Call of the Spirit Publications

May 7, 2020

AN INVITATION TO ABIDE

This morning my Scripture reading from my devotional was verses 9-10, and 14-16 of Psalm 91. Since that’s my favorite Psalm (and perhaps my favorite chapter of the entire Bible) I read the entire Psalm. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psa 91:1). I love the sound of that! But, what does that mean to “abide under the shadow of the Almighty”? Let’s read a bit further: “I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust’” (Psa 91:2). That sounds great! A refuge is a shelter or protection from danger according to Dictionary.com. [As my custom is I like to look up words that jump out at me!] So this dweller in God is protected from danger in a “large fortified place” (definition of fortress).

Now, before we go on, [I hope you have your ‘shouting-clothes’ on!] I must tell you that I believe the Bible; I receive the promises as my Father (Jehovah God) talking directly to me! If this precious Book is nothing more to you than a collection of stories, historical events, or even religious speech that really doesn’t amount to much, don’t even bother finishing reading this. You won’t ‘hear’ what I’m saying – and you certainly won’t get to shouting!!

Okay, fasten your seat-belts. When I read this next verse I knew I was going to write this Encouraging Word. “Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence” (Psa 91:3). Pestilence means “a deadly or virulent epidemic disease” (Dictionary.com). Are you hearing what the Holy Ghost is telling us? “Surely” – that leaves no room for doubt. If God says surely, then you can stand on what He’s about to say! He’s not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19).

Let’s go on: “He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday” (Psa 91:4-6). That’s the second time He mentions pestilence; and, He says “You shall not be afraid” of it! Watch this: “A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you” (Psa 91:7). Are you hearing this? Let me do a Mike Leach paraphrase: people can be dropping like flies all around you, BUT IT WON’T COME NEAR YOU!! – Why? – For one thing, because you’re abiding in God. The thing that’s killing others would have to get through Him to get to you! That’s NOT going to happen! “Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked” (Psa 91:8). The wicked are simply people who aren’t in covenant with Jehovah. In other words, they have not accepted the Sacrifice of Jesus, making Him Lord of their lives. Writing about them to the Ephesian church Paul said those folk have no hope (see Ephesians 2:12).

Let’s continue: “Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;” (Psa 91:9-10). There it is again. This time He calls it a plague: “an epidemic disease that causes high mortality; pestilence” (et al). I could rest my case at this point, but why stop when we’re having so much fun? In case you’ve lost count, that’s the third time God promises to deliver us from sickness, disease; an epidemic disease no less. Are you catching on? The Almighty God is issuing an invitation to abide in Him so He can protect us from Covid-19 (and any other trouble the devil is planning on the horizon)!

In Matthew 24:7-8 Jesus tells us that there would be “famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places” calling it the “beginning of sorrows”. Don’t let that be a discouragement to you! Peter wrote that we should “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” (1Peter 3:15). Don’t you think remaining positive that God will always take care of you, and that you have no fear of any pestilence that shows its ugly head is one hope the people around us will question about? Abide in Him and you’ll be convinced of that! [Can I throw in a little side-note here? Just because the Lord foretells of something that will happen does not mean it’s by His hand, or of His will!]

Let’s finish up: “For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot” (Psa 91:11-13). There’s a lot here, but I wanted to group it as one thought. The book of Hebrews defines angels as “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation” (1:14). Both Galatians and Romans specifically tell us that if we have called on the name of the Lord to be saved (Born-Again), then we are in on that inheritance. But, just like everything else in the Kingdom of God, the provisions (promises) don’t just fall on us. Like the Israelis, who had to take possession of their Promised Land, we have to take possession of the promises of God as well! That is what is meant in the third and fourth chapters of Hebrews when we are instructed to labor to enter into His rest. We don’t work for the promises—they are given by God. We do have to renew our minds so that we would be transformed to partake of them.

