SPIRITUAL WAREFARE - SWORD OF THE SPIRIT PART 3

             
               

HOPEFULLY, YOU HAVE READ PART 1 AND 2 BEFORE READING THIS...AND YOU MIGHT WELL ASK "WHY SPEND SO MUCH TIME CONSIDERING THIS TOPIC?" SURELY YOU MUST KNOW WE ARE AT WAR IN THE HEAVENLIES, FOR THE SCRIPTURE DECLARES, "WE DON'T FIGHT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES (SATANIC FORCES) IN THE HEAVENLIES! (EPHESIANS 6:12) IF WE DON'T KNOW WHO OUR ENEMIES ARE, HOW WILL WE BE ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY ENTER INTO WARFARE, AND BE VICTORIOUS IN SUCH BATTLES? TRAGICALLY, THIS IS WHAT WE ARE EXPERIENCING IN OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THIS VERY DAY!  THEY REFUSE TO IDENTIFY THE ENEMY BY NAME AND THUS WE ARE EXPERIENCING WORLD-WIDE THE DIRE CONSEQUENCES THAT EXIST!

WE ARE TOLD IN 1 SAMUAL 17:47 "...THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S...". KEEP IN MIND WE CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT HIM AND HE WILL DO NOTHING WITHOUT US! (JOHN 15:5) OUR VERY LIVES AND THE LIVES OF OTHERS COULD WELL DEPEND ON OUR PUTTING INTO ACTION THESE TRUTHS AS FOUND IN SCRIPTURE, FOR WE ARE TOLD IN JOHN 14:12 THAT WE WILL "DO GREATER WORKS...", NOT IN QUALITY, BUT IN QUANTITY, AS JESUS WAS EMPOWERED TO DO BY THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ORDER TO FULFILL HIS MINISTRY WHILE HE WAS ON EARTH. THUS, SO ARE WE CALLED TO GO DO BEING EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!  

IT IS IMPERATIVE, THAT IN ORDER TO TRULY FULFILL GOD'S PLAN WHICH ALL TOO OFTEN INVOLVES SPIRITUAL WARFARE CONCERNING EACH OF US, WE MUST BE EQUIPPED/EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT SO AS TO ENTER INTO BATTLE AND BE VICTORIOUS AS WE FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!  KEEP IN MIND, WE ARE HIS SOLDIERS AS THE CLASSIC HYMN DECLARES "ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS, MARCHING AS TO WAR...WITH THE CROSS OF JESUS GOING ON BEFORE..."!  THE CRITICAL QUESTION IS "ARE YOU EQUIPPED TO GO INTO BATTLE IN THE HEAVENLIES" AND WIN?

WE ARE TOLD TO "THEREFORE SUBMIT TO GOD. RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU." (JAMES 4:7)  EPHESIANS 6:10-18 CLEARLY ADDRESSES TAKING A BATTLE-STANCE AGAINST SATAN AND HIS MINIONS THAT WE "MAY BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND IN THE EVIL DAY". (VERSE 13)  KEY QUESTION..."ARE YOU RESISTING THE DEVIL AND WHAT STRATEGIES ARE YOU USING TO DO SO?"

IT IS DECLARED IN MATTHEW 11:12 "AND FROM THE DAYS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST UNTIL NOW, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERS VIOLENCE, AND THE VIOLENT (SPIRIT- FILLED CHRISTIANS) TAKE IT BY FORCE IN USING THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT...AGAIN THE RHEMA SPOKEN WORD OF THE WRITTEN WORD (LOGOS).

AS WE READ IN CHAPTER 4 OF MATTHEW, IN ORDER FOR JESUS TO BE EMPOWERED TO BE THE VICTOR IN THE BATTLE AGAINST SATAN ON EARTH, AS I DECLARED EARLIER, IT WAS IMPERATIVE FOR HIM TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THE RIVER JORDAN BEING BAPTIZED BY JOHN THE BAPTIST.  IT IS WRITTEN THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT LED JESUS INTO THE WILDERNESS TO HAVE A SHOWDOWN WITH SATAN WHO WENT THERE TO TEMPT JESUS AS HE BEGAN HIS MINISTRY,  FOR THIS WAS THE INITIAL BATTLE THAT HAD TO BE FOUGHT BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN SO AS TO ESTABLISH WHO JESUS ACTUALLY WAS AND IS! JESUS DIDN'T FIGHT THIS BATTLE ALL BY HIMSELF, FOR HE WAS EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, JUST AS WE ARE FIGHTING, NOT BY OURSELVES, BUT EMPOWERED AS WELL BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.

I AM FULLY AWARE THAT I AM BEING REDUNDANT IN SOME OF MY COMMENTS....BUT AGAIN, THESE TRUTHS MUST BE SHARED OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN ORDER FOR US TO IMMERSED IN SUCH ACTION TRUTHS!

THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHERE THE “SWORD OF THE SPIRIT” I.E. THE RHEMA, WHICH IS THE SPOKEN WORD (SCRIPTURE) OF GOD, NOT THE LOGOS WHICH IS THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD, WAS SEEN IN ACTION WITH JESUS TAKING HIS AUTHORITY AGAINST SATAN IN VERSES 4,7,10 OF MATTHEW, FOR HERE WE SEE JESUS WIELDING THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT AT SATAN…I.E., HE SPOKE , OR "DECLARED A THING..." AS DID GOD WHEN HE DECLARED (COMMANDED) "LET THERE BE LIGHT, AND THERE WAS LIGHT AS WELL AS OTHER COMMANDS IN GENESIS 1:3-31.

JESUS, NOW WITH HIS AUTHORITY AND EMPOWERMENT, SPOKE BOLDLY TO WHATEVER THE ATTACK HAPPENED TO BE AND AS YOU WELL KNOW, HE HAD MANY DURING HIS 3 YEARS OF MINISTRY AND THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, HAVE THAT SAME AUTHORITY/EMPOWERMENT OVER THE ENEMY'S ATTACKS UPON US AS JESUS DID.  PRAISE GOD...HAVE YOU EVER CONTEMPLATED WHAT LIFE WOULD BE LIKE FOR US IF THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD NOT BEEN LEFT WITH US WHEN JESUS ASCENDED TO THE FATHER?  WHAT A BLESSING AND AN ALL PROVIDING ALMIGHTY GOD IS FOR HIS CHILDREN!  THANK YOU, OUR MOST CARING AND LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER.

