The Way

Before we eat a meal, we read Scripture. Before we ate breakfast this morning we read Job 31:1-3, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on High? Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?"

Thank God for a Savior who changes our hearts and sets us free from the wicked way of life we are all born in to. Satan perverted that through religion saying, "We could never measure up to God's standards so thank God He sent His Son." Grace becomes a license for sin. It's the Devil's lie from the beginning: "You shall be like God. You will also continue to rebel against Him."

Then at Bible study after breakfast, we were in 2 Samuel 2 which reiterated one of the stark distinctions between Saul and David. David, as a "Kingdom man", lived according to what Jeremiah said, "I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it's not for a man to direct his steps." Saul, on the other hand, followed his soul. They are representative of 2 types of people among God's people: vessels of gold and silver vs. vessels of wood and clay. (2 Tim.2:19-21)

David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?" he asked. The Lord said, "Go up." David asked, "Where shall I go?" "To Hebron," the Lord answered (v.1).

That's one of the reasons I'm so grateful for the baptism with the Holy Spirit (Jn.1:33). A priest consults the "Thummim and Urim", and we are a kingdom of priests. For Jesus to be my Shepherd today, I have to be able to hear His voice. My life is not my own. I am bought at a price.

Formerly, my religion ended this statement by Isaiah at the word "wool":
"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 1:18-20

My religion had also separated Psalm 103:11 from verse 12:
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

But now through faith in Jesus Christ, who has accomplished redemption (freedom from captivity by payment of ransom) for His people, his grace transforms us so that we can confess Psalm 101:

"I will sing of Your love and justice; to You, O Lord, I will sing praise. I will be careful to lead a blameless life - when will You come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil.

Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure. My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me (Titus 1:7). No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. Morning by morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord(1 Cor.5:13; 1 Peter 4:17,18.)"

We have been brought from sin to righteousness; from the soul to the Spirit. We were in Egypt but now we are under God with Christ Jesus as our Head. We live by faith in the understanding that whatever is not from faith is sin. We live on the Word of God desiring it more than our daily bread, abiding in it as disciples of Christ Jesus. We are new creatures and understand that in every nation whoever fears Him and does what is right is accepted by Him. Acts 10:35. The fruit of righteousness is peace; the effect of righteousness is quietness and confidence forever.

May you press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you in 2020!

Jesus preached the Good News of the Kingdom of God and also demonstrated it. He said if we had faith in Him, we would do the same. And He gave us, His disciples, the command to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. He not only gave us the command but lived the example for us. He did nothing on His own initiative. The initiative was the Father's. As His disciples, the initiative for us today is to be Jesus'. Upon Him do we wait all the day. Living in the Spirit like this, we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Right there with Him, so near His rod and His staff, the wolves are far from us. Being under His authority, we exhibit not only fruit of the Spirit but also gifts; love and also love in action. After all, the Kingdom of God does not exist in words but in power and neither Jesus nor the Scriptures left any program for change before the end of the age.

"To the one who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness. But to the sinner, He gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth only to hand it over to the one who pleases Him." Ecc.2:6 or so. And in Psalm 125 or so, "In vain you rise up early and stay up late toiling for food to eat, for while they sleep He provides for those He loves." And repeatedly in His Word, He has promised to love those who love Him, i.e., those who obey Him. This is no "sloppy Agape".

I used to sit under the ministry of a man who stated that "the only problem with a living sacrifice is that it is always crawling off the altar." We can chuckle at that because we know what that means but it really isn't valid for a disciple who has denied himself and must continue doing so daily. "I have set the Lord before me continually" the Psalmist said. Isaiah 64:4 has always meant a great deal to me in this context: "Since ancient times, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him."

In this connection, we are always telling our children to "live in the moment." They begin to ask all kinds of questions about what we're going to do in the future but "the wind blows wherever it pleases, you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." And this Gospel by which Jesus becomes Head over all things for the disciple is the one they have heard since they were in utero. But we simply tell them that sheep don't tug at the shepherd's clothes asking about where they're going next.

We had a beautiful example of this principle last night at Bible study. When Scripture states "When you come together everyone has a hymn or a word of instruction, a revelation a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church." The fact that that's so alien points to the problem. If Jesus isn't Lord of all, He's not Lord at all. "The preacher" isn't the one who should "give the message". The bulletin, or "how we always do it" isn't what is supposed to be followed. The Holy Spirit is.

