Archive for the ‘disciples life’ Category

Ready for Full-time Ministry?

Posted: June 4, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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You are ready for full-time ministry when:

You no longer need human applause

You don’t need anyone to give you an assignment

You don’t need a plan

You don’t need a building, a congregation or an endorsement

When you no longer are looking for some Great work to do

When the only thing that fully satisfies your heart is your prayer,
your worship, your ministry unto the Lord.

When you are satisfied with feeding Christ.

When you have giving yourself completely and your focus is on this one thing – My calling on this earth first of all is to be a minister unto Him.

In studying Ezek 44 – it is scary to see how many “ministers” in our day fall far outside the guidelines of the Zadok priesthood and are nothing more than either thieves or hirelings.

I can remember the day the Lord spoke to my heart as I was thinking about Full-time ministry. I had just spent the day servicing customers homes and during that time prayed with one lady who had cancer. At another home I shared the Lord with a Jehovah witness and shared how much Jesus means to me with a few other customers. As the thoughts of “Full-time” ministry were running thru my mind Holy Spirit played my day back to me and the Lord said – this is truly fulltime ministry in My Kingdom. Out of your heart you shared Me with others and expected nothing in return. You gave Glory to My name and served others freely with no mention or seeking of glory for your own.

Then I realized the “fantasy” of Full-time ministry that has been painted by the TV evangelist and many in the position of “paid clergy” today falls in the category of the priest spoken of at the start of Ezek 44. They are pleasing to man and to themselves but they are far from pleasing to the Lord.

Each one of us is giving the opportunity of “Full-time” ministry daily – the question is are you willing to accept the applause of Heaven over that of men or are you simply seeking to make your name known through out the land?

A radical Christian chooses the high road of excellence, as taught by Paul – that though one might have a right to receive support for ministering the gospel that they rather than being a hireling work with their own hands lest they become a burden upon the church!

As for me and my House – we simply want to serve the Lord – to minister unto Him – put a smile on His face and be a blessing to the Kingdom, bringing glory to His Name.

Forsake not the poor!

Posted: June 3, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching
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“After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings.” (Acts 24:17), “All they asked was that I should remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do”. (Gal 2:10)

It appears that the ministry to the poor was an important part of the early church as they lived out the teaching of Christ our Lord. Some have endeavored to say that these passages imply only to the Jews in Judah, and one could surely use this example as an excuse not to feed the poor, yet the admonishment of the Master to minister unto the poor erases this conclusion. The heart of the Father is that all would receive His Salvation and one of the ways we have in which to do so is to reach out to the needy that they may taste of the Fathers mercy through over service.

As we study the history of the church we find that there have been many times in which Christians have had to defend their church’s responsibility to care for the poor. Sadly I believe that we are living in such a time right now, a time in which Christians have become polarized on issues and otherwise strong evangelical churches are afraid to take stands in areas that the Bible makes clear are of great interest to our God.

Many have believed the lie that it is the liberals who are concerned about the poor and that we conservatives have been given the higher calling of evangelizing the lost world. To be sure, many a liberal has fallen prey to the trap that neglects evangelism almost entirely. But we have no Biblical excuse for neglecting the physical needs of the poor and solely evangelizing them. To be Biblical is to be concerned about both the physical and the spiritual realm at the same time.

A true student of the Word clearly sees that the Bible itself leaves no doubt about what the people of God should think and do in regards to the poor;

“thou shall open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in the land.” (Deut 15:11b)

“blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.” (Ps 41:1)

“he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.” (Prov 19:17)

And we go on to see this aspect of the Fathers heart being lived out and taught by His Son as we see Jesus eager to see ministry to the poor continue. In Matt 25 as Jesus foretells the separating of the sheep from the goats, the sheep are characterized as those who did something about the plight of the stranger, the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, the poorly clothed, and the person in prison. In Luke 16 Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and Jesus makes it very clear that the rich man is in Hell for his unbelief characterized by his lack of urgency in helping Lazarus the transient in his midst.

We also can conclude that the leaders of the early church were very adamant about ministry to the poor. The apostle James was very upset in his letter about favoritism being shown to the rich. When Paul met with the leaders of the church in Jerusalem he tells us, “only they would that we should remember the poor, the same thing which I also was eager to do (Gal.2:10).” Interestingly, Hebrews 13:1 tells us that if we minister to strangers, we may very well have met an angel without knowing about it!

