The Wisdom of God Sent Jesus To The Cross

Yet when we are among the full-grown (spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding), we do impart a [higher] wisdom (the knowledge of the divine plan previously hidden); but it is indeed not a wisdom of this present age or of this world nor of the leaders and rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing and are doomed to pass away. But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God — [that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence]. None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:6-8- Amplified).

  

The wisdom of God sent Jesus to the cross. The whole reason that Jesus was incarnated was so that He could die for the sins of humanity. At Jesus’ birth,the Magi  offered Jesus prophetic gifts of gold, frankincense (Matthew 2:11). The gold spoke of Jesus divinity, the frankincense of His anointing as Messiah, and the myrrh spoke of His death, since myrrh was used in preparing the dead for burial.

  

If we knew the day, time, and events surrounding our death, it would take a heavy psychological toll on us. A. B. Simpson says the veil that hides our future is woven by the hand of mercy. But this is not so with Jesus. He was born to be the lamb taken to the slaughterhouse. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

  

But it was not just Jesus gruesome physical death that bore our sins. His sacrifice was much deeper than that. In the wisdom of God, the sinless Son of God became a man so that he as a sinless man could assume our sin debt and pay it for us! When Jesus cried out on the cross My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me, He fulfilled part of His purpose in coming to the earth in incarnate form. Isaiah reveals that the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).

 

The Apostle Paul received the revelation from the Holy Spirit that Jesus was our sin substitute there on Calvary. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus actually bore our spiritual death on the cross. He became what we are, so the we could become what He is! He became our sin, our separation from God, so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him!  That means that now we can stand before God as though we had never sinned!

 

When Jesus cried out My God, My God on the cross, He was hit with the sudden realization that God had turned His back on Him. The sweet fellowship He has with the Father from eternity past was suddenly gone. Gloom and darkness surrounded Him. The legions of hell in the spirit realm gaped upon Him. They gape at Me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet (Psalm 22:13-16).

 

Yes, Jesus became our spiritual death on the cross. And He endured our sin penalty so that we could go free. Tomorrow we’ll look a bit deeper into Jesus death and what it did. Don’t take personal sin lightly in your life. Jesus endured hell so that you could be forgiven. He gave both His natural and spiritual life so that you could escape hell!

Total Blessing Demands Total Consecration

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." (Matthew 26:39)

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword;  for the mouth of the Lord has spoken (Isaiah 1:19-20).

  

Jesus prayed the prayer of consecration in the garden of Gethsemane before He faced crucifixion, died, and then was raised from the dead. The word Gethsemane means the place of crushing. There in that olive tree orchard olives were harvested and crushed in order to provide the rich and healthful oils that benefit humanity. And in that same Olive orchard Jesus was faced with giving up His human desires to a higher cause, the redemption of all humanity from the penalty of sin.  

Jesus had to experience the place of crushing and then He had to face the physical agony of death by crucifixion before He could attain His stature in heaven of being seated at the right hand of the Father. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:8-11).

  

Before His exaltation, Jesus faced personal humiliation. There is a pattern here that we must see. If we are going to occupy that place of being seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) and of being heir of God and equal heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17), then we’re going to have to be willing to experience our personal Gethsemane. This is the place when we take all of our personal human ambition and desire and lay it down before the Father. Then we willingly submit to whatever plan the Father has purposed for our lives from the foundation of the world.

 

Unless you’re willing to bow in humility before the sovereign purposes of God for your life, you will never attain to the best that God has for you right now.

  

Isaiah stated tersely that only those who are willing and obedient will eat the good of the land. Willingness and obedience go hand in hand. The Father wants you to be willing to do anything He asks you to do and to go anywhere He asks you to go. That kind of personal consecration takes life out of the sphere of self-centered living, and places us into the abundant stream of God’s will.

  

Kenneth Hagin used to mention the Lord speaking to him in a time of personal consecration while he pastored a church in Texas in the 1940’s. He said that the Lord told him that at that time he had only entered into the first phase of the ministry that God had for Him, and at the time he had already been in ministry for 12 years! Then brother Hagin mentioned that the Lord said to him that many ministers live and die and never enter the full will of God for their lives. He then noted that God did not speak to Him further about his own ministry until he took extra time to seek him and make personal consecrations.

 

Then Rev. Hagin mentioned something that may shock you. He said the Lord told him that this lack of consecrating to do the will of God is the reason that many die before their time, and die in mid life! That’s quite shocking, but the truth is that we don’t qualify for God’s best unless we give him our best, our ultimate consecration of our now and our future to the Father.

  

To be seated in that position of authority and blessing with Jesus your Lord, you must pass through your own Gethsemane and your own crucifixion of fleshly desire and will. To receive the best that God has for you, you must seek Him with your whole heart!

