I hope my testimony will somehow connect or relate to your personal experience and your walk with the Lord. As I share my testimony, I will be witnessing as to what Jesus Christ has done in my life and giving him all the glory.

After coming to the Lord in 1978, I started going to a church that did not believe that divine healing was for today. As a matter of fact, the church was more interested in developing a fellowship around social interactions. By that, I mean having gatherings for fellowship and “potluck dinners” but never talking about Jesus. As a matter of fact, they seemed uncomfortable about the supernatural ministry of Jesus Christ. They were “Cessationists”; they believed that miracles stopped after the Apostles passed away. However, as I pointed out in my last post, Jesus had many more disciples than the 12 that he called apostles. Those disciples moved in the power of the Holy Spirit, and I believe that what was true then is also true for us today. Also, keep in mind that there has been no shortage of miracles, signs, and wonders throughout church history. 

At that time, instead of searching the Bible and seeking the truth for myself, I simply believed what I was taught in the church I attended. But then I began to associate with other Christians who believed a little bit differently, they believed in miracles, and they believed that miracles could take place today. These Christians pointed me to the Bible verses that spoke of how to know that the Kingdom of God was present, and it was through signs, wonders, and miracles. Most practically healing the body, mind, and emotions.

So, at that point, I was being pulled in two directions about miracles, signs, and wonders. The big question for me was, is divine healing and miracles for today? I had heard about people being healed, but I never witnessed a miracle for myself! So, I was very skeptical. What made it more difficult for me was that my background was in chemistry and biology, and science teaches that only what can be measured or seen is real. And, of course, the supernatural can’t be measured or seen with our natural eyes. So here I am a relatively new Christian trying to understand with my mind if supernatural healing was possible for today? I know now that the mind cannot fully comprehend the spiritual realm or the mind of the Lord. 

The Healing Miracle

Now let me introduce my father-in-law. My father-in-law came to live with us after having suffered a stroke. He was paralyzed on the right side, his right arm hung limply by his side, he was unable to use his right arm, and of course, he walked with a cane because he had limited control over his right leg. It never occurred to me to pray for him, for healing, because healing wasn’t what I was taught. 

My father-in-law had heard about a healing service about four hours away from where we lived. He decided to go with a group of friends, and I, of course, wished him well but did not expect anything to happen. He left my house in the morning crippled, and he returned home that night totally healed! He could now walk without a cane. He was able to shake my hand for the first time in many years, and he was so proud that he could finally write with his right hand again. He was so excited about what Jesus had done, and he spent all his days telling everyone about the healing miracle he received. And, he would say, “if God could heal me, then God could heal anyone!”

Now the story doesn’t end there. You may be thinking that my father-in-law is the one who received the miracle, but in fact, I was the one who received the miracle. Because from that moment, I went from being a cessationist, that is, believing that healing was not for today, to a Believer without any doubts that healing was for today. From that day to the present, I pray for people to receive miraculous healings, anytime and anywhere, and have seen the Lord do marvelous things.

You see, that is the key to the Kingdom of God, believe with your heart, that is faith, and then lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. But you say what if they are not healed? Let me share with you an important truth, you are not the healer Jesus is! I mean that whether the healing takes place at that time or not is the Lord’s business. Your responsibility is to lay hands on the sick and, in faith, pray for them.

Andrew Womack Ministry

I recently came across an article by Andrew Womack Ministries that clearly speaks to the issue at hand, is healing for today. This is what he had to say, and I quote:

“One of the main reasons I think Christians don’t believe that it’s always God’s will to heal is that it is convenient to believe that way. Instead of making their experiences match God’s Word, many seek to make God’s Word match their experiences. It is obvious that not everyone gets healed, not even all those who desire healing receive it. To deal with this dilemma, the doctrine that it’s not always God’s will to heal has arisen. That’s convenient. That makes it God’s fault and not ours if things don’t go right. That is not what the Word of God teaches.

