Intimacy; Learning How To Talk to God Part IV

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This is my favorite part!  In the past 30 years, I have learned to do one thing right and that is I have learned how to communicate with God.  When I was first seeking God, as I shared in my testimony in Part III, I learned how to throw out a lot of religious practices and did it my own way without all those religious trappings.  I want to share some of what I learned, what to do and what not to do.  I hope I can give you some insights to being intimate with God.

God is a Person

I shared that God is a person in my last article but I wanted to go over it again.   This concept is huge and it is where most people mess up.  Again, God is a person and if we take away all the religious trappings, and approach Yahweh, as you would any other person, you will go a lot further.  I have a feeling most people believe they have to approach God as in the scene from the “Wizard of Oz.”  In that scene there is a loud intimidating voice with smoke and flames coming up, then Dorothy squeamishly goes forward to meet the great Oz.  However, we do not have to approach God in such an intimidated manner.  The Bible gives us a much better way to approach God.

Hebrews 4:16; Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
God wants us to come boldly without fear, as a child comes to their own dad.  When I began praying, I just simply threw all the old stuff away and began to talk.  There was no more religious stuff.  I just came and told God; “I would like to get to know you.”  I really wanted to know for myself if all the things I had heard about God were true.  This was the only way I knew to figure this out.  If He was real I would approach Him as I would any other person and meet Him.
I became, in a way just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, she just had to meet him so she could go home.  I had to find God in order to survive this addiction that had me for so long.  I did not want to learn second hand.  So for 6 months I was persistent and faithful to talk to God and listen.  I was on a search and I searched for Him like He was gold and limitless treasure.
Psalm 63:1  O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
PRAYER

With today’s technology, we should have no problem understanding prayer.  We are the generation with Skype, Messenger, What up apps, and Facebook to name a few.  We certainly should understand how to communicate via long distance.  Today we can chat instantly with anyone around the world, even if you cannot see them or hear them.

Well, that big religious word “prayer” simply means to communicate with God.  That is all it means and yet we unnecessarily complicate it in the church and the world.  Please do not get me wrong there are different types of prayers written in the Bible, but for our purposes here I want to simplify it as much as possible.  The reason for that is if you do not get this one down, the rest is useless or will lead you to some religious bondage that will only frustrate you in the long run.

Another big mistake people make is thinking prayer is a monolog.  That it is a one-way street, or it is some pre-learned prayer, we recite over and over again.  Prayer is a dialogue, which means it is a two-way conversation.

We are not designed to do all the talking.  God would love to speak, but most of the people I have watched only say their part and then they are gone out the door.  That leaves God sitting there wanting to answer, but those praying are already gone.  So to speak we have already hung up the phone.

This is the biggest reason so many in the church have never heard Him.   They rattle off their wish list or petitions and say in the name of Jesus and then hang up.  God is on the other end saying; “hello, hello, well they must have hung up, and I was going to share with them about their request.”  So we go through life believing either God does not answer our prayers or believing that hearing God is only for the super-elite Christians.  Let me share how I heard God even before I asked Jesus into my life and became born-again.

So all prayer is communication – a two-way dialogue.  The bible tells us to “pray without ceasing.”  When a religious person hears that, they automatically think that it is a lot of work and dedication.  They think they need to dedicate their life to prayer.  They think it will take years to learn how to stay in the mode of prayer.  Let me reassure you, it does not.  Think about when you used to talk for hours on the phone with your new boyfriend or girlfriend.  Think about how much time we spend on text messages?  We can spend hours on those things, if we think the person on the other end is worth it.  Let me share this, GOD IS WORTH IT AND HE LOVES TO TALK TO YOU ALL THE TIME!!!

When I pray, if you could hear me, you would think I was talking to my best friend.  Othertimes it might sound as if I was talking to my dad. Then there are times I just include Him in my day while riding in the car, at the mall or at a restaurant when I am alone and I want someone to talk to.  Do not get me wrong, I am not nuts and I do not sit there talking aloud to an empty chair.

If you read my last article, I shared that during the evening of June 10 I first talked to God in the physical realm.  Later that evening, God told me to go and sleep in my broken down Mustang.  As I sat there and tried to fall asleep, I began to talk to Him about how to fix my car and how to find a place to live.  To make a long story short, every time I asked God for something, even something as simple as the need for a blanket, one showed up.  Then I said I needed some money to get my car fixed and at 3 o’clock in the morning a woman I knew knocked on my car window and gave me a blanket and lent me enough money to get a car part.

As God began working mysteriously in my life, I was so happy that I thought all I needed now is a vehicle to go get that car part.  The same woman who gave me the blanket and cash, now showed back up and offered me her car.  The next day I bought the part and the car was fixed but I was still homeless.

I then went to the Lord and asked what am I to do with my homeless situation.  God said,”I was to humble myself and reconcile things with my sister.  I then went to her house and knocked on her door and she hugged me so hard because she thought I had gone back to drinking.  We finally became reconciled that day.  Later that day I told God, “I need to sell my stereo, so I can relocate from my home town and get a new life started.”  Within one hour a friend called and asked; “if I was still interested in selling my stereo.”  I sold it to Him that day.

Ever since that day I have been talking to God.   There are times I do the talking and there are times He begins talking to me about my life.  There are also times that I have even had a passing thought on something and I would share these with God.  If I needed something, it would show up.  I figured out later on that God knew and heard my thoughts and prayers.  God let me know that He wanted to bless me.

Why did God answer those five thoughts or prayer requests I had on my mind that night?  To thwart the devil!  He knew the devil would come in and try to steal that experience from me.  The devil loves to whisper,” it was only a dream, it was not real.”  I know that, because He tried over and over again but every time, I remember how I asked those 5 things and God responded, in a very real way.
Persistence
Learning to communicate like I have learned to do takes persistence and time.  During my first six months as a new believer I began seeing consequences in my life as I talked to him, but I never heard His voice. I saw results as if I was watching the wind.  Although I cannot see the wind, I can certainly see the results from the wind, like the leaves of a tree blowing or grass moving. It was like that at first and at times still is.  Now years later, after learning how to quiet myself and listen, I can often hear God, but even now it is not all the time.  However, it is most of the time.  There are times when I might be working and not even thinking of God, and then He begins to talk or show me something I might have mentioned earlier in our times together.
Have you ever seen the movie: “The Matrix?”  When Neo or one of the other members of the team went into the real world and they had to learn something, the man on the sub would load a program and they would learn it instantly.  In one example the female character needed to learn how to fly a helicopter, so they downloaded it to her and she knew how to fly it immediately.  The reason I shared this is because this is how God sometime downloads information from His Word to me.  There are times I feel that I just received a download and now understand things from scripture I never knew or understood before. Jesus let us know that the Holy Spirit would be our teacher.  I am convinced that sometimes He downloads these cool revelations to me. It is really fun, and I highly recommend that you too plug into God.

 Our Daily Bread

God taught the Israelites, who just started out with him in the desert, an important lesson;  

They were to gather manna once a day and only for that day except for the Sabbath.  They were not to collect a weeks worth, or a months worth because it would spoil.  God wants us to learn that we need to come to him for a fresh provision every day.  So many Christians think they can go collect their manna and their other spiritual needs only on Sunday, instead of meeting with God daily.

I have heard so many say on Sunday; I need to go to church to recharge for another hard week.  You do not need to recharge if you stay plugged in all week.  Then they wonder why their life is spoiled and rotten and nothing seems to flow right in their week.  If your life moves like a rusted joint, then oil it every day.  When Jesus taught us to pray He said we are to ask for our daily bread not our weekly bread!

Intimacy with God is not going to happen with a quick cup of coffee and a donut as you rush off to work or drop off the kids at school, and then think you’re going to get your prayer time in as you fight traffic.  I know what you’re thinking, I am so busy!  Jesus was busy too!  Jesus taught, preached and healed whole towns full of sick and demon possessed people and in addition fed the masses.  He also walked everywhere He went, but every morning, He got up and spent time with God before “every man wanted to see Him”

The Prayer Closet

Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
This is one of the misunderstood verses in the Bible.  I have seen and heard about Christians building a closet or going in to a closet to pray. There is not a thing wrong with this, if that is the only way to get alone with God.  But this was not the point Jesus was driving home.
He was doing a comparison to a man who wants to be intimate with His wife.  He was pointing out when a man wants to make love to his wife, he does not do it in public.  He does not make a public showing out of it!  He takes her into the closet (in the greek “bedchamber”) and has intimacy with her.
God wants us to know if we really want to have intimacy with Him we need to treat our prayer time the same as the example above and not pray in public.  People often pray in public to get people’s approval or for others to see their great spirituality.  Instead, our prayer time this should be when we desire and need intimacy with God.
You might think I am contradicting myself from earlier statements.  However, let us do what Jesus did.  We can learn this by looking at an example from marriage.  When I want the most intimacy with my wife, we go and be alone, but it does not end there.  Do I only speak to my wife in the bedroom?  No, we interact all day.  The same concept should apply with God.  If we want a deep intimate relationship with God, we need to steal away time and shut off the television and stereo, even worship music at times.  Get away from everyone and everything, be quiet and still.  Then we can open up that spiritual channel to only hear God.
I once heard that God is like a radio station that broadcasts 24 hours a day, but if you never tune into that station, you will never hear him.

 

Intimacy, How To Draw Near To God Part III

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In my last article I showed you that God is real and He can and wants to be intimate in your life, just as He has done in mine.  I share this verse from the Book of James:

James 4:7-8;  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

This takes away the notion or any religious idea that God expects us only to be His subjective servants.  Rather, He desires to draw us into an intimate relationship with Himself.  But like I said; “the first move has to be ours.”  We and only we determine how close of a relationship we have with God.  So in this article I want to remove religious trappings and notions that hinder our relationship with God.