So we come together and wait for what song we should sing. After that, I was led to ask each person what their one prayer request for 2020 would be. And you can feel God's presence when His will is being done. He was in what we were doing. We felt we should write them down. Then when we go to the Word, we listen for where we should go. Psalm 61 was where we were directed and it is a Psalm that begins, "Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to You, I call as my heart grows faint..." And they commented before I did that this was God. So I got to reiterate how we must live in the moment and that as we let Him lead that He is speaking to us, He is listening to us and His desire is to answer and we went again to Luke 18 and touched on the example of the widow and also of Elijah and what fervent prayer is like. And the requests weren't the kind asked with wrong motives so that they could spend what they get on their pleasures - no one was asking for a pony or stuff like that.

I believe in the Greek in the sermon on the mount, Jesus' statement that "You cannot serve both God and money" actually is "You cannot work for God and money". Like many of the Jews of Jesus' time, many Christians today are lovers of money, i.e. idolaters. I haven't had a "real job" since 1996 since the Lord began teaching me this. I haven't had a paycheck since that time. And yet we have abundance. Derek Prince stated, "Jesus didn't carry a lot of cash but He always had His Father's credit card and it was accepted everywhere He went." That's a good way of stating it. Obviously I work but the yoke I have on is not one put on for the purpose of getting money but for the purpose of doing His will.

What am I going to do today? I don't know. I'm going to listen to the Master. He is the good Shepherd. It's not a religion - it's a relationship.

The Sabbath-rest for the people of God is true rest, indeed. Waiting upon Him and allowing Him to have the initiative in our lives is holy living. Having been sanctified - set apart to Him by His choice - this is the life we live, a life led by the Holy Spirit with Christ Jesus Himself as Head.

The only reason so called believers are not one, as Jesus prayed we would be, is that we have different heads. Most who claim to be His are their own. They have come in to the sheep pen by another way, John10:1.

"There remains then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following [Israel's] example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:10,11

"'This is the resting place, let the weary rest'; and, 'This is the place of repose' - but they would not listen." So then the word of the Lord has become to them as gibberish. Isaiah 28:12,13

"Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus did", 1 John 2:6. "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." John 8:28,29.

Don't be a branch that is cut off, gathered and burned. You cannot be his disciple if you do not give up everything you have, Lk14:33. You can be a Christian and a church member without doing that but being those things does not save. Salvation is free but it's not cheap. Our lives have to be laid down in sacrifice; we deny our souls, take up our crosses and follow Him, Mt.16:24-27. Your cross is where your will and God's will cross. And because this is not being done is why we are not one. And because we are not one, the world does not believe that the Father sent the Son. John 17:20-23

This is the way, the truth and the life.

The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly lives looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14

Christ suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps: who committed no sin, neither was any deceit found in His mouth, when insulted He did not retaliate, when He suffered He made no threats instead He kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. He bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we being dead to sins would live to righteousness; by His wounds we have been healed. We all like sheep were going astray [rebelling], but now we have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. 1Peter2:21-25

And there's the new way of life, in the Spirit. Live in it and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature just like the Holy Spirit, through Paul, said.

The Kingdom of God is not the Magic Kingdom, as I like to say (and I got it from Bob Mumford.) The foundation has to be laid. Repenting from acts that lead to death is part of that foundation. Then we are to go on to perfection and I have been commanded to be perfect as My Father in Heaven is, just as you have been also. But the way for me to fall is open to me just as to the Hebrews, the Corinthians, the 7 churches of Revelation and everyone who professes Jesus Christ as Lord. In fact, most who profess Him as Lord are houses built on sand, not doing the will of the Father in Heaven or putting the Word of Jesus in to practice. Just a fact. The seed that was scattered along the pathway - I'm in no danger of that. Nor am I in any danger of being as seed sown among rocky places. I've persevered. That does not mean that I am as the seed sown in good soil. It would be stupid of me to think that being as the seed sown among thorns could not happen in my case. The worries, riches, pleasures of the world and the desire for things other than His Word could still enter in to my life and choke the Word so that it became unfruitful while still living.

Personally, I like a little risk. Very risky to leave Egypt, have no homes, then go to war against indigenous folks. But I won't stand on the East side of Jordan pretending the land has been taken, either. Ain't no Philistines in Heaven, so the Promised Land isn't that.

