GRACING MY LIFE WITH OR IN CHRIST?”

BY: J.FARRELL FISHER, SEPTEMBER 9-10, 2018

Though the ‘worlds’ were framed by God’s eternal intent, I really find it hard to believe those who ‘see’ (?), ‘No God in the founding of a world’s ‘culture’, or any awareness of the ‘so-called’, “need of God”, or that ‘divine, eternal purpose’ has any part in “my determination of what’s good for me and mine”, even shunning Joshua’s call to, (Joshua 24:15), “If it seems evil TO YOU ‘to serve the Lord’, CHOOSE YOU this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now dwell; but as for me and my house, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD,” and that’s the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, with His eternal purpose in mind, in freely giving to every birthed individual the option of whether to ‘choose’ the ‘flesh world’ at its limited ‘best’, OR the spiritual world of God’s grace, mercy, and love of a life being birthed by repentance and faith, fully aware that, without God, one chooses ‘self-will’ over “Divine, Eternal, Richly Blessed Life-Choices in and through His Amazing Grace”!

Thank God for amazing men like Moses in the early days of His creation, learning, yes, by the Holy Spirit, the reality of eternal intent for all mankind, though many then and now, refuse to consider Almighty God’s eternal purpose for men in their world, which He clearly gave to all men, the right to choose whether they would live ‘life’ on their terms or a ‘Life’ He determined in His grace, mercy, and love through their surrender to the Lordship of “Christ in me my hope of eternal glory” and, yes “eternal fruitfulness in and through Christ’s abiding Presence in my heart”! And the problem every birthed human has is, to decide for himself/herself by ‘mental evaluations’ or by “Sovereign intervention”: “My world – my way” OR “God’s world allegiance – God’s Way”?

Amazing words found in Numbers 23:19-24:1-19!! God met Balaam saying to him, ‘Go to meet Balak and speak to him what I say,’ and, first, we read Verses 19-24 of Chapter 23, Balaam saying, “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: has He said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken, and shall He not make it stand? Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and He has blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither has He seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; he has as it were the strength of a unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel; according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God Himself wrought (or worked out!)? Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift himself up as a young lion; he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.”

Verses 25-30, And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Did I not tell you, saying clearly, All that the Lord speaks, THAT I must do? And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray you, I will bring you unto another place; peradventure it will please God that you may curse me them from there.

And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looks toward Jeshimon. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar. ( It’s gracious and good when God sends a man with a message, and the receiver of the Word does what God said!).

Now, Numbers 24:1-19!! And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel (Are YOU called of God to “bless others” or do you live with the frame of mind, “They are not my concern!”), he went not, as at other times, to seek enchantments (against Israel), but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his parable and said, Balaam the son of Beor has said, and the man whose eyes are open has said: He has said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: (What did he see?):

“How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord has planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of His buckets (Water of the Holy Word poured out?), and His seed shall be in many waters (various kingdoms around our world?)

He shall pour the water out of His buckets, and His seed shall be in many waters, and His King shall be higher than Agag, and His kingdom shall be exalted. God brought Him forth out of Egypt; He has as it were the strength of an unicorn: He shall eat up the nations (who are) His enemies, and shall break their bones, and piece them through with His arrows (arrows of the Living Word that DO pierce into minds, heart, and wills!). He couched (humbled Himself), He laid down as a lion, and a great lion: who shall stir Him up? Blessed is He that blesses YOU, and cursed is he that curses Him.

And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together; and Balak said unto Balaam, ‘I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times.

Therefore now flee you to your place: I thought to promote you to great honor; but, lo, the Lord has kept back that honor (at least, for now). And Balaam said unto Balak, Did I not speak also to your messengers which you sent unto me, saying, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own mind; but what the Lord says, that will I speak?

And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise (promote) you in what this people shall do to your people in the latter days.” And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor has said, and the man whose eyes are open has said: He has said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes opened (to Eternal Truth!!):

I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but not any time near; but there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for His enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly. (Physical Israel or Spiritual Israel?). Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remains of the city (of unbelief, of rebellion, of disobedience to the Word of God!).”

Are YOU personally aware of Christ’s dominion over ‘sin and death’, and that those who yield to Him experience the saving, Sovereign, sure reign of divine Life, holy power and purpose, becoming an eternal part of His eternal ministry of Life, divine love, anointed ministries, extended to others around you, and the awesome blessing of His abiding Presence with the Promise to “never leave you nor forsake you”?

And the key understanding of true conversion through repentance and faith in the shed blood of the Lamb of God with the eternal confidence in the ‘heart-home’ of all who, yes, invited Him in as Lord, as Savior, as Master, as Commander-in-chief over your life? Yes, it’s Him who RULES IN THE REPENTANT, TRANSFORMED CHILD OF GOD! Colossians 1:18 says, “And He (Christ Jesus) is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead: that in all things He might have the preeminence.”

Questions YOU as a ‘professing church member’ must answer: When it comes to one’s ‘profession of faith’, what does he/she profess? “I’m a mortal man, I live in the mortal sphere of misguided men, and because I believe in Jesus, I try to do the best I can?” “Religious traditions” or RESTING IN DIVINE, ETERNAL TRUTHS? “Best-Effort Mentalities” or BLESSED BY THE HOLY PRESENCE OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST IN THE REPENTANT HEART? “Self-Motivated Lives” or LIVES LIVING UNDER THE MASTERING OF THE RESURRECTED, REIGNING CHRIST”? “Religious without a ‘knock on the heart’s door’ to let Him in, in His Resurrection Presence to be Himself in your “new-graced-Temple of praise and worship” where He knows He’s now at home reigning in and through your surrendered, yielded, ‘hands-off-allegiance to self-life’, daily inviting Him to have His way through you to the glory of God?”

