love. I pray that you teach me how to encourage others to do the same. – AMEN

“Truth is that which corresponds to reality. Reality is what exists regardless of human opinion.” – Chris Putnam

Part 2 coming.

Let’s Be About It!

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Faith, Observations

Test of Authenticity


Luke 6:46 ESV : “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

Luke 6:46 ESV : “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

 

Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

I am doing a research, right now, where I compare the writings of two different Christian Leaders.  One of these leaders manages to take everything he discusses back to the finished work of the cross.  The other one, a more influential person, acknowledges the work on the Cross, but manages to take his work back to Adlerian Psychology, Mixed with Ericksons Stages of Development.  I recognize other influences, in there, too, but, whether he calls his modality these things, or not, this is what he is doing.

One leader takes the hurt soul and shows us where we are complete in the finished work of Christ, and are given a host of gifts.  This leader tells us our identity no longer lay in the things of this earth, but, as a new creation, we are now completely loved, accepted, and are being made in the likeness of Christ our savior.  The rest of his works describe the scriptural basis of Christian Authenticity.

The other leader, despite the finished work of Christ, wants to take us through our developmental stages of life, point out where we were “wounded” and how that affects our lives, and uses several psychological gimmicks to justify and solidify this teaching.  Then he peppers it with scripture in an effort to undergird his writing.

This inauthentic approach never releases you from sin, never gives you a chance to labor into the rest of the finished work of Christ, and never releases you from a past that Christ clearly died for.

At Cates Control Solutions, we have a saying about Responsibility:  We accept the responsibilities of our position and know we are accountable to meet our obligations.

So, what is my responsibility to what I am reading.  Simple, when I read any leader of the “Christian Faith”, the test of authenticity I have learned to recognize is this:  It either takes you to the finished work of the Cross, and how that makes you a new creation, or it doesn’t.  When Christ died of our sin, he didn’t die for just a few things.  He died of everything, so you will receive everything that is His.  You do not have to regress and confront anything in your past.  Your past is dead.  When Christ rose from the dead, Your NEW SELF rose with him.  OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY.  I also know from experience, any “woundedness” I carry is because I have not rested in the finished work of the cross.  I do not have to identify myself with anything but Jesus, and seek the Kingdom of God.  There is nothing I need to go back and fix.  I labor to rest in the finished and authentic work of Christ.  I have received all gifts and benefits of the Child of God.

Tonight we observe that Christ died on the cross.  He fulfilled His responsibility, and set you free from all encumbrances.  My responsibility as a new creation, is to make sure I do not get mired down in any doctrine of man that attempts to denigrate the finished work of the cross.

After all, When Jesus said it was finished…He meant it.

I love you in Jesus Name…

…It’s Friday, but SUNDAY IS COMING!  Halleluiah!

David G. Perkins

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Faith

Easter


These are the free gifts of God, through Jesus Christ.

These are the free gifts of God, through Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus didn’t hide eggs.

He didn’t hand out candy.

What He hid was our sin.

What he gave out was his life.

This is his gift to you …

…If you will have it.

I love you in the name of Jesus,

Let’s Be About It.

David G. Perkins

 

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Unrelentingly Relentless


Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. I COR 9:24 ESV

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith  Hebrews 12:1-11

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

3Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
6For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

7It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

re·lent·less

riˈlentləs/adjective

adjective: relentless

1.

oppressively constant; incessant.

“the relentless heat of the desert”

synonyms:

persistent, continuing, constant, continual, continuous, nonstop, never-ending, unabating, interminable, incessant, unceasing, endless, unending, unremitting, unrelenting, unrelieved;

 

To Find My Path of Unrelenting Relentlessness, I first Had To Relent

Part of dying to my old self meant putting away my old self-habits.  I know that the only way to do that, and make it stick, is through the power of the Holy Spirit of God.  And THAT has to be what I call “Heart Surgery”.  For the change to keep, my Heart Beliefs HAVE to align and harmonize with the Spirit of the Living God.  From there, whatever characteristics I stored in my mind are overwritten with the Character of Christ.  When that happens, my body follows.

To relent is to soften your position on certain fast held beliefs.  To relent is similar to repent, which is to change your mind.  The difference is, I must be willing to soften my unrelentingly relentless stance on a wrong belief, it is when I am unrepentantly unrelentless that a character other than that of Christ is revealed in me.

This is why it is written:  Ezekiel 36:29 NIV – ‘“I’m going to give you a new heart, and I’m going to give you a new spirit within all of your deepest parts. I’ll remove that rock-hard heart of yours and replace it with one that’s sensitive to me.”   Before I can learn to relent, I have to submit to the Heart Surgery of the Holy Spirit, and be recreated, which is where II Corinthians 5:17 is revealed in you: “Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come”

As a new creation, with a new Spirit and a heart sensitive to the voice of God, you can be remade into the image of Christ.  There are dangers in this, though.  The Spirit of God is gentle, and will never force its will on you without your consent.  You can ignore it, you can deny it, you can do whatever you want.  If you are willing to relent, then you will be changed, gently, without condemnation, and grow to be more like Christ.

WHAT AM I WILLING TO BE RELENTLESS ABOUT.

At Cates Control Solutions, Relentless is defined as follows:  “RELENTLESS: We will not back down from our pursuit of excellence in every aspect of our business.”

So I wondered where that is found in scripture.  Here is an example – Philippians 4:8“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise — dwell on these things.”

In order to pursue excellence, I must relent on my attitude that “Good Enough is Good Enough.”  I must find where EXCELLENCE is taught in the Bible, and I must let the Spirit of God write these things on my heart.

Excellence, like any other Core Value, is as meaningful as you will allow it to be, and is only as effective as it is written on my heart.  It is my hard-earned experience that I cannot fake this value of the relentless pursuit of Excellence.

Click the word EXCELLENCE, to see what the Bible has to say about Excellence.

Frankly, left to my own devices, Good Enough is Good Enough for me.  It is not in my carnal nature to want excellence, or to pursue excellence.  This can only come from a changed heart.  It is not just for the sake of Cates Control Solutions that I chase, unrelentingly, after Excellence.  It is first, and foremost because the Spirit of the Living God is pursuing excellence in me.

“RELENTLESS” and all the other Core Values becomes real, not because it is a rule at the office.  It stops being mere words when the Spirit of God is allowed to turn my heart of stone into a heart that is sensitive to the will of God.  If I approach all of the Cates Core Values this way, then it will not matter of this is posted on our wall, or the back of my business card.  I will not have to be reminded by the “Thought Police” to pursue this, either.  It will simply manifest itself as the natural outcome of my unrelentingly relentless pursuit of the Character of Christ.

My Prayer:  Dearest God, My Father, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, My Savior, and my Brother, that I relent in my stiff-necked will, and turn toward your voice, and become unrelentingly obsessed with all the things you say are excellent.  I know all the qualities exist in the Person and Likeness of Christ.  Lead me, Dear God, to be just like your son.  – AMEN

Now, Let’s Be About It!

I love you in the name of Jesus Christ.

David G. Perkins

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The Looking Glass


In my dreams. Photo by E. Tom Hussey

In my dreams. Photo by E. Tom Hussey

JAMES 1:23-24 – For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

We interrupt this series on values to bring you this message.

I Corinthians 15:49 – Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

A few days ago, I was talking to a friend about how our perception of ourselves affects what we believe is true about ourselves.  For example, I have this self-image of me from when I was in peak athletic condition.

In my minds mirror, I see me as still being fit, muscular, coordinated, strong, with real strength, not bottled strength.  In my minds mirror, I still have long, curly blackish/brown hair, full of waves and curls.  In my mind’s eye, I am still wearing 32 inch waist pants.

What the mirror in my mind ells me.

What the mirror in my mind tells me.

The mind can be a tricky thing, and can lead me to many false assumptions based on what I think is true.  Often, my warped ego guides me to many fallacies and false assumptions.

The other day, I did something I honestly RARELY ever do.  I looked at myself in the mirror.  My first impression was, “Hey!  That’s my Dad!  I thought I buried HIM in 2005!”  But when I moved, so did the man in the mirror.  Then it dawned on my conscious mind, and my ego mind, that is not my dad, but ME!!

It was then I realized why I don’t look in mirrors.  I am not that guy my ego told me I am.  I am the very image of my Dad.

IN THE BEGINNING

When God created us, we were made in the image of God, meaning we looked like he looks.  We were also made in the likeness of God, meaning we used to act as He acted because we saw what he did.

AFTER THE FALL

After the fall, we lost touch with God, and lost what was His likeness.  We were not able to return to our glorified state.  No work we could expend any effort on would make us righteous in God’s eyes, even though we became self-righteous in our own eyes.  The ego can really fool a person.

THEN CAME JESUS

Yes, Jesus is the Son of God.  God said so rather loudly at Jesus’ baptism.  But it was the Son of Man that faced temptation.  It was the Son of Man that asked God to take away the cup.  It was the Son of Man that faced God’s wrath.  It was the Son of Man that rose from the dead to prove he is the Son of God, too.

The Image of Christ

We are asked to be like Christ, but we, on our own are not capable.  The best we can do is try, but we eventually fail.  But the scripture says we need to become like Christ.  Peter was the first person to prove that, if you don’t keep your eyes on Christ, you will fail in your effort to be just like Jesus.  The labor into the rest of Christ likeness was that all Peter had to do was keep his eyes, and faith, on Jesus, and he would have walked on the water, by faith, as he was already doing.

In the Garden of Eden, the wind and waves Adam and Eve faced was the lie that doing something else will make you just like God.  They then doubted they were already like God.  They took their eyes off the facts, and the truth, and considered a lie, and a false premise based on circumstances.  Forbidden Fruit.

THE EXCHANGE

If you will consider this, instead, and accept it as fact, instead of believing what you think you apparently see, you will learn that you are already like Christ, if you have accepted His death and resurrection.  When Jesus became all your sin, you received, in exchange, all that Jesus is.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

II Corinthians 3:18

It is all a matter of what we focus on.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8  

Just like Jesus died of our sins, voluntarily, we are able to die to ourselves, voluntarily, as we labor into the rest of accepting that, all that Jesus was, we inherited when He arose from the dead.  When we keep our understanding on this truth, when we comprehend this exchange, and when we accept it in faith, no matter what we think we look like, you will look to God, like His Son, Jesus, and you will eventually appear to others to have the likeness of Christ, too.

After all, that is why you weren’t raptured the second you believed.  You are the only Jesus people will see.  When they see Jesus in you, they will want to know what happened to make you this way.

We are transformed in to the image of Christ

We are transformed in to the image of Christ

Let’s Be About It!

I love you in the Name of Jesus

David G. Perkins

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What Were You Looking For?


what-we-see-depends-mainly-on-what-we-look-for

Philippians 4:8-9 ESV

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”   Galatians 5:22-23 ESV

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!

