Set free from The Spirit of Unbelief….
I think of the time when Jesus asked the man whose son was taken with fits, and often cast himself into the fire….this guy was at his wits end, he needed help for his son, but I must say, he had the right answer to the question Jesus asked him…. Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If you can believe, all things are possible to those who believe. v24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief”.
What this desperate father was saying, is, “I believe the truth with my head, but I want to believe the truth with all my heart”! Truth is the master key that opens every locked thing which would hold us captives and keep us from the favor and blessings God desires for us to enjoy…Paul says in… Romans 12:1 “I encourage you therefore, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. v2 And be not 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”.
1Corinthians 6:15 (amplified) “Do you not see and know that your bodies are members of Christ? Am I therefore to take the member of Christ and join it to that which is unholy? Never! Never! v19 Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own”
Being a person who has chosen Christian convictions can be risky and it can offend some people. People who seek the truth, are prone to see everything as black, they see issues as being clearly right or wrong, good or bad, and they don’t live or operate like so many who operate in the grey zones of life…where everything is relative, politically correct or negotiable…. Grey may feel good, look good, and it may not require as much work, dedication or sacrifice. Grey may suffice for a politically correct Christian–who is all about fitting in with society. Grey may be loved and accepted and allow a Christian to fit comfortably in with the world. Grey can even have an outward look of success because the sea of Grey doesn’t rock many boats–and it doesn’t cause many waves.
The Grey zone is drab…Grey is boring….Grey is about playing it safe….Grey is complacent….Grey is apathetic….Grey numbs us and dulls our senses to the sinfulness of sin…and the evil that is in evil. …..Grey remains in a state “Whatever”….Grey is only interested in maintaining status quo and does very little to change the direction of people headed for a Christ-less eternity….Grey doesn’t experience God working amazing miracles, because it is busy living below its potential and capacity.
Grey operates in feeling, and not by faith…..Grey is like cutting with a dull knife, (lot’s of motion, but little results)....Grey makes for a Christian life with no power….Grey only prays when it is desperate, and reads the word without experiencing any personal change whatsoever….
It’s amazing what some folks think are of great importance in life and what they think is not important…… because it all can become distorted and inverted because they view everything through a lens which rejects the truth ….
Tom was a nominal Christian, but he was a devoted golfer. He played golf every chance he got, but on Sunday he only played after attending church services then headed for the golf course. He was getting up in years, and one Sunday, he was feeling terrible, he told his wife, and she insisted they "Go to church and say a little prayer, and I’m sure you’ll *…..better." As he kneeled down, he whispered a prayer: "Oh Lord, thank you for everything - my health, my wife and my golf game. I hope that when I reach Heaven I can still play golf."… a voice thundered: "Tom, this is the Lord. Tom was startled, because he had never heard the Lord’s voice before. The Lord said, "The good news is that in Heaven, we have thousands of championship golf courses, play is never slow, it's always free and you will never lose a golf ball." Tom was ecstatic, "That's wonderful! You've answered my prayer!” The Lord continued…. “and by the way, Tom, You tee off today at 1:00."
Jesus was never found living in the grey zone of indecision, He never tried to get by with doing just enough. He lived in the white-hot zone of commitment and surrender to the Father. When he was in a flesh body, He rocked the boats of all the folks in the grey zone and turned them upside down just as he did the money changers tables in the temple. Things were black or white, Hot or cold, yes or no, light or dark, good or evil with Him!
Truth is like that….the problem with truth, when you know it, is that you can’t tip-toe around the issues anymore….and even though you may try to put it in a way that will be acceptable and not be rejected, silence is no longer an option!
If your neighbor’s house was on fire and the whole family was asleep inside– mom, dad, the kids and the family pets….It would demand action, commitment and decisiveness ….it would be a do or die situation, there would be no hesitation about what needed to be done….People would die if they weren’t warned and someone didn’t help them get out of harms way… you know that you must do everything in your power to get them out…. You would Yell. Scream. Draw attention to the danger. Smash windows and doors and call on whoever you could… Whatever you could do to make a way out of danger! …There are times which call upon us to rise to the occasion, and we are now living in those times….
