I feel my calling, design, and purpose is to help people. I am Elijah House certified and Sozo trained. I would love to be able to help in any way I can. Do you have questions? Concerns? Issues you can’t seem to overcome? Health issues where medicine doesn’t work or barely works? Maybe you are unsure what is fueling the anger you feel or the lostness you experience.
I am willing to listen first and offer help second. If I don’t know the answer I’ll look for the answer. If I can’t find an answer I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction. So please contact me at onejohn417@yahoo.com for any type of question, concern, or insight you may be seeking regarding any issue you may be facing.
I’m not easily shocked and everything shared with me is 100% confidential. If I may say with all humility I’m known by my friends and family as a person who always has a listening ear and where secrets are safe. There are many people hurting and don’t know who or where to go for help so I want to be a place/person where someone can go to. This is a 100% free service. So please contact me at onejohn417@yahoo.com.
I want to talk about generational deliverance which includes but is not limited to generational curses. I know there is a large group within the Church, including some Charismatic and Pentecostals, that don’t believe in generational deliverance. I will address two main points they use to argue against it.
1. Jesus died to reverse the curse so there is no longer any curses to break not deliverance needed.
Correct, Jesus died to reverse the curse and ransom us. The curse is reversed but there some traveling to do until it goes back all the way. Jesus did away with the works of the enemy and flesh, if we believe in it and agree with it. So Jesus did it all. But there is an activation or appropriation that needs to happen. As in salvation, a person doesn’t just get saved but they need to believe and come into agreement with what God has done. Death is still around along with painful child-birth and thorns and thistles while working the ground and sweating (see Gen. 3:16-19).
2. Deuteronomy 24:16 say, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; only for his own sin shall anyone be put to death.” Also Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The soul that sins, it [is the one that] shall die. The son shall not bear and be punished for the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear and be punished for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him only, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon the wicked only.“
Here people say that a person will only pay for their own sin. True. Now in New Testament Jesus paid for all our sins…but the consequences are still there. If someone sins sexually and God forgives them they may still suffer the consequences. So even though God forgives me currently there may still be consequences for the actions that my ancestors did that were not repented of and therefore myself and my kids may inherit the consequences unless I break them. Ever heard of the phrase, “It runs in the family?” If or when you came to Christ did you find that when you got saved you were delivered from many things easily yet others seem to hold on for dear life? You just can’t seem to get free from it?
So now I’ll explain, in my opinion, what Generational Deliverance is and what it is not. I am not an authority on the subject and this blog will be very limited in information because there is so much out there and so much more to learn. There are several others who have wayyyy more experience than me so I always seek guidance with them if need be.
Luke 11:47-51 says,
Woe to you! For you are rebuilding and repairing the tombs of the prophets, whom your fathers killed. So you bear witness and give your full approval and consent to the deeds of your fathers; for they actually killed them, and you rebuild and repair monuments to them…So that the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world may be charged against and required of this age and generation.
Generational sin comes from corporateness. Through our DNA we are corporate with all those in our generational line. Generational curses is a common word used but does not explain everything about generational deliverance. A curse, generally speaking, is a thing spoken. One of the Hebrew words for curse is qĕlalah which means curse, vilification, execration, imprecation. Vilification means a defamatory utterance. Execration means the act of cursing or denouncing or the curse to uttered. Imprecation means a formulated set of words by which a curse is invoked (see “Come Up Higher” by Paul Cox Chapter 11). Greek for curse is kataraomai which means to curse, doom, imprecate evil upon. Another Greek word is anathematizō which means to devote to destruction and to declare one’s self liable to the severest divine penalties (see Acts 23:12). Another in Greek is epikataratos which means accursed, execrable, exposed to divine vengeance and to call down curses upon. So curses and cursing play a big role in generational deliverance but it is not all there is.
Ever hear someone say, “It runs in the family?” Well that’s because it does! The biggest red flag you’ll see is recurring issues in the family line which includes, but not is not limited to: health issues, addictions, poverty (not just material), predisposed to the same sin habits of parents or grandparents(“You’re just like your father” or “Your just like your mother”), trouble with the law, always being wronged no matter your innocence, and/or seeing darkness in the spirit without your permission.
There are many more I could list. Point is, if there is a pattern then there is a curse or iniquity on your generational line…and it doesn’t just come through the blood but also relational authority. For example, I know a man who went for ministry and was asked what nationality were his ancestors. He said he was 100% Polish there both parents were Polish. Both ministers looked at him and then each other and both heard “Swedish.” Turns out this man was raised with a Swedish step-father and needed things broken from that side as well.
Iniquity has many attachments that need to be broken off. Iniquity in Hebrew is `avon which means perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity. It also means a guilt contracted by sinning and anything unjustly acquired. Iniquity in Greek is anomia which means the condition of without law and contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness. Another word in Greek for iniquity is adikia which means a deed violating law and justice, act of unrighteousness and injustice, of a judge as well as unrighteousness of heart and life. Acts 8:22-23 says
Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”
I’ve read as well that iniquity is unfairness or unequal. So iniquity is deep-rooted sin. James 1:15 says
And this desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin, but sin, when it has matured, gives birth to death.
Sin is paid for by the blood of Jesus and iniquity is dealt with by the cross, yet we can still reap what we sow. We can reap what others have sown whether good or bad (see Gal. 6:7-10) but we can destroy and cleanse and stop the unrighteous reaping we are receiving.
So what brings ungodly iniquity in our generational lines and how do we cleanse, stop and destroy it?
Here’s a list of what brings demonic attachments to our generational line
Freemasonry/Masons – Daughters of the Nile, Eastern Star, Rosicrucians, Druids, Kabbalism, Knights Templar, Job’s Daughters, Shriners (I was a waiter/server for Shriners once and they paid with a check that had their name listed as “Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm”). Having this in your generational line can bring sickness, premature death, financial and relational problems. Within Mason’s, oaths and vows are made and Acts 8:22-23 come into play and makes one bound by iniquity. As the degrees go up so does the iniquity. They make vows and oaths to pagan deity and fallen angels and even curse themselves verbally. I could go on and on but I would definitely research more if you feel this is in your past. I have more information if you desire and specific prayer points.
