How to treat our Spiritual Father by Pastor Don Moore

1 Corinthians 4:14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.

Fathers warn you.

1 Corinthians 4:15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Teacher/tutor

1 Corinthians 14:16-21 Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

There was an apostle on the inside looking at the way things really are.  He was a true spiritual father, and not just a teacher, instructor, or giving information. 

What if Pastor Don did not tell us the truth, not tell us what the Word of God really says?

How do we treat our spiritual father?

There are a whole lot of people who can teach you stuff, but that does not make you their child.  Your spiritual father is chosen to give you a wake up call, and so that you can imitate him and learn so that you can grow closer.  You may have your spiritual father 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, or 50 years.  You don't just listen to what your spiritual father says, but you imitate his life. Model yourself after him. 

Your spiritual father will make your life part of his prayer life.  He will visit you in the hospital, help you with your life issues, and will give you guidance. Your spiritual father does not just show up and preach the word and go home.  For some pastors, prayer for their congregation is not an integral part of their life. 

As Kenneth Hagin says, some do not have enough faith.  That if faith was dynamite, they would not have enough faith to blow their nose. 

Some can give information and knowledge, but they become puffed up.  If a pastor tells you something that is not supported in the Word, then you have to choose whom to believe.  Some move from one church to another and share what they learned at the first church, becoming puffed up with information.  At least tell your new church where you got your information and have the courtesy to tell Pastor that you are leaving your former church.

God works in your life through spiritual fathers, and you know that this is where I need to be planted, serve and raised up.  If the sheep are left out wandering they will get killed, the wolf, bear, and lion will eat some.

Your spiritual dad puts fresh meat (the Word) on the table.

We may watch TV personalities like Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, etc. and help support their ministries, but when you are down on your luck, when there is unlooked for trouble, when you need help they are not going to come to your house to help you.  You cannot go up to Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar or any other TV evangelist and share your troubles with them and have them spend time helping you sort out your life. 

We need to give respect to our spiritual dad. 

We belong to Jesus, but Pastor Don is our Shepherd.  Every 4 1/2 years the sheep wander off.  People move around - and when they do they move in and out of churches.  74% of church growth is just people moving around.  They will stay until the pastor stops feeding their flesh.  If you are not serving, just pew sitting, the pastor may not stroke your flesh, and then the person wanders to another shepherd's field.  People need to serve the pasture where they are being fed.

If they choose to wander off, that is ok too, but they should at least have the courtesy to go up to their pastor and say, "I'm wandering off."  (Heather's note, I have seen Pastor Don welcome back wandering sheep with love.)  When we are in our Pastor's fold, he will try to be a mega blessing to our lives.

If we go somewhere else and learn anything, we also have the responsibility to tell Pastor about it.  Share it with Pastor Don.   What if we have wandered off and picked up wrong theology or lies?  Or if there is something fantastic that we learn somewhere else, we can share it with our pastor and all the sheep are blessed.  Sometimes we can't recognize Biblical error until we fall or are dying in our faith. 

If you wander be sure that someone will tell Pastor Don that you are there.  If you are learning good things, share it with him.  Also, it is is not great if Pastor Don or your shepherd learns from another pastor that you are now at their church, instead of hearing it from you.

We are to imitate our pastor, see what he does, where he goes, how he lives, and begin to imitate him as you see how he walks with the Lord, and we can grow by imitating the good things that he does.

The problem that parents and pastors have is that while they treat their children the best that they can, they can never satisfy all of their needs.  If a father, in the role of father, has done his best for the child, but if the child has it in his head that the father has neglected or abandoned him (even if it is not true), there is nothing that a father can do about that perception. You can't treat all your kids the same.  If in the confines of their mind they are unsatisfiable, there is nothing you can do.

Some preachers never preach good enough for you, will never be there enough.

What is a father?

How can we find out? 

Pastor Don looked it up in the dictionary.  A father is a man in relationship to a child or children born from his fertilization of an ovum. 

God ordained fathers to penetrate into darkness and bring forth life.  The seed does not go in there and stay, but emerges out of darkness into the light.

Adam, because of his sin, was denied the ability to have his son be the Messiah, for he failed to act in the role of head of his family, and protect his wife from the wiles of satan.  In fact, when asked what happened, he blamed God - blamed the woman YOU gave me.  So instead of the seed of a man producing the Messiah, it became the seed of a woman.  God had to step in.

The next definition of father is a man who has continuous care of a child, especially by adoption.  Adoption is a willful decision to step into the life of a child and see him/her brought up under continuous care.   You have responsibility for the child.

There is no greater love than the love of the adoptive father who says, "I chose you."  God chose us for adoption.  Most men run from responsibility. 

America has permitted man to be cheated of their rights, rights to have a father or a husband in the life of the child.  People wonder whose am I?  Man needs to know whose is his. 

When a man steps into fill the role of the father/son relationship, it shows that a woman is not sufficient to her self.  We have a Heavenly Father and we need to belong to Him.  Our culture is forcing people to have bad father relationships, and it causes many to not believe in Him.  People change relationships like clothing.  We need to be interconnected.

In the 60's people were singing songs like "I am a rock, I am an island."  But songs like that are not the truth. 

The next definition of father is progenitor, forefather, originator, designer, person who deserves special respect. 

When dad speaks with purposeful design.  Pastor Don's son told us what his father often told him, "You are a Moore, you are made of the good stuff." The setting is part of the origin and design. We need to speak possibilities, what the child is good at.  Women are messed up if there is no designer (father) to speak possibilities into her life, planting the reality of how God designed her. 

