Philippians 4:4-5 Serving Others

4 Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice!

5 Let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness (your considerateness, your forbearing spirit). The Lord is near [He is coming soon].

The Holy Spirit will cause us to show all people our Father’s Grace. When Jesus was here 2000 years ago He was used to do the same thing. Think about Jesus’ life, did He go around and tell everyone that He was the Lord and that they must worship Him. Or was He used to heal the sick, raise the dead, feed the hungry, make wine for parties, and run off religious bullies who were placing rules on people that no one could keep? Jesus was used for the latter. Our Father never changes and He will use us the exact same way today, Hebrews 13:8.

There are non-believers everywhere today who are lost and need help, just as there were when Jesus was here. They do not need to hear that they are wrong, most of them know that already. What they need is to see love in action and that can only come through the power of the Holy Spirit working through us, without Jesus we can do nothing, John 15:5.  

6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

We do not have to fret about being used to serve. We never have to be anxious about it either, because we cannot help but to be used by our Father. We are Jesus’ body and the body of Jesus will be used.  

But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious about how or what you are to speak; for what you are to say will be given you in that very hour and moment, Matthew 10:19

So please join with me in making this request to our Father: use us just as You use Jesus, 1 John 4:17. We want all of the power, love, grace, faith, and hope that Jesus has. We want to be used to do the same works that Jesus did and even greater works, John 14:12. We want to be removed from all of the concerns of this world and totally realize and trust in You Father just as Jesus does. 

Philippians 2:14-15

14 Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves],

15 That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world,

We loose our jobs, our loved ones die, we are persecuted, and we get sick, these things are just what this world offers. So how can we not grumble and doubt?

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Matthew 11:28

Our Father empowered me to know that I was chosen and called when I was eleven years old. I will be honest I still grumbled and complained. You know what is great though, I was never left or forsaken by our Father even though I did. Jesus has caused me to have rest and He has caused me to stop complaining as much. He still is perfecting me and here is how He is doing it in my life.

Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. Galatians 6:7

Without me asking to be, our Father led me into serving those who I could get nothing other then fellowship from. The people that our Father uses me to serve for the most part have no money, they have no worldly influence, and they have no ability to further my career. Before our Father brought me to them I constantly grumbled and complained. So He led me and caused me to sow the Truth to people who the world really doesn’t care for and He caused me to reap peace. 

The world is dark, but there is so much light in it through each other. Peace comes for us when our Father has us care for others more then ourselves. Only our Father can cause this attitude to be in us and He is faithful and trustworthy to do it. The only way that we can do all things without grumbling is when our Father enlightens us and empowers us to take no thought for our own lives, Matthew 6:24-26, as He causes us to take all thought for others. This is the Truth that sets us free. 

Philippians 2:3-8

3 Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance. Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourselves].

4 Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others.

5 Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]

6 Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped [or retained,

7 But stripped Himself [of all privileges and [rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.

8 And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!

But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17

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

Our Lord, Jesus, Who we are now one with, ever lives to serve others, Hebrews 7:25. Jesus is a High Priest Who knows what it is like to be going through what we are going through, Hebrews 4:15. Jesus humbled Himself to come to the earth and serve those who He created. He then allowed Himself to be sacrificed for His creation so that we could have all of the glory that He has, John 17:22. Now here is the powerful secret of the Word: we are now one with Him, so we cannot help but to be humble and esteem others more then we esteem ourselves. We cannot help it because we are as Jesus is, even while we are on this earth.    

In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:17

We are the branches of the Vine of Jesus and we cannot help but to produce the fruit of meekness, humbleness, and love that Jesus is. 

Galatians 4:18-23

18 It is always a fine thing [of course] to be zealously sought after [as you are, provided that it is] for a good purpose and done by reason of purity of heart and life, and not just when I am present with you!

    

19 My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you,

    

20 Would that I were with you now and could coax you vocally, for I am fearful and perplexed about you!

    

21 Tell me, you who are bent on being under the Law, will you listen to what the Law [really] says?

    

22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid and one by the free woman.

    

23 But whereas the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth, the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise.