Unfortunately ministry to the poor, especially those living on the streets is not easy work! There are always concerns about safety. Some have mental problems and in addition to being hard to communicate with they also can be violent. We have all heard stories of good samaritans who have lost their lives simply because they cared enough to help somebody.

Now, the church needs a plan. Instead of expecting the pastor to display Solomon like wisdom and mother Teresa like care every time a person in need stops by, there should be thoughtful reflection given to the conditions under which the church should help (wisdom and discernment). There should also be a designated fund set up which the pastor can use to help people with. Otherwise the good-hearted pastor will go broke doing what he believes to be his Christian duty.

As well, it may be helpful to separate in-church assistance from out of church assistance. From time to time there may be members who need care and the church is in a place to take an offering for a car, or groceries or for whatever. At times like this when members of the church have a need the church should not just pray for the need, the church should meet the need. One of the outcomes of this will be the strengthening of the body. Out of church assistance, however, and by that I mean ministry to those in need such as the homeless, should have as its goals compassionate assistance and evangelism. The gospel should be shared!

Again, there are always those who will come up with a number of scenarios in regard to the safety of the “church” and “its members”. To this I believe that as we walk in the wisdom of the Lord, seeking Holy Spirit guidance and realize that the Lord is our shield and our protector we will willingly and obediently sacrifice our time and energy with the understanding that we are living out, as did our Lord, the Fathers desire that the world may not merely hear about His love and compassion but that they would, through our lives, experience it as well.

For indeed we serve an Awesome God!



God’s commands runs counter to prevailing opinion

Posted: June 2, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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When the Israelites saw they were in trouble because the army was hard-pressed, they hid in caves, in thorny thickets, among rocks, in pits, and in cisterns. Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan River into the territory of Gad and Gilead. But Saul remained in Gilgal, and all the people who followed him trembled in fear.

He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel. But Samuel had not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to scatter. Then Saul said, “Bring me the animals for the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” So he sacrificed the burnt offering.

As he finished sacrificing the burnt offering, Samuel came, and Saul went to greet him.
Samuel asked, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “I saw the troops were scattering. You didn’t come when you said you would, and the Philistines were assembling at Michmash. So I thought, ‘Now, the Philistines will come against me at Gilgal, but I haven’t sought the LORD’S favor.’ I felt pressured into sacrificing the burnt offering.”

“You did a foolish thing,” Samuel told Saul. “You didn’t follow the command of the LORD your God. If you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel permanently. But now your kingdom will not last. The LORD has searched for a man after his own heart. The LORD has appointed him as ruler of his people, because you didn’t follow the command of the LORD.” (1 Sam 13:6-14 GWT)

I Samuel 13:1-15 recounts the story of an act of presumption by another well-known figure, containing another valuable lesson for us. Saul arranged with the prophet Samuel to perform sacrifices in an appeal to God to intervene before Israel went into battle with the invading Philistines. Saul’s sin was in presumptuously stepping in to perform Samuel’s responsibilities when the prophet arrived later than the appointed time. Saul gave Samuel three justifications for his presumption: 1) The people were growing distressed and deserting him; 2) Samuel’s late arrival; and 3) the growing threat of the Philistine army (verse 11).

On the surface, it appeared Saul and the Israelites were indeed in a difficult situation, yet Saul’s reasons did not justify presuming to disobey what was commanded. He should have waited for Samuel to arrive and perform his responsibility. Saul, a Benjamite, could request a sacrifice be made and provide the animal for it, but he was not authorized by God to perform the sacrificial ceremony. Samuel was merely later than both he and Saul thought he would be.

Saul excused himself further by saying he “felt compelled.” The King James Version records that Saul said, “I forced myself.” This suggests that he was not ignorant of what he was doing but convinced himself it was more important to make the sacrifice than to obey God’s instruction. He was immediately stripped of the opportunity of having his dynasty continue forever (verses 12-13), as God later promised David.

Many circumstances arise in a Christian’s life when following God’s commands runs counter to prevailing opinion and to our own fears about the threatening conditions we imagine are building around us if we obey God. Strong thoughts are then likely to mount, urging us to turn aside from what He says—”just this once”—to relieve the swelling pressures.