FOR IT IS WRITTEN IN ACTS 1:8 (WHICH IS THE KEY VERSE IN ACTS) "BUT YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU AND YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES TO ME IN JERUSALEM, AND ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA, AND TO THE END OF THE EARTH." THIS IS A POWERFUL SPIRITUAL WARFARE STRATEGY WITH WHICH WE AS CHRISTIANS HAVE BEEN TRULY BLESSED...KEEP IN MIND - POWER IS OURS TO USE!

THUS, THE QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ASKED..."DO WE TRULY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE SCRIPTURES AND N THESE BLOGS,  AND ARE WE PUTTING THESE TRUTHS INTO ACTION"?  AGAIN, PLEASE REMEMBER JESUS' DECLARATION IN JOHN 14:12 "MOST ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME, THE WORKS THAT I DO HE (WE) WILL DO ALSO; AND GREATER WORKS THAN THESE HE (WE) WILL DO BECAUSE I GO TO MY FATHER."

 AGAIN, BACK TO THE WARFARE IN MATTHEW 4:4, JESUS BRANDISHED THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT (THE RHEMA WORD) AGAINST SATAN: “IT IS WRITTEN, MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.” 
AND VERSE 7 "JESUS SAID TO HIM, 'IT IS WRITTEN AGAIN, YOU SHALL NOT TEMPT THE LORD YOUR GOD.'"
THEN JESUS AGAIN USING THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, SAID TO SATAN BOLDLY IN VERSE 10, 
"AWAY WITH YOU SATAN! FOR IT IS WRITTEN, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HIM ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE,'  SATAN HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO FLEE BECAUSE HE COULD NOT ARGUE WITH JESUS WIELDING THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, DECLARING THE RHEMA WORD, WHICH AGAIN, IS THE SPOKEN WORD (SCRIPTURES) OF GOD ALMIGHTY! "THEN THE DEVIL LEFT HIM" (VERSES 10,11) FOR A SEASON, FOR HE WOULD BE BACK...AND WE KNOW ALL TOO WELL MANY TIMES HE RETURNED, TRYING HIS BEST TO DESTROY JESUS, AS HE DOES WITH US! AND WE KNOW THE CROSS WAS THE FINAL ATTEMPT BY SATAN, TO DESTROY JESUS.  PRAISE GOD, HE FAILED, THANKFULLY! NOW SATAN MOVES ON TO DESTROY US...THOSE OF US WHO HAVE DECLARED, "YES, LORD, I BELIEVE THAT JESUS CAME TO EARTH TO SET ME FREE."THEREFORE IF THE SON MAKES YOU FREE, YOU SHALL BE FREE INDEED." (JOHN 8:36) PRAISE GOD!

NOTE...IT IS MOST IMPORTANT FOR US TO UNDERSTAND THAT SATAN HAS NO AUTHORITY OVER US - NONE WHATSOEVER, EXCEPT THAT WHICH WE LET HIM HAVE IN OUR REBELLION/SIN! THUS, WHENEVER WE ARE UNDER ATTACK FROM SATAN, WE MUST FIRST CONSIDER, IS THIS ATTACK UPON ME AS A RESULT OF SIN IN MY LIFE? IF IT IS, IT IS IMPERATIVE FOR US TO RUN TO 1 JOHN 1:9 "IF WE CONFESS OUR SIN, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE OUR SIN AND CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS".  I REFER YOU TO MICAH 4:18,19 FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPORT CONCERNING THIS TOPIC. 

IF YOU HAVE WIPED THE SLATE CLEAN FROM ALL SIN, AND YOU ARE STILL UNDER ATTACK, THEN IT IS TIME TO COME BOLDLY AGAINST SATAN, WIELDING THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, FOR IT IS WRITTEN AND AS WELL A PROMISE..."YOU ARE OF GOD, LITTLE CHILDREN, AND HAVE OVERCOME THEM, BECAUSE HE (JESUS) WHO IS IN YOU IS GREATER THAN HE WHO IS IN THE WORLD" (1 JOHN 4:4) AMEN? 

                            TO BE CONTINUED IN BLOG 4

AS I CONTINUE TO DECLARE, DEAR READERS OF THE UNITED STATES, UKRAINE, LATIVA, RUSSIA, THAILAND, TO NAME A FEW, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE LIKE THE BEREANS: "TO FIND OUT WHETHER THESE THINGS WERE SO." (ACTS 17:11)

SPIRITUAL WARFARE - THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT PART 2

WELCOME TO PART TWO......HOPEFULLY, YOU HAVE READ PART ONE BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO READ THIS.....

 LET’S TRAVEL BACK HISTORICALLY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, TO THE RIVER JORDAN TO WITNESS JESUS’ BAPTISM BY JOHN THE BAPTIST, AS DESCRIBED IN MATTHEW 3:13-17.

 IF YOU DID A WORD STUDY OF "GOD" IN GENESIS 1:1, YOU WILL LEARN THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS INITIALLY INTRODUCED AS PART OF THE TRIUNE GOD , ELOHIM  (PLURAL),  MEANING..."THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST [SPIRIT]."  FOR “THE SPIRIT OF GOD HOVERED OVER THE FACE OF THE WATERS.” (V. 2) YOU WILL SEE EVIDENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGHOUT THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. BUT HE TRULY COMES TO THE “FRONT”, IF YOU WILL, IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, IN MATTHEW 1:18 WHERE WE READ "NOW THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST WAS AS FOLLOWS: AFTER HIS MOTHER MARY WAS BETROTHED TO JOSEPH, BEFORE THEY CAME TOGETHER, SHE WAS FOUND WITH CHILD OF THE HOLY SPIRIT."

IT IS CRUCIAL FOR YOU TO SPEND TIME IN THE BOOK OF ACTS, WHICH IS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY LUKE ABOUT AD 62.  THE KEY VERSE SPOKEN BY JESUS IN THE BOOK OF ACTS IS 1:8.  “BUT YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU; AND YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES TO ME IN JERUSALEM, AND IN ALL JUDEA, AND SAMARIA, AND TO THE END OF THE EARTH.” IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT “THE BOOK OF ACTS IS THE STORY OF THE DISCIPLES RECEIVING WHAT JESUS RECEIVED IN ORDER TO DO WHAT JESUS DID.”