    

We are born again, we are born into the fulfillment of the promise of freedom. Our Father chose to have us, He willed our birth, we did not will it, Matthew 22:14. Our Father birthed us into absolute and eternal freedom, John 8:36. We are now as Jesus is, even though we are in this world, 1 John 4:17. 

There will be those who try the argument against our freedom in Christ by saying that we proclaim that we are to just sit back and do nothing. These people, and this argument, fail to realize the glory of our new birth. To be born again means to be united and made one with Christ, John 17:20-22. Jesus is not lazy, He ever lives to serve so that we might be saved to the uttermost, Hebrews 7:25. We are now Jesus’ body, we are now flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bone, Ephesians 5:30, so we too will ever live to serve our Father’s Kingdom and the world. 

Our Head, Jesus, will cause us to do the will of our Father and our Father so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son to it. If we are born again, we will, regardless of our flesh, serve the Kingdom of God. We will be used to by the Holy Spirit to serve, because Jesus now empowers and directs our paths. We do not enable Jesus to do this through us by our works or our efforts. The hand does not direct the head, the head directs the hand. A branch does not direct and empower the vine, the vine empowers the branch. The clay doesn’t will what it will be, the potter does and the Truth is that Jesus is our Head and we are His body. Jesus is now our Vine and we are His branches, and our Father is the Potter and we are His clay. This is the freedom that we have been born into, to be just as Jesus is. Jesus is One with God, the Two are not separate in any way and neither are we. Jesus can’t stop being God and we are now perfectly united with Jesus. Jesus is the flesh of God. Our Father’s flesh does not have a separate will and purpose from His Spirit and the works of God’s flesh do not keep them one.  

Ephesians 3:1

1 FOR THIS reason [because I preached that you are thus built up together], I, Paul, [am] the prisoner of Jesus the Christ for the sake and on behalf of you Gentiles--

    

Paul writes to us that he was the prisoner of Jesus Christ. Jesus arrested Paul on the road to Damascus and forced him to serve the Kingdom of Heaven. Don’t think so, go and read Acts 9 and see what actually happened to Paul. 

But the Lord said to him, Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the descendants of Israel; For I will make clear to him how much he will be afflicted and must endure and suffer for My name's sake. So Ananias left and went into the house. And he laid his hands on Saul and said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you along the way by which you came here, has sent me that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And instantly something like scales fell from [Saul's] eyes, and he recovered his sight. Then he arose and was baptized, Acts 9:15-18

Jesus told Ananias that Paul was a chosen vessel of God and Paul wrote to the Ephesians that He was a prisoner of God. Paul also wrote to the Galatians that he was chosen by God to serve before he was ever born and he told the Corinthians that he was Jesus’ slave.

But when He, Who had chosen and set me apart [even] before I was born and had called me by His grace (His undeserved favor and blessing), saw fit and was pleased To reveal (unveil, disclose) His Son within me so that I might proclaim Him among the Gentiles (the non-Jewish world) as the glad tidings (Gospel), immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood [did not consult or counsel with any frail human being or communicate with anyone]. Galatians 1:15-16

These sayings of Paul do not sound like a man who believed in free will. They do sound like a man who had known the Truth and was set free by it. They sound like a man who knew that our Father was in control and the driving force in our lives. They sound like a man that was convinced that because our Father was in control that all things now worked out for his good, Romans 8:28. They sound like a man who knew the love of our Father and freely accepted the Truth that He is in complete control. The love of our Father and the love that He gives to His children allows us to accept and actually rejoice in the Truth that He is in complete control of our lives. We cherish the Truth that we are the prisoners of Jesus. It means that the battle is His and the victory is ours. 

There was a little girl who was friends with my daughters and to say the least she was a pistol. Her mother and Father always said that she must make her own mistakes and they gave her a very long leash, even though she was still in elementary school. When she would come to our house Beth wouldn’t tolerate her actions. Beth would lay the law down and the child loved it, she could see the love in it and the compassion in it. 

