Pamela Harrison Ministries Blog

TBN interview: Pamela Harrison Ministries icanovercome.com

Pamela Harrison - Guest Speaker at the 2012 Grace Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma

God uses "the worst of sinners" 1 Timothy 1: 15

I have good news for you!

This is what the Apostle Paul said:

1 Timothy 1: 15 & 16

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst.

BUT for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His UNLIMITED patience as an EXAMPLE for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.

When the enemy drops thoughts into your mind, thoughts of condemnation that provoke compelling and convincing emotions of shame, guilt, unworthiness... that you're damaged goods - REFUSE these thoughts and the emotions that will always follow these thoughts - thus the powerful importance of renewing our mind to what Christ did right on our behalf - insisting to focus on His right doing and never on the wrong we've done.

Just think, if the Apostle Paul would have refused to accept the forgiveness, love and acceptance of God, Paul would not have felt worthy to fulfill his purpose and would have missed out on the privilege of writing 3/4 of the New Testament, which has imparted to us the revelation of what Christ did for each of us!

You have a purpose! Refuse condemnation and insist on receiving the forgiveness that is already yours... minute by minute, of every day.

Food for thought: When you no longer succumb to condemnation, sin will have no power over you. Romans 8: 1

Our son, Christian Harrison 2012 Union High School Graduate!

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Self-Pity: Substance Abuse, Infidelity & Sexual Promiscuity

Have you ever wondered why you can go a couple of days - even a couple of weeks - feeling good about yourself and your life, then suddenly you are hit with thoughts about the wrongs that have been done to you - and quickly you find yourself spiraling downward emotionally?

 

What is it that you want to do when you're feeling emotional pain - especially justified emotional pain?

 

For too many, it is the “sin that so easily entangles”.  (Hebrews 12: 1)

  

For some, it is to pop a pill, drink alcohol, or smoke – anything that may bring an immediate chemical change and/or numbness.

  

For others, it is a mental/fantasy escape - primarily in the form of pornography, etc.

  

Still for others, it may be the combo of chemical and fantasy in sexual encounters.

  

Here is a simple break-down of why we spiral downward and into the sin that so easily entangles:

  

1. The enemy plants the thoughts of the wrong done to you (this is his only in-road)

 2. Those thoughts bring emotions, and it’s our emotions that influence our will

 3. In that moment when we’re hit with thoughts/memories of the wrong done to us, if we have not chosen to forgive - or we insist on staying in the mindset of unforgiveness we've already chosen to have towards those who have wronged us, we then fall prey to self-pity

 4. Once we step into self-pity, we will then either turn to God for comfort - or the ‘sin that so easily entangles us’.  

  

This same principal is true for those that are experiencing lack.

 

Example: A husband or wife feel they have done all they can to bring their spouse to a place where that spouse desires to fulfill their needs and wants. Then, after some time has passed, and no visible changes have occurred, they may begin to feel/believe there’s no hope for change - no hope for their desires to ever be met by their spouse.

 

Out of that ‘lack’, they will begin to feel self-pity.

  

Then as a result of that self-pity, there comes justification to turn to ‘the sin that so easily entangles them’. For some, it is sex.  For others, it could be porn - and yet for others it may be food, TV, fantasy novels, Facebook, pills, alcohol, etc.

 

For the person that turns to sex, or anything other than God, they (out of self-pity) have decided they deserve to be happy and satisfied. Consequently, they begin to justify why they should set out to please themselves.

  

Reality Check:

 

 

Whenever we choose to turn to anything other than God, it is at that point we then discover:

The need has not been met - the problem not fixed - so now as a result of turning to something or someone other than God – we suddenly feel very bad about ourselves. A.k.a.: condemnation! And condemnation will inevitably empower even more sin.

The truth is, no one wants to feel pain! Yet once we fall under condemnation - which is painful - we pull away from God. And when we pull away from God, we then turn to something or someone else for comfort – even numbness (however we choose to bring it).

The end result of doing things our way, is that we ultimately add more pain and destruction to our lives. It will perpetuate - and worse - prolong the problem. From there, more pain, more dysfunction, and more problems are added. And not just for us personally, but for those that care about us.

For those that fall prey to self- pity - which always brings us to the place where we justify our sin – it will be those in our lives that love and care about us, that become the ‘collateral damage’.  Consequently, now they have thoughts/memories/pain to overcome as well. And so the cycle goes.