Highly interesting, instructing Verses of the Word from the lips of Jesus when He said in Mark 11:24-26, Therefore I say unto you, “What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But IF you do not forgive (others who come against you), neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

Another powerful Word of God is found in Malachi 3:8-11 when the prophet, inspired of God, said: “Will a man ROB GOD? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, ‘Wherein have we robbed You?” In tithes and offerings. You are CURSED WITH A CURSE: for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. (That’s Israel then, but what about now? Israel only, or most of Israel, most of Africa, most of Europe, most of South America, most of North America – wherever humans breathe, you’ll find “thieves”!).

Verses 10-11, God also saying, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in My house, and PROVE ME NOW HEREWITH, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open to you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” PROVE GOD NOW HEREWITH, in your obedience, in your faithfulness, in your willingness, yes, to DO WHATEVER GOD SAYS!!!! Holy God is NOT a ‘promise-breaker’ but a “Promise-Keeper”! Always has been – always WILL BE!! “PROVE ME NOW AND HENCEFORTH”!!

That Is His Faithful Word! That Is His Faithful, Never-Ending Response! That Is For YOUR “HERE AND NOW” because the very heart of God is His desire to be “proven” in any generation, any country, any nationality, anywhere, any time, by “any-who(?)”!! “PROVE ME”! He still calls, He still knocks on every heart’s door, He still asks for permission to enter, never violating one’s free will to accept Him or reject Him, but always, clearly, and in a convicting-manner, explaining: “There ARE Eternal Consequences!” WHAT IS YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY?

MAY 23,2019, BY: J.FARRELL FISHER

HENRY WARD BEECHER ONCE SAID: “THERE IS NOT A HEART BUT HAS ITS MOMENTS OF LONGING, YEARNING FOR SOMETHING BETTER, NOBLER, HOLIER THAN IT KNOWS NOW.” AND WHEN I READ THAT STATEMENT LONG AGO, IT WAS A STATEMENT I COULD NOT LET GO OF, BECAUSE WITNESSING, AT TIMES STRONGER THAN THE LAST, EITHER THE ACCEPTANCE OF DIVINE TRUTH OR OPPOSITION TO IT, I ‘SAW” & “RESTED” IN WHAT I KNEW TO BE DIVINE, ETERNAL TRUTH THAT ALLOWS ONE TO OPEN “GOD’S DOOR-KNOCK” ON HIS HEART & HIS MIND & HIS WILL & “REST” IN THE LORD JESUS’S “FINISHED WORK” AT CALVARY AS HE SHED HIS INNOCENT BLOOD TO WASH AWAY “GUILT” & MANIFEST THE GRACE OF GOD UPON THE TRUSTING, RESTING, RELIANT FAITH OF A SINNER IN THE SAVIOR’S MARVELOUS WORK THROUGH HIS CROSS, DEATH, BURIAL, & RESURRECTION!

BUT IN THE MIDST OF A “FALLEN WORLD OF MANKIND” WHO SEES NO NEED OF A “SAVIOR” &, CERTAINLY, “NO NEED OF SERVING SOME MAN-MADE GOD ‘BIRTHED’ IN THE MINDS & HEARTS OF RELIGIOUS ‘FREAKS’ WHO ARE BOUND IN FALSE FAITHS, FICKLE RELIGIONS, & FANATICIZED PRETENSE, YES,PRETENDING WHEN THERE IS NO ‘REAL GOD’, THEY, IN THEIR INFANTILE, MISGUIDED MINDS & HEARTS, GIVE US FOLKS WHO SAY, “GOD WHO LOVES THE WORLD HE CREATED, BUT NOT THE FALLEN MANKIND HE ‘BIRTHED’? WE MAY BE ‘GOD-LESS’, BUT WE’RE NOT STUPID!” SO, SPIRITUALLY BLINDED BY ‘SELF-WILL, SELF-LOVE, SELF-APPROVAL’, WHEN THE HOLY WORD OF GOD DECLARES, THAT CHRIST CARRIED ‘FALLEN HUMANITY’ ON HIMSELF ON THE CROSS, OF PAST,PRESENT, & FUTURE MANKIND, (WHICH IS WHY, IN ROMANS 6:6, PAUL WROTE, “KNOWING THIS, THAT OUR OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST, THAT THE BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DESTROYED, THAT HENCEFORTH, WE SHOULD NOT BE SERVANTS OF ONE’S OLD SIN-NATURE!!”), UNBELIEVERS DEBUNK, DENOUNCE, & DEGRADE “THE LOVE OF GOD”, LAUGHING AT IT, DENYING IT, & RIDICULING THOSE WHO “TRUST” IN JESUS’ FINISHED WORK AT THE CROSS & HIS EMPTY TOMB!!