Jesus told us that those who come to Him as a little child would inherit the Kingdom, not those who came to Him from their own free will, Matthew 18:3. To this day my kids talk about how mean and wild that girl is. She was being raised as an adult even when she was a little child and the results show it. In Christ we are raised as little children, which means that our Father has to be in complete control of us, this is what brings us peace, power, joy, hope, love, and faith. Our Father is in complete control of Jesus and no one freaks out over that, because we believe and accept that the Two of Them are One. Well the Truth that sets us free is that we are now one in Them, Jesus is one with the Father and we are one with Jesus, John 17:21-23.  So we are able to have perfect peace that our Father controls us just as He controls Jesus. 

Revelation 20:5-8

5 The remainder of the dead were not restored to life again until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 

6 Blessed (happy, to be envied) and holy (spiritually whole, of unimpaired innocence and proved virtue) is the person who takes part (shares) in the first resurrection! Over them the second death exerts no power or authority, but they shall be ministers of God and of Christ (the Messiah), and they shall rule along with Him a thousand years.

Notice here to that we minister to people for a thousand years. Once again we see that there are still people, in human form, around after Jesus returns to the earth. We will not rule and judge as earthly rulers do now. We will rule and judge as Jesus does, as a servant, full of grace and love. We will have the servants towel on as we minister to the needs of those who were mistreated and under bondage for so long, John 13.   

7 And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his place of confinement, 

8 And he will go forth to deceive and seduce and lead astray the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth--Gog and Magog--to muster them for war; their number is like the sand of the sea.

Jesus is still ruling with an Iron Rod when satan is released, so Jesus is allowing these people to be deceived and gathered by satan. Why would our Lord allow such a thing? Just think of people today and you will see. There will be millions of people who never were killed during the Great Tribulation and who never took the mark of the beast. They will be allowed to live in the glory of our Lord. Yet just as with a lot of people today who get something for nothing, there will be many of them who will be spoiled and ungrateful. Not all of them, but we are told that many of them will be. So Jesus allows satan to be released and He allows these people follow him to be corrected. Satan is allowed to bring harm to these people’s flesh, so that their souls may be saved. We can see that our Father does this now, 1 Corinthians 5:5 and 2 Corinthians 12:7. Satan will not have a free will to do whatever he wants. Just as now, our Father will only allow satan to do what He wants him to do. 

Just think of how the population of the earth will grow when there is no war, disease, plagues, or famines for a 1000 years! It will be a wonderfully peaceful time to be alive and the population of the world will explode. Millions of people will have lived under Jesus, yet they will not have wanted to live under Him and when satan is loosed they will get their chance to rebel. Sounds crazy I know, but that is exactly what they will do. Yet Jesus will get them back. Jesus will not lose any that He has been given and He has been given all John 17:2 & 6:39. Everyone will acknowledge that Jesus is the only way of life and peace, Colossians 1:20. 

Revelation 18:4-5

4 I then heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out from her, my people, so that you may not share in her sins, neither participate in her plagues.

During the 3 1/2 years of the Great Tribulation, the worlds economic and political systems will be failing miserably. During the end times there will be super high inflation, financial markets will all crash, money will be useless, there will be massive wars and societies will completely destruct. So what does our Lord do about it for His Bride? He removes us out of the Babylonian system. He doesn’t remove us from the world, He keeps us in Himself even while we are still in the world, John 17:15. During this time we will be fed by our Father, protected by Him, and we will receive clear clean water from our Lord, Revelation 12:14. The chosen of God will be standing by the glassy sea during all of this, sealed with the Holy Spirit. Jesus teaches us on the Sermon on the Mount to take no thought for our own lives, but to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and our Fathers righteousness and everything else will be added unto us, Matthew 6:33! The time of the Great Tribulation is the perfect time for this Truth to be lived and realized through the chosen of God.

Babylon, the worlds economic system, includes false religion, governments, and business. Just look at the world today and you can clearly see the lies and deceit and love of money each of these entities have. So Babylon is just more than one fake church, it is the whole worldly system of doing things. 

5 For her iniquities (her crimes and transgressions) are piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and [her] crimes [and calls them up for settlement]. 

