Gideon

44 minutes ago, Neighbor said:

"3) Oh, this one is important. Sin is NOT having bad thoughts. It is letting them become a part of us, believing they came form our own hearts, accepting them as ours instead of sown there by the enemy to see if we will bite. "

That is an interesting declaration, one having to be made evidently to counter the very clear declaration of Jesus that states otherwise. Though I don't see how anyone can stand on that declaration in the face of Jesus making clear that thought is sin as surely as is  an physical act. There being no difference in the motivating heart. 

As for myself, I will consider Jesus the higher authority. Jesus  stepped up the responsibility, or the understanding of it, when He made it clear that not only is the physical act of doing a sin punishable, but also so is the thought. With that standard there is not likely a person that can walk without sin, and it is true that all have failed, and all are in need of the sacrifice made by Jesus to cover the thought of sin within each of the elect, those given to Him by the Father of which He does not lose a one.  For though all have sinned and fallen short, of the Glory, of God,all that have been given jesus are given specific call to repentance by the Holy Spirit,see tat Jesus is Lord God and savior and become clean in the sight of God the Father through the work of the faith of Jesus. That is the only way to be seen as perfect in the sight of God.

Jesus is the way the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except by Him.

Secondly; sin does come from the heart of every person. No one has excuse, neither by innocence,  nor by ignorance. All have failed perfection's standard, even from before birth mankind is capable of sinning.  No one seeks God at all. Instead all run from God, until God the Holy Spirit first calls out specifically  to each  individual that becomes repentant and is saved in acknowledging Jesus as Lord God and savior. upon the reveal by the Holy Spirit. Man's inherited state is sin. Man is sinful from the getgo.

Every person has need of the shed blood of Jesus  the perfect sacrifice, the passover lamb, made once. He is the permanent cover of sin in all that have been called out for their salvation. All of whom have been known to God  from before the beginning; and those known were  also predestined to be turned about to their salvation away from eternal destruction,  and instead saved to eternal life with God.

And if we are talking about the old nature, you are spot on correct.  But we are told that we can bring every thought not the obedience of Christ. Why? Because as new creatures, we are told we have the mind of Christ. Our good fight of faith is to renew our minds. If we are double minded, we have no confidence in God to keep us from falling into sin. We cannot serve both God and evil. And if that bothers us because we find ourselves trapped in Romans 7 and no one is telling us HOW to become FREE INDEED, then it behooves us to fall on our faces and cry out to Him fro the answer as to how to walk in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

Your mentioning that you will take Jesus as a higher authority is commendable. But shall we not actually use the entire words God has given us? Did He tell us that our shields of faith would quench ALL the fiery arrows of the enemy? Did He not promise in every temptation that He would make a way of escape? Is He not the God who can cause us to will AND to do of His good pleasure? Are we not told to “purify your minds, ye double minded”? Have we not been delivered from the power of darkness? By faith, are we not to walk in total victory over the world, the flesh and the devil? How can we obey Him if actual obedience is impossible? 

Not knowing how to gain victory in one’s thought life is one thing. But resting content there when evil thoughts assail us and we accept them as ours and label  them in as “unavoidable” because we are still just sinners saved by grace is dangerous ground indeed. We WERE those thing. We ARE no longer. We are new creatures and can stare down the devil in every single temptation.

I pray we all hear. The grace we have been taught is incomplete. It can forgive but we have been taught it has no power to actually cleanse us of ALL unrighteousness. Real grace teaches us that “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we are to live soberly, righteously and justly in the present age.” That is what God has for each one of us, from the weakest to the strongest.... and in that order.

Our problem has been a heart hunger issue. Even if we now believe it is impossible,  the real question is... do we WANT to be free? If we do, in these last days,  God is going to move mountains to get to us and show us the HOW of holiness. All who truly love the light will be shown how to light their lamps.  

