How much shaking will it take for His own to finally get it?

[LadyKay]

1 hour ago, Gideon said:

I think a large part of it is simply the time period we have been brought up in. How different it is than for those in tbe early phase of the first century church

How. Are you that old? 

[Gideon]

5 minutes ago, LadyKay said:

How. Are you that old? 

If I judge by how I feel  some days, yes. ?

[LadyKay]

1 hour ago, Gideon said:

Fast forward to what we have all been a part of in the church today. It is a different time. We have the light, but it is flickering at best

Okay I want to know how do you know  everyone of us here what our church experience has been? And that our lights are only a flicker?  While I will agree that there are those who's light may only flicker. That is not true of all of everyone. 

[Gideon]

21 minutes ago, LadyKay said:

Okay I want to know how do you know  everyone of us here what our church experience has been? And that our lights are only a flicker?  While I will agree that there are those who's light may only flicker. That is not true of all of everyone. 

How do you know you are running at full throttle? Do not underestimate what God can do in you. 

You have a choice as you read what I have been asked to share.

You can take offense, even though those in  the world can even see our lukewarmness and lack of real spiritual fruits. 

Or, you can assume me just a misled soul and pray for me.

Or, you can  get before God, promises in hand, and ask Him if He was lying when He wrote them. 

Pretty simple. Personally, I hope all opt for number three, although I do covet your prayers. ?

blessings, 

Gids

Edited April 5, 2020 by Gideon

[Sower]

3 hours ago, Gideon said:

I fear a lot more. We are entrenched in our traditions, our opinions, our pet doctrines, our self love, and yet in the midst of the first serious birth  pang, one thing is noticeably missing. Brokenness, repentance and hunger for the HOW of abiding in Him. 

Our cons,  what we have;      entrenched in our traditions, our opinions, our pet doctrines, our self love.
More cons, what we don't have;  brokenness, repentance, hunger for knowledge of abiding......(bummer)

7 minutes ago, Gideon said:

None has to give an ear to what I share, and that includes you, my dear brother. Hey, up till now, none have, lol. If I was to judge my 'success' based upon rhe fruits of my labor so far, I would be the first to say "Well, what do you expect? You are no one."

You said   "You are no one"   False!  You're proclaiming the word, planting seed.
I see you as an excited believer trying to share something you received (from God) to others believers. That's cool!...
But try not grouping EVERYBODY in the same camp. Don't assume everybody is still on the milk. Brother.
It kinda makes me think we're all in kindergarten being instructed by some all knowing professor.
You probably do not know 99.99% of us, nor those you never met in life, nor all those churches you never have been to.
There are many many churches out there who are not on TV, but simply the small local church, teaching God's word, truth.
The subject you preach, abiding, reckoning self dead, not I but Christ,  new creatures, all things in Christ, etc etc, is NOT new, Gideon.
And it is learned (for me) over time and experience, failures and victories, study and much prayer, with faith.

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
abide; stay in a given place, state or expectancy, remain, tarry, dwell, endure, be present. (I like this one- tabernacle; (in biblical use) a fixed or movable habitation, typically of light construction. A "tent", pitch a tent and 'live' in Christ!:)

PS. John 15 is the most marked up pages in my bible.

“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[missmuffet]

7 hours ago, Gideon said:

I fear a lot more. We are entrenched in our traditions, our opinions, our pet doctrines, our self love, and yet in the midst of the first serious birth  pang, one thing is noticeably missing. Brokenness, repentance and hunger for the HOW of abiding in Him. 

We have protected ourselves with sll sorts of reasonings and excuses as to why it is actually impossible to truly abide in Him in victory, where we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We have been told it is impossible, We have been lied to. Up till now, our will for us is simply not His will for us, and therein lies the problem. 

What is His will for us? It is clearly stated, if we have ears to hear. 

"For this is is the will of God, even your sanctification."

1 Thessalonians 4:3

Is this your will for you? Is this your focus? Is this your treasure? up till now, for most, it is not. Our path to walk in holiness is littered with scriptures taken out of context that seem to buffer us from the still small voice of God dealing with us, gently exhorting us that our will MUST become His will for us. 