Our Father is not pouring out His wrath on the world just because of one church. He is pouring out His wrath because of all of the earth’s wickedness. Babylon, the woman, effects and controls Catholics, Church of God, Church of Christ, Muslims, Buddhists, Assemblies of God, Baptists, businessmen, and non-believers. Babylon's evil is far greater than just one church.

Romans 10:5-8

5 For Moses writes that the man who [can] practice the righteousness (perfect conformity to God's will) which is based on the Law [with all its intricate demands] shall live by it.

   

Why would anyone want to have to live by doing everything right, 100% of the time, through their own abilities, when we can live by Grace? Think about it, if we mess up under Grace there is no problem, we still are righteous, still favored, still blessed beyond expression, and everything still works out for our good, Romans 8:28! If you want to live under the Ten Commandments, there is a curse and misery if we mess up. Grace and laws cannot abide together.   

6 But the righteousness based on faith [imputed by God and bringing right relationship with Him] says, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into Heaven? that is, to bring Christ down;

    

7 Or who will descend into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ up from the dead [as if we could be saved by our own efforts].

    

8 But what does it say? The Word (God's message in Christ) is near you, on your lips and in your heart; that is, the Word (the message, the basis and object) of faith which we preach,

What our Father is telling us here is that it is always Christ empowering us to ever live to serve. Our Father’s power, or Christ, is always with us. He is always leading us and guiding us. It doesn’t matter how smart we are. It doesn’t matter how old we are. It doesn’t matter if we are sick, or have cancer, or have had a stroke, or are on medication, Christ is not limited by our flesh. We do not do works, or keep laws, to bring Him into our life’s. The power of our Father is always with us and because He is, there are no limitations whatsoever for us. We can be used to raise the dead, heal the sick, give to the poor, forgive those who are killing us, walk two miles when we are only asked to walk one, and bless those who curse us. 

Because we have Christ we can ask amiss and the Holy Spirit will take what we ask, turn it around and make it conform exactly to our Father’s will. 

So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groaning’s too deep for utterance. Romans 8:26

The Law doesn’t permit such Grace. Jesus has made us free and because He has, we are free indeed, John 8:36. 

Romans 8:22-27

22 We know that the whole creation [of irrational creatures] has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now.

    

23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves too, who have and enjoy the firstfruits of the [Holy] Spirit [a foretaste of the blissful things to come] groan inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies [from sensuality and the grave, which will reveal] our adoption (our manifestation as God's sons).

    

24For in [this] hope we were saved. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For how can one hope for what he already sees?

    

25 But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure.

    

26 So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

    

27 And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will.

    

If you are being told that you have to believe on your own so that our Father can act or give you what you need, that is flat out wrong. It doesn’t matter at all if we don’t know what to pray for or ask for. Because we now have the Holy Spirit and He is constantly interceding for us and asking for what we do need. He takes our prayers and turns them into our Father’s Will so that we cannot help but be blessed beyond expression, Ephesians 3:20. 

Not only do we have our Father’s Spirit interceding for us, we have His Body.

Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them. Hebrews 7:25

We are saved to the uttermost through Christ. Our Father has given us everything that He has to insure that we are. So often people will take James 4:3 and try to say that we can ask amiss. The wolves in sheep’s clothing want our focus to be on us and our abilities and not on our Father’s abilities working through us. The Truth is that even if we do ask amiss, that doesn’t stop our Father from giving us exactly what we need. He just simply turns it around to match His will and we are blessed. Jesus intercedes for us and we are saved to the uttermost. 

This Truth also blows the notion that our free will drives our life’s. My prayer is that our Father is empowering you to see the Truth that sets us free. The Truth is that we are free from all laws that would ever convict us of sin. The Truth is we have all of our Father’s power insuring that we succeed. The Truth is that we are one with Jesus, so as He is, so are we in this world. And the Truth is that these blessings are what allows us to go and serve the world and meet their needs according to our Father’s riches and glory through Christ Jesus. 

Romans 8:12-14

12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh [we are not obligated to our carnal nature], to live [a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates] of the flesh.

