There was a man who thought everything was fine. He had his place with God and as far as he knew life was good. He had great wealth and enjoyed it. The Bible does not say he did anything else wrong,  only that he did not help a sick beggar man who had nothing and that seems to have put the rich man in hell.

In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus, which I will post at the end. The man found himself in hell, but he was not expecting to be there. The only fault shown in the story is that he did not have mercy on the poor that was there by him. This one thing caused him to be in hell.

The rich man should be a warning to everyone. Christians typically think they have arrived, they are saved and now they are just waiting for the Rapture or death, whichever comes first, and that is all there is to the Christian life. They think we are just here to live and play and then walk into glory when life is over. They THINK they are alright and their future is sealed, but is it? The rich man thought the exact same thing, but he begged to have someone go tell his family that they did not end up in the same place he found himself. The answer was that they had the Word, they should already know...

Are we listening to this horrifying warning or do we just sweep it under the rug and ignore it as we do so many Scriptures?  One little thing and the man was found in Hell. At what level is that bar set, at what point do we find ourselves cast out? I know, some say that once you are saved then you are forever saved, but is eternity really worth betting on a doctrine of man? At least some that believe that way, will say that if a person lives in sin then they never were saved in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong here, I am not saying we can EARN our salvation, as that is a gift from God and no man can justify himself by his works, but if we have not the works that show we have been saved, are we?  In James 2 it ponders this issue of works and faith with the simple statement “I will show you my faith by my works”.  The point is one of appreciation and reasonable service.  In Romans it says:

Rom 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God

It is about “Reasonable Service”, if we do not have this are we only deceiving ourselves?  In Matthew 22 we have the story about the a king that had a wedding supper for his son and everyone made excuses why they could not come.  So the king called everyone else to his supper instead of those that were chosen and filled the place.  Once it was all filled there was one man found that did not have on a wedding garment and was cast out into “outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.  Why?  He was called and he came and accepted the invitation, but did not have respect for what was offered, he did not do his “reasonable service”! 

At what level is the bar set? In Galatians we have one of several lists in the Bible that keep our feet on the ground as to what is right and what is wrong and what will keep us from Heaven:

Gal 5:19-21  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Oh, that is quite a list and people will say they do not fit anywhere in this list, but is this list the only things that will keep you out?  Look at just the one, “drunkeness”.  The Bible clearly says that an addiction to alcohol will keep you out of heaven if you give into it.  What about other addictions, why should it be limited to JUST the addiction of alcohol?  An addiction controls you, it makes you act against your own judgment.  Perhaps this would apply to all addictions, like smoking, food (either repeated gluttony or anorexia which is another form of addiction), money, work or other addictions.  If something other than God is controlling you, then you might find yourself lost.  Listen to the warning from the rich man. 

At what level is the bar set?  In the book of Revelation we have the letters to seven different churches.  Some believe that this represent different ages of time and the last church would represent our current time.  What was said to the last church which would be the Church of the Last Days of this Age:

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21  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.
Rev 3:22  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Pay attention here, He is talking to Christians, He wrote this letter to the “Church” and He knows their WORKS that they are lukewarm, that they have put no effort into anything, they THINK they have arrived and have no need of anything, just enjoying life and satisfying themselves.  But..  But…  They did not know they were Wretched and Miserable and Poor and Blind and Naked!  They were in the same boat as the rich man, they THOUGHT everything was fine but their works did not show it, they where deceived!

At what level is the bar set?  We are to bare fruit!  In John it says:

Joh 15:1  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4  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.
Joh 15:5  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.
Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Joh 15:9  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Joh 15:17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Joh 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

I know that is long passage and contains lots of different things, but here we will only focus on a two.  First, we can see clearly that we are to bare fruit and IF NOT we are cast off.  Sound familiar yet?  We are not here to simply live for our own pleasure, build a family and die and go to heaven, we are to bare fruit, we are to be about the work, we are to grow in the Lord and in His might, we are to help those that are in our path, we are to comfort those we can, we are to provide for those which we are able, we are to receive from God to be a blessing to those around us, our minds are to be on the Kingdom of God and NOT ON our own Kingdoms.

The other point in this passage is that we have been called out of the world (the cultures of the world).  We are not to be like the world, nor should we desire to be part of it, we should desire to be part of the Kingdom of God (the Body of the Christ) and keep that as our focus.  There are things that seem Worldly, such as fads, cultures, ways of doing things because others do them that way, which should not be part of us. If our desires go down that path, then are minds and hearts are not on the Kingdom of God.   Some might say, “well it is my life and can do what I want”, can you, is it?

1Co 6:19-29  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?   For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Which Kingdom are you in, the one of the World or the ONE of God?  You cannot be in both Kingdoms, it is nothing more than deception, you cannot be divided, you must choose.

Listen to that warning from Hell! Do not allow yourself to be deceived!  Just because you do not feel conviction on something does not mean it is not wrong, you can easily be deceiving yourself and ignoring the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  Learn the Word of God and know the nature of God so you can clearly see what is and is not pleasing to Him.  Eternity is a long time to pay a price for not listening and making wrong choices.

At what level is the bar set? At what point are we deceiving ourselves and we are really lost?  Where are we compared to that bar?  Where are those around us, compared to that bar?  Are you listening to those that spend time with God’s Word or those that are living more in the World?  It is time to know the Word and repent.  People need to know the full council of God’s Word, read the Old Testament also, the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament!  In Hebrews we are told the stories in the past are there so that we do not do the things they did and provoke God.  Know the  FULL WORD of God!

It is time to wake up and listen to the warning from a person in Hell!  When life is over or the Rapture happens, it will be TOO LATE to listen, don’t find yourself in the same position as the rich man, LISTEN TO HIS WARNING!