For the purpose of this teaching we’re talking about abiding in God. That’s a life-style. It’s not an occasional visit, but a dwelling – where one lives! “There is a Place in God where one sustains their life” (I just heard the Lord say that!). The blessedness we’re talking about that’s enumerated in this precious Psalm are the benefits for this ‘dweller’. [Paul also wrote, “having done all to stand—STAND”!] Sometimes there’s a fight to stand. But, it’s the good fight of faith.

Now for the response of our Father: “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation” (Psa 91:14-16). I don’t have the nerve to comment any further! The precious Father has said it all!

Let me encourage you today. Stop fearing what is going on in the world. It’s not going to get any easier – but then, so what? When you’re in Him, and He’s in you; when you’ve truly entered into His rest by abiding in Him, all hell can be breaking loose all around you. Remember, it shall not come near you; neither shall any plague come near you. I’m believing God that we (those of us who are hearing Him speak to our hearts these last hours) will rise up strong, push back the forces of darkness, and be the deliverers God is raising up to reap the precious fruit of the earth! – Even so, come Lord Jesus!

April 24, 2020

A HEAVENLY RESPONSE TO A GLOBAL CRISIS

“Then He said, ‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.’ And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice” (1Ki 19:11-12).

I’m beginning this exhortation with this particular Scriptural citing because, like Elijah, we are all faced with much noise and activity, ‘preaching’ to us directives that will steer our lives. If we are not careful we will be steered into ultimate disaster instead of God’s promise of victory. Just because something is being proclaimed loudly, or flashy, doesn’t mean it holds the final say, or is the best route for us to take. Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, said “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification” (1Co 14:10, KJV). In other words, there may be a variety of people talking, some with high ranking positions (doctors, politicians, news anchors, school teachers [and their leaders]—even close acquaintances) that will speak their minds on the current outward circumstances of life. Some will have credible resources to back their claims; others will just be blabbing unfounded opinions of what others are saying. It’s up to us, individually, to decide what (or whom) we are going to believe and order the activities of our lives by.

As in our opening Scripture, Elijah was presented with a variety of ‘messages’ – the first was a “great and strong wind” which tore into the mountains and broke the rocks into pieces. WOW! Surely that had to be God talking, right? I mean, He’s the Almighty. When He’s on the scene the earth quakes and rocks split, so it had to be Him. Yet the Scripture goes on to say, “the LORD was not in the wind.” – Let’s do a ‘rule of thumb’ here – ALWAYS look to Scripture to interpret Scripture. In other words, look for the Holy Spirit’s commentary on something BEFORE embracing it as a message from God (more on that in a bit).

Let’s get back to Elijah’s encounter. “After the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.” Here is another magnificent display of power that God was NOT the Author of. A side-note: people who are written about in the Bible did not have the benefit of Scripture available to them like we do, so they did not have the Holy Spirit’s commentary (or insight) into something. When there was activity going on that could not be naturally explained they attributed everything to God. Take Job for example; he faced all kinds of trouble, so he said (in his ignorance) “the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away” (Job 1:21). It took a supernatural visitation of God to straighten out his theology: “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2). We have this entire account recorded for our learning and admonition, Job and his ‘friends’ did not.

Remember the question Jesus posed to His disciples? “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets’” (Mat 16:13-14). Have you ever thought about their response? Why were people saying Jesus must have been John the Baptist (who had recently been beheaded), or Elijah, or Jeremiah? These were all dead prophets; their assumption was somebody from the other world had to have come back to life for the supernatural activity Jesus displayed to take place. They had no concept that Jesus was conducting His ministry in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and the Covenant of Abraham. – That, my brothers and sisters – is what religion will do to limit God’s activity in the earth (see Psalm 78:41)!