    

13 For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.

    

The Holy Spirit is constantly at work within us. He is constantly causing us to be righteous and holy. He is controlling us to always love and forgive. He gives us the strength to offer up our right cheek after our left one was hit. He empowers us to walk two miles when one was demanded of us. He is leading us to ever live to intercede for others. The Holy Spirit is teaching us all things. He is taking everything that Jesus has and He is making it active in our life’s. He is leading us, whether we know it or not, and whether we accept it or not. We do not empower the Holy Spirit to act, He empowers us to act. He causes us to do the works that Jesus did and He causes us to do even greater works. He leads us into all of the world to lay hands on the sick, so that they can recover. He prays for us with an intensity and words that cannot be uttered by man. 

We have been baptized into Jesus’ death, so that we can now live as He lives. The Holy Spirit is our Lord’s power and He is our power as well. We are not limited by our flesh. Absolutely our flesh is weak and sure it will fail, but there are now no laws to convict us with. Grace allows our Father to place His Holy Spirit within us and grace allows Him to use us in the full power and demonstration of the Spirit.  

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

    

We are the sons of God right now! The Holy Spirit now controls every aspect of our life’s. He is there empowering us as we brush our teeth and as we are praying over a sick family member. He is our strength in playing a game and witnessing to a lost soul. There is nothing to small or too big for Him and we are never, and I mean never, left alone to do anything without Him. There is no part of life that we play on our own. We never take a first step that allows Him to then take two for us. The Holy Spirit never leaves us at a crossroads to decide the path that we should take. We owe our flesh nothing. It holds absolutely nothing over us. We are not ruled by it and we are not dictated by it. There is no opportunity for the Holy Spirit to fail and He insures the same victory for us. 

Faith comes from hearing this Truth and this Truth sets us free to be used to serve the world. 

Romans 8:4

4 So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].

    

So many people are in a religious situation where laws and rules are being preached and commanded of them. This is such a shame, because they are being taught lies that bind them. The Truth, and it is so freeing, is that every requirement for righteousness was fully accomplished for us by Jesus. Righteousness is not found by us keeping rules. 

Let’s put this Truth in the real world plain English: we are now as righteous as Jesus is! I want you to think about Jesus, do you believe that He is worried about messing up? What about ever being overtaken by satan? Do you believe that Jesus can be sick? Every single glorious thing that we believe about Jesus, He has because He is so righteous. Now because of His Blood, we are as righteous as He is, 1 John 4:17. That is why Jesus came and that is was He accomplished for us. Jesus secured complete and total success for us. We are sanctified by this Truth, John 17:17, and the Truth is that Jesus has made us every but as righteous as He is. 

Grace and spiritual blessing be to you and [soul] peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), Who gave (yielded) Himself up [to atone] for our sins [and ]to save and sanctify us], in order to rescue and deliver us from this present wicked age and world order, in accordance with the will and purpose and plan of our God and Father—Galatians 1:3-4

We are rescued from this wicked world, not by being taken out of it, but by being kept by our Father while we are still in it, John 17:15. Our Father's Grace is what keeps us and there are no longer any laws to stop us from fully realizing that we have it. We have our Father’s favor just as Jesus has it. Our Father definitely wants us to know and enjoy this Truth. If you don’t believe that He does, just look at how many chapters in Romans that He had written to tell us that we are free from the Law. He also had it written of in Galatians, Ephesians, and Corinthians. 

There is another real world application to this Truth, we can now go into the world and actually serve them through our Freedom in Christ. We can intercede for people and they will be healed, just as they were healed with Jesus. We can cast out demons, raise the dead, and prophesy the Truth just as Jesus did. We can freely receive and freely give and all without any condemnation. We can because there are no laws that anyone has broken. There is nothing that holds us back from loving all people in the full power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. 

You Want Rewarded?

