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Someone asked in another post what the most important discipline was that we should develop. Interesting (and important!) question. Rather than seem to hijack the thread, I thought I would answer here because my post is long. Sorry. Well, no I am not. LOL. Here goes...
The most important discipline we must rely upon above all else? I want to share what God shared with me now 10 years ago. At that time in my walk with God, I was at my lowest, ready to give up and tell God "What I see you asking from me your word.... Lord, I want you to know, I cannot BE that person." Mind you, I was not walking away from God. Where else could I go? No, I was simply out of answers. No more theories. I just finally came to the point where I admitted I had no answers, no way to rein in my lust. I was simply ready to admit that holiness for me was simply impossible, trying to be a "good" Christian" a fanciful pipe dream. I was ready to finally relax and stop worrying about the sins that still had me in their tentacle-like grip like everyone told me. After all, isn't that what grace is for, right?
No, wrong answer. Grace, real grace promises to teach us the HOW of a holy, victorious walk, how we can finally deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously and justly in this present world. THAT is real grace. That is the grace we need to be introduced to.
Wel, that amazing night, praise God, my introduction finally began, and with a boom. He appeared. Like really. Not face to face. More like face to trembling, crying, laughing back of neck. And God spoke. Like outloud spoke. I kid you not. Take it for what it is worth.
Upon my confession of total and complete failure in reining my flesh in, and at my lowest of lows, all my efforts a failure, these are the exact words as He spoke them to me that amazing night.
"For this my son, I am well pleased with you."
Say what?? For 38 years I had tried to overcome a very strong flesh, a rebellious flesh and truly tried to please God..... and failed. For 38 years I had longed to just once really feel like God was pleased with who I was ,warts snd all. And NOW? Now He comes and tells me He is pleased with me?? It made no sense, that is until He spoke His next words.
"I knew all along that you could not walk the walk I had for you, but YOU did not yet know it."
Yet. Wonderful word. Why was He pleased woth me? Simply because I had finally become a man with NO strength, no answers, a man who hated his flesh but could not escape its grip. I was the poster boy for Romans chapter seven, but saints, dear children of God, Romans 7 is our wilderness that all of us must pass through. All. No exceptions, for it is here we learn how in need of God we truly are. It is here we pass over into our promised land of victory, Romans 8. That, brothers and sisters, is our birthright. That is our home, our resting place, our 'promised land', And what happens when we cross over from death to life by arriving at the place of no strength, of total failure? It's mounting up with eagles wings time. Something was about to change.
God knew of the myriad list of things I'd tried. You name it, I tried it. I simply finally ran out of any more leaves to turn over. Some of you know exactly what I am talking about.
And He continued.....
"In all your tryings, did you ever do what I instructed you to do through the apostle Paul?"
And of course, He immediately took off my blinders, and let me see to what He was referring. It was none other than the missing key, the truth found in Romans 6 Yes, THE missing key. Bold statement? Indeed. Curious? Come see.
Ok, back to the "revelation". As I said...Romans 6. I almost knew by heart. Somehow I always knew that this was a pivotal chapter. You too? Here He tells us that there are two things that must be settled., things we are told we MUST know, down deep in our core. These are core foundational truths that must become rooted in our hearts.
1) First, that when Christ died, so DID we. The Bible calls that the " old" us. The old us is not "trying to die". It is dead.
2) That when Christ rose from the dead, so did we. He rose to newness of life, so DID we.
How are we to yield ourselves to God? Praise God, as those who are alive from the dead. Amen?
Our brains? "Yeah, yeah, ok". But that is where we stop. We forget the next verse. It is a commandment to DO something. Here is our part of this heavenly partnership... the key.
Ready? He who has ears, Lord, let them hear.
"Likewise reckon yourself to dead to sin but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
And suddenly I saw. Light. In all my attempts to defeat self, to rein it in, to bring it under my submission, not visa versa, i had never done THAT. And yet here God instructs us what to do when we finally break and give up, He tells us to believe these two truthes are OUR truths... MY truth. Now He instructs us to 'clothe ourselves with righteousness'... to 'put on' our new nature. He tells us to RECKON.
Reckon here means to add into inventory. It is a banking term. And suddenly I realized.... I had never done that. Not once. Thirty eight years. Not once did I ever arm myself with my sword, using God's word as TRUTH to fight off the accuser. My shield of faith? Oh, I had it, just not up, Ne. Layong in the corner gathering dust. Satan beating my spiritual brains out whenever he feels like it. My new clothes? Oh, I had them, just wasn't wearing 'em. Still folded up and sitting on the shelf. Me and a whole bunch of others.
So what did I "do"? I spoke. Out loud. Loudly out loud. I spoke loud enough for all the demons in hell to hear me. Loud enough for every angelic being in Heaven to hear. But most importantly, I spoke loud enough for my own ears to hear. Why? Because faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Truth works no matter who speaks it.
"I am not the old me any longer. I reckon THAT me is not me any more. It is dead. Sin no longer has dominion over me. God does. I am new, a new creature. NOW. Not tomorrow, not when I get my crap togethet. Not ever. NOW. Down deep. In the very core of me, that me is pure and good. Perfect in God's eyes. And that me? That is who I now am."
Whoa.
And with those amazing words, i finally picked up my sword and shield. And what is our shield? Is it fasting? Prayer? Bible memorization? Witnessing? Serving? Never missing church? No, guys. What is it?
It is our TESTIMONY.
Do we remember what Revelations 17 teaches us about this amazing transformation we are all about to experience? We are about to stop being the First church of the Overcome. The tables are being turned. The overcome is about to become the overcomer.
And what are we told the secret was to why the end times church would become overcomers? Listen. Are you listening? All your heart, open minded, .... hungry listening?
Here you go. "They overcame him (satan) by the blood of the lamb AND the word of THEIR testimony." Light on yet? If not, it's coming. Promise.
And when I did, when I came into agreement with God, guess what? He did.... and boy, did He. We could finally walk together. Abide. Like 24/7 abide. In my weakness and total trust, I finally had armed myself with truth, truth that sets free. Like for real. What He has told us in Romans?... it was true.... IS true for me... that very day. Not tomorrow. Not when I get serious. Not when I get worthy enough. Those days do not exist. Figments of our imaginations. N O W.
I had drawn near to Him, believing something almost ludicrous. No, totally ludicrous. Sin was under MY feet. No more white dog, black dog, whoever you feed the most crud. Listen. The black dog that WAS you? He....she....is dead.
And what happened? The last tumbler clocked into place. The door swung open. He drew near to me. Not with me. IN me. New creature. Crazy, you say. I am smiling. You ate going to eat those words, and smile the whole time.
What I am shaing with you right now? It is real, and it works. It is like God has equipped us with spiritual super-cars. yet we have been content to just sit in our new Lamborghini, trying to look pretty. We claim to be born again. Listen, we ARE.
But if this is the case, some will ask, "Then why do we struggle? How do we reconcile these truths with us continuing to act like they are not? Easy.
According to our faith be it unto us.
We have believed a lie, and even though we are heirs to the throne, we still are under the law, whether we want to admit it or not. Failure has still been our daily bread. And why? Unbelief. Truth is, we do not believe it. Not really.
We have just been handed the keytocour nice new Lamborghini. Are we going to continue to sit there, always progressing, never getting anywhere. Shades of the ancient Israelites, running laps around Sinai. Ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Ouch.
Who do we believe we are? Down deep in our core, who we believe that we are is critical. Are we just sinners relying on grace to cover our sins, even the ones we continue to do, willingly and knowingly, expecting God to wink at them as if they were nothing? As if God smiles and whispers to us "Gotcha covered". Sad. Dangerous. Yet this is who we have been. Me at the head of the line. This has been our testimony. Praise God, things are about to change. Prepare to have your whole outlook on life altered in a way beyond wonderful, beyond anything you may have imagined possible. Latter rain possible... and the latter is going to be greater than the former. Book of Acts chapter two.
Who are we? Overcomers, overcomers because we are new creatures. We are about to armed ourselves with our testimonies. We are about to break our earthen jars by our testimony, and light our lamps. We are about to see every trace of defeat leave us forever. Ready. Good. Feel unworthy and totally unable? Good.
We are about to put the key in our spiritual ignition, and listen to our 'God engine' roar to life. Vroom. Prepare to be amazed.
I truly apologize again for my very long post. But trying to share what I just posted in two paragraphs? Impossible. Ain't happening...
Ah, the bones are beginning to rattle. I hope someone gets blessed by what God wants you to know and walk in, nothing less than Collosians 2:20. Remember? "I am crucified with Christ......".