But there is hope!

 

Romans 8:1:  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”

The key to ending the pain - as well as the cycle of sin, dysfunction and condemnation - is to know that no matter how badly we have sinned - or how many times - because Jesus took the punishment due to us, and because He was forsaken - we will never be punished (for our wrong doing), OR forsaken by God as a result of our sins.

 

Condemnation comes from being more aware of the wrong we have done, than the RIGHT Jesus did on our behalf.

The ONLY way out of condemnation is to receive the GIFT of right standing before God, given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus’ body and shed blood. It is ONLY the shedding of innocent blood that brings the forgiveness of sin. (Hebrews 9: 22)

Now that we understand that:  a) thoughts provoke emotions; b) emotions are compelling and convincing; and c) it is those very emotions that influence our will (which dictates how we are going to act/ respond in situations) - then it is imperative that we determine if our thoughts are correct. And we must base that judgment solely on the word of God, and whether or not our thoughts are lining up to it accordingly.

If the thoughts we find crossing our mind do not line up with what Jesus has done for us and MADE us - then they are completely inaccurate!

This is when we have a choice.

We either accept the thoughts the ‘enemy of our destiny’ plants in our mind (which we now know will lead us to into self-pity, ultimately leading to justification of sin);

-OR-

We push against him - recognizing that these ‘thoughts’ he’s planting, are attempting to pull us down and into something that will bring us to the place of embarrassment - of sabotaging ourselves, our future, and our destiny - and eventually bring hurt and pain to those we love most.

In that moment when you are hit with thoughts/memories of how you have been wronged (or even how you have wronged someone), choose to forgive. And if you have forgiven, push hard against those thoughts by insisting, “I have already forgiven- I am NOT going there again! I am NOT going to ‘buy back’ into unforgiveness!  I have forgiven and I do not believe my emotions!”

 

By not falling prey to self- pity, you will be empowered to focus on who you really are:

* You are forgiven of ALL sins once and for all (past, present AND future)

* You are already - and will forever - remain right before God, no matter how bad or much you sin.

Why? Because you have chosen to believe (put your faith) in Jesus! HE alone is the reason you are in God’s grace.  (His unearned gift of right-standing, which is solely based on faith – and that faith being the belief that Jesus was and is THE sacrifice that cleansed man from sin, once and for all). [Romans 5: 20, Romans 6: 10, Col. 2: 13 & 14, Eph. 1: 7, Hebrews 7: 27, 9: 26, Hebrews 10:10, 12 & 14, 1 Peter 3: 18]

Remember: the grace of God is the GIFT of righteousness (right-standing before God), given divinely by God through Jesus - who never sinned, but took on our sin as if He had committed every one of them. Thereby, he took all the punishment for every sin that man would ever commit. (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

 

Jesus removed THE hindrance between God and man: SIN. (Romans 5: 6- 11).

Though we sin, our sins are no longer counted against us. This is so that we can remain acutely aware that as a result of being cleansed of all our sins, God is now able to dwell within us. It is Him within us, who has written His holy standards on our hearts and mind, thereby giving us the inner knowing of right and wrong. That ‘inner knowing’ can only be followed once we know (and believe) we are forgiven. As a result, there is no longer a need for us to feel unworthy to talk to Him- and more than that, LISTEN to Him- the holy God, who is now our Father - our Daddy - living within us.

[2 Corinthians 5: 19, Romans 4: 6-8 & 5: 13, Jer. 31: 31-34 & Hebrews 8: 12]

Jesus has sanctified us, and made us holy before God. When we do sin, we don’t become unholy again. Instead, we remain holy. And that fact is not based on our merit or right doing - but by our right believing in Jesus having made us right before God. This will then enable us to remain in constant connection with our holy God, so that our unholy actions will slowly but surely – (even effortlessly!) – dissipate. Then our outside will match our inside.  (Hebrews 10:10 & 14)

This IS the Gospel – this IS the Good News!

 

Change your identity, but how? Romans 12: 2

Identity: the fact or state of remaining the same 2. the sense of self.

Knowing first hand the pain that comes with being abused, as well as a host of other devastating life experiences, one can be left to feel like damaged goods and that the good life is only for others, but I have good news!

