Month: August 2012

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Thought For The Day (August 16, 2012): We Have A Heart Problem

Mark 7:14-23 (NASB) reads:
14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:
15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.
16 [“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]
17 When he had left the crowd and en
tered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable.
18 And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,
19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.)
20 And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.
21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

Jeremiah 17:9 (NASB) reads: < “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds. >

YHWH’s solution for the human heart flows from Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NASB) which declares a solution through a new birth involving a new heart and a new spirit:
25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
26 “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.
27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

From a new birth, YHWH’s solution is structured out of a construct of His Covenant in our inward parts.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 (KJV) reads:
33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
34 “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

YHWH’s Covenant is structured through the Epistle of CHRIST formed in a heart of flesh that is the work of the HOLY SPIRIT.

YHWH has predestined the solution. And, we enter into YHWH’s solution by setting our hope on MASHIAH YESHUA (Heb 6;19; 1 John 3:3). In this manner our faith will be of the substance of JESUS CHRIST.

In a faith that is Authored and Perfected by JESUS CHRIST we have awesome potentials.

Romans 8:1-2 (NKJV) reads:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Ephesians 4:23-24 (NASB) reads:
23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Tongues are an effective and powerful tool that we can use in prayer to develop our faith realities (1 Tim 3:9; 2 Cor 5:7-8).

Tongues are activated from our mouth and arise from our new born spirit/heart interface (in the area of our belly – see John 7:37-39, KJV) in the power that works within us (Eph 3:20).

Tongues operate in the Witness of JESUS CHRIST in Spirit, Water and Blood, by the HOLY SPIRIT (John 16:14).

In prayer using tongues: we can energize propositions in Scripture, in the Spirit and Life of YESHUA, by the HOLY SPIRIT.

In prayer using tongues: we can actualize realities that are of the substance and witness of YESHUA, by the HOLY SPIRIT.

In this manner we appropriate through prayer, the fullness of MASHIAH YESHUA predestined (John 1:16-17) to fill all in all (Eph 1:23) and to fill all things (Eph 4:10)!

In this manner, through prayer, we objectively pursue the reality of being created in the fullness of MASHIAH YESHUA (Eph 2:10; John 1:16-17).

The end product of prayer by the SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS, is a growing Shabbat-Shalom in our inward parts (Heb 4:9-10, NASB).

This Shabbat-Shalom stands as a witness in the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets (Matt 5:17-18; John 14:26-27); a witness to being free from the Law of Sin and Death (Rom 8:2).

The Shabbat-Shalom gives expression to a state of being in our inward parts – reconciled with GOD.

This Shabbat-Shalom is the spiritual atmosphere in our inward parts, in which we actualize the Mystery of CHRIST and develop the capacity to function by the HOLY SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS, in the reality of being set free from the Law of Sin and Death (see Rom 8:2).

This Shabbat-Shalom points to us operating by the HOLY SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS, in a clean heart (Matt 5:8) set free from the Law of Sin and Death. Amen! GBU.

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Thought For The Day (August 15, 2012): It Is Time To Actualize What The FATHER Has Given Us In JESUS CHRIST

John 1:16-17 (NASB) reads: < For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God (KJV: Son) who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. >

The fullness of JESUS CHRIST “explains” the actuality of the FATHER into our state of being (see also John 17:6, 26).

This is the Mystery of CHRIST the hope of Glory that YHWH wants to manifest into the Body of MESSIAH (the Church).

Colossians 1:26-28 (NASB) reads: < … the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. >

The Mystery Of CHRIST (MESSIAH) reveals and communicates the Testimony of JESUS (YESHUA) into Epistles of CHRIST fashioned in hearts of flesh (2 Cor 3:3, NKJV) by the HOLY SPIRIT.

Tongues are a powerful spiritual tool to facilitate the communication of the Mystery of CHRIST – in substance and witness – into our inward parts.