But if we are content with just forgiveness but have no real hunger to get freed from vile thoughts and unloving actions, we need to realize no change will ever come until we cry out for it. And if we dig in our heels and say forgiveness is enough, then that which we think we have will eventually be taken away from us and given to another. My prayer is that none here are found in that group on that day, when God examines the thoughts and intents of our hearts. 

Blessings,

    Gideon

16 minutes ago, Wayne222 said:

The bible says to kill what is earthly in us. The old man is dead but you still feel his nature. The inpotant thing is to put on the new man. I said this before in posts. Walk by the spirit. Keep your mind on heavenly things above. Its a daily walk. I have put sin out of my life. And have walk in righteousness. Its through christ. Rom 6 yield to righteousness as one raise to life.

Brother, you are correct. Thank you for your additions here. They mean so much. May we all come to the point where we long for that closeness with Jesus that sin robs us of. Yes, we can be forgiven, but our heart gets a little harder each time we fall back into willful sin. Again, thanks, Wayne.

Gideon

48 minutes ago, Wayne222 said:

We can stop sinning of course if we walk in the spirit. Keep your minds on things above. Kill what is earthly in you. But if we do sin confess it right away. I john shows he will cleases us from all unrighteousness. The child of God does not practice sin. He practices righteousness snd loves his brother. 

I appreciate your comments so much. May I help clarify something, for if we err here, we can spend years trying to figure it out. Heck, I did for  almost four decades! LOL. Trying to kill our old man is why I failed miserably. When I finally got to the point I had no strength, no confidence in my fleshly efforts, only then could I do the one thing God has asked us to do....believe that I already am dead, just as Paul tells us in Romans 6. 

So when Satan comes tempting us, what do we do? We resist him steadfast in the faith! We hold up our shield of faith declaring that we are new creatures and that the old us is not slowly dying by our weak efforts. We ARE dead! And what happens is that as we abide in Him, He is the one who keeps us from falling! Glory to God! Do you see? God promised in Ezekiel 36 to not only give us new hearts, He promised to cause those new hearts to obey Him! Whoa! 

Blessings to you, dear brother,

Gideon

18 minutes ago, naominash said:

Yes, yes, yes brother I'm right there with you.

I used to think that being a believer was just a constant struggle for sin. But the Lord is drawing me close and the more I fix my eyes on Him, the more personal victory I am having over temptation and sin in my life. The presence of the Lord is a consuming fire that I only want more of day and night. As the world gets darker, we will get brighter. You bet, I'm excited!

In the last days, God promises to pour out His Spirit on young and old. If someone like me can worship and serve the Lord in holiness and be set apart, than I believe many others will too!!

That God would pour out His Spirit and awaken the Church to become the spotless and passionate Bride of Christ!

19 minutes ago, naominash said:

Yes, yes, yes brother I'm right there with you.

I used to think that being a believer was just a constant struggle for sin. But the Lord is drawing me close and the more I fix my eyes on Him, the more personal victory I am having over temptation and sin in my life. The presence of the Lord is a consuming fire that I only want more of day and night. As the world gets darker, we will get brighter. You bet, I'm excited!

In the last days, God promises to pour out His Spirit on young and old. If someone like me can worship and serve the Lord in holiness and be set apart, than I believe many others will too!!

That God would pour out His Spirit and awaken the Church to become the spotless and passionate Bride of Christ!

What a great post. I have shared this message that God has given me about how to escape the grip of our old fleshly nature for eleven years now. But in the last six months, I have seen the first signs of our awakening. Many go to church, and smile because everyone else is smiling, but inside they are bored, passionless, and joy has become only something they feel if the worship service is professional and powerful. Their prayer closets are silent, and they wonder inside if this is all there is. But praise God, we have seen nothing yet. We are about to be fully awakened to who we are as new creatures. 