No matter if you have been abused or the abuser. Been a drug abuser or pusher.
The cheater or cheated on. Liar or lied to - no matter what we've done, do or have had done to us, these painful experiences are not our true identity!

There is hope! THE key to changing our identity is first believing that you are loved by God and out of that love He sent His son - Jesus, to reconcile us to Him and to change our identity from what we've been, done, do or had done to us to who Christ has made us before God - Our True Identity! (2 Corinthians 5: 18-19)

As a result of Jesus shedding His blood, all sins have been paid for. No more is God counting man's sins against him (Romans 4:8 & 5:13), rather, through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus, who Himself took all ours sins upon Him, took the punishment for us... the punishment that brought us peace - peace between God and ourselves, this is why we have unhindered fellowship / communion with God - this is called Grace! (Isaiah 53: 4 & 5 & Romans 5:6-11)

Contrary to a popular but incorrect belief, Grace is not a doctrine, Grace IS Jesus -

Grace is God's gift of Divine provision of right standing before Him - COMPLETELY unearned and undeserved, strictly out of God's unconditional and complete love for and passionate desire to be in constant communion with us. (Romans 5)

When we renew our mind with the word (the word is the message of Christ, which is the message of what Christ Jesus did for us on the cross - Romans 10:17 NIV) we experience the identity change that brings about the life change we all desire.

The Apostle Paul said it like this in Eph. 4: 24 "put off your old self... be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

In short, refuse to identify with who you were or are... refuse to identity with how others made you feel when they wronged you, rather, insist on renewing your mind to what Jesus did for you: made you clean, spotless, blameless, guiltless, worthy, holy - Righteous! (1 Corinthians 1:30 & Eph. 1: 4)

Jesus is our righteousness. Jesus is our qualification of ALL of God's best.

1 John 4: 17 says just as Jesus is, so are we in this world (right now)!

Did you know that Jesus, who committed no sin, but became sin for us ( 2 Cor. 5:21), that He made a beautiful exchange on our behalf?

Jesus- perfect, holy, blameless and righteous, became 'us' on the cross, took all the punishment due each of us, for ALL our sins, past, present and future (once and for all), so that our imperfections, unrighteousness and guilt would be removed before God.

Scriptures for: Once and For ALL forgiveness of sin... Past, present and future: Romans 6:10, Col. 2: 13 & 14, Heb. 7:27, Heb. 9:26, Heb.10:10, 12, 14, Eph. 1:7, 1 John 1: 7, 1 Peter
3: 18

Even though we are still not perfect in and of ourselves, and in this lifetime, never will be, Jesus, in HIS FINISHED work, perfected us through the shedding of His blood. Hebrews 9: 22: There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.

It is when we renew our mind to this understanding of what Jesus did, that we go from seeing ourselves as what we have done or do, as well as, what others have done to us, to who we REALLY are before God.

When we choose to believe what Jesus has done for us and made us as a result of His FINISHED work, we then begin to transform from the beliefs that we once held about ourselves and begin to take on our TRUE identity, that which Christ has truly made us before our God.

Encouragement: The only inroad the enemy has is through our thoughts. Thoughts provoke emotions and this is the realm that influences our will.

Until we are aware that our emotion can sabotage us, we will remain in a cycle of self- sabotage, defeat and dysfunction.

Fact: Emotions are compelling and convincing.

Though our emotions can be compelling and convincing, if what we are thinking and therefore feeling doesn't line up with the word, what Jesus has done for us and therefore made us, then our thoughts / emotions are INCORRECT and not to be trusted!

Jesus came to give us life and the only thing we need do is believe, receive and renew our mind to TRUTH, not reality, TRUTH - daily! (John 10:10)

You are an Overcomer!

Disappointed?

What about 1 John 1: 9

The word clearly says Jesus paid for my sins once for all, but what about 1 John 1:9?

We have learned the powerful significance of being rooted in righteousness, which is the revelation that we have been forgiven of all our sins (past, present and future). This forgiveness of sins is solely based on Jesus’ shed blood, the very currency that paid for all sin. There is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22)

In the moment we put our faith (belief) in Jesus and His shed blood that cleansed us from all sin, we’re not only made right before God at the moment of conversion, we remain right.

Just as His sacrifice was once for all, the effect of what He did is equal - once for all. The result of the once for all sacrifice is that we’ve been made holy. “As He is, so are we in this world.” - 1 John 4:17

When we understand the following our faith (belief) is fortified:

• Our father Abraham was, like us today, made right before God (righteous) solely based on his belief in the living God. Abraham and his descendants experienced the abundant provision from the abundant God, solely based on his belief in the living, abundant God. At this time sin was in the world, but because there was no law sin was not counted against Abram; thus he was not punished for his wrong doing. Just as it is for us today! (Romans 4)

• The law would later come through Moses to show man what sin was, that he is a sinner and he is in need of a Savior. Galatians 3:24 says the law was put into place to lead us to Christ so that we may be justified by faith (that faith being the belief in Jesus having made us right before God, once for all).

• Jesus came, born to a woman and born under law to redeem those under the law. (Galatians 4:4) This was pre-cross, during the time Jesus was on earth and the law was in full effect. It was not until Jesus shed His blood (cutting a new covenant), rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven that the new covenant was enacted. Now no longer being under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

• We are now post–cross. The law fulfilled by the shedding of innocent blood to make us right before God. The revelation of what Jesus did was not revealed until Jesus ascended to Heaven and sent His Spirit. His Spirit is the One that brought revelation of the “mystery hidden, but now revealed and made known.” (John 16:12-14, Romans 16:25-26, 1 Corinthians 2:7-12, Ephesians 1:9 & 3:2-12, Colossians 1:26-27 & 2:2-3, 1 Peter 1:10-11)

• The mystery is that Jesus’ finished work on the cross brought us forgiveness of all sins (past, present and future). Jesus’ finished work took place over 2000 years ago; all our sins at that time were future. God, Who is outside of time, Creator of time and all knowing… predestined each of us to be adopted by His Son. (Ephesians 1)

That adoption comes solely from our belief in Jesus being the Son of God, Who shed His blood for the cleansing of our sin - once for all; as a result of being forgiven, we’ve been made right before God - once for all.

We are not only made qualified, but we remain qualified for all God’s divine provision given to us through the broken body of Jesus and His shed blood. (Psalm 103:12, Romans 6:10, Colossians 2:13-14, Hebrews 7:27, 9:26, 10:10-14, Ephesians 1:7, 1 Peter 3:18, John 1:7)

What about 1 John 1: 9? Now knowing the only currency for the forgiveness of sin is the shedding of innocent blood, we now understand that the asking of forgiveness is not what brings forgiveness.

Jesus’ shed blood brought forgiveness of sin.

This is how we access forgiveness according to the Apostle Paul in Romans 10:9-10. “If you confess (acknowledge) with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Important facts to fortify our faith (belief): This mystery of Christ was revealed to the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul wrote ¾ of the New Testament. Never once did the Apostle Paul teach the church to confess their sins. (Side note: confess simply means to acknowledge, this does not bring forgiveness, as only the shedding of innocent blood does.)

The apostles that spoke of confession of sins were the apostles to the Jews, as the Jews were accustomed to confessing their sins. Other leaders before them, those under the law, confessed sins on behalf of those under the law: Moses, David, Daniel.

Paul never did, rather Paul always prayed and encouraged with these words, “God give you wisdom of what you already have…” Galatians 2:7-10 tells us that Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, while James, Peter and John to the Jews. It is imperative to our understanding and the development of our faith (belief) that we stop and look closely at who the apostles were speaking to while reading the Epistles.

Not doing so is what has led to many believing the Bible has contradictions, thus weakening the believer’s faith (belief). Another important fact is that 1 John 1:9 was written 35-45 years AFTER the revelation of Jesus’ finished work was revealed to Paul. Paul’s first letter was written to the Thessalonians about A.D. 51. John wrote 1 John between A.D. 85 and 95.

If forgiveness of sin was based on our confession and not faith (belief) in Jesus, this would mean that sins were not forgiven for almost 35 years after Jesus’ finished work on the cross.

If this is true it begs the question, what did believers do between Paul’s writing and John’s? The answer? The apostle John was not speaking to believers in 1 John 1, rather unbelievers. As an apostle to the Jews, he was speaking to a group of people called the Gnostics. 1 John 1 is the Apostle John confronting the heresy of the Gnostics. The Apostle Paul did the same in his letters to the Colossians.