As our own children do not always understand what we tell them to do, we cannot always see why God tells us to do this or that. But can we trust God that His reasons are good? For instance, He tells us to set aside three tithes and to travel to far places to keep His feasts. He commands us to love our enemies and do good to them. He asks us to become like little children and to sacrifice ourselves in service when we would rather give orders. He tells us to submit ourselves to one another in love and to be subject to corrupt and unjust governments. Keeping these instructions is sometimes far easier said than done. Can we see God in the picture even in difficult circumstances and trust Him? In this case, Saul did not.

When faced with such circumstances we must muster up our faith – even if it means running to the prayer closest to be refreshed – for our strength is found in our obedience to the Father and all that He commands of us – even if we can not understand the “why’ we must be anchored in the faith of knowing our Father has our best interest in mind.

We one truly run’s to the alter of the Lord and falls on it, they are embraced with a radical love that they have never felt before – having that river of forgiveness, mercy and grace flowing over them. Then when they stand up, having been refreshed and spiritually renewed they can now go forth with the empowerment to walk a radical Christian life.

All Glory, honor and praise to the Lord God Most High!!!

STANDING ON THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD !!!

Posted: June 1, 2011 in disciples life, teaching
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You are either with God or you are with the devil. The decision you are making concerning spiritual things will effect you now in this life and in the life to come. BE CAREFUL WITH THE DECISIONS YOU ARE MAKING.

Say NO to the devil. When you say NO, that’s all he can do. BE SURE YOU QUOTE THE WORD OF GOD TO him. Then begin to PRAISE & WORSHIP God. This will cause confusion to come on the enemy. REMEMBER YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR IN CHRIST JESUS !!! Having done all to stand then stand.

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH !!! Have you ever had a midnight hour? What did you do? Acts 16:25 & 26 tells us that Paul & Silas prayed and sang praises unto God in their midnight hour. What song did you sing? When you learn to pray and sing in your midnight hour, you will discover that GRACE will start to work on your behalf. Just like Paul and Silas, you will see your prison doors open!!! Not only will the doors open, but the bands will be loosed. You will be set FREE!!! PRAISE THE NAME OF JESUS!!!

KEEP THE WORD OF GOD IN YOUR HEART AND IN YOUR MOUTH. If you don’t want, what you hear yourself saying, don’t plant the seed by speaking it. GUARD your mouth. God honors His word. If you want God to honor your words, you will have to start speaking His word over yourself.

The Spirit of God has been sent to:

1. Draw you to Jesus.

2. Redeem you by the Blood of the Lamb.

3. Fill you & empower you for service.

4. Prepare you and make you ready to meet God face to face!

5. Make you ready for Heaven.

LEARN TO COOPERATE WITH GOD

In order for you to be able to cooperate with God, you will have to become a person of the Word. ARE YOU READING YOUR BIBLE? ARE YOU PRAYING? DO YOU OBEY THE PROMPTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT? If you are, GOOD. If not, START TODAY!!!

When we study together the truths of God and His Word, don’t we have fun?

__________YES or __________NO ?

God has saved us for a purpose! We are not saved just to struggle and try to hold on until the grave or the rapture. When Jesus appears we are to be working for the Kingdom and occupying till He comes. We are called to invade the enemies influence. Are you being used by God to make a difference or are you standing by and watching the devil have his way?

Use God’s Word. Speak the Word out loud boldly. Don’t give the devil room to operate. The devil has been coming against us long enough. Let’s start standing on the Word with the whole armor of God on and fight the good fight of faith. Let’s PRAISE the GOD who is EL SHADDAI – the One who is more than enough!!!

In the book of Judges chapter 6, God talks to Gideon. He tells Gideon to go and save Israel. Gideon is like us, full of excuses. The family is poor, he was the least in the family, he was afraid and so forth. God did not except Gideon’s excuses. God gave Gideon a word. We need to get before God, until we get a word from Him!!!

Let’s get tired of just reading how someone in the past did a great work for God. Let’s start seeking God with our whole heart and discover what we can do for Him. I want to do something for God. Do you? It’s time we rise up and start to accomplish the will of God for our own lives. WE MUST shake ourselves out of the slump we are in and stand tall for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is here to help us do and find the perfect will of God.

God knows where we are spiritually. The devil also knows where you are spiritually. Do you know where you are spiritually? Find your place. Know where you are, not where you think you are. You can’t fool God or the devil. So don’t fool yourself. If you are not reading your Bible and Praying you are not where you should be with God. Some where down the road, you will come face to face with where you really are and if you are not in the Word of God, you will be in BIG trouble. Do you want to win? Then prepare yourself. Be ready for battle.