 

This prayer of consecration should be a regular part of your personal prayer life. Take some time today and commit yourself afresh to do the will of God, whatever it may be for your life. If you do, you’ll qualify to eat the good of the land. If you refuse, it could cost you dearly!

Every Relationship Today Is A Test - Pass The Test!

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not (Deuteronomy 8:2).

 

God dealt with the Israelites a certain way in order to train them and as He said in the above verse to humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. What happened to Israel is an example to us of how the Father deals with us as New Covenant folk who are to walk in love at all times in every situation.

 

I’ve seen so many patterns over the years in my own life that show me that this is how the Father trains us for the next level of responsibility He has for us. He will allow us to be placed in a relationship that makes us uncomfortable, that draws out of us a fleshly, carnal attitude, an anger problem, resentment and unforgiveness a caustic, bitter thought, word, action, or feeling. Then He sits back to see how we’re going to deal with our human responses to those who don’t treat us the way we think is correct.

Our response shows our maturity and ability to change and adapt to all circumstances and put love first, or it shows our carnality and lack of spiritual maturity and the need to grow or deal with personal issues.

 

The deeper you go in God, the more He will ask of you. If you run when problems arise in relationships instead of facing the issues and dealing with yourself, you actually hinder an important part of the growth process in your spiritual life. Walking in love will make great demands on your flesh, on your human responses!

 

If you going to be used by the Spirit of God to minister life, you have to die! That is, die to having your own way, to having things go the way you think they should go. Being used by the Father means coming to the place that your personal needs and opinions no longer matter! What matter most is what God says as revealed in the Word.

And for us New Covenant believers, we must be willing to compare all of our thoughts, words, actions, choices, attitudes, demeanor, as well as our responses to others with the unconditional love that we’re commanded to walk in!

 

Every relationship and every conversation you have today is a potential test for you. The Lord wants to see how you’re going to deal with others when they don’t treat you the way you think they should. It’s a character test. Your relationships today and how you deal with them are showing you what is in your heart.

Let the Father take you to the place of brokenness today. Brokenness is the response of humility to the conviction of God! Cry out to the Father for Him to have His way in you and help you make adjustments in how you relate to others. Make a choice to pass the tests life brings through relationships today!

Pray When Others Come To Mind!

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19).

Some time ago, I was awakened in the wee hours of the morning with the one of my ministry friends on my heart. He was going through what may have been one of the greatest tests of his life to date. When I woke up, not only did I have him on my mind, but I had him in my emotions too. I felt what he felt; which was loneliness, isolation, hopelessness, etc. The sense was very strong and I recognized that the Father was giving me intercession for him. I was taking his place in pray. They Lord rolled his burden upon me for a few minutes as I wept and prayed.

When a person comes to your mind, day or night, it just may be the Holy Spirit urging you to pray. When He wants to minister to someone, that ministry starts in prayer. He usually alerts someone close to the person to make intercession.

 

In 2004 my appendix burst mid flight on the first leg of a trip to India. The Father gave my mother intercession for me two weeks before and as a result, I’m still alive!

My father was given a dream about me in August of 1995, and he prayed for me for most of the next day. The following day I was involved in an auto accident that could have been devastating. It resulted in only damage to the car. Neither me nor the other person involved were physically hurt. My father’s prayers were answered.

In 1984, I was involved in another car incident where my car careened down and icy hill and almost fell 20 feet down into a manmade, cement bottomed stream. My mother had intercession for me several weeks before and again my life was spared. My only injury was a broken wrist!

God gave me intercession for a backslidden friend years ago during my morning devotional time with Him. I felt lost and away from God the way my friend was at the time. He called me a few days later and shared with me the story of his repentance and return to the Lord. The Father answers prayer!

 

Don’t take lightly the faint thoughts of others that invade your consciousness. Someone’s life could be handing in the balance. Take time to pray!

You Can Be Free From Bitter Roots In Your Thoughts That Hurt Your Life!

Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God's grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it (Heb 12:15-Amplified).

  

Bitter root strongholds and bitter root expectations are often at the core when we’re having problems in our relationship with God, with ourselves, and with others. When others wrong us, and we hold on to that wrong in the form of unforgiveness and resentment, that event can become a bitter root in our thoughts, and can color future behavior.

 

Bitter root expectations arise out of bitter thoughts left unchecked in the soul. I have a bitter root expectation when I expect someone now to treat me the way someone in my past treated me. It’s a set up for problems in relationships, and is very common.