Back to Elijah; “after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.” Are you kidding me? All of these spectacular displays of power, and God was not in any or it? That’s what the Bible says! Stick with the Book. Another side note: (if you’ve read after me, at all, you’ve already read the following; but, it bears repeating) there are two main rules I’d like to get you to govern your thinking when it comes to Scriptural doctrines:

1. Look to God’s commentary regarding what He has said about something to obtain His interpretation of it. Another way to say it is use Scripture to interpret Scripture. Jesus used this method in His wilderness trial when the devil told Him to throw Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple, citing that God would give His angels charge over Him to protect Him (Psalm 91:11). Jesus responded: “It is written again, Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matt. 4:7). So, by quoting this last Scripture, Jesus gave us the criterion for ‘judging’ (or, interpreting) Scripture: stay within the confines of what God has already said about something.  
2. When the Spirit of God is speaking (or actively doing something) He will always point to the Lordship of Jesus!
3. “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1Cor. 12:3). This verse is letting us know that if the Holy Spirit is speaking He won’t speak bad things about Jesus, but will exalt His Lordship.
4. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world” (1Jn 4:1-3).

This last verse tells us to “test the spirits whether they are of God.” How do we “test the spirits”? John tells us: “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.” Let me do a Mike Leach paraphrase: every spirit that magnifies what Jesus has done by coming in the flesh, every spirit that exalts the Lordship of Jesus IS OF GOD! Jesus defeated death, hell, and the grave by His coming in the flesh. “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb 2:14-15).

What is this Scripture saying? By coming in the flesh, by dying the death of the cross, by being raised from the dead Jesus destroyed the very thing that has kept Mankind in bondage—DEATH (or, for the purpose of this teaching, the spawn of death, which is sickness, disease and the like)! What does that have to do with this present crisis? Covid-19 is a curse that brings death. Jesus has redeemed us from the curse (see Galatians 3:13). Furthermore, He has been given THE NAME that is above EVERY name:

• “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Php 2:9-11).

Corona virus (Covid-19) is a name – and it must, has to, does bow to the Name of Jesus! This, my friends, is the still small voice that will obliterate all fear of this pandemic. When Elijah heard that still small voice he was strengthened to run his race.

If you’re still not sure whether this has come to us by the Hand of God, let me quote two more Scriptures (if these don’t convince you, then you have no hope!):

• “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
• “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (Jas 1:17).

Corona virus (or any other disastrous activity) is NOT a good or perfect gift; so, it’s not from God and therefore can (and should) be resisted. Be assured of this: if you are going to take your stand with God, He will back you up! I can hear the Lord say, “Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?” (Isa 50:2). I like the way the Message Bible puts it: “Do you think I’ve forgotten how to help? Am I so decrepit that I can’t deliver? I’m as powerful as ever.”

In closing, I’m not saying to completely disregard everything being said regarding this pandemic. Just judge it in light of what Jesus said that we are in this world, but we are not of it. “[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Col 1:13, AMP classic edition). Did you get that? We have been taken from the authority and dominion of darkness and positioned into the Kingdom of God. We are citizens of Heaven, not subjects of the realm of darkness! Bless you all! Let’s all grow in God! Jesus is Lord!! –ML

Ecclesiastes Three tells alerts us there is nothing new under the sun. Meaning, what doctrines that are blowing through now, came through once before. It’s only God’s Word (testimony of Jesus) that will forever stand the test of time — always the same, never changing. If God said it, that settles it!

TEST THE SPIRITS

We have talked much lately about all the ‘voices’ in the world that are proclaiming their messages as being the ‘truth’ everyone is to follow after. One of the greatest blessings of our time is also one of the greatest curses we all partake of: the Internet. By the Internet we can partake of information of any kind from any part of the planet – which can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing. The same instrument that avails inspirational teachings, like this one, also allows one to access pornography by just a few clicks and using a search engine.

I’m going to make an extremely important statement here: everything we can partake of is a sort of food we ingest into our spirits (the inner man), and those seeds will grow into what they were designed to produce. When I say ‘partake of’ I’m talking about things we give our attention to and even those things going on around us that we unintentionally allow in: conversations, television programming (break that one down: tell – a – vision programming; or, being programmed by the vision we are being told!), billboards alongside the road we travel (if you look at it the image on it and the message it portrays gets in there and lodges itself in our hearts like a seed). Now, don’t get all frustrated and fearful thinking you can’t even walk out the door of your home; seeds will only produce and grow to maturity when they are watered and nurtured.