The Lord will test your obedience. He will not tempt you, but He will test you. He will give you something to do and then watch to see if you will follow instructions. When we learn to obey, it will bring victory and blessings.

God wants to anoint you. The anointing is for ministry. The anointing is for service not for show. The anointing is important, but the most important thing in your life is your relationship with God. We need the anointing, but we also need to be strong in our inner man. We need to be strong for ourselves and for others. Our lives affect many. We need to be strong. The only way we can be strong and stay strong is to be committed to the Word of God. Are you committed?

HOW TO BUILD THE HUMAN SPIRIT

James 1:12-15

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.”

(NAS) “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial.”

Enduring and persevering speak to us about going through and coming out victorious. The Lord does not want us to run from what we have to deal with. What makes you strong is what you do in your crises. Do you use the Word and pray, or cry and worry and make bad confessions?

You build your spirit by:

1. Staying in the Word of God

2. Praying fervently

3. Surrendering everything to God

4. Keeping correct associations

If we stay in the Word, we will bear fruit. The Word has life and power. It is a living Word. When you begin to apply the Word to your personal life, you will begin to see a change in yourself. You will notice the change. You will see your own desires will change. You will begin to want to be like Jesus and you will want to do the will of God.

IF YOU WANT TO WALK AND LIVE IN VICTORY, YOU MUST SURRENDER ALL OF YOU TO GOD. UNSURRENDERED AREAS IN YOUR LIFE BLOCK THE FLOW OF HIS POWER AND MAKE YOU UNFRUITFUL.

IT IS MY PRAYER THAT YOU HAVE BEEN Challenged TODAY. We are in this thing together. We must be faithful to God all the time.

Written by Shirley Oliver

The truth will cost you everything – “Are you prepared”?

Posted: May 30, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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“Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple“. ~Yeshua

If speaking words of truth will cause you to be ostracized are you willing to speak them? Or is it more important to have everyone like you and you’re only willing to speak the appeasing word that tickle the ears of your listeners?

This is the question the Lord has asked us all – are you willing to count the cost for truth? When I see the men like the David Wilkerson, a faithful watchman who blazed the trail before me, I can but say “Yes Lord – whatever the cost – I will be faithful to that which you have entrusted me to speak”.

For that which I speak friends, has already shaken my spirit – it has already pricked my heart and motivates me to change to be more like Jesus. Under the conviction of Holy Spirit and having already felt the fire of God’s Word in my own life, that fire that purges away the worthless and transforms us into His image, these things do I write.

Who in their right mind would venture on a journey that could cost you everything, not first counting the cost? I believe many today are in it for the glory, for the name and for the fun of it. Few have actually sat down and counted the cost.

Many have been given a watered down and useless gospel – useless for it contains not the whole truth, rather it is coated with sugar – easy on the ear’s – thus they are following a god, who they picture as a sugar daddy – and when it doesn’t happen the way they believe it should they fall away.

What if speaking a word cost you your job, your family your life, would you still speak it?

Many say yes, till the challenge to do so presents itself, then they cower from the opportunity before them. Or they allow a fruitless, worthless thought to come into their mind,taken root, causing destruction and obstruction of truth and they fail to take it captive to the mind of Christ. A thought Like”Jesus would never ask or expect me to say or do that! Really, have you read and listened to what the Master has said?

One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.

“Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’

“Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can’t, won’t he send an emissary and work out a truce?

“Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-33 Message)

Yet so many seek to be the popular one, many leaders seek to promote the ones who relate to a certain group of people, even though they are but mechanical robots promoting the doctrines of this world. How many pastors would let John the Baptist stand and preach today? How many pastors would let the real Jeremiah rip off a rebuke to the crowd? Not many because they would be fearful that their precious source of income and support for their empires would run away.

Over the past 2 years God has been burning my heart and purging the cowardice spirit out of me, to the point that I can not but speak that which the Father speaks to me.

Is every word I speak or write (which is in reality speaking) of God. Nope, have not reached that point yet and more than likely never will,that place was reserved for the Lord. And I might speak something from my own heart – yet what I do speak is with a deep conviction – and the closer I get to the Lord, the deeper conviction falls upon me.

