Pamela Harrison Ministries Blog

Christians struggle with sin because of the "Old Self" within? Romans 7: 20

No, it's not the "old self" within. The Apostle Paul explains it like this:

Romans 7: 20 "Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin living in me that does it.

To help us better understand, it's important to know that in the book of Romans, only 1 time is the word sin a verb (an action). Romans 6: 15

All other references to sin are nouns: person, place or thing.

In Romans 6, we learn that we have been set free from sin / dead to sin (noun).

But if I'm dead to sin, why is it that I still sin? Do I stop sinning gradually as I convince myself that I am dead to sin?

The answer to the question above: No

Jesus didn't die gradually to sin for us; He died "Once for All". (Romans 6:10)

In the simplest of terms: Jesus adopted us out of the family of sin and brought us home to the Righteousness family.

Though we were born into the sin family, because of Jesus' payment for us, His shed blood being the currency, we went from being a sinner to being the Righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

In the moment we believe in Jesus, we go from being a sinner to being a saint / Righteous before God-The word saint comes from sanctified, which means: to be made Holy. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5: 17)

Common misconception: if we have died to sin (noun), we will not sin (verb).

Let's look at this in context:

Apostle Paul says in Romans 6 that we are dead to sin and alive with Christ.

Then the Apostle Paul says in Romans 7, "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do- this I keep on doing;" (Romans 7: 19)

However, right after he explains that he desires to do good, but still finds himself doing wrong (even though he is / we are dead to sin), he says in Romans 8: 1

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..."

Now that we are dead to sin (noun), the key to not committing repetitious sins (verb) is when we realize that we are no longer sinners, but righteous. This is called being Rooted in Righteousness.

Our un-righteous thoughts or actions do not make us a sinner again.  We remain righteous before God = permanently righteous. 

It was not our wrong doing that made us a sinner and it was not our right doing that made us righteous. 

It was Adam's sin that made us a sinner and it was the 2nd Adam- Jesus, who did right on our behalf. (Romans 5)

Jesus, by shedding His blood, cleansed us from ALL sin, reconciling us to God. (Romans 5: 6-11 & 2 Cor. 5: 17- 21)

 We get to choose to put our faith (choose to believe) in Jesus - that His blood has cleansed us and made us right before God. It's this revelation that keeps us from shrinking back in our faith (in our belief) that Jesus has made us righteous, and it is this understanding that enables us to remain consciously aware of God's presence in us and with us-  the very source for change.

Condemnation aka: feelings of guilt and shame, keeps us out of the presence of God (our very source for change).

Simply put: It's when we no longer come under condemnation that sin will lose its power in our lives.

Fact: Condemnation empowers sin.

We have been set free from sin (noun); however, we still sin (verb), but because of our adoption, we are no longer sinners, but Righteous before God, only because of Jesus making us righteous due to His shed blood.

The more we focus on our new standing before God: Right before God = Righteous - the more we will believe who we really are now: Righteous.

The more we believe we are righteous, the more we will become righteousness conscious, and the result intended by God is that we become less and less sin- conscious.  It is when we're not sin- conscious, yet Righteousness conscious, that our behavior will effortlessly become righteous. (Hebrews 9: 14)

This is called renewing our minds with the Word of God.

As we renew our mind to this fact:

Once we put our faith (belief) in Jesus, we are no longer, nor will we ever be un-righteous, even when we sin.

Why? Because of Jesus' finished work, Him taking the punishment for us and shedding His blood, sin has been put away (Heb. 9: 26) and as a result, we are now dead to sin (noun) and Alive in Christ!

By this adoption we are now heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ; we now have the right to call God- Abba Father... Daddy. (Romans 8: 15-17)

The more we focus on the fact that God so loves us that He sent His son, NOT to condemn us, but to save us; that Jesus put us in a position of Freedom to be who we are Right now before God, freedom to be in relationship, and the right to constant fellowship, even with all the un-righteous actions and thoughts, the more we will stay consciously aware of His presence with us and spend time acknowledging Him, receiving His acceptance and love- which is fellowship with THE very SOURCE for Change- Effortless change!

If our effort worked, we would not have needed a savior.

God has made it so simple; however, man /religion has made it hard.

It's when we KNOW God loves us, (un-conditionally) just as we are- we are drawn to that place of repentance.

Repentance simply means: Change of mind

Romans 2: 4 says: ... It's His kindness that leads us to repentance.

When we change our minds to the Truth that we have been made righteous, we will live righteous- Effortlessly!

 

Ripped Off! How to Overcome by Pamela Harrison

  Have you been wronged? Do you feel that both God and man are against you, or worse, have forgotten you?  You are not alone.

God did not and will not be the one to bring pain into your life.

Ripped Off! is Pamela Harrison's story of surviving childhood sexual and physical abuse, as well as rejection and abandonment up in to her adult years.

A daily witness to the miracle working power of God, she has become an instrument of healing, restoring the faith of those who have been physically, sexually, spiritually and emotionally abused.

Forward by Jim Stovall, Author of the book turned major motion picture, The Ultimate Gift

 Book: $5.00

 

No need to worry! Matt. 6: 33

Seek His Righteousness?

But seek first His kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matt 6:33

According to Romans 3: 21- 26 His Righteousness has been provided to us through Jesus, and we become Righteous, just as Jesus is Righteous, simply by believing IN Jesus.

When we believe that we're righteous, simply because we take God at His word, that it is by Faith (IN Jesus having made us Righteous before God) we will then have peace within ourselves knowing, that we cannot do anything right or wrong to increase or decrease God's love for us.

According to Ephesians 1: 3 we are already blessed by God with EVERY spiritual blessing through Christ.

This means that God has ALREADY supplied EVERYTHING we need and desire, and the key to accessing the blessings is our FAITH IN Jesus having made us right before God.

When we know that we are right before God, no matter what wrong thought we just had, no matter what wrong deed we just did, no matter how we blow it, our wrong doing does not negate Jesus' right doing on our behalf, we will then, will full faith, receive AND expect the blessings of God.

Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness AND ALL these things will be added to us- explained:

When we know we're righteous, we have peace with & before God, we in turn become full of Joy and we stand firm in the Faith (this faith is faith IN Jesus having done everything for us) having a constant, confident expectation of God's best, and this is the kind of Faith that moves mountains- this is faith without doubt.

God's promises to us are not contingent on our right doing, rather our right believing.

** When we believe right, we will live right- we will experience all the spiritual blessings provided for us through Jesus- Effortlessly!**

We do not break fellowship with God when we sin 1 John 1:9

Let's look at 1 John 1: 1-10 in context:

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)

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. (Believe upon Jesus and become a son of God as well)

And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (Because they believe upon Jesus- cleansed by Jesus' blood) ⁴ We write this to make our joy complete.