OH, BUT UNSAVED, UNREDEEMED, WORLD-SPIRIT-BLINDED, SATAN-BOUND PEOPLE,DEMONICALLY CONTROLLED INDIVIDUALS, “BET” THEIR LIVES ON ‘DARKNESS NOT LIGHT’, ON ‘SELF-INTEREST NOT THE SAVIOR’S LOVE’, ON ‘SELF-ACCEPTANCE & SELF-AGGRANDISEMENT & SELF-EVALUATION’, YES, WILLFULLY BLINDED TO THE JUDGMENT & MERCY OF HOLY, LOVING, INTENTIONAL GOD, IN RECONCILING FALLEN MANKIND BACK TO HIMSELF THROUGH HIS “AMAZING GRACE”!!!’ THERE IS AROUND YOU INDIVIDUALS, COUPLES, FAMILIES, THAT KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SOVEREIGN INTENT, THE SAVIOR’S LOVE, OR THEY WILLFULLY IGNORE THE HOLY SPIRIT’S “KNOCK” ON THEIR HEARTS’ DOORS!!

HAVE YOU READ GENESIS 3:1-8 LATELY? “NOW THE SERPENT (SATAN!) WAS MORE SUBTIL THAN ANY BEAST WHICH THE LORD GOD HAD MADE. AND HE SAID UNTO THE WOMAN, ‘YES,HAS GOD SAID, YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN? AND THE WOMAN SAID,WE MAY EAT OF THE FRUIT OF THE TREES OF THE GARDEN:BUT OF THE TREE WHICH IS IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN, GOD HAS SAID, YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF IT, LEST YOU DIE.AND THE SERPENT SAID UNTO THE WOMAN, ‘YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE: FOR GOD KNOWS THAT IN THE DAY YOU EAT OF IT, THEN YOUR EYES SHALL BE OPENED, & YOU SHALL BE AS GODS, KNOWING GOOD & EVIL.

AND WHEN THE WOMAN SAW THAT THE TREE WAS GOOD FOR FOOD, & THAT IT WAS PLEASANT TO THE EYES, & A TREE TO BE DESIRED TO MAKE ONE WISE, SHE TOOK OF THE FRUIT OF THE TREE, & DID EAT, & GAVE ALSO TO HER HUSBAND WITH HER; & HE DID EAT. AND THE EYES OF THEM BOTH WERE OPENED, & THEY KNEW THAT THEY WERE NAKED; & THEY SEWED FIG LEAVES TOGETHER, & MADE THEMSELVES APRONS. AND THEY HEARD THE VOICE OF THE LORD GOD WALKING IN THE GARDEN IN THE COOL OF THE DAY: & ADAM & EVE, HIS WIFE, HID THEMSELVES FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD GOD AMONG THE TREES OF THE GARDEN.”

AND SINCE THOSE HISTORIC DAYS THE “ADAMS & EVES” OF FALLEN MANKIND STILL WALK ‘SPIRITUALLY NAKED, UNCLOTHED, & FOR MANY, UNAWARE OF THE NEED OF “BEING CLOTHED”, & RECONCILED TO HOLY GOD THROUGH HIS SON & SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!’ BUT ‘FALLEN HUMANITY’, STILL SPIRITUALLY BLINDED, REMAIN ‘UNCLOTHED’ BEFORE HOLY GOD, &, YES, EVEN THO’ THEY THINK THEY ARE ‘CLOTHED’ IN THEIR ‘SELF-MADE,RELIGIOUS ATTIRE’, BUT ARE STILL FAR FROM THE “BLOOD ATONEMENT” THAT GOD PURPOSED IN & THROUGH HIS SON, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, GOD’S SACRIFICIAL “LAMB”, WITH MANY BEING ‘RELIGIOUS’, BUT NOT “RE-BORN”!

OH, & THEN GENESIS 3:24 SAYS, “SO GOD DROVE OUT THE MAN; & HE PLACED AT THE EAST OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN CHERUBIMS, & A FLAMING SWORD WHICH TURNED EVERY WAY, TO KEEP THE WAY OF THE TREE OF LIFE,” & THAT’S DIVINE,HOLY PROTECTION,BECAUSE HOLY GOD PROTECTS “THE WAY OF THE TREE OF LIFE” FROM HUMANITY’S ‘FALLEN-AWAY-ATTEMPTS IN THEIR FLESH-INVENTED,YES, ATTEMPTS OF BEING RECONCILED TO GOD IN “BEST-EFFORT-RELIGIOUS ATTEMPTS” TO BE RECONCILED–NO INTEREST IN “BLOOD ATONEMENT”! ACROSS THE KNOWN WORLD OF THE 21^ST CENTURY, HAS THAT CHANGED? ARE MEN TODAY STILL ‘RELIGIOUSLY INCLINED’,BUT WITH NO DESIRE TO BE RECONCILED TO GOD GOD’S WAY?

IN ROMANS 15:13 PAUL WROTE: “NOW THE GOD OF HOPE FILL YOU WITH ALL JOY & PEACE IN BELIEVING, THAT YOU MAY ABOUND IN HOPE, THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.” DOES THAT EXPOSE “BEST-EFFORT-RELIGIOUS ATTAINMENT” THAT IGNORES THE MERCY OF GOD IN & THROUGH CHRIST ALONE? IN VERSE 29 PAUL SAID: “AND I AM SURE THAT, WHEN I COME TO YOU, I SHALL COME IN THE FULLNESS OF THE BLESSING OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST,” WHICH, YES, RULES OUT ‘TRYING RELIGIOUSLY’ APART FROM “TRUSTING IN, RELYING UPON CHRIST’S BLOOD ATONEMENT”!!!

TO THE CHURCH AT COLOSSAE, IN COLOSSIANS 1:9, PAUL ALSO SAID, “FOR THIS CAUSE WE ALSO, SINCE THE DAY WE HEARD IT, DO NOT CEASE TO PRAY FOR YOU, & TO DESIRE THAT YOU MIGHT BE FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL IN ALL WISDOM & SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING.” HOW TRUE IS THAT OF YOU, IF AT LEAST YOU HAVE SOME ‘RELIGIOUS LEANING’?