My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me. There's the safety. Those are the ones who won't be snatched out of His hand. Could I turn back to Egypt? Sure could. I'm no robot. I could do what Vashti did. It's the same thing the Christian church did. Jesus isn't Lord for most. Everybody clamors for Him as Savior though. And everyone who thinks they couldn't fall or is absolutely going to attain to the "out resurrection" is deceived. Before the very end for Paul, it was "if by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead." And there fat Christians sit claiming they got it, many of them outright self-willed and rebellious. That's not true to the tenor of the entire canon. Right until the final chapter, it's all about conduct. And that conduct, i.e., what we do, has to be by faith.

There is no question that we do not come to Jesus on the basis of good things we have done. The issue arises regarding what comes thereafter, by faith. We "deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and should live soberly, righteously and godly lives" because that's what genuine faith produces. "He gave Himself for us to redeem us [set us free] from every lawless deed and to purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."

The problem arises when people saying they have been set free from sin [redeemed] are still slaves to it. The world points their finger and says, "They aren't saved." And they're right. They haven't crucified the sinful nature [don't belong to Christ, according to the Scriptures], they still walk according to it [violating Romans 8.] Millions who are not pure in heart still claim they will see God and that's not what Jesus said or taught. Neither does the New Testament or the Bible.

The covenant still is circumcision. Of the heart. And this is just the death part of the Gospel. Not the resurrection part.

Yes, we have been enlightened, have tasted the heavenly gift, have shared in the Holy Spirit, have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come, by His grace. Yet we know that if we fall away it would be impossible to be brought back to repentance because to our loss we would be crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace. Hebrews 6:4-6

We have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! But the truth is that if we are entangled in it again and overcome we would be worse off at the end than we were at the beginning. It would have been better for us not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to have turned our backs on the sacred command that was passed on to us. Of us the proverbs would be true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow after washing returns to her wallowing in the mud." 2 Peter 2:20-22

We cannot treat as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified us and outrage the Spirit of grace. Hebrews 10:29. He has commanded us to abide. Amen. Jesus is the Truth

The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of the grave entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears. Ps.18:4-6

That was the state He found us in - overwhelmed by sin and powerless to save ourselves. But thank God He bore our sin in His body on the cross that we would be released from its power. He has taken it away and removed ungodliness from within us. He has justified us freely by His grace and Jesus Christ is our righteousness. He has cast all our sins in to the depths of the sea and our consciences have been cleansed.

The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He rewarded me, v.20. He has equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights, v.32.33. He is my stronghold. As His son, His Spirit leads me. As His sheep, I obey His voice abiding in Him and His love. This is the Way.

For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

Like the first salvation message preached by the Church of Jesus Christ says,

"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the freedom of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call." With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."

And as Job testified, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high? Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?"

Thank God for salvation through faith is Jesus Christ! To be brought from the power of sin and Satan to righteousness and the Lordship of Jesus Christ our King.

Amen! And now grace and peace are ours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!

His divine power has given us everything we need from life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them we may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:2-4

Praise God! We put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to our earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. We used to walk in these ways, in the life we once lived. But now we must rid ourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from our lips. We do not lie to each other, since we have taken off our old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge of its Creator. Col.3:5-10

As Peter and the other apostles testified before the Sanhedrin: We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him. For why did Jesus come? To destroy the devil's work - sin (1 John3:8b) and to baptize us with the Holy Spirit (Lk.3:16). For at the end of the age, the Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil (Mt.13:41).

Therefore, we have received the Great Commission: "All authority is heaven and earth has been give to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Philip preached Jesus to the eunuch. The eunuch's immediate response was "Look there is water. What prevents me from being baptized?" Was that your response to the Gospel, or did you hear a different one? The gentile household of Cornelius was born of water and the Spirit. The keys of the Kingdom. Come in!

The fruit of righteousness is peace. The effect of righteousness is quietness and confidence forever. He is the Prince of Peace. The Kingdom of God is in the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"If anyone would come after Me, he must deny his soul(what he wants, thinks and feels), take up his cross(where his will and God's will cross) and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life/soul will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole word, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done." Mt.16:24-27

I die daily (1Cor.15:31b). A covenant is in effect only when men are dead (Hebrews 9:17).