Rich man and Lazarus:

Luk 16:19  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
Luk 16:20  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luk 16:21  And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luk 16:22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 16:24  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Luk 16:25  But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Luk 16:27  Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
Luk 16:28  For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Luk 16:29  Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Luk 16:30  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luk 16:31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Part 2 of Working Your Faith (if you have not already, you should first read Working Your Faith at http://www.saintsinlight.com/post/2010/06/Working-Your-Faith.aspx)

Faith as a Garden

Consider faith as a garden. What you plant in your garden of faith will grow and bring forth harvest. We are all given the same size garden but we all see differing results depending on how we prepare, plant, tend to and protect our garden.

We can see this concept in the following, where it describes the Word as seed and the different types of ground with their results and what causes different situations:

Mar 4:13  And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
Mar 4:14  The sower soweth the word.
Mar 4:15  And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
Mar 4:16  And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
Mar 4:17  And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
Mar 4:18  And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
Mar 4:19  And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Mar 4:20  And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

In our Garden of Faith though, we plant seed which can come from many sources, and that seed produces either “belief” or “doubt”.  If we work our garden and planet good seed everywhere we should have a good harvest of faith without any doubts.

Prepare the Ground

The first step to bring forth a good harvest is to till the soil and get it ready for seed.  If your soil is not prepared it will not bring forth the best harvest and may not bring forth one at all, if the soil is too hard.  -- The garden of faith is in your heart. If the ground is hard due to hurt, bitterness, unforgiveness or other sins, you will not receive the desired results. We must walk in love of  both God and mankind to have the soil properly prepared.

Hos 10:12  Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Jer 4:3  For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

Some hardened clods and even some stones in the ground are strong holds we have built up that must be broken down and removed.  The strong holds are in our mind and heart, they are hardened ground from what we have heard, reasoned or experienced that is not based on the true Word.  For example, in healing, you might have been raised to believe healing is not for today, healing is not for every Christian, perhaps that healing is dependant on God’s timing, or any number of excuses that people use.  These must be cast down as they go against God’s word.  These are from lack of knowledge or improper teaching.

Strong holds are also formed by experiences we or others have had and cause us to form an opinion, which does not conform to God’s Word.  And example of this, again with healing, you might have prayed for someone you thought were very close to God and they still died of the sickness.  You then feel that healing is not for everyone or that person would have been healed.  Issues like this are some of the hardest to break as we MUST rely on God’s Word and not our experiences.  When we study healing as many other topics, we will find the answers to these issues, but if there is even one Scripture that clearly points against what we think, then we cannot accept our experiences as truth, we need to be more diligent in our studies to find the truth.

We need to get a hold of:

2Co 10:3-4  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Notice, this is referring to strong holds in our mind and heart, that we are to cast down these imagination that try to put themselves above the Word of God.  We are not to allow these into our hearts  in the first place and must control our thoughts.  You might think it is impossible to do this, but if God’s Word says that we are to do this, then it is possible for us, He would not tell us something we could not do.

The Seed

Another important step is that you must plant seed in your garden of faith if you want a harvest.  You cannot bring forth a harvest if you do not put the seed in the ground, you only will end up with fertile soil and nothing growing in it and eventually it will become hardened and fallow again.

We must be careful of what seed we plant.  Good seed is the Word of God that we understand.  If we are not sure about the meaning of Scripture then it cannot bring forth the harvest we would expect.  For example, if we have a passage about healing and we are not sure the passage is referring to healing, we have just be told it is, then it is defective seed.  We must know the Word that we are planting, it can only enter into the heart and be planted properly if we know it and become intimate with the Word, making it real in our heart.

Another  type of seed we do not want is mutated seed.  When we listen to people about the Word or try to reason something without enough study, we can mutate God’s Word to say something it does not say or at least, weaken its effectiveness.  For example, traditions often have a foot in the Word, but have a lot of man’s carnal reasoning added to them and thus mutating the meaning and producing a different result.  We must STUDY to make sure what we say we believe IS the true Word of God or we will not receive the harvest you expect.

Mat 15:3-6  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?  For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.  But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;  And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Mar 7:7-9  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

The only seed that will bring forth a full pure harvest is true seed from the Word of God that we know intimately in our hearts.  All other types of seed will produce either strange results from what we plant or ineffective results.  At times it may even harm the good seed nearby.

You might ask, how can we know for sure what seed we have planted and the condition of our garden?  The easiest way to know the condition of your garden is to listen what comes out of your mouth.  Jesus told us that out of the abundance of our heart our mouth speaks.  If for example in healing, we keep saying we are not healed or dwell on the sickness then we have not planted a full crop or an ineffective one.  Once we plant enough good seed and maintain our garden, we should speak what the seed says and not what our doubts say.

Mat 12:34-37  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Luk 6:43-45  For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

We must keep a close watch on our lips be alert to the condition of our garden.  By this same principle, we know the state of other people’s gardens also.

Time for Growth

We know we have the seed in the ground, we rest in the knowledge we will have a great harvest as long as we are patient and wait as the seed needs time to grow and bring forth, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn.  The amount of time varies by the time of the season and the type of seed.

Heb 10:35-36  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Mar 4:26-29 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.  For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

Caring for the Garden

We must understand though, we need to tend to our garden or our harvest will not be full and may not come at all.  It needs to be watered and fertilized for best results.  This is where worship and prayer comes in to work as the Holy Spirit moves. 