And when we as His bride cast off the lies we have all bought, and combine the blood of the lamb with the words of OUR testimony, we will rise up as overcomers and walk with our feet on satan’s neck, right where they have always belonged. Bless you dear sister. If you need anything , you have but to ask.

Blessings,

Gideon

8 hours ago, Adstar said:

We are already Deemed Holy By the Blood of the LORD Jesus Christ...

Amen! And when we believe it, we will see changes in us that will amaze even us. But there are multitudes that are quite content to live out their lives with forgiveness and their bus pass to Heaven, with no desire at all to actually be changed into His likeness. 

Romans 7 to them is a comfortable prison cell with air conditioning and catered goodies, and a nice Sunday service in the chapel on Sunday’s. There is no hunger for real righteousness. They are quite comfortable with the attributed kind. The mindset of Paul in His Romans 7 experience was one of hatred of self, andxshame that He brought to the name of the Lord for his continued disobedience and failure.

so, if we are like Paul, longing for the FREE INDEED as Jesus defined it, then, praise God, yes, all is well. That “attributed holiness” was becoming real holiness, because hungering and thirsting for righteousness pleases the Father and insures that we WILL make heaven our home.

But if we stay content but without godliness, having a name that we live, but inside we are dead to any desire to lose our lives to find His inside us reigning, we are in trouble if we think we can stay here. God longs for us to run our race as if  there is but one prize, but let’s realize this. There will be no “participation medals”. It is all or nothing, and though the thought of that may bother us, and our hearts may at first be far away from such a place,  if we are truly His, God will bring about the change of heart we so desperately need. 

May God bless you, dear brother,

Gids

2 hours ago, Butero said:

I think most people have a head knowledge of the death of the old man and new life in Christ.  If I am understanding you correctly, the key is simply to believe in our heart what is already in our head.  Is that pretty much it?  

You are correct. But here I would like to make some important clarifications.

First, and this is critical, one cannot just decide they are “going to believe it with their heart instead of their head”. To put off your old nature, you have to want to be free of it more than anything else. Jesus said, “Unless you HATE your life, you cannot be my disciple.” The actual believing part is quite simple IF you are properly motivated. But realize this, the old man was ruled by US. We were the pilot, and Jesus the co-pilot. The only time we let Him take the wheel was in emergencies. But walking in the new man, putting on our new nature, is in essence putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. He IS our armor. He becomes not only our savior but also our Lord. 

Our surrender is not “I give up this or that” but “I surrender ME”. This is easily done if we have come to hate our inability to love Him with our whole hearts, and if we hate the fact that our self-love far surpasses our love for others. But if we still want to “sin just a little”, we will find faith remains a door locked to us. We must become like Paul was in Romans 7. Romans 8 awaits, but only to wretched men. 

Right now, for many, that is not even on their bucket list. Why? Because we have all been asleep. Sin is simply not exceedingly sinful to us. We think grace makes out “little”sins quite acceptable, not realizing that those sins put Jesus on the cross, just like those of the drug addict. We have, up til now, had no real desire to walk holy before God. The truth is, our unbelief has hardened our hearts to the point we do not even believe walking as overcomers is even possible. But praise God, all that is about to change. 

God is beginning to awaken us all, both wheat and tares. What will we be awakened to ? Well, let’s see. First, we will be awakened to the cost of following Him. It has always been ALL our pearls. But our modern Christianity has watered this down to having our cake and eating it too. We want to die on the time payment plan, LOL.  Soon, we will understand the full cost. And thankfully, we will soon RUN to Him, beseeching Him to remove those things that once were our treasures. Those  who love the light will begin to HATE their lower nature, our wretched flesh that keeps them earthbound and lukewarm.

We will also waken to the full benefits of our inheritance. Like the prodigal, which we all have been, even those in church, we who truly love God more than we love us will come back to Him and agree to just be Hos willing devoted servants, not sons or daughters, and when we do, to our amazement we will discover what abiding in  the vine truly means for us. Full sonship, always abiding in Him!