Cults – Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Sacred Name Movement, Black Hebrew/Black Israelites, some Christian denominations can be labeled cultish if they use manipulation/witchcraft to deceive their people and hold them in bondage, Tony Alamo Ministries, Church of Bible Understanding, The Way International, Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, Raelian Church, Scientology, Heaven’s Gate, Christian Science, Unification Church, The Nation of Islam, United Pentecostal Church, Westboro Baptist Church, and many more.
Occult activities – oaths, spoken demonic creeds, ungodly covenants, idol worship, Ouija boards, Tarot Card readings, Horoscopes, Palm reading, reading tea leaves, Freemasonry, idol worship, worship of Baal, Mediums, alchemy, automatic writing, astral projection (practiced by Freemasons), Voodoo, mirror-gazing, bloody Mary chanting, Clairvoyance, Satanism, Sorcery (drug use), Illuminati (Freemasonry), Wicca, Witchcraft, and so on.
Sexual sin – pornography, masturbation, fetishes, lust, sodomy, necrophilia, Fifty Shade of Grey type stuff, molestation, incest, and so on and so on.
Abuse – sexual, physical, and emotional can all leave lasting trauma on people, which in turn brings iniquity and bitter root judgments in which many get defiled, cutting, and other things to abuse one’s self.
Addiction – drugs, alcohol, prescription drugs, overeating, man pleasing, co-dependency, and any other addiction that we get overpowered by.
Covenants/Agreements – this would include many of the above but also agreeing with any lie of the enemy, selling soul to the devil, eating from the true of the knowledge of good and evil, unequally yoked to others and/or organizations (like joining clubs, secret societies, and the like), finding wisdom and authority from anyone other than God Himself. (see Prov. 27:12-14)
Second-hand defilement – ever heard of second-hand smoke? It’s kind of like that. We or our ancestors got too close to ungodly things and let ungodly things happen instead of either leaving or rebuking/preventing it from happening. Rev. 18:4 speaks of coming out from among something as to not share in their sins. Also 2 Peter 2:7 speaks of Lot being distressed and had to leave in order to not be subject to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. This is in regards to current or past second-hand defilement that can attach to your generational line. I must also add that this doesn’t mean we will automatically be defiled by our surrounding because, as mature believers, we are called to change our atmosphere and our surroundings. But it can happen. Immaturity is the key here. Mature believers can handle themselves and have discernment about these things. If the Spirit says “leave” then get out of there but He may say “cleanse it” or “rebuke it.” Be lead and not lead.
Willful, deliberate sin – any sin that is willful, deliberate, and repetitive will transfer over, generally speaking, unless dealt with and repented of. You don’t want to carry your ancestor’s baggage and you surely don’t want your kids to carry your baggage.
So I’ve listed several different things that will bring defilement on your generation line/bloodline. Defile in Hebrew is tame’ which means to be unclean, become unclean, become impure sexually, religiously, ceremonially. It also means to be polluted. Greek for defile is koinoō which means to make common or unholy and another word in Greek is phtheirō which means to corrupt, to destroy.
Generational deliverance involves getting out of denial of your past/present and your ancestors past. The rug will continue to get lumpier and lumpier until you stop sweeping things under it and pull that rug up and deal with the junk there. It’s scary but, with God, you have nothing to fear unless you don’t want to be free and I know what it’s like to walk in new freedom. It can be very new and different. Prisoners find it hard to adjust to freedom and so we will need to adjust to liberty. But liberty is what we must walk in.
There is freedom! There is liberty! There is healing! There is a God who loves you despite the junk! There is a God who will visit that iniquity and destroy it by His righteous wrath (see Ex. 20:5-6)! We must come into agreement with His blood, cross, resurrection, and ascension and appropriate it to us and our generational line so our kids and future generations can live in liberty and fullness and not have to deal with what we have not dealt with. Exodus 34:6-7 says
“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Due to our standing in Christ and His finished work, forgiveness is here and it is ours. We need to stand in place of our ancestors and repent for their involvement in order to break curses, attachments, and defilement. We renounce what they said. We forgive them for what they did. We break covenant by the blood of Jesus which speaks louder than all over covenants. Repenting on behalf of ancestors is not making you responsible for their sin and iniquity. You won’t be judged for their sin because that is their sin but we have the opportunity to make things right. To cleanse and purge away what others have done. To redeem time. To redeem land. To redeem because our redeemer lives. Jesus opened the way and completed it so we just stand in agreement and speak that forth over our generational bloodline.
So to cleanse our generational line we must first be saved or get saved. Save in Greek is sōzō which means to save, make whole, deliver, and heal. Submit therefore to God and resist the devil. Get baptized in the Holy Spirit. Get out of denial and face the facts of your own sins and iniquity. Repent for them and reckon them dead. Get the log removed from your eye so that you can see the specks along your generational lines which include Father/Step-Father, Mother/Step-Mother, and long-term foster parents. Look for patterns. Looks for defilement. Look for involvement of the things list above. Repent on behalf saying a prayer like this,
“Father I acknowledge the sins of my ancestors and I stand in the gap and repent on behalf of them(list the sins and involvements/covenants etc). I forgive my ancestors for what they did to allow curses and defilement and I ask for You to cleanse and wash away their sin/consequences by your precious blood and I bring to death their iniquity by your cross. I call forth the resurrection power of God over my life now. Cleanse all defilement, Jesus. Cleanse land and time, Jesus. Father, dry up these demonic rivers in Jesus’ name. I take all authority away from the defilement and demonic by the name above all other names, Jesus who is called Christ, the Messiah. Father I ask that You, God of all Gods and the God of the spirits of men to sweep away everything that is not of You. By my repentance and your justice of forgiveness (see 1 John 1:9) I declare this aspect of my generational line cleansed, purified, and dead. I now call forth the resurrection power of God to redeem that which can be redeemed and now the riverbed that has dried, I ask Father you flood it now with Your blessings as a replacement. According to 2 Corinthians 7:1 I am purifying all of myself and by generational line from all things that contaminate so that holiness is perfected in the reverence of the Lord. Father, I now ask that you hide me in the shadow of Your wings. I declare my life is hidden with Christ is God. Now, in Jesus’ name, I send away all familiar spirits that have been following my generational line. I send these demons to the feet of Jesus never to return back to me. Your authority is broken by repentance, the blood, and the cross. Now, Father, release all generational blessing. I receive all blessing stored up for me in my generational line. God I pray that You, God, would rebuke all cosmic beings that are playing a part in this. I do not come against them myself but I ask You, Father, to take care of them. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen and Amen!