Thanks for your ears....
Gideon
The most important discipline we must rely upon above all else? I want to share what God shared with me now 10 years ago. At that time in my walk with God, I was at my lowest, ready to give up and tell God "What I see you asking from me your word.... Lord, I want you to know, I cannot BE that person." Mind you, I was not walking away from God. Where else could I go? No, I was simply out of answers. No more theories. I just finally came to the point where I admitted I had no answers, no way to rein in my lust. I was simply ready to admit that holiness for me was simply impossible, trying to be a "good" Christian" a fanciful pipe dream. I was ready to finally relax and stop worrying about the sins that still had me in their tentacle-like grip like everyone told me. After all, isn't that what grace is for, right?
No, wrong answer. Grace, real grace promises to teach us the HOW of a holy, victorious walk, how we can finally deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously and justly in this present world. THAT is real grace. That is the grace we need to be introduced to.
Wel, that amazing night, praise God, my introduction finally began, and with a boom. He appeared. Like really. Not face to face. More like face to trembling, crying, laughing back of neck. And God spoke. Like outloud spoke. I kid you not. Take it for what it is worth.
Upon my confession of total and complete failure in reining my flesh in, and at my lowest of lows, all my efforts a failure, these are the exact words as He spoke them to me that amazing night.
"For this my son, I am well pleased with you."
Say what?? For 38 years I had tried to overcome a very strong flesh, a rebellious flesh and truly tried to please God..... and failed. For 38 years I had longed to just once really feel like God was pleased with who I was ,warts snd all. And NOW? Now He comes and tells me He is pleased with me?? It made no sense, that is until He spoke His next words.
"I knew all along that you could not walk the walk I had for you, but YOU did not yet know it."
Yet. Wonderful word. Why was He pleased woth me? Simply because I had finally become a man with NO strength, no answers, a man who hated his flesh but could not escape its grip. I was the poster boy for Romans chapter seven, but saints, dear children of God, Romans 7 is our wilderness that all of us must pass through. All. No exceptions, for it is here we learn how in need of God we truly are. It is here we pass over into our promised land of victory, Romans 8. That, brothers and sisters, is our birthright. That is our home, our resting place, our 'promised land', And what happens when we cross over from death to life by arriving at the place of no strength, of total failure? It's mounting up with eagles wings time. Something was about to change.
God knew of the myriad list of things I'd tried. You name it, I tried it. I simply finally ran out of any more leaves to turn over. Some of you know exactly what I am talking about.
And He continued.....
"In all your tryings, did you ever do what I instructed you to do through the apostle Paul?"
And of course, He immediately took off my blinders, and let me see to what He was referring. It was none other than the missing key, the truth found in Romans 6 Yes, THE missing key. Bold statement? Indeed. Curious? Come see.
Ok, back to the "revelation". As I said...Romans 6. I almost knew by heart. Somehow I always knew that this was a pivotal chapter. You too? Here He tells us that there are two things that must be settled., things we are told we MUST know, down deep in our core. These are core foundational truths that must become rooted in our hearts.
1) First, that when Christ died, so DID we. The Bible calls that the " old" us. The old us is not "trying to die". It is dead.
2) That when Christ rose from the dead, so did we. He rose to newness of life, so DID we.
How are we to yield ourselves to God? Praise God, as those who are alive from the dead. Amen?
Our brains? "Yeah, yeah, ok". But that is where we stop. We forget the next verse. It is a commandment to DO something. Here is our part of this heavenly partnership... the key.
Ready? He who has ears, Lord, let them hear.
"Likewise reckon yourself to dead to sin but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
And suddenly I saw. Light. In all my attempts to defeat self, to rein it in, to bring it under my submission, not visa versa, i had never done THAT. And yet here God instructs us what to do when we finally break and give up, He tells us to believe these two truthes are OUR truths... MY truth. Now He instructs us to 'clothe ourselves with righteousness'... to 'put on' our new nature. He tells us to RECKON.
Reckon here means to add into inventory. It is a banking term. And suddenly I realized.... I had never done that. Not once. Thirty eight years. Not once did I ever arm myself with my sword, using God's word as TRUTH to fight off the accuser. My shield of faith? Oh, I had it, just not up, Ne. Layong in the corner gathering dust. Satan beating my spiritual brains out whenever he feels like it. My new clothes? Oh, I had them, just wasn't wearing 'em. Still folded up and sitting on the shelf. Me and a whole bunch of others.
