FORWARD

A few years ago I wrote an article entitled Spiritual Growing Pains. It was about the experience of growing up in Christ, which is an ongoing process. We begin as infants and follow a path of growth and learning through adolescence, leading to adulthood. Our spiritual growth closely parallels our growth in the natural. John eludes to this in 1John 2:12-14, and Paul in 1 Corinthians 3: 1-2. It seems, however, some never really become mature in either realm.

Though we may sometimes feel this growing process is difficult, we should not become discouraged. Just remember Whose we are. We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. He is our Father, who loves us unconditionally. He will never leave us, nor forsake us. He desires that which is best for us, but, even as in the world, children need teaching, training and discipline. He allows us to make our own choices. These are sometimes mistakes for which we must suffer the consequences. Things don't always turn out as we planned, but He will always be there for us, if and when we let Him.

As you study the teachings in this book, I am confident you will find real food for spiritual growth and better things in Christ.

Evelyn LaCasella

Dedicated to Robert (or Slippery as he is known to some)

Jh.1:1-5; Col.1:15-16; Rev.4:11; Eph.1:4-5; Philp.2:13; Eph.2:10 and Eph.4:17-24. All of this was done so that we could be a new creation and express God’s glory to everyone.

I believe Matt.5 is there for us to have and understand. Also it applies to all the scriptures we just read in that it’s all God’s plan and purpose. In other words, it’s Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Man was created to be the glory of all of God’s creation. When we come into communion with the Father, He begins to come alive inside of us. Thus the world begins to see God’s glory.

Don’t forget that it’s my belief that Matt.5 shows us the character of the mature Christian. This isn’t an outward show or a game like the "religious world" has implied. We cannot make God accept one of us above the other, He loves us all and with all of our faults. Man cannot get, act, con, or make God chose them over another. It’s all carnal, it’s all wrong and God won’t partake of it. This reminded me of the trees in the garden, Gen.2:16-17. These trees represent our two natures, which one will we feed and which one will we kill? I told you before I was taught that Matt.5 was pretty much a goal we were to try to head toward but never really attain in this world. As I looked at these trees I see the "Tree of Life" as God living totally in us, as us being totally dependent on God for everything. Its fruit produces God’s life in man thus dominating man flash. I see the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" as living the way the world does (both the religious and those who say they are not) in its own knowledge, independent of God. It’s the place where man is always trying to choose what is good and what is not. The fruit of this tree produces the carnal man.

Where I worked in California I had a client who was a very good person, went to church, was very active in their church but in there mind they were separated from God. God would not dirty Himself to come here and live in man according to the way they were taught. God was unreachable as far as their church could see unless of coarse they died and then they could live somewhere up there with Jesus. Sounded a lot like the church I grew up in, man was sort of on his "own" and God was "unreachable". This is religion, its anti-Christ, and it’s not what God said. Jh.12:24, I believe Jesus gave us a key here. I believe it’s this mindset, this anti-Christ consciousness that must fall to the ground and die in order for total Christ consciousness to rise up within us. Or maybe a better way to say it is, it’s the chaff and it must be thrown into the fire burned and purified, Matt.3:12.

I think the best example of the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" is the "religious world". Every tree produces after its own kind. This tree produces both good and evil. We can see this in the "Church" and since we came out of her we can see it in ourselves. "Some days we are the windshield and some days we are the bug" as Robert always says. Some days we can express love, the next day we cannot because someone hurt our feelings and it’s our day to feel angry, bitter or resentful. Some days we can get control of the evil and some days it controls us. It is the place where we justify the things in our lives, after all we are God’s chosen and we try as hard as we can. This is my reason for choosing Roberts the "Windshield" and the "Bug".

I want to show you this in the scriptures, Rev.17:3-5. "Mystery Babylon" or the "Church" if you don’t see it that way, have a talk with God, I did. Remember when we looked at the Tabernacle? The gold represented God’s divine nature and the "Church" did start with it at "Pentecost" but man perverted it. The precious stones, I saw the "Church" to a degree having had many transformations, revelations and change and I’d call these precious stones. The beast she rides I saw as carnal, overbearing in selfishness, slithering up to the world until it looks like it, a religious apostasy (or abandoning divine loyalty). I see a religious system with a mixture of good and evil but nothing is pure.

The book of Revelation also showed me the "Tree of Life". God’s people fully mature, the "New Jerusalem. God’s people (the remnant) having left their carnal minds (the heads of the saints) put under the alter and passing on into the Holy of Holies, beyond the veil and into the real realm of the Spirit. They gave up what they were to become the full expression of God on this earth.

This tree represents God’s life, Jh.10:10; Jh.14:5 and Gal.5:22. When Jesus walked this earth, His people were self-righteous and prided themselves on living according to the law (of the tree of knowledge good and evil). Today things are not much different because God’s people still don’t understand what God is doing and they miss the opportunity to experience the life of God flowing through them. Jesus understood this and that’s why He said things like, Matt.5:38-39 & 44. That’s how He could say "Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing" Lk23:34.

It’s not our fault or anything we did that kept us from experiencing this Life for so long. God allowed it and used it. He knew exactly what it was like here but He also knew the Seed He had planted would grow. He knew we would hunger and thirst after Him once we received the revelation of Jesus. We have been touched by God and given wonderful gifts. God has also removed the blinders and we can see beyond the law. 1Cor.15:56, this is beyond the place where the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" is and it’s where He wants to take us now!

Jh.1:17, Jesus brought freedom, truth and Life. He didn’t die to give us a life that couldn’t make it. Inside of us is the Seed of God, a Life that has no boundaries or limits. Jesus said it in Jh.7:37-38 we have a river in us put there by God and He is stirring that river up right now and it will flow! Rev.22:1-2, feasting on this Life transforms the soul and increases the fruit of the Spirit and we are transformed as we feast on Him. Works of the flesh don’t transform anything but flesh.

Jesus taught us what the believer would be like. They will receive the Spirit of God into them. They will learn to yield to the Spirit’s power. They will receive God’s Truth’s and they will produce His Image from the Seed He planted in them. Its time we became the "Windshield" so say bye-bye to the "Bug" mentality. With God we are more then conquers.

Matt.5:9 to give peace or be a peacemaker we would first have to receive God’s peace. Ps.46:1-3 describes this peace and my then my favorite one, Ps.23:1-6. A peacemaker can show someone or help someone receive this peace from God because God’s life is flowing through them and from them to the person they are to help.

Remember to keep in mind here that Matt.5:1 was where it said, "Seeing the multitude, He went up into a mountain and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him." The multitude isn’t going to go out of its way to hear the words of the Lord. The only ones, who heard the greatest message ever given, were the disciples who followed Him into the mountain. To receive all we’ve talked about here for the last 5 weeks you must be a disciple, one who is willing to be disciplined by the Spirit of God. This teaching is for those who want to be conformed and then transformed into God’s sons.

I’ve been showing you Matt.5 as the character of God. It’s also the character of those who walk in the Kingdom, and that means wherever you are, God rules and reigns. This life isn’t revealed to those who walk as carnal Christians. Only those who want the Holy Spirit to take them through processing, these will be changed while still in this earthly realm. This isn’t the want realm; for me it’s the need realm. We may want a lot of thing that God may never provide; but will we still stay and except what He gives? We must learn to see our needs from the spiritual side or through God’s eyes.

The Jews never expected a peacemaker when Jesus showed up, they expect a mighty warrior that would conquer their enemies and set up His Kingdom. When Jesus came talking, "Love your enemies," they rejected Him. Christians today seem to be looking for a sort of "Warmonger-Sugar Daddy". What they don’t know is our enemies are already defeated; our job is to receive this and keep the enemy under our feet. Everything was defeated at the "Cross," praise God. Now we are to be all things to all men that God may come touch all man through those who will believe, receive, be processed and allow God to flow through them. God tore down the wall between Himself and His people. He wanted out far more then man wanted in and He wanted man reconciled back to Himself through the "Blood" at the "Cross," thus appointing His chosen to be peacemakers. Never should we preach or teach judgment or condemnation, only the Gospel of peace and love or we could call it the "Kingdom Gospel." Turn to Lk.2:14; the angels spoke peace to man at the beginning of one of the most important events for mankind, and we need to continue bringing this peace to mankind. They also spoke goodwill to man. I know it’s God’s goodwill for everyone, everywhere, to receive Him and His gifts into their lives. He can then give them peace in times of trouble. He can be their strength, their source and their joy. All this comes as we die to this world and it’s desires, or as Al says, "We step over or cross over into God," the realm of the Spirit right here right now. This is the only way we can live a Kingdom life. God gave us a road map, I call it the Bible, and He has called us by name. If you have ears, hear what the Spirit is saying and receive it, then you will be able to start experiencing Matt.5 from within.

There are organizations all over the world trying to bring peace, or to save something, but they can’t fix what is wrong because all they have is a band-aid. The problem or the source of the problem is man’s heart. Matt.15:16-19 is the answer, not humanism, legalism, communism, or baptismism. The answer is we have to become a new creation. Becoming a new creation changes man’s heart, and until this happens, no amount of anything the world has to offer will help.

When man accepts and receives who God says He is, there won’t be any more divisions, denominations, and all the other things I’ve just mentioned. Nowhere in scripture was a letter ever addressed to or sent to the Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, Catholics, etc.,etc. If God wanted to have a letter sent today He couldn’t say "To the Christians in Tennessee," because His body in Tennessee is divided to the max. They are not peacemakers; they haven’t crossed over into that realm yet. The "Church" hasn’t figured out that Christians don’t have to be in the same building to be in unity, they just have to let Christ rule and reign, then His Life, Love and Purpose will flow out of them in perfect unity. (God’s way)

A peacemaker can confront and still bring peace because they will do it in meekness, love and mercy. They will have all of the qualities we talked about in Matt.5. They will be delivered of self; they will put others above themselves. They are not resentful or deeply hurt by (family, friends, the "Church" or other Christians) because they can accept and understand that these do not know what they are saying or doing. They have given self- centeredness, self-consciousness, self-preservation and selfishness to the grave. Holding unto all these things keeps us in bondage to self. Self will also keep us asking questions like, "Why is it always me that has to suffer"? "Why do I always have to be the one to give in?" "Why is it I am always the bad guy?" The why is SELF and it’s still alive! We must look to the Holy Spirit for everything in this "Kingdom Walk" because as always everything looks backwards from the carnal. Giving in, is gaining. Being the bad guy, is acting like Jesus. Suffering, is attaining Christ likeness. Dieing is Living. To lose is to win. Down is up and out is in. When we can get this we will be richly blessed spiritually. We will also be coming into Christ likeness. We are no better then anyone else and we are all capable of doing what we could accuse others of doing. Praise God He is opening us up to see the carnal and to receive from Him.

I want to show you something I didn’t get into last week in Jh.12:25. "He that loves his life…" The word life in the Greek used here is "psuche" and it means "soul- life" or "self- life". God wants us to get this, to understand it and for it to get a hold of us. He tells us over and over about self in His written word and He gave us His Holy Spirit with His convicting power to enable us to see like the Apostle Paul did, the wretched man (self). God shows us in such a way that only the spiritual blind and bound wouldn’t see it for what it is, the (anti-Christ). It’s against God and He wants us to hate that self-life as much as He does. He created us to be Christ- like not self-like. Keep in mind here this is the Deep calling to the Deep. Carnal Christians won’t accept God hating anything and I’m using the word hate because I don’t know a better word.

The peacemaker will know how hard it is to die to this self-life and therefore use wisdom in order not to condemn or criticize others. We can never minister peace while we are being judgmental or criticizing others. The peacemaker understands that if it were not for the grace of God they too would or could be doing the very same thing as those they are ministering to. They understand that others will come into this revelation; they thank God that He is changing them and that the blind will see.

I’d like to tell you I’ve arrived at this place but I’d be lying. My goal now is Matt.5:3-10 and Philp.3:8-10 but I’m not there yet in my book, (thank God my book doesn’t count, only His Book counts) and in His Book I’m complete. My daughter gave me Ecc.3:14-15 the other day and it fits right here. Whatever I was, God turned it for His glory. What I am, He is using and what I will be is what He has created me to be, just like Him, no matter what. In His mind it is settled and done and in the end I will give Him an account of that which I pursued. Do I like it? Not always. Do I have a list of things I think are unfair? Enough for at least one big book, although there is a difference now because I can praise God while He is doing a work in me. I don’t fight Him like I used to and now I want to be all He has called and chosen me to be. My prayer is that I will pursue only Him until I apprehend Him

I guess what really got me thinking about this peacemaker subject, was a phone call I got last night from a lady who I believe is doing her best to stay focused on God. She appears to have come along way in the last couple of years. However she has also put her children above pretty much everything, this should not be as they are all adults. She called because she was very depressed over all she has done for them this past few years and they are still doing and saying things that hurt her feelings. Well she kept going on and on about how wrong they were, how they said things to hurt her and how they used the grandchildren to make her do what they wanted. I finely realized all that God had had me write here were the things Dale and I had gone through (regarding our children). She was judging and criticizing her children and their faults as though they were worse then anything she had ever done. God could forgive her and all she had done but she couldn’t forgive her children for what they were doing. Finely God’s words started bringing her to an understanding that she needed to be a peacemaker too. And that if she truly believed what God had done for her she would learn to forgive and forget and forgive and forget and just keep loving them where they were and trusting God to change their hearts as He had changed hers.

God is our Father we are His children. I feel like we get our small taste of unconditional love for our children from Him. In my thoughts I believe God goes through this same sort of thing we do every time one of His children doubts, doesn’t believe or receive what He has for them. Just like this lady was hurting I believe God’s heartaches, as He watches, even though He knows what will be. This lady knew in her heart that if she served God faithfully, He would change her children. I didn’t see this ache that God has as the same ache we feel. It was like it was coming from a LOVE scale where ours comes more from a PAIN scale. Our understanding cannot comprehend this at this time as we still see it as rejection aimed directly at us, however God calls it LOVE and He waits for His glory to be seen in us.