Jesus gave us this illustration in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-9, Mark 4:3-20, Luke 8:4-10), click this link to read my combined rendition of that parable. The point I wanted to bring out regarding that parable is the Word of God is the Superior Seed, yet Satan can steal it out of our hearts by just a few tactics we all are acquainted with: cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, desires for other things, tribulation, and persecution. This is a pretty fair description of each and every one of our daily lives! These ‘Seed stealers’ surround each and every one of us! – And that’s talking about the Superior Seed! Keep reading! If the Superior Seed can be aborted from producing and growing in our hearts, then the ‘seeds’ that come from the other camp can be prevented from growing in our lives as well!

ATTENTION!

One might disparagingly say “Brother Mike, how can I prevent the wrong ‘seeds’ from growing in my life?” I alluded to it earlier when I said “things we give our attention to.” These are the kinds of things we give ourselves to, on purpose: books we read, movies we watch, T. V. shows we watch, meetings we attend, and the like. I know there are certain situations we simply cannot avoid, like if our job requires us to attend a certain meeting; the content of that meeting, and the people we are sitting around – the conversations they have – this stuff has the potential to get into us and produce attitudes and mind-sets. You and I still have the choice to take in those things, or reject them (I’m talking about thought patterns and views of life being projected from those around us).

So, how do we safeguard against such attributes getting into our hearts and minds that they won’t produce a harvest we really do not want in our lives? God has placed within the human psyche the ability to partake of what we truly want produced in our lives: Life or Death; Good or Bad; Blessing or Curses – then He even gives us the cheat: “choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Fast forwarding to the present day Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, wrote “while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2Corinthians 4:18).

The choice is ours; we can dwell on the circumstances around us (the things that are temporary – subject to change), or we can continue in His Word (which is eternal) and partake of His precious promises, which will result in participating in His divine nature (the answer to our troubles). It’s what we give our attention to that will grow into the harvest those implanted seeds will produce! The ‘bad seeds’ of life can be purged with “the washing of the water of the Word” (Ephesians 5:26) – the Superior Seed.

FALSE TEACHINGS

I said all that about seeds and the harvest they will produce to get our thinking to go along the lines of the direction our lives will take, and the ‘fruit’ we will partake of. The Lord has been dealing with me regarding the conditions our hearts are in, and the needed cooperation for this Last Day Harvest He so desires to reap. Scripture teaches “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7-8). There are a few things I’d like to bring out regarding these verses:

• The coming of the Lord (which is so very near!)
• The Farmer waiting for the precious fruit of the earth (souls)
• The former and latter rain (outpourings of God’s Spirit to reap those souls!)

I have it ringing in my heart — louder than ever! — that the return of the Lord is so close it could be any day now (read my Encouraging Word “Last Week” by clicking this link). This is the reason I write so many of these teachings, stirring the Body of Christ unto this work of working together with the Lord. God has designed it that we work together with Him; He has limited Himself to relying on our cooperation with Him to get the job done! And, He’s the Farmer Who is waiting for the precious fruit of the earth–souls! The former and latter rain that enables this harvest of souls has begun, and we need to ‘put our hands to the plow’ to get this job done so the Lord can receive us to Himself (rapture!!).

The devil is fully aware that his time is extremely short, so he’s pulling out every stop he can imagine to thwart the work of God. How does he accomplish this? False doctrines (teachings). He knows the laws of God and how they work. The two ‘laws’ in particular that pertain to this teaching are: the words we truly believe in our heart, and say with our mouth will come to pass; plus, the image we have of ourselves will manifest (be evidenced) in our lives! This is why the Bible talks about renewing our minds with the Word of God so we can be transformed from the conforming images of the world!

• “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).
• “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2Corinthians 3:18).