So what did I "do"? I spoke. Out loud. Loudly out loud. I spoke loud enough for all the demons in hell to hear me. Loud enough for every angelic being in Heaven to hear. But most importantly, I spoke loud enough for my own ears to hear. Why? Because faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Truth works no matter who speaks it.
"I am not the old me any longer. I reckon THAT me is not me any more. It is dead. Sin no longer has dominion over me. God does. I am new, a new creature. NOW. Not tomorrow, not when I get my crap togethet. Not ever. NOW. Down deep. In the very core of me, that me is pure and good. Perfect in God's eyes. And that me? That is who I now am."
Whoa.
And with those amazing words, i finally picked up my sword and shield. And what is our shield? Is it fasting? Prayer? Bible memorization? Witnessing? Serving? Never missing church? No, guys. What is it?
It is our TESTIMONY.
Do we remember what Revelations 17 teaches us about this amazing transformation we are all about to experience? We are about to stop being the First church of the Overcome. The tables are being turned. The overcome is about to become the overcomer.
And what are we told the secret was to why the end times church would become overcomers? Listen. Are you listening? All your heart, open minded, .... hungry listening?
Here you go. "They overcame him (satan) by the blood of the lamb AND the word of THEIR testimony." Light on yet? If not, it's coming. Promise.
And when I did, when I came into agreement with God, guess what? He did.... and boy, did He. We could finally walk together. Abide. Like 24/7 abide. In my weakness and total trust, I finally had armed myself with truth, truth that sets free. Like for real. What He has told us in Romans?... it was true.... IS true for me... that very day. Not tomorrow. Not when I get serious. Not when I get worthy enough. Those days do not exist. Figments of our imaginations. N O W.
I had drawn near to Him, believing something almost ludicrous. No, totally ludicrous. Sin was under MY feet. No more white dog, black dog, whoever you feed the most crud. Listen. The black dog that WAS you? He....she....is dead.
And what happened? The last tumbler clocked into place. The door swung open. He drew near to me. Not with me. IN me. New creature. Crazy, you say. I am smiling. You ate going to eat those words, and smile the whole time.
What I am shaing with you right now? It is real, and it works. It is like God has equipped us with spiritual super-cars. yet we have been content to just sit in our new Lamborghini, trying to look pretty. We claim to be born again. Listen, we ARE.
But if this is the case, some will ask, "Then why do we struggle? How do we reconcile these truths with us continuing to act like they are not? Easy.
According to our faith be it unto us.
We have believed a lie, and even though we are heirs to the throne, we still are under the law, whether we want to admit it or not. Failure has still been our daily bread. And why? Unbelief. Truth is, we do not believe it. Not really.
We have just been handed the keytocour nice new Lamborghini. Are we going to continue to sit there, always progressing, never getting anywhere. Shades of the ancient Israelites, running laps around Sinai. Ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Ouch.
Who do we believe we are? Down deep in our core, who we believe that we are is critical. Are we just sinners relying on grace to cover our sins, even the ones we continue to do, willingly and knowingly, expecting God to wink at them as if they were nothing? As if God smiles and whispers to us "Gotcha covered". Sad. Dangerous. Yet this is who we have been. Me at the head of the line. This has been our testimony. Praise God, things are about to change. Prepare to have your whole outlook on life altered in a way beyond wonderful, beyond anything you may have imagined possible. Latter rain possible... and the latter is going to be greater than the former. Book of Acts chapter two.
Who are we? Overcomers, overcomers because we are new creatures. We are about to armed ourselves with our testimonies. We are about to break our earthen jars by our testimony, and light our lamps. We are about to see every trace of defeat leave us forever. Ready. Good. Feel unworthy and totally unable? Good.
We are about to put the key in our spiritual ignition, and listen to our 'God engine' roar to life. Vroom. Prepare to be amazed.
I truly apologize again for my very long post. But trying to share what I just posted in two paragraphs? Impossible. Ain't happening...
Ah, the bones are beginning to rattle. I hope someone gets blessed by what God wants you to know and walk in, nothing less than Collosians 2:20. Remember? "I am crucified with Christ......".
Thanks for your ears....
Gideon
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