Practice what He preaches

All,

I would also like to share something that jumped out at me while I was feasting. Last night while reading to my son this verse caught my eye:

Mat 7:24-27 NIV   "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."”

Keep this verse in mind as we look at the beginning of this sermon (the sermon on the mount.):

Mat 5:29-30 NKJV  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  (30)  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

This is as you already know is the verse that talks about radical amputation of all things that hinder us or cause us to sin. We can see that if we “put into practice” the act of radical amputation (meaning being active in our fight), then when the storms of sin and temptation comes we can stand firm on our Rock. We can rest assured that Jesus our Rock will hold firm and we can draw our strength from Him and His word.

I hope that your days is blessed, and that you find a new hope and breath of life in Jesus.

Resist to the point of shedding your blood

Just like all men I too get tempted. I wish that I could be completely and totally free from all temptations/sins (this we can only keep hope for when Jesus returns).

The other day while I was feasting I was lead to this verse in Hebrews:

Heb 12:4 NIV In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

 

This was an eye opener for me. As I had to ask myself do I always resist temptations? The answer is no. Then I had to ask, if I do sin, how much more could I have fought to remain pure or free from sin? From reading Heb_12:4 we see that some (primarily me) have not fought/resisted temptation/sin hard enough. I often say "it's just too hard, I am not strong enough to resist." then... I sin. This is showing just how weak my flesh is (or truly how strong the lust of the flesh can be). We should be disciplined enough to resist even to the point of shedding our own blood.

I then was reminded of Jesus, and when sweated blood.

Luk 22:42-45 NKJV  saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."  (43)  Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.  (44)  And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  (45)  When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.

Though we are not told he was being "tempted" we can clearly see that His flesh was putting up one "hell" of a fight. So often my flesh seems to put of a fight to strengthen me to sin (Gal_5:16-17). We are even told in Rom_13:14 to put on Jesus, and make no room for our flesh to fulfill its lust. So when we see Jesus (in prayer) bringing His body into subjection/discipline (1Co_9:27) and resisting what His flesh wanted to do even to the "point of shedding blood" we should be encouraged and lifted up to see such an example of victory. Looking to Jesus here, we see just how to resist even to the point of blood.

I also want to take a quick look at what Jesus was doing the whole time. Please take a look again at Luk_22:42-45. We see that He went to the Father in prayer. So many times I find that when my flesh/sin/temptations spring there little ugly heads up "prayer" is that last place I want to go. But we find that there in prayer we can be and are strengthen to endure to the point of blood... one last look at His prayer. Notice how even after He started praying He was in "agony?" This did not cause Him to stop praying, no it drove Him to pray even more earnestly!

We have seen that though we are tempted we must not just sit there, and take it. Nor should we stand there and just try to say "no" I will not sin. We have seen that we are to be active in our fight against it. That we are to resist to the point of blood.

Every night I read the bible to my son. Here recently I have had the desire to read Judges to him. It is there in those times of feasting that I often hear their Father speak to me too.  Well the other night we read Judges 3, and this jumped out at me.

Jdg 3:1-2 NIV These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (2) (He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had pervious battle experience.)

And again from the Message version.

Jdg 3:1-2 MSG  These are the nations that GOD left there, using them to test the Israelites who had no experience in the Canaanite wars.  (2)  He did it to train the descendants of Israel, the ones who had no battle experience, in the art of war.

As I briefly mentioned above in Galatians 5:16-17 our flesh and Sprit war against each other. We also know that our enemy wars against us too. So when I read this verse it hit close to home with me. I thought it a wonderful thing to see that our Father wants to, and will teach us the art of warfare in our fight against sin/temptations. But He goes about it a bit differently then I would expect. I often have been taught in a class room setting. I would first learned the task, then went outside to apply hands on training, then maybe, just maybe I might get to use it in real life.  But our God has allowed us our enemy to remain to teach us the art of war. What we get is the "in your face, real life" fight as our instruction/hands on application..... But this should not get us down, or discourage us. No it should lift us up and encourage us. For during those time our Jesus is ever close to us. For it is Him who is our strength. We saw in Luke that it was an angle that strengthen Jesus, how much more is our strength when it is the Holy Spirit Himself who is with us?