(NEW SPIRIT FILLED LIFE BIBLE, PAGE 1487) ALSO IS HAS BEEN SAID THAT THE BOOK OF ACTS IS THE BRIDGE LEADING FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT TO NEW TESTAMENT, FROM THE OLD COVENANT OF LEGALISM TO THE NEW TESTAMENT WHICH IS THE COVENANT OF GRACE.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT AS THE EARLY DISCIPLES RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT SO AS TO "DO" WHAT JESUS DID, THE “EMPOWERMENT” OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS AVAILABLE FOR THOSE BELIEVERS WHO DESIRE TO WALK IN THE FULLNESS OF WHAT IT IS TO ACCOMPLISH ALL THAT THE LORD GOD SO DESIRES FOR US AND THAT IS TO BE BAPTIZED(FILLED) WITH/IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. ALL THAT ONE WHO IS A BELIEVER HAS TO DO TO BE BAPTIZED/FILLED IS TO ASK, JUST AS YOU ASKED TO BE BORN AGAIN!  REMEMBER THE SCRIPTURE WHICH DECLARES “ASK, AND IT WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU; SEEK, AND YOU WILL FIND”. (MATTHEW 7:7-11)  IN ADDITION, READ IN 1 CORINTHIANS, CHAPTERS 12-14 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE HOLY SPIRIT.  YOU WILL BE ABUNDANTLY BLESSED!

WE READ, BEGINNING IN ACTS 1:4-14, THAT JESUS PROMISED HIS DISCIPLES THE HOLY SPIRIT, "BUT TO WAIT FOR THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER 'WHICH HE SAID YOU HAVE HEARD FROM ME…..FOR JOHN TRULY BAPTIZED WITH WATER, BUT YOU SHALL BE BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT NOT MANY DAYS FROM NOW'”. AND AGAIN IN VERSE 8, “BUT YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU….” CONSIDER ACTS 10:38, “....HOW GOD ANOINTED JESUS OF NAZARETH WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER, WHO WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD AND HEALING ALL WHO WERE OPPRESSED BY THE DEVIL, FOR GOD WAS WITH HIM.”  AS HE IS WITH EACH OF US WHO DESIRE TO BE EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, THANKFULLY!

AS WE READ IN CHAPTER 4 OF MATTHEW, IN ORDER FOR JESUS TO BE EMPOWERED TO BE THE VICTOR IN THE BATTLE AGAINST SATAN ON EARTH, AGAIN AS I DECLARED EARLIER, IT WAS IMPERATIVE FOR HIM TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.  AND AGAIN IN CHAPTER 4, IT IS WRITTEN THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT LED JESUS INTO THE WILDERNESS TO HAVE A SHOWDOWN WITH SATAN WHO WENT THERE TO TEMPT JESUS AS HE BEGAN HIS MINISTRY,  FOR THIS WAS THE INITIAL BATTLE THAT HAD TO BE FOUGHT BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN SO AS TO ESTABLISH WHO JESUS ACTUALLY WAS AND IS THE SON OF GOD!

AGAIN, THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHERE THE “SWORD OF THE SPIRIT” I.E. THE RHEMA (SPOKEN) WORD OF GOD, NOT THE LOGOS WHICH IS THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD, WAS SEEN IN ACTION WITH JESUS TAKING HIS AUTHORITY AGAINST SATAN IN VERSES 4,7,10 FOR  WE SEE JESUS WIELDING THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT…I.E., HE SPOKE , OR "DECLARED A THING..." AS DID GOD WHEN HE DECLARED (COMMANDED) "LET THERE BE LIGHT, AND THERE WAS LIGHT AS WELL AS OTHER COMMANDS IN GENESIS 1:3-31.

JESUS, WITH HIS AUTHORITY AND EMPOWERMENT, SPOKE TO WHATEVER THE SITUATION WAS...AND THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN JESUS, WITH HIS AUTHORITY AND EMPOWERMENT, SPOKE TO WHATEVER THE SITUATION WAS...AND THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, HAVE THAT SAME AUTHORITY/EMPOWERMENT OVER THE ENEMY'S ATTACKS UPON US! FOR IT IS WRITTEN IN ACTS 1:8 (WHICH IS THE KEY VERSE IN ACTS) "BUT YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU AND YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES TO ME IN JERUSALEM, AND ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA, AND TO THE END OF THE EARTH." THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE SPIRITUAL WARFARE STRATEGY WITH WHICH WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED. THE QUESTION TO BE ASKED..."DO WE UNDERSTAND THIS AND ARE WE PUTTING THESE TRUTHS INTO ACTION"?  PLEASE REMEMBER JESUS' DECLARATION IN 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 (IN QUANITY, NOT QUALITY)WORKS THAN THESE HE WILL DO, BECAUSE I GO TO MY FATHER."

PART THREE TO BE CONTINUED....

AND AGAIN, DEAR READER, I ALWAYS ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE LIKE THE BEREANS: "TO FIND OUT WHETHER THESE THINGS WERE SO." (ACTS 17:11)

YOUR FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS APPRECIATED!

 

SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT

SPIRITUAL WARFARE - THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT                                   
                                                       PART ONE
                                                                    

SERIOUSLY CONSIDER THIS, DEAR READER....ARE YOU PREPARED AND EQUIPPED TO ENTER INTO SPIRITUAL WARFARE BY BRANDISHING THE "SWORD OF THE SPIRIT" WHICH IS THE SPOKEN "RHEMA" WORD OF GOD FROM THE "LOGOS" WHICH IS THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD?  "WHY SHOULD I BE?" YOU RIGHTLY ASK... SO AS TO ENTER INTO SPIRITUAL WARFARE AGAINST "THE THIEF (WHO) DOES NOT COME EXCEPT TO STEAL, AND TO KILL, AND TO DESTROY..." (JOHN 10:10)

WE ARE COMMANDED IN EPHESIANS 6:10, 11, "FINALLY, MY BRETHREN, BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT." AND "PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL." MOST IMPORTANTLY, KEEP IT ON, FOR WHAT SAINT WOULD NOT WANT TO BE PROTECTED BY THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD 24/7?  I CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO THE EVER SO CRUCIAL VERSE 12: "FOR WE DO NOT WRESTLE AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES, AGAINST POWERS, AGAINST THE RULERS OF DARKNESS OF THIS AGE, AGAINST SPIRITUAL HOSTS OF WICKEDNESS IN HEAVENLY PLACES."

ALSO, IT IS MOST IMPORTANT THAT WE KEEP BEFORE US WHAT IS DECLARED IN MATTHEW 11:12, "AND FROM THE DAYS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST UNTIL NOW THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERS VIOLENCE, AND THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE."

NO LONGER ARE WE TO BE PASSIVE IN OUR DAILY WALK WITH THE LORD, BUT ACTIVE...FOR JESUS TOLD US TO "GO DO" THE WORKS THAT HE DID WHILE ON EARTH, BUT EVEN FAR GREATER THINGS". (JOHN 14:12) AND IN ADDITION, WE ARE ADMONISHED IN JAMES 1:22-25..."BUT BE DOERS OF THE WORD, NOT HEARERS ONLY, DECEIVING YOURSELVES.....".