When I was a teenager, my Dad decided it was time for me to learn how to fly one of his several airplanes.  Considering my driving history, I thought he surely had a screw loose, somewhere.  By time I was 16, I had already totaled a few cars.  Still, I do love to fly, and had always wanted to fly right seat with my Dad on his adventures.

Our airport was the municipal airport in Plainview, Texas.  At over 3300 feet, altitude, the airport has a whole lot of sky to fling your airplane into.  Dad made sure the wind was relatively calm before he would let me take off.  The high plains are very windy much of the time.  There is a saying in Lubbock, Texas (45 miles south of Plainview), that if the wind ever stopped blowing, everyone would fall down.  Wind is a fact of life, there, and you adjust your walking by leaning into the wind.

Taking off into the wind made flying that much more fun, as I had to generate less lift with the engine.  Flying in the wind, however is a challenge.  This is where the word attitude comes in.  In flight, your attitude is the approach you have to take to flying in the wind, ESPECIALLY when you are landing an airplane.  Landing an airplane on a calm day was challenging enough for me, but landing in high wind was a contest between me and the wind to see who will master my aircraft.  This is when attitude becomes everything.

When nature threw strong wind at me, I had to turn the airplane into the wind on approach to the landing strip.  This is called “Crabbing”.  I am approaching a runway almost sideways, and at the last-minute, I correct my attitude so I can land moving in the right direction.  Another factor in landing attitude is that I could approach the runway only in a narrowly defined angle.  This is called the “Glide Path” .   As you approach the runway, you will see a group of lights.  If my glide path is too low, I will see three or more yellow lights.  If my glide path is too high, I will see red lights, if my glide path is correct for the landing approach, I will see green lights.

Maintaining the right attitude for landing is everything, too.  I am already crabbing in to the runway because of a wind situation, and I also must keep my approach angle right.  If I am yellow on approach, I will not land on the runway.  If I am red, I will land too far in on the runway to keep from overshooting.  I must crab in on a green light.

While I am worried about those two aspects of attitude, I also have to make sure my wings are as level as I can keep them on approach, and that my nose is not too high, or too low.  So, there are possibly 4 parts of attitude I must pay attention to when I am landing.  Overdoing or under-doing any part can mean a bad landing.  Bad landings can complicate your life in ways you don’t need.  It was all about attitude.

 

“WELL, THE METAPHOR IS OBVIOUS, ISN’T IT?”

I hope so.

At CATES (Where I work), one of the twelve principles we live by is: “ATTITUDE – We choose to be positive”.   If you want to approach a subject and land on it with successful outcomes, it helps if your attitude is positive.  Being positive makes all the difference in the world.  It is fairly clear, after over 8000 years of examination, that God has given us the ability to affect the outcomes of every aspect of our lives, simply by determining what we believe is true about it.  Our beliefs change every aspect of our life.  If you believe things will always go wrong, then you will experience that outcome.  If your approach to your fellow-man is negative, then you will reap the benefit of your view of others, and have no genuine friends.

Attitude is one of the very first things the Lord had to really work with me on.  I was a negative and pessimistic individual, whose attitude was reinforced by the outcomes of my life.  My assumption was that I was right because everything always turned out exactly as I thought they would.  God showed me that attitude is a choice.  How I choose to approach anything will directly affect the outcomes.  Attitude is a choice.  It is a habit.  It comes from the heart.  It becomes positive when you learn to look at the world differently.

 

“HOW DID YOU DO IT?”

I’m glad you asked. I didn’t.

My attitude about life, work, love, marriage, co-workers, clientele, family, or anything didn’t change until I fully understood what the finished work of the cross gave me.  When I accepted that Jesus BECAME all sin for all time, and took on the wrath of God in our place, and in exchange, God poured on us all the benefits of being His child, an heir to the throne, a member of God’s family, a love beyond measure, and total forgiveness for all my sin, I finally understood what it felt like to see the world and people the way God does.

I learned to love because God loved me enough to bury my sin with Jesus, and raise my dead soul into a new life.  I had been born in the spirit.  Where I was dead, Jesus’s resurrection gave me life in Him.  The Spirit of God cleansed me and changed my attitude. I began thinking new thoughts.,  I loved for the first time.  I saw people as my brother or sister.  While I am aware of my and others continuing failures, I felt only love for them, and chose to show grace and mercy.  It was easy to do this because this was what God showed me.

So, frankly, I didn’t change my attitude.  Experience has taught me that, I can fake a good attitude only so long, but whatever is hidden in my heart will become manifest over time.  On my own strength I do not love long, I show no mercy or grace, and my attitude is very rotten.  Since I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, I am able to be like Christ and love, show grace and mercy, and look for opportunities to give with a positive attitude.

 

GUARD YOUR THOUGHTS

 

I cannot, by my own strength, maintain this loving attitude.  Only when I guard my thoughts am I able to be filled with this powerful love.  I can break my connection to God simply by going back to my old way of thinking and behaving.  God leaves this up to me.  The way I maintain a good attitude is by staying in the word, praying continuously, and submitting to Gods love and will.  It is only by the continual renewing of my mind that I can be a blessing instead of a curse. I am confident in Christ enough that I know I am weak, but Christ in me is infinitely strong.  If I catch the old self trying to assert his attitude and beliefs, all I have to do is remember that my old self died with Christ, and my new self, the child of God, is who lives through Christ.

Attitude is a choice.  When the blowing wind of earthly things challenges my attitude, when the weight of the world wants to crush me, when my co-workers decide to be peevish and negative, when a thoughtless and selfish humanity threatens to ruin my day, I simply remember who I am in Christ, and ask the Spirit of the Living God to sustain me so I can be a witness to all the things that would otherwise drag me down.  A simple choice of attitude can turn things around, and your witness can cause others to want to know where you have this strength of character.  Then you can tell them why you are joyful in the face of adversity, and strong when temptation desires your soul.

Think on the good things of God continuously, and you will see the world in a very different lite.

It is all a choice, a labor into the rest of the finished work of Christ.

You will always get what you are looking for.

Let’s be about it

I love you all,

David G. Perkins

PS – Click HERE to see how the Bible addresses ATTITUDE.

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Transition States: Leaving Missouri


hands-heart“I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content — whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.” – Philippians 4:12 HCSB

What a difference a year makes.

This year represents several transition events.  Going from:to in many areas of my life, has been the way of 2013.

From being employed to knowing unemployment.

From having plenty to having nothing.

From having a home to being homeless.

From having plenty to eat, to wondering how to feed my family.

There have also been some outstanding transitions, as well.

From hating life to loving life.

From being alienated from God to understanding that God loves me.

From fear to assurance.

From hate to love.

From death to life.

From being unemployed in 2013, to starting my new job in 2014.

From the death of the old self, to the birth of the new self.

From losing useless friends to gaining real and meaningful friendships.

Now, we are going from Missouri to Texas.

These last 11 years in Missouri are a mixed bag of great memories and some sot so great ones.  Mostly, being here has given me the opportunity to be refined in a way I doubt I would have known had I been living where I wanted to live.

During my spate of unemployment, I sent out over 500 resume, and applied for several hundred jobs.  It wasn’t until I gave up trying and asked God to take over this process that I got a job.  I asked God to do this, and within 3 minutes of my praying that, I had my first phone interview with a company I had not applied to.  The company is located in the opposite direction from where I wanted to move my family.

Sandy witnessed all this.  She saw her husband go from being a monster, to becoming a child of God. These last 9 months of unemployment have been the most productive months I have ever lived through.

I am now a child of God.  I am the redeemed through the finished work of the cross.  I have faith, hope and love, literally for the first time in my life.  Anger is a vague and distant memory for me.  Love is the theme in my heart.

The work Christ did on the cross satisfied all the Law and Prophets of the Old Testament.  There is nothing that can be added to it, and nothing that can be taken away from it.  It is finished.

My prayer for you, for 2014 is this:

I pray that you learn what I learned.  That God is not mad at you.  That you are loved by the being that created the entire universe.  That, on your behalf, Jesus Christ became every sin that ever existed and will exist, and absorbed all the wrath of God in judgement for becoming all of sin.  Jesus died of all our sin so we can live.  An exchange took place on the cross.  Jesus took all that had become our inheritance: sin, death, disease, and hell, and in exchange for that, He gave us His inheritance:  Life, Love, Healing, wholeness, His Kingdom and His Father, our God.

I pray for you to discover that when Jesus rose from the dead, He gave you the power to rise, a new creation, with Him.  I pray that you understand that all you have to do to be saved is understand in your heart what Jesus did, and accept it, and confess it with your mouth.

I pray for the same transition I had, from death to life, from hopelessness to hope, from despair, to joy, from being lost to knowing you belong to God, and nothing can take it away from you.

The Kingdom of Heaven is in you, and God dwells in you, and the Spirit of the Living God empowers you when you make this transition.  No religion ever brought you this.  It is not a religion, but a relationship.

I look forward to this new life we will live in Texas.  Sandy and I are going to get certified and ordained in the Ministry.  I am going to work for my new employer as if I were working for God Himself.

I am going to give and give and give all that God has given me.

I pray that you prosper and grow in the Lord in 2014.

I am glad I have experienced 2013 in all its various shades of joy and despair.  I would not have learned that, no matter what state I live, whatever my condition, God is my father, and He provides.  I will cherish 2013 for the rest of my life, and remember Missouri with fondness.

My next blog will be written in Texas.  I look forward to sharing the adventures God will be taking Sandy and I on.

God bless you in 2014.

Love

David Perkins

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Thank You God


Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:2 HCSB

1:2 χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

GRACE – χάρις – Transliteration: charis  Pronunciation: khä’-rēs   Part of Speech: feminine noun

Outline of Biblical Usage
GRACE:  a free gift.  God’s ability.  grace is that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech good will, loving-kindness, favour of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues, what is due to grace, the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace, the token or proof of grace, benefit, a gift, bounty,thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward
PEACE – εἰρήνη – Transliteration: eirēnē   Pronunciation: ā-rā’-nā   Part of Speech: feminine noun

Outline of Biblical Usage
a state of national tranquillity, exemption from the rage and havoc of war
peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord, security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous), of the Messiah’s peace, the way that leads to peace (salvation)
of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is, the blessed state of devout and upright men after death
from – ἀπό Transliteration: apo   Pronunciation: ä-po’   Part of Speech: preposition

Outline of Biblical Usage (In the context of this sentence):
of origin
of the place whence anything is, comes, befalls, is taken
of origin of a cause

Dear God,

How do I tell others what a magnificent thing you have done in me?

Where a cauldron of angry fire once lived deep in me, now exists a calm peace, a tranquility that can come only from you. God, you have seen me struggle for decades with my overwhelmingly sinful nature, yet, in a day, in a single hour, your gift of love was poured into my heart, and I now know peace, love, joy, harmony, the stillness of soul only you can bring.

The first thing your word taught me is that you are not angry at me, but that you love me infinitely.  You proved this when You sent Jesus.

This changed me.