Heb 13:8 NKJV  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Seeing that Jesus is the same always we know that just as He delivered the enemies of God's people into their hands, He will deliver our enemies into our hands. Let this be a hope to us.

Knowing this and seeing how He fought for God's people, leads us to ask how are we to fight?

Eph 6:12 NKJV  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Again in the Message version

Eph 6:12 MSG  This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

Then if our enemy is not of flesh and blood then how do we war?

2Co 10:3-4 NKJV  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  (4)  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

This brings us back to our original look at resisting to the point of blood. Our enemy is the devil. It is through him that our flesh was tempted into becoming fallen. Now we have a flesh that desires the ungodly things. It wars against the Spirit. We have tongue that is set on fire by hell (Jas_3:6). It seems that every where we turn there is a fight. Oh how that can get discouraging!!!! But let us not lose hope. Let us turn our eyes to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith! Let us begin to live in the Spirit so that we may remain strong in the fight of our lives. Let us turn to Jesus so that we may be taught the art of our warfare.

Psa 144:1-2 NKJV  A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle— (2)  My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me.

Again in the Message version.

Psa 144:1-2 MSG  A David psalm. Blessed be GOD, my mountain, who trains me to fight fair and well.  (2)  He's the bedrock on which I stand, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight, The high crag where I run for dear life, while he lays my enemies low.

WOW!!! Not only will Jesus teach us how to fight against sin, He is our strength, our hope, our source of life, and our victor who destroys our enemies!!!

In the example that Jesus showed us in Luke, we saw that He turned to the Father in prayer, so we too must turn to Jesus in prayer. He must be the one in whom we "run for dear life" so that He may "lay my enemies low."

Men, brother! I know more than anyone just how hard it is to remain pure and free from sin. This fight against sin/temptation is an ongoing battle in my life. That’s is why I find such strength in His word when I read that He will teach me how to fight, knowing that if I remain in Him He will deliver all my enemies into my hands. Let me encourage you to begin obey this:

1Th 5:17 NKJV  pray without ceasing,

Learn to live in prayer, learn to run to Jesus in prayer, learn how fight in prayer! Follow the example Jesus has showed us and find a new strength to fight against sin/temptations to the point of shedding your blood.

Now there are times (for me all to often) that we do and will sin. And we know that when we sin we must go and seek forgives. Think about this for a minute..... What enables us to be forgiven of all our sins? Jesus' finished work on the cross!

Php 2:8 NKJV  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

We know that our payment for sin comes only through the blood Jesus shed for us. So when we sin, not having resisted to the point of blood, then go back to the Father to seek forgiveness, what are we doing? We (mainly I) are requesting again, and again the use of Jesus' blood to cover where we could not resist (in the flesh) a passing pleasure.

Oh what grace we truly have in Jesus!!! For He knows (and Knew) that we so desperately needed Him and His finished work on the cross. It was in the Fathers love that He sent Jesus for us. It was in Jesus' love that He was obedient even to the point of death. This was all done so that we might have life (free life) in Jesus. This was done so that we might be reconciled back to the Father, and be one with Him as Jesus is.

Let today be the day that we begin to stand strong in Jesus, having a new hope and vigor to remain pure. That we will fight against sin/temptations with all that we have. When it gets tough, and we begin to feel "agony" that we would press in even harder to Jesus. Having done all we could to stand (Eph_6:13) and be obedient to Jesus (out of love) even to the point of shedding our blood, even to point of death.

Dew of Heaven

when i was reading to Ian tonight. we read Gen 27 when i read to him i try and find little things that stick out to me. well tonight this verse stuck out to me the most.