This prayer can be used for several different things but there are others things that need different types of prayers. If you have something specific let me know and I can find it for you. Email me at onejohn417@yahoo.com.
After praying this, then ask it to be sealed by the Holy Spirit. Call forth the blood of Jesus to cleanse yourself once again. Call forth angels to protect what was prayed and to protect yourself. Place the blood of Jesus around you and others by just saying, “I place the blood of Jesus around myself and family.”
If you have read to the end than kudos to you. Many will see the word count and pass it up and that’s fine. But to those that have read to the end…there is hope, there is freedom, there is Light, there is He who died for the whole world ready to assist and bring deliverance.
For other reference see Nehemiah 9, Daniel 9, 1 Peter 3:9 (inherit a blessing), Leviticus 26:40-42, Hebrews 7:5-10, Romans 5:12, Numbers 14:18, 33.
For many other prayers for generation deliverance I highly recommend Aslan’s Place.
Thought I’d share that I recently received my Elijah House Prayer Ministry 202 certificate of completion! A year prior I completed the 201 class and received a certificate for that as well. It is my desire to get into this type of ministry.
Inner healing & deliverance is a passion of mine and I believe all of us could benefit from prayer ministry/counseling in our lives. It’s good to appropriate all He has done for us through the Five R’s:
Recognize
Confess and Repent
Release through Forgiveness
Reckon as Dead
Resurrect (bring to life)
I also believe in the Sozo ministry and Sapphire Leadership ministry along with Aslan’s Place ministry and Restoration in Christ ministry. I know there a many more out there but I only have exposure to the above listed. I believe that I should utilize as many tools as possible. It’s my desire to get into this type of ministry and am currently semi involved in Sozo and am in a part of a local Healing Rooms.
All of these are based off the finished work of Christ and shed blood from the garden of Gethsemane to the Cross and the resurrection and ascension of Christ. I believe Inner Healing should, generally speaking, be done prior to deliverance. Remove the garbage and the flies leave by default. I do not believe there are demons under every rock….but sometimes they are under every other rock.
Last week or so I felt that I heard in my spirit, “You have a Lincoln anointing.” Never heard of it but I have always liked Abraham Lincoln and have done papers in school about him. FYI I believe we have an anointing from the Holy One and when people talk about the anointing of so and so I think it more of picking up the reins or carrying on the mission of the person who either dropped it or has passed into full Glory. Anywhoo I did Google it and found one article about it on Elijahlist.com by Bill Yount. I have asked others and they have had the same word over them. I have ideas about what it is but not yet fully (Prov. 25:2). Has anyone else heard about this?
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, which was only 5 days ago BTW, I must say I am thankful for our Father’s Voice. For without it, I would still be in my Stockholm Syndrome.
According to Strong’s ekklésia (church) means an assembly, congregation, church; the Church, the whole body of Christian believers. Now from what I recently learned this is the most basic definition. In other words the church or ekklésia means a group of people together. But what else does it mean? I will attempt to explain what I recently heard from two different minsters on two different occasion unrelated to each other.
According to ancient Greece the ekklésia was the senate of the government. It legislated what was allowed or forbidden or may I say bound or loosed (Matt. 16:19).
The ekklesia‘s powers were almost unlimited. It elected and dismissed magistrates and directed the policy of the city. It declared war, and it made peace. It negotiated and approved treaties and arranged alliances. It chose generals, assigned troops to different campaigns, raised the necessary money, and dispatched those troops from city to city. It was an assembly in which all members had equal right and duty. As the Roman Empire rose and supplanted the Greeks, the Romans adopted the term into Latin.
The concept that distinguishes biblical usage from classical Greek usage is the emphasis that it is God’s assembly. Ekklesia, therefore, means God’s people, called together by God to listen to or act for God. The emphasis is on the action of God, which has the force of a summons (as from a judge). The biblical ekklesia, the church, is a body of people, not so much assembling because they chose to come together, but assembling because God called them to Himself—not assembling to share their own thoughts and opinions, but to listen to the voice of God. – John W. Ritenbaugh
This should totally change your view of what Church means. Ritenbaugh also says about where the term “church” comes from:
Perhaps the best place to begin answering these questions is by tracing the etymology of the word “church” itself, and then looking at the way it is used in context. Many have assumed that it derives from the Greek ekklesia, but this is not true. The English word “church” descends from an Old English word cirice, akin to an Old High German word, kirihha. Both words derive from a Late Greek word, kuriakon, which comes from the Greek kuriakos, the possessive form of the word kurios, the term for “lord.” Kuriakos thus simply means “lord’s,” showing possession, or “belonging to the lord” (Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1985, p. 240). It can denote anything that belongs to the Lord. – John W. Ritenbaugh
When I think of ekklesia I also am directed to 2 Cor. 5:20 when it speaks of being ambassadors of Christ. We bring the current rule and reign of Jesus to this earth as His representatives. We legislate Heaven’s directives upon earth. Far too long the enemy has ruled and run this world but with Christ’s FINISHED work we bring what He brought. Didn’t He pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven? Let us create the footstool for our Lord and bring the restoration of all things so we can hasten His coming (Heb. 10:13, Acts 3:21, 2 Pet. 3:12)
We need His directives and wisdom to establish His kingdom. He is coming back for a BEAUTIFUL Bride and not a disjointed church. He is still looking for a place to lay His head…
I do not believe in the escapism that is preached by pre-trib eschatologists. I do believe there is a light that is and will shine brighter and brighter upon His Bride as she continues to make Herself ready. Isaiah 60:1 needs to happen and I believe it will be a literal shining according to Matt. 17:2 and 2 Cor. 3:18. If Moses received a lesser covenant with a glory so strong he had to cover his face then how much more will the greater shine forth on and through us! I’ll end with this scripture:
Romans 8:30Amplified Bible (AMP)
30 And those whom He thus foreordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified (acquitted, made righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself). And those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being].
Graham Cooke’s Maintaining Your Inner Compass Part 1 notes from:
Unfortunately the whole sermon is not on YouTube. These notes are directly from Graham Cooke’s Part 1 teaching. I took these notes for a meeting I was a part of. It was very enriching to intentionally listen and take notes. I could have written out 6 or more pages but this totaled 2 1/2 pages. Be blessed! As He Is So Are We!
Graham starts with Psalm 121: I WILL LIFT up my eyes to the mountain from whence shall my help come. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper the lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will smite you by day not the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil. He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going and coming in. From this time forth and forever.