The time is short. The shakings are about to increase. God's voice will become louder,  more forceful, less gentle. We need to "awake to righteousness and sin not". If we do not know how to do this, then we need to be found on our knees crying out to our Heavenly Father as to the HOW of holiness, where we actually are kept by the power of God through faith. 

There is an answer, but it will be found only by broken-hearted believers, confessing their sin of trying to be content without godliness. Our God wants to shine forth through us, but He cannot.... will not.... until we bow our will to His and admit our deep need for abiding in Him all day, every day. 

When we do that, God will move in a way that will take our breath away. However, we must be aware,  until we do that, humble ourselves and pray, and turn from our wicked ways, God will ratchet up the. pressure and the shakings. till they bring forth their desired effects. 

People will say  defiantly "What sins?". It should be clear to us but it is not... yet. Our sin.... our root sin.... the one from which all the other sins are birthed.... is unbelief. We have limited the Holy One by our unbelief in His promises.

He has promised to cause us to will and to do of His good pleasure.

He has promised our shields of faith will quench ALL the fiery arrows of the devil. 

He has promised to not allow us to be tempted above our ability to resist

He has promised to keep us from falling.

He has promised to make us free indeed, using HIS definition of what that means.

 

And yet, for each one of these amazing promises, we have strewn our path to full repentance and belief in the truth with excuses of our humanity, and our lingering fallen nature. There lies the problem, and there lies the solution. We must somehow escape our fallen nature. And to those who cry out as wretched men like Paul did in Romans 7, the doors to 8, victory over the world, the flesh and the devil, will be abundantly opened wide. 

But for those content to remain where they are and  cry "I am only human. Grace allows me to stay this way!", the ratcheting up will increase until the pressure is simply  unbearable. A choice WILL be made . Our will or His for us, and there will be no exceptions.  ALL His sheep WILL hear His voice, even those who are hard of hearing. Thank God He loves us that much. 

blessings, 

Gids

 

 

We can not make people believe in Jesus Christ. They know who He is. Only God can change the heart. 

[Blood Bought 1953]

3 hours ago, Gideon said:

But what I share is the truth, and backed up by scriptures. 

 

Not true. You do not understand the very thing that saves you— Grace.You consistently misrepresent the Truth About Grace, making up wild, silly claims and present them as fact. It always takes the form of “ whoopee! I am under Grace, so now I going to just go out and sin up a storm— nobody can touch me!” You never provide any proof for your accusations, and you just ignore the requests to prove that you are nothing but a false witness.You ruin Newbies with untruths before they even have a chance to see the Freedom they have in Christ.....

Know this ,Newbies ,and forget what the “ Accusers Of The Brethern” speak ignorantly about......Grace ( the sheer Mercy Of God ) is the only thing that ever saved anybody. God does not need us and we can add Nothing to Him. He was so satisfied with what His Son accomplished at the Cross, He is now free to extend His Love , Mercy and Grace to ALL that will come to Him through His Son .Knowing That By His Grace we are “ saved to the Uttermost” because of the Finished Work Of The Cross, Knowing that we can “NEVER be Cast out” ......if these Promises are  believed to the point  that we REST in them, as ordered......The response to Grace when properly understood and LIVED OUT is ALWAYS gratitude and Love.Love is the ultimate goal of Christianity .It drives EVERYTHING in Christianity that God wants to see.It is the Engine that drives Obedience....If you do not know Grace you don’t know God, much less love Him .Pray to God that your Faith in the Gospel Of Pure Grace be strong enough to REST in it .Faith in the Gospel Of 1Cor15:1-4 is what saves today. “ Rest” is just another word for true Faith.......God declares you disobedient and in a State Of Unbelief if you do not Rest in the Gospel Of Grace .

Here is what Grace Plus Nothing deniers do not understand......when you see that you can do whatever you want and not be damned it does not  lead to sin.....it spurs gratitude and Love—-  gratitude and Love so strong your “ wants” are changed......all you now “ want” to do is please God.....Obedience from the Heart....It is what God is looking for ......Religious people  know how to “ act” obedient. Only a person who understands God’s Way Of Grace Plus Nothing can truly “ BE” obedient, and any Obedience that does not have its Roots in the Love That the understanding of Grace brings, ain’t worth much. It beats any type of “ disobedience” of course......but that is about all it does..... 