Jam.1:19-20, this is also part of a peacemaker because they don’t lash out when offended. I wish I could say I don’t fail here either, but I do. I think poor Dale must have a dent in his head from all the times I’ve jumped on him for saying things that rattle my cage. He will say things like, "I told you that was done or paid" and then I get a bill or see its not done and he can’t understand why I’m asking him about it again or why I even care. I explode, my feelings are hurt and I get angry because I know I’m not stupid and I want him to look at (the bill or the problem). He however would like to ignore it all and stay in the spirit realm with God. My being angry brings him back to this realm and he over reacts or explodes (note here he is not perfect either). Then we calm down and figure out what went wrong, thank God and then have to forgive each other. Had we been slow to speak and slow to anger most of time the whole seen could have been avoided. Thank God He has designed these circumstances to build, shape and fit Dale and I tightly together and draw us closer to Him, like God did for David. When Goliath came to kill David he brought a very large sword. God took that very sword intended to kill David and chop Goliaths head off with it. God uses the things in our lives meant to harm us, turns them around for His purpose and uses them to drive us closer to Him. All of it designed to bring us into perfection and maturity.

Trust me having God expose my true nature is a very humbling experience for my carnal man but one I need. No, I don’t like it but I want it. Learning to treat each person like I would treat the Lord is a goal I’m trying to reach and if God doesn’t bring the people and circumstances into my life I cannot grow. I’d never learn and I’d never face the anti-Christ in me. I have finely figured out where the saying "No pain no gain" came from. From someone being possessed by God.

I pray we all seek God until these truths become a part of us. Till the Body (the new creation) stands strong, fully mature, and doing the will of the Father, Eph.4:13-16

I guess God picked this subject because its been one of those I didn’t believe the "the religious system" had truly helped me to understand and I figured if I didn’t get it there must be others who didn’t either. Rom.5:18-21, this seemed to be one of those "need to know things" and since the "religious world" didn’t have a hold on it I knew God wanted the remnant to truly understand it.

I have heard about "our righteousness" through Christ. I have heard it preached and taught all of my life but I never saw God’s people as having a revelation of it. You know where it gets down inside of them and became life. Rom.10:1-4, God’s people were doing the same then as they are now. They have a zeal for God but are ignorant of His truths.

Now we just read that righteousness was a gift from God just like salvation is. So why are we taught its something we grow and work our way into? I don’t believe we can become more righteous then the next guy. If God gave us all the same "Barbie Doll" I wouldn’t have a "Malibu Barbie" and you have a "Bride Barbie". It was the same gift given to all. I do believe however that our faith and understanding of God’s Righteousness can grow, Rom.1:16-18.

When we believed and received the gift of righteousness we became the righteousness of God that is as righteous as we will ever be. The gift doesn’t grow our understanding of what God has made us; the understanding of who He is in us is what really grows. As we grow in this knowledge of God we will produce His fruits, righteousness produces holiness and not because we did something good for God, Rom.4:3-8.

I saw this as the way the "religious world" accepts or receives God’s truths, always in part. I say that because they are always conscience of sin and the devil. Sin consciousness makes them feel like less and keeps them separated from God. They lose their ability to be one with God but are kept very aware of their sin. It’s a place where they want with their hearts to please God yet can’t find the way because they sense failure, fear, sin and separation. This is the place where Christians are robed of all God wants to give them and where their faith and peace get destroyed for a season. Where could anyone find peace when they believe they are failures in God’s eyes? How can any faith grow when what they are really saying is, "I’m a Christian and I want to share with you what God has done for me but I can’t because I’m a failure and I sin way to much"? This is the reason the world doesn’t want what the "Church" has now.

We are to come before His Throne boldly or in His Righteousness not in unworthiness. Can you imagine a meeting where everyone that came was fully clothed in God’s righteousness? It would be like Pentecost. Jam.5:16, says … "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteousness man avails much." But if we are sin conscience, if we don’t accept that the gift of His Righteousness is ours, how can our prayers avail anything?

What do you think the world sees in the "Church" today? I think it sees a weak "Church" with no power that holds meetings where nothing happens, and they see only a good story in the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord. They see that most of the "Church" claims works as the answer because they are told; be good, hope for the best, say your prayers, read your bible and go to church it’s the only way you can get to heaven when you die. Not! It’s a lying deceiving spirit trying to get man to right himself with God and never knowing who he really is!

Man was born with an emptiness deep within him that had to be filled. That is why we have addicts of every kind; drugs, alcohol, forever students, idolaters, gluttons, religious seekers and the list goes on and on. They are trying to fill a void with anything and everything except God. God Himself however is the only thing that can fill that void and when He fills that emptiness He also removes the sin-consciences that keeps us feeling empty.

Man has tried to deal with this issue by doing well, self-denial and by confessing his sins. Most of this however was a quick fix and temporary. We have all done it, "Oh God forgive me and help me not to do this again today or tomorrow." Look at that, we were conscious we were going to fail again either today or tomorrow. Paul understood this and talked about it in Rom.7:15-24. He had put a lot of effort into it before he came out of its bondage. I never understood what Paul went through until I was going through it too and I believe we all have to go through it. Paul told us over and over it’s not by works (going to church, praying, reading the bible, asking for forgiveness, and doing all the right programs) that we gained righteousness. Understanding that it is a gift to us from God and holding it as dearly as we hold salvation will bring us into the fruits of God without all the struggle. It comes as He grows in us not as we work, (Rom.4:3-8 again).

This may be hard to swallow for some of us, I’m still seeking understanding on it but I’m going to say it anyway. If you look at this sin conciseness thing you’d think there was two kinds. 1. To those who are not born again, Eph.2:12. And number 2 to those who are baby Christians. I say that because it does not appear to me that Christians grow much until they receive God’s gifts and know they are His Righteousness. We should at the least come to the same sort of understanding the Apostles had, if God said it, do it! Without fear and without the conscience of I can’t because I’ll fail.

God doesn’t have any of the things the world has, weakness, failures, copouts, and ineffectualness nor is He powerless. All of these do however belong to the world and to some degree the "religious system". Which makes it appear more satanic then Godly. Eph.4:17-18, this says it all: don’t act like the world, don’t look like the world, don’t think like the world and don’t go where the "Church" allows more world then they allow God’s Spirit.

The carnal mind is against God. The "religious system" tries to keep us in our carnal minds. That way we remain weak and always dependent on them instead of God which keeps us going to the alter for forgiveness, its bondage to sin-conciseness. However God wants us to receive all He has for us and it’s done through Him, 1Cor.6:17. God restored man totally to Himself at the "Cross". Don’t wait until you die and go to heaven to have this completeness in Christ. Heb.10:1-4, the sacrifice of bulls and goats couldn’t make anyone perfect, and it couldn’t take away the consciousness of sin. We however were sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all, Heb.10:10. Study Hebrews 8,9,and 10, ask God to bring it to life in you. Receive this revelation; it is a key to walking in the Kingdom or to overcoming and to making His enemies His footstool.

Smith Wigglesworth was a mighty man of God and he said a lot of inspiring things that remind me a lot of things Dale says. Smith was quoted as saying, "I wait and if the Spirit of God doesn’t move me, I move the Spirit of God". Sounds like something Dale or Al would say and then I remembered a verse, Isa.45:11-13. Some where in here is a key that the "religious system" has lost and thinking like them will not only keep us in sin-conciseness but it will keep us unconscious as well. Jh.15:7, I looked up the word "ask" in this scripture, (Strongs #4441) it means to "demand". That sort of shocked me but then I remembered Jesus didn’t "ask" many things of the Father. He knew God’s will and commanded, which I thought also implied demanded. I know God is trying to say something here and it has to do with walking in His freedom. Jesus was the first born of many sons, where has the "Church" been? We must quit trying to appease God with works and let His truth remove all blinders. God is for us not against us, Col.1:13; Ex.6:6; Ps.33:18-19. All we have to do is believe and receive; do you hear what the Spirit is saying?

God has allowed this tutor season in the body to teach us the law. He has allowed the confusion in the body to drive us closer to Him, Gal.4:1-3. I was there so I’m sure you were too. When I look back I see where God was with me and how He added to my confusion, so I thought then. Like when I was told, "We have two natures". I thought, "Even after I’m born again?" "Regenerated and renewed?" I was being taught I had sin in my flesh, the devil in my soul and God in my spirit. I heard from deep down inside of me a small voice say, "You cannot have two Fathers!" This I thought was more confusion, now I know it was God. Sorry "religious system" God will not live where the devil lives! If this were true, every time you came here and I was disciplining, you would have to worry if it were coming from my spirit, my flesh or my devilish part. How could we grow, believe or trust God if we were always worried about who was talking to us? As you can see with that mentality most (the religious) don’t mature. They cling to their religion and their reasoning. They seem to have the mentality of: I’m only human so I need to keep justifying my condition, Isa.5:13.

If Christ were standing here in this room tonight He would tell you; (My sons, your zeal is great but just seek Me, talk to Me not about Me. I have made you who you are and you are Mine. You are righteous because I say you are. There is nothing that will separate you from My presence. Don’t believe the lie that you are unworthy; I have made you worthy. Believe that I have finished what I started. Believing the lie limits you from experiencing Me and peace in its fullness. You were created to experience Me in this present life not just in the to come, I am with you always). Jude 24-25.

Rom.8:19, "All of creation waits for the revealing of God’s sons".

Everyone in this room knows we are being prepared by the Spirit of God for sonship and beyond. There are those here, who want the fullness of that promise and more, I call these the "Kingdom Walkers". They want to go where no man has gone before.

Everything in and around us is used by God to process us and bring us into maturity, which in turn prepares us to rule and reign with Christ. Everything that takes place in our lives regardless of how good or bad we view it is playing a part in our becoming mature or perfect.

Just to give you an idea of what I mean I’ll use the good old ex-president, Mr. Clinton. While he was airing his laundry on national television God was testing us. These tests if will are going on around us every day and we must learn to pass them. So did we proclaim our opinions or just keep our soiled little opinions to ourselves? What was our attitude? In Isaiah we can find the layout for how this Kingdom that is dawning will be established and it’s not by being judgmental, Isa.16:5.

God establishes His Throne in Mercy and He is working mercy into those who will walk this "Kingdom walk", and into those who will rule and reign. He is training us to judge and reign with His mind, full of His love and mercies thus bringing total and complete restoration to all of creation. Most Christians think that sins come in categories, some being worse then others. However I’d say God sees them all the same. I’ve heard it and I’ve thought sexual abuse of children was one of the biggest sins but by me not accepting and believing what God said, I was no better then them. In Rev.21:8, God dumped them all in the same pot, and excuse me but I want v.7 for my life.

Jump back to Isa.16:5, I want you to see something. The Hebrew word for "mercy" here is "checed", meaning, kindness and reproof, but rarely by opposition. That means mercy is rarely used in rebuking someone by coming against them or making an enemy of them. Understanding this will help give Matt.5:7 better revelation. We studied it for five weeks and it should be growing something in you by now.

The word "judging" used in Isa.16:5 means, to pronounce sentence and to vindicate or punish. God sent Jesus to do what man could not do, pay the debt for all of creation. That doesn’t mean God quit dealing with man, it means He now does it through His Spirits convicting power but its still Him changing our hearts and bring us into a closer relationship with Him. When we are mature in Him we will judge or correct through His mercy and love, thus turning hearts and putting feet back firmer on the path to the Kingdom. The attitude and principles being reborn in us now will help us see where we fit into God’s big plan. God sees back to before the foundations and past forever, He has this all finished, we are only walking it out at this time. Like I said we took a long look at Matt.5 so I won’t go there in length but I do want you to see this attitude of being a merciful and forgiving person because it equips us to reign with Christ. If this isn’t our attitude then we need more processing or we will remain just a pew filler. The merciful shall obtain mercy and will be among the fully mature and perfected saints.

Prov.3:3-4 the man that wrote this must have either experienced it or received revelation on it from God, because God’s nature must be part of us, not just coming from within us, but bound about us like our skin and it will be a part of those who rule and reign and go on to different levels in God. Prov.14:21-22, the merciful will to do good not evil to those who do wrong. We need all the mercy we can get from God to be fully saved, perfected, matured and transformed into His likeness. I’d say from this that those who have learned to give mercy will be receiving much mercy on their way to transformation. Thank You Lord!

I read something in 2Chronicles that I want to experience, I hope when we read it, it will spark the same desire within you, 2Chro.5:13-14. Do you want that kind of experience with the Father? I do, and I think a key to this way is manifesting His mercies to others in love and by coming into unity with the (elect, the chosen, and the remnant), the "Kingdom Walkers".

Micah 6:5-8, the fullness of God and His Kingdom are within us. Al said he believes there are several keys that open this door to the Kingdom Walk. I believe God has shown us that this is correct and He is giving these keys to His called and chosen at this hour. If you have ears, hear what the Spirit is saying. Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. Sounds so simple yet we fight it so hard and what really sucks is we don’t have a dog in the race. It’s all God doing the driving, if He isn’t your in the wrong seat. He put the desire, the hunger, the thirst and the emptiness in us. So it’s up to Him to drive us and fill us. We however can only complicate it or receive it. God even took it a step further to make it easier for us, He said just be led by My Spirit, Rom.8:14. Dale says, "We are God’s R.V. and He is the One who will drive it where He wants to go". If you are driving, you’re not going with God. He created us after His own image and He said, "It is for His purpose and His pleasure that we were created."

When Jesus was here he ate with sinners and those the "Church" wouldn’t want in their services. He let the religious know He was not there to help them; He was there for the sick (or the bound). He was there to bring freedom to those who would receive it, Matt.9:10-13.