When we pray in a (persevering) hope in all that YHWH has given us in His only begotten SON, we actualize the substance of the fullness of the SON (see Heb 11:1, NKJV; 1 John 3:3) in a heart of flesh, as the Word becomes flesh in us (see 2 Cor 3:3; Eze 36:26).

The evidence (both positional and functional) of the SON unfolds in the Witness of YESHUA being developed in us (see 1 John 5:10a; Rev 19:10c; Rev 3:14b) by the HOLY SPIRIT (see John 16:14-15; 2 Cor 3:3, NKJV; 4:6-7, NKJV) in the FATHER’s will (John 16:15).

The substance and witness of YESHUA is the definitive basis in which our every capacity in JESUS CHRIST (Phil 4:13, 19) is developed by the HOLY SPIRIT (John 16:14), in fulfillment of the FATHER’s will (John 16:15; 1:16-17).

1 Cor 14:2 (NKJV) reads: < For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit (SPIRIT?) he speaks mysteries. >

In the growing development of our inward functions in the substance and witness of YESHUA, 1 Cor 4:1 (NKJV) calls us servants of CHRIST, stewards of the Mysteries of GOD: < Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the Mysteries of God. >

Ministers (servants) of CHRIST are stewards of the Mysteries of GOD. Ministers of CHRIST are created (see Eph 2:10) as the Mystery of CHRIST is expounded – in substance and witness – into our inward parts according to the call of YESHUA over our lives (see Eph 1:17-23).

The fullness of JESUS CHRIST communicated into us – in substance and witness – fulfills the Law and the Prophets and gives actual expression to the Righteousness of YHWH, personal to each one of us.

In Revelation 9:10, in the days of the Voice of the 7th trumpet, we read: < … in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets. >

Colossians 2:2-3 (NKJV) declares: < that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. >

YHWH is going to perform His Word in awesome terms in this end time. Prayer and function in the Witness of JESUS CHRIST, by the HOLY SPIRIT – in Spirit, Water and Blood – is the gateway to this realization. GBU.

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Thought For The Day (August 11, 2012): Being Blessed To Be A Blessing

YHWH swore an Oath of Blessing over Abraham.

Hebrews 6:13-14 reads:
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”

In the Seed of CHRIST implanted in us, this Oath of blessing stands over our lives. Every promise designed to manifest the blessing is developed in the growth of the Seed of CHRIST.

Galatians 3:13-16 (NKJV) reads:
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
15 Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.
16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.
Hebrews 7:28 reaffirms the Oath YHWH has sworn, being opened into us through JESUS CHRIST.

Heb 7:28 (NASB) reads: < For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. >

2 Cor 1:20 (NASB) reads: < For as many as are the promises of God, in Him (in the SON) they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. >

The Oath of YHWH is developed in a New Covenant written into the tablets of our heart. We need to pray (ask, seek etc) the Word of the Oath into our being; simply because YHWH has ordained this reality by His own Oath, sworn in the Blood of the LAMB – for us, in the merits of the LAMB!

Jeremiah 31:33-34 (KJV) reads: < But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. >

Brethren, we are predestined to actualize the Oath of Covenant personalized in each one of us, for expression in our lives in eternity.

We are each an asset in GOD; predestined for development in the fullness of YESHUA, by the HOLY SPIRIT (John 1:16-17; Rom 8:2).

All of YHWH’s blessings in the eternal and the abiding stand only in the Oath of YHWH’s Covenant sworn in the Blood of the LAMB.

YHWH cannot bless us in our emotions. He can only bless us in the Truth communicated in the Testimony of JESUS.

Read the Word, brethren. Appropriate the Word through prayer. Choose to live the Word in your thoughts, your words, your deeds and, in your relationships.

Repent when you fail and pursue the change because our transformation in CHRIST JESUS, by the HOLY SPIRIT, stands by the Oath of YHWH sworn in the Blood of the LAMB (Heb 10:14).

That is: it is impossible for us to fail, if we stand on the Word in the understanding that YHWH has sworn the fulfillment of that Word into us by Blood Covenant Oath in MASHIAH YESHUA!

YHWH has sent the HOLY SPIRIT to be with us and to be in us to ensure this fulfillment.

We can’t fail.

The only reason we fail is written in the Prophets. Hosea 4:6a reads: < My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge … >.

Brethren, persevere in the Word, by the SPIRIT and be blessed to be a blessing – always. Amen!

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Thought For The Day (August 10, 2012): Being Washed In Renewal And Regeneration By The HOLY SPIRIT, In CHRIST JESUS

Titus 3:5 (NASB) reads: < He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit >.

The washing of renewal (which makes the old brand new) and regeneration (which makes what is dead in sin to be brought to life) takes place through the quickened (rhema) Word of GOD.

Ephesians 5:25-27 (NASB) reads: < ….. Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. >
So, renewal and regeneration by the HOLY SPIRIT, gives actual expression to CHRIST JESUS sanctifying the Church, so that the Church (His Body) will be glorious “having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless”!

Tongues can be used to energize the Word of GOD by the HOLY SPIRIT, in and by and through the Witness of JESUS CHRIST alive in us – in Spirit, Water and Blood – so that we can progressively experience renewal and regeneration, by the SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS (see Rom 8:2)!

Renewal and regeneration is evidenced in actual change that YESHUA orchestrates by the SPIRIT into our inward parts as we choose to persevere in prayer, by praying the Word so that it will be performed by YHWH (Jer 1:11-12).

The Rhema Word quickened by the HOLY SPIRIT, through the use of tongues, energizes realities that are of the Spirit and Life of YESHUA into our inward parts.

In John 6:63 YESHUA declares: < “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” >

What is energized in the Spirit and Life of YESHUA changes us; equipping us to do all things through CHRIST who strengthens us (Phil 4:13, 19).

It is time to objectively prepare to be a Bride for the LAMB.

YESHUA wants to wash us using His Rhema Word (see also Heb 1:3b) so that we will be spotless and blameless through a washing of renewal and regeneration by the HOLY SPIRIT! Amen!

Be warned however, that tongues must be used to energize the Word of GOD and not human desire and ambition.

If we use tongues incorrectly we will open the Mystery of Lawlessness and the spirit of error (1 John 4:6) will operate instead of the HOLY SPIRIT. See 2 Thessalonians 2:7a and Matthew 7:21-23.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:7a we are instructed: < For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work … >.
In Matthew 7:21-23, YESHUA warns us: < “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'” >
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Thought For The Day (August 9, 2012): Is Praying In Tongues Useful?

Tongues facilitate our capacities to operate by the HOLY SPIRIT, in the Witness of JESUS CHRIST (Romans 8:2; 1 John 5:10, 7-8, NKJV; Rev 3:14b).

So, when we pray in tongues we function in Spirit, Water and Blood, potentially energizing the Mystery (the hidden realities) of CHRIST (Col 1:26-27), into our inward parts.

The unveiling of the Mystery of CHRIST into our inward parts, has the intent and design of enabling us to do all things thru’ CHRIST who strengthens us (Phil 4:13, NKJV).

Philippians 4:19 actually instructs us that: < … God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. >“By CHRIST JESUS” is a complex prophetic reality that the HOLY SPIRIT has been sent to develop into the Body of MESSIAH. YHWH’s riches in glory only unveil “by CHRIST JESUS” (see also 2 Cor 4:6-7).

Tongues are a useful and effective tool to enter into the infinitude of these realities in CHRIST that we have mentioned above.

Understand however, that this reality of unveiling CHRIST in our inward parts (Gal 4:19; 2 Cor 3:3; Phil 4:13), only exists by the HOLY SPIRIT functioning in and through our tongues in prayer and prophecy (John 16:14-15; 1 Cor 14:2-5).

1 Corinthians 14:2 (NKJV) reads: < For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. >

What does it mean to speak to GOD and be in the SPIRIT and speak mysteries?

1 Corinthians 2:6-7 speaks of a realm of ‘hidden’ Wisdom predestined for our glory (see also Phil 4:19): < However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory >.

This Wisdom predestined before the ages is entirely of the FATHER and is communicated through the SON: “in CHRIST JESUS, by the SPIRIT” (see Rom 8:2; see also Col 2:2-3, NKJV).

John 1:18 (NKJV) speaks of the only Begotten SON who declares (NASB: ‘explains’) the FATHER: < No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. >

What this tells us is that the Mystery of CHRIST is in the bosom of the FATHER and is the basis for the communication of all truth (see John 14:6). The Bosom of the FATHER represents the “depths of YHWH” (see 1 Cor 2:10, NASB+NKJV).

Colossians 1:26-27 (NKJV) speaks of the Mystery of CHRIST unveiled in our inward parts so that we will be perfect (in fulfillment of the Law) in CHRIST JESUS: < the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. >

1 Corinthians 2:9-12 (NKJV) gives us more details on the unveiling of the Mystery of CHRIST: < But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God [NASB: “for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God”]. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. >

Tongues enable us to speak to GOD, by the HOLY SPIRIT, in order to actualize what we can never know by our own intellect.

Isaiah 55:8-9, explains the conundrum: < “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” >

Tongues are a spiritual tool that facilitates the bridging of the impossible (“unbridgeable”) gap between YHWH and us – by the HOLY SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS, through the revelation of the Mystery of CHRIST (see Eph 1:17-23; Gal 4:19; Col 1:28).

The medium of communication of the Mystery of CHRIST is the Spirit and Life of YESHUA (see John 6:63).

The fabric of the Spirit and Life of YESHUA formed in us facilitate the Mysteries of GOD into our being (see 1 Cor 4:1) according to the calling upon our lives (see Eph 1:18, 17-19).

It is the fabric of the Spirit and Life of YESHUA that enables our position as stewards of the Mysteries of GOD (see 1 Cor 4:1c; see also Rev 10:7).

Tongues are a useful tool that facilitates this humongous purpose in GOD that we are called to actualize and steward.

What actually happens when we pray in tongues?

Tongues energize spiritual realities (or, mysteries) hidden in YHWH, the Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Eternal GOD.

When we pray in tongues, the HOLY SPIRIT facilitates the combining of “pneumatikos with pneumatikos” (that is the combining of the ‘spiritual’ with the ‘spiritual’) in our spirit; and our witness in Spirit, Water and Blood picks up (sometimes instantaneously; usually progressively over time, days, even months and years) the interpretation, the impression, the vision, the unction to do something (for example to prophecy, to preach, to teach, to pray, to war etc), to actualize the plan of GOD, with knowledge, understanding and wisdom, so that the work of GOD can be accomplished.

1 Corinthians 2:12-16 reads: < Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. >

To him who has an ear, let him hear what the SPIRIT is saying to the Church! Amen!

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Thought For The Day (August 8, 2012): Actualizing The Righteousness Of YHWH – By The HOLY SPIRIT, In CHRIST JESUS

(I) GOD’s Righteousness is expressed in & thru’ the Testimony of JESUS, in which the Law stands fulfilled:

o John 14:6; 15:4-5 (NASB) reads: < Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” …. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” >

o Rev 19:10c (NASB) reads: < For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. >
o Matt 5:17 (NASB) reads: < “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. >

o Romans 3:21-28 (KJV) reads: < But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. >

(II) GOD’s Righteousness is manifested through the Word of Faith that stands in our mouth and in our heart:

o Romans 10:8-11 (NASB) reads: < But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”–that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” >

o Jeremiah 1:11-12 (NASB) reads: < The word of the LORD came to me saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an almond tree.” Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.” >