Many parents call their children stupid, ignorant, never amount to anything, and that has more impact on their lives.

The fourth definition is Christian theologian who is regarded as special and authoritative, religious, first person of the trinity, spiritual theologian. 

The father is the spiritual head of the family.  Mother's can say, Let's ask Daddy." 

Establish writings or speak into existence.  Special authoritative possibilities or religious leader.  You have authority. 

Pastor Don has written a great book (which you can read at the following link) called Not Forsaken Healing the Father Wounds. These are for sale on In His Name Ministry site along with his other books, (two new).  You can also view teachings and learn about resources available.

I think that it is very important to treat our spiritual fathers with respect, for they have sowed much in our lives and have blessed us so much. 

Heather

How to get rid of ants and roaches by Pastor Don Moore

This is an interesting sermon, and it gave me much to think about.  Praying that this sermon blesses you.  If you don't want to watch the video, the transcript is below the video.  Remember what is in [brackets] is what the congregation said.  Have a blessed day.

Say Amen
SHOW 124
6/7/09
How to get rid of ants and roaches

Amen.  I want you to look in 1 Corinthians at just a couple of verses and then, from that we want to get into the Word here.  Alright?  Verse 6.  1 Corinthians, verse 6, Chapter 2.  Chapter 2, verse 6 "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 of our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  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..."  Come on, can you say, "He revealed it to us?"  [He revealed it to us.]  "...through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God."  The Lord add a blessing to the Word as we discuss this issue. 

I want you to just look up here.  I'm going to talk to you about some wisdom that the world has missed, in that God in creating everything, He gave Adam the responsibility of naming everything.  And Adam, as he named all the different animals, he may not have been aware of it but most of the animals that exist down here were created from images in God's mind of things that were in Heaven.  I think though that there is something else that we can learn concerning this, and that is that there's a lot that we can pick up by examining the behavioral traits and identifying the character and the nature of many of the animals that surround us.

We're blessed here because we live in the woods and all and we see more wildlife than most people.  But the different animals that we see have personalities and characteristics and things that they do that we can draw great information from.  I can remember very much, one time I was on an acid trip, which I don't recommend, but [laughter] on this particular, in this particular instance, as the psychedelic drug hit my mind, and we were at a party at the time, I wasn't expecting what happened.  All of a sudden, as my mind is being warped by the drug, as the drug is warping my mind, all of the people at this party took on animal characteristics.  I looked at certain people and I saw this person is an orangutan person, this person here is a horse person.  Oh, look at that, there's a rabbit person.  And whatever.  And, as a result of that, you know, it wasn't terrorizing, it was quite funny to realize that as we look at people, we can see that. 

How many of you have ever noticed that people that have dogs, for some reason, over the years, they begin to look like their dog?  [laughter]  Some cases, even act like their dog.  [laughter]  Which is very interesting to me why we pick certain dogs that we pick, not thinking that the dog is going to become a reflection of you or maybe you're a reflection of the dog.  You know, it's almost like picking a husband or a wife.  Moving right along.  [laughter, oh yeah]

But we look like animals. And we have, you know, there are gopher people, people that look like gophers.  And there are people that, have these different animal characteristics.  So, today, if you would.  I'm dead serious, but I think that it would be wise, since the wisdom of God is greater than the wisdom of man. God may be saying something to us that we can learn from animals and the insects in the world if we identify certain characteristics of them, we can take a look at mankind and identify certain characteristics and we can figure out how the animal world is tied to us, but more importantly, we can more clearly see ourselves.  God wants you to know how to identify yourself and see yourself.  Amen.  [amen]  And by doing that, you can improve. 

So today I want to talk to you about how do you get rid of ants and roaches.  [laughter]  Can you say that?  [How do you get rid of ants and roaches?]  Ants and roaches.  Now, I'm not talking about any of you.  You're no ants here, you're no ant people here.  There's no roach people here.  But I want to talk to you.  And for all of you druggies, the roach I'm talking about is not a marijuana cigarette butt.  I'm talking about the cockroach.  The little bug that crawls around. 

So, let's begin with the ant.  There's some things that we can learn from the ant and their nature and the way that they do.  The ant is a very interesting little insect.  It lives in complex societies.  These complex societies they call them colonies.  But the interesting thing is that the ants carry out their role, but they really don't have, as the book of Proverbs says, they march but they really don't have a commander.  But they all seem to work as a team and they know what they're doing.  There are only a few ants that fly.  But, watch this.  They only fly during mating season...

We can learn a lot about ants.  Let me finish the characteristics of and we'll go back over it.  So, they only fly during mating season.  They're industrious workers.  They wander a lot.  Ants are wanderers.  They go all over the place.  But as they go, they leave a spit trail.  It's not able, you can't see it with the human eye, but they leave a spit trail, not only so they can find where they've been, but they can also know how to get back from where they've gone.  And they leave these trails for other ants to find as well as for themselves.  They are described ant, they get antsy, get ants in your pants, because ants are fidgety, they're restless.  They'll eat anything dead or alive.  They will even participate in cannibalism.  They will eat another ant, or they will attack ants that are not from their colony and go to war with them.  They will participate in aggressive behavior when they're outside the colony. 