Where I was unable to change, your gift of love to me made me able to receive. In receiving, I became a new creation. There was no self to repair once I understood that, because Jesus died, my self died with Him. The “Me” that used to be no longer exists. The echo of memories are only a dim note, drowned out by your beauty, grace and love.

When I understood that, when Christ rose from the dead, so did I; This new man was born the day I understood that I have a new life in the risen Christ.

What words or actions can you lead me to that will help others know that you can change them, just as you have changed me?

There are those who knew me before this change, and they know me now that I have changed. Let your love so shine in my soul that they will understand that this is real, and it is all because of You, Lord God. Because of Jesus’s sacrifice, the sinless one who became all sin and shame, I, a terribly sinful one, full of darkness and corruption, became holy and acceptable to you. I accepted this free gift of your grace. Not that I can brag or draw attention to me, but that, because of the wonderful thing you have done in me will lead others to the cross of Christ.

I know people will only believe what they only want to believe, there is nothing I can do about them. But, Lord, even with them, let the light of your love and grace be so full and alive in me that even they will see, and have to choose whom they will believe.

What joy and wonder you have written on my heart, Dear God. Thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Thank you for the great exchange that makes me wholly acceptable to you, dear God. I have all the promise living in me, and all sin is forgiven and destroyed. Your mighty work defeated all the darkness in the universe.

All we have to do is accept this free gift.

Dearest God,

Make me an instrument of the Gospel of Peace. Let my life be the grace and love that was Jesus’ life. No matter where I go, no matter what I do, let me always remember what you have done for me.

I love you, Dear God, because of the life of Jesus that is now abiding in me. I am complete, and lack nothing. You prove to me daily that you are all my provision. Where I was homeless, I now have a home. Where I was unemployed, I now have a job. Where I was penniless, you have provided all I need.

The greatest thing, though, you have given me, Lord, is eternal life. So, I ask, Dear Lord, that you take my life and make it your instrument of the Gospel of Peace.

I thank you and praise you, God, because of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

ROMANS 12:1 – Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. HCSB

Let’s be about it.

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Exchanging Gifts


Isaiah 40:31 – But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31 can also be translated, “They whose hope is in the Lord will exchange their strength (with Him … by inference).

Throughout the Bible, God shows us that He is trading our small, weak things for His great and mighty things.  He has taken us from slavery to freedom, from the wilderness, to a promised land, from famine to feast, from weakness to glory.

Jesus traded His kingdom for our Hell.  On the cross, Christ became all our sin, sickness, death, and curse so we can have His holiness, health, life and blessing.  He became all sin so we can have no sin.  The simple act of accepting this gift, in our heart, and confessing Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, who died for you and rose on the third day, makes you alive again.

The exchange is simple and irrevocable to any who will accept it.  His life for your death.  All he was, He gave to you.  In exchange, you gave Him all you were; your sin, your disease, your death, your curse.  Now, if you will simply accept this gift from Him, you are a son of God   You are the righteousness of Christ, you are whole, you are clean, you are acceptable in the eyes of God.  You are loved.  You were loved long before you even understood that God loves you.  God reached across all time and eternity and gave the life of His only begotten son in exchange for your life.

You now have eternal life, if you will accept this exchange.  It is free.  There is nothing you have to do to earn this gift.  Christ already did that.

This is God’s gift to us:  Jesus Christ.

When Jesus became Sin, you became Holy.  When He died, your old sin self died too.  When He rose from the dead, you rose with Him, and are now eternally His.  You are blessed.

 
God gives good gifts.  
 
 
I love you
sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com
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Faith, Observations

Transition States: Laboring to Rest


God Gives Rest To The Weary“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  – Jesus – Mathew 11:28 – 30 HCSB

Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell]. – Apostle Paul – Hebrews 4:11 AMP

Sometime around 1989 or 1990, I was walking around in a mall in Fort Worth, Texas.  I ran across a display of art called Stereograms.  These are the computer generated art that look like a bunch of dots or squiggles on a canvas.  In order to see the image hidden in all the dots and squiggles, you had to relax your eyes.  As you relaxed, your focus changed from what you think you see, to what is actually there, hidden in plain sight.

After you learn to do this, repeating it seems simple.  Well…I had to train myself to do it.  Relaxing my eyes was not easy for me.  It meant letting go of my visual boundaries in the middle of a mall full of strangers.  It also meant letting my mind experience something new, visually, so I can see what I normally would not perceive.

Here is an example of a stereogram.  To see the image in the stereogram, look in the center of the picture, and completely relax your eyes, or let them go “unfocused”.  The hidden image will pop out.  At the bottom of this post, I will tell you what is on the image.

Did you see it??  Spectacular, wasn’t it?  If you didn’t see it, please don’t stress out, and don’t stop trying.  Learning to relax and see what is right in front of you isn’t always easy.  Trust me on this, I have a hard time relaxing, and seeing most of the time.

Keep at it.  You WILL see it the second you relax and allow yourself to see.  This is an example of striving to rest, or laboring to rest.  Unless you relax and allow your eyes to rest on the image, you cannot see it.  You have to work at letting go, at seeing things differently than you are used to.  Once you DO see, it becomes easier to see.  Eventually, your eyes will just know how to do it.

On the surface, this picture looks more like chaos than order.    The patters you think you see are mere distractions, leading your perception away from what is hidden right in front of you.  Seeing what is really there is actually a volitional act.  The mind is conditioned to see and perceive what it accepts as real or truth.  To get the eyes to see and perceive what is not easily seen, you have to rest in the ability to see.  You have to let go and trust your eyes to do the seeing, without forcing them to filter based on a fear or an opinion.

Once you see what is on the image, you perceive a reality that underlies all the noise.  And coherence happens, and the message is understood.  But you first have to get beyond the noise to understand the signal.  You have to relax and trust.  You will see when you do this.

YOUR HEART HAS EYES, TOO.

“[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones), and [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places], far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.”  Letter of Paul to the Ephesians – Eph. 1:17-21
When you hear a truth, or a lie, your heart knows.  You can be in a pitch black room, blindfolded, but when someone lies to you, your heart “gets a catch”.  And when someone tells you the truth, your heart resonates to it.  You know deep inside when you have been lied to.  The depths at which you perceive a lie or the truth is based on how much time you have invested in knowing what is true.  When you know what truth sounds like, deep inside, you can spot a lie a mile away.  You never have to study lies to recognize one.  Your heart knows.  That is having eyes in your heart.
The more time you spend learning truth, the better you are at knowing the truth and discerning what a lie is.  Perhaps this is why Politicians are so deluded.  All they do is study how to lie and deceive.  The truth would probably kill them.
The Apostle Paul prayed that the eyes of our heart will be opened so we can see.  Jesus also commented on people who have eyes to see but refuse to perceive, and ears to hear, but refuse to understand what is heard.  Even His disciples had this problem.
In Mark 8:17-18, Jesus admonished His disciples for being somewhat obtuse:
“Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you reasoning and saying it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet discern or understand? Are your hearts in [a settled state of] hardness? [Isa. 6:9, 10; Jer. 5:21.]  Having eyes, do you not see [with them], and having ears, do you not hear and perceive and understand the sense of what is said? And do you not remember?'”  Amplified Bible
What is it that we need our hearts to see and remember?   In the case of the disciples, they had already forgotten that Jesus IS the Bread of Life.  They were looking at what appeared more real to them than the very truth that stood in front of them.  With God, all things are possible.  The leaven of the Pharisees was that the Pharisees had taken the will and word of God and added to it until they had developed a life sucking, religious system that enslaved the Jews.  Jesus repeatedly told the disciples that he had come here to free mankind from the chains and heavy burdens that religion and the world had put on them.
With carnal eyes, the people heard what they wanted to hear, and ignored the real message of Jesus.  The people expected Jesus to overthrow the Romans and restore order to the temple.  But that is not the freedom that Jesus was talking about.
A change happens to us when we first become Christians.  We see, as if for the very first time, things that are in the scriptures, there were there all along, but were hidden from our understanding.  We read the scriptures, and they suddenly made sense.  The words were always there, but our ability to perceive them was not.  When we became Christians, the eyes of our heart were opened.  We SAW the truth in our heart.  We understood.  Even the world we looked at appeared different.  We were seeing and perceiving what God had placed right in front of us.  The cares of this world, the temptations of the flesh, the hardness of our hearts were what was keeping us from understanding.
So what happened? Just like what happened in Ephesus, we fall prey to our own vain imaginations, or to a religious system that leads you, ever so gently, back into that darkness from which Christ delivered you.  We become burdened with falsehoods, and are told that the hell that appears in front of us is the real reality.  That we must work hard, and strive to overcome the world.  That God helps those who help themselves.  We return to a fallen state (Not loss of salvation, but not allowing the Spirit of God to change you).  We then become legalistic and tell people who God is mad at us all, that he is going to get us if we don’t repent from (Fill in the blank, there are millions of single issues religious groups fight over).
The Christ that we first perceived fades into the distant past.  Your joy turns into struggle and anger.  The place in your heart that was full of life returns to the barren desert that you lived in before Jesus.
“The eye (Of the Heart) is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your entire body will be full of light.