Thus, whenever you give to the poor, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites in the synagogues and in the streets like to do, that they may be recognized and honored and praised by men. Truly I tell you, they have their reward in full already. But when you give to charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, So that your deeds of charity may be in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 6:2-4

Our Father wants us to be rewarded and well taken care of, Philippians 4:19. He wants this for us now on this earth as well as in eternity. This is why He repeatedly tells us how He causes us to be. The first Truth to being rewarded is having faith that it is always our Father in us causing us to give, John 15:5. We reap what our Father has us sow! It is always His grace and His provision working through us that allows us to care about the needs of others. We are never left alone by our Father to give anything on our own. Faith with this Truth comes for us by Jesus Authoring and Finishing it through us, Hebrews 12:2. If we believe that we are the ones acting on our own to give, we will always brag about it. But because it is our Father’s abilities using us and causing us to give, we can keep silent about it and thus be rewarded openly. We now have the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16. So we think and act as Jesus acts and Jesus always acknowledges that it is our Father working through Him, John 14:10.

We are the very body of Christ, we are flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, Ephesians 5:30. He causes us to give to those who we can receive nothing back from. He causes us to give to the poor, visit the elderly, clothe the naked, and take care of the orphans. Jesus insures that we are blessed and rewarded and He also causes us to not talk about it and bring the attention to us. Jesus is always greater in us then anything that is in this world, 1 John 4:4. We cannot help but be rewarded because we are one with Jesus. We have been chosen to be blessed just as our Head is blessed. We give and never talk about it and our Father blesses us by causing us to give even more. 

The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand

But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand! Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give. Matthew 10:6-8

He has blinded their eyes and hardened and benumbed their [callous, degenerated] hearts [He has made their minds dull], to keep them from seeing with their eyes and understanding with their hearts and minds and repenting and turning to Me to heal them. John12:40

Jesus sent the Disciples out to go and tell the Israelites that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand for them. Jesus told the Disciples to heal the lost, drive out demons from the lost, and to raise the lost from the dead. Jesus empowered the Disciples to show the lost children of Israel that the power of Heaven was for them. Yet Jesus also tells us that our Father would not allow the children of Israel to believe. Jesus tells us that God hardened their hearts and made their minds dull so that they could never understand the Truth. How can both of these things be true?

Here is what our Father has been showing me, there is a difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God. The benefits of the Kingdom of Heaven can be enjoyed by everyone, those who believe and are chosen and those who do not believe. The chosen are part of the Kingdom of God. We are empowered to serve the guests of the Kingdom of Heaven. Think about it? The children of Israel hated the Lord. They used Him to get healed, yet they quickly threw Him under the bus so that they could still go to church on the Sabbath. They were healed by Jesus and then they cried out for Him to be killed. Yet, they still enjoyed the fruits of the Kingdom of Heaven that was at hand for them. How cool is that? That is our Father’s grace in full action! 

This is why Jesus told Peter to feed both the sheep, the guests of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the lambs, the born again of the Kingdom of God, John 21:16-18. The power of our Father is all based on His grace, not on any works. So of course the Kingdom of Heaven and all of the power of it is for those who don’t believe. The guests are not part of the Kingdom of God, meaning they are not one with God. But that doesn’t mean that they are not able to be fully served with power and demonstration of the Spirit by those of us who are. 

Can We Stop Bearing Fruit?

To Hear Audio: Can We Stop Bearing Fruit?

Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit. John 15:2

This verse has been used by preachers my whole life to threaten us with. But let’s dissect the Truth and see if this verse should frighten us or encourage the daylights out of us. The first Truth to be considered here is that to be one with Christ is a gift. Salvation is a free gift from God, Ephesians 2:8. 

The second Truth that our Father tells us is that He never takes His gifts back once He gives them. For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.] Romans 11:29

The third Truth to consider, if someone wants to threaten you that you may stop bearing fruit can be found in Ezekiel 36:27: 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.

Now taking all of these verses together we can see that if we are saved, we are only saved because our Father gave it to us. And our Father will never take it back, because He never withdraws a gift once He gives it. We also can see that because we have been given the gift of salvation, or in other words the gift of being one with Jesus, that our Father will place His Spirit within us and cause us to bear fruit. So there is absolutely no chance that if we are saved that we can ever stop bearing fruit and be cast out of our perfect union with Christ. 

So why did Jesus say this? Jesus often spoke in parables and in ways that seemed to confound. He did this because the Truth is not for everyone to know, Mark 4:10-12. It is not a lie that if a born again person would stop bearing fruit, that they would be cast out of Jesus. But the greater Truth, the whole Truth, is that it is impossible for a true child of God to not be used by our Father to bear fruit. The wolves in sheep’s clothing will use this verse to try to keep the focus on man and not on Jesus. They will use it for fear instead of sharing the glorious Truth that it is impossible for us to not continually be used by our Father to bear luscious and everlasting fruit. 

John 15:2 is a glorious verse and there is no fear in it at all. The Truth is that our Father will constantly do whatever is needed so that He can always cause us to grow and be used in more and more powerful ways!  

We Are Perfectly Blessed To Be Perfectly Holy

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Ephesians 1:3-4

Our Father has held absolutely nothing back from us. We have been blessed with every blessing that He has. Everything that makes our Father God, has been given to us. Our Father gave everything to Jesus and then He made us one with Him, so that we too could have it all. 

Our Father chose for us to have all of His faith, all of His peace, all of His joy, all love, all glory, all wisdom, all knowledge, all forgiveness, all power, all hope, and all of His compassion. We are one with all of these things and everything else that our Father has right now. The Truth is that there is no waiting on all of these spiritual things. We have been blessed with all of them right now. Faith come from hearing this Truth and this Truth is what sets us free!

So many times a person will say, "yeah but that was Jesus, that is why He could do that" This belief is flat out wrong. The Truth is that we have everything and are one with everything that Jesus has and is. There is nothing that made Jesus Lord that our Father has not imparted to us. Our Father has held nothing back form us. He has made us one with all that He has right now, Galatians 2:20. And He has done this so that we can be just as perfect as Jesus is, Matthew 5:48. We have been born again into perfection through the grace of our Father. It's all a gift. It's all unearned and it's all operating in us right now. 

We are right now just as Holy and Blameless as Jesus. This is why our Father can use us right now just as powerfully as He uses Jesus, John 14:12. Christians are perfect because we have been chosen by God to be perfect. He has forgiven us all of our trespasses and in the process of His grace He has made us perfect as well. No in the power of our Father's might we go and serve the world, just as gloriously and victoriously as our Head, Jesus, serves the world! 

Through Christ We Are Purged From Dead Works

"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; How much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God?" Hebrews 9:12-14

When I read all of the verses that we have studied together in these posts, I look in the mirror and have to say no, we are definitely not truly serving the Living God in the fullness of the power that Jesus came for us to have. But I am not hopeless, and I actually get excited because I believe that our Father is calling us and strengthening us with His very Own strength to be who He has born us to be. I have seen that I cannot do it and that you cannot do it, and even all of us put together cannot do it.  I do see though in our Fathers Word that He can absolutely do it through us. I have seen that it is His will, that it is His desire, and that He has provided a way and that He will cause us to walk in that way!

I believe that our Father is calling us to serve Him and that He is giving us the will, the mind, and the heart to serve Him. I believe that we are chosen to truly serve our Father as Jesus serves Him. Not with this false sense of humility that says, yeh but He was Jesus. But in power, because our Father has given us the mind of Christ. We have been made to be part Jesus’ body. We have been given the same Spirit that Jesus has and through the anointing of Christ we are now one with Him! If all of these things are true, if we are truly dead and if the only reason we live is because it is Jesus living within us, how could we serve God differently that Jesus serves Him?

This excites me to no end and as I talk to others they also are being directed by God this way. I honestly believe that the glorious church will not be divided, that we will serve our Father and that we will not have a false consciousness that condemns us, but one that glorifies God through action, thought, and deed! I believe that through Jesus we will be used by our Father to do the works that Jesus did and even greater ones. I believe that through Jesus we will have mature fellowship with our Father and that through Jesus we will be one and that the world will believe! America will believe, Asia, South America, Russia, Central America, Australia, the Middle East, the Far East, Africa, and Europe will all believe. I believe that through Christ we will be one and that the world will believe! Jesus prayed it in John 17, and I don’t think that He was wasting His time with just some words; this is God’s will, and thank You Father You have made it ours as well! The Word teaches us all of these things, and we have the Holy Spirit within us teaching them as well. They will be so, argue about them if you want, but our Father, Who is God, will not be stopped, and what He has spoken will come to pass!

