Tag Archives: Hope

Life is GREAT!

Posted by D.L.Fuller on

God is GREAT 3

A close brother of mine recently remarked that “Life” is fragile, and that “Life” is hard. Both statements just rubbed me the wrong way. It is because for me “Life” is YAHWEH; the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. YAHWEH is not easily broken or destroyed as defined by the word fragile. He is my firm foundation and the solid Rock on which I stand, He is from everlasting to everlasting, and of His kingdom there will be no end. YAHWEH is not hard, as He told us in Yeshua, by saying His yoke was easy and His burden was light, and He provides rest for our souls.

Perception and perspective are reflections of the heart. This is why if we are to see truth, our hearts have to be renewed and remain pure. Pure from the values and treasures of this world. If your hope in GOD is predominantly for the things of this temporary life, you will surely feel that your life is less than abundant and rarely beyond what you can dare ask or think. The Apostle Paul called the tribulations of this present time a “light affliction”. He could only have had that view point if his affections had shifted from his carnal existence to the eternal things of the spirit. Especially considering that he was shipwrecked, imprisoned, and beaten during his time on earth. This is evident as he concluded that these experiences were just a “light affliction” which lasted but for a “moment”.  His consciousness had already shifted in to the spans of eternity as he considered his time on earth but a “moment”.

One of the foundational works of salvation is the freeing of our minds. This can only happen through the surrender symbolized in the cross. We have to learn the lesson of the Children of Israel, Egypt released them, but they would not release Egypt. Holding on to Egypt kept them from grasping the things of GOD. They forfeited their inheritance. Christ has broken the powers of the world which held the church, now the church must release the world. Until the church does, it will be filled with the same desires, affection, fears and biases held by the deceived of the world. When you understand this as the problem, it makes sense why there is racism, greed, lust, anxiety, and hate rampant in the church. Christ has called us to inherit His life as heirs of the Kingdom of GOD, but we must release our lives to lay hold on His. You do this by opening your heart to the Truth of His word as revealed by the Spirit of GOD. Accept that the Word of GOD, which is Truth, is the only enduring reality. This will break the power of deception which obscures true vision. I am not advocating becoming more religious. Going to church and reading the bible will not change you unless the Word received is mixed with “faith”. The belief that your Heavenly Father loves you, even when the temporal things you see in your life seem to indicate otherwise. We can’t define the whole path based on where we currently stand in time. We must keep the perspective of the Word of GOD, since it comes from a viewpoint of the whole path. When we begin to see our lives from the viewpoint of GOD, then our testimony of life will reflect who He is, and in case you haven’t heard lately, GOD is GREAT!

 

Who Can Receive the Message of Salvation?

Posted by D.L.Fuller on

The Hook

To be born again, you must first die. The missionary can try to fix that up with whip cream and cherries and chocolate chips, but it will always be a bitter truth to those not fed up with their current life. If you love this current world, you will be offended by the cross. To be clear, you will be offended by anyone telling you that you have to sacrifice your life on the cross. Most people will say Christ sacrificing His life on the cross was a beautiful act of love, but when they are asked to take up their own cross to follow Him, they are offended. They know that taking up their own cross means they will have to stop fornicating and living lustfully, stop getting drunk, stop cheating and lying, stop hating their brothers and sisters. In other words, stop living in sin. I know some people will be offended at even reading this. They are offended because their stony hearts have not yet been broken by the love demonstrated from GOD through Christ. The scripture says in 1st John 2:15-16,

“15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

The refusal to surrender your life testifies to the fact that you do not yet love and trust GOD. That is verse 15 of the scripture cited above. You are still doing life your way, instead of putting your life in His hands. This is the reality that I had to face when I was resisting the cross. I had to come to terms with the reality that I was unwilling to surrender the things which were giving me pleasure and making me feel secure, for a chance at receiving the promise of something better in obedience to GOD. To even seriously ponder this proposition, you must know the feeling of a soul starting to buckle from weightiness of life in this world. To make that swap, you have to be convinced of two things; that Yeshua is GOD, and that He really does love you. If you are missing either of these elements in your belief toward GOD, its guaranteed that you have not taken up the cross and totally surrendered your life to GOD.  Hebrews 11: 6 states,

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Those who do not believe the Almighty Creator of all things, in the face of Yeshua the Christ, think they have more options than what are truly available. No greater love has ever been shown greater than the testimony of GOD’s love through the witness of Christ, and until you truly know that, you will always hold on to your self-life. I or know other person, can convince someone to surrender their life to GOD. That point in a person’s existence is orchestrated by GOD, where they will know who it is that is posing the question, “Will you trust me with your life?” Those that have accepted the offer from GOD and want so badly for others to have the same benefits, can only share His love as best they can, and testify to the benefits and terms of the amazing opportunity.