David had a brilliant devotional life because he connected with God no matter where he was not matter what he was going through. He knew how to connect with God devotionally. :23-24 the steps of mans are established by the Lord. And He delights in his way. When he falls he will not be held headlong because the Lord is the one who holds his hand.
The great thing about journeying with the lord is that He knows how to keep us. Day after day in every kind of situation. He can turn every circumstance and situation around for our good and prosper us. In all the ups and downs in life God is the one remaining constant. Holy Spirit is teaching us to be constant and faithful because according to 1 John 4:17, as He is, so are we in this world. Because God keeps us we can learn to be as constant and consistent as God is.
What God wants from you He first gives to you. Because God delights in us we can delight in Him. Whatever we are facing it’s important to face with a real enjoyment of who God is for us. Our journey may take us to the vineyards of fruitfulness or the desert where there is no growth. But God will be the same to you in both places. Sometime God is a blazing sun but other times a candle in your hand. You get to walk with God and know him in both extremes. In warfare you get to know the God who laughs at His enemies. God can surround who you are and who you are not. We discover who God wants to be for us in every circumstance. Sometime we need stand long enough in His presence to see the Glory that is there because we are being changed from one degree of glory into another.
Graham Cooke talked about wanting a relationship with God more than just ministry. Devotions should be designed for relationship and not ministry. In personal devotions and relational times we stand before God as a much-loved son. Sometimes we come to God and say Father and other times Daddy and other times Help!
We accept the fact that we will have human and demonic opposition and stress involved with walking with God. But we can find out who God is for me when these things happen. Who is God to me right now? That is the joy set before us. We need not be worried about anything. We are not frustrated because that is a construct that is not birthed in the kingdom. Truth is we get to walk in grace and mercy and peace and love and goodness and rest and gentleness and delight and abundance and power and majesty. We get to walk in those things.
We are being changed from one degree of glory to another. We need to consider the possibility of something glorious happening at least this week if not today. We need to take all our responses from heaven and not from earth. The bible says we can be blessed under persecution. You have to rejoice and be exceedingly glad. The basis of this is moving in the opposite spirit as a preservation thing and as warfare. We get to spank the enemy. Out journey is into an experience in the Spirit so profound that we become as Jesus is because as He is so are we in this life and world. We live from the inside to the outside. All of life in the Spirit is internal. We learn to step back into our spirit and live out of that place. We learn to live in the spirit as opposed to the soul.
We are learning to maintain our inner compass. Our direction comes from inside, our inner man. Guidance is relation and not functional. Guidance is a byproduct of relationship. Too many decisions are made by external evidence rather than internal proof. In order to grow into this we have to develop and maintain our inner compass so when we stop spinning we know where God is because He is our True North. There are three questions we should ask ourselves in all new situation or circumstance. Who am I? What am I? and Where am I?
When life explodes and interferes we must ask Who am I in this? I believe all our journeys begin in the heartbeat of God and that’s where you rest right now. I can have an understanding and experience with the nature of God. I can know what he is really, really, really like. I don’t want to be intimidated by the enemy but be fascinated by Jesus. We try to get faith outside of the heartbeat of God. God lives in you and he has no problems believing. Faith comes from your focus. When focusing on God faith is there. God is faithful that means we can be full of faith.
All revelation of God must be specific to His nature and explicit to your identity. When He shows you something about himself his reason for this is because he wants you to become that next. Your identity gets an upgrade. God is not messing around and nothing casual. Everything about Him is utmost intention so we need to pay attention.
We get to wage war with peace and inflict our rest upon the enemy. Rest is a weapon. We are partners in His nature. David was a man after God’s own heart because he was always discovering his own identity in the face of God who was totally for him all the time. We are learning in the context of that on how to practice opening our heart to revelation and saying yes to God’s love.
Who is God for you right now? What specific part of His nature are you meant to fully experience at this time? When you know you learn to direct yourself toward God in that. We don’t define by our circumstance but by the nature of God being released and revealed to us. God loves us to ask questions but don’t allow your lack of answer to disrupt your internal communion with Him. Sometimes he doesn’t give us answer right away. He wants to teach you to live in the question with Him. What’s more important God or the answer? We don’t need an answer what we need you God. God likes the dialogue. Sometimes there are better questions for us to ask Him. Living in the question makes our life happy in the process. There are times where God allows our life to come into a place of uncertainty. Why? God wants to be your certainty. God is jealous and he is not apologizing. He wants to be your all in all. He wants to have that number one place in your life.
Don’t stop believing until you get an experience. When you get it you longer have to believe. Faith is a temporary thing, not permanent. Faith becomes knowledge. Faith is present to give you an experience. You no longer have faith that Jesus is Lord, you know Jesus is Lord.
Knowing opens you up to the reality of the truth. That you may know what is the hope of His calling. That we may know the things freely given to us by God. You begin to declare things from Heaven instead of praying for them. It’s your inheritance. Faith is the introduction to Hope. It leads you to confident assurance.
What do you need to be confidant in regarding who God is for you right now? The particular circumstances in your life should be leading you to an experience into a particular aspect of God’s nature? What was your last real experience of God? Did you become established in that as a behavior, did you learn how to abide in that? What is your current uncertainty? What do you have permission to ask God for?
In your current situation ask the Holy Spirit this: What is it that God wants to be for me now and who am I in a response to that?
Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
Interesting scripture I must say. From now on we recognize no one according to the flesh. I’m sure we all of read that and maybe thought about it but quickly finished our bible reading for the day. Forgive my sarcasm :). I’ve read it plenty times but I love when God highlights the scripture. Holy Spirit Sharpie Highlighter! Anywhoo… So what does Paul mean by this? I immediately think of 1 Cor. 6:11 which states: “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.“ Paul was recognizing them for who they are and not what they were doing. How many of us are trying to crucify the flesh or die to self? And no matter how much we do, we aren’t reflecting that truth. Ever hear of Phantom Pain or Phantom Limb Syndrome? Get this: people are operating out of something that isn’t there. Something that has been cut off. Something that is no longer a part of them. I researched(if you could call it that) phantom pain/limb syndrome and there are reports of people still feeling the limb and even gesticulating with the phantom limb while talking. I mean in no way to offend amputees btw so please don’t think I’m making light of actual people experiencing this. I say this because the thought occurred to me that if humans can walk and operate like they still have a limb that isn’t there that Christians still operate in something that isn’t there. This is what I like to call Phantom Flesh Syndrome. Now I’m getting off track…which happens when I blog. More on Phantom Flesh Syndrome on a later post.