Think about having a purged conscience, one that is fully and completely cleansed and think about being fully pleasing to God in every thought, word, and action. It’s not pie in the sky; it’s ours through the Blood of Christ. It’s who we are, it’s what we have been born of, it’s our inheritance, and in Jesus’ Name it will grow and mature within us, and it will come to pass before He returns, God has spoken it! Jesus loves you and so do I, in Him you will be blessed this day and every day for all of eternity, because as He is so are we in this world!

We Are Perfect In Christ So That The World May Believe

"That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me." John 17:21-23

After all that we have studied together with these posts concerning our unity with our Father, I wanted to end up this topic with these verses. After all of the verses that God has had us study together, do you see why Jesus can say this? And now here is the real question, do we actually believe it? Do we really accept that we are perfect because we are now in Christ, and do we believe that our perfection is based solely on Jesus and not on us? If we truly believe this, than through the power of Christ we are to go into all of the world and preach the Gospel that allows it to be. And if you don't believe that we are actually one with God, I want you to go and try and find the verses to prove that this is not the Truth. Faith comes from hearing the Truth and the Truth sets us free.

Either way, Jesus loves us and through His grace and His power that is alive within us we are able to love each other. Pray for me and I will pray for you. Pray that the love of God is perfected in us, that He is glorified in everything we do, that our lives are a living proof of Him, and that in nothing shall we be ashamed! Pray that our Father's strength is perfected in our weakness and also that the eyes of our understanding are enlightened and that together and as one in Him we are used to win the world! Jesus loves you so very much, and so do I! Be blessed and full in Him this day!

God Is Responsible For Us

"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the Blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to Whom be glory for ever and ever. A-men." Hebrews 13:20-21

This Truth is not being taught and preached nearly enough. People are looking to themselves far too much. If things are good in a persons life, than they believe they must be doing something right, and if they are bad, then something wrong. Faith preachers call it faith, others call it living rightly, whatever it’s called, it makes God reactionary to our actions. Our Father is right in here with us and He carries the full load, as our Father, our Shepherd, and our Head! Jesus is not our co-pilot. He is our Head and we are His body!

I asked our Father why He kept saying this over and over to me, and this is what He said. “How than shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on Him of Whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” As you may know that is Romans 10:14-15

Our Father told me, “what can be more peaceful than teaching that He alone holds the responsibility in our success?” Man tries to find God with his own power, like do A, B, and C and then God will be found. Bologna! The heart does not respond like the hand, the foot like the eye, the tongue as the kidney, we are members of the body, all different parts. God comes to us where we are and exactly how we need Him! This needs to be taught. Think I am wrong, Jesus said that without Him, we could do nothing, John 15:5. If that isn’t taking the responsibility, I don’t know what is? And as Hebrews 13 teaches us: it is Jesus making us perfect and it is Jesus working within us!

So you see, we are light, we are not darkness. We are light because we are in God and His Light has driven out the darkness. Through Jesus we have everything we need. Our bodies that could sin have been destroyed, Romans 6:6. But what if we don’t feel like it has? Let me ask you this, how often do you hear it preached that our bodies of sin have been destroyed? Faith comes from hearing the Truth and the Truth sets us free! Romans 8:1 says there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is now no condemnation for us because there is now no darkness in us, because we are now in Christ Jesus! No bragging rights here, only because of Jesus, no works on our behalf can make this happen, it is solely based on Jesus and what He has done and offered for us!

How will the world believe unless we preach it?

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them." Ezekiel 36:26 This is the message that we have heard from Jesus and declare unto you. That God is Light and there is no darkness in Him and we are now in Him! Through the power of the Light that we now live in, we shall go into all of the world and preach the Gospel of this Truth to every creature and through our unity with Christ the world will believe!