 

Let me show you a very simple instance of how I’ve had to deal with this in my own life. When I was a young boy, my friend and I would plan to meet at a certain place while riding our bikes. My friend would tell me that he would meet me at 3:00 PM at a certain place. I would go there and wait and he didn’t show up. I was early and waited for him for 20 minutes or more, and he never came. This happened several times, and then was repeated by others. I was on time, they were no shows! This really bothered me but I just shrugged it off and forgot it.

 

Then, as an adult I found myself not trusting people when they would commit to do something for me. I would check on them three or four times when a person made a commitment to do something for me at a certain time. It go to the point that I would rather do something myself than to trust another person to do it for me!

 

One day the Lord showed me the root of this distrust I had in people in general, and I saw that I had developed a bitter root expectation. I had really harbored unforgiveness towards the friend who constantly let me down. This unforgiveness or bitter root stronghold buried deeply in my underlying thoughts or belief system created in me an expectation that made me think that I just couldn’t trust people. Once I saw it, I prayed and repent for harboring the unforgiveness towards my friend so many years ago.

 

Once I did this, I found that I was enabled to trust others in a way that I couldn’t before. My deep inner thoughts had been released from the expectation that others would fail me!  I was amazed at how quickly this helped me. Now, I rarely think about it. I can trust!

 

I’ve taken this same principle and dealt with many issues in my life; issues with personal beliefs about myself because of how others treated me in my past; issues with authority figures in my life that let me down; issues with poverty thinking; fear of an early death; fear of sickness and disease, and so many other things.

 

It’s important that we cleanse our soul from bitter root strongholds and bitter root expectations. One way to do this is to write down the names of people with whom you’ve closely related. Parents, siblings, friends, teachers, coaches, relatives, boyfriends or girlfriends, ex-spouses, pastors, etc. As you think about that person, write down any uncomfortable things that happen between you and that person. Pray and specifically forgive them for anything that they did that brought harm to you.

Once you forgive them and release this to the Lord, make a decision to never allow your mind to go there and dwell on what they did again. In prayer before God you have released them from anything you’ve held against them. I call this itemized forgiveness. Thought by thought, you go before God and purposely release any negative thoughts you have about any person in your past.

 

This releases you from bitter root thoughts that create negative expectations in your current relationships. This releases you from so much mental and emotional baggage! Forgive on this deeper level and you’ll be free to love and free to bless in your current relationships.

Identifying and Changing Wrong Beliefs About Yourself

We should be constantly improving. James tell us that the implanted Word will change our thought patterns and emotional responses. Hebrews 4 tells us that the Word is so powerful that it is able to divide soul from spirit.

The Word goes down deep into our human nature and sorts out what is flesh and what is spirit. The Word is so powerful that it actually goes down into the very thoughts that give us consciousness. These are the thoughts that make us behave the way we do and cause us to act and react almost automatically in many situations.

  

We all have thoughts that are so deep within us that we’re not able to recognize them. These are the thoughts that form our belief system. These thoughts are formed by our interaction with our parents and families and form the drive that makes us act the way we do.

  

Here’s the deal. If there is a disconnect between what you read in the Word and what you do at home and in your close relationships, then there is a root of thinking that must be dealt with in your life. All of us have these kinds of roots that must come out! These are trans-generational sins that we must allow the Holy Spirit and loving friends to reveal to us. We usually don’t see them ourselves.

 

Here’s a quote from my friend Chip Judd: God wants to identify, challenge, and change any patterns of thought, belief, or behavior that are contrary to His will. Many of these patterns are so much a part of us that we can’t see them without the revelation of God’s Spirit and the help of other loving Christians.

  

Here’s a brief glimpse at what I mean. I’ll give you some stats on what kind of children both loving and harsh parents produce and you may see what I mean in your own life.

  

Harsh, Perfectionistic, Neglectful, and Condemning Parents Produce Children Who:

1. Are plagued by insecurity, guilt, fear, anger, loneliness, and withdrawal (self  protective walls around them).

2.  Have high, rigid, unattainable standards.

3.  Have a feeling that they do not measure up.

4.  Are driven to accomplish goals and to please others in order to win the love and acceptance that they crave.

5. Think that something is wrong with them (children tend to believe that parents are always right).

6.  Condemn themselves for not being worthy of love. They either deny their need for love or they try to secure love by performance.

7.  Struggle with their perception of God. They just can’t do enough to please Him. They often feel that God is distant and condemning. 1

  

On the other hand, Loving, compassionate, protective, affirming, and disciplining parents produce children who:  

1. Feel loved, valued, and secured.

2.  Are able to try new things without threat of condemnation if they fail.

3.  Are able to take appropriate social and business risks without  fear of failure (they are self-confident).

4.  Are able to enjoy relationships without fearing intimacy. (If you were not loved by your parents – to you intimacy may hurt).