How miraculous, beautiful and powerful to be born of water and the Spirit today!

As it is written, “The wind blows wherever it pleases - you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8

The necessity of the Headship of Jesus Christ is made effective through the Holy Spirit. He did indeed come to baptize us with the Holy Spirit (Mt.3:11, Mk.1:8, Lk.3:16, Jn1:33), the One by whom the sons of God are being led today (Rom.8:14). Yes, the Kingdom of God is a matter of righteousness, peace and joy for us IN the Holy Spirit. Anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Rom.14:17,18

Praise the Lord.

So afraid of works some have a faith that doesn't work - when all that Scripture, and Jesus, teaches us is about what we do, that it be from a pure heart, one cleansed by faith, and through the Spirit.

Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Rev.19:7

Under the everlasting covenant, Christ Jesus has become head over all things for His (true) Church, yes, we submit to Him. Whoever worships the Father, must worship Him in spirit and in truth; our spiritual act of worship is the presentation of our bodies to Him. Our mind is renewed, and we can test and approve what God's will is, His good pleasing and perfect will. We walk in His light, under His authority. Indeed, the righteous live by faith.

Since ancient times, no one had heard, no ear has perceived no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. Is.64:4 You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead - Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. 1 Thes.1:9,10

We're not saved by works. Being saved, we produce the works. Even having done all we have been commanded we say, "We are unworthy slaves. We have done only that which we ought to have done." ~ Jesus. He commanded perfection. Even perfection can have no pride.

Having been set free from sin and having become slaves to God, the benefit we reap leads to holiness, the result of which is eternal life. Rom.6:22

Saved by faith. And how does the righteousness which is by faith speak? Paul quoted Moses, "The Word is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it." That's akin to what our Lord said, "If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free."

He is our Passover Lamb. And Moses said of the Passover, "This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips." ("Law" being a synonym for the whole of the revealed will of God - the word, commandments, ways, judgements, precepts, etc, of the Lord.")

Psalm 1, being a partial summation of the Psalms, contrasts the righteous and wicked man. "Blessed is the man who does not 1. Walk in the way of the wicked, 2. Stand in the path of sinners, 3. Sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law He meditates day and night. The word translated "meditates" in Hebrew means: to murmur, to ponder; imagine, meditate, study, speak, talk, utter, mutter, roar. It is primarily an utterance.

Faith in Jesus Christ means His Word will come from our lips. As it is written in Isaiah 59, "'As for Me, this is My covenant with them,' says the Lord. 'My Spirit who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from Your mouth, or from the mouths of Your offspring, or from the mouths of their offspring from this time on and forever,' says the Lord."

I believed, therefore, I spoke.

Now that we have been reconciled with God - regenerated and justified - as obedient children, we are not to conform to the evil desires we had when we lived in ignorance. But just as He who called us is holy, so we are to be holy in all we do. 1Pet.1:14,15 Whatever we do, whether in word or deed, we are to do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Col.3:17

As we see in the life of our father Abraham, his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. James 2:22 And so God said to him, "Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me." Gen.22:18

Before faith, I was doing one thing. Now, I do another. Thank God, Jesus changes lives! From soul, to Spirit. From sin, to righteousness. From under the sun, to above it. From under Satan, to under Jesus. In Christ, all things have been made new. And as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, "Anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing." Wow!

Do we really have faith in Him? Or is that just a claim we make?

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In Him you were also circumcised, in the removal of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He delivered us from all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Col.2:8-15

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit and not by the letter; such a man's praise is not from men but from God. Rom.2:28,29

If our hearts are uncircumcised, we have broken the covenant. This is part of the "death part" of the true Gospel.

Jesus said to Paul, "I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive freedom[Gr.] from sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me." Acts 26:18

As Ern Baxter said, "Real faith is hearing under God, being submissive under God and obeying God." Jesus brings us out of "Egypt" and from under "Pharoah". He brings us through the water, gives us the "cloud" and we come under Him. Our bodies are living sacrifices through the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Salvation is a change of government. The true Gospel is the power of God and it changes people radically. They were walking one way - now they walk in a new Way. Jesus walked in that Way, and abiding in Him, we must walk as He did (which is not humanly possible.)