But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23 Amplified
What makes our eye darkened?  Remember what Jesus asked the disciples?  “And do you not remember?”
We are in control of what our heart looks at.  We are in charge of what we choose to remember, to believe, to hold as being truth.  God did not create us to be robots or automatons.  We are free to chose our lives, our destinies, our way of being.  What we believe is true in our hearts manifests itself  in the material world.
When we first believed, our eyes were opened to a beauty, to a love, to a joy we never knew was possible.  All that disappeared when we took our “eyes” off Jesus.  We can choose to forget whet Christ has accomplished for us, and in us.  We can do this simply by choosing to forget how to see what He has accomplished.  We return to the way the world tells us to believe.  We buy in to a religion that teaches us that WE must work in order to prove ourselves righteous before God.  That our efforts, the sweat of our brow is where God will judge us.
WE FORGET WHAT CHRIST ACCOMPLISHED
Jesus Christ did not come here to start a religion.  Jesus came here to fulfill all the requirements of the Law and the Prophets.  Because all the law did was show mankind that we are not able, on our own ability, to please God, and the Prophets foretold of the Messiah who will come and be slain, Jesus mission on earth was to satisfy the requirement of the law, and manifest what the prophets spoke of.  Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Jesus did not come here to judge you.  Because He fulfilled the law, you are free from all condemnation.  You were set free.
Remember that freedom you felt when you were first saved?  You felt it because your heart saw that you were genuinely free, and that all the ability of God was given to you.
Religion is a man-made structure that uses guilt, fear, and condemnation to drive you to do what it wants done.  Religion, just as in Jesus’ day, robs us of our joy, our hope and our freedom in Christ.  Religion exists only to serve itself, but blames its falsehoods on Jesus and the Bible.
Jesus came to restore a loving relationship between God and Man.  When Jesus was nailed to the cross, he didn’t just die FOR our sins, although that is what happened, Jesus BECAME all sin, for all time.  He WAS sin.  And God, in fulfilment of the requirements of the Law, poured all His wrath on Jesus.   Jesus fulfilled the law.  Jesus alone did this.  God abandoned Jesus on the cross for this to happen.  Fellowship between God and Christ was broken.  This is why we hear Jesus shout, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  This was prophesied by Isaiah, and is the fulfillment of the prophesy that the lamb of God will be slain for the redemption of mankind.  When Jesus became sin, he and he alone took on, absorbed, and suffered the entire and full wrath of God.  When that was accomplished, Jesus said, “It is finished”.
WHAT WAS FINISHED?
Your death was finished.  When you accepted this free gift of Jesus’s death on the cross, you accepted life, forgiveness, and eternity.  You accepted that Jesus, and He alone took on your judgement so you can receive His blessing, eternal life.  When Jesus rose from the dead, He proved he and he alone has power over death, too.  When you believed that Jesus was your sacrifice, in your place, and you believed he rose again, you rose with him.  You rose in new life with him because you were dead and buried with him on the cross.  All sin leads to death.  Jesus died.  All sin is dead now.
Jesus did what no other human could do.  Because he was without sin, and the law required a sacrifice of a completely sinless being for the remission of death, he became all of humanities sin for all time.
LABORING TO REST
In order for me to be free from my hyper-Calvinistic mind-set, and be free from religion, and have a real relationship with the Living God because of Jesus, I had to completely understand what happened on the cross and at the resurrection.
The picture was right in front of me the whole time.  I just had forgotten to see it.  I became first religious, then returned to a fallen state, as if I were never a Christian.  When I tried to return to that Joy, I did it my own way based on the religious constructs I learned at the teachings of the denomination I was raised in.  It was all works
Praying was an effort, a labor not built on love.  It was, frankly, a drudgery.
The Bible had become foreign to me, but I read it anyway.  It was a lot like eating dust.
Forget witnessing.  I was all fire and damnation and fear and manipulation.   You cannot give a love that is not in your heart to give.
I had forgotten Christ’s complete work.  I was trying to recreate the love of God by my own efforts.  I was trying by the will of my flesh to be pleasing to God.  It was as if I were telling God that the sacrifice and Resurrection of Christ was not good enough, or complete enough, that I had to do something myself, on my own volition, by my power, to assure my salvation.  It was all work, and no play.
Laboring in to the rest of Christ sounds like a contradiction.  It isn’t.  If you want to walk in Christ, like Christ, after Christ, you first have to learn to rest in His completed work.  There is no other way to do it.  None.  Believe me, I tried.
What does this mean,  “Labor to rest”?  Remember the stereogram above?  The first time you try to see the hidden images, you have to work at relaxing your eyes so you can see.  You have to rest your eyes.  You have to relax.  You have to allow the image to form without your physically forcing your eyes to work.  This is the opposite of observing.  We observe for information, but we see in order to know.  In order to see the image, we first have to rest.
When I put forth my very best effort at Christ likeness, the effort at maintaining it is exhausting. When I try to be “sinless” I sin.  When I try to love on my own power, I either pervert it, or turn it into hate.  There really is a very fine line between Human love and Human hate.  When I give to others by my own will, I always, eventually, want recognition for it, or expect something in return.  In other words, my efforts lead only to my own glorification and limited ability.
THE LABOR IS TO REMEMBER, AND REMEMBERING LEADS TO COMMUNION AND HARMONY WITH GOD.
My labor to rest is to get my ego out of the way.  My labor is to allow the complete work of Jesus to exist in my heart.  My labor is to recall constantly what Jesus accomplished for me, and to rest in it, so that the Spirit of God will make Christ manifest in my life.  This resting is so others will be led to life, salvation, back to God, through Jesus Christ.
Not My Will, But Thine
Getting my ego, my self, my flesh, my will, my desires out of my way is my labor.  This is a volitional act.  My ego does not want to die, either.  It has been running my life for over 50 years.  Death to self is the last thing my mind and ego want.  But I have to die to self in order to rest in the completed work of Christ.  This means, as a volitional act, I choose to die.  I do this when I accept the truth of what Christ did at His death Burial and resurrection.
It is His will that I accept this free gift, unadulterated by the cares of this world, or by a religious system made by mankind.  There is nothing I can do to add to or take away from His gift.  I can alter how I see and rest in it, but I cannot change it, or how it applies to my life.  In order for me to do this accepting, I have to struggle with my ego and lead it to its death.  Fortunately, the Holy Spirit works in me to do this, too.  All I have to do is surrender to it.
Death to self is frightening at first, but painless, and brings such joy as I have never believed was possible.
In dying to self, and relaxing, or resting in the complete work of Christ, I am able to see clearly what is in front of me.  I see with new eyes.  God was hidden in plain sight the whole time.  As my old self dies, more of God is revealed in my heart.  That is when I know that:
I am saved
I am a Son of God
I am full of the Holy Spirit
I am free from sin (The deisres of sin have become meaningless compared to the love and joy of Christ)
I am not a slave to sin, but to righteousness.
I am a new creation
I am more than a conqueror
I am the righteousness of God in Christ
I am crucified with Christ
I am justified before God by faith in Christ
I am God’s workmanship
I am hid in Christ
I am saved by Grace
I am an Heir of God
I am a joint Heir with Jesus
I am accepted in the Beloved
I am at peace with God.
The world teaches fear, slavery, and doubt.  You are in the chains of the world if you chose.  Religion only wants what it wants, and will use any means necessary to accomplish its means, even use the name of Jesus to justify its’ selfish lusts.
The freedom you have is standing right in front of you if you will simply labor to rest in the completed work of Christ Jesus.   All the promises of God are already yours.   You cannot earn them, you cannot make yourself righteous, you cannot be a slave to the world or a religion and still be free to rest in the Lord.
All you have to do is understand what transpired on the Cross and at the resurrection, and rest in that. Then the hidden things of God will appear to you as bright as the sun on a spring morning.  You will have new eyes to see and new ears to hear the mysteries of the Living God, who is heaping His love and goods on you.  All you have to do is relax in the finished work of Christ.
The image above has Christ on the cross, the two who were hanging on the crosses next to Him, and a Roman soldier getting ready to pierce Jesus’ side.
Let’s be about it.
I love you
David G. Perkins
sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Because of Christ, I AM


This entry is  a long one, folks.  Go get some coffee, or a soda, or the beverage of your choice…and maybe a snack.  I will wait right here for you.

I dedicate this post to the following individuals, without whom, I would not have given up my old religion, and embraced the gift of Grace, provided by Jesus’ sacrifice on my behalf.

My beautiful and Godly wife, who introduced me to my ignorance, and walked me back to the Cross.

Glenda Dowd who shared Dr. Jim Richards, “Grace: The Power To Change” with my wife, who in turn used this book to open my eyes.

To Casey Merseal, who always makes me think.

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[And I pray] that the participation in and sharing of your faith may produce and promote full recognition and appreciation and understanding and precise knowledge of every good [thing] that is ours in [our identification with] Christ Jesus[and unto His glory].  Philemon verse 6. Amplified Bible

Recently, a post appeared on my FB page.  It was from an organization called “The Ministry of Second Timothy“.  Here is a quote from the very first paragraph:

“YES, THE CURSE ON AMERICA APPLIES TO YOU TOO: AS
THE LAW HAS NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED BY CHRIST.
BY DEIRDRE”

The author of this blog went on to say:

“…any natural man observing this fact who considers themselves someone who acknowledges truth, will find it hard to rebut the spiritual fact that Deuteronomy 28:43-44 and Deuteronomy 28:49-51 (below) are currently in effect REGARDLESS OF WHAT PAUL THE APOSTLE SAID IN GALATIANS 3:13; so if you count yourself among the smart, you better start listening to what JESUS SAID and forget the lies of Paul the Apostle!

The author further said:

“JESUS clearly said that He did not come to destroy the law, yet those who exalt Paul over Jesus, still claim that Jesus has already destroyed the law and therefore the Old Testament does not apply. This is a lie and those who worship the words of Paul are devil worshippers.

So it does not matter that Paul said that Jesus has already redeemed us (past tense) from the curse of the law. We have not yet been redeemed because Jesus is still fulfilling the law – so we are still under the law! Please don’t be foolish – listen to Jesus! 

JESUS SAYS:
17 “DO NOT THINK THAT I CAME TO DESTROY THE LAW OR THE PROPHETS. I DID NOT COME TO DESTROY BUT TO FULFILL. “

The most interesting thing the author said after that was:

“JESUS IS STILL FULFILLING THE LAW IN THIS YEAR 2013; IN FACT HE JUST WOKE ME UP THIS MORNING AND SAID “RISE AND COMPLETE MY WORK!” THEN ONE OF HIS ANGELS PLACED A SONG IN ME WHICH I WILL SHARE AT ANOTHER TIME, BUT THE CHORUS IS SUNG LIKE THIS:
MY FATHER SAID “RISE” AND COMPLETE HIS WORK. COMPLETE HIS WORK. COMPLETE HIS WORK.
MY FATHER SAID “RISE” AND COMPLETE HIS WORK. COMPLETE HIS WORK. COMPLETE HIS WORK.
SO I KNOW FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH GOD THAT ALL HAS NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED, BECAUSE I AM A WORKING ON A PROCESS THAT JESUS TASKED ME TO COMPLETE – A PROCESS MODEL “FOR HOW TO CREATE SOMETHING FROM NOTHING.” WHICH SHALL BE USED FOR MANKIND TO EXTEND OUR SCIENCE SO THAT WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO HEAL THE WORLD.”

I am compelled to address this.