Satan knows that if he can propagate his imagery enough he can cause anyone to be conformed to it – ultimately imitating it, thereby ‘choosing death’, which is what he wants. Jesus said of him (Satan) that he is a thief who only comes to steal, kill and destroy, but He (Jesus) came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10)! This deadly ‘conforming’ comes to those who give their attention to these ‘false teachings’ – which comes through the spirit of antichrist. The Apostle John wrote extensively of this:

• “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1John 2:18).
• “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son” (1John 2:22).
• “and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world” (1John 4:3).
• “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (2John 1:7).

Paul also addressed this issue in his letter to the Corinthian church when he wrote about the gifts of the Spirit and their manifestations. He said, “no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1Corinthians 12:3). These Scriptures are plain; a Mike Leach paraphrase could say ‘unless the message someone is speaking points to the Lordship of Jesus and talks about the things He accomplished by going to the cross, they are NOT speaking by inspiration of God, and are false _______ (prophets, teachers, or whatever type of ‘ministry-gift’ they say they are)’. “Of such, turn away” (the Holy Ghost just said that in me).

ALIGNMENT

I know it seems like I’m beating a dead horse (I apologize to our readers who aren’t from the U. S. – that is an American colloquialism that means to keep repeating something over and over in seeming redundancy), but I strongly feel the Holy Spirit wants to get these ideas across to the Body of Christ, so we can rise up strong in Him and defeat the giants of falsehood trying to wipe-out the Churche’s effectiveness against the devil and his crowd! In order to arise in this hour, we have to awaken to these things (tactics) and purposefully wield our Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God – spoken from a heart fully persuaded of God’s mightiness! To do so we have to align our thinking with God’s thinking – exchanging our thoughts for His; “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8). This is what renewing the mind will do – exchange our way of thinking to align (line-up) with God’s thinking. We could go on and on about that. This entire website is designed to help us along these lines.

Getting back to false teachings; I’m not going to name names, or spell-out any groups that are to be blamed for such propagation. I’m simply going to present the truth – God’s Word is truth – and anything that does not line up with it is false!

WHAT IS TRUTH?

There are far too many references to list here (when I typed ‘truth’ in the search section of my Bible program I use I found there are 100 verses in the New Testament alone!), but for the purpose of this teaching I will mention a few:

• “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Truth came through Jesus!
• “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” (John 4:23). – You want God the Father to seek you out? Worship Him in the Spirit and Truth!
• “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6). Jesus said He is the Truth!
• “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26). Here Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of Truth.”

Did you notice Jesus said “He (the Spirit of Truth) will testify of Me”? That corresponds with what we said earlier – and what this teaching is all about – testing the spirits. In brief, are the messages coming into your life testifying of Jesus, or are they trying to present ‘another gospel’? Paul addressed this in his letter to the church at Galatia by saying “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7). The next verse is the key here, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). God used Paul mightily to establish the foundation for the Church to be build upon, Christ, the Chief cornerstone (see Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 28:16, Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11, and 1Peter 2:6-7).

SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT

Spiritual discernment is the practical purpose of this, and all of my teachings! This ‘discernment’ is acquired by feeding on (and exposure to) the Word of God – which Jesus Himself testified “Thy Word is Truth” (John 17:17, KJV) when He was praying to the Father just before going to the cross. We are not to simply gobble up everything that comes along just because someone says it’s coming from God! We are to ‘test the spirits, whether they are from God.’ “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1John 4:1).

Even when there is a spiritual manifestation, Paul admonishes “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1Thessalonians 5:21). Why did he write such a thing?; because, not every ‘spiritual manifestation’ comes by the Spirit of God. Here’s the plain truth: is the experience (manifestation) promoting the Lordship of Jesus, or some fleshly (carnal) thing? One will know by the inward-witness. There will be a ‘scratching’ – like “this just doesn’t feel right”; or, there will be a peace and comfort about it. Isn’t one of the descriptive terms for the Holy Spirit “Comforter”? Isn’t one of the ‘fruits’ of the Spirit “peace”? Jesus said we would know…by the fruit. Spiritual discernment will come by ‘fruit inspection’.