They are hard to kill.  If you've ever killed an ant they are strong.  They have very tough heads.  Crushing ants requires some real pressure that you have to apply, and they're very strong.  They are somewhere between eight and sometimes, it said in the books, sometimes as much as 50 times their own weight they can lift and carry and drag.  One time I saw a wasp that was 14 times the size of the ant and this little red ant was dragging this dead wasp very successfully.  But the other ants found his spit trail and then all of a sudden about an hour later, there were about 100 of these red ants carrying this big wasp.  So, that's the stuff on ants. 

Now let's take a look at the common American cockroach.  Ok?  He's built in a different way.  And his main thing about him that we don't like is that he's infesting.  He will overrun a large area.  He plants numerous eggs and he will plant his eggs in almost anything.  And he will multiply rapidly.  He's capable of carrying large amounts of germs that won't kill him but he'll carry them to different locations.  His favorite place is kitchens and bathrooms.  Likes to hang out there.  And it's during mating time that he lays these eggs all over the place and the interesting thing about him is he only comes out mostly at night.  He's a night creature.  He comes out at night and he tends to hide from he light.  He's easy to kill but he's hard to clean out and get rid of.  He's a great hider.  Finds tremendous places to hide.  And he can get through cracks, no matter how small cause he can squeeze his body down and get through something that's maybe only 1/16th of an inch thick.  He can get through that.  And he's very versatile.  He can...he can travel in almost anything you own.  [yeah]  He can travel. 

I can remember my wife and I, my aunt moved out of the area.  She moved to Virginia and she left us her furniture.   And at the time she lived in the South Bronx and we weren't thinking about this.  We're living in the country, we hadn't seen a roach you know in a long time.  One advantage of living in the country is you don't, you just don't see roaches.  And the reason you don't is because, you ready, if you do have a roach problem you really want to get horseshoe crickets.  The horseshoe cricket also hunts at night and he's very aggressive, or wolf spiders.  And you can put wolf spiders or horseshoe crickets in your house, under the cabinet and in a couple of weeks you can't find a roach.  They'll eat them.  But, if you don't have that, we found this couch she had given us, we didn't know it but we brought it into our house and there was some roaches in it.  And so one morning, I heard this coming out of the kitchen.  AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHAHAHHHA!!! [laughter] And I realized that my Ohio wife had just come in contact with a New York City roach [laughter]  and she was having a disgustingly frightening experience.  [laughter]  And so I went in and I says, I says, "Honey, turn out the light.  Turn out the light."  And she turned out the light.  And then they come out.  Only to find out that when we turned the light back on that we were truly, truly infested.  Because that's just the way that roaches are. 

Now...we've taken an overview of ants and roaches.  And by now, many of you have seen yourself already or neighbors or friends or enemies.  But let's start about.  Let's talk about the ant.  I want you to be thinking in terms of demonic activity.  Demonic activity sometimes comes with ant spirits.  There are ant spirits in the world.  And we can't blame everything on demons, because the reality is that in the human spirit are all of the things that demons need in order to do their work.  In other words, you would not be subject to certain demons unless it was already in your spirit.  [right]  You need a minute to think about that....Yessirree.  You can have a little bit of depression and a demonic spirit can pick that out and then therefore a demon of depression can come and then magnify the situation that was already present in your human spirit. You can have, you can have in your human spirit el stupido, [laughter].  By that I mean you can be just a stupid person. And the stupid demon will find you quickly.  Cause as you do stupid, he'll realize that you would be a perfect home for him, and will perpetuate stupidity. 

Many of us need to realize that we were raised by parents that were out of control.  And we'll get, we'll get really good if we just accept the fact that our parents were out of control and in our spirits is some of that same training.  Just shake your head, come on, because you know you're dysfunctional.  You know you came from a dysfunctional home with dysfunctional people in it and that's why you dysfunctional.  But, because of Jesus you're only sometimes dysfunctional.  Amen. [amen] 

So, in the ant's spirit, we're talking about people that have this spirit and all.  They live in complex social colonies.  We do that.  We have, you know, sometimes pastors get upset and worried about, well having cliques within the church.  That's a complex social group inside the church, to where people will gang up on another person with an ant spirit.  They will devour.  They will get together and gossip and they'll talk down somebody.  You know, they have an ant spirit.  Pastors are very concerned about that because a few, a few little cliques in the church, if they get loose can destroy a ministry. 

You know, if you have people that after church get...you know, I've been preaching a long time.  There's some people that have been around me fifteen, twenty years that have never once, never once said, "Pastor Don, that was a good sermon."  Or, "Pastor Don, that was a good revelation that you had."  Or, "Pastor Don, you know that was a good word."  Or, "I like the way you do anything."  I've had some people been around me 15 years, never told me I ever did anything right.  Well, what is that?  They are circulating inside a colony of negativity.  And so, in that colony, the thing is to tear down, not build up.  And so, when you have that colony that is complex, because they'll do it in sly, sneaky little ways, just like ants.  They'll just crawl around and leave a spit trail so that other people can follow them in their negativity.  Lord have mercy. 

Sometimes you can see it turn on certain members of the church.  You have a certain member that God is raising up, that all of a sudden you find that there is a spit trail leading to tear down that person when they're just really trying to go forward with God... Well, glory to God.  Amen.  Say, "amen" so I know it's not you.  [amen]  And so, we have these complex colonies that will do that.  They will leave a trail, you know they're fidgety, and restless, you know, they can't, they just don't, you don't belong to my group.  So, we don't associate, we don't talk, and that's why I put a sign out.  How many of you notice the new sign in front of the church?  Praise God!  We have some observant people.  I had that sign at my house.  It was in my house for years and I decided, you know, it'd reach more people if I put it in front of the church.  You can't come in the door of this church without reading it if you notice the flowers, you'll notice the sign that says, "Love spoken here."  [amen]  Love spoken here.  Because I want to make sure, I want to make sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that in our little ant colony that's the language we are going to speak.