Notice I said conviction and not condemnation – for there are enough “Christians” out there attempting to condemn everything and everyone out of hell – we can not win the battle in the flesh friends – only through spiritual weapon given and imparted to us from the Lord.

My question today to each one of you is:

.Have you counted the cost? Or are you running on reserve, ready to retreat when the going gets tough?

Looking back at Luke 14:33, we receive the answer from the Lord to one who decides to retreat:

“Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple”.

As for me, I have counted the cost and anything less than hearing the Master proclaim “Well done good and faithful servant, you have lived, loved and spoken as I have commanded you” is not worth anything this world has to offer.

The highest call is that of servant!

IHS,
Russ Welch

(Re-posted & edited from Russ G Welch FaceBook page Originally posted on April 3, 2010)

Let not the new wine be diluted!

Posted: May 29, 2011 in disciples life, teaching, wilderness
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Mat 9:17 Nor do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, people pour new wine into fresh skins, and both are saved.”

The signs are clear to the truth that we are in the these days now and we can see where the Lord has started the process of pouring out His wine into new wine skins, for many over the past 50 years have mis-handled His wine, they have diluted it with the things of this world. Yet we do serve a God of Mercy, who will look upon once again with favor those whom turn, repent and ask for His forgiveness:

Remember how far you have fallen. Return to me and change the way you think and act, and do what you did at first. I will come to you and take your lamp stand from its place if you don’t change.(Rev 2:5)

We must understand that God the Father wants us to change, He in His Mercy has dealt with the western church as a father deals with an infant, after all we are but a few hundred years old. But we are now in the era that we should have matured into sons & daughters of righteousness rather than un -matured squabbling babies.

There are many “churches” which had the revelation of this truth, of how far the main stream has walked away for the Pure Gospel, to one that is diluted with the philosophies of men and is in actuality not the Gospel at all. I say that because much of the “church” has gotten to where they have the desire and ability to make the people worship them, like the sons of Eli, they have lead the Bride from the heart of the Father, to become addicted to the emotional services, to become addicted to the “ministry” of the House rather than to the place of complete surrender to the King, Jesus Christ. With a luring of hype and emotionalism they have betrayed the very One whom they are supposed to be serving.

We see that it was with regret that those, who once saw this truth and having broken away from the traditions of religion haven’t not completely washed off the religious traditions after a period of time they merely become a smaller model of the larger harlots.

The Bride of Christ must come forth and shed herself of the ways of the world, remove the garments of bondage. To those who do the Lord has promised many rewards for being the victorious Bride:

“Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life, which stands in the paradise of God, to everyone who wins the victory.(Rev 2:7)

Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Everyone who wins the victory will never be hurt by the second death. (Rev 2:11)

Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give some of the hidden manna to everyone who wins the victory. I will also give each person a white stone with a new name written on it, a name that is known only to the person who receives it. (Rev 2:17)

A word of caution to those who have received the revelation of who the Bride is, to come out and walk in holiness, shedding the ways of the old wine skin, not to look back and conform to that which the Lord has called you from. We must take a stand of no compromise, holding onto the glorious truth, being a broken vessel like that of the alabaster box, for you are precious, purchased with a great price, you must remain pure, unadulterated. (Matt 26:7)

We must be a people who stand in the gap for those trapped in the old, we have been giving the keys to freedom and walking in the position of true sons & daughters of the Most High, to be the lamp stands of His glory and be the very torches of holiness that light up the entrance into His Kingdom.

For the desire of the Father is that non should perish rather that all are saved.

Torches that have been dipped in the oils of His holiness, rapped in His righteousness and lite by the fires of His love and compassion for His church which John saw inn His eyes (Rev 1:14).

The radical disciples desire only to see the will of the Father done – their lives have been placed upon the Alter – the old wine skin has been removed and once removed the New Wine skin is being filled.

Are you radical enough today that there is no dilution in the wine that the Father is pouring out – have you forsaken the Old and with hungry hearts have fallen face first on the alter crying out to the Father, as did Isaiah, use me!

Friends we are in radical times and it will take radical individuals who count not their own lives even unto death that the lost and dying should see the glory of the Father!

Are you a radical?

If you are, then you shall produce radical fruit – larger because it is receiving from the True true!

(Re-posted in modified form via Russ G Welch Facebook originally posted 04-27-10)

Does the world recognize its own reflection in your life!

Posted: May 28, 2011 in disciples life, teaching
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Have you suffered so many things {and} experienced so much all for nothing (to no purpose)–if it really is to no purpose {and} in vain? (Gal 3:4 amp)

There were a number of accepted belief systems in Palestine and the greater Roman Empire at the time this was written, such as Gnosticism and Judaism, but it is certain that God’s truth was never popular or widely accepted. It is practically a foregone conclusion that someone practicing the truth will be persecuted for it to one degree or another (Matthew 13:21; Romans 8:35-36; Galatians 5:11; II Timothy 3:12; I Peter 2:19-21).

In fact, the churches of Galatia may have been forewarned about this by Paul when he was teaching in Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch (all on the south-eastern border of Galatia) as recorded in Acts 14:20-22. Christians are called to be separate from this world and its ways, and when the world recognizes this difference, it lashes out.

From Paul’s writing, it seems that the Galatians had the proper foundation at one time, and they really did understand the truth at the beginning of their spiritual lives.

This would have been the time when they were actively standing up for the truth, and a great contrast would have been evident between the Galatians and the general population. This is when they would have suffered—in the internal struggle of having to give up their former conduct, or with the external struggle of not fitting in with the rest of society.

As the Galatians began to slide into apostasy, they would no longer have been so repulsive to the people around them, and the suffering and persecution would have begun to lessen—the world would have started to recognize itself in them again (John 15:19).

In essence, Paul is asking them if they are just going to throw away all that they had learned—especially what they had learned through adversity. With this question he is pointing out that, if they fall away, everything they had been through, both good and bad, would have been in vain in the sense that there would be no future profit from it.

They would have received the maximum benefit from it already. This relates to Romans 8:28, where we are promised that all that we suffer will be redeemed for those who meet the requirements listed—those who are called according to His purpose, which the Galatians ostensibly were, and those who love God, which the Galatians were not doing in that they were relegating Christ’s sacrifice for sin as meaningless.

The question we have to ask about our selves and our church today is “Does the world see more of itself in us, they we are seen in the world”? Now, the tough part if one really wants the truth is to ask Holy Ghost to do the search. I think many will be shocked at just how much leaven Holy Ghost point’s out – then comes the question are you willing to have it removed?

We can play church all we want, but if we believe we can play church and live as the world does and that the stench of the world will not be pick up in the Kingdom, we are only fooling ourselves. There are going to be no prostitutes (spiritually speaking) marrying the Fathers Son – Only those who are loyal to the Groom shall become the Bride – where is you loyalty today!!!

“The only way to live a life with no compromise is to live as one who has been broken. Our fleshly man has no control what so ever and our inner man ( spirit) has been fully captured in the marriage of our spirit with that of the Gods Spirit within, together acting as one with no battle of will”.~RGW

Grace to increase in faith!

Posted: May 28, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching
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Because of this, make every effort to add integrity to your faith; and to integrity add knowledge; to knowledge add self-control; to self-control add endurance; to endurance add godliness; to godliness add Christian affection; and to Christian affection add love. If you have these qualities and they are increasing, it demonstrates that your knowledge about our Lord Jesus Christ is living and productive. If these qualities aren’t present in your life, you’re shortsighted and have forgotten that you were cleansed from your past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, use more effort to make God’s calling and choosing of you secure. If you keep doing this, you will never fall away. (2Peter 1:5-10)

Praise God, as we find that this passage builds on the implication of grace, that is, the gifts of God alluded to in the previous verses. Grace both enables or empowers us and makes demands on us by putting us under obligation. Titus 2:11-12 tells us that the grace of God teaches us that “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly.” Receiving the grace of God puts us under obligation to respond.

We find here that Peter is teaching that the grace of God demands diligence or effort. Verse 5 reads, “giving all diligence [effort].” In addition, it is helpful to understand that Peter is saying in the word translated as “add” that we are to bring this diligence, this effort, alongside or in cooperation with what God has already given. God freely extends His grace, but it obligates us to respond. We are then to do our part in cooperating with what He has given to us—and He inspired Peter to tell us to do it diligently and with a great deal of effort.

Messengers of the Lord almost constantly speak of growth. Yet, notice where Peter begins his list of traits we are to become fruitful in: He writes, “Add to your faith.” “Add” is woefully mistranslated into the English. Yes, it can mean “add,” but it is actually much more expansive than that. “Generously supplement” is a more literally correct rendering, which brings it into harmony with “diligence.” In other words, make great effort to supplement your faith generously.