The Gnostics were a fusion of Jew and Pagan beliefs. The word Gnostic means knowledge.

Gnostics believe they possess higher knowledge.

Gnostics believe the following:

1) Matter - including the human body - is entirely evil

2) Spirit - including God, Who is wholly Spirit - is entirely good Gnostics believe that salvation is escape from the body, achieved not by faith in Christ, but by special knowledge. They also believe that Christ was not truly human - they believe that Christ only seemed to have a body (Docetism) or The Divine Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and left him before He died (Cerinthianism). They believe the body had to be treated harshly (Asceticism).

They believe that what is done with the body has no effect on the purity of the spirit, thus immorality has no moral consequence.

Simply put, Gnostics did not believe Jesus came in the flesh.

They did not believe you needed to believe in Christ for salvation, as they believed salvation was escape from the body. So the sin they committed while in the body had no effect on the purity of their spirit; therefore they denied having sin.

Now, let’s read 1 John 1 from the beginning with the understanding of who the Apostle John was speaking to and why:

1 That which was from the beginning , which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. (Jesus - Whom they have seen and touched proving that Jesus did come in the flesh, contrary to the Gnostics belief)

2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. (Jesus)

3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. (The Apostle Paul is challenging the Gnostics in their belief so that they will believe upon Jesus and become a son of God as well.) And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (Their fellowship is solely based upon their belief upon Jesus - cleansed by Jesus' blood.)

4 We write this to make our joy complete.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness (to deny we sin, thus no need for His Son - Jesus), we lie and do not live by the truth.

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess (acknowledge we do sin and the need for a Savior) our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we claim we have not sinned (this is walking in the darkness), we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Keeping these verses in context, John was addressing the Gnostics (non-believers) and was contradicting their heresy.

The Gnostics believed that all matter, including the human body, was entirely evil. While Spirit, including God Who is wholly Spirit, is entirely good.

They also believe salvation is the escape from the body achieved not by faith in Christ, but by special knowledge.

Gnostics denied that their immoral actions were sinful. They denied having sin in their lives.

Gnostics did not walk in the light, they did not believe they sinned when they committed un-righteous acts; thus did not believe they needed to believe upon Christ Jesus to be made righteous.

This is where the hairs have been split. Many believe that when we sin, we (due to the sin just committed) break fellowship with God, and that our advocate, Jesus, cannot plead on our behalf until we confess our sin.

This is true for the unbeliever: The unbeliever does not have an advocate UNTIL He believes upon THE Advocate - Jesus.

The Apostle John, in chapter 2 now addresses the believer:

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sin, and not only ours but also for the sins of the world.”

The world doesn’t realize their sins have been forgiven. They don’t realize that the way to access that divine provision of forgiveness of sin is by faith (belief) in Jesus - our atoning sacrifice.

This is the Good News, the Gospel and the Truth! The Truth is that we’ve been made righteous, which enables us to live righteous, willingly and effortlessly.

It is this revelation that brings us peace with God - freedom, health, wholeness and prosperity.

The unbeliever does not have fellowship with God UNTIL he comes to understand that he is a sinner in need of a Savior. In the moment that he comes to the saving knowledge of God’s grace, confesses with his mouth Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God raised Him from the dead, he is saved from the penalty of sin: eternal death.

But a believer who is forgiven of all sins - once for all - now walks in the light, cleansed of all unrighteousness ONLY because of his faith in Jesus. (Romans 10:9-10)

There is a fear of teaching that we've been made righteous - once for all - by the blood of Jesus. What will keep people from living a life of sin, justifying their action by claiming to be under grace? It’s this thinking that has kept the residual effect of the law firmly intact in many believers’ lives. The thought that we must do right to be right, we must do ‘something’ before we receive anything. The law being taught with a mixture of grace has weakened the faith of the believer. The law makes the believer sin-conscious and sin- consciousness causes us to fall under condemnation and condemnation empowers more sin and pushes us further away from God.

The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18, calls the law the ministry of condemnation and the ministry that brought death. He goes on to say that the ministry of the Spirit (the ministry we are under now) is the ministry that BRINGS righteousness.

Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death (sin), so that we may serve the living God.”