God is a Person

God is a person, a real living person.  He is not “the force be with you” or some substance that is floating around out there, somewhere in the universe.  He is a real living being!  I want you to remember and take note of this: We are created in the image of God!  We are the off-springs of God.  This is important because the wonderful attributes that are in us, are from Him.

The ability to love, to communicate, our desire to have and be in a family, all the good that is in man is from God.  Unfortunately, the overwhelming evil we possess is from our fallen nature.  I point this out because we are created in His image – not vice-versa!  We do not make God conform to our image!   When we attempt this, we try to mold Him into our fallen nature. (Exodus 32)

My goal for this article is to take away all the religious trappings and make God’s reality so familiar and understandable that anyone can apply this to their life.

Once again God is a person!  I repeat this so we can move to our first step!  His name is not God, that is His title, such as Mr. President.  If you met Barack Obama, you would not say good-morning Barack, you would say good-morning Mr. President.

My point is, and this is not trivial: in relationships there is always an introduction, either from yourself or from another person.  The first thing you do is learn the name of your new acquaintance.  So if you have never been introduced to God, let me have the pleasure in doing so… Yahweh or Jehovah (if you desire); this is my reader.  Yahweh or Jehovah is God’s proper name.  It is more personal and intimate than saying good morning Mr. God.  Try saying it; good morning Jehovah, it is nice to meet you.

God takes this even further.  God understands who we are and He knows our limitations.  The first time we meet God can be very intimidating and overwhelming, Jehovah knows that.  Therefore, He has supplied a solution to this intimidating introduction.  When God first introduced Himself to Israel at Mount Sinai, that first introduction did not go so well.  Israel could not deal with the over-whelming presence of Him.  So God supplied us a solution so we would not freak out when He appeared:

Jesus

His name is Jesus, Emanuel (God with us).  God became a real breathing living man!  In that human body dwelled Jehovah, Yahweh, our God.  When we watch Jesus throughout the gospels, He manifests two magnificent and wonderful things: First: He is “Son of God” as I described above.  (Do not get stuck on son, He is God)  When we read the gospels we can see God in action.  His likes and His dislikes.  What He does and how He deals with various issues, His attitudes towards life.

Do you want to clear up your confusion and have an understandable way to decide what your doctrine should be?  Simply read and do what Jesus said and did!  He is Jehovah.  Jesus would not do anything outside His nature.  Just following Jesus would clear up most if not all denominational differences.  In addition we would then know how to be perfect ambassadors to the nations.  What did Jesus say and how did He handle issues on Earth?  Various issues such as :

  • Sin and the world
  • Healing and sickness
  • Holy Spirit and baptisms
  • Cultural issues

We need to learn what Jesus did and said about every issue and make that our mission and purpose.  We as the body of believers would be a lot further ahead in leading people to Christ if we followed Jesus and His teachings.  This leads me to the next attribute of Jesus.

Second He is the “Son of Man,” He not only mirrored what God looks like but He also shows us what we, as Spirit-filled people of God should look like.  Too many people write off what Jesus did because He was God, but I believe, and scripture shows that every miracle He did, He did as a man.  He never used His own deity for the miracles.  He did what His Father told Him to do and then relied on the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill all the miracles he preformed.

This is all important; because if we want to get close to God, we have to see Him for who He is really is, not what the religious legalists portray Him to be.  If you are involved in sexual sins and tend toward the wild side, read about how he dealt with the woman caught in adultery (John 8).  If you have a business and are struggling with business integrity or at times feel low or down and out, then read about Matthew, his disciple (Matt. 9) and Zacchaeus (Luke 19).  If you feel like an outcast and feel as though you do not fit in, read about the woman at the well (John 4).  If you tend toward legalism and find yourself at times prideful because of your righteousness, read how Jesus dealt with those that demonstrated religious pride, the Pharisees and Saducees.  They thought of themselves as special because of their positions and their education with regards to religious affairs.  Jesus spoke of these people, the Pharisees and Saducees throughout the Gospels.

As a side note, you will find that these last two groups, the Pharisees and the Saducees, were the only people that Jesus did not shower with Mercy and Compassion.  Jesus never condemned others because of their sexual lifestyle, corruption, divorces and or failures, but Jesus dealt with these religious people differently.

I say all this because no matter what situation you find yourself, good or bad you can always come to Jesus as you are.  Nicodemus, the Pharisee came to Jesus seeking truth and found expectance in His presence.  The woman caught in adultery most likely was dragged into the town circle naked or maybe with a blanket on her, however she also found acceptance with Jesus.  She was never told by Jesus to go get dressed and cleaned up before I help you.  Jesus probably looked at her lying there and reached out his hand and said; “who is here to condemn you”?  No one and NEITHER DO I?  GO AND SIN NO MORE!  

So what is your excuse for not coming into His wonderful and loving presence?

Time

With regards to relationships there are two parts to time, one being the time spent to get to know someone, the second covered later, is the actual time spent with someone after you get to know them.  It is very hard to get to know someone if you never have time to be with that person.  God is no different and in His case, it is even more difficult because you can’t see or hear him very well at first!