There will be no more religious going-through-the-motions Christianity. No more one foot (ok,ok, nine toes is more like it) in this world and one in Heaven. We will truly become sojourner and as we awaken, both wheat and tares, some will fall away (the great falling away) and some will light their lamps, and BE light, new creatures, with their old nature totally left behind.

We will finally see why Jesus called it born again. We are! We will finally understand the spirit of being baptized. We really do come up new people. We finally with understand why it is called “conversion” because we were always meant to be changed.

Sins that have grabbed us fro years will literally melt away. Joy will replace boredom, zeal will replace ho hum    lukewarmness, power to stare down the devil will replace defeated souls. 

Ok, breather time. One last thing, I think it very important to finally have a line drawn in the sand, so to speak. It is important, even if no one is there but you, to verbally make your declaration of faith to God. Your ears need to hear your mouth declare your new nature is real and it is NOW you.

I fully realize all this is quite unheard of.... yet. But there will be an excitement inside that is undeniable. Do not let the fact that others do not see this or want this deter you. Jesus said “How can you believe, which receive honor one of another, and do not seek for that honor that comes from God alone?” The Answer? You can’t.

May our God bless the ears and hearts of those who read these words. A blessing awaits us all.... a life of victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. If any have any questions, feel free to ask. I will do my best to answer.

Blessings,

Gideon

The coming separation of light and darkness will be a two way street... and this should excite us to no end. It will not just be the evil waxing worse and worse, but praise God, it will be His people, learning the secret of how to walk in victory, becoming transformed into joy filled, fully obedient, holy natured children. You see, we are destined to go out with a bang, not a whimper. We, the blessed generation that will see the return of Jesus Himself for us, are destined to be made Holy, where even the weak.....no, no.... especially the weak, will find the highway of holiness that He is planting us on, to be the most amazing walk imaginable.

There is no doubt the fact that evil men are growing in both boldness and their extreme love for darkness in any and all forms. We hear daily of acts by man that defy explanation. The darkness some exhibit is so intense, so satanic, that we could not even imagined it even possible back in the days of I love Lucy, My Three Sons and The Waltons. Evil was always there, but in a muted, almost restrained form. Something has given way though, there can be no denying it.

And that brings us back to us. At present, we do not see what this means for us. We, like all of Christianity, are asleep. Going through the motions, in a nice...even good.... but passionless routine. Loving the Lord but still with our habits, our sins, our temperament ruling over us. We cannot even yet imagine what it is like to truly abide in Him, strong in faith, walking with our sins and old dead nature under OUR control rather than visa versa. To go to bed with NO guilt from our own hearts, no condemnation, ....ever, to walk in a peace that passes all understanding, joyful even in sorrow or trying times? It will be the possession of every believer, no matter how weak we are, no matter how bound we have been to addictive sins.

We as the church are about to walk as overcomers of the world, the flesh and the devil. Holiness. Not a legalistic following of rules but freedom! A bride without spot or wrinkle. If Jesus came and asked you if you believed He could do this, how would you answer? It is alright if your is no. We have been trained to believe that we can never walk without sins of disobedience. I am not referring to slip-ups.  I am talking about willful disobedience, knowing full well God is telling us no, and proceeding anyway, because we know we can be forgiven. And because of that, our shield of faith is down. At present, such a walk seems impossible to us, too good to be true, but praise God, not for long. We will know that there is not one door still locked in the mansion of our hearts, mansions He owns. He has been crowned Lord of all, and our surrender is about to be complete. He will become both Savior AND Lord, and instead of us dreading it, we realize it is what we have wanted since the day we were saved.

We will soon see something amazing. The church is about to light its lamp, first individually, then collectively... which will then ignite a WHOLE lot more individuals. It will be the final harvest and the preparation to meet our husband. His eyes will be upon each of us, in love, seeing us return the affection, the devotion, the singleness of eye. He will have for each one of us a singular new name, totally unique. He will have eyes only for us, His beloved, and glory to God, in truth, not since the days of the first church, will we only have eyes for Him.