The message of GOD’s Salvation can’t be shared like a bad car salesman trying to get a contract signed by concealing all the cost. Christ new His target market,

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29)

When the rescue beacon of GOD’s voice finally reached my stony heart, it was shattered at the awareness of how I had dishonored and disrespected Him, and how I had rejected His love in counting Him unworthy of my trust, and at the depth of my injustice at refusing to suffer, in the face of the enormous cost that this salvation was being made offered. All of that, and He continued to pursue me, understanding that He alone had what my heart truly longed for and needed. In light of this, my self-life was wrecked into splinters, like a shipped washed into a mountain side by humungous waves. From that day forward, I have been compelled to surrender all.

The Gospel of Christ doesn’t need augmenting for the 21st century, or for any period in time. The cost of Salvation will always be same, His life in exchange for your death. The proselyte can be of good cheer, because resurrection life is real, and it is far more satisfying!

False Doctrine Can Be Like Cholesterol in the Body of Christ

Posted by D.L.Fuller on

Blocked Artery

In His zeal for His Father’s house, Christ went into the temple and made a scourge of cords, then proceeded to drive out the money changers and those that were in the temple selling sacrifices to be offered to GOD. As the account goes, Christ turned over some tables and made quite a ruckus while ridding the temple of this perversion of a sacred practice. We need to have the same zeal today regarding a lot of the perversions that go on in the church; however, we can’t approach it the same way, as the temple and the perversions are dynamically different. We are now the temple of GOD. GOD no longer dwells in a temple built by the hands of man, but in a temple made of living stones, the body of believers in Christ.

Christ promised that if any man would love Him, then He and His Father would come and make their home inside him. Christ still has the same zeal for His Father’s house, whom we are. He cleanses us by filling us with His Holy Word, and by delivering us from unclean principalities and powers. Christ comes into our souls with the light of truth, and topples belief systems built on foundations of lies, and drives out unclean spirits of lust, pride, greed, violence, and dumbness. One of the most damaging lies polluting the temple of GOD today is the belief that the Fathers children are all sinners. This lie has been received, with such wide-spread acceptance in the body of believers, that it is has become a major blocker of the arteries of the body. This lie is hindering the life of Christ from flowing into all areas of the body, hindering healing and growth. If as a born again believer, you bow down to the false principle that you are just a forgiven sinner, you leave the door open for sin to rule in your life. If you believe you are a sinner, then you will sin. GOD made us in such a way that our bodies conform to our belief. You may have heard it stated this way before, “Mind over matter”. If you accept that lie, you will always be vulnerable to the powers of lust and pride. You will remain a slave to sin. Though Pharaoh has been defeated, and his kingdom fallen, you will remain in Egypt, shackled to much of your old life.

Now for the GOODNEWS! Let us allow Truth to tear down the lie. During the early church, when the revealed gospel of Christ was first being preached, many of the Jews of that day didn’t see the superiority of the New Covenant in the blood of Christ. They were reluctant to let go of the old law of “sin and death” under Moses, to enter the new law of “spirit and life” under Christ. The law of sin and death was put in place to facilitate a life of sin, because at the time, no other life was available. However, now that the life of Christ has been made available to all that have faith in His resurrection power, there is a way to escape the life of sin in the blood line of Adam. We have to suffocate and bury the old man who was in the image of Adam, through the baptism of repentance. Then we have to take up our cross daily to make way for the resurrection life of Christ.

Everything made in creation came through the Word of GOD. When you abandon your old life in surrender to Christ, this same power calls you a new creation of GOD, made in His likeness. This same Word has created a new you, but you have to receive it. The Word of GOD is powerful, but you have to believe, so that your mind can be renewed and your transformation can take place. This part of the Gospel of Christ has been oppressed by the powers of darkness, and it is time for it to be spread throughout the body of Christ. The acceptance of this Truth can unblock the arteries in the body of Christ, so that the fullness of His life can quicken every part of the body. This will cause the glorious light of the risen Christ to break forth in the earth through His body, the church.

Here are a few scriptures people use in the wrong context to support the lie that the born again in Christ are still sinners, ruled by sin.

Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

True context: Paul is declaring there is no distinction between Jews or gentiles when it comes to the need for salvation through Christ, because all “have” sinned and need redemption through the blood of Christ; whether you have been practicing Judaism, paganism, or whatever in your past, you have sinned. Pay attention to the context of past sin as he says, “all have sinned”. This is frequently used in the context of equalizing all believers as present sinners. Paul even refers to Christ in this block of scripture as the propitiation for “past” sin.

Romans 3:11

“As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one”

True context: Paul is quoting scripture from the book of Isaiah in the old testament, regarding mankind before the workings of Christ. This old testament prophecy was never meant to describe the state of the resurrected church of Christ. In the same scripture it goes on to say,” there is none that understand and there is none that seek the Lord”. If the first part applies, then the second part has to be true for the church today as well…thank the Lord that it doesn’t.

Read the entire chapter of Romans 3.

1 John 1:8

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

True context: We are all in the process of being healed and cleansed from the rudiments of this world. If we say we have no traces of Adam left in us, we don’t understand how far man has fallen into darkness, nor do we realize how righteous and pure GOD is, in whose image we are made. Having sin is different from sin having you. The bible says in Romans 6, “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Just because you are inclined to do something doesn’t mean you have to yield to it. Confess the inclination to your Father GOD and He will cleanse you of it.

I have cited a few of the most popular verses, used out of context, to support the false belief that the salvation of Christ is in effect forgiveness without deliverance from the condition that causes sin. He who the soon makes free is free indeed. The thief comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. Let nothing or no one rob you of the victorious life promised you by Christ.

 

 

Secure Your Life By Securing Your Heart

Posted by D.L.Fuller on

 

Heart-shaped_lockThe kind of life you live is determined by what you value. Your values are determined by what you treasure. The scripture says in Matt 6:21,

“Where a man’s treasure is there his heart will be also.”

A man will set his aspirations, his affections, and his focus around that which he treasures. Your heart becomes filled with what you focus on and that consequently affects everything that comes out of it. Proverbs 4:23 says keep your heart with all diligence, because out it flows the issues of life. What this looks like lived out is making every effort to ensure that the things you set your heart on add “real” value to your life.

Would you agree that having peace of mind and good health adds extra value to anything you can experience in life? I think so. Peace of mind comes from living harmoniously with the one that governs all things. This means seeking the knowledge of GOD to understand your purpose, the provisions He has made for you to live, and what He expects of you, as well as what you can expect from Him. Here is what Proverbs 8:11 says about the wisdom of GOD:

“For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.”

This knowledge should be your treasure and primary focus. The book of Matthew chapter 6 speaks to this when it concludes that we should seek the kingdom of GOD and His righteousness first and foremost and everything else we need will flow into our lives.

If we will make our treasure the knowledge and wisdom of GOD, then our hearts will be focused on that which is truly valuable. This heavenly focus will enable our hearts to produce many blessings in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

For all of this to make since, we first have to realize that we are living souls placed in vessels of flesh. Just as these physical vessels have needs, so does our eternal souls. Most people live focused on the needs of the flesh while their eternal soul languishes. Since the true longing of the soul isn’t satisfied through carnal pleasures, the tendency is to seek carnal pleasures even more intensely. This disconnect from understanding the source of the true longing causes many to treasure the physical things of the world more than the spiritual things. The strongest and deepest longings come from the thirst of the soul. The soul has an innate thirst for righteousness, peace, and joy. This thirst can only be filled by the love of GOD.

So keeping our hearts with all diligence means making sure our focus and values stay aligned with the kingdom of GOD instead of being subverted to the things of this world. The treasures of this world tend to be temporal, unstable, corruptible, and destructible. If your heart is set on worldly things, consequently you will have little peace in your life and unstable rest. There will always be the nagging feeling of there has to be more.

Yeshua speaks to the dissatisfied and weary soul in Matthew 11:27-29:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Don’t become enslaved to this by the deceitfulness of riches. Follow the guidance of Yeshua in John 10:10 and live well.

“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.”

Love Prevails Over Leviathan

Posted by D.L.Fuller on

Bossmonster_Leviathan1

When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;
Because of his crashings they are beside themselves.
Though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail;
Nor does spear, dart, or javelin.
He regards iron as straw,
And bronze as rotten wood.
The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones become like stubble to him.
Darts are regarded as straw;
He laughs at the threat of javelins.
His undersides are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads pointed marks in the mire.
He makes the deep boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
He leaves a shining wake behind him;
One would think the deep had white hair.
On earth there is nothing like him,
Which is made without fear.