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

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, we lie and do not live out the truth. (Walk in the dark: denying that we do wrong/ sin)

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. (The light: God is Righteous, no evil, no darkness. However, man does sin and in order to recognize the need for God's Son, each person must come to realize that he does sin and needs to be forgiven and cleansed by blood- the blood of His Son- Jesus)

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

⁹ If we confess 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.

The above verse is often read as: You must first confess your sin, ask God to forgive you and then you're forgiven, but if you don't confess a sin, you're not forgiven and therefore unrighteous and have broken fellowship with God - This is man's theology.

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, and they believed 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, and 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, we break fellowship with God, and that our advocate, Jesus, can not plead on our behalf until we confess our sin.

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

The un-believer does not have fellowship with God UNTIL he comes to understand that he is a sinner in need of a savior, and in that moment that he realizes, confesses with his mouth Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God raised Him from the dead, he is saved and now walks in the light, cleansed of all un-righteousness, ONLY because of his faith in Jesus. (Romans 10: 9&10)

This is the fear of teaching that we've been made permanently righteous by the Blood of Jesus.

"What is going to keep people from sinning? If they are told they are righteous, even when they sin, why would they stop?"

If we taught as the Gnostic's believed, that everything a person DOES is now righteous- this would be heresy!

Righteousness by Faith in Jesus' Blood is this: I am only righteous because of Jesus' sacrifice. The believer is now righteous, but is still capable of un-righteous actions.

And when a believer does sin (commits an un-righteous act), because the Spirit of God lives in the believer, who is righteous and reminds the believer of their righteousness before God (only because of Jesus) the sin the believer just committed, be it action or thought, is pointed out by the Righteous Holy Spirit, convicting the believer that he is Righteous, and that brings the believer to repentance (to the place where he changes his mind)

Because the believer walks in the light, knowing that we do un-righteous acts, however, 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 un-righteous act, it does not make the believer un-righteous, it does not constitute the believer breaking fellowship with God, nor God breaking fellowship with the believer.

1.When we sin, we commit an un- righteous act that has ALREADY been punished in the body of Jesus, who IS my Righteousness.

2. It's the revelation that God's kindness provided for my punishment/ forgiveness / my right standing/ my righteousness before Him in advance, that leads me to repentance, which means to change my mind.

3. It's when a mind has been changed that the actions will change. From un-righteous actions to righteous

4. It's the revelation that God loved me first, and provided the blessing of Righteousness that brings me to a place of love for Him which results in grateful obedience.

When we realize that when we sin, (and we ALL do) and the fact that He loves us so much that He sent His Son- Jesus, not to condemn us but to save us, and by THAT sacrifice that keeps us right before God, that is the Kindness, the Love, the Goodness of God that it draws us to the place of REPENTANCE, which means to change our minds, which results in our making the decision, "I no longer want to do ______".

It's what ever the Holy Spirit has pointed out to us- individually, be it, "I no longer feel right about watching rated R movies"- I shouldn't reject this person" - "I shouldn't dress like this" to " I should not continue in this fornication or adultery"

Sin is NEVER acceptable to God; however, when we sin, we never loose 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 us - is what keeps us from breaking fellowship with God.

Under the law, when the people sinned, they had to not only acknowledge 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= Works, 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 (not our actions/thoughts) Permanently Righteous. (Hebrews 9 &10)

Hebrews 10: 10 ... 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 un-righteous act or thoughts (sin) does break fellowship with God, the result is our feeling condemnation for the wrong done, and that is what causes us to shrink back, feel unworthy and unacceptable.

And this is what God say about shrinking back (due to condemnation)

Hebrews 10: 38 & 39

But my righteous one will live by faith. 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 believe is what saves us, as well as, give 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)

 

 

 

 

 

Holy Spirit in us - proof we are permanently cleansed! Hebrews 9

The fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer, and made the Temple of the Holy Spirit, is proof that Jesus' blood cleansed us from all sin: past, present and future = a clear conscience, which allows us to boldly approach God, develop relationship, to the point of daily fellowship, that God has long desired to have with His people.  This was His original plan, and through Jesus, He made a way for us to be worthy to not only enter His presence, but to STAY in His presence.

It is by Grace that we are saved (Eph 2: 8-10).  Grace being God's unmerrited favor, that while we were still in sin, He sent His son, out of His great love and desire to fellowship with us, to put us in right standing before Him. 

Under the old covenant, there was a High Priest that went before God on behalf of the people, which was just a Shadow of what was to come. 

Jesus is our High Priest, and instead of slaughtering animals or sacrificing Himself over and over, Him being perfect, and Him taking on all our sins at the cross, this is what has cleansed the believer permanently, and this is what enables us to go into His presence, and we connect with the source that empowers us to change- effortlessly.

But we must first understand how this ties together, otherwise, we will believe that when we sin, we have lost our righteousness before God, lost our right standing before God.

Hebrews 9 shows the comparison of the sancturary built by Moses, specs given by God as it was a replica, a copy of the heavenly sancturary, and it had to be cleansed by blood, by the High Priest, before God could dwell in it, and the temple that God now dwells in, the believer, by His Spirit,  has been cleansed with the blood of Jesus, our High Priest. ( 1 Corinth. 3: 16 & 1 Corinth. 6: 19)

Under the old covenant, blood was shed only to COVER sin, not cleanse man from sin.

Cover: To deal with; hide from view

vs.

Cleanse: to clean or purify   Clean: pure

Under the new covenant, Jesus' blood CLEANSED us; thus making it possible for us to not just be forgiven of past sins or present sins (as under the old covenant), but stay forgiven, a clear conscience before God. 

If we were not fully forgiven, then the Holy Spirit would have to leave every time we sinned.  Thus proving WE'RE required to make ourselves right- that we would have to do something to be cleansed again- impossible!  We can not make ourselves right before God.  All our righteousness is as filthy rags to God. (IS. 64)

Side note: When we sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us we're righteous (John 16: 7-11) and in that moment of realizing we're righteous, however, a thought or action is not righteous, yet by the Holy Spirit we're reminded as to WHY we're righteous, only because of the Blood of Jesus, which was shed for us only because of the kindness of God - it is the revelation of God's kindness, His grace thru Jesus, who is Grace, that leads us to repentance, which means to change our minds - Romans 2: 4. 

Summarized: When we sin, we realize we're wrong, thanks to the Holy Spirit, who reminds us we are righteous, and that is when we desire to repent (acknowledge/ confess) to God that we recognize we were wrong, and then we RECEIVE the forgiveness that is already ours, and continue on in the presence of God, uninhibited, as if we never sinned.  (Hebrews 8: 12)

I John 1: 9

⁹ If we confess (acknowledge) our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

This is often read as:  You must first confess your sin, ask God to forgive you and then you're forgiven, but if you don't confess a sin, you're not forgiven and therefore unrighteous.

The above scripture is confirmation that though we all sin and all fall short of the Glory of God (Romans 3: 21-26), that God is faithful, He is just, true to His word, and that as we confess/ acknowledge what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us as unrighteous behavior, gives us the confirmation/ the comfort of knowing, we are STILL RIGHT before God -  our conscience may REMAIN clear, AND goes on to give the promise that God will cleanse us from the unrighteousness in our lives- clearly showing He is the one that cleans us up- not our self- effort.

 This clear conscience is what enables us to stay connected to the source that empowers us to live a righteous life aka: cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Important: However, when we believe that we have transitioned from righteous to unrighteous when we sin, and must confess every sin to be right before God, that is being sin- conscious, which is law conscious, which put the believer under condemnation and condemnation empowers more sin.

The law in 2 Corinthians 3: 9 is called the ministry of condemnation.  The ministry of condemnation is the 10 commandments, which is the making one self - righteous.

FACT:  Condemnation keeps us out of the presence of God. 

Condemnation brings fear and expectation of punishment; however!  Now, under the new covenant, cut in Jesus blood, we've been given a Spirit that cries Abba, Father, and does not make us a slave to fear again (Romans 8: 15) 

Fear has to do with punishment (I John 4: 18)

God, who is Love, and out of His love for us, He sent His Son, not to condemn the world (us) but to save us. (John 3: 16)

This all ties together:  When we know we're forgiven, we realize how much God loves us, and as a result, we trust that He is for us and never against us, never the one withholding anything good or desirable or sending/allowing anything evil in our lives.  He's a giver, not a taker.

Comparison:

The old covenant, not fully forgiven, constant slaughtering of animals.

New covenant, no slaughtering of animals, rather Jesus was the last and final sacrifice for all sins (Hebrews 10: 1-18), and also known as the sacrificial lamb (John 1: 29).

 

Hebrews 9 

Hebrews 9

Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle

 ¹ Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. ²A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lamp-stand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. ³ Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, ⁴ which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

 ⁶ When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. ⁷ But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. ⁸ The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. ⁹ This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. ¹⁰ They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

The Blood of Christ

 ¹¹ But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ 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, so that we may serve the living God!

 ¹⁵ For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

 ¹⁶ In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, ¹⁷ because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. ¹⁸ This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.

Side note: While Jesus walked the earth, the law was still in effect.  It was not until He cut a new covenant in His blood, died and was raised from the grave, that the New covenant, putting us under grace, was made effective.

¹⁹ When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰ He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”²¹ In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²² In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

 ²³ It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. ²⁵ Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶ Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.  

²⁷ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many (for those that would believe upon Him); and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin (not to punish sin), but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

 

 

He takes our mistakes and works them for our good! Romans 8: 28

Got yourself between a rock and a hard place?  Damaged a relationship?  Feel like you've blown it good this time, and no hope of recovery?  God says different!

Exodus 34: 6-7   ... “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin...

Encouragement: Receive the love, forgiveness and mercy of God, and forgive yourself.

  What ever we've done to put ourselves in a disappointing and painful situation, God doesn't say, "You made your bed, now lay in it!"  NO-  He is merciful and compassionate!

He will take our mistakes and work them for our good! (Romans 8:28)  Our part?  Simply - believe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exodus 34: 7 (cont)

Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

IMPORTANT: The above scripture no longer applies to believers thanks to Jesus taking the punishment due us for ALL our sins, and cutting a New Covenant in His Blood- cleansing us from ALL our sins.

^{Galatians 3: 13} Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

Colossians 2: 13- 14

... He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness (the law/10 commandments) , which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

 NKJV: Colossians 2: 13-14

... having forgiven you all trespasses, ¹⁴ having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

New book: 'How do I Forgive?'

How do I forgive? 

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“Refusing to forgive is like setting our feet in concrete and trying to move forward… Impossible!” – Pamela Harrison

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Never by right-doing- Only Right Believing! Faith Righteousness Romans 3: 21-26

For so many, it's a personal challenge to allow themselves to receive the unconditional love and acceptance of God.  Why?

To answer the 'why', we're going right to the Root:

The core belief we need to be without faults, to be lovable, is what hinders our ability to receive the love and acceptance that is already ours.

Where does this core belief that we need to be 'Right' before God before He will love us and accept unconditionally, as well as, bless us come from?

It comes from the teaching of what is called 'the Law' of God (the 10 commandments and the requirements of the law to be right before God / the Old Covenant).

Under the ' Law /Old Covenant', man had to be aware of what was sin before God, and then he had to make atonement for himself to be 'right' before God, making himself worthy to receive the blessing of God.

In 2 Corinthians 3: 9, the law is called the ministry of Condemnation (judgement, self- effort)

Romans 3: 20... no one will be declared righteous in his (God's) sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Being mindful of the law is what makes us sin- conscious, and being sin- conscious brings us under condemnation.

1 Corinthians 15: 56... the power of sin is the law.  What does that mean? Simply put:

Condemnation (The law (10 commandments) the ministry of condemnation) Empowers sin- perpetual sin. 

Condemnation triggers the need to make one self 'right' before God.  Earn His approval.

When we are sin- conscious, (law minded/ self-effort) the enemy, who is a LAWyer, comes to remind us of our short-comings, aka: Condemnation.

Satan is called the accuser of the brethren (Believer).  His one and only weapon he has is 'the Law', and the only reason it's ever successful is when a believer is not Rooted in Righteousness.

Romans 8: 1 says that there is No condemnation (no punishment)  for those in Christ Jesus.

For those that believe Jesus sacrifice has made them Righteous, and Him alone is their only qualification for being made worthy, acceptable- Righteous before God, this is called Faith Righteousness.

Romans 3: 21- 26  But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— ²⁶ he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

God is Righteous in making the sinner Righteous!

 Faith Righteousness means that though we as humans are unable to make ourselves righteous by our right- doing, God has made a way for our daily fellowship with Him to NEVER be broken, and that is because of the sacrifice of His Son- Jesus, who by His sacrifice has made us Righteous and our believing we're Righteous because of Jesus (ONLY) is Faith Righteousness.

In short: Jesus is our Righteousness. 

It's this revelation that brings us from being sin- conscious to Righteousness- conscious. 

When we're Righteousness- conscious, we're freed to stay God - conscious, aware that He is with us, and that His opinion of us, no matter how bad we blow it, NEVER changes, and that He NEVER wants us to do "works" to earn His approval.

Examples: "I'll go to church this weekend, that will make God happy.  I'll read my bible tonight, this will please God, and MAYBE then He'll bless me..."

When we believe we have to be right in actions to be right before God, then when we blow it, we will shrink back.  However, when we believe we're only Right before God because of Jesus' cleansing us from all our sins, this is when we will kick condemnation out and stay tightly connected to God, expecting ALL of His best- His blessings.

Hebrews 10: 38 & 39 

“But my righteous one will live by faith.
   And I take no pleasure
   in the one who shrinks back.”

 ³⁹ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

 This is saying, the faith that we have that Jesus is our Righteousness, our qualification for the Blessings of God, is THE Faith that God desires for us to have.  And it's this faith that can move mountains!!

The Good news: Today, we are no longer under law, for the requirements of the law have been fulfilled by Jesus, who shed His Blood, cutting a New and Better covenant, and His blood not just covered our past sins, but has Cleansed us from ALL our sins: past, present and future.  (Col. 2: 13& 14, Hebrews 9: 22 & Matt. 5: 17)

Simply put, Jesus' blood has made us permanently Righteous before God no matter how we blow it.

When we blow, and we all blow it, we're to quickly remind ourselves: "I have been made permanently Righteous before God, only because of Jesus.  I refuse condemnation, and I insist on expecting only the very best from my loving God- my loving father."

Thanks to our savior Jesus, we are no longer under law, but Grace. (Romans 6: 14)

 This Grace, this priceless and precious gift of Grace, when understood and believed, will bring about a life led by the Spirit of God.  Where the Spirit of God is - there is Freedom. (2 Corinthians 3: 17)

This is that Freedom:  We are Free to be ourselves, the good and the really bad.  It's as we believe that we stay acceptable and loved when we say, do or think wrong, that knowing we are still accepted and blessed, not on our 'right - doing' but only because God so loves you, He sent His Son to make it to where you could be 'right' before Him, so that you would be free to stay in relationship/ daily, moment to moment fellowship with God, receiving His love and acceptance and all His blessings and favor, this revelation brings freedom, this freedom affords a person to come to their own conclusion, "I don't want to sin". 

It's when we're rooted in Righteousness, being constantly conscious we're Righteous, ONLY because of Jesus,  then we will realize that God is so kind that He set us up for His best, no matter what we do wrong, it is this revelation that brings us to the place of repentance, which means: Change of mind.

When we believe we're worthy to stay in the presence of God (NO MATTER WHAT), then this is what causes us to transform by His Spirit, and we will bear the fruit of His Spirit- EFFORTLESSLY:

Galatians 5: 22- the fruit of the Spirit is: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self- control. 

Fruit of the Spirit is evidence of time spent with the Spirit, which is God, and is not fully achieved and permanently established as part of our character by self-effort.

 "I must make sure I show these fruits in my life."  Self- effort only gets us so far, and more times than not, leads to frustration, which often leads to giving up and saying, "I tried, it didn't work... This is just who I am..."

No! Rather:  When we're Righteousness- conscious, and refuse to be law/judgment/condemnation/self-effort minded, we will stay mindful of God's presence with us and in us.  We will not expect punishment, rather know that we've been made worthy to stay connected to the very source of all Favor and Blessings, as well as, THE power to transform- effortlessly!

Connecting all the dots:

Free from sin- consciousness (The law is synonyms with: condemnation/ judgment/ self- effort)

 Now Righteousness- conscious

Resulting in us being free to be ourselves before God, who is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is (in us) there is Freedom (2 Corin. 3: 17)

Which causes us to stay aware of God's presence, acceptance, love, and to expect only His best

When we're blessed even though we know we don't deserve it, we realize God's kindness

Which leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4)

Because of these undeserved blessings, it's those blessings that empower us to obey out of a heart of gratitude

 And draws us to desire to spend time with God, receiving His Love

Which results in bearing the fruit of the Spirit

Bearing the fruit of the spirit (Love) enables us to fulfill the commandment given by Jesus under the New Covenant: Love one another- effortlessly

The law demands: Love God with all your heart, forgive before you're forgiven, clean yourself up

Grace Provides:

Under Grace: Grace was given out of Love for us first (1John 4: 10)

Under Grace: We have been forgiven before we have forgiven, and this empowers us to forgive.

The law demands, but Grace Provides!

 

 

Dust yourself off and try again! Romans 11: 29

Don't give up- Keep running!

Receive mercy and love from God who is Love, and don't give thought of what people may think, the only thoughts that count is God's- just dust yourself off and try again!

The call on your life, the gifts given to you by God are Never revoked!

Romans 11: 29- for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable.

No matter how far off the path one may get, God never gives up, never turns His back or revokes what He has given to you to do His will!

How do I love the unloveable?

“Why, if I love God, do I find it hard to walk in love?”

Answer: we can not give out what we are not full of

1 John 4: 7 & 8- let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

One of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) is Love

For us to be able to bear any one of the fruit of the Spirit with must get to know the Spirit (God), and that Spirit is God (2 Corin. 3: 17)

This is the definition of Know in the Greek: ghin-oce'-ko (Verb)

Definition:
to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel
to become known
to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of
to understand
to know
Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman
to become acquainted with, to know (Intimate)

Many of us have been long time Christians, however, have struggled with being able to walk according to the Spirit.

It’s actually quite easy, however, the challenge comes in slowing down and spending time with our Living, Loving, yet invisible God.

 We as humans are Not love, but we're capable to love; conversely, God is not just capable to love, He IS Love.

When we spend time in the presence of God (Love) believing He love 'me', receiving His love, we will in turn, out of the fullness we receive from God, give out love to His people- Effortlessly... we always become like those we spend time with.

All summed up: When we get to know God by spending time in His presence, we will give out what we are full of- Effortlessly!

If we believe and receive we’re freely forgiven, we will freely forgive.
If we believe and receive mercy, we will give out mercy.
If we believe and receive Love, we will give out Love!

 

 

Fear Not- Only Believe! Luke 8: 50

About to lose your home or car? Can’t find a job or may be losing your job? Children making decisions that may jeopardize their future? Sick and in pain, and medical bills piling up?

All the above are the cares, the worries, so many carry on a daily basis.

There is hope! 1 Peter 5: 7- Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

“I try, but I’m not sure He will do this for me…”

Encouragement: God is always setting you up for His Best! God does love you, and His love is perfect (complete) for you. His love is the kind that you don’t have to second guess.

Many fear that He may or may not help them with their problems, it’s almost like a crapshoot; however! When we believe that God’s will is to prosper us, that He is always setting us up for His best (Jer. 29:11), no matter what it looks like right now, and no matter how it “plays out” during the process of getting to that "Best" place for us, but are fully persuaded that God is for you- loves you and IS working on your behalf, THAT is being made Perfect (complete) in His love.

Perfect Love casts out Fear, because fear has to do with punishment.

Jesus took all the punishment due us on the Cross. He paid for our right standing before God at all times, no matter how bad we’ve blown it.

