Saturday, October 30, 2010

Gift or inheritance?

Genesis 25:5 - "...Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac" "But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts..."

There are difference between the sons of God. Abraham had Isaac and also other sons, still Isaac received all that he had. There is a difference between the Bride and the rest of the Body of Christ. All of them are the children of God, but not all of them is the Bride, therefore the reward is not everybody's.

Only the Bride receives the inheritance, the reward of the Father. What happens with the rest of the body? They can keep their gifts, because the gifts of God is without repentance. They still have the gift of eternal life, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23). They will go to heaven, but will miss out on the precious reward. They could have their other kinds of gifts on this earth also until the perfection of the saints, like the gift of prophecy, gift of tongue, etc, but still they can't enter into their inheritance. ( "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matt. 7:22-23)

Gift is something that we just receive, and never be taken from us, but the inheritance is something, that has to be earned to be received. Col. 3:24 - " ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done..." Inheritance is something that we can miss out before we receive it like Esau did.

We need to be an over comer to receive it. And these are the things that we could receive if we overcome:
a. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life..." - To these will be given resurrection power. (Rev. 2:7)
b. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." - Speaks of escaping judgment. (Rev. 2:11)
c. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." - To those given a special ability to receive great mysteries, revelation of Jesus, that never before revealed. (Rev. 2:17)
d. "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father." (Rev. 2:26-27)- Psalms 2:8-9 - "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." They receive power like Jesus did, and the also shall rule over nations.
e. "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment;" - They shall be perfect and holy as He is, and they shall attend the marriage feast, because the requirement of the Bride is a white dress and they have it. (Rev. 3:5)
f. "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." (Rev. 3:12) - The'll be the part of the group of the manifest sons of God on this earth.
g. " To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." - They'll have complete dominion over all with God, and they will judge with God. (Rev. 3:21)

The over comers (Bride) are kings and priests unto God - "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (Rev. 1:6) " And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." (Rev. 5:10)



So back to the gifts...

2. Chronicles 21:3 - "And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn."

Esther 2:18 - "Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king."

Eph. 4.8 - "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."

The Bride will have all that Jesus has, but the rest of the body only receive gifts. "So run, that ye may obtain." (1. Cor. 9:24)