The prophet Malachi said in Malachi 4:2, “But unto you, that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” This was not just a metaphor for spiritual healing and health. The same thing was spoken by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 53:4, which says, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”

There has been a great effort by many theologians to spiritualize this to say that the healing provided in Christ’s atonement was only spiritual and emotional, not physical, but that is not true to God’s Word.

Isaiah’s prophecy about Jesus bearing our grief and carrying our sorrows was quoted by Matthew in the New Testament in relation to Jesus healing every single one. Matthew quoted Isaiah 53:4 this way in Matthew 8:17: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias [Isaiah] the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”

Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, substituted the words “infirmities” and “sicknesses” for Isaiah’s words “griefs” and “sorrows.” Indeed, a study of the Hebrew words in Isaiah 53:4 will reveal that they were always speaking of physical healing. The following verse, Isaiah 53:5, makes it very clear that this was speaking of physical healing when Isaiah said, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Couple this with the example of Jesus healing every single person who came to Him for healing, and the truth that healing is a part of Christ’s atonement is undeniable. Jesus said that He did exactly what He saw His Father do (John 8:28). If God is the author of sickness, as some teach today, then Jesus failed to follow His Father’s example. He never made one person sick, and He never failed to heal a single person who believed. As Peter put it in Acts 10:38 (emphasis mine), “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing ALL that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”

Notice the word “ALL” (emphasis mine) in that verse; and also notice that those who were sick were oppressed of the devil, not God. The Lord would no more put sickness on someone than He would make a person sin. We’ve been redeemed from both.

Am I saying that since healing is a part of the atonement, Christians don’t get sick? No, not any more than those who have received forgiveness of sins never sin again. Freedom from sickness and disease has been provided just like the freedom from sin, but Christians still sin, and they still get sick — not because God wills it but because of other reasons.” 

Andrew Womack

In closing, let’s take a look at why some Christians get sick?

One reason is our own personal sin. God doesn’t “punish us” when we sin. We punish ourselves because of the principle of sowing and reaping, Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” An alcoholic gets dementia or liver disease; a drug addict gets blood-borne diseases; an adulterer or the promiscuous get sexually transmitted infections. You see, it is not because God is punishing him, but because he did it to himself. There are always consequences for sin.

Second, don’t ever forget that as a Christian, you have an enemy, the devil. He uses lust, fear, doubt, and confusion to lead us into all kinds of problems in life. Satan’s goal is to draw you away from the Lord, to doubt the Lord, and destroy your faith in the Lord and His Word! Satan will use whatever influence to try and bring you down. However, remember as a Born-again Christian, the Holy Spirit of God lives in you, and 1 John 4:4 states, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Of course, never forget the following in James 4:7, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

The third reason for sickness is that it is often a result of living in a fallen world. When the Lord created the earth and all its inhabitants, there was no sickness or disease. In Genesis, the Lord said of His creation, “it is good.”, but sin entered the world through the Fall of Adam and Eve, and we have had to deal with the consequences ever since. 

Conclusion

Salvation is available through the grace of Jesus Christ. There are Christians, both those who believe in divine healing and those who don’t, who will spend eternity in Heaven with our Lord. However, we can avail ourselves of a little bit of Heaven on earth by embracing ALL that Jesus provided at the cross of Calvary. By His resurrection, we are assured of our resurrection one day, and by His stripes, we are assured that we are healed. Jesus is the healer of our minds, emotions, and our bodies. Amen.

Some would say that miracles, signs, and wonders petered out when Peter petered out. This expression means that some believe today when the last disciple passed away, signs, wonders, and miracles passed away. Nothing could be further from the truth! In our previous post (127), we showed in the scriptures that God never changes. In the post before that (126), we showed in scripture that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. Therefore, the scripture that God is the same yesterday taking forever means that what is true in the New Testament is still available to us, if only we would believe. Jesus said some powerful things in the Gospel of John that should encourage us to pursue the supernatural. 