(Job 41:25-33)

As you read the description of this creature, you get the picture of a monster that is indestructible to man and indeed it is. The creature is Leviathan and there are more descriptions of him in Job 41, like his sharp teeth and impenetrable scales. Leviathan’s rule over man would be absolute without divine intervention. In the book of Job, Leviathan is called the king of all the children of pride. Leviathan rules like the pharaoh that contended with God to keep the Hebrews enslaved. Just as Yahweh sent Moses to deliver the Hebrew slaves from the tyranny of pharaoh, so has He sent Yeshua to deliver all of man from the tyranny of Leviathan. The Hebrew slaves, under the tyranny of pharaoh, were not free to worship God according to His will and had to be delivered. A person dominated by a spirit of pride and selfishness, under the rule Leviathan, also needs to be delivered in order to do God’s will.

Leviathan’s domination is evident in what is known as the first law of nature; Self-preservation. The focus on self is the signature of egotistical pride. Compare being ruled by the first law of carnal nature, to the two greatest laws in Yahweh’s kingdom, which also reflects His nature;

  1. Love the lord your God with all of your heart, mind and strength.

  2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

The only mention of self is in reference to how one cares for another. The nature of God’s kingdom is Love, versus the nature of those ruled by Leviathan, which is selfishness. You will be ruled by selfishness of pride until you are set free by Yeshua the Savior.

In order to be part of the body of Christ, you have to see and care for others as your self, you must have the ability to Love. You can never truly be unified with anyone else without Love. Marriage, families, and communities, fall apart without Love. This is why the Salvation of Christ begins with putting SELF on the cross; renouncing the law of self-preservation through entrusting the preserving of your life to Yeshua. Surrendering your life, by taking up the cross, makes way for divine Love to be birthed into your life. As Love delivers us from the oppressive phobias of selfishness, we are free to experience life as never before. He whom the son makes free, is free indeed!

Once you start to experience true freedom, you realize your were not free to even enjoy free things until you were freed your self. It’s true, only free people can really enjoy free things. People in bondage to selfishness through pride turn free things into more bondage. You see this manifested through hording, gluttony, and greed. Sometimes you can’t even give a selfish person a free gift, because they are to concerned about the hidden cost that the phobias of selfishness are projecting. This is why the free gift of Salvation through Christ is often left on the table, that is until we become broken and there is no more confidence in self. They that seek their life will lose it, and they that lose their life will find it. Through embracing the Cross of Christ you find true love, true freedom, and true Life.

(The image of Leviathan was found at BuddyJiang’s Portfolio: http://hokiboshi.net/portfolio/leviathan/)

Embracing the Path

Posted by D.L.Fuller on

rugged

Jesus taught that we enter the Kingdom of God through much tribulation, so the portal to the kingdom of God is suffering and hardship. Upon hearing this, the fleshly nature goes right into survival mode and starts searching for ways to disqualify the statement. However, someone with a great deal more knowledge, wisdom,…Hold on, correction…He that IS knowledge, wisdom, and understanding has designed it this way. If you have ever seen a butterfly struggle to get out of a cocoon, or a hatchling struggle from a shell, or a plant pushing through earth to reach the light, then you have a reference for what it takes for godliness to come out of these carnal frames. You have a reference for the birth process of the spiritual person you were created to be, getting delivered from the bondage of the rebellious, prideful, and selfish orientation of carnal life. To the human, there are times when God seems inhumane, but the scale of humanity is insufficient to begin to weigh the body of God’s work for the eternity of man.
You will never understand the things of the spirit as long as you hold life in the flesh more dear. Paths that require suffering in the flesh will always seem unreasonable to the carnal mind. In the journey of life, trusting God will require you to accept some things beyond your reasoning, which makes perfect sense because man does not understand half of what God has created in the physical, so to approach the spiritual is going to take faith. After you learn to value spiritual things higher than physical things, like the Apostles Paul, you will count all things but loss for the more excellent things of the spirit. We can become the enemy of salvation by disqualifying suffering as a path to deliverance.
Mark chapter 8:31-38
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
1 Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
To walk with Jesus, we have to crucify the flesh, which is to mortify carnal reasoning and to stand against the dominance of sensual compulsion. So the next time you or someone else is going through a rough place in life, stop and prayerfully consider it; maybe that rough place is putting a finish on you as sandpaper does, maybe that pressurized situation is correcting your form, maybe that fiery trial is purifying your heart, maybe you are in the hands of a great potter and you are being made into a masterpiece  and he is using all of these circumstances as his tools. Look for instruction, counsel, and truth in every circumstance in life and when they are to hard find, ask God to reveal his hand at work. I hope you are able to find peace in just knowing his hand is at work, whether you can see it or not, this again takes faith.