Eph 5:25-27  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

There is one last very important step, we must protect our garden from weeds, frost and invaders. The enemy tries to come and destroy our crop before we harvest. The thief comes to steal kill and destroy, he roams around seeking whom he MAY devour.  We must watch out for the enemy, be alert, set up scarecrows, put up a fence, watch out for tracks around our garden, and be ready to take action.

The primary tool used by the enemy upon our garden is “doubts:, the are like weeds, blowing in from many sources, they try to lodge in our garden and grow.  Once they fully grow they go to seed and spread all over our garden with the end result of overtaking and killing what we have growing or choking it out and bringing forth an incomplete harvest requiring even more work at harvest time to separate the grain from the weeds.

2Co 10:3-5  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Rom 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

That part “renewing your mind” is a daily experience, we need to keep planting our garden and keep it full to make it harder for the weeds to find a place to take hold.  This is simply remembering and meditating on the promises of God we have sown.

Doubts are in our mind and heart.  We need to take care not to allow them into us and if they do make it inside, then we pull them out. The passages above show the battle is in our mind, the weapons of our warfare is not carnal, that is to say it is  not of the material world nor of worldly reasoning, but effectual only through God.  We use God's Word to bring down these thoughts that come in and destroy their efforts.  When some doubt comes, we apply the Word so what in the end is planted is the Word, which replaces the weed with good seed.

Our five senses are bad for brining in doubt.  If you are working faith for healing, the body will give you a pain or you might see some change and sow vast amounts of doubt in your field.   All these need to be put down with what the Word says about our healing and not take in all that doubt seed.

Another source of doubts come from where your garden is located.  If we have a garden and it is next to someone’s field that is not kept and is overgrown with weeds, seeds of those weeds of the unkempt garden will blow into our garden and pollute our field.  We need to keep our field around other fields where people take care of them and keep them weeded.  It is important WHO we are around as others will sow into our field if allowed.  This will cost us much more work and perhaps will cost us part if not all of our harvest.

As an example, if we are believing for finances and we are around people who think every Christian should be poor, that prosperity is evil, when we mention anything from our garden (remember out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, we should expect to be talking about those promises if we have sown them properly), they then come back saying it is a bunch of rubbish and anyone who teaches it are evil. 

Another example is if you we believing for a healing and caring, loving people with unkempt gardens might tell you that you need to do this or that, or perhaps they knew someone who had that same thing and they died, or perhaps that it may happen in God’s time or it is just up to God’s will.

In both these examples, we have waves of bad weed seed from those around us.  The more you have of these types of fields around you the less likely you will be to keep up with all the bad seed and it can overwhelm you, the end result, you good harvest is lost.

We know from the Word that Jesus had times He had to limit those around Him to only ones of faith so they did not hinder His miracles:

Mar 5:35-42  While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.

And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.  And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.  And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.  And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.

He only wanted those that He knew would not fight His faith.  Then there is the time in His own country:

Mar 6:4-6  But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.  And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.  And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

We need to surround ourselves with people of faith that speak faith and live by faith. This will help keep the weeds from coming into our garden making less work on weed control work.  Note though, this is a two way street, we MUST also be diligent to keep the weeds out of ours as not to spread them to those around us and cause them harm.

Pro 27:17  Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Pro 13:20  He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

Amo 3:3  Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Conclusion

If we tend to our garden of faith and keep the tares out, we will have faith without doubts (all faith) and be able to move mountains.  We have to be diligent!

Everything is by faith. Without faith we cannot be Born Again or ever please God without faith, it is required.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Once we hear and receive faith, how much faith do we get and how do we grow it?

This is a misconception about faith. When we are born again we are all given a measure of "faith" and we do not need more and cannot have less. 

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Here we are told that everyone has been given the same measure of faith. Some have thought this is the beginning and now we grow it, but this passage is actually trying to warn people who were thinking they were better or greater than others because they had more faith and Paul was telling them that they all had the same measure of faith. You cannot boast in your great faith as we all have the same measure.

There are passages that sound like you will grow in faith, but if read carefully, you will see they are saying grow in "the" faith, that we mature in our walk with God. Kind of like that old song, "Through it all we have learned to trust in Jesus we have learned to trust in God". This is our experiences in "the faith" that adds richness and depth to our walk but we still have the same measure of faith.

What about all those passages of little faith? How is it we pray according to the Word and we do not receive?

This is a point that took me a while to understand. I was confused by the passage

Mar 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

I did not understand what was meant in the version I was reading as it sounded like it contradicted itself, he said he believed and then asked to help his unbelief.  When I come by Scriptures such as this that I know I am missing something, I put it in the back of mind and let it hang around pondering them every now and then to see if I have found an answer.  When I was going through the New Living Translation I found the meaning of that passage quite clear.

Mar 9:23-24  "What do you mean, `If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes."  The father instantly replied, "I do believe, but help me not to doubt!"

That revelation opened a door to a flood of knowledge.  I could clearly see that faith and doubts can coexist and doubts can cancel out the effectiveness of our faith.  So, no longer we need grow or receive "more" faith, but rather, we need to get rid of and protect ourselves against, doubts coming in and taking root in us undermining our faith.

Now these mountain moving passages become very clear:

Mar 11:22-24  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall NOT DOUBT in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Mat 21:21-22  Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye HAVE FAITH, and DOUBT NOT, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Mat 17:20  And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Luk 17:6  And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

For some time now I have understood this concept, but faith was still kind of hard to share with others and give them a clear picture of how a person can “work” their faith.  I prayed for God to give me some way to picture working faith to be able to share it with others.  Shortly, the idea of “Faith as a Garden” and “Faith as a Shield”.  Later I could see another point was missing and “Faith as Pipe” fill in the rest of the thought.