Salvation

Spiritually we are changed in an instant but, our mind and soul are transformed over time. As we learn the scriptures of the Bible and learn to be led or directed by the Holy Spirit, we go step by step, faith to faith. to maturity in Christ.

Maturity is a Process

We go from being a convert to Christianity, to a follower of Jesus, and finally to a disciple of Christ.

1 John 2:12-14 describes the transition from children to young men, to fathers. Our goal is to become mature Christians rightly handling the Word of God, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” 2 Timothy 2:15. 

Now, I need to make an important point; there is a world of difference between knowing the scriptures and doing the scriptures! We don’t want to be like the Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus’ day, who were experts in the scriptures but failed to do the scriptures. 

A Pharisee had to memorize the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, but many Pharisees failed to live up to the standards of the Torah. They expected others to adhere to the Bible but found ways to avoid the commandments of God for themselves. They created traditions and practices that voided the purposes of God. Jesus called them “hypocrites,” “the blind leading the blind,” and “sons of the Devil.”

We are called to be “doers” of the Word, not just hearers of the Word of God! In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus says, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” The only way to fulfill God’s call for your life is to be a “doer of the Word.” Knowing alone is not enough, but knowledge coupled with application is the path to the wisdom of God.

Disciples

We are not called to remain as children but to mature into disciples. A disciple is a follower devoted to the cause of Jesus Christ and is actively testifying of what the Lord is doing in and through them—always giving the credit and glory to Jesus our Lord and Savior. 

When Jesus walked the earth, He had many disciples. The first 12 disciples, Jesus also called Apostles. The Apostles were the first to walk in the power and authority given them by Jesus. As a result, many came to Jesus and became disciples as well. Remember when Jesus sent out the 70 (disciples) in Luke 10. Listen to what they said when they returned to give Jesus a report, Luke 10:17, “17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in Heaven.”

Jesus’ prayer in John 17

Prior to Jesus giving His life on the cross of Calvary, He prayed a prayer that is instructive for us in John 17.

In this chapter, Jesus prays for Himself as He prepares for the purpose He came to earth, to die on the cross for man’s sins. Jesus then prays for His disciples, the Apostles. Finally, Jesus prays for all of those who will come to know Him in the future, which includes us!

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John 17 verses 1 through 5

Jesus prays for himself. Jesus knows that he has completed the work that he was sent for, and now He will return to be seated at the right hand of the Father. The path back to Heaven for Jesus was through the cross at Calvary! In these verses, Jesus gives all glory to the Father, and all the work that he had done on earth was to bring eternal life to those who would choose to know the Father through Himself. In verse 4, “I have glorified you on the earth. I finished the work which you have given me to do.”

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John 17 verses 6 through 19

Jesus prays for his disciples. In this case, he is praying for his 12 Apostles, and his prayer is that they would continue to glorify the Father. His prayer is that they would not be taken out of the world but be protected from the evil one, Satan. Jesus says the following: “16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” They were to continue in “Power Ministry” which would be evidence of the presence of God and glorify the Lord.

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John 17 verses 20 through 26

Jesus prays for us meaning those Believers in the future. Recall Peter’s message in Acts 2: 38, “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” The expression “afar off” is not an expression of distance, but of time. Sometime in the future.

20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their Word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. Jesus is now speaking about us, that we would be one in Christ.

22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. By faith we believe that we are loved by the Father, John 3:16 is a reminder of His great love for us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” John 3:16.

24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. We are no longer of this earth, but citizens of the Kingdom of God. What is available in Heaven is also available to us on earth. Matthew 18:18, “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Conclusion

Here is the point, Jesus performed signs and wonders to demonstrate that He was from God because only God could heal the sick, the lame, the blind, and raise the dead! Read Mark 2:10 – signs are the evidence of the Lord at work. His disciple performed signs and wonders to demonstrate that God was at work on the earth!