(III) GOD’s Righteousness is manifested in the fullness of JESUS CHRIST that defines the fabric of the Body of MESSIAH, in form and function:

o John 1:16-18 (NKJV) reads: < And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. >

o Ephesians 1:22c-23 (NASB) reads: < … the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. >

o 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB) reads: < He (the FATHER) made Him (YESHUA) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. >

o Ephesians 2:10, 8-9 (NKJV) reads: < For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. …. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. >

(IV) GOD’s Righteousness operates in us and through us by the HOLY SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS

o Romans 8:2-4 (NASB) reads: < For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. >

o John 16:13-15 (NASB) reads: < “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” >

(V) GOD’s Righteousness operates in the Witness of JESUS CHRIST – in Spirit, Water and Blood, to unveil the Amen, the faithful and true Witness of JESUS CHRIST, the Beginning of the Creation of GOD.

o 1 John 5:7-15 (NKJV) reads:
7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.
10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

o Revelation 3:14b (NASB) declares the Witness of JESUS CHRIST as being: < The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God. >

And this is the Righteousness of YHWH fulfilled! And, all of us are called to actualize the Righteousness of YHWH predestined in our specific life, in CHRIST JESUS, by the HOLY SPIRIT! Amen!

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Thought For The Day: (August 6, 2012): The Gifts Of The HOLY SPIRIT Must Operate In JESUS’ Name

1 John 5:10a, 8 (NKJV) introduces the Witness of JESUS CHRIST: < He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself … And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. >

The Witness of JESUS CHRIST alive in us (see Rev 3:14b) by the HOLY SPIRIT (John 6:63; Rom 8:2) is: < The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God. >

We need to operate the Gifts of the HOLY SPIRIT in YESHUA’s Witness of Spirit, Water and Blood, alive in us by the HOLY SPIRIT (see Rom 8:2), because YESHUA’s Witness is the faithful and true Witness. In YESHUA’s Witness we operate in the Righteousness of GOD – by the HOLY SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS.
There are three classes of gifts that we are called to operate by the SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS: (i) the Vocal Gifts; (ii) the Revelatory Gifts; and, (iii) the Power Gifts. See 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.

(I) The Vocal Gifts comprise the Gift of Tongues, the Gift of Prophecy and, the Gift of the Interpretation of Tongues.

(II) The Revelatory Gifts comprise the Word of Knowledge, the Word of Wisdom and the Discerning of Spirits.

(III) The Power Gifts comprise the Gifts of Healing, the Gift of Faith and the Gift of Miracles.

All of these Gifts must operate by the HOLY SPIRIT, in the faithful and true Witness of JESUS CHRIST (John 16:14-15), that operates in Spirit, Water and Blood; so that the operation of the Gifts will always be in the Name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST (Col 3:17; John 14:12-14; 15:4-5,16) and, so that the Gifts of the HOLY SPIRIT will always be an actual expression of the Ministry of JESUS CHRIST through members of His Body (each one of us).

We need to see the Gifts of the HOLY SPIRIT operate in the Name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST – always! Amen!

Always remember that the Gifts of the HOLY SPIRIT do not operate in isolation; they are entirely a consequence of the finished work of the Cross.

Hence, in the faithful and true Witness, in Spirit, Water and Blood, every gift finds its root in YESHUA’s Witness and Testimony. And, in this reality all of the gifts are developed in a relationship with YESHUA, by the SPIRIT. Remember that the HOLY SPIRIT glorifies YESHUA – not Himself (see John 16:14, 13-14). Amen!

If we do not operate in YESHUA’s Name, then by default we will operate in our own names. And, this is how the spirit of error has entered the operation of the gifts. We need to repent and ensure the preeminence of JESUS CHRIST in every aspect of our life and ministry. PTL!

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Thought For The Day (August 5, 2012): The Absolutely Necessary, Ministry Of The HOLY SPIRIT

The LORD JESUS clearly defines the work and ministry and status of the PERSON of the HOLY SPIRIT ….. brethren, being able to function by the HOLY SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS is crucial to all of our well-being and to every aspect of function in the Name of YESHUA.