Rejoice! But listen. We will all awake, both wheat and tares. Those with a secret love of evil in one form or another, no matter how seemingly trivial, those who want to remain in control over their own selves, will soon begin to give way to deeper darkness. There will be no standing still. The separation is beginning and light will not abide with darkness. Those who truly love the light will come to it... fully... and as a result, BE it. Not by effort. Not by self denial. Not by extreme tying up our old man, where he still is in there always squirming to get out, and succeeding more often than not. How then? By us putting on our new natures...God in us... causing us to walk as truly new men, exactly as He promised us in Ezekiel 36. The old garbage is gone, by a miracle of God.

We are about to see the work, that if our eyes did not see it, we would not believe it. Ready or not, God is about to sweep us up and love us into full un-conditional victory. We will finally see in our hearts, our souls, a full surrender, and we will abandon ourselves into the strong ever loving arms of our savior. And to our amazement, when we do, with our hearts soft again, just as the day we were first saved, that the self loving desires that once drove us, ruled over us, rule over us no more.

More to come. Aren't you excited? LOL. 

Be blessed, all of you.

Live, bones, live.

Gideon

Hi again, great question. And yes, there is something we need to do.

as I said, I walked for almost 38 years trying to jiggle the battery cables to get that ‘spark’. I tried everything...serving as a cell pastor, memorizing scripture, church without fail three times a week, accountability partners, prayer, being prayed for by the elders, disciplining my flesh.... and all added up to abject failure.

That night eleven years ago, I was at the end. God has spoken clearly, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’, and my heart was anything but pure. I refused to lower the standard of holiness being our calling, but by doing so, I became the poster boy for Romans 7. Like most everyone else, I was trapped there, but unlike many, I hated my life and was truly a wretched man. That night, in tears, I cried out to God, telling Him His was was too high, too hard....impossible, unless I received a miracle. And I did.

God appeared and a blinding golden lightput me on my face..... and He spoke to me.... yes, audibly.

“For this, my son, I am well pleased.”

Say whaaatt?? For almost four decades I had longed to feel like my life was pleasing God and now, now in my failure, He tells me I am pleasing? It made no sense.....until He spoke again.

”I knew all along that you could not walk the  walk I had for you, but you did not yet know it.”

Ahhh, that amazing, full of hope,three letter word yet. In an instant, God removed the scales of blindness from my eyes and I saw. I was finally at the place where I had ZERO confidence in my flesh. I was finally at the place where I had NO strength. And God was ready to teach me a life transforming truth I had been blinded to.

He spoke again.

”In all your trying, did you ever do what I  instructed you to do through my apostle Paul?”

Again, He let my eyes instantly see the answer. Romans 6. I had had it memorized, for I knew that Romans 6-8 held a key to it all. I just could not see it.

And what does Paul tell us in Romans 6? Here Paul tells us that first, there are two facts, two truths we MUST know.

1) We died when Christ died. 

2) When Christ rose from the dead, we rose again with Him to newness of life.

We all know that, right? Ok,so what? So, read the next verse. 

“Therefore, reckon yourself dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God.”

And instantly, I saw it. In 38 years of struggling to get mastery over my old nature, I had tried to discipline it, tie it up with heavy chains, re-train it, starve it, ignore it, but never, never, had I done the one thing God asked me to do. Believe it as mine...now.

That word ‘reckon’ is a banking term. If I have money in the bank,but no cash in hand, I can confidently write a check because I KNOW the check is good. I do not hope my check clears. I KNOW it.  It not ‘will be good’ in the future. It is good right now. And not once had I ever appropriated those truths as MY truths, my possession,  right this very minute.