IN PSALM 91:1-16 WE LEARN OF “THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH” & WHERE OR “IN WHOM” YOU SHOULD BE HIDDEN AWAY, YES, FROM THE WORLD, THE OLD SIN-NATURES, & FROM SATAN HIMSELF! THE WORD SAYS: “HE THAT DWELLS IN THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH SHALL ABIDE IN THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY. I WILL SAY OF THE LORD, HE IS MY REFUGE & MY FORTRESS; MY GOD; IN HIM WILL I TRUST.

SURELY HE SHALL DELIVER ME FROM THE SNARE OF THE FOWLER, & FROM THE NOISOME PESTILENCE. HE SHALL COVER YOU WITH HIS FEATHERS, & UNDER HIS WINGS SHALL YOU TRUST: HIS TRUTH SHALL BE YOUR SHIELD & BUCKLER. YOU SHALL NOT BE AFRAID FOR THE TERROR BY NIGHT; NOR FROM THE ARROW THAT FLES BY DAY; NOR FROM THE PESTILENCE THAT WALKS IN DARKNESS; NOR FOR THE DESTRUCTION THAT WASTES AT NOONDAY. A THOUSAND SHALL FALL AT YOUR SIDE, & TEN THOUSAND AT YOUR RIGHT HAND; BUT IT SHALL NOT COME NEAR YOU.

ONLY WITH YOUR EYES SHALL YOU BEHOLD & SEE THE REWARD OF THE WICKED. BECAUSE YOU HAVE MADE THE LORD, WHICH IS MY REFUGE, EVEN THE MOST HIGH, YOU HABITATION; THERE SHALL NO EVIL BEFALL YOU, NEITHER SHALL ANY PLAGUE COME NEAR YOUR DWELLING. FOR HE SHALL BEAR YOU UP IN THEIR HANDS, LEST YOU DASH YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.YOU SHALL TREAD UPON THE LION & SADDER: THE YOUNG LION & THE DRAGON SHALL YOU TRAMPLE UNDER FEET.

BECAUSE HE HAS SET HIS LOVE UPON ME, THEREFORE WILL I DELIVER HIM: I WILL SET HIM ON HIGH, BECAUSE HE HAS KNOWN MY NAME. HE SHALL CALL UPON ME, & I WILL ANSWER HIM; I WILL BE WITH HIM IN TROUBLE; I WILL DELIVER HIM, & HONOR HIM. WITH LONG LIFE WILL I SATISFY HIM, & SHOW HIM MY SALVATION.” WOW! WHAT A WORD OF WONDER, ADMIRATION, & CELEBRATION!!

BUT MASSES OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE HAVE SUBSTITUTED A RELIGIOUS ZEAL FOR SOVEREIGN GRACE, MERCY, & LOVE, CALLING IT ‘BELIEF’ THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH “CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST”, ‘BELIEF’ THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A “NEW CREATION”, ‘BELIEF’ THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SOVEREIGN TRANSFORMATION OF A REDEEMED SOUL, OR ‘BELIEF’ THAT HASN’T NOTHING TO DO WITH REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD & FAITH IN CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK AT THE CROSS & HIS EMPTY TOMB, & ASCENSION TO THE ETERNAL THRONE OF GOD WHERE HE STILL CALLS THE SHOTS!! THOMAS PAINE,IN HIS WRITING, “AGE OF REASON,PT.1”,STATED, “INFIDELITY DOES NOT CONSIST IN BELIEVING OR DISBELIEVING; IT CONSISTS IN PROFESSING TO BELIEVE WHAT ONE DOES NOT BELIEVE.”

THE EVIL OF UNBELIEF, OR THE EVIL OF BELIEF BUT IGNORES BEHAVIOR, IS THE QUANDARY, THE MISERY OF SPIRITUAL SUPPOSITION APART FROM “SPIRIT RE-BIRTH”,& SO MULTITUDES OUT OF THE CHURCH, EVEN IN THE CHURCH, IGNORE: “YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN”, ASSUMING IF ONE RETURNS TO A CHURCH REGULARLY THAT HE/SHE MUST BE O-K SPIRITUALLY, WHEN GOING TO CHURCH REGULARLY DOES NOT UNVEIL ONE AS “TRULY BORN AGAIN” – IT’S THE WALK, THE WILL, THE WISDOM OF ‘DAILY TAKING THE SENTENCE OF DEATH TO THE OLD MAN, THAT THE “NEW MAN IN CHRIST” MAY BE CLEARLY REVEALED TO AN UNSAVED INDIVIDUAL, COUPLE, OR FAMILY WHO NEED TO BE “RECONCILED TO GOD.”