Back to what I was saying before. The Kingdom is an inner man, spiritually discerned, God breathed life and outlook. We cannot recognize others based on what is dead. We need to call to life or call to a realization of what is already alive. Kingdom looks beyond the veil of flesh into the inner man created in God’s image(read previous Mirror Mirror post). I do not mean we do not acknowledge falling short of our brothers and sisters but we do not recognize as that action because it is no longer the core of who they are. There may be some root issues to deal with but at the core it is not who they are. Paul was pointing out these issues but countered it by saying, “such were(past/dead) some of you but you were washed/sanctified/justified.” You are no longer what you were.
I like how Paul thinks. Grace upon grace. He didn’t recognize them according to the flesh but spoke on their identity. That is why New Testament prophecy is about one who prophesies for edification and exhortation and consolation. That is directed at the same church! How many of us prophesy our words of knowledge? Did you know there is a difference? That is also for another post. Where is the light in an individual? The Divine spark present? Are you mirroring back the negative dead stuff or the alive Kingdom stuff? Are you calling people higher or just exposing what the blood has covered/washed away? No matter the person Christian or Pre-Christian they are created in God’s Image. Are we muddying up the mirror or washing it for people to properly see the image of Him who create them? How do you recognize people? By their sin or by their Redeemer? These are all question we need to ask ourselves when relating to people. Most importantly how did Jesus see those the religious deemed Image-less?
I was in a meeting a couple weeks ago and the speaker was a Pastor’s son from India. As usual, he spoke on what the ministry in India is doing and wants to do etc. The usual missionary type sharing from a pulpit. But something really jumped out at me. His father, during a sermon, was speaking on dreaming. He said, “Many can dream big, but few dream long.” Few dream long.
I need to dream long.
Based on previous blogs I spoke on Presence and Promise and how Presence is key to open Promise. Dreaming long is the same thing. I know for me to dream big is emotional suicide but to dream long is sustained expectancy. I can dream the biggest dreams and despite my doubt or unbelief I continue to dream big…but now I know I need to dream long.
Who knows when a big dream will manifest? Where it will? How it will?
Living in the journey with God is so important. Dreaming big but dreaming long. I’m learning to trust Him for the outcome. I’m learning that living in expectancy is better then living with expectations. Expectancy is choosing to live in the moment with faith in a secure future. Expectancy is dreaming long while enjoying the journey.
How many of us stop to smell the roses, if I may use that term we’ve all heard? Dreaming long and living in expectancy forces us to walk with God and not run ahead of Him. Great quote about dreaming from one of the Wright brothers.
I got more thrill out of flying before I had ever been in the air at all – while lying in bed thinking how exciting it would be to fly. – Orville Wright
They dreamed big and learned to dream long. Dreams are but the desires of your heart. “Everything that you will ask in prayer and believe, you will receive.” – Matthew 21:22
I confess that in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years. . . . Ever since, I have distrusted myself and avoided all predictions. – Wilbur Wright
It is not really necessary to look too far into the future; we see enough already to be certain it will be magnificent. Only let us hurry and open the roads. – Wilbur Wright
Dream big, saints and dream long! Live in the expectancy of today! Believe you will receive! May God grant to us the desires of our hearts!
15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].
Psalm 91:1New King James Version (NKJV)
91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
The secret place. Hebrew word: cether meaning: covering, shelter, hiding place, secrecy. The Hebrew word is the same in both scriptures. He formed us and protects us in the secret place. The place of protection is the place we were made.
Another interesting scripture is Colossians 3:10 and it talks about our inner man or spirit being renewed in the image of He Who created it. This is out there but when 2 Corinthians 5:17 talks about a new creation. Not necessarily a recuperated inner man. Why does Ezekiel 36:26 speak of a new heart and a new spirit. Revelation 21:5 says He makes all things new. New in Greek is kainos meaning: recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn, of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of. The same word for new creations. The first Adam was a living soul and the Last Adam a life giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). Two different Adam and two different creations. We are of the latter.
Colossians 3:3New American Standard Bible (NASB)
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Our zoe life is hidden with Christ in God. The secret place. Our inner man escaping notice being formed in the belly of the Father. You see Presence fashions us for Promise. When we live where we are seated we live from a place of Presence, rest, and hiddenness. We walk in authority and dominion from a Presence standpoint hidden in the Secret Place where we are continually formed by Him Who made us. And when we live out of the Presence we are like clumps of clay seeking identity outside of the Potter’s Hands. Anyone who has worked with clay and a potter’s wheel you know that, at first it’s formless and needs air bubbles etc. removed. Then by applying water it softens to be able to be molded into the vessel it was designed for in the Potter’s mind and heart. The water of the Rhema Word comes to bring the forming…and how gentle He does it. In the forming process it takes delicate hands and patience. How we feel like we are spinning in the process. We seem confused when our world system constructs get removed and we enter the Spirit and His forming process.
We need to behold Him! To observe Him! How did Jesus walk? With Him. He did only what he saw or observed what the Father was doing…including dying on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:19). 1 John 3:2 Aramaic Bible in Plain English: Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not been revealed until now what we are going to be, but we know that when he has been revealed, we shall be in his likeness, and we shall see him just as what he is. I believe the Bride will be transfigured by observance of Who He is in them. Observance not of principles or laws are scriptures reading but literal observance…the same way the Apostle Paul received his revelation. No I don’t believe in “new” revelation as in new scripture but there are new things God is revealing which are in line with what scripture declares.
The Apostle John receive The Revelation of Jesus Christ because he was positioned on His chest. He laid there and made that place his home. Revelation came from that Secret Place. That is my desire. To be so close to His Heart that mine becomes His and His becomes mine and I adhere and stay glued to Him by the Spirit. There are secrets He wants to share but they are found in the Secret Place. Secrets are always from the heart.
I don’t know about you but I tend to get frustrated with life at times. How many of us can relate to our needs overcoming our wants? Needs come and come and must be met and met. Wants seldom show up and when they do we rarely get to fulfill them. Now I know what scripture says about needs and wants. Psalm 23 etc. But how many of our wants or desires come to pass…or come to…pass and not stay. I was thinking about how many things I want to do in life and how I don’t see much possibility of them happening. I know with God all thing are possible but how? I want the Promise so bad. So bad I can taste it…the taste of milk and honey.