As disciples of Christ, we are also charged to be the vessel through whom Jesus works, to perform signs and wonders. All of this is for one purpose, to bring the non-believing world to Christ! Keep in mind that Jesus is our example, and He said and did only what the Father showed Him to do in ministry. We also must follow the pattern of Jesus. Spend time with the Lord with a particular emphasis on hearing and seeing what He wants you to do. So that the Lord would be glorified, and all people would be drawn to Him. 

The Great Commission

Mark 16:14-18, “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

As Disciples of Jesus, we have two tools or weapons at our disposal: the work of the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. Together they are powerful for winning the lost, healing the sick, and bringing wholeness to broken people in a broken world. 

Even the Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus’ day missed who Jesus was.  Because they were so focused on the promises of Abraham and Moses, they missed the one who would fulfill all of the scriptures. Jesus said to the Jewish leaders in John 5: 39, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of, Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” While it is the “hand of God” that attracts us to Him, it is the “face of God” that produces the eternal relationship.

Jesus makes it clear that we are to pursue Him and Him alone in John 14, Philip the Disciple asked Jesus to show him the way, and Jesus replied in John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Then look at John 6:44, Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” Nothing could be clearer, Jesus is the instrument that our God has used to bring salvation, healing, and hope to a lost and dying world.

The word Gospel is used about 124 times in the New Testament. The first time we see the word Gospel is in Matthew 4:23 and is repeated in Mark 1:35–39; Luke 4:44; 6:17–19, “23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” You see, Jesus came preaching the Kingdom, the Kingdom presupposes that there is a king, and that king is Jesus. Jesus is described as the king of kings and the Lord of Lords in several places in the Bible, and one place is    (Also, in 1 Timothy 6:15).

So, here’s the dilemma do we hunger and thirst for the promises of God, or do we pursue the one whom God has sent, Jesus Christ, who is also God in the flesh or God incarnate.

Have Faith in God!

Now here is a thought: When you believe the TRUTH about God, the windows of Heaven will be open to you!

As we begin this new series, it’s important to understand some of the foundational truths from which I will be teaching. 

1. The Trinity, one God in three persons.
2. The unchangeable nature of God.
3. The full impact of the power and authority we have because of our salvation through Jesus Christ. You are not simply saved for Heaven, but you are also saved for God’s purpose on earth!
4. The difference between sin in the Old Testament (Covenant of the Law) and sin in the New Testament (Covenant of Grace). 
5. Learning the nature and character of God as displayed by the names and titles of God used in the Bible.

The Trinity

While the word trinity does not exist in the Bible, theologians developed the word trinity to explain the fact that the Godhead exists in three persons. God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit; three persons in one. The Trinity is a concept that is difficult to comprehend as human beings because as humans, we are limited in our ability to understand the awesome power and nature of our Father in Heaven. 

Think about it, can you really understand or even imagine how God created the universe by simply speaking it into existence! When we experience a truth that we cannot fully comprehend the Bible teaches that we must accept it as true by Faith! I’m reminded of the verse in Isaiah chapter 55 that states that God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways and thoughts or sometimes beyond our comprehension; therefore, we must receive them by Faith. That means that we don’t walk by our understanding, but we walk in what God has revealed as true, in his word, the Bible. This is what Faith is built upon! Think about it, if you can comprehend it then you don’t need Faith, it is logical, and you are able to grasp it. However, when God makes a promise that is so glorious and magnificent, yet you don’t know how it will be possible… that’s when Faith kicks in. Remember 2 Corinthians 5:7, “We walk by faith and not by sight.”