Jam.3:11-18, mercy is of great value to those called and chosen, without it we are like the "religious world", never brought into perfection (fully matured) and transformed into God’s likeness. Think about this people, this (transformation) could very well be the next thing to happen in this "Kingdom Walk". This move isn’t going to come to the "religious world" it won’t take place in the "old order" and it won’t give way to "mans direction". Right now, at this hour, (spiritually speaking) we are being transformed. We might not see it but we know something is happening to us and around us. Nothing should have much meaning these days except for what God is saying and doing. Our eyes should be focused on God only, Jude20-21.

This reign of the King and His co-kings is going to be something awesome. God told David it will be like the dawning of a new morning in, 2Sam.23:3-4. By us doing the Father’s will in faith, love and mercy we (Him through us) will bring this Kingdom order to all men and He will bless and deliver them from this world.

The term "Sonship" is being used a lot now days by the "religious world" and I’d like to think that we might all be sons. I don’t believe however that is truth. On the other hand I know for a fact that we here are all headed towards being manifested sons, Christ’s and Fathers to this world and its coming soon. I also see the wheel here, the Hub (God) has never changed, and now the wheel within the wheel (the called and chosen) are maturing, are being changed and are beginning to manifest God in the earth. God’s word says He is a consuming fire. I believe that those who are now enduring His fiery presence and are going through the hells of change (the wilderness, drought and separation experiences). The ones who are praying for the old man to die, are the ones who are also learning to rejoice in their time of pain (growing and being birthed), 2Cor.4:14-5:4.

For the God-man to come forth the carnal-man must be destroyed, Rom.8:9-14. Praise God we are overcoming the world,1Jh.5:1-5. This walk isn’t for all of God’s children; it’s for those who are no longer in elementary schools, and those who no longer hold religion as their God. It’s for those who moved on when God said move. It’s for those who walk the "Kingdom Walk." This walk without the manifestation of the Father is what the "Church" has now. It’s like a car with no key, a fruit tree without fruit, and a god with no power. (Hum, maybe that was why Jesus cursed the fig tree).

If you’ll look back to our discussion about Noah you’ll remember that no one saw anything coming, only God’s chosen knew. Then when Noah entered the Ark things in the world started to change. When we have entered fully into the Ark of God or maybe I should say when He has fully consumed this ark, everything will change! We will be raised to higher levels in the Father and it will bring forth change in the earth. How did we become this Ark that we didn’t build? Just like Noah did! We left the world and its ways and went with the leading of the Spirit. We believed and received the Word of the Lord; we accepted that there were two men in the bed and they (were and were not) both us. Therefore one had to die that the other might live. God shows us things in the natural world so we can see what is taking place in the Spirit realm. I think we can see this Spiritual revelation through Siamese twins in the natural. They live together (two in the bed), but its not always a good life. Or they can be separated which means most always one will die. The one left lives a much stronger, happier, healthier and fuller life. When we are separated from this carnal man (mind) we too will live a much stronger, happier, and gloriously fuller life.

We were born of Spiritual parents we come from Royalty. We are kings of The King and lords of The Lord. The whore is NOT our mother contrary to the belief of the "religious world". That very thing is what will leave them in the dust so to speak at this time. They are children held under the law by someone who is not their mother. They do not know their mother is the Holy Ghost or if you will the "New Jerusalem" found in Gal.4. Their claim to fame is the church, the bible and their doctrine and it’s become their prison as well for the moment. Our claim on the other hand is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; it’s our ancestry, our heritage, our covenant in the Kingdom and its all Spiritual! We need to get a grip on this people, we are not in anyway, what or who we have been taught we are. Renew your minds! Find the Truth!

Thank God He has picked this time to awaken His elect. If angels could be jealous I’m sure they would be. I know Paul and some of the others, who have gone before us, could only dream of this time. We are going to experience it! God is opening our eyes to see His truths, in doing this He has exposed the whore also. I’m telling you people God has took our "Binkies and Blankies" away from us and we are all alone with only Him. We can’t reign, rule or know our Fathers business while we are still children, Gal.4:1-3. God had to allow us the same training as Jesus, coming through the law, learning by the things we suffered, and being tried and tested, because that is how we grow. So we needed the "religious system" and the world to bring us to this place. Now the age of confusion, doctrine and mans thinking is over, we are passing through praise God.

God’s preparing us for an entirely new experience in Him it’s a walk in truth and it comes only from the realm of the Spirit. The elect have experienced this in small doses along with enduring some rather difficult circumstances in their lives but it all has a purposes. To shape, mold, process, and prepare us for what is coming. Our old comfortable ways had to be removed, things we felt were more important then anything had to be left behind. Our ties to this world and all it offers had to be taken away, and God did it all, 2Cor.1:20-22 and 1Cor.1:20 this means that we must lose our identities, our titles, and our job descriptions that were placed on us by the world and the "religious system" and we must see ourselves as Christ’s, which is our true identity.

We have talked before about how easy it is to stay in a move of God, get comfortable and never leave it. This however is not what God has for the elect, 1Cor.13:8-11 and Heb.5:12-6:6. The time for men to build is over, its time to move with God. Matt.24:1-2, we are done with building our cities staying and rotting there, Gen.11:31-32. Staying means we are still building and rebuilding, relearning and rethinking the same old same old elementary things. I’m sure none of us here want to think that everything we know and see can fail but it can and it will only God cannot fail! From now on its God and God only doing His Thing!

I wish everyone I knew was going this WAY but I don’t believe they are. I wish I could say it’s easy to totally depend on God but I can’t, because I know it’s hard. All I know for sure is, I have to seek God with all I have available to me. Trust God above all I can see or touch and I pray He takes this carnal mind so that my spirit can gain all that He is. I pray I’ll never turn back or stop, He has given me a road map (the bible), He has revealed things to me and opened my eyes to see. His written word speaks over and over to me to never stop and never turn back, Phil.3:8-12.

God is softening and preparing our hearts to be filled with His fullness. When He has consumed everything in us that isn’t Him, there will finely be a new heaven (our minds) and a new earth (our transformed bodies). Our purpose for being will finely be fulfilled. We may only look like babies in the birth canal at the moment but keep the contractions coming Father, Your "Kingdom Walkers" are on the WAY!

8-1-01

Gen.38:6-30. When I first read this I was sure there was nothing here for me or I’d missed God somewhere. Then Ken came in and started talking to me and I knew I needed to read this again. God had put this whole chapter here and it wasn’t just to tell us the genealogy of some family. When God had something written it was for Him to unveil at His appointed time. Since I believe this and I believe He is opening the eyes and ears of His appointed for such a time as this, I figured I’d better dig a little harder.

Wonderful truth’s are being revealed to those God is preparing; He never planed for us to be deceived or distracted by the "religious world" this world or anything else. They all think they have the answers to what God’s elect are looking forward to but they don’t. They can’t because everything they have is man made. We are looking for something pure, something only slightly touched by man.

This reminded me of something Jesus said in Matt.24:22-24. Jesus was teaching them about the "religious world". Religion wants God’s people to believe they "the religious leaders" are the authority and if it comes from another sores its wrong. That’s real nice but its bondage not God. God wants His people free to hear His voice, free to have a relationship with Him, to be trained up and then go do as He says. He didn’t put us here to be stifled or remain stagnant. He put us here so that He could live and touch His children through us.

I felt these names were important so I looked up the meaning for these two sons born in Gen.38. PEREZ means: Breach, Void, Break or Violate. ZERAH means: Dawning, Shining and Rising. I also looked up some scriptures to give us better understanding of these words: "Breach" Ps.60:1-3 and "Void" Gen.1:2. "Dawning" 2Sam.23:3-4 and Isa.60:1. God was God in the void, He is God of the breach and He will be God when He restores and repairs it through His elect, during the dawning and shining. He started it with the first Adam (the soul man), who led to the second Adam (Jesus the God man) who was the first-born of many (God men). He reached out His Hand to the world and like the midwife in our story the world touched Him and then He was gone. Remember the midwife had tied the scarlet thread to the first hand and was very disappointed when Perez (the breach) appeared first.

God’s people have wanted the Zerah (the dawning and shining) of what that first Hand offered and represented but Perez the breach had to come first or what I call the "religious system or world". For hundreds of years God’s people have prayed and believed for Zerah (the dawning and shining of a new day). They have felt a special bond and fellowship with the One who was marked first but what they found was the one who was not marked (the religious system) the one who God allowed to breach and violate the truth. Though it all (the mess, the lies, and the confusion) God was still in control and it was God who drove the spirits of His chosen ones, to remember that first promise, to press in while others were content to stay religious. Gods plan was to awaken His many membered elect and drive them further then men were ready to go. I don’t believe we were even conscience of it until He revealed it to us and I don’t think we will be real aware of this next move either because we will be to busy following God’s orders and then bingo we will notice we are there.

God said we were marked, 2Cor.1:21-22 and 2Cor.5:5. The Spirit of God is witness to this mark and it is upon those who will bring in the dawning, the rising and the shining of a new day. He has made us aware of this and also very aware that a "New and Shining Day" is on its way soon. God first had to show us that it wasn’t coming the way the "religious system" had taught us it was. We needed a personal walk and relationship with the Father in order to understand it and not be deceived by claims like "He is here or He is there" or "We have what you are waiting for". God had this all planed so that we could hear His voice and know His truth’s.

In Gen.38, I’m sure the midwife was disappointed as I said, when Perez came first; I’d assume she was like us, and she would want what she had touched first. I’m sure she might have felt a special connection and attachment with the one she had marked. After all Zerah was a special child because he was promised and he represented the continuation of a bloodline. But Perez came first and he wasn’t the one marked, looked for or anticipated. He wasn’t the one she was waiting for. We should understand this because we have had to wait too.

Perez was from the same parents as Zerah, he had a purpose for being just like everyone else and he too was predestined by God the only difference was he was the breach not the dawning. I have no intentions of criticizing the "religious system or breach" here, they too have a purpose and are predestined by God, all of which was part of God’s plan and was needed. But there is another birth about to take place, its been prayed for and wanted by some more then the air they breath. Our Perez was all right for a while but now we want the fullness of the promise. What makes this birth so much better then the one we read about is the fact that The HEAD comes first not the hand and then comes Zerah the dawning and shining, God’s elect.

Look around you and listen (in the spirit); God hasn’t left this planet or His people in all this turmoil for nothing. He has had a plan since the beginning of time. Perez or the "religious system" is not God’s eternal purpose and I know that those here will not settle for anything less then God’s best, we want the promise of Zerah. I know we have only begun to touch and taste the glory of what is about to come but when Zerah is birthed we will be fully processed, possessed, marked and ready to fulfill God’s purpose.

Jesus may be our pattern but the Father was His goal. Following after Jesus is a good place to start but our goal should also be the Father. I believe Jesus walked in this "new dawning", I believe He walked in the fullness and I believe He walked with the Father humbly. I’m sure if He were here He would be saying the same thing to us as He said to His disciples, "Oh you of little faith". Jesus wasn’t putting His disciples down; I think He really saw what He did as being all the Father and none of Himself, which made what He did seem very simple to Him. When His Father said touch the leopard, He touched him and he was healed. When His Father said take authority over nature, He walked on water. When His Father said take authority over death, He did and Lazarus came forth. He never saw it as being hard because He could see Himself as God had created Him to be, all man and all God. He saw it as a way of life not something to struggle over. Maybe He was as surprised at the disciple’s reaction to what He did as they were when He did what the Father said. The only difference here was Jesus had accepted it and walked in it the disciples hadn’t yet. They were probable doing the same thing we have done; you know, fight it and try to analyze it. When all we had to do was accept it and walk in it just like Jesus did and finely the disciples too. We need to see it like Jesus did, we are all man and we are all God.

Can you believe you are to be like the Father? Does the bible say we were made in His image and likeness? Does it say we will do grater things then Jesus? Does it say God will finish what He started? Does it say we were with Him (in Him) before the foundations of the earth? Does it say we can do all things through Him? Is it wrong to believe He is God and what He says He will do He does? No! Of course not and God wouldn’t want it any other way! So stop measuring God’s promises by your present conditions and understanding.

Heb.6:1-6, God has issued a warning here! If you have ears then hear what He is saying. We have been enlightened; we have tasted the "WORD". (Word = Rhema (Strong #4487) that which is said or spoken, an utterance. In contrast to logos which is the expression of a thought. "And we have tasted the power of the age to come and we are about to walk in it. We here have no choice we must move on with God. It’s our destiny, its what we were created for. As sure as there is a Perez there will be a Zerah, God has a chosen and marked people, and He will bring in the dawning and shining of a new day through them.

Zerah’s hand was seen first, that was all, but it brought hope to those who had waited so long for an heir. We too have had a hope and a glimpse of our promise. We saw it in Jesus, we saw it in the early church and we have seen it in the many marvelous moves of God. He holds the power; we are the hands that He has marked for His use. Its time we get ourselves out of His way, it time to quit looking at our circumstances as though they are wrong and its time we started ministering the Father. Scarlet was the color for the high priest who ministered God to the people and prayed to God on the people’s behalf, a type of Christ. Its time for us to see ourselves for who we truly are (and it isn’t us), its Christ. Like a few of us got to hear it so simply put the other night. "Look at the Cross, see Jesus the man on that Cross, now look at His face and keep looking until you can see your face". We died when He died it isn’t us that lives. Ask God to take that carnal mind because it’s His enemy and we are to make His enemy His footstool.

We are God’s inheritance, His possessions, His riches, and His heritage, Ps.33:12 and Eph.1:18. We are marked, called and chosen 2Cor.1:20-22; 2Tim.1:7-9; Eph.1:13. Receive this revelation and the scales will fall from your eyes, you’re understandings will be enlightened and you will know the calling God has placed on you’re lives.

