Anb69 Thoughts And Encouragement

ANB 69, thoughts and encouragement (2-14-06) As I sat down to write this email I felt a release of the Lord to just talk a little bit, to deviate from our normal topic study and just share from my heart all that I see in the Spirit and in God these days. So tonight I'm just going to go with it. I pray that these words bless and encourage you. Someone recently accused me of being very 'holier than thou.' Now this didn't offend me as it is a common complaint against ministers, but it did get me thinking. A minister's job is never to say I'm better than you are. A minister's job, however, is to exemplify the Gospel in every area of life. And a minister's job is to preach this life of the Gospel. I recently began thinking about the question, 'What do you do for a living?' For a Christian there is only one correct answer, "I am a Christian." For, the just shall live by faith. You see, faith in Christ is supposed to touch every aspect of your existence. You should wake up thinking Christian, go to sleep thinking Christian, and all day long think Christian. Now I don't mean always think about the Bible or God, for we have jobs and spouses and other things God wants us to think about. But we should always be thinking of those things through a Christian mental framework. The way we think about everything should be according to God and His Word. And if all our thoughts are structured in this manner, than so will all our actions be, and then our life will be one literally living the Gospel and living for God. Now this might all sound like a tall order? But what has to ultimately happen is we have to have our minds renewed. Then you will see what it means to truly live Christianity. From the moment you were born until you got saved you were educated in the world system. This system is corrupt, the god of this world is the devil (2 Corinthians 4:4), and this system's chief motive is selfishness. God's system is holy, the God of God's system is Jehovah, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and this system's chief motive is love. These systems are night and day, darkness and light, summer and winter. There are no greater opposites than the ways of God and the ways of the devil. We must now renew our minds to God's system and His plan for our lives. Read Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 4:23. To renew means to begin again or to make new again. Your mind was originally created to be completely holy and totally in line with God's system. When sin touched your mind it was infected, and like a cancer this sin spread to taint your entire way of thinking. You renew your mind by planting the seed of God's Word over every area of life in your head. This time with God and in His Word will help transform your mind back to a holy thinking machine. Moreover, now Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for your sin. And in Him we are free from the curses of sin and its effects. But we have to truly appropriate what He did for us. Salvation is a 'free gift' from Jesus Christ for us all. Salvation means salvation from every effect of sin. You are saved from hell, for sure, but you are also saved from every effect of sin in this life. Your 'heaven ticket' so to speak, you receive immediately. But the other effects of this salvation often take effort and time. The word 'receive' in

the original New Testament Greek does not imply just catch, it means to actively reach out and take. So we have to learn to actively reach out and take all that Salvation provides for us. We do this by hearing the Word, claiming its benefits for our lives, and receiving them by faith. (Please later read ANBs 22, 50, 51 and 52 at www.exploitsforgod.com/anb). Most ministers are not aiming to act holier than thou. Most ministers are people who God has revealed Himself to. These ministers then devote their lives to walking in this blessing of the knowledge of God. To walk with God means to develop in pleasing Him, develop in receiving what He has given you, and then doing what you can to pass this information onto others. I heard someone say that you can't really just teach someone God as in book knowledge, God has to be revealed to a person. I believe this is absolutely correct, this is the difference between revelation and information. Once God reveals Himself to a person (Read Samuel 1-4), for most this marks the true beginning of their lives. So ministers take what God tells them to do, and the ways God shows them to work, and preach these truths to their people. The Word of God is preached, God works through people's mouths. This is His way. Read Romans 10:13-17. There is an apparent inconsistency here you might have just noticed. Let me just put it like this, for this is what I believe: God will personally reveal Himself to every person who is searching with a faithful heart. I'm talking an experience where you come away with never another doubt in your heart about God. However, much of God's communication to us will be through the mouths of others, especially His ministers. So He works both ways, but the true 'God revealing Himself to you' experience will come directly from Him. So ministers take what they get and try to pass it on to you. Why? Because anything that God shows a minister about Himself or His ways is true for every person. If God says that if you praise and worship you will hear the Holy Spirit better, then this is true for every single human being alive. So while preachers may seem self-righteous when they say so many statements that begin something like, 'I do . . .,' they are not saying how great they are. They are trying to instill faith in you so that you will do the same and then get the same Godly results. This is the job of a minister: to help your relationship with God. God is a God of order, He instructs the shepherd, the shepherd instructs the sheep. (Note: I am not simply referring to Byron Howell, but whoever your pastor or local minister might be). So what do we, as church members or Bible study readers, have to do. "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established, believe His prophets, so shall you prosper." 2 Chronicles 20:20. We see again this aforementioned duality of Christianity. God wants you to listen both to Him and to His ministers. So when will you be established and prosper? When you begin aggressively and faithfully doing those things that both God and your ministers lead you to do. You will not prosper otherwise, I have to tell you. If you do not walk by the Word, you cannot be established in the Word's blessings. If you habitually disobey Godly advice from the

ministers in your life, you won't prosper. God puts you under a specific church leadership so you will receive and obey the Word. If you don't obey you are largely wasting your time. But the wonderful converse is so true. When you aggressively begin to believe the Lord, trust his ministers, and do all that you believe God and His Word command, you will be established and you will walk in prosperity like you never imagined. Read Genesis 1:28, 29 and Ephesians 1:3, these verses have so struck me lately. We were created blessed, and we have been blessed with every good and spiritual blessing we could ever want. We are already blessed. What we have to do is now walk out the blessing. A blessing is largely an empowerment I believe. I am blessed to succeed and prosper in all Godly living. I am not blessed to go out and live like a fool. If you will serve God and live appropriately, trusting Him and His ministers, these blessings will manifest, and life will be a walking manifestation of salvation from every effect of sin. You will live Christianity, you will living God's provision, you will walk in prosperity and you will live the abundant life (John 10:10). Glory to God.