THE EMPHASIS OF THIS BLOG WILL FOCUS ON A MOST CRUCIAL TOPIC IN THE ARENA OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE WHICH TRAGICALLY IS GIVEN SO VERY LITTLE ATTENTION IN THE BODY OF CHRIST! AND WHY IS THIS? MUCH CONSIDERATION CONCERNING ONE OF THE LORD’S ADMONITIONS IS SO APPROPRIATE HERE: “MY PEOPLE ARE DESTROYED FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE" (HOSEA 4:6).

THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD AND SPECIFICALLY TO REITERATE BECAUSE OF ITS IMPORTANCE, THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT ( THE RHEMA WORD WHICH IS THE SPOKEN WORD OF GOD RATHER THAN THE LOGO WHICH IS THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD) ARE FOUND IN EPHESIANS 6:10-18. IT IS CRITICAL TO POINT OUT HERE, THAT WITHOUT THE LOGO (THE BIBLE WHICH IS THE WRITTEN WORD), THERE WOULD BE NO RHEMA (SPOKEN) WORD.  I CAN HEAR SOME OF YOU ASKING..."WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?"  STAY WITH ME!
 

THUS, WE MUST FOCUS ON THE SWORD OF THE (HOLY) SPIRIT WHICH IS A MOST SIGNIFICANT, NECESSARY, AND POWERFUL WEAPON FOR CHRISTIANS IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE! OBVIOUSLY, WITHOUT THE EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE AS TO THE SIGNICANCE IN THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVER CONCERNING THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT IS AKIN TO GOING INTO BATTLE WITHOUT A WEAPON!  IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT BEING BORN AGAIN "LIKE BEING GIVEN A RIFLE, WHILE BEING BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ITS AMMUNITION!" THUS HAVING A RIFLE IS THE BEGINNING  IMPERATIVE PREPARATION FOR WARFARE, FOR WITHOUT THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, ONE IS POWERLESS IN WARFARE, AND THUS DEFEATED, TRAGICALLY! 

KEEP IN MIND, EVEN OUR LORD JESUS HAD TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ORDER TO BE EMPOWERED FOR ACCOMPLISHING ALL THE FATHER HAD FOR HIM TO ACCOMPLISH WHILE ON EARTH AS HE BEGAN HIS MINISTRY. SO MUST WE BE BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT- IT IS IMPERATIVE, AS YOU WILL LEARN AS WE CONTINUE.  I GUARANTEE, IT WILL BE A POSITIVE LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE FOR YOU, TRULY!

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE BORN AGAIN, BUT UNFAMILIAR WITH THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHICH IS DISCUSSED MAINLY IN THE BOOK OF ACTS, BUT ALSO IN MATTHEW, MARK, AND LUKE.  IT WOULD BE SO VERY NEGLECTFUL OF ME TO NOT REVEAL WHAT THIS GODLY EXPERIENCE IS ALL ABOUT AND ITS NECESSITY IN ONE’S CHRISTIAN WALK AT THIS POINT IN THE DISCUSSION.  CONSIDER THIS…IF OUR SAVOR AND LORD JESUS WAS SO AWARE OF THE NECESSITY OF THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHAT DOES THAT SAY TO US CHRISTIANS?  AGAIN, WE MUST BE AS WELL!

TO REITERATE, PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT ONE WHO IS BORN AGAIN, BUT HAS NOT EXPERIENCED THE “BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”, IS TRULY DEVOID OF THE EMPOWERMENT/AUTHORITY/GIFTS/FRUIT FOR ENTERING INTO SPIRITUAL WARFARE!  AGAIN, AN INCREDIBLE DECEPTION (SATAN’S WEAPON, IF YOU WILL) BY THE DECEIVER…WHAT BETTER WAY TO KEEP THE BODY OF CHRIST IMPOTENT SPIRITUALLY AND AS WELL, WEAPON-LESS!  AS WE KNOW, TRAGICALLY, THE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE CONCERNING WHO THE HOLY SPIRIT IS AND THE WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT HAVE PLAGUED AND DIVIDED THE BODY OF CHRIST FOR CENTURIES!

PERHAPS THERE ARE SOME READERS PRESENTLY READING THIS WHO HAVE BEEN VICTIMS OF SUCH DECEPTION! ALSO, THERE ARE THE “CESSATIONISTS” WHO DECLARE THAT ALL THIS WAS NECESSARY SO AS TO “JUMP START” THE EARLY CHURCH, BUT NOT APPROPRIATE FOR THE CHURCH TODAY!  OBVIOUSLY, THEY HAVE BOUGHT THE “LIE”!  WHERE IS SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT FOUND IN THE BIBLE...YOU WILL FIND NONE! AGAIN, THANKS TO SATAN AND HIS LIES, AND THE LACK OF SCRIPTUAL KNOWLEDGE ON THE BELIEVER’S PART, THE CHURCH TRAGICALLY HAS AS BEEN EXTREMELY FRACTURED!

 EARLY ON IN HISTORY BECAUSE OF MAN'S DISOBEDIENCE, ALMIGHTY GOD COULD WELL HAVE DECLARED “ENOUGH, I AM DONE WITH THE MAN I CREATED!" THANKFULLY, IN HIS MERCY AND GRACE, HE SENT JESUS TO BE BORN ON EARTH AS THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB IN ORDER TO RESCUE, EMPOWER AND REVITALIZE HIS CHURCH WITH THE REVELATION OF GOD’S TRUTHS WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT...TO "RESTORE WHAT THE CANKER WORM HAS EATEN". (JOEL 2:25) FOR AS JESUS DECLARED, AS HE WAS ABOUT TO ASCEND INTO HEAVEN AND SIT AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER: “AND I WILL PRAY THE FATHER, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER HELPER, (ALL INCLUSIVE) THAT HE MAY ABIDE WITH YOU FOREVER”. (JOHN 14:15) SUCH GREAT EVIDENCE OF THE LOVE ALMIGHTY GOD HAS FOR HIS PEOPLE! PRAISE BE TO THE ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, “THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB.”

PART TWO OF THIS BLOG WILL CONTINUE TO REVEAL SUPPORTIVE SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCES FOR ASSISTING US IN WALKING VICTORIOUSLY AS GOD'S WARRIORS....AS THE FAMOUS CHRISTIAN HYMN DECLARES.."ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS, MARCHING AS TO WAR, WITH THE CROSS OF JESUS GOING ON BEFORE...!"