It's going to be the language of love, it's going to be an inclusive language that is going to embrace everybody so that there is only one ant colony, but not divisions within the colony.  So that we're not going to, we're not, somebody says, "Pastor Don, how come you don't preach on racism?"  I don't have to.  I pastor a church that is multiracial and we all get along.  [amen]  If I was at a church that didn't get along, I'd have to minister on that.  I don't have to minister on that because we've got that covered.  [amen]  We've got that, come on praise God you all!  [amen]  He has given us a heart to love and embrace everybody.  We don't care whether you're rich or poor, or whatever your racial, we have realized in Christ Jesus there is no Jew, no Gentile, no Sabine, you know.  We have a problem with some of the people that come from Saugerties, but we accept them. [laughter]  We accept them...as, as beloved. 

And so, in the ant colony, this complex thing goes.  We have people that leave these trails.  Sometimes we have to be careful to listen to little comments that people say.  Sometimes they're just little sentences, that are spit trails.  And we have to learn to hear those, and say, wait a minute.  Wait a minute.  Wait a minute.   We don't receive that in our ant colony.  You know, we don't, we don't let's not do that.  You know, somebody takes you out to lunch and they start getting down on one of the sisters about the way she dresses.  You need to just say, "Wait a minute now.  She's only been saved a couple of months.  Let's give, let's cut her some slack.  She'll figure that out."  I said, "Amen."  [amen]  Yeah, don't do that. 

We've got like four or five praise teams.  Don't have a favorite praise team.... Don't have a favorite praise team.  Somebody a couple of weeks ago tried to get me in a conversation about one of the praise teams was playing something, was kind of country western.  You know.  Why don't I do something about that?  [laughter]  I was like, wait a minute.  We have a multicultural church, and multicultural means we have to include country and western, so if they want to play some country and western, there has to be somebody that enjoys it, or at least, will become a more mature Christian if they have to listen to something they don't like for a second and still find Jesus in it.  [amen]  Glory to God!  So I just say, you know, so let's watch that. 

Let's keep an eye on fidgety and restless people.  They make more trouble than they really get good.  And so we have to realize that fidgety and restless people have to be trained.  You know, they're ants that have to be pointed in the direction of a purpose.  If we give them a purpose, then ok.  If not, they won't get anything done. 

It's like going to some people's house.  I've been to some people's houses and husbands are guilty of this because they get easily, we're men, we get easily distracted.  A husband will decide we need new framing around that window, [laughter]  and you know, he'll take that thing apart [oh, yes!]  and then he'll nail up one piece.  [laughter]  One piece!  Talking about he's too busy.  And what's he too busy?  Because he's restless and fidgety, and he decided, I can't put up this one piece of wood until I turn the garage into a tool shed.  [yep, laughter]  See, he can't find his tools, so I can't finish the window till I what?  Till I build a tool shed.  But I can't build a tool shed until I change the compartment in my truck.  If I get a different compartment in my truck then I can put somewhere to put my tools and then I can fix the window.  But I can't do any of that because it may rain and I didn't finish the gutters from last year. [laughter]   So what does he do?  What does he do?  He gets a ladder. Check this.  He gets a ladder, puts it upside the house where the gutter is, climbs up and inspects the gutter and says, yes it's broke.  Climbs down and leaves the ladder for a year!  [laughter]  He's restless and fidgety. 

But I'll tell you what he'll do.  If it's mating season, he'll grow wings and fly.  [laughter]  Just like an ant.  If it's mating season, now he can fly.  He's champion man.  [laughter]  He'll fly looking for a place to start a new colony.  But if he's saved and born again, he's just flying around the house waiting for you to settle down.  [laughter]  Well, come on.  He's fidgety, fidgety.  Well, moving right along.  Lord have mercy.  I'm just telling the truth up here.  [yeah]

The worst characteristic though of the ants is that they're warlike in nature.  They're warlike in nature.  And the reason that they are that way is because they can't see good.  Most ants are really blind.  Almost kind of blind.  Which means what?  They don't have any discernment.  They're fidgety, restless and they're moving around, they're leaving spit trails, but they can't discern where they should be and what God's will is for them.  That would be ok except that ants have no recognition of who the leader is.  Can I talk a little bit?  So they're blind so they don't discern anything, but yet and still you can't lead them cause they will not recognize a leader.  They can only function as a group.  And so, therefore, they will destroy the saints in the body.  You know that saying, the church is a hospital for sinners, it's not a hotel for saints.  But an ant can't figure that out.  And so, he's very warlike, very warlike. 

My wife and I visited a church, I won't call its name because I don't want to embarrass the good people of the Lord, but we, we were visitors.  Just visitors.  We visit the church, we sat through the service and then after it they had a coffee thing of tea and cookies.  But they didn't even invite us.  They didn't announce it from the pulpit that we're going to have a little refreshments after.  They didn't announce that, but we just figured they have refreshments, we're visitors, we should be entitled.  So we went over, got a cookie and a cup of coffee, and we're standing there.  And we stood there and stood there and stood there and stood there and then we stood there.  [laughter] And stood there a little bit more.  Just about out of coffee and the fellow that had invited me to come was their guest speaker that day.  And he finally got free.  He was the only one that spoke to us. 