[Not me]

@Gideon

I think the analogy of Ananias and. Saphira is an interesting one... Will have to ponder on it before God for awhile....Don’t really see or understand how it relates to the times we live in... I understand about their lie..And about the cost of discipleship to the degree I do see...But it might be like trying to describe what light is to a blind man.....So with no frame of reference except the Christ that I know.. If there is, and I’m sure there is, a deeper cost of discipleship that still needs to be payed I can’t pay for it until the payment is requested from me by the Christ that lives in me...

When I was about 17 years old I gave away all my worldly possessions my clothes, my stereo, my books, pictures everything I owned thinking that was what the cost of discipleship was. Than I found myself sitting on the curb crying not wanting to give up my shoes..It was than that I thought there has to be something differently meant in this give up all you own..  Fast forward 50 years-ish and all I can say is each person/ believer has to be true to the Christ that lives in them... I can’t see in their light and they can’t see in mine... Share what I can or do accordingly to what the Spirit of Christ in me gives me peace about...As I’m sure you do also...So I’ll remain cautious and open about the light you say you see..For you just might be seeing something which I as of yet don’t see... For I know Christ is alive in you as with within me as with within all those that are His..So to the hope of our calling do I commit my eyes to Christ that He might do with me according to His good pleasure..Be blessed as you continue to be true to the Christ in you.

a brother in the faith, Not me

[Coliseum]

7 hours ago, Gideon said:

I fully realize some will not take kindly to what I am sharing and conveniently resort to disparaging the messenger. I understand, for if what I am sharing is the truth, that means we have not yet dug deep and that if a strong shaking occurs, collapse is a distinct possibility. 

It amazes me that something so wonderful can be shared and can be cast off as refuse. I pray at some point that any who fall into this category reconsider. Jesus has clearly offered  to set us free indeed and then proceeded to define it as not committing sin. 
 

Our salvation is a two part process. Christ's death offers us forgiveness. Christ's resurrection offers to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. We love the first part, for here we do not have to hate our life. Ahh, but the second part is a different story. We like the freedom of choice our free will affords us. Giving it up because we hate the part of us that is the traitor? Hmmmm, not so much. 

Is it any wonder we are healed only slightly? We have been left to try to "be good Christians" and rhere is no joy, no rest found there. God has something far better for us, but who will believe it?  Up til now, not many, lol. But God has assured me that will change, so I guess I will continue to fling seed as best I can. ?

blessings to all,

Gideon

A man flat lines in a hospital. He had an assortment of problems. He had some hernias, he was overweight, he lusted after women, he was gluttonous---but he died---not partially, but completely. He has no hope of recovery...unless...unless a doctor or Someone from the outside causes him to recover. There is not a doggone thing he can do about it unless that happens. The doctors work frantically, and a spark of life comes to him and he is alive. God can and does do this miracle in us spiritually. One minute we are dead, and the next we are regenerated. But this man's "assortment of problems" does not vanish as well. He is still overweight, still has  some hernias, still lusts after women, still is gluttonous---but he is alive. some of these problems he may overcome; some, perhaps not. These problems remaining do not in and of themselves cause him to die. If so, he would not have been made alive having them.

When I read Romans 7:5, I see this happening: 
"For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death."

These sinful passions are what? Aroused by the law. The law heightens our desire, not lessens it. The more I think about that pink elephant in the room, the harder it is to stop thinking about it---especially, and this is key, when I am told not to look at it. What is my natural, sinful nature? To do exactly what I am told not to. It is not when I am constantly trying to stop sinning that I stop sinning, but when I turn and look to Christ. I turn to him to help me do what i cannot in myself do . This is why I pray, always constantly focusing on Him---not my sin. We are not saved because we stop sinning, but because of his grace and promises, through faith to do and complete in us what He started. He---HE, and He alone, brought us from death to life, and "Apart from me you can do nothing." Nothing means nothing!

Edited April 5, 2020 by Coliseum

[Gideon]

4 hours ago, Not me said:

@Gideon

I think the analogy of Ananias and. Saphira is an interesting one... Will have to ponder on it before God for awhile....Don’t really see or understand how it relates to the times we live in... I understand about their lie..And about the cost of discipleship to the degree I do see...But it might be like trying to describe what light is to a blind man.....So with no frame of reference except the Christ that I know.. If there is, and I’m sure there is, a deeper cost of discipleship that still needs to be payed I can’t pay for it until the payment is requested from me by the Christ that lives in me...

