What Are YOU Trying To Prove; Tried-and-True

When someone is tempted, he shouldn't say that God is tempting him. God can't be tempted by evil, and God doesn't tempt anyone. Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him.  Then desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin. When sin grows up, it gives birth to death. My dear brothers and sisters, don't be fooled.  Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn't change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon. God decided to give us life through the word of truth to make us his most important creatures.  James 1:13-18

Picking up with yesterdays topic: What are YOU trying to prove.  We have to have clarity about if we are indeed "tried-and -true".  Today we are evaluating, discerning what is true. Know up front that my plum line is what God's word tells me truth is, feel free to openly disagree with anything I state.  Believe me when I say, "if not for Him, even the little that I know would not help myself or anyone else".   Do you know why I can confidently, with all humility NOT take offense when someone tellls me they don't agree with me, or that I am WRONG?  It is for this one reason, alone: 

"I do not have anything to prove, Christ alone is the proof of all things."

As anyone who knows me will tell you, one of my over used phrases is "Can we all agree that relationship is more important than proving we're right?"

So, Please don't be surprised if I learn beyond my current  understanding - I pray I do.  Don't be alarmed if my weaknesses show; I will be testing my knowledge by faith not by sight.  Always remember, when I do not appear to be humiliated by my mistakes and failures, it is because my confidence is not based on my "self".   It is not about proving anything any longer.......it is about witnessing.  There is nothing in the world to worry about for me; all pressure is removed......I'm FREE!

We all have been tempted, tested, tried for the burden of proof.  But none as was our Christ.  It is true, if we were tried we would be found guilty on many counts.  Which brings us to this junction in our studies:

What is Satan and his legions trying to prove? 

If we only want to quote the scripture and stop there, Isaiah 14 would fit the bill: You thought, “I’ll go up to heaven and set up my throne above God’s stars. I’ll sit on the mountain far away in the north where the gods assemble. I’ll go above the top of the clouds. I’ll be like the Most High.”

Let's dig a bit deeper than the obvious though. We have spoken several times now in reference to Mark sharing how Christ was immediately impelled by the Spirit, to go into the Wilderness.  He goes on to state that the reason was for Christ to be "tempted".   To clear up any misunderstandings we might have, I double checked my research on the following: tempted, tested, God, Christ, Man and Satan. 

Romans 8: 1-9, 26-30, 38,39 So those who are believers in Christ Jesus can no longer be condemned.  The standards of the Spirit who gives life through Christ Jesus, have set you free from the standards of sin and death.  It is impossible to do what God's standards demand because of the weakness our human nature has.  But God sent his Son to have a human nature as sinners have and  to pay for sin.  That way God condemned sin in our corrupt nature.  Therefore, we, who do not live by our corrupt nature but by our spiritual nature, are able to meet God's standards.  Those who live by the corrupt nature have the corrupt nature's attitude.  But, those who live by the spiritual nature have the spiritual nature's attitude.  The corrupt nature's attitude leads to death.  But the spiritual nature's attitude leads to life and peace.  This is so because the corrupt nature has a hostile attitude toward God.  It refuses to place itself under the authority of God's standards because it can't!  Those who are under the control of the corrupt nature can't please God.  But if God's Spirit lives in you, you are under the control of your spiritual nature, not your corrupt nature.

At the same time the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we don't know how to pray for what we need.  But the Spirit intercedes along with our groans that cannot be expressed in words.  The one who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit has in mind.  The Spirit intercedes for God's people the way God wants him to.  We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God - those whom he has called according to his plan.  This is true because he already knew his people and had already appointed them to have the same form as the image of his Son.  Therefore, his Son is the firstborn among many children.  He also called those whom he had already appointed.  He approved of those whom he had called, and he gave glory to those whom he had approved of. 

  I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us.  We can't be separated by death or life,  by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.

Let's put all these pieces together and get the "Big View".  We are told that Satan immediately to take the truth which is planted in our hearts.  We also know that he is attempting to prove to us that God is a liar, because that is the ONLY way he can deceive us. Therefore, Satan is all about "tempting" us.  God however, would NEVER tempt us!  He has nothing further to prove, it's all been proven.  It is only being fulfilled at this point.  God's will is for us to run under His blanket of Love as we live in the midst of this nightmare Satan and the fallen angels are whirling at our minds.  Christ was sufficient; his sacrifice was good; it was acceptable in All Ways for All Things.

As we sojourn we must face what our spirit is reflecting; the image or spirit we are characterizing.  If we stop fearing that we will be cast away as if we are on trial, we will realize as we are liberated from condemnation, guilt and shame what is obvious to those around us.  Remember when your eye's are roving over humanity looking for someone to devour with judgement, that God demands we judge ourselves in order to see clearly our OWN reflection.

As we stated, God does not tempt us; but He does test us.  He must test our refinement.  He is refining our character, because we are His hearts desire.  He wants to be able to walk closely with us all the moments of our days.  He is jealous for us.  When we choose to walk closely with the very spirit opposing Him it grieves Him deeply. 

There is nothing about God which needs refinement; so we are not to allow Satan to put God on trial.  That is what it means not to test the Lord our God.  He is not a common man whom a selected panel of peers and a false judge should decide His fate.