In John 6:63 (NASB), YESHUA declares: < “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” >

Here the LORD JESUS CHRIST is proclaiming that it is the HOLY SPIRIT who gives life through the communication of JESUS’ Words, in His Spirit and His Life – into us, into our state of being. JESUS’ Words (the Testimony of JESUS) make up the peculiar and specific Epistle of CHRIST within us – in the construct of a heart of flesh – as proclaimed in 2 Corinthians 3:3 (NKJV). And this Epistle of CHRIST is 100% the work of the HOLY SPIRIT.
2 Corinthians 3:3 (NKJV) reads: < clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. >

This work of the HOLY SPIRIT manifests the peculiar and specific dynamic of the New Covenant in our inward parts – in fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, as the fullness of CHRIST JESUS is progressively perfected and completed into us (Matt 5:17; John 1:16-17, NKJV; Col 1:26-28; 2:9-10).

2 Corinthians 3:4-6 (NKJV) tells us that as a consequence of the HOLY SPIRIT’s work in us: < … we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. >

Several things are being proclaimed in this passage, as a result of each one of us progressively becoming Epistles of CHRIST, by the HOLY SPIRIT:
o the HOLY SPIRIT’s work enables a growing “trust through Christ toward God”.
o the HOLY SPIRIT’s work causes us to know that “our sufficiency is from God”.
o the HOLY SPIRIT’s work unveils us as “ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit”.

In John 16:13-15, YESHUA explains the infinitude of the HOLY SPIRIT’s ministry: < However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. >

The HOLY SPIRIT will ….
o Guide us into all truth: “whatever He hears He will speak”.

o “Tell you things to come” so that we will navigate the challenges of our life and times.

o Glorify YESHUA.
o Take what is of YESHUA and declare (NASB: disclose) it to us.
o Take all things that the FATHER has given to YESHUA, and reveal it, and develop it, in us, amongst us and, through us.
The HOLY SPIRIT will manifest the power of GOD over us and within us, in the Spirit and Life of YESHUA, given the fact that the fullness of YESHUA – communicated in YESHUA’s Spirit and Life – fills all in all, fills all things and, reconciles all things to the FATHER (Eph 1:23; 4:10; Col 1:19-20).
How do we connect with the HOLY SPIRIT? Through a new birth (John 3:3-5) and by being Baptized with the HOLY SPIRIT.

In Acts 1:4-5 and 8, we read: < And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” ….. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” >

Acts 2:1-4, describes the nuclear church being baptized in the HOLY SPIRIT:
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

John the Baptist prophecied that it is YESHUA MASHIAH that baptizes us with (in) the HOLY SPIRIT:
o In Matt 3:11, John declares: < I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me … . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. >
o Similar proclamations are made in Mark 1:7-8; Luke 3:16 and John 1:32-33.

The Baptism of the HOLY SPIRIT comes with an array of gifts that communicate the practical power-dynamic of CHRIST’s ministry (see John 16:14-15).

1 Corinthians 12:1-13 gives us an overview of the gifts of the HOLY SPIRIT and the manner in which they are operated:
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:
2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

So we see that the HOLY SPIRIT is absolutely necessary for the practical dynamic of the Testimony and Ministry of JESUS CHRIST coming to life in His Body.

Without the active ministry of the HOLY SPIRIT we will all be shut under Law and Principle having no avenue to actualize the living dynamic of CHRIST in us and amongst us.

Everything that is of the fullness of YESHUA can only be disclosed and developed by the active ministry of the HOLY SPIRIT.

“Come HOLY SPIRIT” is a necessary invocation during prayer, worship, the study of the Scriptures and, in every aspect of the ministry of JESUS CHRIST in the Body of MESSIAH (CHRIST). Amen!

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Thought For The Day (August 4, 2012): Fulfilling The Demands Of The Law

The New Covenant is entirely structured on the fulfillment of the Law. The New Testament brings the fulfillment of the Law, the meeting of the demands of the Law, into our state of being, as the sovereign work of YHWH!

Jer 31:33-34 (KJV) reads: < But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. >

YHWH declares: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts”.The fulfillment of the Law is 100% the work of YHWH and this actuality of the (progressive) fulfillment of the Law into our being, is the essential fabric by which the New Covenant is established and developed in us each – by YHWH.

Obviously, the writing and developing of the Law in fulfilled terms, in our inward parts, is entirely beyond human effort.

When Moses received the two tablets of the Testimony (on which were written the 10 commandments) in Exodus 31:18 and 32:16, we are told very clearly that the tablets were written by the Finger of GOD and the tablets were 100% the work of YHWH.

In 2 Corinthians 3:3 (NKJV) the tablets that Moses received are, in the fulfillment of the Law, proclaimed to be actual hearts of flesh within us. These hearts of flesh are called Epistles of CHRIST created in us by the SPIRIT of YHWH.

Hence the fulfillment of the Law is entirely configured in the Epistle of CHRIST personal to each one of us! That is, the fulfillment of the Law is absolutely of the actual fullness of CHRIST JESUS formed inside us, the peculiar work of YHWH in us, so that we will function in accordance with the demands of the Law.

It is as CHRIST is formed in us that the capacity to walk in accordance with the demands of the Law is brought into being within us. The entire capacity to live – which is engineered by YHWH (in the ministry of the HOLY SPIRIT) – is of CHRIST JESUS (Phil 4:13, 19, NKJV; Col 1:26-28), and is of nothing else.

The Law demands that we not steal (Ex 20:15). The fulfillment of the Law unveils as we put on CHRIST – by setting our hope on Him (1 John 3:3; 4:9) – and progressively becoming saints, created in JESUS CHRIST (Eph 2:10), who will never steal because we no longer have the nature, character, desire and thinking of a thief.

Under Law we would try our best not to be thieves. And Isaiah 64:6 declares that our righteousness is filthy rags.

In the fulfillment of the Law, we would choose to pursue our creation in JESUS CHRIST, as our persevering hope in MESSIAH manifests the substance of Him into our inward parts – and this is the work of the SPIRIT of YHWH that fulfills the demands of the Law.

The substance of YESHUA would meet every demand of the Law and progressively unveil us each as a new creation that is of YESHUA’s Image (Rom 8:29) and YESHUA’s Fullness (John 1:16-17) having His Nature and Character, as depicted in the fruit of the HOLY SPIRIT (see Gal 5:16-18, 22-23).

New Covenant formation and progression, in our inward parts through salvation, involves our putting on CHRIST JESUS, by the HOLY SPIRIT, so that we are actually – as a consequence of GOD’s active intervention in our inward parts – set free from the Law of Sin and Death (Rom 8:2, 1-4).

The objective practice of the Law does not allow GOD to work in us; instead we seek to present to GOD our best efforts which will never match YHWH’s Righteousness, that actually brings the fulfillment of the Law into our being.

Yes we must obey GOD’s commandments! The problem is that we can’t do this; hence the absolute need for salvation!

Salvation is the process by which GOD creates us in the image of JESUS CHRIST, by perfecting the substance of the fullness of JESUS CHRIST into the fabric of our being.

Yes we can all observe a Sabbath day! Does the observance of the Sabbath day save us, heal us, deliver us, transform us? Or, is there another reality that flows in the fulfillment of the sabbth Rest in our inward parts?

In the fulfillment of the Sabbath Law, we enter into a state of rest in YHWH (see Heb 4:9-10; 12:22-24). This is a state of rest that is progressively developed in CHRIST JESUS, by the HOLY SPIRIT, so that we can rest in YHWH (in all that He has given in CHRIST JESUS, by the HOLY SPIRIT) and actualize the reality of living, moving and having our being in YHWH – by the SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS!

Which reality of the Sabbath is fruitful?

The Letter of the Law will never fulfill the Righteousness of GOD that develops the New Covenant into the fabric of our being.