So what did I do? I spoke. Out loud. LOUDLY out loud. I reckoned my old nature not as dying but as dead. DEAD.. I confessed that I was no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit, and that I owed my flesh nothing. I yielded myself to my God not as a poor sinner saved by race, but as one who is alive from the dead. I put off my old man, and clothed myself with my new nature. 

And with my ears hearing truth, my stony little seed of faith that God had given me began to sprout. My ‘good fight of faith’ had begun. There is the fight. It is not a fight to get it. The fight is to hold onto it, and praise God, He plants us on the high ground ad tells us that He will ‘cause us’ to win the fight. 

Brother, what I share works. Many lessons had to be learned. I had to learn that this is not a one time ‘sinless perfectionism’ experience. That is man’s attainment, an impossibility. This is an abiding that works by faith. As we stand with our shields of faith up, they do indeed quench ALL he fiery arrows of the enemy, just as God has promised.

Can we slip here? Yes, but only because our faith is weak. So, IF (not when) we slip, we confess it, repent, and immediately, we re-hoist up our shield of faith as to who we are. Why? Because the only reason we slipped is unbelief. The cure? Believe again! And glory to God, as we do, our faith gets stronger. An as we get established in that faith, as we agree with God as to who we are and who we aren’t, we find abiding in the vine is easy, not hard, no matter how weak we are. And praise God, we discover that as we learn to abide in the vine, we do not fulfill the lusts  of the flesh, just as He promised.

Ok, I have to go to work, lol, but I will be back. Pray on this and let it bless you. I have a strong feeling you are one who will see it. If you have any questions, I would be honored to try to answer them. 

Have a blessed day.

Gideon

A fork in the road approaches. Light and goodness go in one direction and evil and darkness the other. Do we not see the world getter more and more evil right before our very eyes? Is the darkness increasing? You bet it is. Guess what? That part of each of us that is willful, stubborn, full of pride, that part will begin to pull even harder, if it has not done so already. Many of you know exactly what I am talking about. But I want to encourage you. It is all about to change.

However, we must realize that even if we are saved, we cannot dodge the issue. A split must occur. The old us? We must figure a way to get freed of its grip. But first a choice awaits each of us. Us or Him in us? Only one can rule. Us...the old us.... or Him.... in us. The part of us that is willful, prideful, self centered, and of course always right, that us. A part of us wants to rise up in self defense, crying "Heresy! God has forgiven us, no matter how we behave." Again, that us. We.... the part of us that likes to rule the roost...that us must die. And it will not go quietly into the night. It will be a fight to the death. One and only one can exist.

To most of us, it sounds like bad news to our ears. Our minds reel at the impossibility of such a thing. We might have to live like monks and run an orphanage and give up our nest. Fear looms over us. Self preservation joins in. Silly us. We do not see what God has done and what He has for us. 

You see, we have been blind men walking up till now. When we think of our lives,, who we are, how we think, how we act,, we walk as a mixed bag, don't we? The old black dog/white dog thing. A constant battle, right? And worse yet, for many, there is no battle anymore at all, but a sort of quasi-peace treaty with the darkness in us, that as long as we don't go too crazy with sin, and keep them respectable and of course "understandable", we will not get all serious about our living out of Christianity 24/7. Moderation in all things, right? Our peace treaty is about to be annulled, and we will forever thank Him for the annulment,

This is the exact point we have erred and gone astray. I pray you really hear these words of truth. We are NEVER both old nature and new. Not for a a nano-second, If a house is divided against itself, how will it stand? It will not. A fountain cannot spring forth with both fresh and salty water. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. Guess what? Jesus then said:

"Either make the tree good or make the tree evil". 

Let that sink in in quietness of heart before God for just five minutes and I believe He will change your mind on the matter. We are either new men or old, one or the other. But here is the catch. As new men, we can still walk in the old one if by ignorance or by choice, we let down our guard and do not believe we are truly born again with new natures.