IT’S AMAZING BUT SO TRUE, THAT AS PAUL WROTE IN ROMANS 10:2 OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE “A ZEAL FOR GOD, BUT NOT ACCORDING TO KNOWLEDGE,” THAT THAT IS SELF-MOTIVATED RELIGIOUS,BIBLICAL KNOWLEDGE, BUT NOT ACCORDING TO HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRED REVELATION & UNDERSTANDING, THE MOTIVATION BY THE SPIRIT OF THE DYNAMIC INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY WORD, NOT THE WEAKNESS OF ‘FLESH-EFFORT’ OR THE HEART&MIND DEADNESS OF “I TRIED” RATHER THAN “YES, I’VE TRUSTED LEANING, NOT TO MY OWN UNDERSTANDING, BUT YIELDING TO THE LORD DAILY AS I, YES, INVITED HIM INTO MY LIFE TO REIGN IN ME, OVER ME, & THROUGH ME TO THE LOST, NEEDY, ALIENATED & SEPARATED FROM GOD CROWD THAT IS AROUND ME NEEDING CHRIST’S BLOOD REDEMPTION & RECONCILIATION TO THE GLORY OF GOD”! THE WILL & THE WONDER OF THE,YES, MYSTERIOUS MIRACLE OF AN ETERNAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, & GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT “IS” THE MIRACLE & THE MERCY & THE MAJESTY OF GOD’S AMAZING GRACE!

THE CHRISTIAN FAITH A FALSE ATTEMPT? YES, WHEN ‘RELIGIOUS MEN’ TRY RATHER THAN TRUST, BEST-EFFORT RATHER THAN THE BLESSED ENTRANCE THROUGH THE ‘DOOR’ OF CHRIST ONLY, ‘RELIGIOUS EMOTION RATHER THAN SOVEREIGNLY RELEASED PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING’, OR EVEN THE ‘SPIRIT OF THE ANTI-CHRIST’ THAT ‘PRETENDS WITHOUT HIS PRESENCE’, THAT DAILY DENIES FATHER, SON, & HOLY SPIRIT, THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE OF MINISTRY IN THE “BLOOD-BOUGHT” HEART – CHRIST’S BLOOD, CHRIST’S HEART, HIS MIND, EVEN HIS ABLENESS TO DO EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL WE ASK OR THINK!!!!!

THE CHRISTIAN FAITH A FALSE ATTEMPT? YES,LIKE SYDNEY J.HARRIS’ WRITING IN THE CHICAGO DAILY NEWS WRITTEN YEARS&YEARS AGO,SAYING, “THE REAL HERETIC OF OUR TIME IS NOT THE ATHEIST OR THE AGNOSTIC (WHO ARE OFTEN GOOD & DECENT PEOPLE WITH A RESPECT FOR REALITY & HUMAN DIGNITY) BUT THE FAITH-IN-FAITH FANATICS WHO MURMUR, ‘IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE, AS LONG AS IT MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD.’ THIS TURNS RELIGION INTO A WHOLLY SUBJECTIVE MATTER, LIKE TASTE IN FOOD OR FURNISHINGS, & THUS ROBS THEOLOGY OF ITS CLAIM TO ULTIMATE TRUTH.” SO TRUE!!

THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS NOT AN ATTEMPT AT IMITATION – THE TRUE CHRISTIAN FAITH “IS” “CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY”! THE TRUE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS: ONE TRUSTING IN THE GRACE, MERCY, & LOVE OF GOD, & AS HE, BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT, KNOCKING ON ONE’S HEART-DOOR ASKING TO ‘COME IN’, FAITH-FULLY OPENED,& WILLING FOR THE “INDWELLING CHRIST TO ESTABLISH HIS HOLY PRESENCE”, WILLING FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BIRTH IN US THE LORD’S RESURRECTED PRESENCE, THEN GUARDING & GUIDING US IN ALL HIS HOLY TRUTH! IT WAS AN ANONYMOUS QUOTE IN THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS QUOTATIONS (PUBLISHED IN 1965 BY FLEMING H.REVELL COM., WESTWOOD, NJ) THAT DEFINED CHRIST JESUS AS: “COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE CELESTIAL ARMY, KING OF ZION, ETERNAL EMPEROR, PONTIFEX MAXIMUS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, ARCHBISHOP OF ALL SOULS, ELECTOR OF TRUTH, ARCHDUKE OF GLORY, DUKE OF LIFE, PRINCE OF PEACE, DEFENDER OF THE GATES OF HELL, CONQUEROR OF DEATH, HEREDITARY LORD OF ALL NATIONS, LORD OF JUSTICE, & HEAD OF THE SACRED COUNCIL OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER,”! & SHOULDN’T I ADD: SOVEREIGN LORD & KING OF KINGS, ESTABLISHING HIS RESIDENCE IN EVERY REPENTANT, TRUSTING, SURRENDERED HEART & MIND TO HIS KINGLY REIGN, BEING GUIDED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT INTO ALL HEAVENLY TRUTH?

IN THE “BROADMAN HYMN” OF 1940, (PUBLISHED BY BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENN.) IS A HYMN ENTITLED “OUR TIMES ARE IN GOD’S HAND”, BY HOMER HAMMONTREE. IT SAYS: “OUR TIMES ARE IN YOUR HAND:” FATHER, WE WISH THEM THERE; OUR LIFE, OUR SOUL, OUR ALL, WE LEAVE ENTIRELY TO YOUR CARE.

OUR TIMES ARE IN YOUR HAND, WHATEVER THEY MAY BE; PLEASING OR PAINFUL, DARK OR BRIGHT, AS BEST MAY SEEM TO THEE.

OUR TIMES ARE IN YOUR HAND; WHY SHOULD WE DOUBT OR FEAR? OUR FATHER’S HAND WILL NEVER CAUSE HIS CHILD A NEEDLESS TEAR.

OUR TIMES ARE IN YOUR HAND, JESUS, THE CRUCIFIED! THE HAND OUR CRUEL SINS HAD PIERCED, IS NOW OUR GUARD & GUIDE.”