Jesus’ shed blood was to clear our conscience of sin so that we will boldly stake claim to what is already ours. What has been given to us is not based on our merit (our right doing) but solely based on Jesus’ right doing on our behalf. (Hebrews 9:1-28)

As long as we remain sin-conscious we will fall under condemnation and sin will have dominion over us. It’s only when we no longer fall under condemnation that sin loses its power.

As we continue to renew our minds that we have been given the gift of righteousness; that we are forgiven once for all (made right before God once for all) we will become more and more rooted in righteousness.

The more rooted in righteousness we become, the more and more righteous we will live - and we will live righteous willingly and effortlessly. This is what the Apostle Paul says about the teaching of righteousness: Hebrews 5:13-14 says, “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness, but solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil (right from wrong).”

The difference between a babe in Christ and those that are mature: Being rooted in righteousness!

It’s a renewing of the mind thing… Proof that we understand grace (God’s divine provision given to us through His Son) and proof we are under grace is found in Romans 6:14 which says when we are under grace, sin shall have no dominion over you.

Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It (grace) teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”

If we taught as the Gnostics believe, that the unrighteous thoughts, words and actions of a person is not sin - this would be heresy!

Righteousness by faith in Jesus' blood is this: I am only righteous because of my faith (belief) in Jesus - that He is the atoning sacrifice for all my sins.

The believer is now righteous, but is still capable of unrighteous actions. But when a believer does sin (commits an unrighteous act) because of the Spirit of God that now lives in the believer, that sin is pointed out by the righteous Holy Spirit, convicting the believer that he is righteous before God as a gift given out of love. This revelation of God’s goodness is what brings the believer to repentance (to the place where he changes his mind). Romans 2:4

Because the believer walks in the light (knowing that we do unrighteous acts), he understands that out of God's great love for us, He sent His Son Jesus, to keep the believer right before God. Even when the believer does wrong, it's the revelation of this great kindness of God that brings the believer to the place of repentance.

Repentance means: change of mind.

When we make a decision to change our mind - we change our lives.

When we believe we're righteous, we will live righteous... when we believe right - we live right.

Although the believer may commit an unrighteous act, it does not make the believer unrighteous, thus God never breaks fellowship with the believer.

The only way fellowship is broken is when the believer falls under condemnation. The believer that has fallen under condemnation will disqualify themselves and put a wall between himself and God, compartmentalizing God.

The believer understands God knows all but will not allow himself to fellowship with God until they do something that makes them ‘FEEL’ worthy again. This is all due to not being rooted in righteousness.

To be rooted in righteousness is the revelation that it is Jesus that has made us right - never our own right doing, only our right believing, it's understanding and renewing the mind to the following:

1. When we sin, we commit an unrighteous act that has ALREADY been punished in the body of Jesus, who IS our righteousness.

2. It's the revelation of God's kindness, that He put the punishment due us on Jesus, bringing forgiveness of all sin - once for all. This makes us right before God - once for all - and gives us the gift of righteousness and leads us to repentance, which means to change our mind.

3. It's when a mind has been changed that the actions will change from unrighteous actions to righteous actions.

4. It’s the revelation that God loves us and that brings us to a place of love for Him which results in grateful obedience.

He loved us first, BEFORE we loved Him, before we did anything right - He loved us and provided the blessing of righteousness.

We must realize that when we sin (and we ALL do) God loves us so much that He sent His Son - Jesus, not to condemn us but to save us, and by THAT sacrifice we remain right before God.

The kindness, the love, the goodness of God draws us to the place of REPENTANCE, which means to change our minds and results in our making the decision, "I no longer want to do ______."

It's whatever the Holy Spirit has pointed out to us individually. For example: "I no longer feel right about watching R-rated movies" – “I shouldn't reject this person" - "I shouldn't dress like this" or " I should not continue in this fornication or adultery."

Sin is NEVER acceptable to God - He has not gone soft on sin, rather He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and poured out His wrath for all sin, for all mankind, on the body of Jesus.

Now when we sin, we never lose our right standing before God, and THE only reason that we don't is because of Jesus' sacrifice - Him taking the punishment that was due to us.

It’s this revelation, that we are forgiven that keeps us from falling under condemnation.

No condemnation = us not breaking fellowship with God.

In other words, because we don’t feel guilt, shame, unworthiness aka: condemnation, we remain consciously aware of God in us, with us and for us.

As we remain conscious of our right standing before God, we are brought to the place of being acutely aware of His Spirit within us.