There are three attributes of God that only God can have they are: 

1. God is omnipotent. He is all-powerful; nothing or no one is equal to him in power and authority. He created the universe by simply speaking it into existence.
2. God is omniscient. He is all-knowing. There is nothing that he does not know. God does not learn, as humans learn. He simply knows! He is not limited by time and space He knows the past the present, and the future.
3. God is omnipresent. This means again that he is not limited by time and space, therefore, can be anywhere anytime, everywhere at the same time, and nothing and no place is hidden from him.

As we study the Bible, we find that these three characteristics his omnipotent power, his omniscient knowledge, and his omnipresence can be attributed to God the Father or Yahweh, to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Since as Christians, we believe in only one God, the God of the Bible, the three persons the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit must exist in one person. Because God is infinite and we are finite this concept of the Trinity is impossible to understand, and so by Faith we must accept it as true.

Three in One

God the Father; in the Old Testament, He was called Yahweh or Jehovah. Now, God, the Father is Spirit (John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”) and no one has seen His Face because God said that no man shall see my face and live (Exodus 33:19-20). So, no one can see God the Father.

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God the Son; is not some lesser person in the Godhead. Jesus is God incarnate who came to the earth with “skin on.” The term incarnate means in the flesh. Jesus is not simply a good man or a prophet of God; He is all of that, and more He is God. 

Theologians use the term co-equal to describe the relationship between the three parts of the Trinity. Earlier I used the word incarnate to describe Jesus, God in the flesh. Now, listen to what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:6-8, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (ESV). Jesus laid aside His deity to be an example to us as human beings. That doesn’t mean that He was not God; what it does mean is that for 33 ½ years He functioned as a human being. No different from you or me, Jesus experienced hunger, thirst, pain, and the rejection of many. He never resorted to His divine authority even while on the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do! (Luke 23:24)” He fulfilled His mission on earth and now sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. 

Even His disciples didn’t realize who He was until after the resurrection. Listen to this exchange between Jesus and Philip in John 14:7-11, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.”

Jesus’ statement is obvious. If you see me, you see the Father! Jesus and the Father are one. Jesus then says if you can’t believe that we are one, then believe that I am from the Father because only God can promise salvation, heal the sick and raise the dead, and I have done all these things.

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God the Holy Spirit; The third part of the Trinity.

The Holy Spirit was in the beginning, Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The Holy Spirit is found in many places in the Old Testament, but it is not until we read the New Testament that we see the fullness of the character and the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life. 

Recall from scripture that Jesus promised to send us a “Paraclete” or comforter, helper, advocate, and teacher. He promised that after He was resurrected, He would send us the Holy Spirit. He would not leave us as orphans! John 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”

Personally, as for me, I like to think of the Trinity in this way:

1. I am a son to my parents. As such my parents see me as a son.
2. I am a husband to my wife. Therefore, my wife sees me as a husband and not a son.
3. I am a father to my children. My children don’t see me as a son or a husband but as a father. 

In each of these three roles, I function differently and have authority depending on how each of these three groups sees me, yet I am still just one person. In a similar way, God is one, however, He functions and is seen in three different ways, depending on the relationship. 

I know that some Christians have a hard time accepting the truth of the Trinity and if you are one of them then I would urge you to search the scriptures for yourself. Don’t just accept what I say or rely on traditions or practices for the truth. John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” Remember, it is the truth that will set you free.

Until the next time… May the Lord richly bless you!

*Salvation – sōtēria; rescue or safety (physically or morally): deliver, health, salvation, save, saving.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction (training) in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The Process

Romans 12: 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

• We need to learn how to be Kingdom minded (New man) not worldly minded (Old man).

Take off the Old and put on the New

Ephesians 4:20, But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

 Colossians 3:8, But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

How to take off the old and put on the new – change our filter

         Ie. Change the oil filter of a car… else you will have problems

• Learning how to filter (the word of God) our thoughts before we speak
• Learning how to filter our actions before we react, reaction to emotions often leads to regret.
• The Choice we make tell us a lot about our progress in making Jesus Lord!