The Apostle Peter sees faith as the starting point for all the other qualities or attributes. He does not mean to imply in any way that faith is elementary, but rather that it is fundamental or foundational—that the other things will not exist as aspects of godliness without faith undergirding them. In the Greek, it is written as though each one of these qualities flows from the previous ones. We could also say that faith is like the central or dominant theme in a symphony, and the other qualities amplify or embellish it.

How much and what we accomplish is dependent on the place from which we begin. Peter is showing us that there is a divine order for growth, and it begins with faith.

Friends, I pray that you each let your faith grow and increase today – Ask our Father in heaven to increase your faith – spend time in the Word and build yourselves up – remind yourself daily of the good things God has done in your own life – testimonies even when spoken unto yourself increase and builds up faith!!

A radical Christian living a life of radical Christianity is one who walks empowered by Grace to fulfill all that Father has set before them, having great faith in the knowledge that Holy Ghost will provide every provision necessary to full-fill the task at hand!

Are you radical enough in your faith to cry out and let His Grace supply all your needs today? For there are sick to be healed, blind eyes and deaf ears to be opened, imprisoned and oppressed to be liberated, dead to be raised – both in Spirit and in the physical.

The Highest rank is that of servant!

IHS,
Russ Welch

Be not deceived – Know the true Christ!

Posted: May 27, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature]. And you [a]are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power]. (Col 2:9-10 AMP)

A true disciple of Christ will recognize through discernment that at every turn, we are faced with those living the life of a false disciple right in the midst of the fellowship. And the goal of the spirit which is ruling their lives is to twist the nature of Christ. Some false disciples in Paul’s day and right here in ours believe that Jesus was a man, but that Christ entered into Jesus when He was baptized and left Him right before He died.

We find many false doctrines in the world and church today are empowering modern day deceived false disciples who believe that Jesus did not really die—because, after all, if He died, then He was not really God. Many who have been indoctrinated in the false teachings believe that He could not have been perfect and sinless because He created matter, which false disciples, following the thinking of Gnosticism believe to be evil. And there were those in Paul’s day who believed that Jesus Christ was a created being—an idea that is still affecting the fringes of the church of God today.

The point is if we really want to counter false disciples deceptions and their doctrines in our day, we must begin with the truth of Jesus Christ. Paul emphasizes this in verses 9-10: Jesus was the fullness of the divine nature in bodily form, and He is the head, the leader, the sovereign, of every principality and power. Though the false disciples in their various views always twist or deny some aspect of the nature and role of Jesus Christ, these truths brought out by the apostle are bedrock beliefs for true Christians.

We must be anchored in the Word friends, for the true, Holy Ghost taught knowledge of the Word is foundational to countering false doctrines is the truth that Jesus brought. To combat the false knowledge that threatens to plunder our spiritual riches, we must take the Bible as the complete and inspired Word of God, against which we can test any concept, tradition, doctrine, or philosophy, no matter how good it sounds on the surface.

When dealing with such, you will soon learn that these false disciples will not readily accept the Bible as God’s inspired revelation, or if they do, they also hold to the belief that other ancient, secret writings are on par with Scripture, and can be trusted to provide greater insight.

Though the Lord is still speaking to His people today, we need to be very cautious that we do not allow prophecy to over rule the Holy Word. Many in our day are chasing after a new word, and spend little time listening to what the Father has to say in His Word, which is a scale for which we are to use to weigh all things, that we are not being deceived!

We must put on the whole armor of God, I personal tremble at the thought of how foolish I have been in the past to not take advantage of this armor in my own life – But by the Grace of the Holy Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through the guarding of my mind by the infilling of Holy Ghost in my life – there has always been that red flags popping up in my spirit when things contrary to the Ways of the Lord. Much of this I believe is because of the faithful prayers of my mother and many others that the Lord would guard my mind – let us never forsake to power of the prayer of a righteous servant of the Lord – know that the Father hears of prayers!

In the hour we live we must be radical Christians whose eyes turn not from the Lord Jesus Christ, from His Word, and we radically keep our ears tuned into Heaven!

We must be radical Christians in regard to our prayer time, that quality time when the Father shares His heart with us!

