"To Achieve or Receive"
April 15, Pt. 1 April 22, Pt. 2 May 6, Pt. 3
(Right click mp3 logo and "Save Target As" to download).
Part 1 & 2 notes:
Galatians 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.
In Watchman Nee's book, Spiritual Man (page 98)
"God says my flesh has been crucified so I believe it is crucified. I acknowledge that what God says about me is true. By responding in this fashion we shall soon encounter the reality of it."
What we believe and receive is what is manifested in our life. The invisible becomes visible. If I believe I am a slave to sin, when sin comes - 1 surrender. If I believe I am the righteousness of God in Christ and I am dead to sin - I overcome.
Whoever you yield to determines what crop you get.
What happens when we start receiving and appropriating who we are in Christ? Well for one, I don't have to find something everyday to be happy about. The truth is, the joy of the Lord is in me and because of Him my cup overflows. If you wait on your feelings to enjoy the Lord and the things of the Lord, people, the day, you will not be an overcomer.
Romans 6:1-6 What shall we say [to all this]? Are we to remain in sin in order that God's grace (favor and mercy) may multiply and overflow?
2Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?
3Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4VVe were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might [habitually] live and behave in newness of life.
5For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be [one with Him in sharing] His resurrection [by a new life lived for God].
know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin.
I am no longer a slave to sin - I don't have to get up this morning afraid of sin or temptation. We have been set free to enjoy Christ and the life of Christ. We don't walk with sin or a sin consciousness; we walk with Jesus and the mind of Christ.
Romans 6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.
Romans 6:11 Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:12-13 So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh [we are not obligated to our carnal nature], to live [a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates] of the flesh.
13For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.
Galatians 3:1-2 O you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you, unto whom-right before your very eyes-Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was openly and graphically set forth and portrayed as crucified?
2Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing its works, or was it by hearing [the message of the Gospel] and believing [it]? [Was it from observing a law of rituals or from a message of faith?]
I'm not asking you to do anything except believe and receive.
If the bible says you have power; you say, "I have power". If the bible says you died when He died; you say, "I died when He died". When the bible says you are anointed; you say, "I am anointed"; even if you don't feel spiritual that day.
This is what faith is. It is the evidence of things you don't see. Evidence of things we don't feel. We see it in the invisible first, and receive it in the visible next.
Part 3 notes:
Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh?
You cannot change yourself. You cannot make yourself think good thoughts. You cannot make yourself respond right in every situation. Only God can change me. We are changed from glory to glory. Don't be so disturbed about seeing weaknesses in youself or others. Those cause us to need Him and need each other. They cause us to lean on Him. It is good for us to be needy of Him.
Are you a receiver or an achiever?
Ephesians 1:3 May blessing (praise, laudation, and eulogy) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm!
It is actually more scriptural to thank God for blessing you and asking Him to open the eyes of your heart to see how all He has blessed you with versus praying for God to bless you.
Lord, show me what and who I am in Christ. Lord, thank you that You hear me, You always do. Thank you Lord that You empower me to do what You want me to do and be what You want me to be. You fill my heart with Your desires; You overwhelm me with Your love. I walk in wisdom. Thank Him for it and walk in it. Stop begging and start believing.
Ephesians 1:17-19 [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,
18By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),
19And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength
Right in the midst of all these things we now are conquerors - more than. Don't wait until you feel like one to start receiving. You are an overcomer before the battle even starts.
Colossians 2:10 And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead-Father., Son and Holy Spirit~and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].
1 Corinthians 2:16 For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.
1 John 2:27 But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides [permanently] in you; [so] then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him [being rooted in Him, knit to Him], just as [His anointing] has taught you [to do].
John 10:27 The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Romans 6:4 We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might [habitually] live and behave in newness of life.
Ephesians 2:6 (NIV Bible) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Luke 10:19 Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.
Romans 12:6 Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: [He whose gift is] prophecy, [let him prophesy] according to the proportion of his faith;
Romans 8:37 Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.
1 Peter 2:24 He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.
Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.
16Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].
If we don't get help from God - we are not receiving. He is available. The problem is that we may not know how to receive. If you have your eyes on what's wrong with you and not what's right with Jesus, the focus is on you versus what He has done on the cross when He said the score is final; It is finished.
The score is final so now I can be a receiver and not an achiever in victory.
CONFESSIONS OF A NEW CREATION
EPHESIANS1:3 I AM BLESSED WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST.
COLOSSIANS2:10 IN CHRIST, I HAVE BEEN MADE COMPLETE.
1 CORINTHIANS 2:16 I HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST.
1 JOHN 2:27 THE ANOINTING WHICH I HAVE RECEIVED FROM HIM ABIDES IN ME, AND I HAVE NO NEED FOR ANYONE TO TEACH ME; BUT AS HIS ANOINTING TEACHES ME ABOUT ALL THINGS, AND IS TRUE AND NOT A LIE, AND JUST AS IT HAS TAUGHT ME, I ABIDE IN HIM.
JOHN 10:27 1 AM HIS SHEEP; I HEAR AND LISTEN TO HIS VOICE. I HAVE INTIMACY WITH HIM AND FOLLOW HIM AS A WAY OF LIFE.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 I AM A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST, OLD THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY, AND ALL THINGS HAVE BECOME NEW.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 I AM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.
ROMANS 5:1 I HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED BY FAITH AND I HAVE PEACE WITH GOD.
ROMANS 6:4 I HAVE BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD TO WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.
EPHESIANS 2:6 I HAVE BEEN RAISED UP WITH HIM AND SEATED WITH HIM IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS.
LUKE 10:19 I HAVE BEEN GIVEN AUTHORITY AND POWER OVER ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY.
ROMANS 12:6 I HAVE BEEN GIVEN GIFTS.
ROMANS 8:37 I AM MORE THAN A CONQUEROR AND GAIN A SURPASSING VICTORY THROUGH HIM.
1 PETER 2:24 BY HIS WOUNDS I AM HEALED.
HEBREW 4:15 I HAVE A HIGH PRIEST WHO CAN SYMPATHIZE WITH MY WEAKNESSES.
HEBREWS 4:16 WITHOUT FEAR, I BOLDLY COME TO THE THRONE OF GRACE AND RECEIVE MERCY AND FIND GRACE.
Copyright 2008, New Beginnings Fellowship, All rights reserved.
|