5. Are emotionally, relationally, and spiritually healthy.

6. Believe that God is caring and affirming. 1

 

If you have the fruit, then you have the root. If you’re able to relate well with others; if you’re able to reveal your heart; if you’re able to receive admonishment from others without feeling hurt and betrayed by them, then you probably came from a family that loved you with some measure of unconditional love.

 

But, if you’re easily offended; if you can’t receive constructive criticism from others without thinking that they totally reject you; if you often feel isolated and alone, then there are root thoughts in you formed from problems in your home as a child. They are buried deep in your soul and hinder your current relationships. The Father wants to wash them away with the water of the Word and with His unconditional love and forgiveness. Tomorrow, we’ll discuss how this works!

1. Adapted from From Breaking the Cycle of Hurtful Family Experiences by Rapha Publishing (Nashville: Lifeway Press Books, 1994) pages 13-27

Make Walking In Love Your Major Life Priority

For the last week, I’ve been writing about the characteristics of love according to 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8. Love should be the most important item in our lives as believers. Our witness to the world is tied directly to our love walk. Our spiritual growth is tied directly to our love walk. 

Our effectiveness in the kingdom of God is motivated by our love walk. Our authority over the demonic is rooted in our love walk. Take your love walk seriously. It determines your success in spiritual things.

 

The following is a compilation of several translations of the characteristics of love found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. I encourage you to copy this and keep it with you. Meditate on it regularly and your lifestyle will change!

 

Let me describe love. It is slow to lose patience; love stays in difficult relationships with kindness, and it always looks for ways to be constructive. There is no envy in love. It is not possessive and never boils over with jealousy. Love makes no parade of itself; it never boasts, nor does it puff up with pride. Love is never arrogant and never puts itself on display, because it is neither anxious to impress, nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance. Love never gets irritated and is never resentful. Love holds no grudges, and it keeps no record of evil done to it. Love refuses to be provoked and never harbors evil thoughts. Love is not rude or grasping or overly sensitive, nor does love search for imperfections and faults in others. Love does not compile statistics of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails. Love celebrates what is real and not what is perverse or incomplete. Love never does the graceless thing. Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. Love never insists on its own rights, never irritably loses its temper, and never nurses its wrath to keep it warm. Love is not touchy. Love can stand any kind of treatment because there are no limits to its endurance, no end to its trust. Love bears up under anything; it perseveres in all circumstances. Love’s first instinct is to believe in people. If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best in him, and always stand your ground in defending him. Love never regards anyone or anything as hopeless. Love keeps up hope in everything. Love’s hope never fades. Love keeps on keeping on! It trusts in God in every situation and expects God to act in all circumstances. Love goes on forever. Nothing can destroy love. Nothing can happen that can break love’s spirit. In fact, it is the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen.

Love Expects the Best, Endures Everything, and Never Gives Up!

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…(1 Corinthians 13: 4-8).

 

Love also hopes all things. This characteristic is similar to believing the best in someone but goes a step further. Love expects improvement as time goes by. Hope always deals with the future and when we hope all things we are saying that we believe others are changing for the better! The Amplified Bible of this phrase reads its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances. Agape believes in the God who can change people!

Agape endures all things. The Greek word for endure here in 1 Corinthians 13:7 is the word hupomeno. This Greek word comes from hupo which means under and meno which means to remain. Together it is the picture of a person who remains steady in a difficult place. When the going gets tough this person continues to stand and continues to love.

In trying and difficult relationships the person who loves with agape becomes a real strength to those who through their own hurt are hurtful to others. Agape will allow you to remain through thick and thin; to put up with the biting, hurtful, stinging things that others do to you. Agape love maintains faith that God is working behind the scenes to bring about change in a person who is frankly hard to live with! Endurance will enable you to be kind to the unkind and tender to the harsh.

Here’s another quote that I thought was so good concerning endurance from the book The Life of Faith:

   

To endure is to go through a thing just as though it had not occurred – to be not in the least affected by it. How many of us can and do go through all trying, hurtful, evil things that are on every side as sweetly, calmly, silently, lovingly, and uncomplainingly as if they were all just as if we would like them to be. That is to endure.(1)

The last characteristic of love is that love never fails! 1 John 4:16 tell us that we are to believe the love that God has for us. It is possible to come to the place in life where you believe that live is the best way to live. It is better than selfishness, strife, bitterness, resentment, grudges, anger, and animosity. The love way is the most successful way to live!

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(1) Mrs. C. Nuzum, The Life of Faith  (Springfield, MO:  Gospel Publishing House, 1928, 1956), p. 85-86