When we first meet a new person, what draws us to that person?  It is usually because they are attractive or they have a great personality.  Jehovah has both, but it take awhile to develop your spiritual senses.  If you are not familiar with this, you have five human senses but you also have five spiritual senses.  But unlike your natural ones, your spiritual senses have to be developed.  I used this verse in the last article:

Matthew 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
If you read this you will understand that the people of Israel were hearing and seeing all that Jesus said and did, however, Jesus said they were dull of hearing and their eyes were shut.  What was He talking about?  He was referring to their spiritual ears and eyes.  How could the Pharisees see and hear Jesus raising a man who has been dead for three days and not get it?  Then they watch Him feed the multitude with a few loaves of bread and some fish and also calm storms.  But they still did not get it, this is because they were deaf and blind spiritually. (Matt. 23:16-23)  So not to be like them and the unbelievers, we need to take time and develop our spiritual awareness to His presence.  Then we need to be able to recognize the difference between His voice and the voice of Satan the deceiver.
The second part to time is “time in itself,”  this demonstrates how much importance you place in that person.  Imagine if all the intimacy in your marriage was a quick kiss out the door in the morning with a cup of coffee in your hand and then a quick dinner after work while you watch your favorite television program.  If this was the most interaction you had, you would not demonstrate that you placed much importance in the person.  Then to follow that off, imagine that the only time for real intimacy was an hour or so on Sunday morning?  But you say we had to cut it short or rush because we wanted to get to the lunch buffet before the crowd or your favorite team was playing that day?
The above scenarios describe many Christians and their “intimate time with God”.  Once a week and a quick hello God and “help me make everything go my way today prayer” as we fly out the door or sit in traffic.  You cannot have quality time in the car with God watching for traffic and dropping off the kids at school.  This does not create intimacy and depth in your relationship with God.
Simply put, if it would not work with a physical human relationship it will not work in the spiritual realm which requires even more effort and stillness.  Your spouse, your children and your friends need your quality time and attention.  Like I have shared before, Jehovah is no different.  Remember He is a jealous God and He refuses to share you with your idols, sins or your busy lifestyles. 
Remember if you draw near, He will draw near!  
In Christianity we call this alone time “Prayer and Meditation”, this will be covered next week.
If you need salvation or are not sure if you are, please press this link to :  How Do I Receive Eternal Life?
Written by Dennis Stauffer
Edited by Gary Green (Omega House)

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God Bless

Dennis Stauffer  (Founder/President and writer of DSI Ministries/Hands In Action)

Gary Green (Editor for DSI Ministries)

Intimacy Part I

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Today I want to share with you one of my most passionate areas in Christianity, being intimate with God. I believe intimacy is the most important lesson for any Christian and I also believe it is the most neglected teaching in the Church today. It has saddened me during my years of Christian ministry to see how many people whom I consider to be good Christians, having such a lack of intimacy with God in their daily walk. I want to begin by sharing two stories:

During a meeting with my Pastor I shared how God was directing me and speaking to me about the next move in my ministry. As I observed my Pastor, I quickly noticed he was very uncomfortable with what I was speaking about. I asked him if there was anything wrong? He began to share in a very irritated tone how God does not speak to him in this way and he was not hearing the voice of God. This obviously shocked me and at the same time saddened me to think that here is a man who is in a position to be leading people to a personal relationship with Christ and he does not hear God’s voice for himself. I have since found that this is not an isolated case.
I was filling in as a group leader for a Holy Spirit Class at a Bible College. In this class, one of the questions in the study was; “How many hear the voice of the Holy Spirit directing their lives?” Once again to my amazement, and this time with a class of third year bible college students studying for ministry, over 75% confessed they did not hear the voice of God directing their lives!

Let’s Start From the Beginning

The first thing that needs to be cleared up is that Christianity is NOT A RELIGION! Believers and non-believers alike make this mistake by saying; Christianity is a major religion in the world. You may be thinking; “Dennis you are splitting hairs here! “You are just playing a word game!” I am not playing a word game nor am I splitting hairs. By the very definition of the word “religion” I can clear this up. I looked up the word on an online dictionary and here is what I found:

Religion: 1) a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2) a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.

Let me dissect one word (believe or belief) from this passage to show you want I mean:

Believe (v): to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.

Here is where the problem lies and where many Christians get stuck. If we go with what the world’s thoughts are and what the world thinks, then God cannot be proven. God is somewhere in the cosmos and we can only have a belief in Him. The world tells you that there is no proof that God exists, so the best we can do is have a belief system and hope that He exists. However, the Bible makes two things clear regarding this, first for His existence and then second, we are to have a personal, one on one relationship with our Lord.

Romans 1:20 (NLT) For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

The Bible makes it clear that we can see God first through His Creation. I know that for a fact. While I was an unbeliever I would always be amazed at how perfect this created world was. Everything in nature, except for natural disasters (created by sin curse), is perfect. The seasons and their timing and the oxygen we need to breathe is perfect. It always amazed me, and I knew without a doubt this world could not be this perfect and be created by some accidental big bang explosion.

My second point is found in John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Let’s look at this verse closely. And this is life eternal ; this is the setup for the definition of eternal life. For most people, when eternal life is mentioned, they reference eternal life to when a person dies and goes into the next world. Let us continue on in this verse; John gives us exactly what is meant by eternal life. Eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ. I want to point out this word know, is not the word for head knowledge or familiarity with. The word know as used by John means much more than this. It has as its meaning the same as when used in Genesis when it states;

Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain.

Adam knew Eve and had a son. The Holy Spirit explains that eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ. Are you now getting the picture of how much God wants to be with you? He used a word that describes the most intimate feelings a human can have. This was no mistake by God. Throughout scriptures God describes His unconditional love for mankind and His desire to be with you. God did not become man and then die a horrific death on the cross by bearing your punishment just to start another world religion. He died because He loves you and He wants to have a personal relationship here and now with you and for all eternity.

Now do you see what I shared about Christianity not being a religion? Remember the definition; a set of beliefs concerning…… usually involving devotional and ritual observances……containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. Real Christianity is an intimate relationship with God. So much so that Jesus calls us “His Bride” in several verses in scripture. We are called “the bride of Christ” and we are just that. This picture (of being His bride) is painted throughout the New Testament. But before I get into that further, I want to show you where we went astray in the Christian Church and then I want to paint a new picture for you next week in our next article.

Where the Problem Lies

I personally believe the problem starts from the very beginning when we lead a person to Christ. Instead of introducing Jesus as a Person, we begin by sharing what He has done for us and what He has to offer us. We share the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and if we are on a roll we might even add He did it because He loves us. (John 3:16) Then we share how we benefit because we accepted Him: He will forgive all your sins and when you die you get to go to heaven and not burn in Hell. This sounded like a great deal to me, so I accepted the offer.

Preceding this however, I was given my work schedule! First find a church, then start going regularly according to that denomination’s tradition. For me, it was Bible study before Sunday Service (and remember it was twice on Sunday, morning and night), then there was the Wednesday night Prayer meeting. After this I was told to get my first Bible (King James only, this is the only one Jesus and the Apostles used. LOL) I was then told to read the Gospel of John followed by the other Gospels and the book of Acts. Several months later, after they saw I had a true conversion, I was told to make an appointment for baptism. Now I was to read my Bible and learn the doctrines of the church and get more involved – e.g. ushering, cleaning up etc. Now you can see the problem, these things they said were all good and great practices, but they never lead me to an intimate relationship with Jesus, instead they lead me to: a set of beliefs concerning…… usually involving devotional and ritual observances……containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs, in other words – RELIGION!

This is the exact opposite of what Jesus desires, along with most of us who truly seek God. But this is how it has been done for hundreds of years. When we are new to Christianity, we do not know the difference. As a new believer, I believed if I did these things they would lead me into this intimate personal relationship (a carrot dangling in front of a horse), but instead they just set me up to work harder and harder to find that intimate relationship I desired to have with God. However, just being religious will never bring you to this place. Only following scripture can do that.

Do We See This In Scripture?

Yes! When we read the New Testament we see something very odd. The very people who were supposed to be leading Israel in worship and dedication to God, are the very people who rejected Jesus. These men were trained in the scriptures and had a lot of head knowledge in the coming of the Messiah. In scripture they were called Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes, today we call them pastors, priests, and bishops depending on your denomination.

What happened? I believe that like the church of today, they fell into a 300 year old rut. For hundreds of years, God did not speak a word to man; so these learned men began practicing religion. They began to govern and rule over people. They began making new rules and adding to God’s Word what was never intended. Jesus called these rules; “traditions and doctrines of man”.

Mark 7:6-8 …….”This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, —the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

So not having a fresh heart towards God, they developed a certain practice of worship and set up rules and regulations for how to worship God. This, their very own devised system, drove them along with the very people who they were supposed to be ministering to away from God! If you read scripture closely, you will note that most of the common people feared or loathed the Old Testament ministers and therefore had little to do with God or His worship, except for what they were commanded to do by law! Reading the New Testament we notice that when Jesus did show up on the scene, these ministers were so rooted in their traditions and way of life that they rejected Jesus, who was God in the flesh. This deep religious rut they were in made them so callous towards God, that when Jesus healed or raised a man from the grave they did not take notice other than to fear that Jesus might replace them along with their prestigious religious positions.

Let me sum this up. When we replace intimacy with God, even with great things like going to church, reading your bible and living the Christian life according to your traditions, it still hardens our hearts just like the men of Jesus’ day. The question today is;

Does this condition in the New Testament, exist today in America?

The answer is YES! I see signs of it everywhere. Many times when you ask a person why they believe in God they give you a doctrinal answer from the Bible rather than sharing (witnessing) how God is real and how He made a great change in their life. Another example is when I asked those Bible college students if they were hearing God and most answered no. These are just two examples! Today there is definitely a problem with and within our church system!

Most unbelievers today want nothing to do with Church. So many I see and talk to either fear the judgement of Christians or simply do not like us. We can see the same attitude in Christians today as in the Pharisees of the Old Testament. For example, we can look at how Christians deal with the homosexual question in America. So many in the church are so condemning, as if this was the unpardonable sin.

I see so many today acting like another group in the New Testament, those that were called Zealots. They believed in keeping Israel pure and preserving the nation at all cost. In America we might call this group, “Conservative Right-wing Republicans.” Many today are more interested in preserving the Union and the Constitution than they are carrying out the Great Commission.

So what does this have to do with us? When we lose or never obtain that close intimacy with God the father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we become like the religious men in the gospels and perhaps even worse. We do not reflect the love nor the image of God to a dark and lost world in which we the Church are called to reach. It is either intimacy with God or the road of religion. Next week I will share with you my journey to intimacy with God.

Written by Dennis Stauffer

Edited by Gary Green (Omega House)

If you like our Post please “SHARE IT” on Facebook and Twitter! When you share this post, it helps this ministry and who knows your share, might bring someone, who you have been praying for into the Kingdom of God!

Also before you leave the website, look around the site. DSI/Hands Action is a missionary team who helps the poorest of the poor in Northern Guatemala. Please sign up for our newsletter on this website and also on Facebook. Thank you.

If DSI has blessed you, please consider becoming a Partner with us to help spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and be His Hands in Action

The Ultimate Sacrifice

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When we the think of the term ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms, we automatically think of the brave soldiers who gave their lives for this country and also for those who served and returned home, and as Americans we should.  There is one however, whom we tend to forget.  His was truly our ultimate sacrifice: I am speaking of Jesus Christ.  

In Romans 5:8:”But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in while we were yet sinners (Gods enemies), Christ DIED for you.  

Why did He die for us?  The main reason is that God wants to have a relationship with you.  God is not angry with you, quite the opposite, He is in LOVE with you.  Unfortunately, our sins, our own desires block that relationship with Him, not only here on Earth but also in eternity.  God knows that we can never be good enough to live the perfect life or give enough sacrifices or money, or do enough sacraments to earn our way to Him.  There is no good work that can do it for us (save us).

Roman 4;5 (NKJV): But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,

The Amplified Bible shows us more closely what this verse means;

Romans 4:5 (AMP):  But to the one who does not work [that is, the one who does not try to earn his salvation by doing good], but believes and completely trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).

So instead, Jesus , the only one who could do all this, did it for us.  He went to that cross and took every sin you have ever committed or will commit against Him and paid it all off.   God will never hold you accountable for any sin that you have done.  The reason is this; Jesus was held accountable for those sins, for your sins that you committed against God.  Jesus not only took the consequences, but He also paid that debt for you!  Jesus took your death sentence upon Himself for you!

Do you think that this is too good to be true news?   If you think so, that is what we call the Gospel (too good to be true news). The New Testament is not about do’s and don’ts, it is about the Gospel and God desires that everyone receives it.

So as we think of those who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms,  also try to Always remember the One who died for you personally.   Right this moment give your life to Jesus, he paid the ultimate price, so you can be free for all eternity.  Remember it is a free gift, to all who call on His Name.  In the following paragraphs I will show you how to receive this gift:

 How can I accept Jesus and receive this great gift?

Repent from your SINS; (repent simply means go the other way, turn around). Walk away from those sins by telling God you want something better, tell Him and yourself; “that you are though with this empty life you have been living.”

Repent from GOOD WORKS, many think they can keep Gods laws: they can go to church enough, be baptized, give money and do good works.  They think they can earn their way into heaven.  This is plain foolishness!  So many under this category are in churches every Sunday and have no idea they are on there way to an eternity without God (hell)!  Why, because they are like the religious men of Jesus’ day, they were thinking that they could earn God’s favor by being religious and by doing acts of religion. The following verses shows us just that:

Romans 4:5;  [ David Celebrates the Same Truth ] But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,

 

Romans 4:2-4:(NLV) If Abraham was made right with God by what he did, he would have had something to be proud of. But he could not be proud before God. 3 The Holy Writings say, “Abraham put his trust in God and that made him right with God.” 4 If a man works, his pay is not a gift. It is something he has earned.

 

Ephesian 2:8,9;  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and  it that not of yourselves; is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Remember this are God’s Words  not mine!)

Give your life to the one who can save you!  As I said earlier, while you were God’s enemy, God died for you.  Jesus took your death sentence to the cross.  He paid all the debt you own and now offers you a free gift of eternal life with Him.

 

Eternal life is not fire insurance!  It is life with God here and now!  We do not get saved only to escape the fires of Hell and then return to living as we please.  Jesus died because He wants you to be in His family and also to have a personal relationship with Him.

John 17:3;  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Roman 10;12-13; For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Simply tell Jesus in your own words:  

Jesus I am sorry for the way I am living, I am tired of this life and the way I have been living.
or
Lord, I am tired of trying to be good and trying to live the perfect religious life!  I can’t do it any longer!  
So today I accept by faith your death on the cross, that you paid for all my sins and all of those things that have keep me away from you.  I now want to make you my Lord, Savior and King over my life.  Thank you for all you have done for me.   