What God is impelling us to do, is to emerge from these temptations and trials holier, humbler, stronger than when we entered in.

The only problem is that without His indwelling spirit we will be proven reprobate as we break down under the burden of evil proof - it's true.

I pray that the Spirit has His will with you today, in all ways; prospering you even as your soul prospers while merging itself into the fullness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

To Him be all the glory, forever and ever ~Amen,

Kisses,

Candace

©Candace Huffmaster 2012, All Copyrights Reserved

Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc™

Isaiah 66:5 Listen to the word of the LORD, all who tremble at his word. Your relatives, who hate you and exclude you for my name's sake, say, "Let the LORD show his glory; then we will see your joy." But they will be put to shame.

What Are YOU Trying To Prove? (Part 1)

As I was compiling all my notes to move forward in our studies, I realized I had missed a few things.  As you all know, I do not like to leave any stone unturned.  So bear with me please....

Mark opened his story to us with Isaiah.  I went back to several chapters of the old testament and really dug into Isaiah 26 and 40.  We know that God's word is the messenger which precedes all things.  God's word sets the span and scope of origin and infinity.  The spirit of truth or the spirit of lies are the only words available to our hearts, minds and actions.  God promises that His spirit will not divide.  Righteousness and evil, He tells us, have nothing to do with each other.  We have life by every word which precedes from the mouth of God, that is truth.  Any thing apart from that leads to death, that is truth.  One path is headed in one direction and the other is the direct opposite, so they cannot make it to the same destination; right?

As I was reading, it was crystal clear to me how God was building up for a cataclysmic MOMENT.  Then boom, all things which have been would be set in motion and nothing would stop His force or momentum.  If you believe God's word, you know this culmination of all times is Christ, his earthly life, death and Resurrection.  All roads lead to His ONE intersecting point. 

I read again, how after Christ was baptised that the Spirit impelled him into the wilderness.  The word impelled was an interesting choice.  It means to drive or urge forward; press on; incite or constrain to action. It is meant to be a driving force or cause to move onward; propel or impart motion to an object.  This is what all words, all story lines were doing.  They were pointing us to our goal which is Christ. 

Now I know this is not new News, so let's take a ride a bit farther down this road.  If all stories ARE telling the same tale, whether we believe it or not, when our storyline ends God's story will continue on.  Long after our flesh which withers like grass, and our beauty which is like a fading flower vanishes from mortal sight our souls will live on;  ALSO, all our words have been recorded to our account.  So, these three things remain: our soul, the spirit upholding us and the story we told. 

This is what Christ rose to tell us.  This is what the illustration of all words is impelling us to see, this is what all the urgency is about:  Christ said the time is at hand, the kingdom has come meaning we are living in the time of fulfillment and the spiritual realm is in full out battle for YOUR territory. But do not fear, Christ overcame the world so that His Kingdom could be at hand, we could repent, be rescued and boldly announce the truth which ushers in light, repair and restoration to all that is good, lovely and pure.

Think about what Mark is describing to us.  We saw the demons first calling Christ out as the Holy One of God.  We saw Jesus rebuking and silencing them, as well as environmental chaos such as storms, lack of food, ill health, masses of spectators, contentions of people and lack of much needed rest.  For each situation and need, driven by the holy spirit Christ had all things.  If this had not been, then God's word would have been profaned, rendering Him a liar.  But even this was not God's driving force. There was a larger illustration being portrayed for us:
Christ being shattered......

I started thinking about all this.  What if Christ would have stayed in tact?  He would have been the sole power source and when He died God would have had to "reinvent the wheel" so to speak.  Wouldn't that have been insane; doing the same thing over and over again for all eternity and expecting a different outcome.  Well God is perfectly sane.....PERFECTLY wise and all knowing.

Then I remembered Moses:  The spirit of God was upon him so that he could deliver and lead God's people into God's will.  Jethro, Mose's father-in-law asked him, "What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you set alone and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?  Then Moses explained to him that he mediated disputes 24/7 to make known the statues of God and His laws. 

Jethro asked Moses to ask the Lord if it wouldn't be wise for Moses to continue to be the representative before God on disputes but to teach everyone these laws and statutes so that out of them he could select able individuals who could handle the minor issues. 

Jethro's concern was that Moses would wear out himself and the people because this burden was too heavy for him alone.  This is exactly what Christ did, the burden was great, because the need was great.  Fortunately the pour of the spirit was released from Christ and fractured so that we each may receive a portion.

As we spoke about Friday, the largest miracle is, even though it is part, the spirit joins itself back together in Christ, who is our head.  The spirit enters back, with us all united into the depths of God.  So we are NEVER unplugged. We are continually empowered for His good pleasure and purposes unto all mankind.

So don't unplug, don't divide your soul from the life of the spirit.  Satan's spirit is also impelling you to open up ad take off to be empowered by what he is fueling.

More on that tomorrow......if I go any longer today you might not read tomorrow :)

Today, strap in and go with God speed wherever the spirit impels you!
Kisses,
Candace



©Candace Huffmaster 2012, All Copyrights Reserved

Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc™