The vine made into a wreath (Neil Anderson)

John 15:2
Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit
Our goal is to abide in Christ, not to bear fruit. Jesus promised that if we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit (John1 5:5).
In order that we may bear more fruit, God the Father prunes us. Sometimes well-meaning Christians have cut too much too soon, hindering growth. A dear but sadly abused child of God pictured her experience in the following poem:
A friend of mine whose grapevines died was about to throw them away.
I said, "I'll take your vines and make something special of them today."
As I gently bent one vine, entwining round and round,
A rustic wreath began to form, potential did abound.
One vine would not go where it should, and anxious as I was,
I forced it so to change its shape, it broke--and what the cause?
If I had taken precious time to slowly change its form,
It would have made a lovely wreath, not a dead vine, broken, torn.
As I finished bending, adding blooms, applying trim,
I realized how that rustic wreath is like my life within.
You see, so many in my life have tried to make me change.
They've forced my spirit anxiously, I tried to rearrange.
But when the pain was far too great, they forced my fragile form;
I plunged far deeper in despair, my spirit broken, torn.
Then God allowed a gentle one who knew of dying vines,
To kindly, patiently allow the Lord to take His time.
And though the vine has not yet formed a decorative wreath,
I know that with God's servant's help one day when Christ I meet
He'll see a finished circle, a perfect gift to Him.
It will be a finished product, a wreath with all the trim.
So as you look upon this gift, the vine round and complete,
Remember God is using you to gently shape His wreath.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for Your unconditional love and acceptance.

Fasting

Ok I have to laugh I just spent an hour writing a new post and then lost it... oh well, I guess I needed to hear myself. God is good great lesson I learned about fasting.

Valiant Warriors

I've been strongly encouraged this morning In I Chronicles 12 seeing the mighty men of valor who helped David in war. They had been trained for war they could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and they were swift as the gazelles on the mountains. They crossed the Jordan while it was overflowing and put to flight many in the valley... the spirit came upon Amasai the chief of thirty "we are yours, O David & with you, O son of Jesse! peace, peace to you and peace to him who helps you; indeed, your God helps you!"
Sons of Issachar, men who understood the times with knowledge of what Israel should do... all these being men of war who could draw up in battle formation came to Hebron with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel and all the rest also of Israel were of one mind to make David king.
May we be as sons of Issachar, one heart one mind, united together, we've been given the knowledge & understanding of HIM therefore may we be ready for action. Daniel 11:b-12a "the people who know their God will display stength and take action. and those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many"
In my heart and mind there is peace knowing that the Lord of Hosts will go before us. I love Joshua 5:13-15 prior to Joshua crossing the Jordan to Jericho that the Lord of Hosts Jehovah Sabaoth meets Joshua, we do not enter the battle alone the battle belongs to Him. The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold Ps 46:7. May we be valiant warriors for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It's Kingdom Work!

3 Keys to the Kingdom

Well it's been a while since my last post. I recently did a study on the book of Acts and in the midst of that study I realized the significance of Matthew 16:13-20 being fulfilled in Acts 2, 8 and 10. Now we all have heard of the Apostle called Peter. He was one of the 12 disciples that walked with Jesus while He was here on earth. Peter seemed over zealous on many occasions for Jesus, cutting off the soldiers ear when they came to arrest Jesus before His crucifixion.(Matt 26:51). The night of Jesus arrest, people recognized Peter as having been with Jesus. But all three times that Peter was asked that question "he denied" knowing Jesus. (Matt 26:69-75) Can you imagine the heartache of denying Jesus when you've been with Him for those 3 1/2 yrs. Yet in our flesh we do deny Him by our actions, flirting with the world. If you think about the transformation of these disciples to apostles. Disciple means learners, Apostle means ambassador or messenger. (Zodhiates Dictionary). As you read the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John you will get the big picture of Jesus earthly ministsry and the life of these disciples. Jesus was so loving and patient with these men, even the two sons of Zebedee who asked Jesus if they could sit, one of His right and one on His left, in Heaven. (Mark 10:35-40). Or when Jesus in Matthew 26 asked them to "keep watching and praying" for one hour but yet sleep overcame them. Isn't that what happens to us at night, weariness from our day, we are trying to pray but next thing you know you've fallen asleep, what's up with that. My heart's intention is to pray but my flesh is weak. Back to the disciples and apostles, we have to remember that the Holy Spirit had not come at that time to permanently indwelt believers. Previous blogs talk about being "baptized with the Holy Spirit". Now Acts is a bridge between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, the church is birthed. The power of the Holy Spirit comes to permanently indwell believers.

Moving onto Peter, who was once a learner from Jesus, Jesus has now ascended on high into Heaven sitting at the right had of the Father forever interceding on our behalf. Awesome Truth, well worth stopping right now and meditating on this Truth. In Acts we see a major change in Peter and the others... they are now called Apostles. Ok, now my brain just took a quick turn to what is an Apostle? Bear with me a moment. From the study on Spiritual Gifts, the gift of Apostle is one sent forth (Vines Dict). We see this in Eph 4:11 "He gave some apostles" Apostle, ambassador. The Lord used the word apostle to indicate the distinctive relation to the twelve whom He chose to be His witnesses, office instituted by Christ. Then we have the word Apostleship - a sending, a missions. The original 12 according to scriptures. Equipping the saints, ,appointed by God, authority over unclean spirits, healed diseases, delegated orders, wonders & signs, they were part of the foundation of the church, they revealed the mysteries of Christ, they discerned false apostles. (Heb 3:1, Eph 4:11-13, I Cor 12:28-29, Matt 10:4, Acts 1:25, 2:43, 5:12, Heb 2:1-4)

In Matthew 16:13-20 we see another encounter of Jesus with His disciples. He asks them an amazing question and guess who answered right Peter! Jesus asking "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" some made a few comments but Peter is the one who says "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" and Jesus response to him was "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but My Father who is in heaven. "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church (future tense) and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Now Peter's name means Petros, now Petros always means a stone, never a rock. It is a large stone, a piece or fragment of a rock, such as a man might throw. Now the word "rock" that Jesus uses is the word "petra" which means massive rock. Now Jesus is telling Peter that upon His confession upon who Jesus is, Jesus will build His church upon that confession, not upon Peter himself. Hint Hint! 3 keys. Now we see this played out in Acts 2 when Jesus laid the foundation of the church among the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) Samaritans (Acts 8) also among the Gentiles in (Acts 10). I love Ephesians especially about the "mystery of the church" Jew and Gentile in one body. Ephesians 2:19-22 "we are no longer strangers and aliens but we are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles (12) and prophets, Christ Jesus being the corner stone, in whom the whole building being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in hom you also are built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit"
What I see is the 12 disciples learners now being called apostles who were being prepared during Jesus earthly ministry to go forth as messengers with the "gospel" they were eyewitness to Jesus death, burial and resurrection. Who better to help lay the foundation of the church with Christ being the precious corner stone. Now in Peters confession of who Jesus was we go further as to what Jesus told Peter "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven". Zodhiates footnote gives a great explanation of what could be a very difficult passage. "before these verses can be correctly understood, a distinction must be made between the "church" and the kingdom of heavens. The Church is representative of the body of believers here on earth while the kingdom of the heavens is made up of both the earthly and heavenly realms. The teaching here is that those things which are conclusively decided by God in the kingdom of heaven, having been so decided upon, are emulated by the Church on the earth. The Church is made up of true believers who acknowledge the deity of Jesus Christ as Peter did. Christ is the "Rock" upon which the Church is built (I Cor 3:11). There is no reference made here to the binding or loosing of persons".

Hopefully to bring this thought to a conclusion. When we go to Acts we see Peter as the head and mouthpiece of the Twelve. He was the first to confess and the first to deny His Lord and Savior. He was the leading apostle from the day of Pentecost to the Council of Jerusalem. As Jesus told him He would give him the "keys". We see in Acts 3 doors being unlocked for the gospel to go forth. First in Acts 2 to the "Jews", Acts 8 to the "Samaritan" th Acts 10 to the Gentiles.
The mystery of the church is unveiled, Jew and Gentile in one body. There was a foundation to be laid Jesus was preparing these 12 Apostles during His earthly ministry, they were human beings like you and I, yet they were all vessels used by God to do a supernatural work. The foundation has been laid and the building is being built, we the body of Christ are being built upon the confession "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" the gospel. The great commission "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age" Matt 28:19-20. While you are going be a witness that's what the Apostle's did and amazing doors were open. We've been equipped, we are those living stones that make up the church. Our foundation is strong and will never be destroyed because it was built by God Himself. So no matter what the world may say about the Church, the gates of hades will not prevail.
Are you significant, yes so be that living epistle to be seen and read of by all men. Grace to you my friends. Denise

Covenant Study

Today was our first time to gather for introduction to Covenant. I've done this study multiply times but I have to say after being 3 weeks into homework I'm amazed at what God shows me once again. I'm so excited for the ladies in what they will be learning in the next 12 weeks during this course. Once you've done Covenant and then you start building up this truth with other scriptures you see God's redemption at work. One thought that comes to my mind is "soothing" kinda of an odd thougt but it's exactly how I feel. Our Sovereign God at work before the foundations of the world until the end when He makes all things final. The big picture the final picture. Yet in the midst of this He was thinking of "you" and His love for you that He provided a way that we might all be set free from the penalty of sin, power of sin and the presence of sin. In previous blogs I wrote on Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. The beauty of the transformation within by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we might want to walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Our Covenant keeping God has a plan for each one of us and that is by hearing of the gospel and believing by faith we enter into a Covenant with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus paid it all, Jesus blood was shed, His blood does truly wash us whiter than snow... it is not by my works but only through the shed blood that we now have access to the One and True living God. Our Covenant keeping God, it is an eternal Covenant. What freedom we have been given.... if you have trusted Him as your Lord and Savior you are now wearing His robe of righteousness. What an honor and high calling that we have been given, may we bring Him everlasting glory. So much more to say, we will be discovering much more truth in the weeks ahead in our study. Time to go, heading out to the night class.... Blessings