At the meeting we went to the other night some people sang and I was impressed with some of the words in the songs. So I’m going to read a few and I want you to meditate on the words:

#1 We are bone of His bone; we are flesh of His flesh

His very own body are we. Made in His image

Made in His likeness, expressions of Him the whole world can see

A light to all nations, to shine in the dark

The Kingdom of God among men

All earth shall behold Him as heaven unfolds Him

Hallelujah, He has come again

#2 I’m rising up in your house again, tearing down carnal man where he stands

I’m rising up with a new word, in a voice you’ve not heard. I’m rising up

I’m rising up in your house again.

#3 There has never been a day like this day, there has never been a day like this day I

see. There has never been a light that shines so bright, as the dawning of the day I

see. You’ve come out of the shadows and into the light now come up into its glory

where every things bright. Walk in the Kingdom, committed to Christ and the

dawning of a new life we’ll see.

Quit fighting God, seek His face, and spend time with Him. Submit to Him body, soul and mind. Love Him and let Him love others through you. Walk humble with our God and take a stand to be all He has called you to be, don’t settle for Perez, when you know God has chosen you to be a Zerah.

8-7-01

This year and this last week has been a bip; I in the natural have lost three dear friends and last week two more people I hold dear were told they didn’t have very long here by their doctors. Now today another dear friend was told they have a serious health problem and last night some kids driving to fast hit our daughter and granddaughter. Thank God it wasn’t head on and they are both all right. To say the least my brain was spinning before God got control and showed me Pro.3:1-6 and reminded me of my Psalms 23. He always takes me there when I’m wondering what He is doing. He reminded me again that He was my hope and confidence and that I needed to start acting like He was in order to get back into His rest. So I prayed and thanked God and was very glad when He got me back in Him. Stress and fear or doubt and unbelief would like to rule all of us but its not what we were distained or created for. It also helps to know that God is in control of everything.

I went to Heb.4:2 and v.9-16. Truth is this is the hardest thing to do. Ask the Israelites (you know the ones who wondered in the wilderness for forty years). Laying aside the control we believe we have over our lives and our loved ones lives and putting it all in God’s Hands. Well it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done and have to do daily, (did you catch that? I haven’t arrived at perfection yet). Yet! Don’t loose sight of that either. Anyway that is how I view that (labor or diligently) part of entering into His rest.

This is a truth we don’t confront much in all of our circumstances and with the people we love and its us who takes things out of His Hands in the first, second and third place, so it has to be us who putts them back in His Hands. Let me explain; my children, my husband, my family, my friends and my life really aren’t mine they are really all God’s and they belong in His Hands not mine. When I start worrying, doubting, complaining, thinking I can do or change things or get upset over the way God is doing something. I’ve taken things out of God’s Hands and put them in mine and that’s the worse place I could put anything I really love or care about.

When I was growing up we had a saying or motto, "If you love something, set it free, if it comes back to you it’s yours". It’s a shame our motto wasn’t, "If you love something, leave it in God’s Hands and you’ll never have to worry about it". I’d been way further along in my walk by now and the poor Israelites could have went straight into the Promised Land. The truth is we will never out think, out maneuver or plan things better then God does. The only way through our doubts, our troubles and our turmoil’s is in entering His rest.

Then I read Heb.5:7-8, and I knew God understands where we are. He understands our feelings and our afflictions because He lived in them while here on earth and He lives in them now through us. Our High Priest understands us and is touched by our needs. He understands me when I don’t, He’s there for me when I’m mad at Him and His heart is touched when I’m hurt and confused over what He has allowed. He understands me all the time, He never leaves me and He loves me in spite of myself and that is as good as it gets.

As you can see I’m finding His rest again, my concerns for my friends are back in His Hands and I’ve been consumed once again by my Father. I’m also getting quit lost here in what He is showing me in Hebrews. So on to Heb.5: 9-11; He was perfected and He became. I found so much love and encouragement in this so I hope you do too. I don’t know about you but when I worry and doubt it literally makes me feel sick. And then I feel bad because I feel as though I’ve failed my Father and that makes me feel sicker. So when He showed me this (was and became) thing I felt so much better and a lot more loved. Jesus was just like us is what God was telling me. He was not perfected until God had prepared Him and He could enter into it. I’ve always thought and was taught that Jesus arrived here as perfect as He would ever be. To my surprise God said, "All My children arrive here perfect, they have just left Me and they are perfect. That’s why I spend so much time preparing them to enter back into perfection once the world has had them for awhile." God shapes, He molds, we grow and mature and then we can enter in as Jesus did. God shows us in v.8 though He was a Son, He learned obedience, through the things He suffered. Now just like Jesus the First Son, we (the many membered) are learning through what we suffer and we too are being made perfect. We have to walk the walk He did in order to learn obedience. His help came through His relationship with the Father and guess what? So does ours. Then just like Jesus we too will fulfill our purpose for being and we will become what we were created to be.

I saw v.11 as a rebuke to those who don’t want to move on with God. "Dull of hearing", not capable of hearing what is said, they don’t want to move, and they won’t try to understand because they have settled for what they have, so don’t waste your breath. Sounded a bit like Matt.7:6, they don’t understand it, they can’t receive it as life and they will more then likely turn it around on you to destroy you with it. Lived this one, own the T-shirt too! So I took it as a wise word from God, as I don’t know who He used to author Hebrews. I’m sure everyone in this room has felt this at one time or another in their walk. We had a wonderful truth or revelation to share with God’s people but we new we couldn’t because they could not hear it or receive it, so we just sat and said nothing. Something inside you just knew that this person or these people fit into Heb.5:12-13. And you knew what God had given you was for those in v.14 --Heb.6:1-2. That reminded me of a verse in 2Thess.2:10, they did not receive the love for the truth so God allowed great delusion. Now can you see why I say it’s so important to have that strong relationship with the Father? He is the One who gives us this love for the truth.

We can see great things in every move of God, they were all good, necessary and always a stepping stone on the way to the Kingdom, but they were never put there by God to be brick walls that we would stay trapped inside of. We can see this in every denomination, they get walled in on salvation, baptisms, some will die for King Jimmy (the King James Bible) while others are still pondering whether music is of God or the Devil and the walls keep going up and never come down. The truth is when we don’t progress (go forward) in divine truths we’re regressing or backing up. We must go deeper with God or we will find we need to be taught the basics all over again.

Solid food, strong meat, the deep calling to the deep, it’s all a hungry love for God’s truth. Staying on safe ground where we are sure and can understand everything is baby food. Milk messages and from what I’ve seen its so watered down I don’t know how any of us survived there or how anyone could ever live there. It’s like major malnutrition. I thank God He has chosen us to go further, dig deeper, hunger and thirst and be able to discern what is from Him. If God is in control of your life don’t be afraid to experience new things with Him. Our time to set and be fed is over, we have discernment, so use it, it’s time to grow up. It’s our time for maturing, for coming of age and praise God perfection is coming soon.

I know and believe that there is some serious stuff in Hebrews, most of which I am not going to touch on because I want to stay in the area I am in now. I also know everyone in this room has studied God’s word for years, and learned to walk with Him. But now God is moving and we can stay where we are and become stagnate or we can move with Him and grow. We are either dull of hearing or we receive the deeper things of God. I am not stopping or going back to being dumber than dumb, I was there once, don’t want it. We need to get a hold of this, trying to keep the carnal man happy and not putting a number one priority on the things God wants (and that’s not church, reading your bible or praying) it’s walking with him humbly and doing what He says to do. If we don’t it will weaken our discernment and our walk. From here on out this is a walk for mature sons, not infants and children.

In Heb.6:1 we were told to "leave the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ and go on to perfection." It doesn’t say, forget, throw away, or put a bomb under them. It says, "Leave them and go on." It’s like with the Ten Commandments, everyone goes nuts over whether or not they should be adorning the walls of schools and important buildings. God says they are written on our hearts and so are these things He is talking about here. It’s all a part of God, we don’t forget them or lose them, and they are a part of us now. Our time for baby bottles, blankies, and being held as we toddle, are over.

We’ve done two studies on not staying in one thing, building our cities, naming them and staying there. We learned we needed to hear God’s voice for ourselves and then do what He said when He said it. Heb.13:13-14, says, "we have no continuing city" (no earthly ties) because we seek the eternal continuing city to come. God doesn’t want us to stop where we are; He wants us to go on to perfection. God put the stuff from Heb.6:1-2 in our hearts so we wouldn’t have to carry around a lot of excess baggage. (The choice is ours if you like that term) we can go on or we can starve to death.

Heb.6:11-12 reminded me of the Apostle Paul, he said, "Follow me as I follow Christ." Paul was out to get All God had. I see Paul as a great man of faith and more patient that most people I know, myself included. However, Paul never got the promise so maybe this means Paul is still learning patience form the One who created it. So do like v.12 says, follow or imitate those (all the greats including Jesus) who through faith and patience inherit the promises. We need patience until all the purposes of God are fulfilled in our Earth. We can’t hurry God or stop what He is doing, He unveils His plans as He wills. Our job, like this says, is to be good disciples, follow our examples, and live for God. Accept God’s correction with a right attitude because His main objective is to bring His children to perfection or maturity.

Heb.6:19-20 our perfection is the hope we have through faith and it is set in glory forever. God is just making us very aware of it and of the fact that it is Him who is now bringing us into it. Slowly but surely, one step at a time we are being brought into His image, His likeness, and His presence. This says He is our "forerunner" to me that’s a promise that I will follow Him. There isn’t a need for a forerunner if nothing is going to follow. He will take us right into the realm of God and true life.

He is our High Priest forever. That means everything else can come and go but we will have a High Priest forever who loves and understands us. His job as High Priest is to intercede for us and to be our representative in all things pertaining to God. I’m glad He got that job, because I know He will take the best possible care there is for you and me. Praise God! He is finishing what He started and He will have His Way in us! He is God and our lives couldn’t be in better Hands. Amen

Well we all should have known when God got me started in Hebrews last week He wasn’t going to let me out of it that quickly. So I’m still in Hebrews and it’s awesome. It is so wonderful the way it shows everyone how to come through religion and law and into the freedom and love of Christ. I have read Hebrews many times but never with the clarity God has given me this time. God even allowed me to see the similarities between Judaism and religion.

Those similarities are all earthly or carnal, which surprised me a little. Things like the earthly church or temple, earthly pastors or priests, earthly sacrifices, things like fasting and praying reading the bible or law and doing without to show humility. Don’t leave out prosperity here; you know that part where if you truly believed brother, you’d have wealth. And don’t go getting all religious on me here either, if God says fast for something do it. But when you make it a sacrificial or religious ritual it becomes the earthly or carnal thing.

Then there is the Melchizedek Priesthood. As far as I can tell he was a forerunner or type of Christ. I couldn’t fine any place that said he was given, inherited or called to this office by anyone other than God. I thought that was impressive. Melchizedek didn’t seem to have a beginning or an end, both he and Christ were/are Priests but not from the Levitical tribe. Both were/are not only Priests but also Kings of righteousness and peace. Melchizedek means "king of righteousness" and he was king of Salem (ie. Jerusalem meaning Peace) and he was a priest of the Most High God. He had nothing recorded of a father or mother and no genealogy (it’s all in Heb.7). And he was made like the Son of God a priest forever. He came to earth, God appointed him priest and king, he left earth and his priesthood went on forever in Christ.

The linage of Aaron and the priesthood was limited in that none of them were a "king of righteousness" or a "king of peace" as was Melchizedek and Christ. I think Zech.6:9-15, tells of this very thing coming and I believe very soon. It was a shadow of what was coming, Christ the "Branch" sits and rules on His throne, a "Priest" and the "Counsel of Peace". And there you have it "Kingship and Priesthood" seated on the throne in ONE Person.

Well I’m getting way ahead of myself here so let me slow down and try to start at the beginning. Since most of the early Christians were Jewish, persecuted and expecting Christ to return at any moment, I’ll assume that many were wondering (since He didn’t return right away) if they had made the right decision in following Him. I’m sure after awhile the old ways started looking better, more reasonable and with far less hassles. I’m also pretty sure that’s why God had the book of Hebrews written and in the manner it was written.

Since God didn’t see any difference between the Jews and us I figured it was safe to say this was also a book of encouragement written to us. I also figured the more we understand the Old Covenant (under the Law) the more we would appreciate the New Covenant (under Grace). The author of Hebrews uses the Old Covenant a lot but always showed them the New Covenant was better. He was always encouraging them and now us by saying "let us go on". I spoke about this (go on) thing last time and I’m convinced its what God wants this group here to do. So let us go on to better things.

So I called this study "Better Things" because Hebrews is full of better things if we go on into them. I did see a couple of warnings mixed in there too. But for the most part it was encouraging and wonderful. I loved the way the author starts the book, Heb.1:1-2 He says God used to speak through the fathers and prophets but now we have a "better thing" because God speaks to us (by or in) His Son, or through Christ.

Heb.1:3-4, Describes the sevenfold excellence of God’s Son through whom He now speaks. 1.The brightness of His glory. 2. The express image of His person. 3. Upholding all things by the word of His power. 4. He purged all sin by Himself. 5. He is seated at the right of the Majesty. 6.He is better then the angels. 7. He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name. He didn’t just speak God’s Word He was the Word. I wondered here why God made such a point about Him being so much better then the angels. I just thought everyone would know that but God wanted it clear. He wanted us to know that this was not only His eternal Son but also the glorified and exalted Man, Philp.2:6-11. Rev.3:14 told me this was the unveiling of God in the person of the Son who was the beginning of God’s creation. That was only the beginning because He was also the first born of many sons. This should encourage anyone and show them that sonship is so much better then what the Old way offered. It gave us a better nature, a better name, better authority and a better relationship with the Father. Our King has a throne forever and that means eternally. He has the scepter of righteousness, which is authority and justices and it flows down from the Head unto us. Everything that we are is because of God’s love and grace. And it just keeps getting better.