(Gen 27:28 NKJV)  Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine.

as Isaac blessed Jacob he said "may God give you the dew of heaven." my heart leaped as i too want the dew of heaven to fall in my house, in my life, my marriage, my son's life, in my life, in my whole world.

though this is short it is sweet. so i pray that i take the time to seek Jesus, that He (as my Father) may bless me with the "dew of heaven."

Mountain Top

(Gen 22:14 NKJV)  And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided."

the other night i was reading to Ian before bed. when we came to this part it jumped out at me. and what really hit me was this

"In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided."

in the mountain of the Lord it shall be provided. several things come to mind. one of course is Jesus. on calvary mount it was provided for us. He shed His blood to pay for our sins. God provided on His mountain.

another thing that comes to mind is how many times do we say something like this "it was a mountain top experience ?" when we feel close to Jesus we always seem to call it being on the mountain top. so when it says "In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided." we find that God requires something from us. looking back in the story Abraham was about to sacrifice his son. but he was stopped because he showed great faithfulness to God. and there he found a mountain top experience . i am not saying that every time we must sacrifice something to have this "mountain top experience ." the sacrifice has already been paid, but there are times that God requires us to give up something of ourselves in order to remain obedient to Him.

so let me seek out the Mount of the Lord. let me seek out Jesus on the cross, for there i find the sacrifice and the grace to remain in Him, and He in i.

The Cross of Jesus Christ... Something to Linger On

Setting Captive Free offers several courses to take. One of the best ones (I think) is “The Cross.” They take you through a 60 course of looking at the Cross of Jesus Christ. Each day is packed full of biblical truths about the single greatest event that has ever taken place in the history of man. Some would say that 60 days is to much, to long, and that it would get old. Well I will tell you that 60 isn’t enough.

With all that being said, I would like to share with you something that really got my attention. We all know (or should have an understanding) that Jesus is the payment of our sins. For most of you who will read this you also know that in the Old Testament they had to pay for their sins. They would do this several different ways, but always there was blood that had to be shed. I want to take a quick little snap shot from the course to examine a biblical truth of how the atonement for sins of old correlates to what Jesus did on the cross.

Exo 25:21-22  You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. (22)  And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.

Notice from the above passage that two specific things happened at the mercy seat. From Exodus 25:22 we see that God would “meet with” the high priest there, and that God would “speak with” him there. Please keep these truths in mind as we read additional verses on the mercy seat.

The Cross of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the “Mercy Seat” of the Old Testament. God looks down upon the death of His Son, who shed His blood for our forgiveness, and He has mercy on His people. Just as God met with the people and spoke to them from above the mercy seat, so He meets with us at the cross, and speaks to us at the cross.

The words He speaks at the cross are words of mercy. If we linger at the cross, and examine it with eyes of faith, here are the words we will hear:

·         Forgiveness: Act 10:43  To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."

·          Acceptance: Eph 1:6  to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

·         Redemption: Eph 1:7  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

·         Reconciliation: Rom 5:11  And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

·         Peace with God: Col 1:20  and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.Rom 5:1  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

·         Eternal life: Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

To stop and think about the cross (process, from beginning to end) is something that I have not done in a long time. Please take a few moments (longer would be preferred) and meditate on what Jesus did for you at the Cross………… I would also urge you to meditate on this throughout the week, as this is the most important part of what we believe as Christians… just take a look at what Paul had to say about this matter.

Gal 6:14  But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Wicked, Judgement, Grace, Redemption in Psalms

i have been reading/praying Psalms for the past several weeks. as i read this morning before prayer, i read Ch 49-50. and during that reading i saw the redemption story. its like a conversation between us and God. it starts with Him.

(God)
Psa 50:16  But to the wicked God says: "What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth,
Psa 50:17  Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you?
Psa 50:18  When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers.
Psa 50:19  You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit.
Psa 50:20  You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother's son.
Psa 50:21  These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.