Our identification in the body of Christ

Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but wait for what the Father had promised, “Which, He said, “you heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ Acts 1:4-6

What is very interesting is the definition of this word "baptized". As you look at the context of where a word is mentioned. The context will determine the definition.
Baptized defined:
• The word “baptized” baptizo, comes from bapto (meaning to dip) and is “to immerse, submerge, overwhelm, or saturate.”
• It is “the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something so as to alter its condition or relationship to its previous environment or condition.” It means to be identified with.
• Boice says, “The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptize is a text from the Greek poet, and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped’ (bapto) into boiling water and then ‘baptised’ (baptize) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable, produces a permanent change.’ Bible Study Magazine, James Montgomery Boice, May 1989.

What's the difference in the Old Testament verses New Testament in regards to the Holy Spirit?
Old Testament we know that when we see the mention of the Holy Spirit as coming and going. The Holy Spirit did not permanently indwell a believer. Ezekiel 36:25-27 we see the promise of the Holy Spirit to come.
In Acts we see the transition of the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. The Holy Spirit has come to permanently indwell believers. The pickle definition confirms that it cannot be undone. What you see through the Epistles is that each letter is addressed to believers, alot on their "walk" "their behavior" "fruit of the spirit" etc. How to live in our Christian walk. Our Sanctification. How the Spirit works in the life of a believer.

The Term “baptism of the Holy Spirit is not used in the Word of God. However, there are six references in which the words “baptized with the Holy Spirit” are used.
A preposition precedes “Holy Spirit” in each of these verses. The preposition en is translated either “with”, “in” or “by”.

• Mark 3:11 “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”
• Mark 1:8 “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”
• Luke 3:16 “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”.
• John 1:33 “He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit”
Matt 28:18-20 “Although “baptized with the Holy Spirit” is not used in these verses, this is the other place in the gospels where both “baptizing and” and “Holy Spirit” are used together.
• And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the ages.”
• I Corinthians 12:13 is the last passage in the Word of God that uses the words “baptized” and the “Holy Spirit”. The prepositional phrase en “by” can be translated “in,” “with”, or “by”.
o For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Jesus speaking to the Apostles:
Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
• We see the fulfillment of Acts 1:4-8 in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. Mystery of the church. Our identification into one body. No longer separated. Jesus tore down that barrier wall at the cross. Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentile).
o When? Day of Pentecost – Fifty days after Passover & Firstfruits.
o Who? Jew and Gentile into one body = beginning of the Church
o What? Baptized = identification into one body.
• Who? When? Acts 2 – Salvation to the Jews first. (However not all Jews believed)
• Who? When? Acts 8 – Salvation to the Samaritans – more later
• Who? When? Acts s10 – Salvation to the Gentiles – more later

Day of Pentecost has come, the Apostles who were told to wait in Jerusalem for the promise to come. You will be baptized (identified) with the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be My witnesses…. Permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. There was now a permanent change within. What was once not there is now living within each believer. We are about to hear Peter who once denied Jesus now witness about Him with great boldness. What must take place for this gift of the Holy Spirit to take place? Allowing scripture to interpret scripture, Ephesians 1:14-15 "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance,....

According to scripture they were sealed with the Holy Spirit upon listening to the message of truth and believing they were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (back to that promise in the Gospels).

The baptism of the Holy Spirit according to scripture takes place at salvation. The believer upon hearing and believing the gospel is baptized "identified" into the body of Jesus Christ. Acts is the beginning of the church what was a mystery is now being revealed to the 12 Apostles first and then Peter with boldness "declares the mighty acts of God" to others and many more were added to the church that day.


Continuation to follow………………

What genuine trust in God looks like.

I recently posted this on facebook but thought I would post it on blog.

Book of Job - genuine trust, worship God for who He is not what He does... who are we to try to figure out God. After 37 chapters of manly counsel God speaks "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and "who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" Who God is determines what He does therefore we must trust Him w/out reservation.

As I continue to think of this.. look at what all Job suffered, murder of his servants, livestock, loss of the work of his hands, his possessions, death of children, act of God from heaven, his own personal sickness with boils, a foolish wife, much adversity, friends who try to blame it on Job.
At the beginning of the book we see Satan asksing permission from God (2x) to bring about this pain for what reasosn? surely Job will curse You God to Your face. Yet through it alll Job did not sin with his lips nor curse God.
God allowed, so the immedate cause was Satan but the ultimate cause was God. God had told Satan (interesting) that His servant Job was blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.
At the end of the book you see Job's answer to God "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted". End results: friends rebuked by God and the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.

Trust God no matter what.