When you do this you will have passed from death to life!

Any questions or need help with this  new life, be free to contact us at www.dsiministries.com or write me at dinostauffer@yahoo.com, all contact will remain in strictest confidentiality. I do not judge you either, do not be afraid to contact me and ask anything, that you think keeps you from the Love of God. I am here to help. If you care to argue or debate, I do not argue, you are free to stay an unbeliever. This is for those who want or need God or on a journey to find Him.

Written by Dennis Stauffer

Edited by Gary Green (Omega House)

If you like our Post please “SHARE IT” on Facebook and Twitter!  When you share this post you not only help our ministry, but furthermore when you share you are helping to spread the Gospel.  Your sharing might bring someone, maybe the someone you have praying for, into a personal relationship with Jesus and therefore into the Kingdom of God!

Also before you leave the website, please look around the site.  DSI/Hands In Action is a missionary team who help the poorest of the poor in Northern Guatemala.  Please sign up for our newsletter on this website and also on Facebook.  Thank you.

If DSI has blessed you, please consider becoming a Partner with us to help spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and be His Hands in Action in Guatemala and around the world with this teaching ministry.

Go to the donation page and become a “missionary partner” with us.  When you give you are partnering with me to become a fellow servant for Jesus in this “hungry” world.  Thanks again for blessing not only this ministry but also for serving with and for the Lord.

God Bless

Dennis Stauffer  (Founder/President and writer of DSI Ministries/Hands In Action)

Gary Green (Editor for DSI Ministries)

Intimacy: Drawing Near – My Journey Part II

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How Can I Meet God?

Last week we ended with the way Christians in America tend to act.  This week I want to start off by sharing another story with you.  I want to share my own testimony, how I came to meet God.

The setting is November, 1984.  I just checked into my 2nd and final rehabilitation center for drugs and alcohol.  I have already been to 3 detoxes, 1 rehab and have spent four years in and out of a 12 step program.  I have also managed to kill myself.  I was clinically dead for six minutes after a suicide attempt in which God brought me back.  Furthermore, I was also kicked out of the army and deported from Germany for my alcoholic behavior.  And then, to top it all off I got married, had one child and then shortly thereafter divorced.  This all happened between the ages of 16 and 20.  Those are the highlights of a 11 year alcoholic binge that started when I was 9 years old.

As I entered that rehabilitation center, with no hope, I meet my newly appointed head therapist.  Bob had over 20 years sobriety at that time.  He “sadly reported” to me that the only hope I will ever have in making it sober, is to find God.  He went on to state that; “I previously tried all there was and I had failed to respond to any type of treatment for alcoholism”.   The only chance I had was to find God.   God was my only hope!   At that moment, when I heard that, you might as well have shot me in the head.

I used the words above that he “sadly reported” this.  I say that because at that time I was a complete atheist and if by chance there was a God, I hated Him with all my being!  Bob pointed out that I needed to find God or just go get drunk and die.  These were the only two alternatives I had.  He then reassured me that there was a God, and that God loved me very much and He wanted to help me.  I only had to find the willingness to reach out to Him.  Bob knew that because 20 years ago in his own life, he faced the same dilemma.  He directed me from that day forward that I was to pray in the morning and to thank God at night for another day God blessed me with.  I also was directed not to ask for anything but my daily needs and sobriety for that day.  From that meeting on I began a new journey towards God…

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This is the Corner where I met Jesus.

My Road to Damascus Experience

On June 10, 1985, after six months of praying and seeking the presence of God for His help I had been sober for 7 months.  However, the day before I had a fight with my sister whom I was living with.  She asked me to leave and no matter where I went for help, not even my own mother would help me.

Around 1 am that morning, I was sitting on a corner where I had previously dealt drugs and drank during my addiction.  Then Satan showed up and began tempting me.  In my newly founded and fragile recovery, I was very shaky to say the least.  He reminded me that a few blocks away was my favorite bar.  If I went there I could pick up a woman and let her take me home like I had done so many times before.

The temptation was overwhelming and at that moment I cried out to God, “If you’re really there, I need you to stop being invisible and save me before I drink again!”  In a flash peace surrounded me.  It was around me like a wall of protection and also it was inside of me flowing out freely through me.  There was this calm, joy, a freedom I had never experienced.  Then there was His voice.  I could hear Him audibly.  Just like His peace, His voice was also flowing inside and out of me.  I can’t really explain it, but His voice penetrated every cell in my being.  I not only could hear Him with my ears but I also felt it and rested in it.

I felt completely protected by His presence.  The joy I felt at that time was obviously supernatural.  I have never felt joy like that since.  Jesus spoke to me and said; “Dennis, I have always been with you and I will never forsake you.”   I can still remember looking back at my response.   Like an idiot all I could say was; “You really exist!” I said it over and over again.  That night the Lord removed those demons of addiction and gave me instructions about how to start living my life.  What I received was absolute assurance that God existed.  And just like Jesus said, “I will never leave nor forsake you.”