God says to us that we are wicked and that we have taken His words His commands and thrown them behind us. we act as if He never gave us a law to follow (just like in Mat_7:23). God goes on to tell us just how we have broken His laws. we speak evil with no remorse, we kill our brother with our tongue and never think twice about it. when we see someone sinning we turn our head and say "i didnt see that." then we go to that person and act as if they are our friends. finally God tells us this: that we have made a god in our own minds. we thought that our god was like us, that he was on our side (even though we sinned against him). we thought that we were righteous in the eyes of the god of our own understanding. we thought this when the one true I AM kept silent. He did this because He despises the proud (Jas_5:5, & 1Pe_5:5), and that is just what we the wicked are. 


their are times that we even as "christians" fall into the category of the "wicked." and to be honest  to look again at Psa_50:16-21 we see that God is in fact talking to us "christians."


our reply to God should and must be one of humility.

(Us "Christians")
Psa 38:18  For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin.

as our Father speaks to us our hearts should melt within us knowing that have sinned against a Holy God. that we have sinned against a good God (Rom_2:4). it is out of this that we should agree with Him and begin to repent.


our hearts should brake with in us. as we cry out to Him we cry "what can i do oh Lord? for i have sinned against you!!!"


as we agree with our God that we have sinned (this is confession) He responds to us:

(God)
Psa 49:7  None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him—
Psa 49:8  For the redemption of their souls is costly, And it shall cease forever—

also talk a look at this in the Message version

Psa 49:7  Really! There's no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
Psa 49:8  The cost of rescue is beyond our means, and even then it doesn't guarantee life forever

we see our Father speaking to us that there is no way that we can save ourselves or even our brother. (we cant pray our dead friends and family into heaven. so dont even try!) He tells us that the cost of redemption is to high for us. there is no way that we can gain salvation. the price is blood! to give all of our blood would only take us face to face with our "good God" where He must punish us to hell forever. that is the price for us sinning against our Holy and righteous God. 


knowing this and seeing that even when we cry out to our good God that we cannot by any means save ourselves, this should brake us. this should cause us to morn over our sins, as we have sinned against God! 


at this point our heart our broken and we should be in a state of repentance.

(Us "Christians")
Psa 38:1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
Psa 38:2  For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down.
Psa 38:3  There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin.
Psa 38:4  For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
Psa 38:5  My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness.
Psa 38:6  I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
Psa 38:7  For my loins are full of inflammation, And there is no soundness in my flesh.
Psa 38:8  I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.
Psa 38:9  Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.
Psa 38:10  My heart pants, my strength fails me; As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.

now this is what i call a repentant heart/mouth. to many times i see (even in me) "Christians" go to our Holy and righteous God and call this repentance: "oh dear heavenly Father, i am sorry that i sinned today. please forgive me." there is no heart in this. there is no humility in this. all it takes is for one to read a few Psalms to see that David (a man after God's own heart) sinned and that He truly repented. he was broken before God. just take a look at these verses.

Psa 40:12  For innumerable evils have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; Therefore my heart fails me.

and the famous Psa_51:1-19. through it all we see a state of repentance, but look at verse 17.

Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.

so what do we do then? what now, our hearts are broken before God, knowing that we cannot pay for our sins. He even told us that it is to costly! that is where grace comes in. that is where our JESUS comes in! that is where the good new of the gospel of Jesus Christ comes in. He paid for our sins. He was forsaken by God Himself. Jesus became so disgusting before our righteous and Holy God that God Himself could not even look upon His only Son. our Father turned His back on Jesus, and punished Him to hell, His rightful place for the sins He bore!...... then the glory of it all is that Jesus rose and defeated sin and death!!!! where He was restored to God, and in that restoration, He paid for us too. the ministry of Jesus is one of salvation and restoration. this is in short the gospel of Jesus. our good news and hope! JESUS PAID FOR OUR SINS!!!! HE HAS COME TO SET THE CAPTIVES FREE!!!!!


finally God says to us in this new state of holiness (in the blood of Jesus).

(God)
Psa 50:4  He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people:
Psa 50:5  "Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice."

on the final day, the day of judgement those that have repented and have sought Jesus for their salvation, and have trusted and put their faith in Jesus and the blood He paid, will be saved. when God (the Judge) stands high above the earth he will say "has the sacrifice been made?" and with great joy those of His house will proclaim YES!!! JESUS PAID!!!!


this is our greatest testimony. this is our good news to the world. their are to many people "Christians" or other wise that do not know or do not confess the deep depravity of their heart. it is our job to tell the world that they have sinned against a Holy God, a good God. and that they (we all) must repent and seek Jesus for the blood that He shed, so that there will be payment for our sins. this act of repentance/salvation is one that changes our lives, giving us that new life in Jesus!!!

Be Strong in Spirit

All,

It has been a while since I have last sent an encouraging word to you. I hope that today I will be able to bless you, and encourage you to continue in the fight against sexual bondage, or any bondage for that matter.

As I was doing my own feasting the Lord began to speak to about being strong in spirit. I have chewed on this for several days now. and I believe that I have been given a word for you all.

Lets first look at where it all began.

Luke 1:15b “(John the Baptist)…he will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mothers womb.”

Luke 1:80a “(John the Baptist) So the child grew and became strong in spirit…”

Luke 2:40b “(Jesus) The Child grew strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him”

John and Jesus were both filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. They as children grew and became strong in spirit. For as the Holy Spirit and their spirits were one, they grew strong in the Spirit.

Jesus has called us to be strong in our spirits too. look at Gal 5:16-18 “I say then: walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; the these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law.” Just as Jesus was tempted in the flesh so are we tempted in our flesh. But we have a good example in Jesus. He was strong in His spirit. He was strong in Spirit too. if we were to look at when Jesus was tempted we would see that He knew the scriptures, and He used them! We also see that He did not fight with His own strength. He fought with the strength given by the Spirit. He was strong in Spirit!

Now how does this apply to us, as we fight for freedom? Well, let us again look at scripture.

Rom 8:9 “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he is not his.”

We see that in order for us to be a Christian at all we must have the Holy Spirit inside of us. If He is not there then we are not born of Christ!... so with that being said look at:

1 John 4:13 “”By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit”

We know that we are of Jesus because He has given us His Spirit. He has given us the gift of Himself…. What a wonderful gift!... now let me ask you this, what does that gift of the Holy Spirit consist of? (I know we could spend days on that question, but let’s just look at one)… well let’s look at one that will bless us right now. One that will lift us up in our fight for freedom.

2 Cor 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

1 Cor 3:13 “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

1 Cor 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”

Here is our gift. FREEDOM, LIBERTY!!! We who are of Christ have the Holy Spirit in us. And where the Spirit of God is there is liberty. Brothers, do you get how great this is? Do you see the hope we have in Jesus? If the Holy Spirit is in you (as you are His temple of dwelling) then you are freed from the bondage of sexual sins. Well any bondage for that matter.

Now look back where we started. We started with John and Jesus. They grew as children, they grew strong in the Spirit. Brothers as you are coming out of bondage you are like little children. Which is a great place to be by the way. So as you are walking out of bondage and learning to walk with Jesus let your spirit become strong in Spirit. Consider this in Luke 7:28 “(Jesus says) For I say to you among those born of women there is not a greater prophet that John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he (John the Baptist)” to be least in the kingdom of Jesus is where I want to be. Let us always be in a state of need. Let us grow strong in the Spirit and always have a constant need for Jesus!

Finally let me leave you with this from  1 Thess 5:19 “Do not quench the Spirit.” Brothers as we live out our lives, let us do all we can do not quench the Spirit of God. We have seen that He the Spirit is our constant liberty, so if we quench Him what do you think might happen? We will open up a door for our flesh to reign again. So let us seek to stay obedient to Jesus and keep ourselves in the liberty that the Holy Spirit brings to us.

There is lasting freedom from sexual bondage. We do not have to live our lives bound to this terrible thing anymore. Turn, take up your cross and follow Jesus, leave all cares and worries behind and seek Him. Seek the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and find lasting liberty. For where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty!

Your Brother in the fight

Nate Cook

Setting Captives Free Team member