The next three posts are a rough draft of what was floating around inside me.  Over time, I keep finding more points, but I will share now what I have so far.  Be sure to share with others!

Look for:

Working Your Faith – Faith as a Garden

http://www.thesaintsinlight.com/post/2010/06/Working-Your-Faith---Faith-as-a-Garden.aspx

Working Your Faith – Faith as a Shield

Working Your Faith – Faith as a Pipe

I was visiting a church last night and when they started their service, they said they had bitter/good news, that a member was no longer in pain and he had the victory, he had passed on and was with Jesus.  He continued to suggest people pray for the wife and children during this time of loss.

This type of thing makes me wonder how many people have to die before the church wakes up and, at the very least, acknowledge there is a problem and perhaps suggest steps to move in a direction to a remedy.  Some of you who are reading this might not have a clue at what “problem” I am even referring.  Maybe you are one of those that needs woke up…

The Problem

After being in a place of need of a healing, I researched the topic with a great deal of prayer and study during a period of over two years.  The conclusion was eye opening and clearly pointed to a Last Days of this Age Church that is sleeping and superficial, they are not fully trusting in God nor many of them even reading His Word, or if they are they are mutating the Word into some form of Christian Ease that strips its power and relies on the natural for everything.

Scriptures point to Healing as being part of the atonement.  That is, when you are Born Again, you are now in a place where Healing belongs to you as well as your salvation.  Since it is part of the atonement, God does not control or limit it in any way, it is simply by Faith with no Doubts just like your salvation.  Most churches have changed this message to say:

• God sometimes puts sickness on you to teach you a listen
• God sometimes puts sickness on you to let you reach someone you might not otherwise
• It is all in God’s timing and that He may not want you healed it is something you are to endure until death and bring glory to God.
• God uses many ways to heal you and cutting out large parts of your body and making you a cripple or unable to live with any quality of life, may be the method God chooses to heal you

Those are all lies straight from the devil.  The source of all sickness and disease is the devil regardless of what you think.  One of the reasons I say this is that we had no sickness or disease in the Garden of Eden until after they sinned and authority over this world was handed over to Satan.  The Bible is QUITE clear that it is the thief that comes to steal kill and destroy, that our adversary like a roaring lion goes around seeking whom he may devour.  It is his world and all the corruption thereof.  In Acts it says that Jesus went around healing all that were oppressed of the devil.  The woman with the issue of blood, Jesus said she was bound for over eighteen years by Satan.  I am not going in to detail in the post about healing, Paul’s thorn, or any of that stuff, it is already here on the site and on TheAwakening.com.

So, healing is for us, every Christian should be healed and the Bible says for those that are in need, to call for the elders of the church and have them anoint them with oil and pray over them and they shall be healed.  My question here is, “Where are the elders”.  I know of NO church in this country that this passage is fully working.  There is supposed to be people that you can call and help those that are not walking in perfect faith without doubts, but unfortunately, the true elders DO NOT exist at this time.

So, what is the problem with what was said at the beginning of this post?  The problem is that churches do not want to admit there is a problem, that elders do not exist that most people are on their own to receive from God.  Isn’t that a little harsh?  NO!  What is harsh is how churches will continue to go on under the same schedule and act like nothing is wrong, while people die inside and outside their church of sickness. 

In the example at the start of this post, he mentioned the person now has victory, no it is not a victory, the person left this world in defeat to the enemy and the enemy rejoices.  Why would the enemy rejoice?  Because it is yet another testimony that they enemy has defeated a praying church and stole the life of one of their members.  I do not blame the member of course, it is the entire church that is at fault and not just one church, the Church as a whole.  We have for too long ignored the promises of God and many taught all kinds of excuses, making the Word of God of none effect.

Image if someone came inside this person’s home, took the man outside on the lawn, shot him, killing him and they ran away and was not caught.  The church I would imagine would go into prayer that the man would be found and mourn over the loss.  The difference here would be the the church could not prevent someone from breaking into the man’s house and killing him, but we ARE supposed to prevent people from having the enemy take their life with sickness.  We are supposed to lay hands on them and the see them recover.

Is it time for sackcloth, ashes and fasting, crying out to God for repentance over allowing this evil in our churches?  What will wake the people up and see the truth from the Word and not COMPROMISE the Word?  Healing is for every Christian and if they leave this world in sickness, then it is victory for the enemy.  Yes the person makes it to heaven, but their testimony is one of the power of the enemy over the church through people who do not stand up for the Word of our Living God.

Every death of a Christian with sickness should bring the church to a cry of repentance and one of seeking God until the elders can be restored, and doctors and their worldly fixes are no longer needed.  No Christian should ever have to have health care, we already have the best plan from the stripes of Jesus and it comes with the best retirement plan along with it!

We read in the Bible that we should live, dress, act modestly, not flashy lives, not to draw attention, only as showing godliness. Do we? Does our life (including appearance) show godliness? Does our action convey that we are completely sold out to Jesus and that we are trying to live Holy lives? Or do we look worldly and show our hearts are focused on our own desires and not the Kingdom?

We read that a woman should not be decked out too much jewelry or costly cloths. Following the same line here, what about that fancy car, big screen TV, new home, etc., do they show we are sold out to Jesus and that our focus is on HIS Kingdom or is it just to please our flesh or worse, to show off to others to make them look at us?

What you may be feeling right now is not anger at me, but perhaps is CONVICTION. This is not legalism, it is about (as in Romans 12:1-2) OUR REASONABLE SERVICE.