I’M SURE IT’S WHY J.WILBUR CHAPMAN WAS QUOTED IN “THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS QUOTATIONS”, (P.51), SAYING: “I KNOW OF A WORLD THAT IS SUNK IN SHAME, WHERE HEARTS OFTEN FAINT & TIRE; BUT I KNOW OF A NAME, A PRECIOUS NAME, THAT CAN SET THAT WORLD ON FIRE; ITS SOUND IS SWEET, ITS LETTERS FLAME. I KNOW OF A NAME, A PRECIOUS NAME, IT’S JESUS.”

THERE IS A JUDGMENT DAY COMING WHEN EVERY MAN, WOMAN, BOY,OR GIRL, WILL STAND BEFORE HOLY GOD, & HE’LL ASK YOU: “WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY SON & YOUR SAVIOR & LORD, JESUS CHRIST?” AND “YOU” WILL ANSWER! THERE WILL BE TWO DOORS TO BE OPENED, BUT THE ONE YOU ENTER MUST TO HAVE BEEN SETTLED BEFORE GOD’S CALL TO UNVEIL FOR YOU EITHER THE DOOR OF LIFE FOREVER IN THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST OR THE DEVIL’S DOOR TO ETERNAL DAMNATION BECAUSE YOU REJECTED CHRIST JESUS AS LORD & SAVIOR OF YOUR LIFE, HAVING DETERMINED THE ‘BAD FRUIT’ OF THE WORLD, YOUR OLD SIN-NATURE, & SATAN’S DECEPTION!

JOHN MILTON WROTE IN HIS “SAMSON AGONISTES”, (1.293),SAYING: “JUST ARE THE WAYS OF GOD, & JUSTIFIABLE TO MEN; UNLESS THERE BE WHO THINK NOT GOD AT ALL.” TELL ME! YOUR LIFE’S JOURNEY, GODLESS OR GOD-BLESSED, REPUTABLE OR GOD-BIRTHED, SURPRISED IN YOUR JUDGMENT HEARING BEFORE HIM, OR CELEBRATING WITH JESUS, HIS REDEEMED, BLOOD-BOUGHT SAINTS,& HAVING BEEN GUIDED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT INTO THE GATES OF CHRIST’S BLOOD-BOUGHT KINGDOM RULE, YOU’RE READY, DAILY, WHETHER ON EARTH OR IN HEAVEN TO BE SINGING PRAISES TO THE KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS?

DO YOU DAILY CLIMB THE ALTAR STAIRS TO FELLOWSHIP WITH KING JESUS? IT WAS DWIGHT BRADLEY, IN HIS WRITING, “LEAVES FROM A SPIRITUAL NOTEBOOK,” (HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS INC.), THAT SAYS:

“FOR WORSHIP IS A THIRSTY LAND CRYING OUT FOR RAIN, IT IS A CANDLE IN THE ACT OF BEING KINDLED, IT IS A DROP IN QUEST OF THE OCEAN…IT IS A VOICE IN THE NIGHT CALLING FOR HELP, IT IS A SOUL STANDING IN AWE BEFORE THE MYSTERY OF THE UNIVERSE,…IT IS TIME FLOWING INTO ETERNITY,…A MAN CLIMBING THE ALTAR STAIRS TO GOD.” TRUE, TO AN EXTENT! SOME DO CLIMB THE ATAR STAIRS DAILY TO GOD, WHILE SOME, IN SELF-WILL & SELF-PLEASURE CHOOSE WHAT APPEARS TO BE AN EASY WAY OF LIFE, SLIDING DOWN BUT THEY DON’T KNOW TO WHERE, UNTIL,YES, THEY VISUALIZE SATAN OPENING “HELL’S GATES” WHERE “CHRISTLESS” THEY LIVE BOUND ETERNALLY IN THE DEMONIC CHAINS! YOU DO HAVE A CHOICE!

“CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE, BUT AS FOR ME & MY HOUSE, WE WILL ETERNALLY SERVE THE LORD”!! AMEN?

THE CREATIVE, COMPASSIONATE, CARING

KINGDOM OF GOD?”

BY: J. FARRELL FISHER, AUGUST 22-24, 2018

The issue in this message, the continual warfare of the soul, the captivity under Satan’s ‘lies’, the sad ‘sickness’ of “the sin-corrosive”, ‘flesh-captive walk’, and “the strong delusion” that the devil isn’t real, or, even if he is, it’s not a serious thing to have to deal with, since one can choose to ‘get along with darkness’, tolerate warped religious thoughts, stay away from churches in order to enjoy your ‘flesh’, rather than believe one’s “Christ” crucified it, and that there is even allowance of both good and bad, right or wrong, because “a little sin never will be the reality of separation from your holy god” – “you’re just blind to human potential!” Really?

The “sin-corrosive, ‘flesh-captive’, Satanically-controlled world”, inspired and deceived by Satan, who, yes, provokes rebellion and disobedience, deludes the fallen mind of eternal Truth, filling the heart with ‘lies’, encouraging, inciting, even giving ‘academy of Hell awards’ for going against God’s sacred will and heavenly plan! Even though the brother of Jesus, James, wrote, in James 1:13-15, “Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted of God’: for God, cannot be tempted with evil, neither does He ‘tempt’ any man; But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death”.