I have so many wants: traveling, speaking, counseling, inner healing and deliverance sessions along with Sozo sessions. I desire to set people set free and walking in who they are. Not head knowledge but heart knowing.
Then I listened to a Graham Cooke teaching…
He spoke on living with God in the question. Walking with God in the midst of waiting. I think of the difference between Promise and Presence. God promised Israel a land flowing with milk and honey but His Presence was there in the journey. An arduous journey to boot. Moses had the proper perspective. Even with the Promise near he wouldn’t go with Presence.
My needs need to transfigure into glorious stepping stones. My wants need to be there without the gravitational pull of disappointment. For I do have an appointment but until Presence cuts the veil I remain living with God in the present with His Presence with an expectancy of future Promise.
I think that is where I am getting it wrong. Why I’m frustrated. Why I feel like Promise is the carrot on the end of the stick. Interesting scripture in Psalm 103:7 is says God made know His acts to Israel but His ways to Moses. Moses had a backstage pass to what was going on. Sure Moses clearly didn’t get it all right but God trusted Him. I want and need my own Tent of Meetings. A place where perspective is birthed and clarified. A place where I can see God mouth to mouth. A place where Presence sustains while the Promise waits for my arrival. God has given me a name. That name is Possessor. I plan to possess first Presence and then Promise.
Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of them all?
How many of us do this every day? We continually seek our identity and validation on other people and things. We look at the Photoshopped world of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest and judge our lives and worth based on other people. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone’s post or picture get several comments or likes, while I post the same exact thing and get nothing. How many times have I judged my worth on someone’s recognition or lack of recognition. I started my blog several months ago and someone else I know just started theirs…and theirs has blown up(in a good way). They get all these likes and comments and promotion but I hear or see crickets on mine. I had to check my heart…and my reflection. What part of me am I seeing when I react out of my soul instead of responding out of my spirit. I see myself blocking the post so I don’t have to see it or unfollowing them so my hurt and unresolved rejection isn’t confronted. To be honest I did unfollow. I was envious and jealous. The room of rejection yelled, “SEE NO ONE LIKES YOU!” And I accepted it… Until I dropped back into my spirit and responded with thankfulness that someone is being recognized for their gifts and attributes. There two cents are being heeded and honored and I love it!
I’m going to share something that Jesus showed me a couple weeks ago in a vision(mind’s eye). I was at a Waterboyz for Jesus Boot Camp (based of John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart Boot Camp) and there was a mandatory code of silence to reflect on life and to ask Father God to father me. So I had this picture, vision whatever you want to call it, I was standing in the entrance to my High School’s Cafeteria on my lunch period and surveying the cafe…but first the backdrop. I was never a popular person in High School. I didn’t have a good solid friend or group of friends but I had several acquaintances. I feared every new lunch period because I was never invited to sit with anyone. Never. It was a room screaming rejection and “you don’t fit in.” Frozen with rejection and aimless. So I either sat at the “nerd” table, where one of my acquaintances sat, or some other obscure area. It was awkward. So back to the vision. I saw myself at the entrance to this same cafeteria with rejection screaming “you’re not invited.” Then I saw Jesus…waving me over to his table. He said, “You will always have a seat at my table.” It broke me in the best possible healing way. I have turned to a greater mirror! A mirror that displays goodness and acceptance and redemption and kindness. I love Jesus and how He speaks to our wounded and applies his healing balm. It soothes and replenishes. He is my mirror! He is my reflection! A river that never runs dry and a fragrance that never dissipates. In fact I’m his odor to a rejected and lost world. 2 Corinthians 2:15 says, For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
I’m going to share several scriptures that speak to mirrors or mirroring and the effect. I’m not going to quote them all but for your reference.
2 Corinthians 3:13-15,18
James 1:23-24
1 Corinthians 13:12
1 John 3:2
1 John 2:6
Roman 8:18
1 John 4:17
1 Corinthians 6:17
John 17:22
Acts 3:21
2 Peter 3:12
Philippians 2:5-8
Ephesians 1:22-23
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 3:18
Unveiled faces. We are not like Moses who HAD to cover his face with a veil. Noticed when I talked in the Ten of Meeting he took the veil off. Now with Christ and Him renting the veil in two from top to bottom He, not only gave man access to God, but He gave God access to man! We are image bearers. We carry the image of God on this earth. We are the image of God.
Beholding as in a mirror. What do mirrors do but reflect what is put before them. They don’t make up their own image. We don’t make up our own image. Where do we receive our reflection from? Who do we receive our reflection from? 1 John 4:17 says as He is(currently. not past but now) so are we in this world. The glory given to Jesus by God is transferred to us.
We are being transformed into the same image… What? The same image? “Same” in Greek is autos meaning: the same, himself, in itself it signifies nothing more than again, applied to what has either been previously mentioned or, when the whole discourse is looked at, must necessarily be supplied. “Image” in Greek is eikōn which means: the image of one. Also this verse says we are transformed into the same image. Transformed in Greek is, get this: metamorphoō to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure. To transfigure! The same exact word used to describe Jesus when he metamorphoō on the mount with Elijah and Moses.
1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not been revealed until now what we are going to be, but we know that when he has been revealed, we shall be in his likeness, and we shall see him just as what he is.” Seeing God, like Moses, has a uncovering of glory that is already within us, locked up in our blood since before Adam fell. Originally we were covered with glory and the radiance of God. Man sinned and that glory was shut up in the body and dwindled to embers…until Jesus breathed upon the disciples thus provided the Oxygen of God upon the ember to ignite and begin the transfiguration process. The more He is revealed the more we will be revealed. Creation is groaning for us Church! We will be like Him because we will see Him. FYI this is pre Second Coming in my opinion according to Acts 3:21. The Beauty of the Bride is in the union with her Husband and Head! We can, by our communion with the Father and submitting to the glorification of us by our seeing Him. We are one spirit with Him – 1 Corinthians 6:17. Co-Heirs. Brothers of Christ. Kings and lords under the King of kings and Lord of lords! Seated together with Christ!
For too long the image I saw was the image I walked out. When I interpret the image incorrectly it will only result of living incorrectly. By the water of word and the Holy Spirit, He can clean our mirror so we can see, unveiled, the Glory of the Lord so we can begin to walk in original design and our original selves.
Prayer:
Father, in Jesus’ name, I ask You to clean our mirrors and remove our veils so we may fully see you and then fully see ourselves. We repent for dismissing our glory, the glory you gave us. We cast our crowns only to have them returned to us purified to then cast them again on your feet. Let us remain in worship at your feet while also communing at your chest in which the revelation of Jesus Christ comes through us so we may truly walk, as Your body, the fullness of You who fills all things in every way. Let us walk as the fullness of You on earth and re-present you to this world. All with the spirit of agape love and true humility, a partner, associate, comrade, and companion of the Divine Nature. Let our mind be the same that was in You, Jesus, according to Philippians 2:5-8. And Lord we know you are the Author and Finisher of our faith and You are the Substance and Hope by which we seek you with all that we are. Thank you for reversing the body, soul, and spirit to spirit, soul, and body. In Jesus name we give you the glory and receive the glory you have given us. We worship and honor You, Almighty God, our Friend. Amen!
Have you ever wondered why God chose to reveal Himself as a Father? Have you? I never thought of this until listening to Wm. Paul Young (author of The Shack, Cross Roads) speak about it and after reading and listening to John Eldredge from Ransomed Heart speak and write about it.
We need fathers! Physical and Spiritual! Paul wrote about it as well..1 Corinthians 4:15. Everyone wants to teach but no one wants to take the time to father. A father is involved and doesn’t just spit out knowledge and leave you to figure it out. He is THERE for you. A father leads and guides…shows you the Way in which you should go (Prov. 22:6) But if you look at the Church there are many teachers… I need a father. My earthly father did what he could with what he had and his father as well.
The wound of a father cuts the deepest. For me I can recognize, these days, the story that is behind my father. I know him and forgive him but I have been wounded. I craved validation and approval. I didn’t always get it. Especially a little over a year ago.
I was engaged to my now beautiful wife and there was some miscommunication/gossip/triangulation (see my blog He Said She Said) and it caused speculation and the appearance of a wounding. But the case wasn’t so. You know the whole Telephone/Grapevine game. The original message gets distorted usually by the next person. Soooo I said all that to say this…he didn’t want me to get married. He said he wanted to make sure I was sure but it got out hand. He invalidated my choice and because it was one of the most important decisions in my life he was invalidating me. It was rough…and still is some days. I literally have a sinking feeling in my gut for a couple weeks. I needed his validation but didn’t get it.
I also have tried to connect with older men and nothing…absolutely nothing. Empty promises and fakeness. What does a young man who needs a father/mentor do when no one wants to do it? I know many others in the same shoes as I. And it doesn’t matter your age. Fatherlessness is way to prevalent in society hence the statistics above. But God!
God came as Father. THE FATHER! A Father who wants to be with you. A Father you not only loves you but likes you. A Father who is here to validate you as a man. A Father that WILL be a Father to you. He knew the void and He filled/fills/will fill it. You can walk as a son fully loved and validated and accepted and…approved of. Don’t you just want to hear God say over you, right now, “Behold my son in who I am well pleased.” Do you realize God the Father spoke that over Jesus…and he didn’t do one thing yet. He was pleasing because of who He is and not what He did. And guess what…you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you. The Father’s pleasure is on you right now regardless if you just slipped and viewed porn or yelled at your kids or smoked a joint or whatever issue you may be recovering from. His view of you has and will never changed.
One of the things God the Father has shown me, in the middle of sin, is that He loves me so much. One day while driving home I was grieving over my sin and shame and told/asked God, “You must be tired of me.” Immediately my Father spoke into me, “I neither slumber nor sleep!” It was like a boom in me. An explosion of connectedness. He isn’t tired of me. He isn’t fed up with me. He is not ashamed of me (Heb. 2:11). He is love…He doesn’t have love He is the stuff.
God has not abandoned you! I say it again..God your Father has not and will not abandon you. Your sonship and His fathership is attacked and the enemy doesn’t want it…but God has and will break through. Can’t you hear Him right now speaking validation and honor or you? I know you want to be honored and He is honoring you right now. I see new robes He is placing on you right now (Zech. 3:3-5) He is not fed up with you. He is not tired of you. You do not drive Him up a wall. You do not get on His last nerve. You do not press His buttons. Come back to His heart…it’s where you belong and where you find yourself. He has a ring and a new robe and is throwing a party for you! You are the center of His attention and He is fathering you right now. Will you let Him be that Father? Your future depends on it. Let Him come into that invalidation and validate. Let Him enter the disapproval and heal it. Let Him heal your wounded heart with His love and satisfaction in you as a man and son of His love.
Let your initiation in manhood begin…!!!
Please watch this video…it’s amazing! Be blessed men of God! You are God’s son and He loves you with everything He is!
What is shame? How do you know if you carry shame? How do you know if it’s affecting your life? How do you know if shame is your current mirror? How many times have you heard someone say shame on you? How many times have you said it yourself?
Only the shamed will sow shame. Shame damages and destroys the image of God in you. Shame is a dirty mirror indeed. It is when you take what someone says about you as a value statement instead of an observation. Someone with shame will take correction as someone judging you but if you take it as an observation you’ll take it as a learning situation and thank that person because you know that if a wise man is rebuked he loves it because he wants to learn and is teachable. If you take things as value statements then anything anyone says to you even remotely negative or even positive remarks, you’ll immediately hide and run and think shame and won’t accept compliments.
But when healing and truth comes you can take what people say as constructive criticism and with thanks because it gives you an opportunity to grow and learn. Now there are things that you need to simply refuse due to ill intent. Scripture says rebuke a wise man and he will love you for it. (Prov. 9:8)
When was the last time someone was rebuking and returned love and thankfulness in return? But that is what a teachable spirit is: knowing that iron sharpens iron and all things and situations can be used to grow and thrive in. Shame along with the view of that what people say about or to you as value statements only make you want to run and hide.
If we are adults and we were wounded by a parent who would knowingly or unknowingly wound us we can get healed and walk forward and out of shame. Some of you have tried to help your parents out with housework or yard work only to have them pick it apart and say how bad of job you did or maybe you wanted to wash your father’s car as a surprise and your father only could see the spots you missed and were still dirty and decided to rewash the whole car all the while telling you how you missed so many spots.