God has a name for the grey zone mind set and view point, or the go with the flow mentality that is so prevalent today …..He says grey is lukewarmness and God actually doesn’t like grey, in His own words, He says that it makes Him gag. (look at it)
Revelation 3:15,16 “I know your deeds, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spew you out of my mouth”.
God wants us to be living, lives for Him that are White hot, full of zeal, passionately pursuing Him, and passionately pursuing people with His message of love and grace.
While at the same time, we are to have a compassion and sensitivity for those who are sorting through and processing their own life concepts and values all around us. At times it can be a delicate balancing act….
And we usually end up tip-toeing around the truth because we are afraid of losing something important to us….What are we afraid of losing?....Is it our job? Or our spouse? Or our kids? Or our house? How about our position? Or titles?, Or our friends?, our influence?, Or our money?, or worse, our life?
What you fear losing shows what you value most. And what we value the most can be the problem we have with unbelief….after all, unbelief is a matter of where our values are….and fear of losing what is valuable to us…
People work double overtime securing a life for themselves–striving, to gather and hold on to all manner of things. But, if we value God’s favor and living a life that is pleasing to Him the most, we will not be willing to exchange His approval for anything that we may feel is important.
As Stephen was being stoned, because of the truth he declared, instead of thinking of all the things of the world that he would be losing….he saw only the one thing that was most important that he would be gaining…..He raised his voice above the mocking and jeering of his persecutors and said “I see Jesus, standing at the Father’s right hand”…. The Father’s right hand is the place of favor, and Jesus was letting Stephen know that favor was on him as he received his promotion to Glory, and that he was getting a hero’s welcome, in spite of the terrible circumstances he endured…..
Paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord…It’s a win/win situation….for everyone devoted to kingdom truth….
Jesus said, “What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul.. or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
The longer I live, the more I know that, God wants us to rightly divide Truth that we may bring His life-changing grace to a world that desperately needs something solid, dependable and secure in their lives. The struggle we become engaged in, between the eternal and this temporary, physical life, can expose the illusion about what is real and what is not real!
Truth can feel like the elephant in the room, We all know it’s there, but often we don’t know what to do with it, where to put it or how it fits in, with what we have planned and decided is important in our lives!!!
Truth is about trusting eternal principals which will last when the things of this world have come and gone, and that trust is more important than our stuff and our temporary acceptance and popularity!
Genuine, relationships which strengthen, uplift and motivate those involved, have two-way communication and shared values. But relationships which are based on manipulation, deception and superficial agendas, will produce superficial disciples, superficial followers, and superficial friends, with no real depth or real commitment, because it is based on making the wrong things important.
But intimacy can only come through trust that is built on a foundation of truth and transparency, and that requires honest communication and openness, that’s why intimacy is pronounced “Into me see”. Intimacy is a two-way street. It requires all parties in the relationship to be constantly communicating, honestly, openly, with sincerity and love.
One of the great lines which I caught, in the movie “Avatar “…was when the Navee people of the planet Pandora greeted one another, they would say “I see you”… meaning I relate to you beyond what may be seen on the outside,…or said another way, “the truth in me, sees the truth in you”… This greeting was never given to a stranger… because it goes beyond the bounds of the superficial and into the realms of intimacy.
Truth and grace must walk hand in hand. And while the bible is extremly uncompromising , and black and white in the truth it presents…. that truth must operate through and be poured through the funnel of grace and love. Bible truth pulls no punches, but if you have all grace and just a sprinkle of truth, it equals a weak, grey-zone Christian. If you have all truth and no grace it equals a legalistic, Christ-less religion, that is void of life. After all it was that Divine mixture of compassion and truth that was the prime motivator of all that Jesus did.
Psalm 51:6 tells us that He desires Truth in the inner most parts,
The message of Jesus can be seen as extreme and absolute. There’s no middle ground with God. No mixing of colors. No blending or watering down of convictions. It’s all, or it’s nothing at all. It requires a choice: To the rich young ruler, he gave a choice, to the disciples he demanded a choice if they were to follow Him, To Nicodemus He demanded a choice….There is no room in the gospel message for walking the fence, choose Jesus, or don’t choose Him, but understand that regardless of our choice, TRUTH will still be truth and we will be on one side of it or the other. Once again, we find ourselves struggling with unbelief as a result of where and how, we choose to line up with that truth.
A lot of folks want to blend in, fit in and be part of whatever they’re with, so they become chameleon Christians. They camouflage themselves so they don’t stand out and draw attention to themselves….Their motto is, “when you’re not with the one you love, love the one you’re with”… Someone said that if you see someone that is walking around in the woods, wearing camouflage gear, be sure to run right into them, and knock them over, so they’ll think the camouflage is actually working….
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. In other words we could say…
“We beheld His glory, which was the embodiment of grace and truth”…
The guarantee that we are given in this scripture, is that you will not fail to experience God’s glory in your life…as you walk in truth that is embedded with and motivated by grace and compassion!
Many of us are believing God for greater things for our life, we desire to see explosive growth in our church and every church, we want to see our city changed by the gospel, and our nation too. God puts it right back on us. He simply says, it starts with you and It starts with me. It has to begin with each of us as individuals. And it comes down to the question, what is the status of my heart and where do I stand in relationship to His truth? We don’t need to come up with something new, just obey what He has given us….Truth is non-negotiable!
John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. What Jesus was saying is that seeking for truth outside of “He who is truth is only an exercise in futility and opens the door for deception….
The law of the pendulum states that if you tie a weight on a string and bring it to it’s highest point and release it, the height of the arc will diminish and lessen each time it swings, until in about a minute, it will stop. The point at which it stops is called the point of equilibrium, when all forces acting upon it are equalized.
After explaining this a teacher, hung a 250 pound weight on a parachute cord and had a student sit on a ladder chair where the weight was suspended right up against the student’s nose. The teacher asked the student if he believed in the law of the pendulum….he said he did and that the laws of science prove it…. When the weight was released and started back towards him, the student jumped from the ladder and put some distance between himself and the pendulum! With his head, he believed the law of the pendulum, but with his experience he actually didn't believe it. He said he believed it, he thought he believed it-- but he was not willing to stay put on the ladder.
It’s the same with Christ. There are many people who say they believe on Him, who say they will follow Him. But they have never stayed put, when it might cost them something. They actually never have committed and surrendered themselves wholly, 100% to Christ and His truth.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked (untruthful) ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” – If I don’t humble myself, pray and seek God, turning from my wicked or (untruthful) ways, my Christianity will be powerless in seeing my home, my church, my city, or my nation changed for Him.
What are wicked ways? They are all those ways in which we have abandoned God’s truth, which is revealed in Jesus Christ! Like a well that people are dumping trash in…(how disgusting is that) it becomes compromised and polluted, who would want to drink from that!!!. But what we put in our well, has a way of embedding itself in every aspect of our internal world ….our thinking and emotions, our heart and soul.
But when we humble our heart and get honest with Him, confessing all the places where truth has been mixed with this world’s carnal reasoning and appetites, it is then that we will see the spirit of truth, transform, purify, cleanse us…. And drive out doubt and the spirit of unbelief!
1 John 1:8 “If we continue to deceive ourselves, then the truth is not in us. v9 If we confess our sins (ham-ar'-tay-mah…that we have missed the mark of His truth) He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (ham-ar'-tay-mah), and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (ad-ee-kee'-ah….our actions that spring forth and are the result of an absence of the truth)”.
A temporary happiness is not worth the long term pain….If we don’t humble our hearts before God, all the untruth will remain in us. It becomes something the enemy can, and will, at the opportune time, use against us and take advantage of us.
If we don’t humble our hearts before God, that junk becomes the leverage the enemy uses to divide, confuse and conquer God’s people. A shallow, superficial quality creeps in quickly, dislodging people from relationships, from churches, and sometimes from faith–because of the distortion and illusion of what is important, that occurs.