When God looks at us, he doesn’t see our failures, the things we’ve done to get ourselves in the trouble we may be facing, he doesn’t wait until we put ourselves in the right, NO! All our doing right is as filthy rags to Him; it’s His Son that has put us in the right and it’s our faith in Him, Jesus, that makes us righteous, worthy and qualified for God blessing us.

Be at peace and strive to enter into rest (Heb. 4:11) knowing that Jesus has already given all we need to experience victory in all situations, it is God’s will for us to remain on top and He is always at work on our behalf to set us up for His best.

Fear Not, Only Believe… in the finished work of Jesus:

1. Salvation: the forgiveness of ALL our sin/ making us righteous, worthy and qualified- permanently- never based on our doing right.
2. Healing: we are ALREADY healed- body and soul
3. He became poor- making us rich
4. Stripped the enemy – gave us authority

1 John 4: 18- There is no fear in love. But perfect (complete) love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment (Jesus took the punishment due us). The one who fears is not made perfect (Complete) in love.

If we continue to meditate on Jesus/ Grace, that He took the punishment due us, see ourselves complete (perfect before God) in Jesus and because of Jesus, we will renew our mind from the old way, the sin- conscious (which is law- conscious) expecting punishment way of thinking to being fully persuaded that we are now under Grace thanks to Jesus and  we're ONLY to expect that ALL Jesus paid for us on the cross is - Our Victory in every circumstance- this is when we will experience the Peace we all long for, and has already made available to us through our faith in Jesus.

God loves us- perfectly, completely, and just as we love our children, and would do anything within our power to help them (in a healthy way), how much more our God?! 

He's already sent us what we need (out of His love for us John 3: 16) for us to focus on to bring the manifestation of His blessing- Jesus.  It is our Faith in Jesus- which is the kind of faith that moves mountains that takes us from lack to full.

When we look to Jesus and His fullness, as our source of supply in every circumstance, we will experience His Grace- His fullness, the result is our lack will disappear.  This is the kindness, the love of God for us, He provided everything through Jesus because of His Great love for us.

Believe, receive, expect - Experience!

When we look to Jesus in His Grace, He turns and see's us in our Faith! 

Renew your mind with the word of Christ = Renewed life- experiencing the promises made available thru Christ!

Did you know that when we love one another, we're fulfilling the Law (10 commandments)?

Romans 13: 9 ...  whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

When we believe we are Righteous, we will live Righteous

"Don't teach that! If you teach people they are forgiven of all their sins, why would they stop sinning?"

From the revelation that we have been made permanently righteous because Jesus paid for all our sins (Colossians 2: 13, 1John 2:2, 2Corin. 5:21) comes a greater understanding that God so LOVED the world (us) that He Gave His Son, not to condemn us, but to Save us (John 3:16).

When we understand what God's Love did for us by sending His Son, we realize God's kindness which draws us to repentance (change our minds), draws us into relationship and causes us to desire to obey.

So let's begin with what was accomplished by Jesus, for us, thanks to God sending Him to us:

These are the 4 accomplishments of the Cross, for our benefit/ our blessings out of the kindness of God:

1. Salvation/ the Forgiveness of ALL our sin/ Permanently Righteous before God/ Put us under Grace by fullfilling the law and set us free from the curse of the law.

2. Healing: Body and Soul (Isaiah 53)

3.  He became poor making us rich (2 Corin. 8:9)

4. Stripped the enemy/gave us authority (Col. 2:15)

All 4 accomplishments on the Cross by Jesus = Victory. 

We do not need to hope for victory; we are already victorious, because of the finished work of the Cross!

When we understand that we have been made worthy only because of the shed blood of Jesus, him taking the punishment for ALL our sins and making us right before God no matter what, it is then that we realize how good God is and how much He loves us -how much He desires to be not only in relationship with us, but desires daily fellowship with us.

It's this revelation that draws us to repentance ( change our minds).  Romans 2: 4 ... God's kindness leads you towards repentance.

When we realize and  mediate on the Fact/truth that we Are Righteous, ONLY because of Jesus- Never by our works, never by our doing anything right or good, we will feel what is already a fact/truth... We ARE Worthy to be in the presence of God, worthy of the blessing that is ALREADY ours and nothing we do disqualifies us from the blessing- thanks to Jesus.

The only reason we do not experience the fullest measure of God's blessing is when we are sin-conscious and we disqualify ourselves.  We go from expecting God's blessing to expecting punishment for our wrong-doing.

When we are sin- conscious, we are law minded, when we are law minded we are sin- conscious and fall under condemnation, which empowers more sin.

Romans 3: 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

We are no longer under law, but under Grace!

Romans 6: 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Remember, sin- consciousness is being law minded, being law- minded causes us to be sin-conscious and when we sin, we fall under condemnation, and condemnation empowers more sin... it's a cycle.

Romans 8: 1-4

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

What is the fear?  That if the law isn't taught, people will continue to sin.  This is why we have heard the teaching:

"If you knowingly sin, you are not blessed, and you've open the door for the devil to come steal from you..."

It's from this teaching that fear comes that people will not stop sinning if they have no fear of consequences that has continued the teaching of the law/ sin- consciousness.

The law brings fear of punishment. 

But we've been given a Spirit that does not make us a slave to fear again, but the Spirit that causes us to cry Abba Father! (Romans 8: 15)

We must teach and believe in what Jesus did for us, we must live by faith, faith that we are Righteous/ Worthy/ Qualified, ONLY because of Jesus and NO other way.

New converts as well as old will continue to sin, even perpetual sin, until they understand the Goodness/ Kindness/ Love of God. 

That Kindness is : that He has made us Righteous, worthy, healed, whole, prosperous, and authority over the enemy- we already have the victory, no longer waiting for Him to do anything for us, it is already done, we must simply believe we are worthy and receive, and the more we believe, the more we will receive, the more we receive, the more we will come to expect, the more we expect that more it will manifest.

Law vs. Grace / Sin- conscious vs. Righteousness - conscious summed up:

When we believe we are Righteous we will live Righteous.

 

 

 

 

New bLoG: Forgiveness becomes easier the more we freely RECEIVE forgiveness

This is the definition for Forgive: To cease to feel anger at or for.

How do we get to the place that we are able to cease to feel anger towards those that wrong us?

Answer: When we receive forgiveness freely, we will freely forgive.

Matthew 18: 21-35 (Msg)

A Story About Forgiveness

 ²¹At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"

 ²²Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

 ^23-25"The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

 ^26-27"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

 ²⁸"The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'

 ^29-31"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

 ^32-35"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt.  (And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.")

Verse 35 & Matthew 6:15 states we must forgive before we can be forgiven; however, these verses were before Jesus shed His blood cutting a New Covenant and putting us under Grace.  Because we are under God’s Grace, thanks to Jesus, we are freely forgiven. 

Just as we are freely forgiven, we are to freely forgive.