These things have hurt you and you’ve probably decide you’ll never wash a car or do dishes again. Maybe you decided you never want to be vulnerable and help anyone again because they won’t approve of how well you’re doing. There is healing and restoration for your heart, soul, and spirit. God will heal you and then you no longer need to take things people say about you as value statements and now they will only be observations because you know that your Heavenly Father is the one where you truest identity is present.
God is not ashamed of you! His smile over you is consistent because that is who He is!
The problem is we take our messed up pasts and poor parenting and place that label on the Father. He is not like your parents. He is so much better and he will re-parent you and you’ll learn what it means like to be approved and accepted and truly loved as a son or daughter of God.
Healing
A prayer for healing:
God. I need you as my Father. Help me. I need You to re-raise, re-parent, and re-present parenting to me. I hurt. Shame has been on me for so many years. But I know, deep down, You are good. Forgive me for judging You based on the bad parenting and upbringing I had. Thank you for forgiving me. I give you access to all areas of my life and heart. Bring healing! Thank you for bearing my grief, shame, hurt, and damage. You are good, God, and I believe it now. You are awesome and, God, I now believe I am awesome too! I am awesome because I am created in Your image. Thank you, Father for giving me the healing and ability to call you Father. Thank you that my heart is good and with this good heart I can love you with it when before my heart was hurt and couldn’t love you properly. Thank you for placing me in Christ, where true and ultimate healing is. Thank You for giving me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a good heart to receive and experience You and the Love that You are. I forgive my parents and teachers and coaches and relatives and siblings and anyone else who may of wounded or hurt me in the past. I release them into Your hands. Thank you, Father, for healing and setting me free to be free indeed. Thank you for being in my Shack all along waiting for me to come to You for healing.
A declaration:
Father, in Jesus’ name, I declare the person reading this is free from shame! Free from the pain that it has brought! And free from the past! You’re heart is beautiful, awesome, powerful, clean, and free to love God and others. I declare you now can love yourself! Healing come right now to the wounds of the past and present. Healing! Healing! Healing! No more shame! Shame OFF you! I decree complete healing! Set free by the love of the Father who loves you with and eternal and everlasting love. I call forth your spirit man to rise up and receive the love of the Father and the acceptance and approval of the Father! No more shame! No more shame! The love of the Father, Perfect Love cast out all fear right now! Father comes with your soothing voice and touch and complete the work You began in their life! I say all this in Jesus’ mighty name!
Just the other day I was in a meeting where a person was sharing on “grace.” I use quotations because I don’t think the person really understood what grace was. This meeting was geared towards those who are in recovery for emotional, chemical, and sexual addictions along with other hurts, habits, and hang-ups. I’m sure some of you know what type of meeting I am talking about.
The guest speaker began his sermon talking about grace and I was like, “Awesome, because that’s what those who are struggling with sin need to hear.” So I listened and had an open and hopeful mind. The sermon was good for about 10-15 minutes and then it took a turn downhill. I mean not to judge the person speaking, for who am I to judge another man’s servant, but to check if it’s truth Berean style.
He mentioned how much of a wretch he is and proceeded to tell us how we are wretches as well. He also mentioned how sin is permanent and that we are permanently in sin. He then started talking about the hyper-grace message and how he likes it and, I guess, thought his message was hyper-grace. I beg to differ.
Don’t hold me back!
First off, believers are not wretches! We are children of God, born again with a new spirit, heart, mind, and we are accepted in the Beloved. (Eph. 1:6, 1 Cor. 2:16, Philippians 4:7, Ezek. 11:19, 36:26, 2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15) We are one spirit with Him. (1Cor. 6:17) I am sure he was referring to Rom. 7 when Paul was describe how wretched he was for not being able to do what he wants but doing the very thing he didn’t want. This scripture, in my opinion and based off what I believe scripture teaches, is not really a Christian’s struggle with sin but the struggle with the law of sin. (Rom. 3:20, Rom 8:2-3, 1 Cor. 15:56, Gal. 2:16, Heb. 10:1)
Sin and the law of sin were forever dealt with on the cross AND resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Col. 2:14, John 19:30, 1 Cor. 15:17, Rom. 11:27, Col. 2:10-12, Heb. 1:3, 1 Pet. 2:24) Now read 1 John 2:1-2 and look for the keyword “if” present in this scripture.
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (NKJV emphasis mine)
If we sin…if. Guess what the greek word for “if” is? If! Based on the fact that Jesus walked with God in full humanity and never used His Divinity but did only what He saw the Father doing tells me that, I also can choose not to sin as I abide in Him just as He abides in our Father. (John 5:19, John 15:4-5, Philippians 2:7, Heb. 2:17-18,) To use a quote from Georgian Banov (www.globalcelebration.com), “If you’re not free from sin until you die, then Jesus isn’t your savior; death is.” This is so truth but the church still doesn’t believe it as a whole.
Another scripture he quoted was in 1 John 1:8 which states if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. He forgot to mention verse 9 where it says if we confess He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. This is truth. We are set free from sin! The law of the Spirit of Life has taken over and is operative! If we say we haven’t sinned we are justifying ourselves through the law of condemnation, which has glory by the way. (2 Cor. 3:9) But the ministry of righteousness exceeds it in glory! Hallelujah!!
Don’t hold me back!
I am reading a book by Watchman Nee called, “Not I, But Christ,” and it is astounding teaching. Oh the simplicity that is in Christ. In 2 Corinthians 11:3 is says,
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. (NASB)
In this book he clearly lines out that the law of sin is a law and is in effect but the law of the Spirit of Life is present and is a greater law that does indeed supersede it. I’ll leave with some other quotes.
The Lamb was slain before Adam ever fell. – Anonymous (not sure who said this originally)
“Grace means that God does something for me; law means that I do something for God. God has certain holy and righteous demands which he places upon me: that is law. Now if law means that God requires something of me for their fulfillment, then deliverance from law means he no longer requires that from me, but himself provides it.” ~ Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life
What is Romans 7? Romans 7 tells us that the dead man is protesting. The Lord has crucified the old man, yet I protest. – Watchman Nee
As Christ is our substitute in death, so is He our substitute in life. – Watchman Nee
Let me tell you, victories are all won unawares. Why is it that you overcome without being conscious of it? It is because a law is working. The law of the Spirit of Life set you free from the law of sin and death. Jesus established a higher law to disable the lower law. To overcome sin does not require an ounce of strength, for it is the work of the law of the Spirit of Life. – Watchmen Nee (paraphrased)
As He is...so are we 