What the Law and the Commandments give us are the prophetic realities (or, the prophetic keys of the Kingdom) we have to pursue and actualize by the HOLY SPIRIT, in CHRIST JESUS (Romans 8:2).

For example: we must pursue, by the HOLY SPIRIT, the capacities of CHRIST’s obedience in our being. Our attempts at obedience are nothing but a pretense, because we are all by nature, in ourselves, children of disobedience (Eph 2:1-3).

Brethren, be wise and pursue the prophetic that stands in the specifics of the fulfillment of the Law and the Commandments. Amen (see Rev 3:14b)! Beware of the legalists who will shut you under the Law and remove you from the Righteousness of YHWH.

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Thought For The Day (August 3, 2012): YESHUA Became Sin For Us!

2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV) reads: < For he (the FATHER) hath made him (YESHUA) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. >

The FATHER has made the SON to be sin for us. Why?

So that we might become the righteousness of GOD in Him (in CHRIST JESUS).

But, how does this happen?

The FATHER imputed our sin to YESHUA. By this we understand that YESHUA took upon Himself our sin (the sin imputed to us by Law). Isaiah 53:4-6 reads: < Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows ….. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. >
We see the effects of this testified to in Luke 23:44-47 ….
44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.
47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”

YESHUA has taken upon Himself our sin and He has dealt with the issue(s) of our sin. As a result the veil in the temple was torn.

YESHUA was subjected to death – by Law – because of our sin.

But, by His own faith (and love), YESHUA overcame the effects of our sin. YESHUA overcame the spiritual reality of our sins, our transgressions and, our iniquities, manifested – in death.

And, YESHUA was raised from the dead, as YESHUA’s faith and love (exercised on our behalf) – which establish and fulfill the requirements of the Law (see Rom 3:31; 13:8-10) – facilitated the Righteousness of YHWH, manifesting life into YESHUA’s whole being.

YESHUA’s faith (and love) rose above the actuality of our sin. YESHUA’s faith (and love) in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, facilitated the Passover from death to life, on our behalf.

Through the Seed of CHRIST, the Seed of His faith (and love) that overcame sin and death, we are brought to life in our inner man in a new birth that stands in the fulfillment of the Law.

Now, according to our faith in YESHUA, in the fact that He took upon Himself our sins, and actually overcame our sin by His faith (and love), the power of GOD that raised YESHUA from the dead, works within us to give us exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think (see Eph 3:20; 1 Cor 1:18).

We must understand that this entire process by which YHWH has dealt with our sin through the Testimony of YESHUA, had (and has) absolutely nothing to do with the Law!

The Law imputed sin; YESHUA’s faith (and love) overcame the sentence of death, because YESHUA’s faith (and love) was manifested in a righteousness that was entirely in line with YHWH’s Righteousness (see Rev 5:7, 1-10).

This is why through a faith that is authored and finished by YESHUA (Heb 12:2a), the righteousness of YHWH works within us to save us (Rom 10:10, 9-10).

Understand that the Law has nothing to do with this process of salvation, except to bear witness to the penalty of sin which is death (Rom 3:21-26). The Law plays no actual part in the Righteousness of YHWH being manifested in us.

YESHUA fulfilled the Law and by faith in Him, the substance of that fulfillment is worked into us in the Righteousness of YHWH.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (NASB) reads:
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,
29 so that no man may boast before God.
30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
31 so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Remember that the practice of the Law will not bring its fulfillment into you. The fulfillment of the Law is absolutely in YESHUA, “who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption”.

And, the fulfillment of the Law is only communicated into us as the Testimony of YESHUA is brought into being within us, in the Righteousness of GOD (by the HOLY SPIRIT), as we believe in what YHWH has accomplished through YESHUA’s sacrifice, death and resurrection (see Rom 10:9-10; Rev 19:10c).

Thank GOD for YESHUA! To YHWH be the Glory – forever and ever, amen!