Do you remember the end of Schindler's List where he lamented not getting and using more resources to save a few more: (the part starts at 6:20 into the following clip)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu5UKrxRxhk

He regretted not spending more or working harder to have more to spend to save a few more people. This is where we are today. No, it is not the Holocaust of the Jewish people, it is the loss of souls into hell! It is not about money, it is about OUR HEART! We have to be sold out to Jesus and let our lives show it. We should and act like we know Jesus, that we do not look and act like the world. Our testimony should one of a righteousness and one where people clearly know we are about the Kingdom of a God and not this world.

We can put a message on our car, but what does it mean if we break traffic laws or get angry at people when we drive... OR have our car in places it should not be at?

What about when we try to testify to people about our God and we are just as worldly in appearance as them? Is that a testimony? We have a face full of piercings, does that show them we are different, that our desires are not of this world? Some might say, well, the piercings are crosses and fish now, does that make any difference, it is still a culture the world has made and WE ARE NOT OF ANY CULTURE other than of that of the Kingdom of God! The issue here is larger than metal in your face, it is more of WHY would you want to? This is a culture of the world and you are just following after that culture. You might say, well I just like them. No you are holding out from God and allowing the enemy a foothold in your life.

I love old muscle cars. They are a lot of fun to me. Why? Well, they look a certain way to me, which was brought in by a “culture” from the past that usually feed insecurities. They are powerful machines and have a styling of power and sleekness. Typically, people notice them. Opps. There it is again, it is about what people think about them. I had a nice Trans-am a number of years ago, and every time I would come out to the car, I enjoyed the way the thing looked and I enjoyed getting in there and driving around. Was the car much different than any other? Not really, it is the “appearance” that I liked. As a matter of fact, it was hard to control if the roads got wet and you did not even think of icy roads. I had to get rid of it, it was part of a culture that I had no business in anymore.

I am not saying you cannot have nice things, but you have to make sure nice things do not have you. If you get a large screen TV because you watch a lot of Christian TV and want it larger, great! If you want it to show your friends or to watch those R rated movies look better bigger, then get rid of it. Christians do not have any business watching that junk!

While I am at it, music is another area. What are we listening to in music? Is it Godly or is it worldly? Why put pollutants in your mind and in your heart? This is yet another area we can clearly show we have changed, that we are Born Again, we listen to music that uplifts and praises our God instead of the weaknesses of mankind. Oh, that old “culture” will try to creep in on yeah, but we should be pumping in music that pulls us closer to God not further away.

What about Smoking? What kind of a testimony is that? You are trying to tell someone you are different, yet you stand there bound in addiction, where is the new life? What about the sin factor here? Don't believe they are sin? In Galatians it talks about the works of the flesh and says no one that does these things will inherit the Kingdom of God. If we do these things and do not repent and turn away from them, we will not make it. You might say, “Smoking is not in the list”, true, but addiction is, as it says “drunkenness”. If someone is going to hell for drunkenness, why not for other addictions? There are also other Scriptures about drinking and being drunk, but the point is, it is time to lay down all this stuff and get back to being that New Creature that God birthed in us.

There is one culture in the Kingdom of God, it is not about race, it is not about style, it is ALL ABOUT JESUS! How can we still live to our old desires and cultures if we are dead? Remember we are dead in Christ and risen with Him in resurrection. We ARE NOT TO LIVE FOR US anymore, but for HIM that has given us new LIFE.

Churches today have pollutants in them, they have been sown with things that are not of God and people need help. How can we help them when we are bound ourselves. It is time to kick out our old man and put on newness of life. It is time to help those that our bound, those that choose to live in doubts and disbelief, but we need to clean that out of our lives first. There are people we know and care for that are in need but we have to be clean first, we have to be completely sold out to Jesus and not to our carnality.

Jesus is coming back for a Bride without spot or blemish and that does not mean everyone will be without spot or blemish. It is time to make sure we get washed, because He is COMING SOON! We have to make sure we don't get caught living a worldly, blemished life, we need to turn and go with Him as His Bride!

I came from the computer field. When dealing with others you find three basic types of people. Those that study and know the system and technology they use, who seldom ask for help. The next group know just about nothing and are always asking for help and fully understand they know little, but are trying to learn and appreciate your help. Then there is the third group, those that know just enough to be dangerous. These are the ones repeatedly asking for help and arguing about what you tell them. They think they know everything, but in reality, they still know very little and are often the ones causing their own problems by misunderstanding the technology they are using.

So is the would of the Church. There are those that know little and understand they need help who listen to what you tell them. Then there are those that know a great deal and you can reason with them as long as you have Scripture to back up your point. Then there are those that know just enough to be dangerous…

This last group often believe they know everything about God and feel that they are led by Him in everything they do.  Seldom do they listen to others who know better on issues they do not want to change. They have not even read through the Bible one time, but feel they know what God wants and how to live their life. They say things are right when they are in error, at times even when you show them Scripture they refuse because they think they know better and may say the Scripture does not apply for some reason or another. They are quick to point out the sins of everyone, while condoning other sins without knowing it. They have little knowledge of God, but never spend the time to learn more about Him from His Word.

When people remain in this lack of knowledge they are ripe for the enemy to attack them and to heap others to teach them with false doctrines leading them to destruction without even knowing it. The enemy has many false teachers out there just waiting for these people, they will tell them just what they want to hear, to steal, kill and destroy  them while they profess themselves to be wise.

Often these people compound the problem when they start listening to others who know as little about the Word as they do. They get in a group and pat each other on the back making up their own doctrine as they go along, after all, since neither of them know the full council of God, they do not have any reference of what is really right and wrong based on the Word.

Typically, this type of believers go by feelings, if they FEEL something is right or wrong, they follow it and put more value in feelings than the Word since they do not know the Word or at least not the full Word.  They are tossed back and forth and never seem to remain in the victory, they have no real roots and have a hard time standing when the enemy consumes them. At the end of the day, they claim they do not understand WHY GOD is not working in their lives as they think He should.

Perhaps you know a few like this.  What can you do?  The ONLY thing I know is to feed in the try Word of God when possible, encourage them to read their Bibles, give correction when you can and above all things pray for them.  Only God through His Holy Spirit can open their eyes to their errors.  Perhaps with enough encouragement, they will get excited about studying the Word and find the truth.

Maybe you have read this and feel you might be this type of person, what can you do?  First, repent to God and tell Him you are sorry for esteeming His Holy Word of such little value and ask that He give you more desire for His Word and to open it up to you.  Once you push in they Word will come to life and you will find it exciting to learn and to share with others.

Next, examine carefully those you are around and those to whom you listen.  Do they know the Word?  Have they really read it through, ever?  If so, they should be more than willing to give you clear Scriptures for everything they try to tell you if it is about God or doctrines.  Be VERY careful to whom you listen, just because they are behind a pulpit or they seem to know something, it does not mean they really do or that they are not there to deceive.  Remember:

2Co 11:13-15  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

2Ti 4:3-4  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

2Ti 3:1-7  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

For everyone we need to remember and live:

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

We all need to know the Word of God and the FULL Word, not just the little bit we get here and there.  You surely would not take your car to someone who learned just a little here and there!  How much more important is your walk with God?

In my last post I referred to a storm that I see coming, where there is a huge tidal wave of sorrow heading towards believers if they do not wake up. 

Simply put, I feel that the fence is being torn down.. What fence?  The one that many people are sitting on between the spiritual and the carnal.  The enemy is forcing people off the fence and putting their back against a wall, they will either go carnal and be lost in sorrows or they will embrace the spiritual and show the supernatural power of God.

Rom 8:4-8  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who WALK NOT after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.   Because the carnal mind is ENMITY AGAINST God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the flesh CANNOT please God.

If this is the case and we are moving into a place where people will have to decide what they will follow, the carnal or the spiritual, then it is something people need to wake up to before it reaches them.  It is better to prepare for a battle than just wait until it hits you.  There are others around you that are in that battle and need you help, but you always seem to have an excuse.  The time of excuses are ending!

This is not about the economy, it is not about politics and the fate of the USA, it is not about the sin that is all around us which is filling the churches, it is simply that people are going to be sifted.  People will be hit with things in their life or their close families where God is the only solution and they will need to be a place to hear from God, not just think they did, they will need the power of God flowing through them.  The power Scriptures will have to be real in their minds and hearts.  They will have to be mature Christians to help all those that will be in need.

It is time for scriptures like:

Mar 11:22-24  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Mat 21:21-22  Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Mat 17:20  And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Luk 17:6  And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Joh 14:12-14  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

1Jn 5:14-15  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Mar 16:17-18  And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;  They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

It is time for the power of God to be manifest through us.  There are many promises of God in Scripture and we need to be in the place to receive them for ourselves or for those that are in need.  There passages are not in the Bible for fluff, they are true and we need to expect to see them manifest.

We are to walk in power, but at the moment it appears much of the church world is either bound in sin or living so close the world they have become powerless and ineffective.  Many people are living under a sign “Ichabod”  which means “The Glory is departed”.  WHERE IS THE POWER in the churches? 

It is time to WAKE UP!  If you do not, you may find yourself in a position not understanding what has come upon you or someone you love and be unprepared nor help from others, you are alone trying to see the power fall.  We NEED IT NOW!

It can start anywhere!  We need seeker meetings where people get together, worship God and seek His face in prayer, praise and worship.  Of course, those attending the seeker meetings need to be those that have turned from their sins, realized their unbelief and their need for God to move in their live.  God has not died or gone somewhere, He is always just a call away if we just get the right number.  People it is time to turn to God and seek His face before it is too late and we suffer loss!

What is so hard?  Just have love fests for Jesus in a group of believers who want more of God.  Sounds like a great time to me! 

This is not a time for sadness or sorrow if you will only move towards God.  It is an EXCITING time and it is for EVERYONE!  Yes, you can have the power of God flowing through you to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, etc.  YOUI CAN have that if you wish to spend some time with God..

WE NEED SEEKER MEETINGS!  Time to see God as a consuming fire and pray for that fire to consume us that He may live THROUGH us!

Back in 2008, I had a run in with sickness that brought me to look for answers from God.  I cannot remember the number of hours over years I spent reading, studying, digging, praying and pondering about healing, which led into many wonderful findings and various topics.  My eyes are open to some degree now and things appear much more clear than they did at one time.  While that is a good thing, there is a darker side to this insight and that is most people do not want to hear it as it means their lives will change.

Yes, I discovered many things about healing.  Yes, I did find many things about being an heir of God and who we are in the Christ along with our rights and responsibilities.  I learned a lot about sin, redemption, blessings and authority over the enemy.  But there is much more, some of which I already knew, but is now confirmed.

I already knew we are in the Last Days of this Age and the Lord is soon to return.  There really is not a need to look for signs of the Last Days as there are so many out there today, it is more like we are standing in a sign shop, they are everywhere anymore. 

Being we are in the Last Days, that also means we are in the Last Day’s church, which explains many of the things we see in the Church as a whole today.  Sin is running rapid in most churches today, either public and in plain sight without anyone being concerned or hidden and flourishing.  Conviction seems to be low in most churches and sin is seldom preached unless it is followed by disclaimers that comfort people and make them ignore the conviction they are feeling, pretending it to be condemnation, as many in the pews have no clue what the difference is between those two words.

We actually have ministers that say, even though a person is bound in sin such as adultery, drunkenness,  homosexuality, etc, if they have every prayed that prayer of salvation and become a Christian, they will still be in heaven, they just might get there faster than the others.  They have changed Grace into license, they have changed God into some type of wish Genie, there to fulfill your desires.  They need to spend a bit more time in the Old Testament and remember just WHO is this God we claim to know.  In Deuteronomy and Hebrews, God is called a “Consuming Fire”.

With all the sin coming into the churches of today, the results are an ineffective church that cannot obtain the promises of God, as God will not work where so many are given to sin and not listening to the Holy Spirit.  Their ineffectiveness creates doubts about the promises of God and the Gifts of God, thus becoming spiritually dead, relying on entertainment, rather then the power of God.  This just leads to a spiraling path down to death. 

Perhaps it is time to write “Ichabod” over the doors as the “Glory has departed”, until people turn.   There has never been a time such as this that the Church as a whole needs to remember:

2Ch 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

It is time to turn from sin and drive it out to the churches.  If people want to stay in their sin and not turn, then they need to be out with the other sinners, it is time to clean the House of God for those that WANT and DESIRE God and are not living for the things of this world.  It is time for the presence of God to be in the churches and the conviction be found so strong, people cry out in repentance as they walk into the building!

We also need to get back to:

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Many people filling pews today, do not like the word “Study”.  They are lazy and spiritual blind, they want others to feed them spoon by spoon and not offend them in any way.  I am so fed up with people in church saying, “oh, come one, don’t be so hard on people”.  Where does this come from?  Where is the Scriptures saying we are never supposed to have anything hard to deal with?  My Bible says:

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Even in Communion, it says:

1Co 11:28-31  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

We are to be hard on ourselves and judge ourselves, examine our hearts, pay attention what comes out of our mouths.  In all things put God FIRST!

It goes even more beyond this though, we are told that our life here is as a vapor, but we live like we will live forever here.  We build our kingdoms instead of God’s Kingdom.  Our hearts are more on the new house, new TV, or new car, rather than on God and the Word of God such as getting souls saved or perhaps spending time with God to have His Spirit flow through us were we can help others.  What a concept for some, we should live our lives to help others? 

This is just the very tip of what is exploding in me, but it is enough to prime the context for this post.  When you see you life as gone and ready to face our Lord, you start to think of just how much we have or have not made Him Lord of our lives.  I remember the story:

Luk 16:19-31  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:  For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.  Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

This rich man had many issues to which he had to deal.  First, he was a child of Abraham and should have not been where he ended up.  He had that relationship with Abraham  and that promise should have kept him safe from the flames.  It does not say that this rich man sinned or had great hidden sins causing him to be cast off into this eternal punishment, it was simply because he had wealth and did not help the one at his door needing help.  He did not have the compassion and it cost him eternally.  This reminds me of:

Mat 25:41-46  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?   Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

It’s not just “hear”ers of the Word but “do”ers that will be in heaven.  If you do not try to act (live your life, to be like) Jesus, then you have need to worry.

When a person is in a position such as this rich man, you clearly see things differently.  He could see how his life caused him to suffer and he did not want it for his family, but it was too late.  He had his eyes opened to that world around him that he had not noticed, but now had no way to tell anyone.

Well, with what I have leaned over the last couple of years, has shown me the world from a little different perspective, but thankfully, I am still alive to do something about it.  Much like Scrooge waking up to find he still had time, I have woke up some and know I need to share the warning so others do not follow that path.  The problem is that many of those filling the pews are on the same path or worse, but they will not seem to listen.  They act like they hear it but it does not get in them, just goes in their ears and out again.

The message is simple.  It is time to WAKE UP, time to:

• Get about the Kingdom business, we need to make God number one in our life above all other things that fill our time. 
• It is time to get the sin out of us and get holiness in our lives!
• We need the Word in us regularly, and that does not mean once per week at church, we need to study and get busy building our knowledge and relationship with God.  Study..  Study…  Study…
• We need to seek the Lord in prayer, praise and worship.  It is time for a new song, we need to become people that cannot help but declare praise to our God everywhere we go.  It is time to see God as our prize!
• It is time to seek the Gifts of the Spirit to manifest in us.  It is time that the signs follow us as believer’s (Mark 16:17-18) and flow in the Spirit.  God left us His Holy Spirit to led and guide us, to work through us.  Time for flowing to begin.  These Gifts are needed into today’s church.  The Gifts of Healings and Miracles are drastically needed and the others not to be left out.  To see a church body with all the Gifts freely flowing in every daily meeting the goal.
• While mentioned last, it is by no means last, it is time to bring in the harvest!  We need to get the lost into the Kingdom and get them grown up in the faith, that they can go back out and get more in of the harvest.

I look at it this way, they enemy came in and tried to take me out with sickness, but it just drove me into the arms of God and this caused me to launch out into a deep river.  As I have not quite reached the other side of that river yet, my boat is at least far enough over to the other side that I can see what is up ahead and it is crushing wave that will bring pain, sorrow and suffering in so many ways if people do not get in their boat and get to the other side while they can.  You do not want to be caught on the wrong side of this river when the flood of sorrow comes.  The water is deep now, but people are not paying attention the water in which they are standing, they simply ignore it.

The storm is coming and we need to get to the other side, there is no time to delay, it is time to move.  We have to become do’ers while there is daylight, we only have a short window of time.

Let me see now, is there any other way I can say this? 

W A K E   U P!

If not for you, FOR YOUR family.  This coming storm will destroy people if you are not firmly grown with God.  If you need doctors now, if you need loans and time payments now, if you need entertainment now, if you do not closely hear and follow God now, if you do not flow in the Gifts of the Spirit now…..  You had better get your life cleaned up and get ready.  The warning is here, it is time to blow the trumpet and sound the alarm. 