AGAIN, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE LIKE THE BEREANS IN DETERMINING "TO FIND OUT WHETHER THESE THINGS WERE SO" (ACTS 17:11)

AND "THAT THE GOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE FATHER OF GLORY, MAY GIVE TO YOU THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM." (EPHESIANS 1:17)

WHERE AM I ON THE SPIRITUAL BAROMETER CONCERNING FRETTING? PART TWO

YEARS AGO, I ATTENDED A SEMINAR AND THE PRESENTER ASKED A VERY PERTINENT QUESTION: "WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT YOU?"

IT WAS MOST INTERESTING TO LISTEN TO THE RESPONSES OF THOSE IN ATTENDANCE.  HE THEN DECLARED: "YOUR RESPONSES WERE ABOUT A C+!

THE AUDIENCE GROANED!  HE THEN WENT ON REVEAL THE ANSWER: "THE WAY WE THINK"!  MOST CHRISTIANS RESPOND TO THIS QUESTION WITH:  "THAT I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST AND AM BORN AGAIN"!  AS WE STOPPED TO MEDITATE ON HIS DECLARATION, WE WOULD HAVE TO AGREE THAT OUR THINKING AFFECTS EVERYTHING WE THINK, SAY, AND DO! 

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD IT SAID, "THE BATTLE BEGINS IN THE MIND?" REMEMBER, YOUR MIND IS NOT “BORN AGAIN”!  THEREIN LIES THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE FLESH-MAN AND THE SPIRIT-MAN!

TRAGICALLY, MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO CLUE THAT “THE WAY WE THINK” IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT US”! TAKE A MOMENT, TO “THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU FIND YOURSELF THINKING ABOUT MOST OF THE TIME.”  TRY ASKING YOUR FRIENDS THIS QUESTION AND LISTEN TO THEIR RESPONSES! 

CONSIDER THOSE THOUGHTS THAT SO OFTEN “BEGUILE” YOU WHICH RESULT IN FEAR/ FRETTING... THE WAY WE THINK OBVIOUSLY RELATES TO WHAT WE ARE THINKING AND ULTIMATELY THE WAY WE ACT – THE GOOD, BAD, AND THE UGLY!

FRETTING IS THAT WHICH STEMS FROM FEAR…FOR FEAR IS THE PEG WHICH FRETTING HANGS ON!  BE SET FREE FROM FEAR, AND FRETTING HAS NO PLACE TO HANG ITS HAT!

 WE COULD GO ON AND ON CONSIDERING THE RAMIFICATIONS CONCERNING THE WAY WE THINK! ARE OUR THOUGHTS FOCUSED ON HIS PROMISES, AND  THE POSITIVE UPLIFTING FACTS THAT WE WHO ARE BORN AGAIN ARE CHILDREN OF THE LIVING GOD, REDEEMED BY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THAT “HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US NOR FORSAKE US.”  OR HOW ABOUT THE NEGATIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE “STINKING THINKING” SYNDRONE THAT CRIPPLES US – “I AM TOO STUPID, NO ONE LOVES ME.” AS ONE CHRISTIAN FRIEND DECLARED: ‘I WILL NEVER GET THROUGH THIS THAT IS GOING ON IN MY LIFE, I THINK ABOUT SUICIDE JUST ABOUT EVER DAY!’ OR GOD CAN’T LOVE A PERSON LIKE ME, I WILL NEVER MARRY, I AM TOO FAT/SKINNY, IAM FULL OF UNFORGIVENESS, ANGER, DEPRESSION, HOPELESSNESS, WOE IS ME, I AM SUCH A FAILURE, ETC. ETC.!  AND JUST WHO MIGHT BE THE INSTIGATOR OF SUCH NEGATIVE AND DANGEROUS THINKING?  COULD WELL BE THE "DECEIVER", BUT ALSO OUR VERY OWN FLESH! EVER HEARD THE EXPRESSION “I AM MY OWN WORST ENEMY”?

 IS THIS THE WAY OUR GOD ALMIGHTY WHO LOVES US SO VERY MUCH SEES US? ABSOLUTELY NOT...HE SEES THOSE WHO ARE BELIEVERS THROUGH THE SHED BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST AS PERFECT, EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T ACT LIKE IT ALL TOO OFTEN, SADLY. WE DO HAVE A CHOICE…CHOOSE TO THINK THAT WHICH IS PLEASING TO THE LORD, OR THAT WHICH IS PLEASING TO OUR FLESH!

WHEN WE ARE LIVING IN FEAR WHICH BIRTHS FRETTING, WORRY, AND ANXIETY, WE HAVE TO ASK, “WHOSE SAND BOX ARE WE PLAYING IN AND WHAT MESSAGE ARE WE SENDING TO OUR LORD GOD ALMIGHTY?” COULD IT BE:  “I REALLY DON’T THINK I CAN TRUST YOU IN THIS MATTER, LORD, SO I AM JUST GOING TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT MYSELF!”

 JOSHUA GATHERED ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL AND ASKED THEM: “…CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE”…ALMIGHTY GOD, OR OTHER GODS? (JOSHUA 24:15) JOSHUA THEN DECLARED “AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.” (VERSE 15)

WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES DECLARE CONCERNING FEAR/FRETTING?

      “GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US THE SPIRIT OF FEAR; BUT OF POWER, AND OF LOVE, AND OF A SOUND MIND.”  (2 TIMOTHY 1:7)

      “ FOR YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE, AGAIN TO FEAR; BUT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION, WHEREBY WE CRY, ABBA FATHER.”  (ROMANS 8:15)

      “THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE; BUT PERFECT LOVE HAS CASTE OUT FEAR; BECAUSE FEAR HAS TORMENT.  HE THAT FEARS IS NOT MADE PERFECT IN LOVE.”  (I JOHN 4:18)

      “IN RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL YOU BE ESTABLISHED: YOU SHALL BE FAR FROM OPPRESSION; FOR YOU SHALL NOT FEAR; AND FROM TERROR; FOR IT WILL NOT COME NEAR YOU.”  (ISAIAH 54:14)

      “IN GOD HAVE I PUT MY TRUST AND CONFENDENT RELIANCE; I WILL NOT BE AFRAID WHAT MAN CAN DO TO ME.”  (PSALM 56:11) AMPLIFIED BIBLE

      “DO NOT FRET.”  PSALM 37:1

WE COULD GO ON AND ON CONSIDERING THE RAMIFICATIONS CONCERNING THE WAY/WHAT WE THINK!  MAY I SUGGEST THAT YOU MAKE A LIST OF YOUR THINKING PATTERNS.  WHAT DOES YOUR LIST REVEAL…MORE POSITIVE, OR MORE NEGATIVE, OR SOME OF BOTH?