Firstly, Timothy was a disciple of Paul (Said blog is called, “The Ministry of Second Timothy”).  Here is something Peter had to say about this:

“And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord [His slowness in avenging wrongs and judging the world] is salvation (that which is conducive to the soul’s safety), even as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the spiritual insight given him,  Speaking of this as he does in all of his letters. There are some things in those [epistles of Paul] that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist and misconstrue to their own utter destruction, just as [they distort and misinterpret] the rest of the Scriptures.  Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you be carried away by the error of lawless and wicked [persons and] fall from your own [present] firm condition [your own steadfastness of mind].”  2 Peter 3:15-17 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
If Paul was a disciple of Satan, then Peter endorsed a child of Satan as being one of their own (The fellowship of the Apostles).
Jesus hung on the cross.  John, the beloved apostle, recorded the following:
“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished (ended), said in fulfillment of the Scripture, I thirst. [Ps. 69:21.]   A vessel (jar) full of sour wine (vinegar) was placed there, so they put a sponge soaked in the sour wine on [a stalk, reed of] hyssop, and held it to [His] mouth.  When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished!  And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”  John 19:28-30 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Jesus did not only die for our sin, he became all sin and was judged by the Living God for it.  Jesus did this in our place because we are not able to do it for ourselves, and God loves us too much to let all of Humanity’s souls perish.
Because of the fall of Adam, all humans inherited a dead spirit  We are born already spiritually dead.  Jesus had this to say about that:
“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.  For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.  He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation–he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ‘s name.]”  John 3:16-18 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Christ and Christ alone is our salvation.  What He finished on the cross is the burden of the Law.
It is written:
“Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.  [God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].”  Colossians 2:14-15
What Christ finished on the cross is also stated in the book of Romans:
It is written:

“But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.  Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ’s blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) through His [resurrection] life.” Romans 5:8-10 AMPLIFIED BIBLE

Christ not only put finished to the demands of the Law, but he also freed us from the burden of the law.  The law existed only to show mankind that there is nothing we can do on our own strength to be righteous before the Living God.
Because we are saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we can now say with confidence that we belong to the kingdom of Heaven.  When we learn to walk in the freedom that this grace from God brings, we will be able to draw others to the same saving grace.  This is why we weren’t raptured the second we believed and were baptized.
Walking in the freedom of grace is not a license to sin.  Knowing what this freedom means will draw you to walk in the likeness of Christ.  You will discover that the short-lived pleasures sin brought you will fade into oblivion.  This will be true because you have a new spirit in you.
It is written:
“A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them.”  Ezekiel 36:26-27  AMPLIFIED BIBLE
That Spirit delights in the presence of God.  The freedom from the influence of sin is amazing, it is lovely, it is beautiful, and it is light.  You will never know true freedom unless you understand what Christ’s death on the cross bought you.
The alluring draw of the Spirit of God will lead you to walk after Christ.  It will be effortless.  Being Human, we will still fall into error, on occasion, but we no longer have to fear the punishment of God.  Jesus finished everything when he finished it on the cross.
God is not mad at you.  He is not mad at the unrepentant sinner, He loves them.  The myth that God is mad at you is a religious construct used by people who want to control you, and have the desire to be the dispenser of the will of God.
The delusion that there is anything else to add to the finished work of Christ implies that Christ was not actually able to finish what He started.  Mohammed made the same mistake.  That mistake brought us “The Religion of Peace”.  There is no work that needs to be accomplished outside of what Christ said we need to do.
It is written:
 And when they saw Him, they fell down and worshiped Him; but some doubted.
Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, ‘All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age.’ Amen (so let it be).”  Matthew 18:17-20  AMPLIFIED BIBLE
WHAT WE ARE BECAUSE OF THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS CHRIST
I am using the following material with permission.  Below is a summary written by Dr. Jim Richards.  This summary tells us what the finished work of Christ has purchased and given us.

Because of the Finished work of Christ:

I AM:

A son of God and an heir of God

It is written:

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!  The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.  And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.”  Romans 8:14-17 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Full of the Holy Spirit
It is written:
“But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God]. [Rom. 8:14.]  But if Christ lives in you, [then although] your [natural] body is dead by reason of in and guilt, the spirit is alive because of [the] righteousness [that He imputes to you].  And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.”    Romans 8:9-11 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Free from sin
It is written:
“Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 6:11 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
and
“ For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God’s favor and mercy].  What then [are we to conclude]? Shall we sin because we live not under Law but under God’s favor and mercy? Certainly not!  Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)?  But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed.  And having been set free from sin, you have become the servants of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in thought, purpose, and action).”  Romans 6:14-18 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
A new creation
It is written:
“Therefore if any person is [in-grafted]  in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!”  II Corinthians 5:17 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
More than a conqueror
It is written:
“Who shall ever separate us from Christ’s love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword?  Even as it is written, For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter. [Ps. 44:22.]  Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.  For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:35-39 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
The righteousness of God in Christ
It is Written:
“For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].”  
II Corinthians 5:21 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Crucified with Christ
It is written:
“For I through the Law [under the operation of the curse of the Law] have [in Christ’s death for me] myself died to the Law and all the Law’s demands upon me, so that I may [henceforth] live to and for God.  I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.  [Therefore, I do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]”  Galatians 2:19-21 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Justified by faith in Christ
It is written:
” Yet we know that a man is justified or reckoned righteous and n right standing with God not by works of the Law, but [only] through faith and[absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals and by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put in right standing with God). [Ps. 143:2.]”  Galatians 2:16  AMPLIFIED BIBLE
God’s workmanship
It is written:
“For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].”  Ephesians 2:10 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Hid in Christ
It is written:
“IF THEN you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [Ps. 110:1.]  And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.  For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.”  Colossians 3:1-3 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Saved by Grace

It is written:

“For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;  Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]”
Ephesians 2:8-9 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Accepted in the Beloved
It is written:

“For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]–[So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  Ephesians 1:5&6 AMPLIFIED BIBLE

At peace with God
It is written:
“THEREFORE, SINCE we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).”  Romans 5:1 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
So, you see, all the above states what the thesis of Paul was, and what was accomplished when Christ nailed the Law to the cross, became sin on our behalf.  We can boldly say, “It is finished” with Christ.
The Judaizers of Paul’s day attacked Paul in the same manner that the Judaizers of today attack Paul and anyone who will put stock in Paul’s writings.  We do not worship Paul.  We worship the Living God because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.  That is the same Jesus Christ that appeared to Paul on Paul’s journey to Damascus.
Paul was chosen by Jesus.  Paul was endorsed by Peter and James and John.
The message is clear.  Jesus does not need anyone to complete the finished work.  It is finished.  No self-appointed messiah can stand before the Living God and demand that His children must obey the Law that Jesus already fulfilled, and still lay claim to the finished work of Christ.  It is by grace alone we are saved.  No one can claim before the Living God that Jesus failed to complete the finished work, the work of promise that was foretold in the Law and the Prophets.  God did not appoint you to be the Messiah Part II.
Christ’s work is finished.
Let me encourage you, brothers and sisters, to cling to the finished work of Christ.  It is the only path to Salvation and freedom from sin.  Nothing you can do either by the Law or of your own effort will ever make you righteous.  You cannot save yourself.  If you could, Jesus died in vain.
We who know this message of Grace, who are hidden in Christ, who drink deep of the Gospel of Grace offered by Jesus Christ, we few must take to the world, not being absorbed by the will of the world, but to show the light of the Grace that lives in you because of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Let’s be about it.
I love you
David G. Perkins
sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Faith, Observations

Transition States: Saving Grace is Sustaining Grace – Revisited


Grace is Sufficient

 

This blog was originally posted on October 31, 2013.  I mention that I was homeless in this blog.  That has changed.  I and my family are no longer homeless.  I am now employed.  The job I have is probably the very best job I have had in over 25 years.  (Truthfully, nothing compares to full time ministry, IF you are actually serving the Lord, and not your own desires).

Since writing this blog, and getting employed, I am met with new challenges as a baby believer.  It is easy to take one’s eyes off Jesus when the cares of work and living confront you.  As I re-read this blog, I was reminded how strong my faith was when I wrote it.  Life was much harder then.  The difference between then and now is, then I was keeping my eyes continually focused on Christ and His finished work.  Re-reading this blog has reminded me that I need to remember, “The main thing is to always keep the main thing, the main thing.”

I hope this blog reminds you, my fellow struggling traveler, that there are much more important issues than what you think you are facing.  Keeping your eyes on Jesus will sustain you.  

You have all my love and prayer, whoever you are.  DGP  Romans 8:28 

The other day, I decided to turn off the auto-delete feature in my email program.  Suddenly, my inbox was stuffed to exploding with e-mails suggesting that if I ingest a little blue pill, my wife would suddenly be a happy person, or that my auto insurance was inadequate for me, AND that my house needs new siding.  I found that one delightful, as it is very difficult to side a homeless man’s house.

Buried in the midst of that deluge of magnificent offers was a question sent from one of the roughly 20 million alert readers of my blog.  She asked this question:  “Is Saving Grace the same as Sustaining Grace?”.

That is a very good question.

The short answer is:  YES!

If you are busy, or need to run, go ahead, I just answered that question, but if you need me to fill that answer out a bit, read at your own risk, the best answer I could come up with.  CAVEAT LECTOR:  Have your own Bible available, and never take my word, or anyone else’s word for anything.  Read the Bible and see if what I am saying is true, or not.  If it is not, please let me know BEFORE you unsubscribe to this incredibly stimulating and popular blog.  And that would leave just me and my mom as subscribers.

The long answer is:

I have to make certain assumptions of the person who asked me this question.  Here is the list of assumptions I am making.

YOU BELIEVE:

There IS a God.

That God is the SAME God mentioned throughout the Bible (Christian).

God sent His Son into a sinful world.

His Son, Jesus, did for us Humans what we could not do for ourselves.  Jesus made the broken bridge of communion with God whole again so we can have fellowship with God, and live in eternity with God in Heaven.

Jesus accomplished this feat by being nailed to the cross.  When He did that, he nailed the Law on the cross with him.  The Law led to the awareness of sin.  Jesus, who committed no sin, became all sin.  When Jesus became all sin, he was cut off from the Father: “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is (Aramaic), “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

When Jesus died, He descended into Hell and received the full wrath of God.  Jesus paid the full price for every type of sin that ever existed, does exist, and will exist.  He purchased your freedom when He gave up His life.  But God did not intend for Jesus to stay there.  While Jesus was in Hell, He remembered the promises of God, and spoke them, that God will not leave Him in Hell, nor forsake Him, and that He will commune with God again, and will sit on the throne of the Heavens.  Jesus confessed all this while he was in sin and receiving the full wrath of God.  And God sent the Spirit, His own Holy Spirit and brought Jesus back to life.

Jesus rose from the dead to prove that He has the authority to be called the Son of God, and that He has full authority over life and death.

Jesus became every sin imaginable and conquered it in Hell.  He rose again and gave gifts to all who will accept them.  Here is a list of the things Jesus gave us through His resurrection:

  • Rom. 6:4-8 We were crucified with him, died with him, buried with him and united with him in his death.
  • Rom. 6:5, 8 We will (Do live) live with him, united with him in his resurrection.
  • Rom. 8:17 We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.
  • Rom. 8:17 If we share in his sufferings, we will also share in his glory.
  • Gal. 2:20 We have been crucified with Christ, and he lives in us.
  • Eph. 2:5-6 God made us alive with Christ, God raised us up with Christ, and seated us with him in the heavenly realms.
  • Col. 2:12 We have been buried with him in baptism.
  • Col. 2:12-13 God raised us and made us alive with Christ, through faith.
  • Col. 2:20 We died with Christ to the basic principles of this world.
  • Col. 3:1 We have been raised with Christ.
  • Col. 3:3 Our life is now hidden with Christ in God.
  • Col. 3:4 When Christ appears, we will appear with him in glory.
  • 1 Thess. 5:10 He died for us so that we may live together with him.
  • 2 Tim. 2:11 If we died with him, we will also live with him.
  • 2 Tim. 2:12 If we endure, we will also reign with him.