 The more we receive that we are freely forgiven and the more we insist on staying in right standing before God when we know we have blown it by choosing to forgive ourselves, the result will be that we will freely forgive others - We will refuse to hold things against people because we understand that God doesn’t hold things against us, and THE only reason He doesn’t is because of Jesus being the sacrifice for all sin in our lives, causing us to stay in right standing no matter what- this is Grace.

Hebrews 10: 11-18 (Msg)

  … Christ made a single sacrifice for sins that was it!

... It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process.

  … He concludes, I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.
Once sins are taken care of for good, there's no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.

Romans 4:25

²⁵He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Romans 5: 18 & 19 (Msg)

^18-19Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person (Adam) did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person (Jesus) did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man (Adam) said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man (Jesus) said yes to God and put many in the right.

To be able to forgive: either to forgive someone that has wronged us and has no intention admitting they have wronged us and asking of our forgiveness, or to be able to forgive someone that has admitted they have wronged us, but we find it hard to forgive, we must do one thing first… as believers, we must 1^st receive the forgiveness that is freely already ours and then forgive ourselves.

The more we are Rooted in Righteousness, meaning: the more we understand that we are freely forgiven. That we never lose our right standing before God, no matter what, only because of Jesus, who is our righteousness, the more freely we will be able to forgive.

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, His shed Blood, those that believe upon Him, we are forever cleansed, made Holy -  only because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

Righteousness is not an action.

Righteousness is never obtained by works aka: anything a human can do. 

Righteousness is a Person- Jesus.  He is our Righteousness.

Hebrews 10: 10

¹⁰ … we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Romans 3: 23- 25

…²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

Love = Forgiveness

Colossians 3:12 & 13

¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Ephesians 4: 31 & 32

³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Many want to know: How do I become so full of love that I am able to love others, even the unlovable?

Answer: Time in the presence of God- who is Love (1 John 4)

 When we receive His love, His forgiveness, and just as important- forgive ourselves- we will give out what we are full of = Love and Forgiveness

To sum it all up:

When we are full of love and fully aware of how much we are forgiven, we will walk in love.

These are the attributes of walking in love:

1 Corinthians 13: 4- 8a (NIV) 

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  ⁸Love never fails.

James 2: 8 – 12

 ⁸If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. ⁹But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

 ¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

What James is saying here is, if we will love one another, we will not commit adultery, we will not murder… we will in essence be keeping the law, however, not out of fear of judgment, not out of fear of not having God’s blessing, but we will be doing right to others out of Love, the right motive… we will be obeying the royal law effortlessly because we have chosen to spend time with God who is love, and in turn we will give love, which will be fulfilling the Royal Law.

Obedient out of a heart of Love not Fear

When we believe right, we will live right and experience all the spiritual blessings that are already ours.

John 14: 15

¹⁵"If you love me, you will obey what I command.

Notice, Jesus didn’t say: if you fear me, you will obey me.

Too many have been taught by fear tactics. 

“You must or God will not…”    “You must not or you will go to hell…” “If you do this or don’t do that, the devil will be allowed to…”

Jesus went about doing good.  He went about setting people free.  Never once did He make someone sick or cast a demon into someone- He set people free and that is what He is doing today.

FACT: We love God because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

The importance of receiving God’s Love

The #1 reason why people, even spiritual leaders, fall into immorality is due to not staying in close/ intimate fellowship with God, who is Love.

When we are not full of love, we will revert to our human nature of selfishness and as a result we will hurt people.

Immorality is  the result of selfishness, and is a direct reflection of a person’s relationship with God.

Encouragement: Spend time in God’s presence; allow Him to love on you.  Chose to believe you are righteous, not by anything you say or do, but only because of Jesus.  Receive the forgiveness that is already ours.

Important: Never, no matter what, allow any ‘feelings’ keep you from getting into the presence of God.  This  is the enemies trick to pull you away from the very connection that empowers us to do, be and stay in the will of God, and this comes from being connected with God on a daily basis.

Romans 8: 1

Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The Message version says it like this:

Romans 8: 1 (Msg)

 ^1-2With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

 ^3-4God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.

   The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.

 ^5-8Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.

We are loved & we are forgiven.  Believe it - Receive it- Live it!

 

Ministry this Saturday

Local: 21st & Garnett

in the Loaves & Fishes Ministry Bldg., Tulsa, OK.

Time: 10:00a

All are welcome

For questions or directions: contact@pamelaharrisonministries.org

 

Refuse Guilt!

Walkin' around with some guilt? Feeling unworthy to spend time in God's presence? Did you know that is the enemy of our destinies, the devil's trick, to weaken God's people?

*Fact: Spending time in God's presence RECEIVING His Love is where we get our strength and confidence. God is Love, and His love is Perfect. (1 John 4:8)

* Guilt is a feeling, it is not from God.

ENCOURAGEMENT: Override the feeling of Guilt with the truth that you are Forgiven!  Receive that you are already forgiven; that you've never lost your right standing b4 God- Get right back into His presence,and receive His love which will = the fulfilling your destiny!

*Hebrews 10: 12,14 (NKJV)
12 But this Man (Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God... 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Go ahead, BOLDLY approach God and let'em love on you! Good things happen to those that know God loves'em!

**Ministry this Saturday**

Where: In the Loaves and Fishes Bldg (19th & Garnett), Tulsa, OK.

Time: 10a

Praise & Worship lead by: Nicole Napie

All are Welcome

For more information or direction, you may email: contact@pamelaharrisonministries.org

Righteousness is not an action, it's a person- Jesus

I have some really good news! Righteousness is not an action, it's a person- Jesus. We Never, no matter what, lose our right standing before God. "Ya, but why do I feel that God is a million miles away?" Answer: We've not yet fully realized that Jesus IS our Righteousness, making us and keeping us in Right standing b4 God at ALL times. *Encouragement: Take God at His word, because of Jesus, those that believe upon Jesus are now and forever will be IN RIGHT STANDING BEFORE GOD! Refuse the lies of the enemy that you deserve any punishment and insist on staying in connection with God no matter what you do wrong. It's not what We do right or wrong that determines our status before God. NO! It's how perfect is our righteousness- Jesus b4 God- He IS Perfect! Receive the full measure of Grace that is ours. Receive 4giveness, Receive ALL the blessings that r ours thanks only 2 Jesus!
Romans 3: 22-24
22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Communion- Key to Health & Wholeness and NOT to be Feared!

 Communion:  KEY to Divine Health & Wholeness and NOT to be feared

1 Corinthians 11: 23-30 (nkjv)

²³ For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (Col. 2:15 ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.)

   
²⁷ Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. ³⁰ For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

According to the Apostle Paul, THIS is THE reason why many of God’s people are weak, broken, sick & dying.

Unworthy manner is often interpreted to mean, “If you have sin in your life”. 

Not true. 

Fact: We all have sin in our life, from thoughts to blatant sin, we all have and do sin- daily.

It’s only because of Jesus’ blood that we are forgiven and stay in right standing before God.

The scripture states that what makes us unworthy is not rightly discerning the Body of Christ. 

So what does it mean to discern the body of Christ?

To discern is to perceive, to perceive is to understand.

We are to discern the Lord’s body-   which is to understand that the beating, brokenness- the crown of thorns, the stripes He took on his body was for our Complete health and wholeness.

Unworthily in the Vines Expository Dictionary says this about partaking unworthily:

Partaking in the Lord’s supper “unworthily” i.e., treating it as a common meal, the bread and cup as common things.

When Paul said in verse 28 “Examine yourself”

* He was saying each of us need to be sure we understand why we are taking communion.

* As well as, making sure we are not taking communion as a ritual. 

* And not because everyone else is doing it, rather do this with Full understanding and full of Faith, knowing that when we partake, we are not only remembering that all your past, present and future sins are forgiven, but our bodies and minds are healed because of what Jesus took upon His body for us.

The bread which represents Jesus’ body is the reminder that Jesus took upon Himself all our sin; He also became broken, weak, took all sickness and became poor for us.

 

What did Paul mean when he said, “You drink judgment upon yourself?

The word Judgment in this verse in the Greek is Krima

Krima means: Divine Sentence

When Adam sinned, a Divine sentence was placed upon the human race, and the result was weakness, brokenness, sickness & death.

The Holy Communion is God’s solution- God’s Divine provision for wholeness, healing & life.

What did Paul mean when he said in verse 30, “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep (die)"?

He was not saying God would send or allow sickness, no, that is going against His word, going against the finished work of the cross- the very reason Jesus suffered, died and was resurrected.

Allow me to explain, truth is parallel. What is the opposite of healed? Sick.  What is the opposite of Weak? Strong.  What is the opposite of Broken? Whole.

Here Paul is saying, if you don’t discern, if you don’t understand what Jesus did and why you are taking communion, then the fallen state of man due to sin CAN have effect in your body- weakness, sickness, even death- these are all opposite of healing.

When we partake in a “worthy manner” which we now know means to understand what Jesus did for us by being beaten, broken, wearing the crown of thorns and taking the stripes on His back for all sickness, becoming poor so that we may become rich and stripping the kingdom of darkness of its power, we will receive by faith the full effect of healing in our bodies, minds & soul- every area of our lives.

Do you have problems with your memory?  Take Communion and receive your healing.

Do you have a learning disability? Take communion

Need increased intelligence?  Take communion

There is no limit as to how many times a day we may take communion. 

There are testimonies of those that have taken communion up to 3 times a day and though that sound radical, they have experienced radical healings!

“I would take communion at home, but I’m not an ordained minister.”

1 Peter 2: 4-5 & 9

 ⁴As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁹… you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

If you have received Jesus as your Lord, you have been made “worthy” and are now a royal priest.

No longer be intimidated; no longer allow feelings of unworthiness.  Boldly partake of what is yours- Jesus suffered greatly so that each of us may greatly benefit.

 

 

The purpose of partaking in Communion is 2 fold

The Wine:

Represents the Blood of Jesus, which is for our Forgiveness.  His sacrifice made a way that freed us from having to make animal sacrifices for sin and freed us from ALL need to do right to be in right standing before God.  Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, because of His Blood, ALL our sins: past, present and future and ALREADY forgiven.

The Bread:

Represents Jesus’ body.  Jesus took the beating on His body; He bore stripes on His back and wore the Crown of Thorns for our healing.  He became broken for our wholeness, weak so that we are made strong, poor that we may become rich.

If you believe upon Jesus, received Him as your Lord  & Savior, you are now a son or daughter of God.

Healing is the children’s Bread.

 

Mark 7: 26- 29

²⁶ The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread (God’s chosen people) and throw it to the little dogs.”  (Gentiles)
²⁸ And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.”
²⁹ Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”

Another benefit of Communion:

Demonic oppression:

In the bible both demon possession/oppression and sickness were treated the same as they originate from the devil.

Both sickness & demon possession are oppression from the devil.

Remember, each time we take Communion we are proclaiming the Lord’s death.  In His death He stripped the devil of His power! 

Col. 2:15 ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Acts 10:38 says that Jesus went about doing good “… healing all who were oppressed by the devil.”

  

Ministry this Saturday!

Local: Loaves and Fishes Ministies Building

21st & Garnett, Tulsa, OK.

Time: 10a

Praise & Worship lead by: Nicole Napie

  

Ministry is open to all & both women & men

  

Questions or need directions you may email us: contact@pamelaharrisonministries.org

  

Dysfunction: 2 Root Causes * How to Overcome & Avoid *

Every time we turn to anything other than God to meet our need, it will create dysfunction.

Dysfunction: Abnormal or impaired functioning.

 

There are 2 root causes for dysfunction, and reasons why we stay in dysfunction:

1. Unmet needs

2. Fear

Fact: When we have a need that we cannot trust God to fill, we get into fear that we won't have what we need. 

Thus we go about getting what we need on our own...

This is what happens when we go about getting what we need on our own:

Proverbs 16:25

 ²⁵ There is a way that seems right to a man,
       but in the end it leads to death.

 

Proverbs 19: 3

 

 ³ a man's own folly ruins his life,
       yet his heart rages against the LORD.

 

FACT: When we look to man to be our source for anything, we are setting ourselves up for pain, as well as, pain for others.

Example:

Genesis 15

 ¹ After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
       "Do not be afraid, Abram.
       I am your shield,
       your very great reward. "

 ² But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of

Damascus

?" ...

 ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir."

Genesis 16

Hagar and Ishmael

 ¹ Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; ² so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."

 

Side note:

Quite a bit of time had passed since God promised Abram a son.

Think a about it: Abram was 75 when God first promised to make Abram into a great nation. Abram was 100 when the son God promised came to pass. 

So, during the interim, and true to our human nature, Sarai (Sarah) impatiently implied that God was not keeping His promise, so Sarai decided to take the matter into her own hands and solve the problem of her barrenness.

 

Let’s see how that worked for her:

      Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³ So after Abram had been living in

Canaan

ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
      When she knew she was pregnant, she (Hagar) began to despise her mistress.

 

 ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."

Take note: Sarai thought she had a great idea to fill the unmet need she had, as well as, fulfilling the will of God that she feared was not going to come to pass.

Let’s see how this great idea played out:

Abram said:  ⁶ "Your servant is in your hands, do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so Hagar fled from Sarai.

 ⁷ The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. ⁸ And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?"
      "I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered.

 ⁹ Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." ¹⁰ The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."

 ¹¹ The angel of the LORD also said to her:
       "You are now with child
       and you will have a son.
       You shall name him Ishmael,
       for the LORD has heard of your misery.

 ¹² He will be a wild donkey of a man;
       his hand will be against everyone
       and everyone's hand against him,
       and he will live in hostility
       toward all his brothers."

 

Now let’s reflect: Out of 1 woman’s unmet need and fear that God would not fulfill His promise came dysfunction:

Out of this dysfunction came the father (Ishmael) of a group of descendants that would be in hostility toward all his brothers- to this very day!

Today we are no different.

* Many live in lives of pain due to the dysfunction brought about from decisions made in an attempt to fill unmet needs* 

Examples:

Unmet need in:

Friendship: 

We are relational beings, and it is God’s will for us to have friends; however, if we do not first allow God to be our BEST friend, and fill the unmet need first, then out of fear that the unmet need we are experiencing will not be filled, our human tendency is to pick our friends out of convenience/ availability; which these friendships are often a source of co-dependency, which leads to frustration, manipulation, control and hurt. These friendships are seldom a source of pleasure.

Result of God filling that unmet need:

Once completely satisfied/ content with God being our best friend, TRUSTING that at the right time He will bring to us the tangible, RIGHT friends for each season of our lives- He WILL DO IT!

·      These God ordained relationships will be a source of pleasure. And with God being your BEST friend, you will not “NEED” the relationship, and you will have the strength and confidence to set much needed boundaries resulting in healthy relationships.

Whereas if you “NEED” the relationship, you will be afraid to set boundaries due to you NEEDING to keep this relationship in order to fill an unmet need.

These type relationships will always bring Dysfunction and PAIN.

Approval:

FACT: We all need approval. 

The # 1 source for approval should come from our Father... Our Father God.

Proverbs 29:25 (AMP)

²⁵The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever leans on, trusts in, and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high.

When we need man’s approval, we will fear man/ people opinions.

This is when we will CONSIDER man’s opinions.

We will then become “slave” to the pleasing of a person or people in an attempt to fill the unmet need for approval -  if we don’t get ALL of our approval needs met by God- and God only!

Test for yourselves: Ever noticed how there are some people you avoid?

Ever asked yourself why?

If we are approval seekers from people, then we’re unsure of ourselves - which we will be unsure of ourselves if we have not received the much needed approval we need from our God.

Then there are people that we want to like us, and we want to be in relationship with, however, we either avoid or limit our time, or worse, not behave as “normal” due to us being afraid we will say or do something that will cause them not to approve of us.

Fact: People are drawn to people that are “okay” with themselves, and being okay with yourself comes from knowing you are approved by God.

Mother/Father figure:

There may be SEASONS God will allow a person to be or have a parental figure; however, the goal is for God Himself to be our parental figure- all that we need.

*Fear: I know God can, I just don’t know if He WILL.

*Trust: I know that He will, and I will get all I need from Him and trust Him to bring into my life the tangible that I desire = Faith

Relationships become dysfunctional when we become dependent upon a person to fill an unmet need.

 We turn to people to fill an unmet need when fear that God will not fill the unmet need.

When we don’t trust God WILL do “it”, this is when we will do things on our own- which will bring about dysfunction.

Want to Avoid or ready to Overcome dysfunction in your life?

Step back and look at all your relationships. 

Ask God to show you the areas of dysfunction in any relationship you have had or currently have.

How to Overcome: Ask God to reveal the root. Ask Him what unmet need &/or fear has:

·        Got me into this dysfunctional relationship?

·        Kept me in this dysfunctional relationship?

How to Avoid:  Ask God:

·        Why am I looking to have a relationship?

·        Am I over-all content w/out this relationship that I’m looking to add to my life? 

·        Can I live happily with out this person/people?

TRUTH: God desires to be your every thing.

 

But how do I have a relationship with an invisible God?

By literally picturing Him in your mind, talking to Him as you would your best friend, as well as, sitting in His lap, allowing Him to hold you, love on you, and SPEAK to you.

If you will do this, if you will make a firm decision that God will be my every thing, and talk with Him everyday- He will become your every thing.

After you have allowed Him to fill your unmet needs, He adds to your life the desires you’ve requested in line with His will, and the results: Healthy and functional relationships and life.

Psalms 37:4

⁴Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

 

Delight:

A high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; something that gives great pleasure.

 

 

 Join me for Ministry this Saturday @ 9:30a

Local: In the Loaves and Fishes Ministries bldg. located at 19th & Garnett

For more info or directions, e-mail: contact@pamelaharrisonministries.org

 

 

 

 

 

Video of our ministry trip to Hyderabad, India 09

Namaste from India!

 

 I will be forever thankful to each person that enabled me to be here, either by prayer &/or financial support.

Thus far we have ministered to orphans at an orphanage, night before last were taken to a far off village where many received salvation, and many healings took place.

Last night was the Pastor's /Leadership conference.  The anointing fell, and many were ministered to prophetically.

The love God has for His people has come over me in waves to such a degree that I have been over-whelmed- even reduced to a speechless composed mess of His love...

 After we were done ministering the night at the village, the people rushed the stage- so eager to ask questions, requested prayer, just plain hungry for all that God has for them.

 It is part of our purpose to teach them, that they too can, on their own, when the ministers are gone, hear God for themselves, that they too can feel God on their own, and be healed by simply believing - spending time in His presence.

What an honor to be used to teach them that just as Jesus became real to me and healed me- He has no favorites and will do the VERY same for them!

Thank you, to each of you, that obeyed- even sacrificed your finances to ensure ministry to these people. The harvest is ripe, the people need to hear that they are loved and they have a purpose.

As God blesses each of us with finances, it is for the benefit of His Kingdom... I've known that, but now- today, I have a greater understanding. I get it now, more than I ever have...God's wants us blessed, not only for us to enjoy this life- but for a greater purpose, to be able to go into all the world to literally reach out to those that may otherwise never know that they too have a purpose..

What an honor to be used to teach them that just as Jesus became real to me and healed me- He has no favorites and will do the VERY same for them!

As I spoke that night before last at the village, I could feel the people thinking, could this be true? I have a purpose... there is a God that loves me for me??

 

Among those in the village that came running up, 2 very precious young women came running up- so hungry ..I was instructed to tell them: Spend time with your savior- your father, get to know Him- truly, and go and tell others, as many as you can so that they will not go to hell, but they too have a purpose, they too are to get to know their God and go tell others... be pillars in their village and ministers to as many as you can...

 

What an honor to speak on behalf of the living- loving God.

 

 Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your friendship, partnership and support- none of us can do what we're called to do on our own... we all need each other... none of us has it all or knows it all- we need each other. God is good- God is Love.

 

The conference begins tomorrow morning and will last 3 days.  It is expected to have an attendance of up to 1500... Please keep us in your prayers.

 

I look forward to posting pictures and video when I return!

 

Much love to you,

 

Pamela