1. Before Christ in your life your conscience was developed by your world view which is by and large secular. Therefore, some of the thinking you have about what is good and acceptable is influenced by your soul and flesh. Now as a believe you have a new voice speaking into your conscience… the Holy Spirit.
2. Making choices that the Holy Spirit prompts you to do. Take a step of faith and do it!

How to recognize His voice:

1. It lines up with the Word of God- the Bible.
   1. You will never be able to discern the voice of God unless you know His character and nature which can only be learned from the Word of God, the Bible.
   2. Compare your thoughts or action in words and deeds with the Word of God!

• God’s voice will often prompt you to do what you don’t want to do or feel comfortable doing.
  • To be truthful when you don’t want to
  • To be honest when you don’t want to
  • To go out of your way when you don’t want to
  • To be loving, joyful, peaceable, patient, kind, good, gentle, faithful, gentle and in self-control

• The Holy Spirt removes the confusion and brings peace to your thoughts and decisions.
  • Colossians 3:15, And let the peace of God rule (umpire) in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

I’m going to close with an old American Indian tale that illustrates the battle we all face in our soul.

One evening, an elderly Cherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said “my son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good. It is joy, peace love, hope serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “which wolf wins?” the old Cherokee simply replied, “the one that you feed”

In terms of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, if you feed the Old Man you will not succeed in making Jesus Lord of your life, however, if you feed the New Man, made in the image of Christ, you will receive the peace that passes all understanding and walk in the blessings of the Lord here on earth and in Heaven!

When I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior over 40 years ago, it was because of the faithfulness of my wife, Dee, who was a Christian before me. She literally prayed me into the Kingdom! 

Since she had become a Christian several years before me, I tried to catch up on my understanding of the Bible by reading books about the Bible instead of reading the Word itself. I thought there was a shortcut to understanding God, his character, and nature by reading books written by authors who were Christians already. Reading books by other Christian authors was a help to understanding the Bible but in no way could it be a substitute for reading the Bible itself.

One Corinthians chapter 2 (verses 9-16) states that the Bible or the word of God can only be discerned or understood by those who have the Holy Spirit living in them. Having the Holy Spirit means that a person is born-again and has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is only then that we develop spiritual eyes, spiritual ears, and a spiritual mind to comprehend the things of God. You see the purpose of the Bible is to get to know the author of the Bible… God!

Offer of Free book

Now it may seem that I may be contradicting myself, but I want to offer you a book that I’ve written as a free download that I believe will help you in your understanding of the word of God. The book is called “Seeing The Forest For The Trees”. 

My early frustration making sense of the Bible.

I can clearly remember, in the early days of my walk with the Lord, how difficult it was trying to learn all aspects of the Bible, the names of all the characters, the names of all the books, the separation between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Trying to discern if there was a single unifying message that could be found between Genesis and Revelation. The Bible was a complicated puzzle to me, until I recognized the importance of Covenants in the Bible. The word covenant can be used instead of the word testament; therefore, the Old Testament can also be called the Old Covenant, and the New Testament can be called the New Covenant! 

When I took the time to understand Covenant Theology, I went from knowing about hundreds of things about the Bible; each fact or truth was like a building block or brick. What I had was like a pile of bricks but when I began to understand the importance of God’s covenants all the isolated “bricks” became a single structure, a building, founded upon Jesus Christ the foundation stone. 

As a Pastor and Teacher, I was led to write a book that would help the members of my congregation and then Christians in general grasp the important truth that our God is a Covenant Making and Covenant Keeping God. This single truth helped me put the Bible in its proper perspective, that is a book of Redemption, restoring to God that which was lost back to a loving relationship with our Creator. From beginning to the end, the Bible represents the “Scarlet thread of Redemption!”

The Bible is consistent, understandable, and trustworthy. The purpose of my book is to give context or background to reading and studying the Bible. It is not meant to be exhaustive in scope nor is it meant to be a substitute for reading the Bible. Hopefully, it will provoke your interest and cause you to investigate further into the most important book ever written. 