People cannot understand or separate the behavior of some who claim to be Christians from their double standards and double mindedness. So they blame God and walk away from faith. And the enemy celebrates… when we are confused, and disillusioned about what we truly believe, we block and hinder the work of God. Jesus calls this Phariseeism …Hear what He says in….
Matthew 23:13-27 "I've had it with you Pharisees! You're hopeless, you religious scholars, are frauds and fakes! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and you keep others from entering in as well. You keep meticulous accounts, of your tithing and offerings, but the things like fairness and compassion and commitment - the absolute basics, you treat carelessly as though you can take it or leave it. You are blind guides, which strain at gnats, and swallow camels. You're like manicured grave plots, concerned only with appearances, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down its all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh”.
There was a church where the preacher and the minister of music were not getting along at all. As time went by this began to spill over into the worship service. For instance, the preacher preached on commitment and how we all should dedicate ourselves to the service of God. In closing, the music director lead the song "I Shall Not Be Moved". The next week the preacher preached on tithing and how we all should gladly give to the work of the Lord. The music director lead the song "Jesus Paid It All". The next week the preacher preached on gossiping and how we should all watch our tongues. The music director closed with the song "I Love to Tell the Story". With all this going on, the preacher became very upset over the situation and the following Sunday told the congregation that he was considering resigning. The music director closed with the song "It will be worth it all". As it came to pass, the preacher did indeed resign. His last week there, he informed the church that it was Jesus who led him there and it was Jesus that was leading him away. The music director, true to form, closed with the song "What a Friend We Have in Jesus".
There are many so called Christians who have great difficulty connecting their faith with their everyday actions and behavior. As I was reading and studying for this message, I came across this information….. The famous outlaw, Jesse James killed a fellow in a bank robbery and shortly afterwards traveled to the town of Kearney and was baptized into the Kearney Baptist Church. Then he killed another man, a bank cashier, and traveled to another town where he joined the church choir and became the choir director. He liked being in church on Sundays, but he couldn't always make it. On some Sundays, he was out robbing trains and shooting people. With that in mind, I direct your attention to a portion of scripture in….
Matthew 12:25 “Jesus said, every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or house divided against itself cannot stand”. This is true of our families, our church, and our nation and ourselves.
Truth is a Personal relationship. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, all your sins are forgiven. Your slate is wiped clean and ready for God to write your new past, your new present and your new future upon. He is writing according to His eternal unchanging covenant He has entered into with you. You are an heir and joint-heir to an eternal kingdom that can never be destroyed, never defeated, and it’s rule and reign is forever….
Truth is Your New Position. You are no longer an enemy of God. As His child, you have the privilege of approaching His throne, knowing He is available at any time, for grace to handle any situation. He is never too busy and He is always there and He is always willing. As Kings and Priests you have authority in the physical and the spiritual realms.
Truth is Your New Possession. There is no power greater than truth. Truth is eternal and when everything else has disappeared and gone, truth will remain. When you handle truth, you are touching eternity. Truth has peace, joy, safety, health, life, abundance and prophetic fulfillment, embedded within it,
Truth is Your New Identity. It is your password and access to heavenly things, it is your window of revelation, It moves angels, and drives away demon forces…they must flee from the truth. We are told in Acts 19:14 “And there were seven sons of one called Sceva, who was a Jew and chief of the priests. These seven attempted to cast out the demons from a demon possessed man. v15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you”? All things in heaven above and earth beneath, know us by the truth that is in us!
Truth mixed with compassion is our source of freedom….The status of every Christian’s is our responsibility before God, to humble ourselves, pray and seek His face, no longer tolerating sin, and no more compromising. And allow God’s hand upon our lives, to touch and transform our hearts. Total and complete victory in our churches, our cities, and our nation depends on our level of surrender to God’s truth.
John 18:37 is the conversation between Jesus and Pilate…“ Jesus said “The reason I was born and came into the world is to give witness to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” v38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked….”