Jesus the man knew sorrow and grief. He was despised and rejected but He had something inside of Him no one understood. Perhaps it was this "Oil of gladness" or Joy spoken of in v.9. This anointing only comes from the "Fountain of Life", or the Father. Praise God we can have this anointing too, then like Jesus we can get through all the problems the world throws at us. Because this anointing brings us to a place where there is no worry and fear over the circumstances of life. It will be a place where our joy is real even if unseen by the world because we too have been called, chosen, and anointed to enter into the Father’s rest.

Heb.1:10-12amp. God said "Perish" (grow old, wear out, and pass away). I don’t see anything here to suggest bombs or total destruction. If you have eyes to see and ears to hear you should know this world is wearing out. But this says it will be changed that means restored or transformed. Yes, we could interpret this as our bodies; I’ve heard it done that way. However I prefer to look at it as both. Everything will be changed, there will be total restoration and Christ will rule over it all. He will never fade away no matter what may come and go even the angels. Ps.102;25-28, Old or New Covenant He remains and everything else changes. A new heaven and a new earth where only righteousness can dwell. Sounds like a better thing to me.

When I got to v.13, I really had to think. My conclusion was, if I ever saw one of God’s awesome angels up close and personal, I’d probably pass out. Yet God makes it real clear that the angels were given no promises, no salvation, they were not joint heirs with Christ, they are servants. As hard as that is to imagine it means we too are greater then the angels. I don’t know about you but this awed me and I suppose it’s because of all the stories in the bible I’d been told or read about the angels. I’ve always felt they were awesome and as a child I always wanted to be as good as the angels. But God says here they are ministering spirits sent to serve both Christ and saints. Only through what God did at the cross were we granted this relationship with the Father and it’s a relationship the angels don’t even have.

I don’t know if any of this is affecting you the way it did me but I was having a lot of different feelings here. Things like awe, lost in His love, a since of worth yet a feeling of why me. I had done nothing to be a part of this incredible love story. Then I heard God say, "Now you understand" and I did. I understood that God, Himself, became a Man to live in our shoes and die so that we could live forever all because He loved us so very much. He came here and He walked this earth, He lived, hurt, cared and cried. He experienced it all and He overcame every enemy. He did this to make a way so that when it was our turn we would have a path through our wilderness and not have to wonder for a lifetime before we could cross over. This is our inheritance in Him, that we can now overcome this world and put every enemy under our feet. And it only gets better as we go on.

Heb.2:1-4, "Therefore" or "since we agree" that all we have read in the first chapter is true, "Therefore" or "since we agree" that Christ is the best and greatest gift ever given. We can "Therefore" agree not to drift away from the things of God and into the things of the world while we are waiting for what is to come. We need to continually press in and keep all that is good in our hearts. The words spoken through the angels or through the Mosaic Law were good for that time, Gal.3:19-29. This word was needed, it was necessary and it was truth, but I took this (words spoken by angels) as having a slightly lower or less value then the Word that came through Christ’s coming to live in man. Although I still think if an angel spoke to me I’d pass out for sure. I also see here a greater need for a much deeper respect for the Father when He speaks. I think its because we don’t see Him when He speaks to us and that makes it far less intimidating or awesome. (As in if an angel stood before you and spoke). I’m not saying it isn’t awesome when He speaks, I know it blesses us all. I guess what I’m saying is we can get real comfortable with Him and I think I want a little more awe (or respect for Him) when He speaks to me.

Anyway I saw this as a warning not to neglect what the Lord says. The apostles and prophets confirmed the word with signs, wonders, miracles and gifts, 1Cor.2:4-5. I think the writer of Hebrews wanted to make it very clear that we/they, as born again believers, had/have something greater then we/they could begin to imagine. Grater then man, religion, doctrine and angels if we would receive this gift of Life, power and authority. We too would then spread it wherever we went and we won’t even need pretty words, an education, Bible College or a doctrine to do it. He will do it all through us.

I think in verses 5-9 it is very clear that God isn’t blowing up this world or any other one. He is however going to close another chapter in history and open a new one. One where we will rule and reign with Christ forever. V.6-8, tell of God’s glorious love for us in that we are created just like Christ, we can read and see He has already put it into motion, we are only NOW walking through it. We have to walk through the time of processing as Jesus did in order to see things as God does. "It is finished"! Truer words have never been spoken then these. It is finished; Christ sits on the throne with us at His side, in the realm that is coming. He rules it in righteousness and peace and we are there in that Kingdom. No, we don’t see it yet but we know and we can see God’s promises being fulfilled in Christ, because He lives in us and that is our hope for the eternal realm that is on its way to earth right now. God said, " In Him we live and move and have our being". We aren’t going anywhere we are already there; we just can’t see it at this time.

Heb.2:10-15, read v.10 in the (amp. Bible). It makes it very clear that Jesus was human and that He could feel and He suffered what we do when He walked on this earth. This whole book tells and retells the wonderful account of how God created a body for Himself, left His Deity to become human, walk where we would walk, suffer and die that we could become His sons. If He had never experienced what we would go through He never could have made the way for us to follow. If He had never died we could never live. How much better can it get?

Heb.2:16-18, Says to me, He came to lay hold of us or apprehend us, He chose and ordained us that we would be His and we didn’t have to do one thing to make it happen. My answer to this chapter is Philp.3:10-14. I’m with the Apostle Paul, I want all of God, and I want to apprehend Him. We are God’s sons He is our High Priest. As High Priest He must be one with us so that He can understand our human side as well as our Godly side. I’d assume this was much harder on God then it has been on man. Because He had to leave His glory and experience human frailties, He had to allow things to touch Him that otherwise never could have and all of this to prove His love for a people who would reject Him. That would be a very hard decision for me to make, aren’t we all glad I’m not God. We read last time in Heb.4:15, that our High Priest can sympathize with our weaknesses and that He made the way for us to overcome them all.

This book is so powerfully packed with God’s love, compassion, understanding, reasoning and even the door way to perfection made for us by that LOVE, that I fine it hard to believe that anyone truly reading this would not fall totally in love with the Father of LOVE, turn from this world and worship Him alone. Are you beginning to comprehend what it took to get us here and who you really are? Now we have only read two chapters of this wonderful book and I’m blessed and plan to study this more if God allows us the time. I know it will just keep getting better as God directs us to go on into His perfect plan.

8-23-01

Heb.3:1-6, shows us two houses, the house of Moses and the House of Christ. The "Latter House" having far more glory then the serving house of Moses. Christ’s House is where we find our sonship, our inheritance and the place where we rule and reign with Christ. This is a better thing!

Since God always speaks spiritually and we are always trying to interpret His word as well as learn this heavenly language, I’m going to say this means we are this latter house or habitation for God. It’s very rear to have a house in the bible that didn’t represent a human or a family. When the bible said (and Noah’s house entered the Ark), it wasn’t a tent or building it was his family. Abraham’s house followed him into the promises of God, not his tent nor the city his father had built; it was his family who followed him. The house of Israel was its people and it goes on and on, but all of these houses or households and tribes were people. David talked a lot about living in the House of the Lord forever he also talked about building God a House. Then there was Jesus who spoke about His Father’s House. "In My Father’s House are many mansions." So I figured I’d better dig a little.

David wanted to build God a House (a building) but God told him no. God did say however that He would let David’s son Solomon build Him a House (building or temple). God spoke to David in 1Chron.17:10-15, I just don’t know if David understood real clearly that God was building His own House from David’s ancestry (not meaning Solomon’s temple). It was God who would give the fulfillment of this promise through His Son born of a woman from David’s descendents. We can see this promise being fulfilled in, Lk.1:30-35. So this is the ONE who will build God’s House, give Him His family back and a permanent a place to dwell. God truly never had a House until His Son built Him one. His Son built Him a holy, pure, sinless, humble and obedient House of love. Oh we don’t see it yet but He does. He had a tent in the wilderness and Solomon did build Him the most beautiful building the world has probable ever seen but they couldn’t compare to the perfect one His Son has built for Him with His blood. They were only shadows of what was to come through God’s Son, 2Cor.5:19.

Acts7:44-50, Stephen wanted his last words to be the best words he had ever spoken, he wanted them to pierce the hearts of those listening and boy did he stir up a hornets nest. Everything he said was truth, "Jesus the Christ not the man was the House of the Father", but they would not hear. The Jews wanted a building and the author of Hebrews wanted them to understand that there never was or would there ever be again a building that could house the Holy presents of God. Never again a house made by God’s children. Never again would a house made with man’s hands, bricks, gold or any other such materials house God. Moses’ house had been a house of servitude and kept God’s family under the law. Christ’s House however was a place of freedom from the law and a place where they would be transformed into His likeness, Eph.2:18-22. If that wasn’t clear nothing will help you see it right now, it’s not your time. I think the author wanted these Christian Jews to know that God used the law up until John the Baptist came preaching a new and better way, Matt.11:13, and then the One he preached would bring a new covenant, a new way and a new house.

Heb.3:7-19, is another warning. We have studied the Israelites in the wilderness in great length and I believe it helped us see our errors. Here in Hebrews this author weaves each of his warnings using the "Excel of the Jews from Egypt" to show these new Christians the disobedience of their fathers, in order that they could hold onto the New Covenant in faith and obedience to God leaving their old ways and going forward with God. He says, "Don’t miss out on God’s promises through unbelief!" He starts right off here with, "If you will hear." I say if we can’t hear, we will never know the truth and this isn’t referring to natural hearing. It has to be heard with our hearts.

Rev.3:20-22, "If any one hears My voice.." everything else comes after hearing His voice. Most Christians today are afraid of being deceived or of being taken by false teachings. If you know His voice, it can’t happen! Then the author says, "Do not harden your hearts." It’s the heart that hears and obeys. Trust me on this one, it’s easy to harden your heart, God’s people can and will drive you nuts if you let them. Being in ministry all these years and seeing what we’ve seen, heard, suffered and lived through with God’s family can harden your heart. So a right attitude has to be in place and we have to believe that everything happens because God wants it that way. We have to accept that this will help us endure and overcome because everything is in God’s Hands. So we repent and learn to Praise Him for His people and for the circumstances He hands us. Then we learn not to harden our hearts and that is truly a better thing.

Verse 10, their fathers tested God and tried to overthrow Moses, who was (appointed and anointed for the job by God) and not much has changed in thousands of years. We see it today in the church and against those God has appointed and anointed for a job. Everyone in the body can do a better job then the "ones" God chose for the job. God said He was angry with that generation and swallowed them up with the earth. All I can say to that is thank God for Jesus or I know a bunch He might want to swallow up now, Num.16:3, 20-21 and 32-33.

God says here in v.10, "They go astray in their hearts" (they get off the right path or get over into error). I still call it doubting or not believing God and its been going on since the beginning of time. Then God says, "and they have not known My ways." Ps.18:30; Ps.119:140; Rev.15:3; God never made any bones about who His people were to believe, trust, listen to or follow. It was never churches, doctrines, religions, education, the world, our wants, our spouses or our families, it was and is Him and Him alone we are to hear and follow. Let the Holy Spirit change, conform and transform you into Christ’s image and likeness then you know His ways and you will not be deceived by anyone or anything. So set your heart on God alone, become intimate with Him and cry from your hearts like the Apostle Paul, "Oh that I may know Him", Philp.3:10.

Oh I know we cry to God, trust me I do too. But after a few (I want to know Him’s) we sound just like the Israelites. "Oh Lord what You have given me, isn’t enough." "Oh Lord You have given me to much to bear." "Oh Lord look at all these bills, why have You allowed this to happen to me? Do something quickly Father." I’m sure we could think of at least a hundred more of these that sound just as bad and we do it out of ignorance and unbelief. Let’s pray; Father forgive and cleans us of our doubt and unbelief. Teach us not to complain and be angry with anyone because in reality its You we are angry with because its You that allowed the test or circumstance to be put in our path. Father teach us to put everything in our lives back into Your Hands where they will be safe and endure the tests of time. And thank You Father that You will do this when we ask from our hearts. In the Mighty Name of Christ we pray. Amen

Heb.3:13, "Exhort one another daily." (Exhort is a great word because it means so much. Things like advice, encouragement, warning, urge or appeal strongly to.) Boy I’ve had to repent a lot while reading Hebrews. I have a hard time remembering to see God’s people through His eyes. When I neglect this I’m blinded to their ignorance of God’s ways and I get angry with them. The truth is I need them and they help perfect me. Oh yes I prefer the ones who bless me with encouragement and I hope I do that regularly for others but the truth is we need each other to grow, to be encouraged, for correction and perfection because that’s what a family does. Remember we are the "Royal Family" and more is expected of royalty.

So let me take this opportunity to exhort all of you here tonight. "Hold on to your confidence in Christ and don’t be led into error. Your trials can only come to pass they can never come to stay." Amen

V.14, now it says here "stay steadfast to the end," faithful to Him who has called, chosen and set you apart for His purpose. You’re His and He will have you! V.15-19 It says "Today" everyday is today so this is an everyday walk of faith and commitment to Christ. God couldn’t make it any clearer that He doesn’t want any of us to loose faith because He wants to take us into His rest and faith is our key. He almost pleads here with the new creation not to doubt or be caught up in unbelief. We too are going into a promised land called the "Fullness of the Spirit or Perfection". That’s why doubt has to stay out of our walk. The Israelites were a picture or type of us, think about it, and if they weren’t so important then why does their journey with God take up so much room in the bible and why has God had us looking at them for so long now? God does not want us ignorant! When we doubt we are calling God a liar. God didn’t keep the Israelites wondering for forty years because they were dumb slaves, failures, or ignorant. They wondered because of their doubt and unbelief. Chapter 3 may sound like nothing but a warning but it is also God’s way of saying He is taking us on into better things!

Heb.4:1-13, the author doesn’t slow down here as he exhorts these new believers to go on nor does he slack up on his warnings. And you’ve heard me exhort (warn and encourage) all of you for the last two years to build your relationship with the Father, to recognize His voice, to separate yourselves from this world and to never doubt what God tells you. This author knew these new Christians where going to need to press into God to make it and I’ve been warning you, so that you would understand, that God is about to take us where these young Christians only dreamed of going. He is taking us into His fullness! This author tells them to hold on and keep the faith, and not be like their fathers who, "had the word preached to them and it didn’t profit them," because they never mixed it with faith! I think this chapter defiantly exhorts us to wake up, listen, lay down our lives and stop trying to do things for God in our own strength (our abilities or the way the world does things), just let God be God and He will use us as He wills.

I’m pleading with you as this author was pleading them, don’t just get half of this, "God’s Rest" isn’t a do nothing lethargically place. Once God has brought us into this, He will use us to do more then we have seen or dreamed of. Remember, "Greater things then I do, you will do, because I go to the Father," that was our promise. And it happens as God’s Spirit works through us. I don’t know about you but I haven’t raised the dead yet, I’ve heard of and I know people who have. Dale and Pastor Tim both have, but I haven’t; however I believe I will. I’ve prayed out of my desires and loved ones have gone on home and I know now it was their time to go home. So I’m not afraid to pray for the next one, (they might be leery) but now I wait for God to tell we which way to pray or command and what I should say. I know there will be many more who will go on home and then there will be the miracles. It’s a day I believe is coming very soon and its really going to be a better thing! But it requires our faith and obedience to the Father just like Jesus had to believe, learn, grow, suffer and obey His Father and its part of our walk too.

I found v.8-9 interesting in that the Israelites were already in the "Promised Land," (don’t lose track here Jesus has already come and gone) and the author says, "there still remains a rest for God’s people." So I figured because of that v.10 meant, if we are doing for God in the natural (or in our abilities) we haven’t entered His rest. That doesn’t mean you don’t belong to God or you’re not going to be with Him. It just means that like the "forty year wonders" you won’t walk in the victory of the Kingdom like Jesus did while you’re here. This walk we are on has a clause, (it has to be God’s power not ours).

Verses 11, he warns them again. Don’t miss God because of unbelief. "Work or labor to enter His rest," Philp.2:12-16 this I think sheds some light on the subject. Because holding fast to our faith, putting our life and all we love in God’s Hands and forgiving the brothers will no doubt be the hardest work we will ever do.

Verse 12, don’t ya just love it? "God’s word is living and powerful." It’s alive! Its full of power! Its gona kill you, divide you and serve you up to God! Christ is the living Word and I’ve heard tell we are living epistles. Maybe because before this all ends, as we know it we will manifest the full glory of God, His nature, character and presence to a dieing world. And if this is truth, His word will kill, divide the soul (the Adam nature) from the spirit (Christ nature) and by-gosh that is really a better thing for us!

I’m not going to argue bible verses the spoken word, I’m not going to argue a word from man verses a word from religion and I’m not going to argue one translation over another or any of the other petty stuff religion likes to argues about. I’m going to say, "If God says it, in any way, shape or form we better know His voice and another’s we will not follow."

Heb.4:14-16, we have a High Priest who knows and understands our failures and our weaknesses. He takes them all and puts them at the feet of God saying they are covered and there He obtains mercy for us. Because Jesus came and died and made a way for mortal man everything we have in Christ is better! Everything that was is now become new. The old was good for a time, (like I’ve said before) there was a time, season and reason for everything. But now we have a better way! God knows us better then we know ourselves and He is changing everything the world has deposited on God’s property, us! Our job is to hold on in faith believing He will do what He said He would do. Our lives are in Him and only through Him can we come to that throne of grace and mercy. And that is a better thing!

If Christ is our confession we can’t confess doubt because we are His kings, priests, rulers, His very "Own Family" and we have His victory. He anointed us with the oil of joy, we are full of Him and we have/will ceased from our own works and ways and entered "His Rest." And it just gets better from here!

8-31-01

We went into Heb.5 and 6 in the study (He Directs Our Paths) so we won’t spend much time here. Chapter 5 is about the better Priesthood of Christ and our growing spiritually.

As our High Priest Christ has compassion and understanding for our weaknesses, Mark 14:32-42 and Heb.5:7-10. He understands every single aspect of our being and that is what makes Him the perfect High Priest for us and it tells us why God appointed Him for this position. Then we got into that part I loved about, He was perfected and He became and He learned obedience through what He suffered. The walk He walked is our walk too but He walked it first to show us the way in order that we too could and would overcome this world and our flesh. God is now perfecting us so that like Jesus we will become what He has predestined us to be and the road there is obedience. And this is a better thing for us!

Chapter 6 just brings chapter 5 down to where we can see where it is we are headed. We have to go on to deeper things in God or we will stagnate and die (spiritually as we can’t live on nothing but milk). Staying in the same place with God and never running our race brings us defeat not victory (trust me on that one, I was there). This life is a race and we can win if we learn to obey the Father and move with Him. God’s whole plan is to bring every son to perfection that they may become. It’s all done in the heavenly realms; all that remains is for us to walk through the steps of obedience here and now. And this is also a better thing!

We talked about the Melchizedek Priesthood in the study (Better Things) so chapter 7 has pretty much been covered too. Like I said before the facts about Melchizedek’s past were pretty much non-existent however this chapter does tell us more about him then any other book in the bible. He was appointed by God to be the (type, shadow or forerunner) for the Priesthood we now have with Christ.

I think the author wanted these young Christians to understand their position and authority in Christ and to hold it very dear. I also figured, we as Christians born and raised in America, didn’t really understand obedience to authority, a King or anything else alone those lines which put us in the cradle (so to speak) with these young believers here. Not that they didn’t understand being ruled but like us they didn’t understand ruling and having heavenly authority. I did find out that in the old Levitical order, kings didn’t interfere with the priest’s very much and priest’s never sat on a throne until Melchizedek. Now there is a New order through Christ making us both kings and priest, Rev.1:6 and 5:10. This truly is a better thing for us because God as He perfects us and teaches us, we will come to understand His Authority, and become ministers of His righteousness and compassion. He is our High Priest of compassion and our King with all Authority and He chose to share it all with us. All we have to do is accept and believe then we too will walk in His Authority. This is a humbling but better thing!

Heb.8:1-13, sums things up and shows us how much better we have it! 1. Our High Priest is seated at the right hand of God in the heavens. 2. He is a Minister of the true sanctuary and the true tabernacle, which the Lord has made. 3.Ministry under the old order is over, finished and replaced by the eternal, absolute and perfect Priesthood of Christ. 4. What Moses set up was only done as a forerunner; a copy or picture of what God had shown him in the heavenlies. 5. Christ has a more excellent ministry because He isn’t under the old order or law. 6.Christ is the mediator of a better covenant established on better promises. 7. If the Old Covenant hadn’t been so full of holes (types, shadows, etc.) there would not have been a need for a better One. 8. The New Covenant is written on our hearts by God and He will be our God forever. 9. God made the ultimate sacrifice there is no need for another. He became that ultimate sacrifice in order that man could live. 10. In the New Covenant He made the Old Covenant obsolete, it grew old and vanished away with the coming of Christ.

Everything about this says "a more excellent way"! This should motivate us to (run against a troop and leap over a wall) as Pastor Tim is always saying. This is a better realm, a better way, a better priesthood and a better nature that we now have because of Christ. He made the path straight for us so that one-day we would be just like Him.

Heb.9:1-10, to make these new Christians understand how much better and superior the work of Christ was the author has to continually show them how insufficient the old way was. He shows them here how limited the rituals were even though they were done with great dignity and glory they were unable to give God’s people the freedom to enter His presence, have fellowship with Him and best of all be able to experience Him. I want to make a point here without being nasty, so I guess the best thing to say is, this is still going on today and if you have eyes you know what I’m saying is true because the "Church" like the Old Covenant tries to keep God’s people bound.

The author takes them through the tabernacle in v.2-5 from the lamp stands into the Holy of Holies. I’m sure I could write a whole book on these verses alone however I’m not going to do that (I hope). Verses 6-10, the author shows them that all of these things were only a type or picture of the Eternal Covenant, which was Christ. Read v.10 from the Amplified Bible, it makes it real clear that the Old Covenant was for a time, a season and temporary but it wasn’t perfect. Not until Christ!

Verses 11-14, was telling them/us again that Christ is the High Priest of everything to come. Christ did it through a tabernacle made by God (Jesus). Who would do what no other sacrifice could ever do, cleans the soul and make a way for man to enter the presence of God once and for all! Then in v.15, it gets down to us, "Those who are called may receive the promise" go to Jh.1:11-13. Wow! That is a better thing!

Heb.9:15-22, "A Testament". Is a will, and a will doesn’t usually have legal authority until the person is dead. So it was a very necessary thing for our High Priest to come and die or we would never have had an inheritance or a New Covenant. The Old Covenant needed blood for everything that was done in order for it to be considered purified. So the author shows them/us that without the shed blood of Jesus there would have been no purification or life for anyone then or now.

Verses 23-28, says God is so Good, because He always shows His people what He is doing (in the Spirit) through the things around us in the natural. So Father open our eyes and ears! That we see and hear what You are doing and saying! V.23 doesn’t leave any questions that the sacrifices done under the Old Covenant were a copy of the heavenly reality. The way I see this is God showed Moses what He had done in the heavenly realm and Moses’ job was to duplicate what he saw, show the people God’s ways and start them on the path to the finish line. The finish line being, the ultimate sacrifice of Himself, which would bring His people back into Him once and for all. For in Him we live and move and have our being. And it just keeps getting better! Do yourselves a favor and get alone with God and have Him bring life to this book for you, it will change your life for the better.

I hope you are getting something from this study or should I say I hope I’m doing it justice because it blessed me so much. I feel like it brought me inner life and I want to be able to share that life with you. I was blessed by all the better things we have through Christ and also the ones I see coming to us soon. I saw endless power through our High Priest and I learned more about our Covenant with the Father. I saw more of what He has in store for those who believe and obey Him in these last days. He made it clear that all would know Him and I believe that is true. He also showed me how everything that has ever happened on this earth had its purpose and was used to bring us into Him and better things through Him.

Heb.10:1-11, the author gets a little more aggressive here as he exposes the failures or frailties of the Old Covenant. He says, "If what they had was good enough there would not have been a need to sacrifice every year, year after year, to cover their sins". The old way kept them in bondage to sin as it kept them in sin consciousness. The new way, through Christ, took away sin consciousness and the bondage to it. He explains that there rituals never could take away sin and he quotes to them from Psalms. He goes on to prove to them that the reason God has done away with this first covenant was so He could finely enjoy them in sweet fellowship and that was a better thing for everyone, and it was all done through Christ not through sacrifices.

These new Christians had a lot of trouble with persecution but worse then the trouble trying to kill them was the same problem we as Christians have today. The believers who want to mix the old with the new. I’ve been in "churches" where they think and teach that you can have it all. They teach Jesus and the cross they even allow you to be filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues but then they allow the world’s ways or one doctrine to dominate and they stay a twice dead "church" doing nothing more then they have done or taught in the last 30 years. It doesn’t work and its not God! The Spirit said it loud and clear when He said, "Come out of her My people and separate yourselves". God didn’t allow it then and He won’t allow it now.

Just like these Christians the "Church" in general tries to hang onto the religion, tradition, doctrines and the buildings that brought a safe and comfortable way to serve God. The disciples wanted Jesus to see there beautiful church too in, Matt.24:1-2, but Jesus said to them and I’ll say it you, "It will be destroyed" Rev.18:4-8. The old is over, God has His New Temple or Body and its "us", the living, lively stones who will bring God glory. This house will be greater then the first because God said it would and that is a better thing for us!

Verses 12-18, are wonderful, "One" sacrifice good forever seated and waiting on us. Which made me see those words again "It is finished". Established forever in the heavenlies in Christ, however it is us who are just now walking through that which had already been established. Maybe now we can understand Acts 3:21 better. He is seated and waiting, we’re walking this out, His Body is being process now by God and they will overcome every enemy. He is waiting in that realm and we are waiting in this realm but God is in full control of both realms. And that is a better things because these realms are colliding or becoming one!

God through Jesus’ mortal body paid the price for eternal perfection forever for us. Yet we don’t see it or feel it because we see each other and ourselves with human eyes, God looks at us through Christ. The author goes on to say God’s laws are written in our hearts and minds. That only confirms that someday soon on this earth God’s sons will manifest His righteousness and it will come just as easy as breathing comes to us right now.

The author goes on to say that God’s memory of all sin is gone forever. However it doesn’t say anything about His memory of our doubt and unbelief. In v.19, we really get into the better thing because through the blood we can enter into the presence of "The Holy God". If you are hearing this but refuse to die to self, I’d check myself before I wrecked. These revelations are for sons and those who want to go beyond. Get into the realm of the Spirit and you will see, then ask God to take you deeper into His truths and He will.

We were chosen to manifest God to the world, we were chosen to overcome just as Jesus did and Praise God we have a way made for us by the blood. If in the world we learned that life is in the blood and we get our life’s blood from our fathers then the blood Jesus shed was not only needed but also very necessary. It had to be in order to break the bloodline from Adam and give us a heavenly bloodline from THE FATHER, 1Pet.1:18-19. If this life was not ours we could not live forever as the Father has promised. We were taught we were the Adam nature this however says the Adam nature is dead and it is Christ alive in us. Wow what a transformation! And that is really a better thing!

We covered most of v.19-25 in the study (He Directs Our Paths) and some in the (Better Things2) study. Just remember exhort is a big word and covers everything from the things that will please us to the things that will correct us. So be ready for both from a brother or sister who truly loves and cares about you. You’ll know when its done in love so don’t even worry.