“IF MY PEOPLE, WHICH ARE CALLED BY MY NAME….”

Do you want to FEEL the presence of God?  Do you need a little touch from the Comforter?  If you will only take some of your time and spend it in worship, you will RECEIVE!

Here is a series of songs that should bring you into a place of worship with the King of Kings.  Try to follow in order as they kind of flow from one to another.  There are a couple that do not have lyrics with them, but most do.  Be sure to sing songs to Jesus, pay attention to the words, it is all about the words not the music or backgrounds. 

This music varies in style and age, some are more modern and some have been around for more than a century, give the a try.  Put your heart into singing them as a prayer to God and you will be touched by God!

Keep track of the songs that you can get into the worship.  You can buy most of them at Amazon or other MP3 music sites and burn them to a CD or put them on an MP3 player so you can have them anywhere.  You can also save the links to the videos and put them on a folder on your desktop (computer desktop that is) and bring them up and listen to them when you want.  The point is to find music you can tenderly worship Jesus with and do so often!  Let the songs be in your mind all day, every day.  Remember the Scriptures:

Col 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Eph 5:17-18  Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

How?  He says How to be filled with the Spirit if you continue:

Eph 5:19-21  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of Go

The first few are just get our minds upon Him and open the door, but the rest are to take us in to that place.  Let’s enter in:

Look what the Lord has done:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GHNKF9i8tU

Trading my sorrows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KsfwvpcQhY&feature=related

Went to the enemy's camp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYa6SGWRAW0&feature=related

Paul Wilbur - Days of Elijah (lyrics)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3kPjbsp4yQ

Strong Tower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqL_zcig9Is&feature=related

Come Now is the Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CWdTv997M&feature=related

Mighty to Save
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syn_0c39TOM&feature=related

Shout to the Lord
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I71XhjqoHvs&feature=related

Take me in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vG9Cx767mc

Lord I lift your name on high
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COQ6cni_TG8&feature=related

Carman - Bless God - No Lyrics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQSpSSBLgBE

Jesus Paid it all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3o3DiMVdOI&feature=related

Hillsong - At the Cross (not the hymn version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOY0mjjmx8Y

You are my all in all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC617kE1maU&feature=related

Open the eyes of our heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Fz1rviXFU&feature=related

You are my all in all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC617kE1maU&feature=related

Here I am to Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5hN_m55uoM&feature=related

I will bless your name
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVyI-H2f2eg

There is a fountain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-cY5vO0W0M

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfr5rOfimnU

How Great Thou Art
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQeAJYC-1Sk

It is time for a bit of rant... Today a friend of mine died of lung cancer. Yes, He is a Christian and yes he is now probably in heaven rejoicing. What is the issue then? I am fed up with churches that do not seem to have much if any power flowing through them. This man came up for prayer many times, clearly wanting to live until the pain was so bad he wanted to die. There are a number of people that have been through the altar and walk out the back door in the same condition they came. Perhaps churches should close their doors until they get serious about the things of God.

I do not fault people who are trying, but when decade after decade goes by and we end up with the same old church services and the same results, you would think people would get a clue. It is not God's fault, it is ours. When a child dies of sickness, it is the fault of everyone who claims the name of Jesus, as the Lord has given us the power and authority to carry out His work, but we (and I speak for myself also) are just to lazy, to much procrastinating, or perhaps just don't care.

We know it is the thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy. We know it is not God who is making people sick. We know clearly that its God's will for every Christian to be healed, delivered and blessed, but our churches are not showing it. Much like many of us believe the Lord is soon to return and some say it could be at any time, but does our life prove out that belief? If we did mean it then we would not rest at getting the harvest into the Kingdom.

The time is already upon us, we need to quit doing the same thing and expecting a different results. It is past time for change! We need to take radical steps and change the structure and functioning of the churches today and get God's presence filling the places! It is time for the shepherd / flock mentality to end and grow those sheep into soldiers of the Christ.

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

This is a very common passage that most people have heard more times than they can remember and still do not notice what it is really saying.  If you look at the first word in Eph 4:13, it says this five fold ministry is required “TILL”.  Until what though?  Some stop at “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ”.  Many say we will never reach that point here on earth, but what does that line really mean?  There is a colon at the end of that line for a reason, the definition follows.  Clearly it is until we are able to stand without wavering in our faith, rightly dividing the Word of Truth and following the lead of the Spirit  so we are not carried away by false doctrine that blows through. 

Yes, after you are built up enough to stand as a soldier on your own, being led by the Spirit, you do not require the five fold ministry any longer.  Not to say that are of no value to you, it is just you have graduated the class and are able to be in the real world on your own.

It is time to get the five fold ministry doing the nursery work (growing new born Christians to soldiers) and get those new recruits out into the fields and moving on in their walk with God instead of filling a pew waiting to be spoon fed. 

At times I get frustrated at the lack of commit from people.  Perhaps we should not have a right to a Bible until we commit to reading it daily.  Perhaps we should close church doors until people commit to seek God’s face and get His presence back in the building, and by that I am referring to the Gifts of the Spirit flowing every meeting and people consumed by God seeking Him in worship and sharing of Scriptures.

Just venting a little today. but more on this lines of change coming to TheAwakening.com site soon.  It is time to transform the church into something that works and not something that just exists.

There is good news, not the the enemy has taken out another soldier by his evil tactics, but that we all have the power within us through the Holy Spirit to put an end to this type of insanity, if we will only take the time with God and commit to learn how to use it!  It is time for seeker services again!