Soooo.... if we are truly one natured, not two, then that part of us we described a minute ago, the ugly part, the part that has the audacity to say "No" firmly to God as if it is our birthright and we do not even blink, let alone bow in shame for such behavior? Yes, .... that part? It is dead. And moreover it is NOT you any longer, glory to God.

Is this not the root of our problem? Is this not why in the heart of multitudes of believers, secretly many are truthfully a bit...shall we say "disappointed" that their Christianity has evolved as it has? What began in our lives with such LIFE....with such excitement, joy and genuine faith in a loving God has somehow inexplicably eroded into something far different. Enough said here. Let he who has ears to hear, hear, I suspect.

Our Christian lives, they are surfacey about Jesus, but far too often not backed up by a real thriving, amazing abiding in Christ, is woefully lacking. Our joy is shriveled and with no signs of changing in this life. We have all slowly lowered our expectations so as to not feel disappointment face some deep questions. But if joy has withered from the hearts of men, and the joy of the Lord is our strength, you can see our dilemma. If evil is getting stronger inside us, we.... the new us... we need to be stronger, and yet without joy, it is impossible.

Listen We all WANT deeper prayer lives, We all WANT to stop sinning, and to care more deeply for the lost, but we do not. We CANNOT. Why? Because in our minds and hearts, we have never identified and disassociated from the enemy. That part of us is dead...gone. And yet here we are at the end of the age, and we are dragging around a carcass through our unbelief. That old me? That old you? It died when you got saved. It is NOT you. It is the enemy. Again, listen closely. We are told to PUT IT OFF. Yes, disassociate. It WAS us. it is us no longer. Who are we? Light. I beg you, take a few minutes in the presence of God and simply ask Him if this is true.

Guys, we are dead. We have not lived like it. We think we never will. We think it impossible. We are wrong. We are about to be more than pleasantly surprised. God has another card to play and it is a biggie. We are about to awaken to who we are….. and light our lamps.

Blessings, 

Gideon

57 minutes ago, Butero said:

Interesting.  What I would say to you is someone has to start it.  If you feel like that is something lacking, maybe that is why God sent you here, to start those kind of threads and conversations.  I think the time is short, and we do need to be working to reach the lost.  I believe we should be trying to get closer to God.  I have no problem believing that what you are saying could be true.  I don't know that for a fact, but I am open to the possibility.  All I can say is jump in and fill that void.  

Hello, Butero, what a wonderfully ‘Berean’ answer to my OP. I do indeed hope to help fill the void. I have been a believer since 1970. One of my posts details my amazing salvation story. But up until 2007, I was the poster boy for Romans 7. I was addicted to porn.... badly addicted..... and was an angry, judgmental man who served a hard God, so everyone else had to tow the line as well. Sad but true. But eleven years ago, I had a supernatural visitation. I was at the end of my rope, weighed down with condemnation, an literally out of answers as to how to get victory over my very out-of-control flesh. And then Fod appeared to me, no face, just blinding golden light, and He spoke to me....yes, audibally. And He shared with me what I had been missing, the key to unlocking the second half of the gospel.

Before any runs to heat up the tar and grab a chicken, LOL, let me explain what the second half of the gospel is. In Ezekiel 36, like Jeremiah 31, the new covenant is promised. But Ezekiel 36 contains a benefit that Jeremiah left out. What is it? 

Obedience.

Here God tells us that He I’ll ‘cause us’ to obey Him. Whoa. There are many scriptures that back this up, it for now that will suffice. I knew the promise, well, but as to how to avail myself of it, I had no clue. My hope was gone, my strength was gone, and I was all out of resolutions to ‘try harder’. I was at the bottom with no hope of ever seeing victory. Until He spoke. Since that day, I have walked in what He shared with me, and to my ama event and joy, it works. 

Pretty much every post I will share here will be concerning what we have been missing, and how to change it. The message God has asked me to share is life altering. It is what will key our awakening and becoming prepared to meet the bridegroom. We are in now way ready.... not yet. But change is coming....HUGE change.

I will be sharing in another post about that night and what God specifically told me. If you do not yet think I am totally crazy, at least yet, if this still had your interest, I ask that you check it out. And here, I pray you continue your Berean-like attitude. I promise, you will be blessed for it.

 So nice to meet you and thank you for your kind reply.

Blessings,

   Gideon

Our Awakening Is Beginning

Jun 20, 2015#1
 
BGREERWell-Known Member
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I am confused. Bear with me as I share a bit about the cause of the confusion.

Holiness is a big deal in the new testament, right? The vast majority of the New Testament is basically an instruction manual and compass for personal holiness and purity. God calls us to be holy, fully His, fully surrendered into His loving arms and loving will for us. Is this correct?

As well, evangelizing is the common thread of New Testament Christianity. The Bible was written by and about people who burned to share the gospel with others. It was their purpose.... to BE light for others to see and be drawn to. God's basic call on us as Christians is to go forth among all nations, evangelizing and bringing life and light when there was only death and darkness previously. Would that not be a fair summary of what is contained in the Bible as we read it?

So, may I humbly ask someone to explain these questions I have? I am not attacking any, and I pray that every reader understands my motive is nothing but love in wanting to see you blessed.

We are called to "resist satan, steadfast in the faith" Are we? Is there a fight inside us? At the Achilles Heel sin in each of our lives, our real weakness, that one sin that "has us", are we resisting? Or have we assumed that since we will always sin, why really resist?

Is there a battle in our hearts, a fight inside us to die more and more to self, to overcome sins big and small, and to glorify God in our bodies, or have we settled for a false peace based upon our non-resistance, the thing that to us is the closest thing to resting?

Satan's last move against the people of God is summed up in this place he has led us. Let's not talk about sin for is legalistic. Let us rest in our failures and continuing in sin, for they glorify grace and make us love Him more. Of course it never seems to lead us to a deeper surrender or commitment. Why don't we see that something is wrong... bad wrong?

We in the Charismatic community view ourselves as more spiritual, more enlightened and not in a bad way for most. Now scroll down and look at the posts we choose to talk about. These are the subjects that we are most concerned about. In page after page of thread titles, maybe one in a hundred has to do with how to get closer to God, how to fully surrender, how to overcome habitual sins. Why is this? Does it not seem strange to you?

Why is it that few posts deal with sharing the gospel, or being burdened for the lost, whether it is the world in general, or friends, family, co-workers. We say we believe in eternal hell, in whatever form it may come, and yet none is concerned enough to post on such an important subject.

Guys, I am pointing out something that obvious to a few, and frankly to many outside the church, but we by and large cannot see it.... or will not. I point out these contradictions solely in hope that even one soul will say "These things ought not be so."

God has something amazing for each one of us and He is about to awaken us to it. The first step though is to admit our state of heart and cry to Him for more. Are there any here who dare admit we need awakening in a huge way? I am praying for all who read these words.

I promise you this. If you will hunger after more of Jesus and less of you, He will fill you. Why? He has told us "Open your mouth wide and I will fill it". He will not disappoint. 

If you hate the sin that so easily besets, are weary of the battle but refuse to surrender to sin as inevitable, God has an answer that will blow you away.

If you hate the lack of burden you have for others to find Jesus that you cannot seem to shake, God is about to make you a light for all to see.

It is beginning. Glory to God, we are about to be awakened and we will never be the same. Those in the world who have wagged their tongues at us as professors but not possessors of what we say we believe, they are about to see what happens when we become light. They will exclaim "Look! That which bore only briars and thornsf has become again like the garden of Eden!" 

We are about to have restored to us what the devil has hidden from our eyes. And the world is about to know that Jesus is Lord, when He shall be sanctified in us before their very eyes.

Blessings to all,

Gideon