Deceived!

It hit me today, after a morning fighting various negative emotions, that I was full of God.

Yes, full of God, one Spirit with the Lord.

What then, is the problem? If the promises of God are 'yes' in Him, and I am in Him and He in me, and I've been told to reign in life with my words...what exactly is the problem?

And it became clear...'For as he thinks within himself, so he is...' [Proverbs 23:7]

The factor that rips the scale is how I think about things. I'm full of God and He told me that nothing would be impossible for me...everything already belongs to me and I'm supposed to be blessed—the head and not the tail!

But if I believe that a situation or circumstance is, in fact, impossible, it will never be otherwise for me. Others may believe and succeed, but unless and until I believe a thing to be possible for me, it never will be.

So all my time spent meditation on the worst...dreading the future, worrying endlessly...just keeps my faith from manifesting God's best blessings in my life.

If I agree with Him, His Word, in both my thoughts and words, they must come to pass. But if I continue to fight against them in my thought life—become one of the ten rather than one of the two, I will stay stuck in this wilderness even thought it's not His will.

“God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” [Psalm 68:6]

For many years I pondered this verse, believing that it did not apply to me…I was not rebellious but had accepted God’s plan of redemption in Jesus. Yet I knew I was dwelling in a parched land!

Today it all came into focus.

'And do not be conformed to this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, so that you may PROVE what the will of God is, that which is GOOD and ACCEPTABLE and PEFECT.' [Romans 12:2]

Now I've written a lot about this verse, but it seems to fit hand-in-glove with Proverbs 23:7

We are all in the exact same situation as the 12 spies in Numbers 13! We either believe God, with Caleb and Joshua, or we believe the natural, physical circumstance…with the other 10 unbelievers! And like both groups, we either enter into the promises of God or die in the wilderness!

And make no mistake about it…this is a reasoning issue. We can either see the unseen, as we are instructed to in 2 Corinthians 4, which is the unfailing, unchangeable Word of God, or we look at the seen…the natural circumstance.

We’re are told, quite plainly, not to be deceived…

'Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren, EVERY GOOD THING GIVEN and EVERY PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.' [James 1:16,17]

What could possibly be the deception we’re being warned about? Obviously, from the context, it’s the heresy that God could or would cause us evil of any kind…sickness, lack, accident, death.

Consider John 10:10…

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” [John 10:10] 

Now, that’s pretty plain, pretty definitive. Or Psalm 91…that’s another pretty clear description of God’s plan for us…

‘No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent. For HE WILL give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down. 

“Because he has loved Me, therefore I WILL deliver him; I WILL set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I WILL answer him; I WILL be with him in trouble; I WILL rescue him and honor him.

 "With a long life I WILL satisfy him and let him see My salvation." [Psalm 91:10-16]

Notice the “I WILL…” time and time again. THIS IS HIS WILL! Make no mistake about it. And it’s very definitive, very resolute. Kind of like I AM, but in promise form.

Who Could Know?
Let’s face it…all of the really outstanding miracles in the Bible are not events that anyone could have logically foreseen. The Israelites obviously couldn’t foresee any of God’s provisional miracles for them…all they did was whine and complain. Doubters and realists, save a few.

But He had promised deliverance…deliverance and the Promised Land. The best of everything!

All they had to do was believe Him! Could they have known He would split the Red Sea, or drown the world’s most powerful army to keep them safe? Could they have figured out that He was going to feed them manna from heaven, or water from a rock? Or feed Elijah by ravens? Or pay taxes from a fish?

And a Messiah from a young Jewish virgin, born under Roman domination…really?

Let’s face it…these are not solutions one would normally expect, in the natural.

That’s why we need to stop trying to figure out how He’s going to do what He said He’d do and just believe that He will do it, because He said He would! Just because we can't figure out how doesn't mean He can't perform His Word!

He said “Light, be!” and light was. Same with everything else He said. Every word, every prophecy, every promise. His work, finished before the foundation of the world. [Hebrews 4:3]

So look at the unseen. Be a Joshua, or a Caleb. Don't side with the losers, and don’t be deceived. And don't worry about the how...just focus on His promise...NO WORD SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE!! [Luke 1:37]

Hallelujah!

Jesus: Quantum Master

Did Jesus live easy or hard?

Think about that for a moment. We know the crucifixion was hard—a diabolical, horrible death. But we also know that submitting Himself to that death was His choice, as there were several attempts on His life before that appointed time when He just turned and walked away, unharmed. They did not kill Him...He exercised the power of life and death, which is in the tongue [Proverbs 18:21]

'And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into Your hands I COMMIT MY SPIRIT." Having said this, He breathed His last.' [Luke 23:46]

"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I LAY DOWN MY LIFE so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." [John 10:17]

Even the very first attempt on His life came to nought. Herod sought to kill Him as a baby but couldn't. As an adult, murderous mobs tried to throw Him off cliffs and stone Him...the Bible reports that He either turned and walked away or 'hid Himself.' During one attempt, the Bible says He 'eluded their grasp.' [John 10:39]

Was this hard or easy? From the natural viewpoint, getting away from an angry mob intent on killing you is impossible. But from the Word we see that Jesus just walked away, with a sort of 'Yeah, I don't think so' kind of attitude.

How about feeding huge crowds in the middle of nowhere with no apparent source of food or preparation facilities? He did it at least twice that we know of...just decided to feed them, and then did. Even when they ran out of wine at the wedding of Cana, His mother knew to go to Him...I wonder how she knew to do that? He just turned water into wine, no problem.

What about money or other material needs? Did He struggle financially? The Word says that there were many who contributed to His support out of their private means. [Luke 8:3] In fact, the only officer named among His disciples was treasurer!

When Peter asked Him for money to pay the taxes, He told Peter to go get it from a fish! When He needed transportation to enter Jerusalem, He told His disciples where a colt was and told them to get it. When He needed a place for His last Passover, He told them where and how to get it.

How about His ministry? Was that easy or hard? Did He fast and pray and wail for days at the tomb of Lazarus? No...He just called him out, and out he came! Every healing, every time He raised someone from the dead, He just did it, without a lot of banging around and fanfare.

Even when He was tempted by Satan, Jesus just told him to pound sand...and then angels came and ministered to Him!

I'm sure it was hard for Him to have to deal with all of the unbelief He encountered, not to mention His not-to-swift companions on a daily basis. He did get angry a few times—at the disciples, at the temple, at the Pharisees, at the fig tree.

But for the most part, He just did what He wanted to. When Satan tried to kill Him with a storm on the water, He just told it to hush. Even when it was time for Him to sacrifice Himself, He allowed it to happen in such a way as to fulfill Scripture.

What can we learn from these things?
First, we see that for Jesus, life was not hard but easy. He knew Who He was and He knew how the system worked. He stayed in contact with His Father and exercised authority over the physical, natural world as well as over Satan. He knew all things already belonged to Him, and He spent His time trying to teach His disciples how things really worked.

Second, Jesus understood eternity. He understood that God's works were finished from the foundation of the world [Hebrews 4:3]. He understood Ecclesiastes 1:9,10, which says 'That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new?" ALREADY IT HAS EXISTED FOR AGES which were before us."'

'Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, BEFORE ABRAHAM was born, I AM."' [John 8:58]

"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." Matthew 16:19]

"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth SHALL HAVE BEEN bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth SHALL HAVE BEEN loosed in heaven." [Matthew 18:18]

As He is, so also are we IN THIS WORLD! [I John 4:17]

Hallelujah!