ONCE YOU DETERMINE YOUR THINKING PATTERNS, THEN WHAT? THE OBVIOUS STRATEGY IS TO TAKE THE RESULTS TO THE LORD, CONFESS THE “STINKING THINKING” (SIN) AND ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO IS YOUR HELPER, TO ASSIST YOU IN CONFESSING/REPENTING SO AS TO BE AN OVERCOMER FROM SUCH HARMFUL/DEADLY THINKING!  FOR THE SCRIPTURE DECLARES: “YOU HAVE NOT BECAUSE YOU ASK NOT.” (JAMES 4:2)

 BUT THANKFULLY, PAUL IN ACTS 6-8, ADDRESSES THIS POWERFULLY!  I RECOMMEND YOU SPEND TIME CAMPING IN THESE CHAPTERS....SO ENCOURAGING FOR US ALL! THINK ON THESE SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS….COULD WELL BRING VICTORY AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER, TRULY!

THE ESSENCE OF THESE SCRIPTURES RESTS IN THE INCREDIBLE FREEING TRUTH, “WE SIN, BUT WE ARE NOT SINNERS”!  HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU HEAR A BELIEVER DECLARE: “I CAN’T HELP IT, BECAUSE IT IS MY ‘SIN NATURE’ THAT IS AT WORK IN ME, THEREFORE I AM ITS SLAVE!” NONSENSE! SUCH A STATEMENT REVEALS THE LACK OF TRULY NOT KNOWING GOD’S WORD, FOR AS PAUL DECLARES IN ROMANS 6:18: “AND HAVING BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN, YOU BECAME SLAVES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

WHEN WE BECAME CHILDREN OF THE LIVING GOD THROUGH BELIEVING IN THE LORD JESUS, SUCH AN ASSURANCE IS DECLARED IN 2 PETER 1: 3,4 “AS HIS DIVINE POWER HAS GIVEN TO US ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO LIFE AND GODLINESS, THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US BY GLORY AND VIRTUE, BY WHICH HAVE  BEEN GIVEN TO US EXCEEDINGLY GREAT AND PRECIOUS  PROMISES, THAT THROUGH THESE YOU MAY BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, HAVING ESCAPED THE CORRUPTION THAT IS IN THE WORLD THROUGH LUST.”  TO REITERATE…WE  DO NOT HAVE A SIN NATURE, BUT A DIVINE NATURE, THANKFULLY!  PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW FELLOW BELIEVERS TO DECLARE SUCH A DISTORTION OF GOD’S TRUTHS!

DOES THIS GIVE US, THEN, LICENSE TO SIN?  GOD FORBID!

PAUL, IN ROMANS 6:15 “WHAT THEN? SHALL WE SIN BECAUSE WE NOT UNDER THE LAW BUT UNDER GRACE? CERTAINLY NOT!” AND IN CHAPTER 7 THE VERY ESSENCE OF IT ALL IS DECLARED: “BUT NOW IT IS NO LONGER I WHO DO IT (SIN), BUT SIN THAT DWELLS IN ME.” (7:17) AND TRAGICALLY, SIN WILL ALWAYS HARASS US BECAUSE OF THE FLESH AND SATAN.  NOTICE THE OPERATIVE WORD “HARASS”, WHICH MEANS THAT IS ALL THAT IT AMOUNTS TO, “HARASSMENT”!

KEEP IN MIND, SATAN CANNOT IN ANY WAY HAVE VICTORY OVER US UNLESS GOD ALLOWS HIM.  CONSIDER THE STORY OF JOB.  TRAGICALLY, HOWEVER, OUR MINDS ARE INDEPENDANT AGENTS – CALLED “FREE WILL” AND GOD WILL NOT VIOLATE OUR FREE WILL!WE HAVE A CHOICE – LIVE IN THE MIND OF FEAR, FRET, WORRY, OR RESTING AND PATIENTLY TRUSTING THE CARING SHEPHERD – OUR LORD GOD, “EL SHADDAI, THE MOST SUFFICIENT AND ALL POWERFUL ONE!”

BUT HAVE NO FEAR, FOR WHAT DOES JAMES WHO WAS ADDRESSING JEWISH CHRISTIANS IN JAMES1:2-4 DECLARE:

          “CONSIDER IT WHOLLY JOYFUL, MY BRETHREN, WHENEVER YOU                         ARE ENVELOPED IN OR ENCOUNTER TRIALS OF ANY SORT, OR FALL INTO VARIOUS TEMPTATIONS. (A TRIAL/ATTACK OF ANY SORT. NOT NECESSARILY TEMPTATION TO SIN)

            BE ASSURED AND UNDERSTAND THAT THE TRIALS AND PROVING OF YOUR FAITH BRINGS OUT ENDURANCE, AND STEADFASTNESS AND PATIENCE. 

            BUT LET ENDURANCE AND STEADFASTNESS AND PATIENCE HAVE FULL PLAY AND DO A THOROUGH WORK SO THAT YOU MAY BE [PEOPLE] PERFECTLY AND FULLY DEVELOPED (WITH NO DEFECTS), LACKING NOTHING.”  (AMPLIFIED BIBLE)

THAT BEING THE CASE, HOW DO WE DEAL WITH SIN THAT DWELLS IN OUR FLESH AND HOW DO WE GAIN VICTORY OVER OUR FLESH AND THE ATTACKS OF THE ENEMY?  THANKFULLY, THE LORD HAS PROVIDED HIS CHILDREN A “SIN CLEANSING” STRATEGY WHICH IS FOUND IN 1 JOHN 1:9 “IF WE CONFESS OUR SIN, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND LEAD US IN PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS”.  AND ALSO BY GETTING TO KNOW OUR TRIUNE GOD, AND HOW DO WE GET TO REALLY KNOW OUR TRIUNE GOD…THROUGH HIS WORD, BY HIS WAYS AND BY HIS ACTS. ISRAEL WANTED TO KNOW HIS “ACTS”, BUT MOSES WANTED TO KNOW HIS “WAYS”!

CONCERNING OUR THINKING, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HEAR THE RESPONSE:.."I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT HOW I THINK"!  MY RESPONSE IS WITH A QUESTION: "WOULD YOU EVER THINK ABOUT ROBBING A BANK"? THEY QUICKLY WOULD DECLARE: "OF COURSE NOT...I WOULD NEVER THINK ABOUT DOING SUCH A THING"! REALLY? THEN YOU DO HAVE CONTROL OVER THE WAY/WHAT YOU THINK! THUS I HAVE MADE MY POINT. OF COURSE WE HAVE CONTROL OF WAY/WHAT WE THINK!