Verses 26-33 made me think again. I don’t believe this author was talking here about the "unpardonable sin" so I read it from another translation. The "Living Bible" says it clearly, "If anyone sins deliberately by rejecting the Savior after knowing the truth…" Keep in mind the author is trying to teach these young Christians and maybe he was being hard on them but it was done with great love. I think it helped them because I’m sure the Jewish leaders were telling them it was all right to turn their backs on Jesus and just sacrifice another lamb at Passover. The truth however was that Jesus was the final sacrifice then, now and forever and that’s a great thing!

In the last verses the author encourages them to hold on, endure, have patience and compassion. He tells them not to loose their confidence in Christ because the just will live by faith. He tells them that God will do what He said He would do because God cannot lie. And this couldn’t be any truer for us today. Yes, it’s hard but we will live, walk and talk by faith, there is nothing else for us, nothing once we’ve come this far. We are not those who draw back into the world, 2Pet.2:20. We are those who believe to the saving of the soul. And this is going to be a really good thing for us!

Heb.11:1-12, Wow! Boy where do you start after reading about all of these great men and women of God? I know God has taken us though Heb.11 many times to strengthen our walk. I’ve always called this chapter the "Hall of Faithers" but today I believe we need the gift of faith alive in our lives far more than even these great men and women of God had it alive in them. I pray as we finish this wonderful chapter tonight you will each find strength and encouragement in our God to go forward in your walk of faith, knowing He will get you through it all.

I think Sept.11, 2001 will be a day no one will forget. As Dale and I watched the news that day I could only relate the attacks on New York and Washington to movies and books about Pearl Harbor and, of course, to what God said was going to come. I told Dale, "honey look at the date today, its 9-11" we could both see the irony and truth of it. Then I told him to look at the year, 01. We knew the answer was in, "Only 1 answer, Only 1 hope and Only 1 God!"

Before I start this chapter I want to go back over to Heb.10:36-11:1 as it’s been awhile since we have been together. I believe we are here in these verses today more than we may be able to comprehend. I’m not usually at a loss for words but I can’t even begin to express how important this is in light of what has happened as of 9-11-01. I can assure you we will need endurance so that after we do the will of God we may receive the promises of God. I believe "He is coming again" but not like the "Church" does. I believe He is here in us and that a transformation is about to take place which will clothe us in Him, making it possible for the just to live by faith, NOW! We belong to God and there is no backing up for those who are truly His. Because "Now faith is", our faith is in God and in what we cannot see, not in what we can see, touch and feel.

I told you before that this author, through the Spirit, has woven a strong rope for these young Christians to hold onto and I’m believing that God is doing this again for us here tonight. I looked up some of the words used here to help encourage you as I’m always encouraged by God’s words. Endure: (Strongs #5281) the ability to withstand hardship, adversity, stress, suffering and trials. The ability to under go something and remain. Not in complacency but with a hopeful and positive attitude that actively resists weariness and defeat. Just: (Strongs #1342) upright, blameless, righteous, which we are because of Christ. Through Him we become both sanctified and justified. Substance: Literally means (in Greek) "a standing under" or "Title Deed". In Webster’s it says, "physical material from which something was made, it’s nature, property and essence". So I figured that faith was (God’s property, His essence and nature "that’s us") and He is the "Title Deed" to the things we hope for or the promises God has made us. We found out in the study "Better Things #3" that we have a "Testament" or "Will". Now we also have a "Title Deed" which is the proof of our inheritance. So again we can see how very necessary the blood of Jesus was in God’s plan for the world’s salvation. The blood was also the seal on our promises and major insurance that God has everything in His control whether we understand it or not. So I saw this as being a far better assurance for us in our walk of faith.

If we possess or hold a title deed to something, it’s ours. We own it or we have possession of it, but Christians don’t believe this! This told me I have everything that God says I do, even if I can’t see it or walk in it. It is mine and it belongs to me because my Father gave it to me and my Brother paid for it. Now it’s my job is to believe it and accept it. Let’s say my dad were to leave me a piece of his property in California and I received papers and a letter from a lawyer saying I now owned this property and with the letter I would find the "Title Deed" to the property. This doesn’t mean I can see it or walk on it while I’m in Tennessee. But if I believe it then it is mine wherever I am. So I figure this "Title Deed" I have from my Heavenly Father is worth far more than anything I can see or touch in this earthly realm and it’s also something eternal which means it can never be taken away.

Now don’t go getting all excited here, thinking I’ve arrived at a place where I can part the "Red Sea". I haven’t even attempted it at the "Brook Cherith" here on the ranch. I haven’t brought down the "Walls of Jericho"; I can’t even get a cinder block foundation under my house. I haven’t raised the dead, defeated any armies, slain any giants, lions or bears "Oh my". Have kicked some devil butt a few times and I’m getting pretty good at telling the flesh and it’s anti-Christ mind to shut up. I’ve never been translated into heaven because I pleased God, never been in a fiery furnace or walked in what these "Greats" of Heb.11 did. So, does that mean God failed or I failed? Does it mean I’m not called and appointed by God? No way! Because Heb.11:39-40 say to me that all of these "Great Hall of Faithers" who did all these great and mighty things through God, did not receive what I have through Christ. Not only that, but they were never made complete or perfect without me! To top that all God said I’d do greater things then Jesus and I haven’t even begun to comprehend all of that or the depths of His promises. Now if this is all mine it must belong to you too, so when we feel like Abraham in verses 8-10, or maybe like some did watching the news on 9-11-01, remember God has us and everything around us under His control. We are so blessed to have God for our Father and that of course is really a better thing!

Heb.11:13-16 amp. I was a little angry when I got here because I saw something I had never seen before. Christians, and I’m one of them, have made claims and never produced. Things like "manifested sons", "kings and priest", "equal with Christ" and things along those lines and out of ignorance and unbelief we have hurt many of God’s people. What we have here clearly tells us there is a difference between seeing our promises and walking in the reality of them. Yes! I believe in "Christ in us the hope of glory", I preached it for years, I also know now this walk isn’t for all of God’s people at this time. This that we read showed me, that as great a faith as these here in chapter 11 had, they did not enter into God’s promises. Keep up with me here because God has really got me going and maybe you’re wondering, "Where the blank is she headed?" I saw something awesome and very impressive here; it was just their faith or their belief in God’s promises that enabled them to do all these great things! "People" the "Body of Christ" needs to drop to its knees and ask God to forgive them of their arrogance, pride, ignorance and unbelief. Then humble itself and embrace their promises. Finish separating themselves from this world and go on into their perfection! Even if you’re not called into a higher realm with God these promises are to you. What these greats did you should be able to do also! All it requires is to believe and accept it! All of these "Hall of Faithers" died embracing their promises and never stepped into them, yet through us they now can because we are their perfection through Christ. They were strangers here, yet God says that we will rule and reign with Christ, right here. They were looking for something better; God says we will walk in that something better.

Perfection, completeness and maturity in my opinion includes defeating death. I say that because the bible says, "death is the final enemy", I’ll say that because of my interpretation of 1Cor.15:25-26. Christ alive in us, or His second coming, thus is making it possible for us to conquer every enemy including death. I think a book could be written on this too but I am only trying to get you to look at Hebrews in a new light along with broadening your view of what "Perfection" could be, 1Pet.1:12. Maybe this will help explain what I’m trying to say a little better. Gen.13:14-15, God told Abraham, "Look all around, for all you see, I will give to you". Now go to Josh.1:1-3, Joshua was to go over or overcome and God would give to him everywhere his feet would touch or everywhere he walked. Abraham was to live in the land with his enemies and Joshua was to destroy the enemies as God commanded, Josh.1:5 and Deut.7:23-26. My point again is the "Body" may see the promises of God, even taste them, but the enemy (our carnal minds) is still here where we are. Walking in the promises of God means tearing down the carnal mind and destroying every enemy of God.

We have a Head that knows and sees all but to get to our promises the Head needs a part of the "Body". The part with feet to get the job done as planed, I’d presume. So He needs the perfected part of the "Body" set into motion. Yes we will need to learn to work with the rest of the "Body". We will learn unity (one mind and one accord) and we will one day be that "Body" that walks together without distractions from religion, doctrine and theology. That is why putting to death the carnal mind and accepting the mind of Christ is a must! It is also a great thing!

Heb.11:17-38, I want to continue in the walk that these greats made but first I want to read verses 26-27 from the AMP. Bible. This should shout at us as Christians because it is saying, "Hold onto Christ no matter what happens!" Moses held the reproach of Christ far above all the riches Egypt offered him. He willingly turned his back on the position and the wealth that was offered him and separated himself from her, (Egypt, the world, religion) and he endured for the sake of Christ. He embraced and believed what his natural eyes could not see, 2Tim.1:7-9.

How many times in your walk with God have you felt God didn’t know what He was doing or what you were going through? We all start our walk with a measure of faith but when God starts to test our endurance we start backing up. I know for a fact that for years and years I failed every test God gave me. I couldn’t find victory or God’s help even when it hit me up side my head. I’d been lied to and taught there wasn’t any victory until I stood before the Father in heaven. Thank God He took me past religion and taught me that I can have victory and He is my help. He also showed me that with Him and through Him I can overcome, I can survive and I can endure. O.K. you want a catch? The catch is the same one Moses had: Forsake Egypt, Hold dearly and precious your faith in Christ and know He is the evidence of what you cannot see.

Heb.11:39-40 Amp. I wanted this read from the Amplified because it says so clearly what I said earlier. "God had us in mind, He had something better and greater in store for us" and then it says, "These great heroes of faith should not come to perfection apart from us". So God had something in His mind for us from the beginning of time that went past what these great men and women did, in the power and measure of their faith. We have been given far more then God allowed them to have and I believe its time for the sons of God to roll back the stone, fold up the grave clothes and come out of the tomb! There is no life inside the tomb of man-made religion and very few victories. The "Church" has been held in bondage long enough to the crucifixion side of the cross or "Jesus" the man side. It’s time we come through the cross, past "Jesus" and into the "Christ" side where we find total victory as all the greats of the bible did. We have a Father who wants to bring a remnant into this walk with Him. They will be the "man child", who will to great and mighty things including bringing the "Bride" to Christ. I believe it’s time for the "dawning of a new day" and it starts here with us the real "sons". We will finely be clothed in the armor of His Light and Christ will finely be seen by a dying world. I believe we are the completion or perfection of "The Christ" and that’s the best thing I could have you believe! Eph.1:18.

9-12-01

Heb.12:1-2, this sounded just like the Apostle Paul to me and gave me a since of how wonderful it has been to experience our faith walk in chapter 11. Now he is moving us on into a greater understanding of the perfection end of that walk in chapter 12. It’s like he has taken us from faith to sonship and beyond, if we will believe. It’s like we’ve been given the permission to go to "Infinity and Beyond". This is our destiny, our walk, our promises, our inheritance and we receive it through the price our "Eldest Brother" paid and through our endurance and faith, or the belief that what God says, is so.

Jesus walked this very walk we are on. The only thing He did different was to walk it in authority, dominion and demonstration of who He truly was. In other words He believed what God said about Him! These Old Testament saints had nothing but their faith, yet they did far more than any of us have done to this point. Why? Because they believed what God said! We have been told over and over to do as Christ did; yet we doubt it is for us. God did not put scriptures in this book and enlighten us for nothing. Let’s look at some of these again, Eph.4:13; Rom.8:23-24;1Pet.1:3-6; Philp.3:14-16; Heb.12:1 and the list goes on and on. I know I gave all of you a five-page list at one of our studies a couple of years ago. We, as God’s elect, are not to quit when the going gets tough. We are to take authority over our flesh and endure to the end. To my way of thinking, this great cloud of witnesses who walked here before us should make us feel some sort of shame. I say that because they didn’t have a Savior, (or the path made straight for them). They didn’t have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, (or an open door to the throne of God). And they didn’t have the reality we have in Christ yet they committed their lives to God by the measure of faith they had. So, since we are surrounded by these greats, shouldn’t we be a little more willing to go forward in Christ instead of complaining and backing up when God sets a test in our path?

"Sin that so easily ensnares us". Lord, could You possibly be talking to us, Your saints? Duh! Yes He is! Doubt and unbelief easily ensnare us. Yes all sin was forgiven at the cross, but tell me you don’t doubt or have unbelief and we can add liar to the list. So are we so bad? No! This great and beautiful cloud of witnesses, God’s great servants, all fit into this category with us. Adultery, murder, drunkenness, unbelief, disobedience and lying. They did as much or more then the chosen and elect of God and still went on to do God’s will. God’s grace was enough for them and we have that and more to help us overcome. It’s God’s power working in our lives that helps us overcome and moves us into sonship and beyond. Use the examples these greats left us to walk in faith, but remember it is Jesus "The Christ" who is our true example. He may have come here like us with nothing more than His Father’s nature, but He overcame everything He was tested in. We too, are here with what He had, nothing less. And even if the world has dumped their trash on "us", God’s private property, He will remove it, and we will overcome just like our older Brother. This isn’t just better it’s a wonderful thing!

Now the author says, "Run with patience", that’s a tough one in this day and age. We’ve gotten so used to the "Micro wave" and "Burger King" type of Christianity where it’s my way and I want it now! We’ve all done it, we sign up for the race of our lifetime and expect it to only be a 50-yard dash. Well dear friends, I’m real sorry, but this race isn’t over that fast. This race involves overcoming the world and sitting with Christ in His throne. It won’t be done in 60 seconds or less nor will it be done our way. When God takes His people through things like we saw in New York, a death of a loved one, a sickness, or a divorce, and that’s just a few, it’s an all out race to overcome fear and doubt. Test and trials are not our choice and I’ve really never known anyone who wanted to rejoice in them. The truth however is the harder the test the quicker we mature. The size of the test doesn’t really matter it’s how we handle it. Did we do it with patience, endurance, faith and obedience or did we do it grumbling, kicking, fearing and complaining? Then he says, "The Author and Finisher of our faith". That means Jesus is our source to everything we have in the Father, Acts 4:10-12. Col.2:8-10 says, we are brought to completion in Him. And all of this is really a better thing!