Saturday, October 2, 2010

Careful for nothing

Jesus said this to me: "You are troubled and careful about many things.". Then He reminded for these following things, let me share them with you. I don't think I am the only one who sometimes gets carried away with worrying, whether it's about family members, finances, spiritual deficiencies, etc.
The Word of God said " Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Phil.4:6).
Because of the Fall we are, in our natural state; worried, fearful, and careful for everything.
It all started with the fall.
In Genesis 3:16 God spoke to the woman: "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.". Then in verse 17 God spoke to Adam: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;".
Let me give you the Hebrew definition of sorrow: worrisomeness that is labor or pain. Root: to curve, to worry pain or anger, fabricate in a bad sense.
In the natural state the women's curse is to worried and be care for their children, but the man's is to be worried for their provision.
Gen. 3:19 says "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." . Sweat in the Hebrew means: perspiration. Root word: agitate as with fear in the sense of sweating. Face in the Hebrew means: nose, nostril (from the rapid breathing in passion) hence the face.
The man is sweating in anger and worry and fear because of provision. But it says that this will be "till thou return unto the ground". So God put a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life (verse 24). The only way men can go back, is through the sword. The only redemption of our flesh is the Word of God, the two edged sword. The sword is the Word of God and the flaming sword is the Word of God combined God's purging, sanctifying fire.
That's why Jesus said "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Seeking the Kingdom of God comes with going through the flaming sword and if we do that, we can get back to the ground of Eden where we will be restored, without any worry and fear, and we can live in a place of abundance in every area of our lives. You know what really shows our Father's heart? That it is enough for Him just to see us seek the Kingdom of God. If you try your best to please Him, with a pure heart, He will take care of all your needs right now, even before you have completely entered in, or "found" the Kingdom of God.
But why does this happened in the first place?
Gen. 3:17 says "...thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree..." Hearkened in the Hebrew means: to hear (with implication of obedience). He didn't just listen to Eve, but obeyed too. He rebelled against the Word of God and instead, listened to the voice of His wife.
(You see, we women have to be careful because we can manipulate a man without putting any thought into it, when we ourselves are deceived. I am talking of course in the natural sense and generally. Eve was deceived: "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." 1. Tim. 2:14. Manipulation is a dangerous weapon and it's not godly. We need to check ourselves continually.).
We bring fear and worry into our lives by rebelling against the Word of God.
Ps. 107:11-12 says: " Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help." Labour in the Hebrew means: toil, that is, wearing effort; hence worry, whether of body or mind. Work is something that calls for hard labor, and in turn, worry. It is not in the list of the Blessings of God.
Worry comes from the devil also. It is what he uses to torment us. Ps. 10:7 - "His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity." Mischief is the same Hebrew word as labour found in Ps. 107:11-12.
But thank God, we have Jesus, and He broke the curse. He paid the price. So He can boldly say "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Phil. 4:6). We need to take this seriously. The only thing He asks us to do is to give thanks in everything, and cast all our cares upon Him because he cares for us (1. Pet. 5:7), and pray to Him. That's all. I know our flesh thinks it's not enough and wants to toil and do work that brings worry, but it is so clear that He just wants us to trust in Him. We can't do it anyway. He says: "If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?" (Luke 12:26). Isn't that liberating?
In our world if you do not care, you're labeled as someone that is not responsible. The pressure is so great. If you're not "careful" then people think something wrong with you. That's our nature. God, from the beginning, wanted us to completely trust in Him and depend on Him only. A great example for that is when He gave manna for provision. Everybody had to gather only as much as was enough for a DAY. If they gathered more, it went bad. For a day! People tried to gathered more because they worried that they won't have any tomorrow, but Jesus says: "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matt. 6:34). Only once out of seven times they could gather for the next day. You see there is no place for "saving accounts" before the 7th day. God wanted to teach them that they can trust in Him, and that they could surely depend on Him. This is what the Bible says about gathering manna: "This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents." (Ex. 16:16). Some people had to gather for "his people" also. They could gather more, but they had to give to those that could not go out and gather it for themselves. They were mostly children or sick people that were unable to gather manna. They were the ones "which are in his tents". So if we have more than we need, it is because we need to give it to somebody who is in need in our tents. "As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack." (2. Cor. 8:15) and "But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:" (2. Cor. 8:14)
Only before every 7th day can we gather more and put it aside. And I believe that we will have to gather more before THE 7th day also, the last day of the Lord, both in a spiritual and natural sense. Don't misunderstand me, I believe in prosperity and there are times to gather more, but what I am saying is that most of the time, 6 times out of seven, don't. So if you don't have a college fund for your kids 5 years in advance, or you don't have a huge saving account, then I say "Take no thought". But when I talk about provision I'm not just talking about finances, but spiritual, mental, and physical provision also because "my God shall supply ALL your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:19).
Again, Jesus doesn't want us to worry. The curse is broken! We don't have to live in fear. He paid the price! That's why He says it over and over again "Take no thought!"
Matt. 6:25 - "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?". In verse 27 He asks a valid question: "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?". Another translation says: "And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure to his stature or to the span of his life?". I know it's easier to say than do, but believe me, as you search the Word of God, you get to know Him better and then you will trust in Him more and believe that whatever he says it's true and that it's enough just to let Him know about your need, worship Him, and know that He will take care of your problem. If you give it to God, you need to believe that He wants the best for you, so whatever may happen, even if it doesn't look so good, it's what is best for you, for that moment. He knows the end from the beginning, He knows you better than you know yourself. But we need to spend time in His Word. Remember that the only way back before the time of worry is through the flaming sword. We need to give ourselves to the Word of God, and the purging fire of the Holy Spirit, then we can live free from fear and worry. Verse 31 says again "Take no thought", verse 34: "Take no thought for tomorrow". Matt. 10:19, Luke 12:11 - "But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak".
Luke 12:22 - "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on." Verse 26: " If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?". That's what I am asking myself when worry and fear arises. Why? I can't help it, only Jesus can. So I give it to Him, I repent if I sinned, I ask for His forgiveness, I thank Him for His faithfulness and mercy, and I say "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9:24). You see, the truth is, that "if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:" and after that "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." (2. Tim. 2:13).
In the Greek, the word worry means: to be anxious about, through the idea of distraction. We need to fight, and don't let the devil or our mind rob us and distract us from Jesus through fear and worry. Don't be like Martha, who was troubled about so many things and was distracted from the very thing that could bring her freedom from worry and fear, which is Jesus, the Living Word.
Let me finish by repeating what was said and asking you this: "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?". "If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?" so cast "all your care upon him; for he careth for you" and "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."