When I was about 17 years old I gave away all my worldly possessions my clothes, my stereo, my books, pictures everything I owned thinking that was what the cost of discipleship was. Than I found myself sitting on the curb crying not wanting to give up my shoes..It was than that I thought there has to be something differently meant in this give up all you own..  Fast forward 50 years-ish and all I can say is each person/ believer has to be true to the Christ that lives in them... I can’t see in their light and they can’t see in mine... Share what I can or do accordingly to what the Spirit of Christ in me gives me peace about...As I’m sure you do also...So I’ll remain cautious and open about the light you say you see..For you just might be seeing something which I as of yet don’t see... For I know Christ is alive in you as with within me as with within all those that are His..So to the hope of our calling do I commit my eyes to Christ that He might do with me according to His good pleasure..Be blessed as you continue to be true to the Christ in you.

a brother in the faith, Not me

Hello, my dear friend. The point of Ananias and Saphira is to show, in what one might consider a "negative" way, how far removed that is from our church experience today. In the same way, that is exactly how far the "positive" characteristics of the early church differ from what we today assume is the best that God can or will do for His people. 

We read the book of Acts the same way we read about Moses, or Samson, or Gideon or Elijah, as miraculous "Bible stories". But the book of. Acts is God's blueprint for His people and that has never changed. We have. 

Before it is all over, however, we will be returned to God's 'blueprint'. We will walk in the same power, the same level of love, the same joy and yes, the same holiness that was commonplace when Christ first built His church. And praise God, we will get the same results! Harvest!

Now this is wonderful news.... IF one is hungry for that type of walk with the Lord, abiding in the vine, and not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.... IF one longs for the very same power, the joy, the love, the victory over sin and self that was common in the book of Acts. 

But for the many who have become satisfied with less, healed only slightly, saying 'peace, peace', when there is little if any in their lives, this good news is not seen as good at all. In fact it is seen as threatening, and met with anger and much resistance. 

Some who do so are of the enemy, tares among the wheat. They want nothing to rock the boat of a system that keeps the sheep seated in their pews and sets no one free. Like their master, they fear greatly that the truth finally believed by the children of God as to who they really are will wreak havoc on the devil and his purposes. And brother, their fears are well-founded.

However, others found resisting will be true sheep.  One of the main characteristics about sheep is that they are built to follow, which is a good thing, if those whom they are following are godly men. However, sadly, they  have been led to believe that a real walk of overcoming the enemy is impossible, despite the multitude of promises to the contrary. So they too resist because they fear being misled, for if what they have believed up to this point is proven only partially true, they feel they could be shaken from the security they do possess. 

The shaking we are now enduring, and the subsequent ones to come, will be used by our loving Father to awaken all who are the elect, true sheep, to the second half of the gospel..... the part where God takes His forgiven children and transforms them into fruit-laden children,  walking in victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. What the devil has meant for harm, God will use for His glory. The real church is about to rise from unbelief and religious service to becoming resplendent and fully readied to meet her coming husband. 

We know this. All true sheep WILL hear His voice. Some will come sooner than others. Others will fight it tooth and nail, just as Saul did before he discovered how hard it was to "kick against the pricks".  This is why I do not get upset at the responses of those  who try by any means available to discourage the message from going forth.  What message? The glorious trutb that grace is not limited to forgiveness alone but is the very power that transforms us from sinners saved by grace to fully sanctified saints walking as overcomers. 

God's will is that we be sanctified wholly, body, soul and spirit. Amen?  And praise God, we are being returned to His full gospel that forgives AND cleanses. Some, those tired of their failure and the condemnation that follows them everywhere, will run to embrace the good news, for it truly is such. 

Others, true sheep as well, will dig in their heels and resist with all that is within them the cleansing portion of the gospel, but God loves them far too much to let them miss what He has for them. And if pressure and shakings are the only way to awaken us to the fact His promises are for us right now, today, well, then, He will roll up His sleeves and do what is necessary. Thank God!

blessings,

Gids

Edited April 5, 2020 by Gideon