The Bible is a spiritual book

The Bible was never meant to be understood solely by intellectual means because it is a spiritual book, and the most important elements need to be spiritually evaluated. By spiritual I don’t mean in the pious sense of outward religion or rote memorization of Scripture verses but through an honest dialogue with our heavenly Father and the working of His Holy Spirit. The Bible is the most effective way that God can “speak” to us about His love and His healing for our souls.

My Book “Seeing the Forest for the Trees” is meant to help us get to the real issue of what is most important in the Bible and that real issue is redemption. A Biblical definition for redemption is the restoration of a lost humanity back to a personal, open, loving relationship with our Heavenly Father, through the completed work of Jesus Christ and through the agency of His Holy Spirit. 

The phrase, “seeing the forest for the trees”, the title of my book, is often used to mean that it is easy to get caught up in all of the details of an issue and miss the “big picture”. It would be like trying to assemble a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle without knowing what the finished puzzle should look like. Many people wouldn’t even want to try to put a puzzle like that together; they would see it as an exercise in futility. This is often how many see the Bible; the complexity of details obscures the purpose of the Bible and therefore it doesn’t seem to make sense. The “trees” are so plentiful that the forest, or the purpose of the Bible, is missed.

There is so much in the Bible to consider. For instance, there are 2 major parts of the Bible- the Old Testament and the New Testament with a total of 66 books. The Old Testament is made up of 39 books and the New Testament has 27 books. Learning the names of the books and the sequence in which they are found is a challenge all by itself. Then each of the books are broken up into chapters and then the chapters are broken up into verses. You can begin to see all the “trees” so to speak. 

On top of all these details is the fact that each book is set in a time and place unfamiliar to our times and culture. Added to all those details are the obscure names of hundreds of characters from different eras and lands. When you look at all the details that can be found in the Bible, it is no wonder that so many give up reading it by the time they get to the book of Leviticus, the third book of the Old Testament.

The logical way to begin studying the Bible, as with any book, is at the beginning, but before we begin, we must have the end in mind. For instance, when we pick out a book for personal reading, we tend to pick out a certain genre. It might be non-fiction, mystery, romance, or biography. What we choose determines what we expect to find in the story. The same thing is true of the Bible. We must ask ourselves what is the predominant message of the Bible in its entirety or put another way, for what purpose was the Bible given to us by the Lord? It is so easy to lose sight of the message because of all the details found in the Bible.

So, what kind of book is the Bible? Why are we reading it? What do we hope to get out of it? Some would say that the Bible is about the history of man’s beginnings. Others would say that the Bible is about wisdom or a guide for living. Still, others would say that the Bible is spiritual in nature. While the Bible is all these things, it is first and foremost a God-inspired book regarding His plan of redemption or salvation for mankind. Redemption from God’s perspective means to save from sin, to recover a lost relationship, to exchange blessings for curses, to pay off a debt, or to fulfill an obligation. From a human perspective, redemption means eternal security.

Human tendency is to look for what you expect to find. What are you looking for? If you look only for history, you will only see history. If you look for a guide to life, you will find that. What you get out of the Bible is colored by your expectations. If you have no idea of the purpose of the Bible, then the Bible will probably not make any sense at all. Many people give-up on reading the most important book in the world simply because they don’t know what they are looking for.

As I have said before the Bible is consistent, understandable, and trustworthy. It is, without doubt, the most influential book in history. The Bible has been translated into virtually every language known and found in every country of the world. For much of the world’s population, the Bible has been the most important wellspring of moral truths. The Bible is the foundation of the 3 most significant religions in the world today: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. 

My personal hope for you is that as you read this book you will find it informative, interesting, and most of all that it will provide an “anchor” for your soul. That anchor being faith in Jesus Christ and seeing that He really is…  “The way, the truth, and the life”.