Surely, this is one of the most profound questions ever asked! …. What is truth? Is it what the Doctor told you, or the lawyer, or political correctness? Is what you’re believing, setting you free, or manipulating you, bringing you into bondage and weighing you down….Jesus said “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”!!!! John 14:6 Jesus told them, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
The lame man found Him and went home leaping and walking…. The blind man found Him and went home seeing the beauty of the earth…. The deaf man received his hearing and reveled in the sound of voices and music… the prostitute received forgiveness and a second chance to get it right…. The demon possessed man was set free and in his right mind…..
The multitudes who connected with God….. all encountered the one who is truth, the way to freedom, and the one who settles all doubts and unbelief!
A man became disoriented and wandered into a pool of quicksand.
Confucius saw the man’s predicament and said, “It is evident that men should stay out of places such as this.” Next, Buddha observed the fatal situation and said, “Let that man’s mistake be a lesson to us all” Then Mohammed came by and said to the sinking man, “Alas, it is the will of Alah.” Finally, Jesus appeared on the scene ad said, “Here, take my hand, and I will bring you out with joy and send you on your way blessed.”
You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free!!!!
John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief has come to steal and kill and destroy, but I (the truth) have come that you may have life more abundantly”.
When you need peace “He is the prince of peace
When you’re groping in Darkness “He is the light of the World”
When you’re lost “He is the way”…..
He’s your great Shepherd…He’s the word of almighty God….He’s the greatest teacher that ever walked the planet…He’s the healer… He’s the door that opens and no one can shut it…. He’s the beginning of all things & He’s the finisher of all things…. He’s always with us and His Spirit is in us….He’s a greater artist than Van Gogh and always places rainbows after the rain, the colors of fall, the fragrant flowers, the beautifully colored birds and the fish of the sea are His handiwork….He’s the best counsellor you can find anywhere….He’s our attorney who represents us before, man, the angels, Satan and before God…His wisdom surpasses all the wisdom of all the wisest that ever lived….
So what is your question or your problem that you bring to Him today? Jesus is the answer, He’s the savior of the world, who connects us back to the Father, and guarantees that we will reign with Him forever, throughout all eternity!!!!
His truth is the key to every problem, it’s the revelation to every mystery.. It is a plan for every tomorrow….it is the light at the end of the tunnel…and the solution you’ve been searching for…..
You shall know the Truth and the truth shall set you free…..from all the doubts, unbelief, fear and self-destructive patterns, doubt and unbelief….
Prayer…..Father, I thank You, in the Name of Jesus, for bringing us into this season of intense favor of the Lord upon our lives and our families. I pray that You would transform our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual situation for Your Glory and honor. We enter into Your Truth, that place of joy, love and fresh intimacy by the Spirit, in the Name of Jesus. Father I pray that we will come to such a place of desiring Your will and pleasure, that we will be transformed into different people.
Lord, let Your desires and intentions in all the areas and dealings of our lives fill our hearts fully day by day. Teach us how to rest in surrender and submission that we might in greater measure bring You our worship. In this season which we are in, teach us to live in the fragrance and the beauty of Your presence. I ask that all You want to say to us, and be to us and do for us, will come to fulfillment without hindrance or distraction. Come into our hearts with your kindness, goodness and righteousness that we might be the new creation You want us to be. Transform our thinking, our praying and our very being before You. Lord, we desire to become forerunners of a bold and courageous people who are confident and intimate with the promises and the nature of God.
We desire that our praying would be with renewed joy, delight and expectation as we continue to love and serve the KING in a deeper way. Where there is pain, let us show mercy, love and compassion. Where there is self-doubting, let us bring a renewed sense of confidence in Your grace and acceptance. Where there is error or any misunderstanding, let us bring understanding, patience, and forgiveness as we submit daily to Your truths. Where there is spiritual stagnation, help us to reveal Your nearness, as we come into greater intimacy with You. Where there is fear, allow us reveal Your love, that brings courage and confidence. Where there is anything blocking full life, reveal it, and break the power of all doubt and unbelief. We ask for greater vision, and greater discernment to recognize the power and resources we have in You. Lord, May You be glorified in every situation and circumstance in our lives, in Jesus' mighty and wonder working name. AMEN.