Satan has been allowed to hide much of this through religion. Many give mental ascent to a couple of claims of Jesus, but there is never repentance. Vast hoards of Christians never become new creations. Because Jesus is not Head, the church is almost infinitely fragmented. If we were one, the world would believe that the Father sent the Son. Because we are not, but most walk after their own way today, according to their souls, the world is degenerating.

Sin is my way as opposed to His Way. In fact, whatever does not come from faith is sin, as it is written. Are you a new creation and are you being led today by the Holy Spirit? The addicts need to hear. The rebellious and the tormented need to hear. All without peace need to find the Prince of Peace. Humans need to humble themselves under His mighty hand. He gives grace to the humble.

Jesus said that everyone who believes in Him will do what He was doing. He is the pattern Son.

"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." Jonah 2:8 My favorite verse from Jonah, which he prayed from the belly of the fish. On a side note, I encourage you to not view what happened to Jonah as allegory. Don't view the events of Genesis that way. As it is written, "The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom." If anyone deems viewing the whole Bible literally foolish, I'll be foolish with the foolishness Jesus has, thank you. For whenever He quoted the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus always referred to it literally. He spoke of the creation of man that way and of Jonah being in the belly of the great fish the same. There is no downside risk. I believe God created all things in 6 days, creating a mature man and a mature earth and space, and He has only blessed me for this view. But back to idolatry...

We see in the New Testament that greed is idolatry, and indeed anything that comes before God in our hearts is idolatry. Common idols are children, personal desires, smart phones, possessions and money. Reminds me of the parable of the sower and the danger for the believer is being the seed which was sown among thorns - I have always liked the Mark account which states, "the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the Word, making it unfruitful." This has been my concern for my own life. The "plant" springing from the seed God has sown remains alive! And desires for things other than the Word? Whoa. I don't think I know of anyone like that. Narrow the gate and difficult the Way indeed! Few are they that find it. It's like when Jesus speaks of the widow at the beginning of Luke 18 and says that God's chosen ones cry out to Him day and night and then He wonders aloud, "when the Son of man comes, will He find faith on earth?"

Read Psalm 119. That has to be us. Those things have to be what our hearts individually say. "I rise before dawn and cry for help; for I have put my hope in your Word." I literally do that. Another verse states that the psalmist pants for God's Word! That sound like seed sown on good soil. Elsewhere, it says that he has chosen meditation on God's Word over sleep. Wow. Sounds like a heart free from idols.

I am interested in the messages God personally attests to. At evening family Bible study last night, my family told me that my face was brightly glowing when I was speaking about the importance of "the family altar": the necessity of taking time daily to seek God together as a family. And then I continued into God's Way to church unity, looking at John 17, Jeremiah 32:39,40 and Galatians 5:19-25.

The Scripture says, "Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious." I believe that, like the rest of the Bible, literally.

I teach that the Lord isn't looking for people to take a religious label, but instead a Kingdom of priests. And I relate that the reason a king wore a crown of gold beset with precious stones was an attempt to recreate what a true king is supposed to reflect - the glory of God. Adam lost the glory at the fall. Jesus came to restore us back to God's original intention for man. We were created to rule, to have dominion which only comes "legally" through submission to Jesus Christ.

Jesus is so very good. He delivered us from all our sins and translated us in to the Kingdom of God - the Kingdom which is in the Holy Spirit. We belong to Him, having crucified the sinful nature, with its passion and desires and we eagerly wait for His return. Thank God He has circumcised our hearts for circumcision still is the covenant. For, as it is written, he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the spirit and not by the letter, and such a man's praise is not from men but from God.

Jesus is head over ALL things for us. We don't live by our souls today but by the Spirit. This is the Sabbath-rest for the people of God. This is the True Gospel which has been hidden from God's people for centuries. They have only known a truncated version: "The Gospel" but not "The Gospel of the Kingdom" which Jesus preached. Jesus did not die for us to be forgiven - that's why bulls and goats were sacrificed. Jesus died for us to be free from sin and that we would become slaves to God. Our Lord is the pattern Son for us. He only did the will of the Father, and that is the work we are to do today - a work which can only be discerned through the Holy Spirit - the Spirit each Gospel declares that He came to baptize us with. How the Christian religion has distorted the Truth!

Our Lord Jesus said to us, "When you fast," not "if". When questioned by the religious leaders of His day why His disciples did not fast, He replied that the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast as long as He is with them, but that when he was taken away, then they would fast. Well, beloved, He is not here today - thank God His Spirit is - but He is still at the Father's right hand.