I had to wonder at this "joy set before Him" thing. I honestly couldn’t find, in my mind, where there was much joy in the life of Jesus. I couldn’t find joy in taking on the sins of the whole world. Not to mention all He had to endure before the cross. So I thought I’d better look at it from God’s point of view, Jh.17:4-5 and 22-24; Eph.5:26-27; Heb.2:10-11; Lk.12:32; Eph.1:4-5; Philp.2:1-3 and 13; Rev.4:11. The point is God thought we were worth it all and that makes it a truly joyous and better thing for us! I know I took a lot of time in these first two verses but I just couldn’t get away the words in them and I figured it was God, hope you got something new.

Heb.12:3-4 amp. And then v.5-11. I think we can all relate to these verses. In fact I think the whole world could relate to this now. The author knows these young Christians are getting tired of the trials and the persecution they are going through and I know we all believe we have endured more then is humanly possible. The author points out that, if their/our focus is on Christ, our problems will seem quit small in comparison to what Christ had to go through for all men. I know as modern Christians we are taught that the devil is the reason for everything wrong in our lives. More then likely he got blamed for the "Twin Towers" too. We were also taught our problems were because God was mad at us. I’m here to tell you that it is all lies! (Def. of Chasten) To correct, discipline or purify, to prune of excess or falsity, to refine or subdue. The devil does not correct, discipline or purify us. It is God and He does it because He loves us. It’s the process or path to perfection where by we become what He has predestined us to be, His sons and more. It isn’t something anyone likes but it’s His love and it is a better thing!

It’s called correction and discipline and we just established that none of us like it yet it’s part of God’s love for, His legal and legitimate sons, which we are if we love Him and accept what Jesus did for us. Yet we gripe and complain as much as the Israelites when He corrects us. I’m not saying, kick back and enjoy it, but the Word does say, "If you endure". I’ll give you the definition of endure again; To continue on in the trouble, to remain firm under suffering without yielding, to bear patiently, tolerate, permit. Are you doing that? Jesus endured the cross with some difficulty. Each disciple has endured with some difficulty and we despise our small sufferings that God is taking us THROUGH. Verses.8-10 amp. "That we may become sharers in His own Holiness". Correction is for our perfection, so that we might share in, His holiness and His nature. I know we can’t get all happy and excited when we are going through things that we feel are hurtful or hard. Don’t feel to bad, Jesus didn’t either, Lk.22:41-44, He endured that we to could endure. His human part was stressed to sweating blood, but His Godly part found peace within to endure. So I’m saying we too can find peace within (in our Godly part) and it will help us endure. We will be able to (stand firm and permit God to correct and perfect us) because we are becoming like Him. And as hard as it sound, it too is a better thing! If you think I’ve arrived, your wrong, but since I know I belong to Him I also know He is will continue to correct me until I am complete in Him. If I want His love then I will accept His correction and endure.

Heb.12:12-15, again the author exhorts these young Christians and us not to be discouraged or defeated but see ourselves as victorious through Christ! To go beyond what our natural eyes see, go past the pain and hardship and see what our endurance will soon yield, our righteousness and likeness in Him. So lift up those holy hands, walk the path set before you, pursue peace and holiness, stay in God’s grace and don’t let bitterness take root in your hearts. It will defile and contaminate you. The author uses Esau here as an example, v.16-17. He is telling them/us, do not throw away you’re precious inheritance for what the world and it’s ways has to offer you. Esau’s major problem was his heart got hard towards God because he didn’t like the way God had done things. My advice is don’t think you know better than God and don’t take His promises lightly. Don’t ever think you can have all the blessings of God without paying the price of obedience and correction as a true son of God, will do.

Heb.12:18-24amp. Here again, I found this authors’ wonderful weaving and saw how he may have rattled these young Christians. He speaks to them of the mighty and terrifying experience their fathers went through when they were given the Law. He tells them that everyone there on that day was terrified, even Moses. Then he makes it real clear that everyone was glad they didn’t have to face God and that if God wanted to kill Moses, that was fine, just leave them alone. Personally, I’m glad my Father takes time to talk to me and that He doesn’t do it in this manner. Then the author goes on to expresses so beautifully the spirit realm. He says we are registered as citizens there and that we have the Mediator of all Mercy, which is a better and more gracious way, than the blood of Able that cried out from the ground for vengeance. The New Covenant brings us overwhelming blessings and that is a better thing!

Heb.12:25-29, again, the author is warning them and I believe this could also be one of the most powerful end time prophecies. Read v.25 amp. It makes it much clearer I think. Hear Him who speaks to you! Those who refused to hear at Mt. Sinai were judged (or put under the Law, in my opinion). His voice shook the earth back then and His voice will shake everything in this heaven (our minds), and this earth (our bodies), of everything that is not of Him. I saw a picture of this in the tragedy in New York; my mind saw these towers as what the world and its ways do to God’s people. The world keeps adding stuff to us (greed, pride, desires and every vice and power known to man) and all of it profanes the God in us. Anyway, my point is, we are either going to allow God to break, strip and destroy these things, that His Light will shine. Or, we will implode just like these towers did and be smashed to dust, Lk.20:18. If your hope and pride is in America, and your need is great to be United with her, if these are stronger than or comes before your obedience and honor to God, look again at the towers, for it was American and United (Airlines), that brought mans worldly edifices to the ground in rubble and dust. God doesn’t want us ignorant or blind to what He is doing. If you have ears, hear what the Spirit is saying. The world and its power will be destroyed.

Heb.12:28-29, the author once again weaves his woes with love, encouragement and promises of better things. He tells them/us since we are receiving a kingdom not made by man and unshakable. However at this point I doubt we can even begin to imagine what God has prepared for us. Therefore we should serve God in reverence, give Him acceptable worship in all we do, and do it with Godly fear and awe. I know we have all been angry with God at least once, others of us more then once, but Praise God, He understands. I’m also pretty sure we have taken our promises from God quit lightly. We have seen, heard, and said many things that offend God and His Kingdom. However, I believe this author is trying to let us know, as much as God loves us and understands us, He also desires our respect and desires it, in a far greater way than the "Church" has given Him.

Then, He says, "Our God is a consuming fire." Fire is light, destruction, warmth and cleansing or purifying. Trust me on this one, God is going to cleanse or purify us from everything that isn’t Him. He is going to destroy all that has been placed in us by the world and He is going to consume us until we are in His likeness. And, that is a hard but great thing!

Heb.13:1amp. I wanted to read this from the amplified bible because it left no room for doubt or our interpretation. The author wants to close this book with love; he has shown these young Christians and us that "Love" comes only through maturity. Jh.13:34-35 also says this very clearly. It also says maturity or "disciples of Christ", which is where we are trying to go. But it can’t continue if it doesn’t become a part of us (the God us has it, but the flesh us needs it). If it were up to the flesh us it would’ve said "start or try to continue". We can understand this better if we look at our families or close friends. Families rub each other the wrong way and sparks fly, but we still love each other. We learn to adjust and accept what we can and pray about the rest. I don’t think this can happen fully in the "church" settings we have today as we don’t see each other every day and we never get to know each other. It’s a once or twice a week "hi", "hello", "see ya next week", thing, and it isn’t family. We never get to know them as family, we do little butting of heads, yelling, and clashing so we are unable to love and accept each other with our faults.

These young Christians however, lived, ate, fought and shared everything in their lives making it harder for hate to overtake love. I believe God is doing this again, we are His family and we will be a family here on this earth before this is over. Doctrines, denominations, differences, personalities and beliefs will be put aside once and for all. We can see this picture in the tragedy of the towers in New York also. Before that fatal morning, no one spoke of God and unity in the nation or the world. No one wanted to come together and help and pray with a neighbor or friend.

Heb.13:2 amp. This is a hard one, "Strangers," taboo, don’t talk to strangers, we’ve learned it from childhood. Fear what we don’t know or understand. Our families and freedom we protect and defend but a stranger we ignore. I’m glad God never felt this way about us. "Angels" does it really matter if they are heavenly or earthly? Does it really matter what they wear or what they look like? The question is, did you love them?

Verse 3, God isn’t talking about killers and rapist here. The author is speaking to the body of Christ. Prison here, could be a real bars and guards type, it could be a false charge or a crime that got you there to find God. Then there are the man made prisons, of ignorance, religion and fear. We as the body have an obligation to pray for and have compassion on those in their prisons.

Verse 4, is pretty self-explanatory, marriage is to be held as precious, worthy of great price and honorable in everything. That means no sleeping around or looking for something better. It means you hold the other half of you (your spouse) as a gift from God. That you look at them through the eyes of love or God’s eyes. We are to treat each other as we would treat God and never stand in the way of what God is doing in and through our mate. God loves our spouses much more than we are capable of, so allow Him to move in and use them without any complaints from the "peanut gallery."

Verses 5-6amp. The author now instructs us/them in contentment. I feel contentment only comes as we mature in Christ. I’ve been learning, that as bad as things look or feel to me, or to the way I view or judge right and wrong, (which I’m trying to learn not to do), all things are in God’s Hands, not mine or anyone else’s! Therefore I have nothing to fear, even when my flesh is screaming, I have nothing to fear. I’m right where my Father wants me. He says here, He is with me and He will NOT leave me and I know, He is. As for money and worldly things, I don’t think He minds us having things. He is our Father and every father wants to give good things to his child (young or old). It’s the love of it that God doesn’t want us caught in. He doesn’t want anything taking a place in our hearts that belongs to Him. With all the threats going on now of war, we need to focus on God, we don’t need to worry and fear what man can do to us because God is with us. He is our help, we walk by faith and that is really a better thing!

Verse7-10, I just took all this spiritually, "those who rule" (lead, guide, teach) you in the ways of Christ. Those you see walking, talking and living Christ. Those God has put in your path, and I’m not saying it’s all love and roses. Roses have thorns, so those God has put in your path will no doubt rub you the wrong way and sparks will fly. But the question is will you remain faithful to God and the one He placed in your path to irritate you and drive you closer to Him? We are accountable for how we treat the "family of God." I don’t believe God wants us to make light of these or talk against them, if we come against them; we are coming against God also. We should try to see them as a gift from God, after all they are perfecting us and that’s what God wants. So learn to love them, pray for them, and even obey them, as you’ll see v.17 says. If you know in your heart that these leaders love and obey God with all their heart and strength, then stop rebelling. God did not send them into your path to do you harm but to bring you closer to Him.

Verse 8, was sort of just their proclaiming, "Jesus the Christ, the same always and forever." I felt the author was just saying one more time, do what you know to do and expect Christ to do His part." For as unchangeable as He is, we are being changed daily into His very image. Because as He is now, so shall we be as we go from point A = the Adam nature (that we believed we were), to point C = the Christ nature, (or who we really are). Any belief other than this would be saying, God lies. I could more than likely fill a book just on the word "Forever." As it is where God is and where we are going to find ourselves. And Praise God that is really a great thing!

Verse 9 amp. Notice the word "Doctrines" here. It’s plural and it’s what’s bothers me most about the "Church." It has to many doctrines, and to much room for man made errors. Col.2:20-22; 1Tim.4:1-5; Jh.7:16-18; Rom.16:17-18; 2Jh.2:9-11. Notice, "Singular" one doctrine, "The Doctrine of Christ!"

Back to Heb.13:10-17, this should excite most of us. It’s also going to ruffle the religious. Because it said to me, that it was all right with God to leave a "Church" that doesn’t teach "Christ", or isn’t teaching me who I was in Christ, or that’s basically keeping me in bondage to the "Church." I felt this also implied it was O.K. with God if the "Church" threw you out, as He most likely wasn’t welcome either. Read v.13amp. "Go forth from all that would prevent us, to Him who is outside the camp....." If you’re heart is following God and your told to leave, or God says leave, believe He has planned it that way and go with His blessings.

Verse14, "no continuing city." In this life people like to build, we can see it in big cities and big churches. But God says that nothing here will last. Mans foundations are like sand, even great denominations. That needs little explanation, they built them, and they are still the same today. Filling them up with people and doing nothing more then they did for ages. We have to quit building in this realm; it’s God job, and we need to focus on the "forever" realm and keep offering up the "sacrifice of praise." And again, we see the author’s weaving of how much better the new way is, than the old. The time for animal sacrifices is over, it has no value but there is an acceptable sacrifice of great value to God, and that is lifting up our voices in praise to Him whether we feel like it or not. God is always pleased by us doing good, v.16 amp. and Acts10:38. Jesus did good and He gave what He had. So if you don’t have it or God doesn’t provide it, it’s a little hard for you to give. So get over the religious thing. What Jesus had, He shared and by doing that He offered up a sacrifice of praise. Did Jesus have a lot to give? I don’t know, but I know He had life, love and healing, and He shared it with those the Father told Him to. Give what you have, love, food, money, etc. etc. as long as it’s what God has given you, give it and He will bless you. And that’s a good thing!

Heb.13:18-25, prayers and love, sounded like the Apostle Paul to me. He always wrote from his pain and his heart, so I believe he wrote this to strengthen the Christian. This whole book was an effort by the author to weave Christians a beautiful picture of how much better our New Covenant is than what the Old Covenant tried to be. He used everything at his disposal to convince Christians they had a much better relationship with God if they only believed and accepted what He did at Calvary. The author also warns the Christian very strongly to stay away from the Law and it’s chains of bondage.

May the Author and Giver of all peace, strengthen, complete, perfect and make you what you were put here to be. May He equip you with everything good that you may carry out His will. While He is steadily at work in you, finishing that which is pleasing to Him, through Christ. To whom we give glory forever and ever, Amen. And it only gets better!

9-22-01