RECENTLY, AS WE WERE CLOSING OUR EVENING PRAYER, AS IS OUR PRACTICE TO ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT: "WHAT IS ON YOUR HEART FOR US

TONIGHT?" HE SPOKE THESE WORDS:"MIND THE GATE"!  OBVIOUSLY THAT GAVE US PAUSE FOR THOUGHT! WHAT COULD THIS POSSIBLY MEAN? WE KNOW THAT THE LORD COMMANDS US "BUT BE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS OF THE WORD ONLY, DECEIVING YOURSELVES". (JAMES 1:22)

AS WE CONSIDERED THIS THAT HE DECLARED, WE REALIZED THERE ARE MANY "GATES" FOR US TO MIND!  THE FEAR/FRET/WORRY GATE, THE HEART GATE, THE EAR/EYE GATE, THE MOUTH GATE, THE ANGER GATE…ALL THE GATES WHICH ALLOW SIN TO ENTER IN, EVEN IF WE OPEN THEM EVEN A “SMIDGIN”!

PSALM 118:19, 20 IS ANOTHER “GATE” WE MUST CONSIDER: “OPEN TO ME THE GATES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS; I WILL GO THROUGH THEM AND I WILL PRAISE THE LORD. THIS IS THE GATE OF THE LORD, THROUGH WHICH THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL ENTER.” 

HERE IS A CASE OF OPENING A GATE, NOT CLOSING THE GATE…THUS THE GATE CAN SWING BOTH WAYS, THANKFULLY!  WE HAVE THE “WHERE WITH ALL” TO OPEN OR CLOSE THE GATES IN OUR LIVES, DO WE NOT?  HOW IS IT WITH YOU, DEAR READER?  ARE THERE ANY GATES YOU NEED TO CLOSE OR ANY YOU NEED TO OPEN?  I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT IF THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME “GATE” CHECKING!  SOMETIMES WE ARE SO USED TO KEEPING A GATE PART WAY OPEN OR OPEN ALL THE TIME, OR CLOSED PART WAY  OR CLOSED ALL THE WAY ALL THE TIME!

HOW DOES THIS THAT WE HEARD THE HOLY SPIRIT COMMAND US -  "MIND THE GATE" RELATE TO THE TOPIC OF FRETTING, YOU MIGHT ASK?

JUST WHAT IS A "GATE"?  IT IS THAT WHICH IS USED TO KEEP SOMETHING IN OR SOMETHING OUT!  

TIME TO EVALUATE OUR THINKING WITH: "THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT"!  HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED THIS? WOULD YOU MAKE ANY CHANGES IN THE WAY YOU THINK? HOPEFULLY THAT WOULD BE A RESOUNDING - YES! YOU MIGHT ALSO ASK...:"WHAT ARE THE RAMIFICATIONS CONCERNING THE WAY I THINK"?  WHAT WOULD MY SPIRITUAL BAROMETER READ REGARDING MY FRETTING,WORRY-

ING, OR BEING ANXIOUS, ETC.?

READ ABOUT PETER AND HIS EXPERIENCE WITH A “GATE”  (ACTS 12:3-19) IN RELATIONSHIP TO THIS BLOG ON FEAR/FRETTING. CONSIDER THIS AS THE "MIND GATE"!  FOR OUR THINKING RESIDES IN THE MIND! REMEMBER, OUR MINDS ARE NOT “BORN AGAIN”! AND THUS WE MUST GUARD OUR MIND GATE, DAY AND NIGHT, KEEPING IT CLOSED AND LOCKED AT ALL COST, BEING ALWAYS ON GUARD IN KEEPING OUR MINDS FROM "LETTING IN" THOUGHTS WHICH ARE DAMAGING/DANGEROUS/DESTRUCTIVE...ESPECIALLY VAIN IMAGINATIONS,...THE "WHAT IF'S", IF YOU WILL, WHICH DEFINITELY CAUSES ONE TO FEAR AND WHICH OPENS THE GATES OF FRET, WORRY, ETC. WHICH THEN CAN RESULT IN MANY HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES.

IF GOD OPENED PETER’S PRISON GATE, WILL HE NOT OPEN YOUR PRISON GATE?

WE MUST DISCIPLINE OUR MINDS TO LINE UP WITH GOD’S TRUTHS

AS IS WRITTEN IN JOHN 8:32, "AND YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE"!  AMEN?

                                           *   TO BE CONTINUED   *

MAY I ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE LIKE THE BEREANS: “TO FIND OUT WHETHER THESE THINGS WERE SO” (ACTS 17:11)

BE GLORIFIED, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, THE ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, THE                                                  

                              GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB

                                                                                                                     

                                                                        ,                                                                       

                                             

WHERE AM I ON THE SPIRITUAL BAROMETER CONCERNING FRETTING?

MY WIFE AND I WERE WORSHIPPING RECENTLY, AND THANKFULLY THERE ISN'T A SUNDAY WHICH GOES BY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOESN'T HAVE SOMETHING RICH TO SHARE/TEACH US. HE LED US TO PSALM 37 DEALING WITH HIS COMMANDS, NOT SUGGESTIONS, REGARDING FRETTING! VERSE 1 DECLARES: "DO NOT FRET BECAUSE OF EVIL DOERS...";VERSE 7 "REST IN THE LORD, AND WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM; DO NOT FRET...."; VERSE 8: "CEASE FROM ANGER, AND FORSAKE WRATH; DO NOT FRET --IT ONLY CAUSES HARM." AND PROVERBS 19:3 "THE FOOLISHNESS OF A MAN TWISTS HIS WAYS, AND HIS HEART FRETS AGAINST THE LORD." CAN WE FRET/AGITATE THE LORD?  CHECK OUT EZEKIEL 16:43.."...BUT AGITATED ME WITH ALL THESE THINGS..."