When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you were born again.  When you were baptized, you were crucified with Him.  When you came up out of the water, you were raised again with Christ.  You are now a resurrected being.  We were dead in our sin, but because Christ became all our sin and died for them on our behalf, and we accepted this free gift, we are now new creations (II Corinthians 5:17).

Look at the list above again.  Look them up in your Bibles.  These are not theoretical constructs.  These statements are the absolute truth.

The same Grace that gave you a new life IS the same grace that sustains that new life.

THEN WHY DOES MY LIFE BLOW CHUNKS?

This happens to almost every believer who is not exposed to the truth.  You were not exposed to this truth because most people don’t know enough to tell you this truth.  Religion and religious tradition do not share this truth for fear of losing control over you.

You were saved, and life seemed sparkly and good.  God answered every prayer you prayed.  His presence was felt everywhere you went, and the meanings of the words in scripture were finally making sense to you.  But then, life happened, and your joy dimmed to a cold ember, and you no longer felt God’s wonderful presence.

When this happened, you were probably told that that is all part of growing up.  That God coddled you while you were a baby Christian, but it is now time to grow up and handle things yourself.

You were never informed that the same Grace that saved you will sustain you forever to the day you arrive in Heaven and meet Jesus face to face.

It is all about how you look at things.

If you go back to worldly thinking to solve your problems, you will get the same results that you got before you were saved.  You now have the Mind of Christ.  You have His Holy Spirit in you.  You are God’s righteousness already.  You are complete in every way possible in the spirit.  The difficulty comes in when you forget this fact, and return to your old way of thinking and handling problems.  If it didn’t work the first thousand times you did it, why do you think it will suddenly change?

If you want to live the walk of Christ, you have to make Him your Lord of life, too.  When you commit to do that, you must teach your heart what the scriptures declare about you (See the list above).  The Spirit of God will help you write these truths on your heart.  As you read the scriptures, and pray, you will get revelation on how to change your heart to what Jesus has said is true of you.  To walk after Christ is to rest in His completed work.  You are a co-heir to the very throne of Heaven.  You are God’s beloved child. You are no longer guilty of any sin.  And the Spirit of God will change your mind about sin so that whatever sin you struggle with will become less important than your desire to walk after Christ.

If you are saved by the grace of God, you will also live in it, if you chose to.  It really is that simple.  It is all in what you chose to believe is true as regards what Jesus accomplished on the cross and his resurrection.

This is not a license to sin, either.  Grace is God’s ability to make you righteous in Christ.  Jesus’s righteousness in now YOUR righteousness.  You are righteous and holy before God.  Your desire for God will grow and your desire for sin will diminish.

It is also not about giving up anything, but learning how to enjoy the things God invented without perverting it as the world has done.

Change your heart, and your life will change.  It all depends on what you focus on.  Remember that it is written: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Matt. 6:33

I became a Christian on October 27, 1986.  And for a while, life in Christ was amazing.  Then the world got in the way and I went back to my old way of thinking about it.  I did this because I was told that that is how it is when you become a Christian.

I was never taught that God’s saving grace IS God’s sustaining Grace.  Grace is from God, and is permanent once you have accepted Jesus as your lord and savior.

If all you wanted was the fire insurance and not the walk, fine.  But your life will be as miserable as it was before you were saved, and probably more so, as you are now a child of God refusing to learn from Him.

To be sustained in Grace (God’s ability), you have to learn to see the world and all things as God sees them.  You have to believe that what Christ accomplished at his death and resurrection is permanent, not just a one time deal.

I am new at this whole grace experience.  It took me 26 years to finally see that being a Christian didn’t work out for me simply because of what I believed was true about God.

God is not mad at you, he is not out to get you or punish you.  You are His beloved Child whom he loves.  Jesus already took on God’s wrath in Hell.  You no longer have to fear God.  He is now your real father.  And He loves you.

 When you slide back into your worldly view of things, you reject the gift Christ gave His life to give you.  (See the list above).  You are telling Christ that His grace is not good enough for you and that you need to take the wheel from here.

But if you really want to experience the sustaining grace, you need to make Jesus your Lord, too, and trust that what He has done for you is real, is now, and is permanent.  The Spirit of God will honor that faith and teach you how to manifest all the gifts of God in the material world.  THIS is, after all, why you were not raptured when you first believed.  We are to exist as Christ existed, and lead all men to salvation.

Like I said before, the difference between a victorious life in Christ and going back to your old life is all in what you believe to be true about the Grace of God.  It is always in you.  It is always with you.  Even when you sin, God’s love for you never departs from you, and your salvation is not taken away.  The ones who fall from grace are the ones who think works righteousness will please God and make him love you.  You are already loved by God and He finds absolutely no fault in you.  This is all because you have accepted what Jesus did for you.

I may be new to this whole Grace thing.  I was raised in a very legalistic tradition by the Southern Baptists.  I went to a Southern Baptist Seminary.  But like Paul, I count all that as so much “dung” (Insert your own preferred aphorism here).  Compared to the amazing Grace of God and the truth that it reveals to my heart, nothing else matters.  The changes this has made in my life has been so powerful that many people have commented on what a completely different human I am.  That is also true.  My old self died when Jesus died.  My new self rose, righteous before God, when Jesus arose from the dead.  I simply needed to understand what all that meant.

So, yes, the sustaining Grace of God is the exact same thing as the grace that saved you.  One happened in a single point of time, and the other is just the same grace walking through time sustaining you, if you will accept the truth of the Scriptures.

Change your mind and change your life.  God’s grace is really all you need to walk in the likeness of Christ.  If you received Him as your savior and want to experience His sustaining Grace, then change what you believe about being saved.

Let’s be about it.

I love you,

David G. Perkins

Sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Transition States: Serving Man Is To Serve Christ


"I AM the bread of life" - Jesus

“I AM the bread of life” – Jesus

For I have come down from heaven,not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me. – John 6:38 HCSB

Do I understand that, for Jesus to make that statement, He had to be completely emptied of His Heavenly place of honor, leave His throne, and become one of us?  He humbled Himself and served God’s will by serving man.  Jesus left His own personal will behind, was filled with the Spirit of God at His baptism, and served God’s Will.  Not out of law, compulsion, or as a slave, but out of Love for His Father.  Jesus served God by serving man.  And He did it by the power of the Holy Spirit that had filled Him.

I grew up believing that if I sang in the church choir, went to all the youth rallies, worked in the annual church “revival”, attended the Summer Camps, and basically behaved myself, I would be a good christian.

When I became an adult (Not to be confused with growing up), I attended church because I wanted to please God.  I confused the scripture that says, “Hebrews 10:25 – KJV – Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”  Again, I saw a lot of “activity” and heard a great deal about God and Jesus, but it came across as a knowledge gained through consensus, a creating God out of parts of scripture that appealed to the idea of what I want God to be, rather than learn what the Bible actually says about God, His will, and Jesus, the Lord.

Let me be clear, and I will probably be pilloried over this, but you can research this yourselves.  The “Church” is the ekklesia…the body that consists of those who genuinely believe.  The “Church” is NOT the building you go to and socialize in.  These edifices are full of people who have no real belief or understanding of the scriptures.  They gather to serve themselves.  The “Church” was never called to serve itself, glorify itself, or do its own will, expecting God to approve its’ own agenda.  When we are filled with our own purposes, we have immediately forsaken the will of God.    Today’s churches have become irrelevant for this very reason.  It is a fortress that expects the sinner to come to it for help, and offering only trite messages, based on the popular psychology of the day, and “supported” by whatever scripture they can find to support that view-point.  They are the “Hucksters of the Gospel” you read about in the New Testament.   Having a form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof.

Christ’s church, His ekklesia, consists of those who have believed in  their hearts that Jesus died for and became their sin.  That Jesus became every sin that ever was and ever will be, and died and went to hell, a sinner, for our sake.  Christs church understands that, while Jesus was dead in Hell, cut off from God, but receiving the complete and full wrath of God, God reached into Hell and brought Jesus back to life.  Jesus, having been restored, preached freedom to the captives in Hell and took the captives and freed them.  Then Jesus rose from the dead to prove that He has the right to be called “Christ the Lord”.  Jesus did for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  He put all sin and death away for our sakes.  If you accept this simple truth in your heart, and declare with your mouth that Jesus did all this and rose from the dead, YOU HAVE SALVATION.  THAT is all there is to it.

Those are the people who are the ekklesia, the church.  And believing these things, are sold out, in faith, and grace, and have determined to follow their Lord.  These are the people who need to stick together.  These are the people who need to support each other.  Wherever two believers are gathered, Jesus is in their midst.  It is there they can support, exhort, teach and worship together.  You will not find that in the established church.  If this were not true, the established church would have no idea what religious dogma is, nor would they be trying to force their own agenda down the throat of the Living God.

Results matter, and what has become the modern church is proof that they have abandoned their first love, and taken upon themselves the idea that they know God’s will better than God does.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 ESV

I cannot do what Christ wants me to do.  Not if I intend to do it on my own power.  The only way I can “walk after the lord” is to rest in what HE accomplished on my behalf.  The minute I abandon the power and will and faith of Christ, and attempt to do His will on my own, I have abandoned the very thing Christ has asked us to do…ABIDE IN HIM.  Abiding means to rest, pitch your tent, make Him your home.  Know Him through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  It is what every New Believer experiences.  Unfortunately, because discipleship is a lost art, that new Christian becomes a blown out candle.  Then when he asks his pastor, or some other respected elder why has the joy left, that respected adviser usually tells them, “Well, this is all part of maturing . ”  God worked in you because you were a baby christian, but we all have to grow up, and do for ourselves.  We have to obey God through our effort”.  I actually was told that at Seminary.  We were taught that we must abide, but we were taught that it is an effort to do so, and we just have to work hard to get ourselves to abide.  I actually believed that, and the result was, I became as bad a sinner as I was before I was saved.  I didn’t understand what abide really meant.

Abide is a very intimate term.  Get to know Him through spending time with Him.  This starts with reading the word and prayer.  The Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead is the same spirit that now lives in you.  As long as you abide, you grow, and produce fruit.  But is done by resting in Him.  Believe as simply as you did when you were first saved.  Trust that He will guide you, teach you, uphold you, love you, and instruct you.  Give up your ideas of God’s will, and learn what His will actually is.  Rest in Him.  You cannot do this by your own strength.  You are already forgiven.  You are already His child.  You are already adopted into the Kingdom of God.  When you learn to relax and trust this truth, you will abide in Him.  When you do this, you will be shown how things look from God’s point of view.  You will, out of love for Christ, WANT to please him.  This is not something you can ever do on the power of your flesh.  It is only when you abide in the rest of the Lord that HE will guide you and teach you.  Your desire will be to do as Christ leads you.  He will make sure you have all you need to do His will.

John … said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.”  But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.” – Luke 9:49-50 NASB

You do not need “The Church’s” permission to serve Christ.  You already are a co-heir to the throne of Christ.  You have within you all the same power that God used, through Jesus, to create the heavens and earth.  The kingdom of God dwells in you.  You are now His child.  God is not sitting “way up there, in the distant by and by, sitting on a throne, unapproachable”.  He dwells in you.  His kingdom is in you.  You have all the power and authority and grace and love of God.  You are Saved and belong to Him as if you were Jesus Himself.  When He sees you, He sees his beloved child.

That “someone” who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, was obeying the will of God because it became his heart to do so.  He did not need the permission of the disciples because he already had the kingdom of God in his heart.  He had a change of heart.  He learned a new thought.  Repent simply means to think again.  The disciples were already jockeying for position of authority, and desired to rule over others since they were the “First Disciples”.  This may be why Jesus chose Paul to do what others refused to do.

It is as simple as understanding that the price Jesus paid on the cross, in hell, and through His resurrection, Jesus gave you, the believer this free gift, that you are also the adopted son of God.  You have God’s permission to rest in Him and watch him use you as he moves you in your heart.  No church, ever, was able to do this for you.  It is simply and ONLY the completed work of Jesus Christ.  It is a free gift.  It goes beyond eternal life.  It goes beyond your resources, your thinking, your will, and your ability.

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.  And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;  Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.  And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.   And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.  Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.  And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. – Acts 3:1-7 KJV

All of what I have written is because I am going through a transition state of understanding what Jesus actually gave himself for.  It was not a religion.  It is so that we can be restored to the place we were before the fall of man.

Peter and John were on their way to the church (Synagogue) to pray.  They were obeying the edict of the assembly.  But on their way, Christ showed them an opportunity to do the will of God.  This is because the Holy Spirit had taught them the Mind of Christ (Read the first few chapters of Acts).

Interestingly enough, it was the established church of their day that had a huge problem with this behavior.  They, however, had the joy of the Lord in them, even under persecution, because they had obeyed their Lord.

They didn’t have permission from the local church to obey Christ.  They simply were moved in their hearts and minds because it is what moves Christ.  Serving man is more important than serving your church.  Giving freely of all you were given by Christ is true obedience.

SILVER AND GOLD HAVE I NONE

The transition state I am going through is a real object lesson.  All I ever had, believed or possessed has been taken away from me.  I own nothing, I have nothing but my clothes, a wife who loves me unconditionally, and a wonderful family.  We live in a basement.  But we are discovering a joy that we would never have understood had this not happened.  We are learning that, out of our need, we give, we serve, and we obey.  We do this, not because we are trying to please God.  We please God because, when He moves us to be like His son, and we follow that lead, we get to see Christ at work.  We are finding that you do not have to have a lot of resources to give.  You do not need things to serve.  You start with what you do have, and let God guide you.  You do this because you are abiding in Christ.  You learn to hear his voice.  Our joy has multiplied because of this transition.  We are being remade into the image of Christ through resting in Him and knowing His word.

Where others have disassociated from us, where finances have fled from us, where all we ever thought important has been lost, we find that we have been given a new heart, a new mind, and a living Holy Spirit.

I do not need things to serve man.  I just need the same Love in my heart that drove Jesus to do for me.  I did not have to follow any rituals, or attend a church to get this knowledge or understanding.  My heart didn’t change from some church activity or program.  My thinking was renewed into the will of God by trusting that what Christ said he did, He did.  And trusting that what Christ said he will do through His Spirit in me, HE will do.  I can do nothing of my self.  I can only be useful to God if I let Christ make me into something completely new and different from all that I was.

I have learned that it is better to abandon my religion and pursue Christ.  I am inviting you to do the same thing.

Let’s be about it.

I Love You

David G. Perkins

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Transition States – Leaving My ‘Old time Religion’ and Learning to Walk in Grace.


New Creation

Transition States

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”  Ezekiel 36:26 NASB

DEFINITIONS:

Masoretic Text of Ezekiel 36:26

וְנָתַתִּ֤י לָכֶם֙ לֵ֣ב חָדָ֔שׁ וְר֥וּחַ חֲדָשָׁ֖ה אֶתֵּ֣ן בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם וַהֲסִ֨רֹתִ֜י אֶת־לֵ֤ב הָאֶ֨בֶן֙ מִבְּשַׂרְכֶ֔ם וְנָתַתִּ֥י לָכֶ֖ם לֵ֥ב בָּשָֽׂר׃

Reverse Interlinear

“Moreover, I will give” – nathan – gift (A form of the word GRACE.)  – to give, bestow, grant, permit, ascribe, employ, devote, consecrate, dedicate, pay wages, sell, exchange, lend, commit, entrust, give over, deliver up, yield produce, occasion, produce, requite to, report, mention, utter, stretch out, extend

“You a new” – chadash – new, new thing, fresh

“heart” – leb – Outline of Biblical Usage

  1. inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding

    1. inner part, midst
      1. midst (of things)
      2. heart (of man)
      3. soul, heart (of man)
      4. mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory

      5. inclination, resolution, determination (of will)

      6. conscience
      7. heart (of moral character)

      8. as seat of appetites

      9. as seat of emotions and passions

      10. as seat of courage

“spirit” – ruwach – 

  1. wind, breath, mind, spirit

    1. Spirit of God, the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son
      1. as inspiring ecstatic state of prophecy
      2. as impelling prophet to utter instruction or warning
      3. imparting warlike energy and executive and administrative power
      4. as endowing men with various gifts
      5. as energy of life

      6. as manifest in the Shekinah glory

      7. never referred to as a depersonalised force

“within” quereb – midst, among, inner part, middle

  1. inward part

    1. physical sense

    2. as seat of thought and emotion

    3. as faculty of thought and emotion

“and I will remove” – cuwr – (Pronounced ‘suwr’) –

  1. to turn aside, depart

    1. (Qal)

      1. to turn aside, turn in unto

      2. to depart, depart from way, avoid

      3. to be removed

      4. to come to an end

    2. (Polel) to turn aside

    3. (Hiphil)
      1. to cause to turn aside, cause to depart, remove, take away, put away, depose
      2. to put aside, leave undone, retract, reject, abolish

    4. (Hophal) to be taken away, be removed

 

“stone” – ‘eben – perverse, hard heart

“flesh” – basar –

  1. flesh

    1. of the body
      1. of humans
      2. of animals

    2. the body itself

    3. male organ of generation (euphemism)
    4. kindred, blood-relations

    5. flesh as frail or erring (man against God)

    6. all living things

    7. animals

    8. mankind

English (NASB)   [?] Strong’s Root Form (Hebrew)

“Moreover, I will give

 h5414 נָתַן nathan

you a new

 h2319 חָדָשׁ chadash
heart h3820 לֵב leb
and put h5414 נָתַן nathan
a new h2319 חָדָשׁ chadash
spirit h7307 רוּחַ ruwach

within

 h7130 קֶרֶב qereb
you; and I will remove h5493 סוּר cuwr
the heart h3820 לֵב leb

of stone

 h68 אֶבֶן ‘eben
from your flesh h1320 בָּשָׂר basar

and give

 h5414 נָתַן nathan

you a heart

 h3820 לֵב leb
of flesh. h1320 בָּשָׂר basar

36:26  καὶ δώσω ὑμῖν καρδίαν καινὴν καὶ πνεῦμα καινὸν δώσω ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ ἀφελῶ τὴν καρδίαν τὴν λιθίνην ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν καὶ δώσω ὑμῖν καρδίαν σαρκίνην

Thank you for dredging through all those definitions.  It may be a stretch to prove a point, but I wanted to make sure the point was understood based on what the bible is actually saying.  BASICALLY this verse is saying that GOD will take away my mind, will, heart, understanding, and place inside me HIS mind, will, heart, understanding, and remove my dead spirit and replace it with HIS living and holy spirit.

I have been going through radical changes in my thinking (To change your thinking,  means to repent, and to repent is to change your thinking).

Here is what happened: I prayed.

I prayed that God remove from me every thing that stands between me and Him.  I confessed I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, and that Christ died on the cross for my sin (He BECAME all sin, and God judged HIM for being sin, and He died).  Then He, being sin, was cast into hell.  But while He was there, He was brought back to life in the transfigured form that the apostles saw on the streets three days later.  He did all this so that I would not have to die.  He did this so all law and prophecy will be fulfilled.  He did this so that, instead of we humans souls having to suffer the complete wrath of God, we inherited eternal life instead.  I prayed that God remove anything and everything that stands between me and Him.

If you have been reading my poor blog, you know what happened.  If not, the reader’s digest version is that God answered my prayer.  Everything that could be removed from me was removed from me.  What I have left is a loving wife, a beautiful family, and the presence of God.  Oh, and we were able to keep our clothes and our car and our cats.

I digress, though.  I prayed.  My hearts desire is to know Christ and be like Him.  In the above verse, we learn many things.  We learn that it is NOT our selves that does the work.  It is God that does all the work.  My efforts not only get in the way, but prohibit God from working in me.  I know this is true because I have tried all my life to understand what it means to be like Christ.

This is where, recently, I found the difference between “Theology” and “Religious Dogma”.  Theology is simply “The knowledge of God”.  “Religious Dogma” is self explanatory, but I will expound on it as we go.

Albert Einstein once said, “I want to know God’s thoughts; the rest are details.”  That is where I stand.  That is basically where I have always stood.  I was raised in a very traditional, large, protestant religion.  Where this religion’s dogma aligned with the doctrines of God, we were taught the doctrines of God.  Where they differed, we were taught a very skewed religious bias, a dogma that placed more importance on our religion and our religious movement than on the will of the Living God through Christ Jesus.  We were basically renting the parts of scripture that suited us, and changed the understanding of the rest.   This kind of dogma replaces a genuine understanding of the Living God, via the work of the Holy Spirit, and replaces it with man’s interpretation of God and His role in the Universe, Life, and our selves.

But the promise of God is that HE will do this work, and HE will replace my corrupted thoughts with HIS thoughts, His will, HIS understanding of things, His Spirit will be my new life as I was dead in my spirit.

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:1-10 NASB

God took out all my dead junk and replaced it with HIS life.  Literally.  His name is Jesus.

But religious dogma taught me a knowledge ABOUT God, based on evaluations derived from external observation…a what you see is the sum of the knowledge of God.  It emphasized imitating Christ by MY strength, and not resting in the Lord.

Theology, real theology, describes, instead, an intimate knowledge of God.  It is based on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  The intimacy is more profound than the intimacy between lovers.    It is attained only when you have accepted the free gift of Salvation brought by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The religious dogma I was taught was simply a mental knowledge of the scriptures.  It was a cerebral understanding of what Christ accomplished through His life, Death and Resurrection.  To reinforce all this knowledge, we studied, in depth, the writings of the Church Leaders (By that I mean, mostly the leaders of our religion, and, where they applied, the writings of all the commentaries and letters of all the historical Church Leaders.)  If there was a commentary that did not quite line up with our dogma, it was either ignored or explained away.  It is called “rationalizing”.

God never said we are to rationalize our faith.  He asked us to come and reason with Him.  HE will make us clean.  He will do all the work.  He and He alone can accomplish in us all the works that He promised.

All the self-inflicted rules and dogma of my former religion were emphasized in the light of the idea that WE must do all WE can to be like Christ.  We were taught many amazing things that remained in our heads, but never reached our hearts.  This Head Knowledge is a walk that relies on self-enforced rules.  This affliction is the religious dogma that has turned every person on earth away from Christ.  It has proven over time that all it does is  condemn you, and try to force you to behave in a way that is not in your nature.  It disregards the fact that our flesh (Heart, Mind, Soul, Will) is at war with God.  It is a self reliance that works only for a little while until we fatigue of doing something that is not in us to do in the first place.

In the opening verse, we see that these changes can only be done by God, according to His will, through His spirit.  This is done when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” II Corinthians 5:17 NASB

When we rest in the completed work of Christ, we are no longer guilty.  We are no longer in sin.  We are no longer in rebellion against God.  We are NEW creatures.  And the changes that are made start from the inside, not the outside.  They are a vine that, as we grow in Christ Likeness, produce the fruit of the spirit.

Where religious dogma emphasizes a memorized set of rules that force you to rely on yourself to fulfill, the Knowledge of God, through a changed mind, heart, and spirit in Christ, emphasizes the work of God in you through the Holy Spirit.  You receive as a gift the Mind of Christ.  You receive as a gift the will of God.  You receive as a gift the total forgiveness of all your sin.  This fruit of the Spirit will eventually manifest itself outwardly as you make the transition inwardly.

I am writing about this now because I am in that transition state.  I am leaving a dead life of works based faith behind, and am transitioning into a life of faith based walk in Christ.  The biggest difference, besides the change of heart, the change of attitude, the change in the way you view the world, is, you no longer walk in sin and rebellion, and it becomes effortless as you begin to rest in the completed work of Christ.  You can still sin, but the more of the Mind of Christ you allow the Spirit of God to reveal to you, the less you will want to sin.

I no longer have to try, by my own strength, to be like Christ.  Christ is transitioning me from where I was to where He wants me to be.

This does not make God’s Grace a license to sin, but the freedom from the sin nature.  All I have to do is accept, in my heart, what the Word of God says about the accomplished work of Christ.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

So, I hope this tome will encourage you to change your mind about the knowledge of God.  Your religious dogma will not get you very far.  It only makes sin more exciting than knowing God.  Even Atheists have a religious dogma and a religious fervor.

I will write more on the details of Grace that brought about this transition.  It is difficult, only in the respect that I have to overcome a lot of my old thinking and believing patterns, and accept the thoughts of Christ.  Faith becomes reality.  No matter what you think about, that is what you become and receive,  It is a universal principle.  Faith in Christ will bring you a new life far beyond anything you ever imagined.  I know this because this is what is happening to me.

I am in the transition state that exists between my religious dogma, and my new walk in Christ.

Care to join me?

Let’s be about it.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

 

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Our Position in Christ: When Trouble Comes Knocking


Forgiven“One of the great inhibitors to our boldness is the responses that people in our lives give.

Although God is merciful and ready to forgive, people are not.

We cannot let the responses of people affect our honesty before and our trust in the Lord.

Though people may reject us, God does not.”

Richards, James (2001-12-01). Grace: The Power To Change (Kindle Locations 542-544). Whitaker House. Kindle Edition.

THE WORLD

When the world says I am a loser, I am too old to be part of what they are doing, or too fat, or overqualified, or under-qualified, or whatever excuse the world offers because I am not in my 20’s or 30’s and that is all they are looking for, it is easy for me to get discouraged.

When old friends or family know that I am a new creation in Christ, and say they have forgiven my past, but still treat me as if I am still that same old self, or they are so in love with their opinions and assumptions of me that the facts and evidence do not count for anything, it is easy for me to get discouraged.

MY MIND

Discouragement temps my mind to resort to old beliefs, to old habits, to old methods of acknowledging to opinions of the World and Family.  I find it refreshing that because I am a new creation, I have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:16 – For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.  KJV

Romans 12:2 – 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. KJV

When I rest in the Lord, I find what His mind desires for me.  When I find that He desires the fruit of the spirit of God, then I am able to rest in Him and walk after Him.  Then I am not discouraged, or angry, or disappointed.  My temptation to be my old self literally vanishes.  I find that instead of discouragement and anger, I have joy and peace.  I see the Grace and Mercy He purchased on my behalf, and receive it, and am filled with it, and understand how Godless and Religious people have missed it.  It is impossible for me to resort to my old self when I pray for these circumstances.  I have tested the claims of the scriptures, and find that they are true.  They are true because I have placed my faith in the Grace of God and His mercy.

Because of the Hope He has given me, my mind calms down, and I can wait on Him to see what he has already set in motion for me.  His ability to keep me focused on His will makes it possible for me to Wait on Him:

“O rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him, and He shall give thee thy heart’s desires.  Commit thy way unto Him, and trust in Him; and fret not they self because of evil doers.”

If I try by my own strength to follow the will of God, I become a law unto myself, and forgo the Grace (Ability) of God.  Then I have to try to do everything right, even though all my effort will never be enough to please God or get me saved, or change me into the likeness of Christ.  If I fail in any single thing by my own effort, then I have failed completely.

There was only One who lived a sinless life, and who walked in the will of God.  Jesus’s promise to us is that, when we accept Jesus Christ as Savior, WE will have the same ability as God poured into Christ.

ABIDING IN HIM (The Mind of Christ)

There is a verse in the Bible that talks about ABIDING.: 1 John 2:6 – “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

The Greek definition of the word walk could more accurately be translated into this phrase: rest in the Lord so HE will cause you to walk.  If I try to walk on my own strength, the best I can do is produce what is NOT the will of God for my life.  I know this because I just spent the last 20 years doing that very thing.

It is because Jesus rested in the will of God that He was able to know and do the things He did: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him (God the Father) who sent Me.” John 6:38 NASB  Parenthesis added by me.

Our position is one of rest in Christ, who set the example by resting in God and His will.  When we do that, life becomes clearer and simpler.  By resting in Him, a very intimate relationship in the Greek language, we get to know Him and His thoughts and His will.  This intimacy causes our love and dependence on Him to grow geometrically.  After doing His will in your life, sin and temptation become apparent for what they are:  Death and Destruction.

God has placed a new desire in my heart.  It is become apparent that I cannot, nor do I want to, return to the world I left behind.  All having my way has gained me is loss and destruction.  Now I am beginning to see glimmers of what God wants for me, and I can wait on Him because Christ did the same.  Christ makes me able to rest in Him.  Christ makes me able to walk after Him because HE is my motivation and ability and power.

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?

I tell you all this because I know you are human, and go through the same temptations.  Believe me when I tell you that the gift of God’s grace (ability, will, mind, power) comes as you surrender yourself to it.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

In Christ there is rest.  In my own will there is the sweat of my brow that leads to failure.  I know that my present circumstances is not the judgement of God on me, but simply the logical and natural consequences of living by my own will instead of trusting God.

God is with you if you are going through this, too, if you believe in His Son.  His Mercy has forgiven you and His grace sustains you.  Rest in Him, give whatever it is you are going through to Him.  He will show you a better way than any way you can come up for yourself.  I know this, too, is a fact.

You are His beloved.  You are an heir to the Kingdom of Heaven.  He is longing to help you if you will rest in Him.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NASB

PRAYER:  I thank you Lord for this opportunity to share this topic with my brothers and sisters who are going through the storm of doubt, frustration, disappointment and anger.  Because you have delivered me from these things, I desire to share this with anyone who will listen, and I pray you pour your Holy Spirit on those who read this message and take it to heart.  I love you God, that you have sent Jesus Christ who died for our sin, and in our resting in Him, we are led to the green pastures and clear water that is your will for us.  Reveal to each of us your will for our lives.  I pray this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. AMEN

Let’s be about it!

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Faith

And We Know…


Holy Pottery

And we know that God causes all things

to work together

for good

to those who love God,

to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 NASB

The temptation to despair looms large when things around you have completely gone to hell.  The difficulty lay in seeing the hand of God even in this situation.

I have to remember that God is not mad at me.  God is not judging me.  When I reap the consequences of my behavior, it is not God that is punishing me.  Everything has either a logical or natural consequence.  When I am in a storm of my own making, I understand that it is not God that brought the storm.

It IS God that stands with me in the midst of the storm.  It is God that sustains me when I feel faint from the effort of having Hope.  Just like Nebuchadnezzar saw, when he threw the three into the fiery pit, “One standing like the Son of God“, I can say with all confidence that, even though I lit this fire, God stands with me in this pit, and God protects me from the harshest elements of it.  The experience is still mine, but the strength to endure and the ability to gain wisdom comes from God Himself.

Because I am crucified with Christ, my old sin nature was put to death.  Because He rose from the dead, I rose anew, a new life form.  I know that after this last trial, I will walk out refined and purified.  I cannot make this claim unless Christ is my life.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. “ Galatians 2:20 NASB

Because of Jesus, and my redemption by His blood, I can, with all confidence say, I have been made anew.  When this refining fire is over, I will be stronger in the Lord.  I will know God in intimate ways I never would have comprehended had I not been subject to the logical consequences of my behavior.

God has not punished me.  Jesus took on that punishment when He became all my sin on the cross.  Because of this great gift, I am now the adopted child of God.  God will allow consequences to come my way, natural and logical, when I step out of His will for my life.

I praise God that He has given me the freedom to think for myself.  And I praise God that He upholds me when I reap what I sow.  From this lesson, I have learned that doing things God’s way is far better than seeking riches, fame, and the praise of men.

God has, and is, and will work even this situation out to His glory, to my best good, because I am called according to His purposes.

I may not understand why, sometimes, it seems as if He is a thousand miles away.  It may be that my fear of the flames has distorted my view of Him, and He has been right here all along, holding me, because I have fainted.

Through this fire, I have seen my unnecessary beliefs, behaviors and possessions disappear in smoke.  All I thought was important couldn’t stand in the fire of God’s just mercy.  What remains is a grace that I never imagined could exist.

Now I have joy, love, and peace, and I comprehend the love of God.  I am His beloved.  Now I am useful for His purposes in me.

I thank you God that you allow me to go through these things.

I cannot be that new creature and cling to the old things.  They are incompatible.  As God’s adopted child, and co-heir to Heaven, my old belongings would only pollute the things and places God intends to give me.

I praise you God for a wisdom that in infinitely more than any human wisdom.  Where the world sees a failure and a loser, you see a new creation, fresh from the master’s refining fire.

I am happy to lose everything I thought was meaningful and important, knowing that what God will be giving me is worth more than anything the world has to offer.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;

the old things passed away; behold,

new things have come.”

II Corinthians 5:17 NASB

Come to Jesus and be refined in the fire of His love.  You will never regret it for all eternity.

I love you.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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