We must be radical Christians in regard to the testing of the spirit’s and friends we are called to judge the fruits!

Take for example Acts 16:16-18, here we find Paul and Silas were being followed by a slave girl who predicted the future. When Paul turned and commanded an evil spirit to come out of her, was he judging her? No, he was judging the fruit in her life. He was able to discern that while she did speak the truth about them, saying that they were servants of the Most High God, it was actually the spirit in her that was speaking, seeking attention for itself.

Here again we find another example in Matthew 14:3-12 , in this passage we read how John the Baptist spoke out and told Herod that it was wrong for him to have his brother’s wife. Was John judging Herod when he spoke this? No, he was preaching the uncompromising truth of God’s Word. Obviously, it infuriated Herod because he had John arrested, and later consented to have him beheaded.

Let us do away with the watered down gospel which creates frail, weak Christians and instead let us not walk ourselves in our own strength rather, but in in the power of His Spirit – let us as well train up disciples who are brave and compelled to live in the Ways of Christ, who cower not in the face of the enemy, no matter what persecutions he throws our way!

Friends I truly believe that we are living in the last days, the final chapter of Act’s is being lived out right before us. Because of that, Jesus told us that the love of many will wax cold. (Matt 24:12) People will want to hear only preaching that will tickle their itching ears. (2 Tim 4:3) While it may be easier to just keep our mouth shut and refuse to speak the truth of God’s Word, I want to encourage you right here today to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

Keep running the race He has marked out for you. Even in the midst of persecution, know that your Father in heaven is closely watching you, and He is pleased when you stand up for righteousness, walking in the power and authority of His Son, Yeshua. (Heb 12:1-2)

“The highest calling is that of servant-hood”
IHS,
Russ ‘Rush’ Welch

You Can Live Sin Free

Posted: May 26, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching
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The only real freedom is in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you’ve been born again, the old man inside you, the one that had been held captive by the devil and made a slave to sin, has died. The power of sin over you has been broken forever!

“[Your] old man is crucified with [Christ],” Romans 6:6 says, “that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth [you] should not serve sin” (KJV). And not only are you free from sin, but if you’ll walk in the righteousness Jesus has given you, you’ll rule over it.

In the kingdom of God, righteousness is the scepter (see Heb. 1:8). It’s what gives you authority. It is imputed to you the moment you’re born again, and it makes you victorious over the world, the flesh, the devil and every enemy that comes against you.

That’s why the devil will do anything to get you to lay righteousness down. He’ll do anything to convince you that you’re still under the bondage of sin.

He’ll tell you that it’s just not normal for a human being to live above sin. “Oh, everybody sins,” he’ll whisper. “After all, you’re only human.”

No, you’re not! You’re a reborn child of almighty God. You have God Himself inside you. Even though it’s normal for natural men to sin, it’s not normal for you.

I’ll tell you why the devil tries so hard to convince you that you’re still subject to sin. It’s the only way he can keep you under his control.

He’s not afraid of people (even believers) who are living in sin. But he shudders when a man or woman starts living day by day in obedient union with the Lord. When that kind of person speaks to the devil, he runs (see James 4:7).

Freedom from sin is the whole basis of the great salvation God has given us. “Salvation” is a very big word. It includes much more than going to heaven and missing hell. What it actually means is “health, wholeness, deliverance, well-being, safety and soundness.”

But without freedom from sin, we wouldn’t have any of those things. Sickness, poverty, death—all the curses of sin—would still be in force. It’s only because God has broken the power of sin over us that we can walk free.

If you’re shaking your head thinking: I don’t feel very free. It seems as if the devil still has his hooks in me and I don’t know how to get loose, listen to me. You are loose.

The Word says: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:8-11, NKJV).

When this Scripture comes alive in you, you can lay down any sin and never go back to it again. Let the truth of it sink into your heart. Sin has lost its grip on you. It can’t come back unless you decide to let it come back.

Look at what Ephesians 2:5 says about you: “Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him]” (The Amplified Bible).

You’ve already experienced the greatest resurrection of all. You experienced it the day you were born again. That’s when you passed from death to life. That’s when sin and death lost their hold over you—the day the old man died and the new man came to life.

So if you’ve been living beneath your privileges, it’s time to pick up your scepter of righteousness and shake it in the devil’s face. It’s time to kick sin out of your life and start living free.
by Gloria Copeland

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