We were in a church service for over an hour and no one, no one said hello, no one said how are you doing.  One guy said, "What are you doing here?"  [whoa]  To me that was a warlike spirit.  Cause he should have been saying, welcome, glad to see you.  You know.  Can I get you something?  Can I do something?  Warlike, it was a warlike spirit.  It's attitude was we are ants, we have our little ant colony, and you're not invited.  Your not... and I figured this way.  It was a white guy, he could have at least talked to the white woman if he didn't want to talk to me.  [laughter]  But he didn't socialize ... so we don't really want to be like those kind of ants. 

We want to have an inclusive, we love you attitude.  And speak to everybody.  Remember, here at our church, and those of you that watch this by television, try and have the 10 foot rule.  If someone's within 10 feet of you, speak to them.  Don't wait for them to eye contact.  Forget that.  You're a blind ant.  You don't need specific eye contact to say hello.  You just open up your eyes with discernment and say, "I don't know you." 

You know, somebody was complaining cause the church has gotten to a place where we're a church with two services and a two service church service sometime ends up being two churches.  You know, because people don't know. But I thought to myself about, I thought about that.  What's wrong with having two churches?  .... Some of you ain't getting that... What's wrong with having two churches that use the same building?  Just at different times.  If everybody's friendly, then it wouldn't matter to us would it now?  And so when we go to the church picnic this summer, yes you will see people from the second service, this is first service today, you'll see people from second service that you don't know, but they're in the colony!  [amen, yeah!]  They're in the colony.  So, in other words, what does it matter?  Praise God if we had 14 services.  We'd still be in the colony.  [yeah]   Come on somebody.  You know what I'm talking about?  I'm saying like let's love on people so hard that they want to know what church you from.  [amen]  Let's love on them so hard that they just, they just feel included.  Feel blessed. 

Now, let's talk about these other ones.  These ants though that are tough headed, their heads are tough.  I mean I'm not inciting you to go kill ants but you know, their heads are hard!  They've got hard, hard heads.  So if you're going to kill ants, listen to me carefully, it'll take a long, long time if you want to get rid of ants to go around and try to crush all their heads.  So there's something better you should do.  You guys want to know what to do?  [yes]  Wipe off the counter.  Wipe off the counter.  They love kitchens and baths.  Wipe off the counter.  I'll tell you more about that later, but some of you are thinking, right?  [yes]  Huh?  Wipe off the counter.  Can you say that?  [Wipe off the counter.] 

Now, let's talk about these roaches here.  These suckers are infesting and they will overrun anything.  They will overrun any, and they will eat, watch this, they will eat anything.  A roach will eat anything.  One of the easiest way to get rid of roaches is give them some poison to eat.  They will ingest it, eat it, and then feed it to every other roach they can find. 

But that's a problem in the church when you have people that will eat anything.  Lord have mercy!  You got a problem when you got a church and they'll eat anything.  They'll bring strange ideas in that are not supported by the Word, and then they'll get the weird ideas'll come and they'll say by revelation that I have, is not based on the Word.  Well, you should spit that out.  [amen]  You should what?  [spit it out]  How quick?  phfht  Come on go phfht.  [phfht]  Got rid of that.  Because why?  You don't want to be like a roach.  A roach will eat anything.  He will ingest any theology, any teaching.  If it just tweeks his...

Isaiah Chapter 1

We were running out of time at Bible study but Pastor Don wanted to do a quick overview of part of Chapter 1 to set us up for next week's study.

Isaiah begins with complaining and upset and end with a silver lining of happiness and joy.

Isaiah 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

In previous teachings Pastor Don covered a basic history of the Kingdoms - the Northern and the Southern. Isaiah is written for the Southern Kingdom - Judah.  This is a vision Isaiah saw, the Northern kingdom (Israel) and the southern Kingdom (Judah and Benjamin).  The Northern Kingdom constantly did what was evil in God's sight, and resorted to idolatry.  Judah had several kings who were pleasing to God, and the priests stayed in the Southern Kingdom.  The Southern Kingdom obeyed the Torah more. 

Reheboam, Solomon's son caused trouble in the Kingdom by intensifying the oppression on the people and caused division in the Kingdoms.  This prophesy covers the Southern Kingdom and the kings mentioned in verse 1.

Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken:  “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebeled against Me;

God is speaking to the heavens and the earth.

Isaiah 1:3 The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”

Pastor Don's comment, "What a way to start a book!"

Isaiah 1:4  Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward.

They have turned away BACKWARD.

Isaiah 1:5 Why should you be stricken again?  You will revolt more and more.  The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints.

My goodness, the whole heart faints, the whole head is sick.  They were so caught up in idol worship and wrong thinking and were so far gone that not a right thought was in their head.

Isaiah 1:6  From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or  soothed with ointment. 

There is no soundness, sad at the direction the country is heading toward.  The scepter is passing, even in our country.  We need to pray for our leaders even more than before.

Isaiah 1: 7-9 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devour your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.  Unless the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.

A VERY small remnant, and without that then Judah would have been just like Sodom and Gomorrah. 

Pastor Don told us that if we see the same pattern we will know that God will do the same thing again.  Some say that if God does not judge America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Isaiah 1:10-11 Hear the word of the LORD,  you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah:  “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” says the LORD.  “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.

With all the sin going on they were still doing sacrifice to God, but why?  They were not living a Godly life.

Isaiah 1:12-15  When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear.  Your hands are full of blood.

They took the sacrifice and feasts of God and added their stuff to them and that made it an abomination to God.  The Sabbaths and the feasts God ordained.  In the book of Samuel we will see Eli will die as will his sons.  The reason is that Eli added the practice of baal and molloch worship.  There were prostitutes in the temple in Jerusalem and there was sex with men, boys and women, and it was done under the guise of temple worship. 

In Russia and Yugoslavia they still practice that today.  Eli's sons did not honor God in the sacrifice, for they would take a meat hook and pull out the best pieces of meat from the sacrifice, from the portion that belonged to God.

1 Samuel 2:12-17 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD. And the priests’ custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.”  And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.” Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

There were money changers in the Temple.  The priests received bribes from the money changers - who were there to make sure that the currency used in the Temple did not bear a person's face as was common in the coinage of the Gentiles.  But they charged high interest to change coins.  They also had papers signed to help pay for the sins of people, things God did not ordain. Their heart was not in the worship and sacrifice to God. They burned incense with wrong fire.  God was not pleased.

Isaiah 1:16-18 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

God tells us we can reason together - this is one of the most powerful and liberating verses in the Bible!  Can you imagine God telling us, "Hey, let's talk, reason it out!."

Isaiah 1:19-20 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

If we are WILLING and OBEDIENT.  There are two parts to it, most of us can understand obedience, but we can be obedient but not always willing.  Are we willing to line up our will with God's will and accept what God has for us?  We also have to be obedient.  It is easier to yield to obedience.  There is a parable that Jesus tells about a man with two sons whom he asked to work in the field.  One son said that he would not go, but later thought better of it and went. The other son promised to go, but then did not go into the field to work.  Jesus asks which child did the will of the father, and it was the child who went into the field to work.  One was not obedient, and one gave obedience but was not willing.  God wants us to be both willing and obedient.

Mark 1:40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

The man came to Jesus and said, "If you are willing."

Mark 1:41  Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

Jesus was moved with compassion, and He told the man "I am willing."

Mark 1:42-45 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

This will free you if you understand this passage, that Jesus is WILLING.  There is an error that is taught about Christ's willingness to heal us, and if we get it we will be liberated for the rest of our life.  Some hear Jesus' prayer and then pray to him, "If you are willing, you can heal me."  That is a negative prayer.  We think it makes us sound more holy or it gives us an out if the healing doesn't come if we pray, "If you are willing."  But that is not Biblical, not scriptural, and it shows that we are not praying in faith and diligently seeking Him.  How can we imagine that God is not willing to heal us?  If we think He isn't willing we don't know His heart.

God tells us that we are to ask and it shall be given to us. Jesus says, "I am willing."  Jesus is willing to make us rich as long as riches do not become an idol.  If you know God's will, your healing will work.  Read John Chapters 14-17 to understand. 

Often we think Jesus will not heal us.  Sometimes we pray for things in our life but we ask amiss, asking what is out of God's perfect will for our lives or asking out of lust and selfishness.  What person who is sick is asking for a healing out of lust?  They are asking God to feel better, for wholeness, and that the Lord would heal them.   When God heals them do they brag on themselves, or do they brag on the Lord? 

What are we saying about God when we say he is not willing to heal us?  We are saying He'd rather see us suffer and die.  What does that say about God?  What is God's best for me?  Faith requires that we step out and believe.  Faith is an action word. 

What the leper was asking Jesus was, "Are you willing to touch me because I am ceremonially unclean? Are you willing to violate the law?"  In those days it meant that a person was unclean if they touched a leper and the disciples were going to worship.  The man felt that Jesus had to touch him for him to be healed, but touching a leper would have made Jesus ceremonially unclean.  But the truth is the leper was healed when Jesus SPOKE his healing - the healing was done BEFORE Jesus touched the leper.  Jesus did not have to touch the leper to heal him, but the leper needed Jesus' touch. 

Remember the Centurion who told Jesus that all you have to do is speak the word and my servant will be healed.  The Centurion understood the principle of healing, and Jesus marveled at this man's faith. 

Jesus meets you where your faith is.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.  When Jesus touched the man, he was no longer a leper. 

Jesus had to be perfect according to the law of Moses, and always worked according to the law.  The law was fulfilled when the leper was told to go to the temple and make the offerings required for the healing of leprosy.  Jesus did not break the ceremonial laws by touching a leper for the leper was already healed. 

The man was not asking Jesus if He was willing to heal him.  The man was asking Jesus if He was willing to violate tradition and touch an unclean man. 

Some say, well I prayed for so long and haven't gotten results.  That is not the way to operate in faith, for the person is questioning the will of God.  When faith is released the Lord Jesus can do all that is needed. 

The Syrophonecian woman had to come to a point of faith in agreement with Jesus before her daughter could be healed.

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD.

If you question God's willingness, then you are not in faith for what God can do. 

If you are praying for healing and not receiving your healing then you need to find out why it isn't working for you - what can you do to bring your will in line with God's will for you and His will is healing.

Praying your day is blessed.

Heather

Isaiah background by Pastor Don

The first thing that Pastor Don did for this Bible study was to tell us that there is a mystery between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.  This was in answer to a question from last Friday's Bible study that we did not get a chance to discuss.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

This is a puzzle that is also noted by the rabbis.  The Hebrew word for created is one of two words .  Either to create something from nothing, or to take something are recreate it.  Our word "create" doesn't differentiate.

This word for "created" in Genesis 1:1 is "bara" meaning to shape, fashion, create.

God created in Genesis 1:1 from nothing.  But whatever God creates is perfect. God creates order, and yet in Verse 2 it tells us that the earth was without form and void. Did God create something without form and void?  God created it with form.  The question is what happened to make the earth without form and void? 

Genesis 1:1 - God spoke it into existence.  That speaking is "logos" and that is part of God that does the saying - the Word of God (whom we know as Jesus).  God who says, who creates.

When God appeared to Moses, He told Moses His name was I Am that I Am - when Jesus was accosted by the soldiers and asked if He was Jesus, He said, "I Am."  All the soldiers fell flat. 

We are like God in that we too were created with the creative ability to speak into existence, that we can speak with creative force.  Only man can do that.

God created the earth and He did not create it without form and void, or that the Light of the World would have the earth in darkness.  Something must have happened between verse 1 and 2.  God comes back and reestablishes earth. 

Jeremiah 4:23-26 I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; and the heavens, they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld, and indeed there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD, by His fierce anger.

So what happened that caused the earth to be null and void?

Isaiah 14:12-17 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. “Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: ‘is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?’

When satan and his minions were cast from Heaven, then not much was left on the earth that wasn't destroyed by the devil.

We looked at a few passages from the Bible.

Isaiah 14:18-20 All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house; but you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like the garment of those who are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse trodden underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land and slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named.

Including some that sound remarkably like Christmas trees, which God equates with idols.

Isaiah 44:17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, prays to it and says,

Jeremiah 10:3-5 For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good.

The customs of people are futile, they love their customs even though they are not biblical.  Some of the customs and traditions are birthed in the full force of idolatry.  We relabel it, love it, and choose not to change it. That does not mean that God changes His mind about them.

2 Peter 3:5-9 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

This is the passage that Callin read that started his questioning about the two worlds.

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

The Spirit of the Lord and the Spirit of God are not separate.

Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

These are the names of the Spirit of God.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

If it is a word of warning don't do it, fear God more than our traditions.

For God:  Do not is DO NOT; don't is DON'T.  God hates certain things.  God does not change His opinion because it is unpopular.  "IT IS WRITTEN"  Jesus had no problem upholding "IT IS WRITTEN."  What does the Word say?  Everything we have or do, check it in the Word and see what thus says the Lord. 

Take the Lower seat.

In two places God uses 1000 to represent years.

Psalm 90:4 For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

We are in the sixth day if you calculate the missing years from the Jewish calendar.

We are in the Jewish year 5769 - but people have calculated that there are 240 missing years in Jewish history - this is determined by when they started counting the rule of kings, of years not counted during exile, etc.  That makes this really the year 6009 - definitely the sixth day.  God does not have to complete all of the 6th day to begin the end times.

We are close to the 70th week of Daniel, it can come at any time.

Daniel 9:22-27 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate."

We will come out of the 69th week based on what we do, based on prophetic events that have to be fulfilled first before we can enter the 70th week.

When the prophetic clock kicks on again then events will begin to play out. 

We need to have a willingness of heart to have faith. 

We then looked quickly at a bit of Isaiah Chapter 1.  I will share that with you tomorrow rather than making this post mega long. Believe it or not, I am ALMOST caught up with my notes, as these were taken on Friday June 19.  I am so glad that I get to sit under such great teaching and share with you what I am learning.  My husband often tells our children that we are blessed to learn from Pastor Don, who is like a professor of the Bible.

This past week he told my daughter that anytime we spend reading and learning from the Bible makes our brains stronger because the Bible builds so much into our minds and hearts.

Have a wonderful Fourth!

Heather

Tactics of the devil by Callin

Callin began by reading a devotional he received written by John McKinley called "Are you on board a cruise ship or a battle ship.  I asked Callin to forward it to me, so I am including it for your reading.

From: JOHN MCKINLEY [mailto:jmckin2002@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 11:20
Subject: Cruise Ship or Battle Ship

John told me he received this devotional from Are You Onboard A Cruise Ship or Battle Ship?” was actually featured in an e-Newsletter that I receive from Chuck Swindoll’s Insight for Living Ministry

Are You Onboard A Cruise Ship or Battle Ship?

A. W. Tozer wrote, "The idea that this world is a playground instead of a battleground has now been accepted in practice by the vast majority of Christians...The 'worship' growing out of such a view of life is as far off center as the view itself - a sort of sanctified nightclub without the champagne and the dressed-up drunks."

We could also say that for many men today Christian life is more a cruise ship rather than a battleship. Are you mostly interested in wanting your needs accommodated and having a comfortable experience? Or are you looking to be equipped for battle and deployed for action in enemy occupied territory? Cruise ships are created for the pleasure of those paying to sail with them. Everything on the ship is for comfort and emotional well being. There are lots of options for everything including what food you like, what shows you attend, and what activities you choose to do. The design of the ship is opulent and pleasing to the eyes. It seems everything shines and glimmers! Battleships on the other hand are built for mission, not for comfort. They are equipped with weapons of warfare. Every sailor knows why they are onboard and what their job is. There are places to sleep, shower and eat but the primary purpose of everything is to complete the mission.What ship are you on?

*********************

Callin then continued by telling us that we are in a full blown war which is going around us 24/7.  God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent (all present), but satan is not.  Our adversary is against the family of man, wanting to pull down what God loves, which is us.