But ‘warped’ theologians’ and ‘modern, deceived, professing disciples’ today are convinced “believers can’t do anything but ‘sin’ until they get to Heaven, and because God is so merciful, so understanding, so gracious, that He ‘accepts’ the ‘continuing sin of the believer’ even though King Jesus said, “Go, and SIN NO MORE”, assuring themselves that though there IS sin, it’s not ‘deadly eternally’ because merciful God has, does, and will overlook one’s ‘sin-nature’!

You’ve heard it: “Sin is NOT death, but the occasional side-track from a life ‘believing in God’, but seeing no demand to “do what He says”, even though Jesus Himself said: “Why do YOU call Me ‘Lord, Lord’, YET you do not do what I say?”

True believers do not ‘excuse their sin’; true believers do not ‘pretend’ obedience by their willful ‘choose’ to “walk both sides of life” with their ‘two-street-interpretation’, the highway of holiness AND the highway of optional but forgiven ‘sin’.

James was so right when in James 1:14 he wrote: “But every man is tempted, when he/she is drawn away by his/her own lust, and enticed”, but some, interpreting the ‘faith walk’ as simply an act of disobedience, but void of any consequence, broadcast continuously their warped interpretations – “Sin IS death, but not eternal separation from God, whether one ‘believes’ it or not-just a ‘mis-step’, but merciful God grants realignment and acceptance so you continue to enjoy both ‘good and evil’ under God’s banner of ‘amazing grace’!”

“Drawn away”, for some, does not mean ‘the door is closed TO God’, but, because He is so merciful, He allows us ‘who believe’ to trust, while continuing to sin, because God’s mercy is overwhelmingly more powerful than the ‘flesh-desire’ to sin!

‘The sin-corrosive, flesh-captive, Satanically-controlled world’, IS NOT an avenue of acceptability for those who choose to “walk the Highway of Holiness” but void of “Blood-Redemption” through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on Calvary’s Cross!

I love Spiros Zodhiates’ comments when in his book, “The Behavior of Belief”, he wrote about James 1:14, saying (pps:67-68), “The verb “tempted” here is to be understood as having the same meaning as in the previous verse, the solicitation to sin, the inner desire to do that which is contrary to the law of God laid down for you as an individual. “But each one is tempted by his own lust.”, continuing,

I hesitate to say that I am satisfied with this translation because of the necessity of a careful examination of the Greek word translated “lust”. In the Greek it is “epithumia”. The English word “lust” is almost always associated with the bodily appetites and lasciviousness, whereas the Greek “epithumia” is rather associated with the desire of the soul, which is the moving force of that which pertains to the body. It is an ardent desire, the inclination of the soul to enjoy or acquire something. In its verbal form it means “to set one’s heart upon a thing, to long for, to covet, to desire.” The root of the word is “thumos”, which means “the soul or spirit as the principle of life, feeling, thought, mind, will, and purpose.” Who go into all this detail as to the meaning of this word? Simply to show

That we cannot blame the weakness of the flesh, which God created, as the responsible factor in inducing us to sin. It is the spirit of man; it is the voluntary attitude of man; it is the mental imagination of the pleasure of sin that is condemned in the Scriptures, and not only the actual physical performance thereof. This is just what our Lord meant in the Sermon on the Mount. WATCH YOUR INNER DISPOSITION, YOUR INNER ATTITUDE. You can commit sin simply by looking and wishing, simply by thinking and imagining. The sins of omission and commission are bad, but the worst sins are those of disposition.”

“Disposition”? The Random House Collegiate Dictionary, Revised Edition of 1975, describes “disposition” as follows: “the predominant or prevailing tendency of one’s spirits; mental outlook or mood;…”! It’s like a “two-faced” or “divided heart”, committed TO Christ, but the ‘door’ to the ‘old man’ left opened or cracked, trying to maintain the desires of both worlds, “flesh, old-sin nature, AND the spirit-nature” birthed in and through the Indwelling Christ Jesus!

Zodhiates went on to say, (p.68), “But each one is tempted BY HIS OWN DESIRE OF THE SOUL,”adding, “That would really be a perfect translation of this verse. The diagnosis is now made. Sin is something that begins with the desire of the heart. The remedy, therefore, is not the casting away of parts of your body or the seclusion of the body in a monastery, but the PURIFICATION AND SUBLIMATION OF THAT INNER DESIRE, the cleansing of the heart by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ”, truly understanding, grasping, ‘resting in’: “crucified with Christ”!

But, Do YOU understand? Really, truly, there is no release after repentance and faith in Christ alone to be ‘privileged’ to hold onto, take advantage of, enjoy ‘the old sin-nature’!! AND, yes, the “divided heart” WAS and STILL IS “crucified with Christ”!!! THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY? “You must be BORN AGAIN”, appreciative, thankful, ever rejoicing that your ‘old man’ WAS “crucified with Christ”, and YOU, through true repentance and faith, RECEIVE THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN YOU THAT DOES NOT SIN, learning from the Word daily that YOU “take the sentence of death daily that His Resurrection Life may be manifested, released, unveiled in your mortal flesh” for the world around you to see!

Didn’t the Lord Jesus say, “And I, if I be lifted up (IN YOU), WILL draw all men (around YOU) unto Me”? Are YOU aware of His abiding Presence in you? Do YOU “take the sentence of death daily to your old man that the Resurrected Christ may be manifested, unveiled, revealed, and eternally active of touching your world around you with “Amazing Grace, His awesome Life, and His eternal power, and heavenly intent of, yes, bringing ‘Heaven’ to earth in you, through you, around you?