I AM GOING SO FAR AS TO DECLARE FRETTING AS A SIN! HOW SO?, YOU ASK.
WHAT ARE SOME OTHER NEGATIVE SIN WORDS THAT ARE IN THE SAME BASKET AS FRETTING?  WORRY, FEAR, LACK OF RESTFULLY AND PATIENTLY TRUSTING EL SHADDAI (THE ALL POWERFUL/SUFFICIENT ONE), LOOKING AT THINGS SEEN, RATHER THAN THINGS HOPED FOR (HEB. 11:1), LACKING FAITH, ALL WHICH TRAGICALLY STEAL OUR PEACE AND OUR JOY, AND SO DISTRACTS US FROM HEARING HIS "STILL SMALL VOICE". ISAIAH 30;21 DECLARES "YOUR EARS SHALL HEAR A WORD BEHIND YOU SAYING, 'THIS IS THE WAY, WALK IN IT', WHENEVER YOU TURN TO THE RIGHT HAND OR WHENEVER YOU TURN TO THE LEFT." MOST INTERESTING THAT STILL SMALL VOICE DOES NOT SAY "TURN BACK"! THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY SO DESIRES HIS CHILDREN TO MOVE FORWARD!  FOR IT IS WRITTEN IN HEBREWS 11:6 "BUT WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM, FOR HE WHO COMES TO GOD MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS, AND HE IS A REWARDER OF THOSE WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM."  FRETTING INDICATES THAT THERE IS A LACK OF "DILIGENTLY SEEKING HIM". COULD IT BE THEN, THAT HE WILL NOT REWARD THE "FRETTER"?  PAUSE AND "THINK ON THESE THINGS", BEING NOT ONLY HEARERS OF THE WORD, BUT DOERS OF THE WORD...AMEN?

IT IS IMPERATIVE TO DECLARE AT THIS POINT, THE TRUTH THAT FRETTING AND ALL ITS FAMILY MEMBERS, TRAGICALLY OPENS THE DOOR FOR SATAN AND HIS MINIONS TO RUSH IN AND WRECK HAVOC FOR THOSE BELIEVERS WHO ARE "WALKING IN THE FLESH AND NOT WALKING ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT!" FOR IT IS WRITTEN, THAT THOSE WHO ARE LIVING ACCORDING TO THE FLESH SET THEIR MINDS ON THINGS OF THE FLESH, BUT THOSE WHO LIVE ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT SET THEIR MINDS ON THINGS OF THE SPIRIT". ROMANS 8:4,5  THE QUESTION THEN BECOMES..."ARE WE LIVING ACCORDING TO THE FLESH OR ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT"?

SO HOW DOES THE BELIEVER WHO IS IN BONDAGE TO FRETTING, ETC. BECOME VICTORIOUS OVER THIS BESETTING SIN(S)? BE ADVISED THAT ONE CANNOT ACCOMPLISH THIS IN THE FLESH FOR IT IS WRITTEN IN MATTHEW 26:41 "WATCH AND PRAY, LEST YOU ENTER INTO TEMPTATION. THE SPIRIT INDEED IS WILLING, BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK." AND 1 CORINTHIANS 4:10 "WE ARE WEAK BUT YOU ARE STRONG" AND 2 CORINTHIANS 13:9 "FOR WE ARE GLAD WHEN WE ARE WEAK AND YOU ARE STRONG....". JOHN 15:4,5 DECLARES: "..THE VINE CANNOT BEAR FRUIT OF ITSELF, UNLESS IT ABIDES IN THE VINE, NEITHER CAN YOU, UNLESS YOU ABIDE IN ME. I AM THE VINE, YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.  HE WHO ABIDES IN ME, AND I IN HIM, BEARS MUCH FRUIT; FOR WITHOUT ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING."
WE ARE ALSO COMMANDED BY JESUS IN MATTHEW 6:25-34: "THEREFORE I SAY TO YOU, DO NOT WORRY (FRET) ABOUT YOUR LIFE,  BECAUSE....."
.  
IN ADDITION, THE LORD IN HIS MERCY/GRACE HAS PROVIDED BELIEVERS AN INCREDIBLE WAY TO DEAL WITH OUR SIN(S). WE MUST REPENT AND CONFESS OUR SIN(S), 1 JOHN 1:8,9: "IF WE SAY WE HAVE NO SIN. WE DECEIVE OURSELVES AND THE TRUTH IS NOT IN US. IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." THE MINUTE WE CONFESS OUR SIN(S) WE ARE CLEANSED AND OUR SIN(S) AND THEY ARE REMEMBERED NO MORE.  REMEMBER THE SONG "O HOW HE LOVES ME, O HOW HE LOVES YOU, O HOW HE LOVES YOU AND ME"? HERE IS A WONDERFUL WAY HE SHOWS US JUST HOW MUCH HE TRULY LOVES US AND CARES FOR US....WE DO NOT HAVE TO CONTINUE WALKING IN OUR SIN(S), THANKFULLY..SINCERELY REPENT, CONFESS, AND MOVE ON.....AMEN?

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT MOMENT TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO CHECK OUT ROMANS 7 AND 8 WHICH DEAL WITH SIN.

I ALSO STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOUR READING ALL OF PSALM 34 FOR FURTHER ENCOURAGEMENT.

IN ADDITION, THE SCRIPTURE DECLARES IN ROMANS 8:34B AND 37, THAT JESUS IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF HIS FATHER INTERCEDING FOR US, AND BECAUSE HE IS, "WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS"!  WHAT AN ASSURANCE!   

TRAGICALLY THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON NOT ONLY IN THE WORLD AROUND US, BUT IN OUR VERY OWN PERSONAL LIVES THAT FRETTING, TRAGICALLY, HAS BECOME A INTEGRAL WAY OF LIFE, EVEN WITHIN THE LIVES OF BELIEVERS! LET'S EXAMINE THE VERY ESSENCE OF THESE DANGEROUS ACTION WORDS: FRET/ FRETTING!

FRET AS FOUND IN THE AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (NOAH WEBSTER 1828) INCLUDES SUCH WORDS AS "GNAW, TO EAT AWAY, TO CORRODE, TO AGITATE, TO DISTURB,TO MAKE ANGRY, FUMING.."

THE QUESTION MUST BE ASKED CONCERNING THESE VERY DANGEROUS NEGATIVE INFLUENCES UPON OUR VERY BEINGS IS: "WHERE DOES FRETTING BASICALLY COME FROM?" IT COMES FROM OUR THINKING! AND AN EXPRESSION I HEARD AND LIKE TO USE BECAUSE IT REVEALS THE VERY ESSENCE OF THE BIRTH OF FRETTING..."STINKING THINKING"! IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE EVALUATE JUST WHERE OUR MINDS ARE FOCUSING...THE FLESH (AND WHO CAN SO INFLUENCE OUR MINDS OTHER THAN SATAN) OR THE SPIRIT OF GOD, AS WE JUST READ IN ROMANS 8:4,5.

                                                    TO BE CONTINUED.....

AND AGAIN, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE LIKE THE BEREANS: "TO FIND OUT WHETHER THESE THINKS ARE SO."  (ACTS 17:11)

                               BE GLORIFIED ALMIGHTY GOD, BE GLORIFIED