When we read the Bible we see it is full of people who fight adversaries in the physical and in the spiritual. We can learn how to battle by reading these accounts in the Bible. There is always an enemy trying to undermine the people of God.  We can get so caught up in worship that we forget to be vigilant.

There are 4-D's that the devil uses:

1. Distraction
2. Deception
3. Disease - dis-ease (twisted emotionally, depression, fear, pain)
4. Devastation - financial, death, fear, torment, and it will bring you down.

In trouble we get moved in the Spirit, and what the devil sees is what we are accustomed to be and do.

In the book of Job the devil tried to create confusion, destroy life, and cause Job to reject God when things did not go well.

DISTRACTION - is usually one that the enemy can put on us, all of us.  The more knowledgeable we are, the more sneaky the enemy is.  The devil can have a pretty face.  Even seemingly good activities can be a distraction.  We need to put God first, then satan can't attract us through others.  Satan will use what we give more attention, adoration and faith to than the Lord.

How do we resist the devil?  THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE NAME OF JESUS, THE BLOOD OF JESUS, THE WORD OF GOD.

The tools of the devil are the same, simple tools he has used since Adam and Eve:

Pride
Lust
Greed

Sex/lust - can become an addiction, drugs and power.  The devil does not change his tactics.  We see them in 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

We then read Matthew 4:1-11 to see the temptation of Jesus. 

Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’” Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

The bread was the lust of the eyes, the pinnacle of the temple was the lust of the flesh, and theoffer of the kingdom was the pride of life.  Yet the Bible tells us in James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 

We are in a battle, and satan strategically attacks. Genesis 3:1-8 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Here we see the three ploys of satan, the lust of the eyes (she saw the fruit) the pride of life (she wanted to be like God) and the lust of the flesh (touching and taking the fruit). 

The 4-D's were in it all the way.

Notice what happened when they disobeyed God, they ended up hiding from God.  God made a provision to cover  their nakedness.

The devil tempted Jesus with the same things that he used to tempt Adam and Eve, but Jesus resisted the devil.

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

As we abide with God we are given the down payment of things to come.  When we abide with God we are a threat to the evil one.  We bind it, we submit to the Spirit, and we overcome.  The difference in how successful we deal with the evil one is our perception and response to the battle.

Nehemiah is an example of how to build walls and submit to God.  He submitted to God, prayed to God, and rebuilt the breeches in the walls.  The devil sent various attacks toward Nehemiah and he resisted through prayer, plans, and action.

The gates to our temple (body) are our eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and touch (the five senses)

These five senses are how the world gets into you. 

Jesus succeeded in resisting the devil; Adam didn't.

This has relevance to us because we are tempted every day in some manner, usually multiple times.  And satan's tactics do not change. 

Man is created in the image of God, and we were given dominion by God, but satan seeks to take that dominion away from us.  Adam gave it away, Jesus reclaimed it.  It is up to us to maintain what Jesus won for us.

We are commissioned to snatch others out from the fire. 

Callin gave us an example of an ant farm.  How the ants do not know that we see them, we see them through the glass as they go about doing their business.  God sees all that we do and thing, and sees our heart. The devil sees us according to what we do.  He can't read our minds, but he hears our prayers, the prophesies spoken over us, what we do.  And he will send substitutes in our lives hoping to disturb, distract, or pull us away from God's best for us. 

We often blame God and ask why does God allow this to happen?  God will permit it, but it is we and our behavior, actions, and thoughts that bring it onto ourselves.

We are the TEMPLE OF GOD, and we are meant to have fellowship with God.

In the Old Testament the Tabernacle was in the wilderness and traveled with the people. Then it was built more permanently in Jerusalem by Solomon.  Then the physical Tabernacle was destroyed in AD 70. After the death of Jesus, we became the Temple of God.

In the tabernacle there is the outer court, the inner court and the holy of holies. We too have our outer appearance, the inner court (soul - mind, will, emotions) and the holy of holies (Spirit).  We often think that God does not see what we think but that is not true.

Ezekiel 8:12-16 Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’” And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” So He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.

There are parts of us that are not seen by the public.  But that does not mean that this part is not observed by God and the enemy.

God sees our Hearts and He knows all that we think and do, even if we think we do it in secret.  We need to be willing to be open, honest and truthful.  Jesus is the Lord.  We do not want to lie, backslide, or let someone believe a lie about ourselves.  Examine ourselves and work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

The enemy is there waiting for an opening which we give him if we are not being honest, open and truthful, and if we let our vigilance down.  We have to be attentive to the mater at hand.

Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

All of the Bible - the 66 books, were written for our learning and our hope.

John 17:16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

We are IN the world, not OF the world. The world hated Jesus and it will hate us as well. 

God does not send evil into our lives.

1 Corinthians 10:11-14 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

Notice that this tells us that there is no temptation that overtakes us except those that are common to men or to the world.  And these are the ones mentioned in 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 

The three ploys of satan are what is common for us, and satan does not change his tactics - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

1 Corinthians 14:45 And so it is written, "The first Adam became a living being."  The last Adam became a life giving spirit.

Jesus is the last Adam

John 14:12 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

We will be doing even greater works than Jesus did on the earth, for Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to aid us.  We are to reign over death and the powers of darkness.  The prince of the power of the air and his lies have no hold over us. Jesus wants our entire life to be blessed.  Jesus comforts us as we seek to comfort others.

I hope you have a wonderful Fourth of July Weekend - this teaching is all about liberty, and we need to fight for our liberty from the enemy too.

Heather