We are to fast in secret and not share what we are doing but I'll let you in on what we are doing as a family today to encourage you to fast if it is something you have not done or are not doing as often as you think the Lord would like you to. We are fasting today as a family: me, my wife, 8 year old son and 5 year old daughter. We began yesterday at 3pm, the children after dinner.

We do not fast because we think we should - we fast when He leads us to. He's taught us to live this Way in all things. So it's not an external rule or law, it is internal. And because He has promised to give us "singleness of heart and action" in the everlasting covenant which we have with Him in the blood of Christ, the Lord is usually working on us individually before anyone first speaks it, that he or she feels this is what the Lord wants us to do. So, we fast when He tells us to. Just FYI, as an average, I would say we fast once every month and a half. The children have not fasted since July. My wife joins me when I fast and sometimes I'm the only one fasting. I think we'll go until 1pm or so today. We only drink water while we fast, normally.

God has given us fasting as a tool in our spiritual progress. He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. His people have long known fasting as a primary tool in humbling ourselves before Him. When His people were faced with crisis, they knew to humble. Jesus said, "This kind does not come out but by prayer and fasting." Typically, we pray when we would have eaten. We also journal our requests and why we are fasting and we always put Scripture with it. This time it was 2 Chron. 7:13,14 ("humble themselves') and Is. 58. I mentioned, as part of our reason for doing it, that Jesus said His followers would and the Scripture where He stated this kind goes out but by prayer and fasting.

I've practiced it for 20 years. It has been rewarding. Our stomachs are not our gods, neither are our desires. We do not serve them. We serve the Almighty God and our bodies are for Him. Amen!

This is a period in time characterized by female rebellion: Zechariah saw the woman in the ephah (5:5-11). Esther is vitally important in understanding what is happening today, too. Xerxes is a type of Christ. Vashti, his queen, refused to submit to him, choosing to do her will instead. Vashti had to be deposed because if she wasn't all the women would hear of her rebellion, they would disrespect their husbands and then there would be no end of disrespect and discord in his whole realm. Well, that's the situation today because "Vashti" has not been replaced...yet.

There's a very telling verse tucked away in Titus 2. The wives are to be trained to be subject to their husbands "so that no one will malign the Word of God." So, since most "believing" wives really aren't subject to their husbands the Word of God is maligned. Now, the fault of this cannot be laid solely at the feet of women. They aren't the ones that originally "broke the chain." What do I mean by "the chain"? The descending chain of authority which begins at God's throne in eternity. Let me stop and say, thank God for your ladies who buck this trend in the world. I happen to be married to one. But she's that way because of the grace of God in my life, which brings me back to "the chain". Authority comes in to the home, coming down from God the Father, to Jesus Christ the Son, through the Holy Spirit, to the father, then to the mother, then to the children. Notice, there's nothing cultural there or pertaining to time. I am a type of Christ, Susan is a type of the Church. When you get the 2 together you get fruit, our son and daughter. So the family is a microcosm and you can see why Satan's primary target would be destroying that picture and perverting sex.

So, this is where the role of a false gospel comes in. If people are not presented with a Gospel where by they die to sin, their hearts being circumcised, and come up from the waters of baptism in to a new Way of life lived through and by the Holy Spirit (the sons of God are those who are being led by the Spirit of God) whereby Jesus becomes Head over all things for the believer and their bodies a living sacrifice THAT THEY DO NOT DO THEIR OWN WILL WITH.... the chain is broken, the enemy comes in and everything falls apart, as we see it progressing today. Susan has freely admitted that if I wasn't submitted to Jesus Christ, she wouldn't be able to submit to me. But not even that attitude is not permitted in God's Word. But I am a part of the Bride of Christ. I have a Husband. "Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him lord." Well, as a man, I spiritually, concretely have the same relationship with Jesus. But how many Christian men do?? So women's lib enters the home, it is not a depiction of Jesus and the Church, the divorce rate is the same as the world, and the world responds, "Their religion isn't true" and Jesus and the Bible get trashed.

Women's lib was a sea spilled from a cup that the world didn't spill. "Lord give us Esther and please cause this Gospel of the Kingdom to be proclaimed in the earth." Thank God He is the God of the impossible because this is a pretty bleak looking situation.