Do You, daily, execute that sentence of death to ‘self’, AND “rest” in His Abiding Presence, that, through YOU, He might extend His Life, express His love, and prove His power? In 2 Corinthians 1:9 Paul wrote: “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but trust in God “in us” who raises the dead around us and through us”, saying also in chapter 2:14, “Now thanks be unto God, which also causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place.” 1 Corinthians 15:31 Paul said, “I die daily”, that he didn’t ‘rest’ in his best efforts – he died to himself that Christ Jesus would be His all in all!”

Of course, I KNOW that there are those who, even in their faith walk, look inward to self, inspired by ‘fleshly pride’, resulting in doubt, in distress, and disappointment, because ‘self’ is not the Abiding Savior, self is not the Great Physician, and self is not the Spiritual Emancipator that “sets the captives free”!!

Examine thoroughly James 1:17-18! “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. OF HIS OWN WILL HE birthed us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creative, spiritually eternal, regenerated, sanctified nature!

“OF HIS OWN WILL”? It’s not men ‘trying’ – it’s men “trusting”! It’s not men ‘attempting’ – it’s men “atoned for” by the shed blood of Christ alone! It’s not men ‘sensing a heavenly nature’ – it’s men repenting, resting, and relieved that God “birthed us in Him by His Holy Spirit”!

Does Holy God still say, “Choose YOU this day whom you will serve,” even knowing that many men will ‘lean’ to themselves and never ‘enter His Haven of Rest’, the Resurrected, Reigning, Restoring Savior of fallen men to His “eternal intent” – “Christ in you the hope of glory”!! It was George D. Moore and H.L. Gilmour, in the old American Hymnal, who wrote: “The Haven of Rest”. It says:

“My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea, So burdened with sin and distress, Till I heard a sweet voice saying, “Make me your choice,” And I entered the haven of rest.

I yielded myself to His tender embrace, And, faith taking hold of the word, My fetters fell off, and I anchored my soul; The haven of rest is my Lord.

The song of my soul, since the Lord made me whole, Has been the old story so blest, Of Jesus, who’ll save whosoever will have A home in the haven of rest.

Oh, come to the savior, He patiently waits, To save by His power divine; Come, anchor your soul in the haven of rest, And say, “My Beloved is mine.”

I’ve anchored my soul in the haven of rest, I’ll sail the wide seas no more; The tempest may sweep o’er the wild stormy deep, (but) In Jesus I’m safe evermore.” Are YOU a selected one, a chosen one, a ‘crucified with Christ’ sinner saved by grace, complete in Christ, lacking nothing, one living in “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ”?

“OF HIS OWN WILL?” Around you, you’ll find men who say, “Let your conscience be your guide”, and, if you do, you’ll find ‘self-consciousness’ to be the downfall of personal spiritual blindness, never leading you to “the foot of the Cross, to the empty tomb, or see, sense, celebrate the Resurrected Christ on His eternal Throne of glory still fulfilling, obeying, and submitting to the Sovereignty of the Holy Father, thankful to Him for receiving His volunteers of repentance and faith and obedience to the King of kings and Lord of lords!

“OF HIS OWN WILL!!” In Ephesians 1:3-14 is an anointed, uplifting, Word of encouragement! It says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, WHO HAS BLESSED US WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST, just as He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons BY JESUS CHRIST TO HIMSELF, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which HE MADE US ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED.

In Him (in Christ Jesus only!) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to the good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him. In Him also we HAVE OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should BE TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY.”

In Him, Ephesian disciples, American followers, and you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, HAVING BELIEVED (HAVING TRUSTED, HAVING “RESTED” IN HIS FINISHED WORK AT THE CROSS AND THE EMPTY TOMB!!), you were SEALED with the Holy Spirit of promise, who IS THE GUARANTEE of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Have YOU been “filled with ALL the fullness of God”? Have YOU held onto the “unsearchable riches of Christ”? Are YOU “walking worthy of the calling with which you were called” or are YOU ‘drunk with the wines of self-indulgence’, OR do you “LIVE” “FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT”? Are YOU “self-motivated” OR are YOU “being ‘mastered’ by the Master?

Is your walk of faith ‘weak’ OR are YOU “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”? Are YOU a “devil entertainer” or do YOU live, clothed in the full armor of God, able to withstand the days’ evil, and having done all, to stand, yes, for the honor and praise of King Jesus? Do YOU pray in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, withstand the evil around you in the Spirit, overcoming worldly and fleshly ambitions to LIVE For The Glory of Christ Alone? Are YOU a disciple of ‘dead weight’ or a true warrior of faith living, walking, fighting, serving in “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ”?

In closing, a few words of mine, yes, inspired testimony by the “guiding Holy Spirit”:

“I once was ‘lost’, but now I’m found; I once was blind, but now I see; I once was dirty in the garment of ‘sin’, but now I’ve been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.

Darkness prevailed, and then came “The Light”; darkness distressed, and “The Light” offered “REST”; darkness ‘tired’, but the Spirit “inspired” LIFE IN THE LORD THAT NEVER RETIRES!

‘Darkness’ ease is a deadly disease, but the Great Physician brings “Heaven’s Release”! ‘Darkness’ author is the Satanic Liar, offering release to a ‘lesser lair’.

‘Darkness’ song is an off-key chord, eventually bringing a life that is bored; but Jesus comes to offer His Light to free you from ‘the cellar of devilish might’! Yes,

“Free from the Law, O happy condition; Christ Jesus bled, and there is “Remission”! Free to ‘rest’ in His resurrection, boldly declaring, “I’m His habitation”!! Amen?