The Holy Spirit within each of us will bear witness if something is from God the Father: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). The Apostle John wrote about this witness in his first epistle:

• “it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth” (5:6).
• “there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit” (5:7).
• “there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood” (5:8).
• “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son” (5:9).
• “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son” (5:10).

That last one sums up the entirety of this teaching! If anyone believes in the Son of God (has asked Jesus into their heart – been born again), they have the witness of the Spirit in themselves! John also wrote, “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (1John 3:24). That’s as plain as it gets! We can know if anything is coming to us by God because of the Spirit Whom He has given us! The two primary ways we can test the spirits trying to influence our lives is by 1) the Word of God, and 2) the witness of the Spirit of God that every believer has!

GOD’S COUNSELOR

“There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the LORD” (Proverbs 21:30).

As my custom is I like to read a chapter in Proverbs every day – usually the one that corresponds to the date of the month it is. There are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs, and most of the months have 31 days, so that reading method usually works out pretty good. Sometimes I’ll mix it up and read from different Bible versions, like the Amplified Bible, or some other one. The 21^st of this month was just a few days ago and when I came across our opening verse I had that special knowing that I would be writing about it. That’s how all of my writings come about; I’ll be reading or praying along a certain line of thought and before I know it the Lord is leading me to write about it.

STANDARDS

It seems the idea of ‘standards’ has been in the forefront a lot lately in my writings. Perhaps it’s because there are so many of them trying to be elevated to the top. This group has an agenda, and their set of ‘proofs’ or thoughts to support it – thus they will have information to support their argument and present it as their standard. Another has something completely different and will be (or try to be) convincing in speech to prove that they hold the standard for what they believe. The emphasis is on how convincing they are in their speech. Anybody can proclaim something in such a manner to convince someone else – ask any used car salesman (no offence!).

I wrote about ‘standards’ somewhat in CHRIST: OUR SUBSTANCE; but, I’m compelled to take it a bit further right now. One could define the word ‘standard’ as a measure by which something could be compared to identify its compliance, or validity. I’ll illustrate by using the distance of an inch. The distance of an inch is exactly the same on a ruler, tape measure, or whatever other implements; regardless of store purchased from – anywhere in the world – if the unit of measure is to be an inch it will be exactly the same distance anywhere on the planet.

Can you imagine the confusion if two or more building contractors got together to build a house, or something else, and their measuring instruments differed? One’s ‘inch’ was larger in distance than another’s? They wouldn’t be able to work together; what they build wouldn’t fit properly. I know this analogy sounds crazy. Why would anyone attempt to argue that their ‘inch’ was correct over someone else’s? So, why should we believe the Bible and make it our ‘standard’ of understanding God and His involvement in the Earth and our lives individually? When it comes to God and believing in Him and what He’s done for us through His Son Jesus, we have to be rock-solid in the integrity of His Word and its infallibility, inerrancy, and unchangeableness! After all, our eternity depends on it! So, let’s dive in. Shall we?

NO COUNSEL AGAINST GOD

What does that mean there is no counsel against God? Well, first-of-all it means nobody can teach Him something He doesn’t already know. He’s omniscient, which means He’s all-knowing, or He knows everything. Another angle to look at it is nobody can come up with a better idea than Him; like a father would counsel his son about how to do something. You cannot counsel God. His ‘ideas’ (ways) are perfect. Paul wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’” (Romans 11:33-34, NIV). That last part, verse 34, Paul was quoting Isaiah 40:13. The Psalmist King David wrote, “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:11).

A brief history lesson would prove out the certainty of God’s inerrancy. Did what He say come to pass? Ask Pharaoh! “By this you shall know that I am the LORD” (Exodus 7:17) is one instance of what Jehovah said to Pharaoh (and everybody else who heard). Let’s ask the priest Zacharias about his encounter with the Lord when He told him, through the angel Gabriel, that his wife would become pregnant:

• “And Zacharias said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.’ And the angel answered and said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.’” (Luke 1:18-20).

Did it come to pass? Yes, his wife did become pregnant, and he was unable to speak the whole time: “And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless” (Luke 1:21-22, underline mine for emphasis). Sure enough, Zacharias couldn’t talk until after his wife delivered their baby (v. 64). These are just a couple examples of when God says something, it’s the truth!

GOD CANNOT LIE

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). I like the way the New International readers Version puts it, “God isn’t a mere man. He can’t lie. He isn’t a human being. He doesn’t change his mind. He speaks, and then he acts. He makes a promise, and then he keeps it” (Numbers 23:19, NIrV). Fast forwarding to the New Testament, Paul wrote to his son in the faith:

• “Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began” (Titus 1:1-2).

Here’s something to consider, if you listen with your heart your faith will skyrocket: when God says (speaks) something, it contains His power to create it and/or bring it to pass! [That’s why He’s so picky about words – everything He says comes to pass!!] Now we can understand what Jesus meant when He said “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). The spirit world is actually the real world – what we see, touch, hear, smell and taste are simply physical manifestations of the spirit world. Words create; good or bad.

Hebrews One tells us that God upholds all things by the word of His power (verse 3), or we could say the power of His Word. Then it goes on to identify that “the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). There’s so much in that verse alone:

• The Word of God is alive (living)
• It is full of power (powerful)
• Sharper that any two-edged sword (we could say that it is more powerful than any known weapon!)
• The Word can divide between soul and spirit, and joints and marrow
• It (the Word) can discern (know) the thoughts and intents of our heart (nothing is hidden from the Lord! He knows our thoughts – and – intentions!) – Now that’s all-knowing!

IT’S NOT BLIND FAITH!

Many have accused Christianity of being a religion of ‘blind-faith’. In other words, they say we read the Bible, claiming it to be the writings of some Supreme Being, and just obey what we read because God said so. They say He can’t be seen, and that we cannot prove His existence. Yet, Romans tells us “For since the creation of the world His (God’s) invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:20-21, parentheses added for clarity). Notice that these “became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” They did not want to glorify God, after all, if they acknowledged Him as Supreme, then they would have to listen to and obey what He said! Selah. The result was their hearts became blinded (darkened).

Jesus quoted Isaiah’s prophecy as a commentary against the unbelieving crowd, who heard His voice, but did not ‘hear’ His message: “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving’” (Matthew 13:14, NIV). Jesus – God in the flesh – stood in their midst and spoke using simple illustrations, but there were people who simply would not hear (listen to) His message! Did you catch that? Would not – they willed to not listen or hear what Almighty God had to say (that included the religious leaders)! This is true today!

The Bible is the only Book on the planet that God Himself watches over to perform (make good)! It’s the only Book that is alive and active! Other religions have their books that make demands to do works for their deity – our God has recorded in His Book the wonderful things He has done for us! The others change their teachings to accommodate the current political atmosphere – the Book Christians adhere to (the Bible) is forever settled in Heaven (Psalm 119:89)! It says the same thing today as it did hundreds of years ago! It’s so sure, anyone can stake their life on it and not be disappointed – for our God will see to it (He’s Jehovah-jirah: the God who provides)! The Word of God (Bible) is the standard to govern our lives by, and will be used for us to be judged by when everything is said and done. We are without excuse. But, who wants to be? He’s got a proven track record of success! Remember: there is no one who can instruct the Lord! Nobody will ever be God’s counselor!

AFTER THE FLESH

“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more” (2Co 5:16 KJV).

After the flesh; that sounds pretty strange to say doesn’t it? Usually when someone says ‘after’ something they are talking about a period of time; “After work the girls went to dinner together.” We opened with the traditional King James Version. Let’s look at how the New King James Version puts it: “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer” (NKJV). “According to the flesh,” that makes a little more sense. I like the way The Message Bible puts it: “Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore” (MSG). I like that; we don’t look at Him, or evaluate Him, or view Him that way anymore.

What way? After the flesh (or according to His fleshly appearance). Did you know Isaiah said of Him “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isa 53:2)? This last part I don’t think was saying Jesus was ugly. I believe it was speaking of kingly pomp, or as we might put it today, He had no ‘movie-star’ attributes. In other words, He didn’t come on the scene all flashy and saying ‘Look at me’. I believe this is one of the reasons the Pharisees didn’t recognize Jesus as their Messiah. He didn’t fit their fleshly-mold (religious, natural-thinking way of what the Messiah would appear as). He grew-up among them as a carpenter’s son.

Let’s look at one more version of our opening passage: “Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer” (2Co 5:16 NAS, bold italics mine). When I read that revelation went off in my spirit. I emphasized the word ‘recognize’ on purpose. I want to couple it with the word ‘know’. Notice Paul speaks of recognizing someone according to the flesh (or, after the flesh). As life goes on, we all receive varying degrees of knowledge; knowledge about how things work, general knowledge in school about a little bit of everything (from math to language arts to working on cars). We also may have been introduced to someone in passing and later on see them somewhere and say “I recognize that person.” But none of those scenarios mean you know (have an intimate—working knowledge of) those things or that person. There are different types of knowledge.

There is knowledge we all accumulate throughout our lifetime by what we are exposed to—books, television and such. Then there is a deeper knowledge that comes through intimacy with someone; a knowledge that is acquired through spending time with them—getting to know them beyond general facts about them, but that is still a naturally gained knowledge. Spiritually speaking there is a knowledge that comes only through the Holy Spirit; Jesus called this revealed knowledge (I call it revelation knowledge after my spiritual father Kenneth Copeland). When Peter replied “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (see Matthew 16:13-17) Jesus said he was blessed because “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (v. 17). This type of knowledge does not come through the brain by figuring things out, but through the inner-man (spirit) by Holy Spirit communication.

COVENANT OF BLOOD—NOT HUMAN CONTRACTS

The Bible is a record of our Covenant with Almighty God that has been established in the Blood of Christ. Covenants are much more than a contract—especially the way we Westerners treat contracts. Here in the U. S. we have watered down contracts to the point they can be broken (it’s sad to say, but most of the judicial system has evolved to figuring out ways to get around honoring [or, get away with breaking] contracts). Covenants are not that way. A covenant is a sacred agreement between two parties that cannot be broken! It is an agreement that puts the lives of all involved on the line. In other words, if the covenant is violated in any way somebody is going to die. That’s where animal sacrifices came from in the Old Testament. God allowed for an animal to die as a substitute when someone broke the covenant rules (sinned) He had established between Himself and man. Jesus then became a Man to die in our place (thank You Lord!) and pay the price of our sin “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2Co 5:21). Paul, having grown-up with this type of understanding and mind-set of blood covenants, wrote those words to the Corinthian church, just after our opening Scripture.

The point of this teaching is for us to NOT ‘know’ Christ Jesus (including all portions of the Word of God—Who Jesus is, having become flesh and dwelling among us [see John 1:14]) according to natural human reasoning or thinking, but to develop an intimacy with Him and position ourselves to receive revelation knowledge of Him through the Holy Spirit. There is a gross dread that has come on the human race that has led to having no hope. Isaiah called it a “deep darkness” (60:2) that covers the people. But Paul said that lack of hope comes from not knowing God, being a stranger to the covenants of promise (see Ephesians 2:12). For the Lord Jesus Christ is our hope (1Timothy 1:1). He is the fulfillment of all the promises of God—“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2Co 1:20). We become partakers of God’s nature through these exceedingly great and precious promises (2Peter 1:4).

What do you think God’s nature is like? Do you think He ever has a bad day? Do you think He’s hope-less? Do you think He’s depressed—sick—grouchy?? Well, get in the Book and be an imitator of God (Ephesians 5:1) through revelation of all His precious promises! Don’t be guilty of trying to figure God out by trying to know Him after the flesh!

I truly appreciate each and every one of you! I hope you make full use of all the writings throughout this site! I encourage comments. Be blessed as you read!

–Mike