His Spirit was given to pour out God’s love in our hearts, to write God’s laws on our hearts and minds, thus giving us the inner knowing of right and wrong/good and evil.

This is proof we understand grace and are under grace. Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Under the law when people sinned, they had to not only acknowledge (confess) they had sinned, but also bring a blood sacrifice to the priest to cover that sin, and that is what made them “re-qualified” for God's blessing. This is called works or self-effort/self- righteousness.

Now we are under a better covenant, we have a High Priest that does not go before God with the blood of bulls and goats, but by His own blood. He is our 'once for ALL' sacrifice, thus making us right before God, once for all. (Hebrews 9:10)

Hebrews 10:10 says, “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Because we have believed man's theology that our unrighteous acts or thoughts (sin) breaks fellowship with God, the result is our feeling condemnation for the wrong done. Then we shrink back from our faith (belief) in Jesus having made us right before God, thus causing intense feelings of being unworthy and unacceptable. And this is what God says about shrinking back in our faith (belief) as a result of condemnation: Hebrews 10:38-39 “But my righteous one will live by faith (in Jesus having made us right before God – once for all). And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those that believe and are saved.”

Our righteousness come by faith in Jesus' complete work on our behalf, and this belief is what gives us confidence to boldly approach God's throne of grace, and gives us a sound mind, peace and joy. (Romans 3:21-26, Romans 5)

Hope does not disappoint! Romans 5:5

Find yourself afraid you will be disappointed by God?

Good news!  As a result of believing in Jesus, His blood cleansing us from all sin, once for all- qualifying us to be the Temple of the Spirit of God ( as God cannot dwell in a temple that has not been cleansed by blood, and God cannot remain in a temple (us) unless the blood sacrifice was able to cover all sin- once and for all- as Jesus' did- otherwise, God Spirit would have to leave us every time we sinned, every wrong motive, thought, attitude, etc). 

But God never has to cut off fellowship with us.  Why? Because of Jesus' once for all sacrifice, we are given the GIFT of Right Standing before God, it is a gift, was not and cannot be earned by right doing, only right believing, which is belief in Jesus having made us right (righteous) before God.   As a result of our belief in Jesus, God Himself takes up residency within us (Eph. 1:13), and it's for a purpose.

That purpose is to give us an inner knowing of several things (here is a short-list):

1. That we're loved by Him (Romans 5:5)

2. To give us Hope (Romans 5:5)

3. To write His law on our hearts / Give us the inner knowing of right and wrong, aka: being led by His Spirit in all things ( Hebrews 8: 8-13)

4.  He leads us into all Truth / we know Truth when we hear it (John 16: 13)

As a result of believing in Jesus, we access the forgiveness of God, for all sin, once for all- qualifying us to be the Temple of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 6: 19)- God takes up residency within us, the believer, and by His Spirit, He pours out His Love within us, giving us an inner knowing we are loved by Him, which, gives us Hope, and Hope Does Not Disappoint us!

The biblical definition for hope: A confident expectation of good

Romans 5: 5

And hope (confident expectation of Good) does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (which is God's Spirit) whom He has given us.

 Encouragment: Refuse condemnation, the feelings of guilt, shame, etc., rather, insist on believing what Jesus has done for you- made you righteous (right before God), and He's done this as a gift to you- Jesus was sent and came to us as a gift from God - out of His love for you. 

As a result of knowing you're right before God, knowing that He did this out of His love for you, you now have a confident expectation of ONLY good things for you and your loved ones.  

Refuse to be afraid, rather, know that God is always setting you up for His best, and though things may not unfold as you see them, it doesn't mean that God is going to let you down - trust Him, that He is bringing what it is that you need / desire, in His way- which is THE best way for you!

*Meditate - roll over and over in your mind, as you picture God holding you, "God loves me..."

Choose to believe and receive, and watch how you and situations transform- effortlessly!

When we are afraid - We push away

What causes us to shrink back in our faith (belief) in Jesus having made us right, worthy, acceptable before God - Once For All?

Jesus, who went around doing good and healing all, was preaching one day and asked a man by the name of Simon to use his boat to teach from to the crowd that was around him at the lake of Gennesaret.

Simon oblidged, and Jesus began to teach. When Jesus was finished teaching the people, he directed Simon to "Put out into the deep, and let down the nets for a catch."

Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."

Jesus, being the excellent pay master that he is, when they let down their nets, they received a net breaking, boat sinking load of fishes!

Notice, Jesus did not have them confess their sins or repent before He blessed them. Rather, Jesus showed them who He is: Accepting, loving, forgiving and giving, and not a little giving, but an abundant giver.

Romans 2: 4 - It's the kindness of God that leads us to repentance.

Though Jesus and the Jews were still under law while Jesus was alive on earth (before He shed His blood cutting the New Covenant), Jesus was showing people the heart of God: Kind, loving- forgiving.

Under law, the people were required to obey first, to do right first to receive the blessing of God.

Now, under Grace, we are ALREADY blessed and it's these blessings that empower us to obey- the result is obedience from the heart, willingly - effortlessly. (Eph. 1)

When Simon saw this blessing unfold before his eyes, he became acutely aware that he was a sinner and asked Jesus to "Go away from me Lord, I am a sinful man".

Jesus said, "Don't be afraid; from now on, you will catch men." ( John 5: 1-11)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13: 8)

While we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly (the blessing before asking or obedience).

Jesus shed His blood to reconcile us to God... why did we need to be reconciled? What separated us from God? Sin. (Romans 5: 6-11)

Jesus took care of the sin- debt issue so that we may not only have salvation and 'escape hell', but more than that, Jesus shed His blood cleansing us from ALL sin, enabling us to remain in 'the right'/ to remain righteous before God, which enables us to remain in an unhindered relationship with God- FREE FROM FEAR- no matter what.

According to 1 John 4: 18, fear has to do with punishment. The punishment due us was put upon Jesus (Is 53). Because Jesus did right on our behalf, we are now right before God- not based on our right doing but belief (faith) in Jesus' right doing on our behalf!

No longer is it a matter of right doing before God that qualifies us for all the Divine provision provided by God through Jesus' finished work on the cross, which is: Forgivness of all sin, healing, prosperity and authority over the enemy, but rather right believing IN Jesus having done it all for us!

Next time you find yourself 'afraid' to be consciously aware that God is in you, with you and for you, remind yourself what Jesus has done for you- made you right before God, qualified you for all blessings provided through Jesus' finished work- refuse to shrink back from your faith (belief) in Jesus having made you right and worthy and continue to receive what is already yours.

Condemnation, which is the result of being sin- conscious instead of being righteousness conscious, causes us to be afraid of God, to expect punishment and to pull away from the very source of acceptance, love and power source for change.

Falling under condemnation is evidence we are not yet rooted in righteousness.

Being rooted in righteousness come from our re-newing our mind that Jesus IS our righteousness, and that righteousness is only accessed by our belief (faith) in Jesus having made us right before God- Once For ALL. ( Romans 6: 10, Col. 2: 13 & 14, Eph. 1: 7, Hebrew 7: 27, 9: 29, 10:10, 12, 14, 1 Peter 3: 18, 1 John 1: 7)

Only when we don't come under condemnation will sin lose its power. ( Romans 8)

Encouragement: Believe, receive and remain in what is ALREADY ours in Jesus!

 

Ever notice that people gravitate to those that are kind and accepting? Drawn to spend time with those they feel freedom to be themselves- those that accept, even when the wrong thing is said or done?

The above describes our God. Because of God's love and never ceasing desire to be in constant fellowship with each of us, He has removed the very thing that caused hindrance between us and Him- Sin.

Jesus has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 9: 26) God sent His Son so that we would no longer be sin conscious, rather, Righteousness conscious!

God is always with us, never leaves us- never breaks fellowship with us.

As we renew our mind to what Jesus has done for us, we will gravitate- even desire, more and more to spend time with the one that has Reconciled us to Him before we even asked. Romans 5: 6- 11

When we're conscious of our Right standing before God, solely based on our belief that Jesus' blood has cleansed us from all sin- once for all, we will not shrink back from being aware that God is with us, rather, we will recognize the freedom that is ours to remain connected to Him, aware that He is with us... mindful that He is our very source for change- effortless change!

Forgiven- Once for all: Romans 6: 10, Col. 2: 13 & 14, Hebrews 9: 26, 10: 10, 12, 14, Eph. 1: 7, 1 Peter 3: 18