If I were to tell you that story and it ended there, you could write it off as a bad experience, a dream, a great hallucination or whatever.  But I have to say that I have never again had another drink of alcohol nor have I tried drugs in these last 32 years.  Neither have I been the same.  To top it off, after over 31 years God and I still speak to each other almost every day.  I still hear His voice flowing in my spirit directing and guiding me.  So today when people ask me why I believe in the Bible or why I believe Jesus is the only way, I tell them it is not just blind faith.  I happen to know Him personally.  Jesus is not just some hope I have but a real relationship in my life!  So let me help you draw near…….

 Drawing Near 

James 4:8  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts…..
This verse shows us the “key” to meeting God.  We must first decide to draw near!  God will never violate His universal law of “freewill.”   As long as you want to be Lord over your own life, do whatever you want and have nothing to do with God, then He will honor your choice and that is what you will get – life without God!  If you want to serve other gods or idols (addiction, lust, materialism or simply yourself) you will never see God.  If you have never seen God or heard Him, there is your reason; you never really wanted to in the first place.
 
This is something I share with new people coming to Christ: If you take one step towards God he will travel a universe to meet you.
 
God wants to be with you more than you can imagine.  He is not out there playing spiritual hide and go seek!  He is waiting on every human to do this simple step written in the book of James – draw near to Him.  This is exactly what I was unknowingly doing for 6 months before I met God on June 10.  I was moving, I was taking that first step of opening my heart and my will to receive Him and to have an encounter with Him.
 
Before June, I started to see weird things happening.  I asked for help and it showed up!  I needed something and it was there or someone showed up out of the blue and helped me.  As I look back, I can see since that meeting with Bob at the rehab that God was setting me up and preparing to change my life forever.  If you’re reading this and you want the same, God might be setting you up right now.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts…..
This is step two; I had to start cleaning my hands.  I had to make a decision to whom I was going to follow and serve with my life.  In Christianity and the Bible, this is called ‘Repentance.’  The word repentance simply means to turn around or make a u-turn in your life.
 
I want to interject here that you might be reading this and you have already said the prayer of salvation, you go to church and read your Bible.  I want to point out the Book of James is written to Christians.  It starts out in Chapter one:  Greetings,… My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials…. This tells us who James was writing to.   These early Christians, had the same problems so many Christians have today and James was correcting it…. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts.  I see it so much today in the church, Christians coming to church, reading their Bibles, being baptized and not having any personal relationship with God.  So many Christians that are stuck in sin, e.g., materialism which the Bible calls idols.  Jesus made it clear you cannot serve both.  You will love one and hate the other.
 
The reason we may not be hearing the voice of God is because of other loves we have in our lives.  We have moved away from him and the further we go away, that small still voice becomes quieter and quieter.  God never shouts to get your attention.  You might run into a storm like Jonah but there is no shouting.  God will never raise His voice at you or lose His temper.   You have to decide to come back into hearing range of His voice.  When we fall into sin, and we all do, God does not abandon us or move away, nor does He stop hearing our prayers.  He never changes, He continues to talk to us in His still small voice but the further we move away, the harder it becomes to hear God’s voice.  Matthew brings this out:
 
Matthew 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
This leads us to our next paragraph where this same scripture is more applicable.

 Am I Really Saved or Just Going to Church?

Here is a litmus test: Ask yourself this question and be very honest!  If I ask you if you are going to Heaven when you die, what is your answer?   Was your answer?

  1. I hope so! I am a very good person but I am not perfect!
  2. YES I AM! I go to church and love Jesus!

If you think number two is the best answer, both answers will land you in Hell!  Both question have to do with you and things you do!  Salvation has nothing to do with you.  It has to do with all that Jesus did on the cross and the forgiveness He offers!  All we can do is respond and receive His free gift.

Again if you answered yes to both questions and are going to church and practicing the Christian religion or any other religion for that matter, then for you God may be some belief you have and or hope you have – that He is real.  For you He is somewhere in the cosmos, but you are unable to be prove this, you simply live in “blind faith.”  

There are many people sitting in churches every Sunday who have never repented and have never come to salvation, they are just going through the motions.  They believe Christianity is a religion.  They are hoping to live their life good enough so that one day they will go to heaven because of their good works and deeds, and or by the sacraments they received.  I cannot think of anything sadder than for a person to attend church their whole life, living a so called “christian life” and then ending up going to hell.  You might think I am crazy to believe this but I will let the Lord tell you!

Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV) “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven {get saved}.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (parentheses my interjection)   
I want to affirm that these are not Christians who lost their salvation.  These are what I call:  “Church  folks who never came to Christ for salvation.”
 
They are doing all the right things and some even do amazing things in the context of Christianity but Jesus says, “I never knew you!”  If at one time, they were saved and then backslid and then lost their salvation, then that means at one time Jesus did know them and they left.  However, Jesus states; “I never knew you!”  What does this mean?  This means that they never gave their life to Jesus!  In other words they were never saved.  
Remember, we have God’s promise that a saved person cannot lose their salvation!
 
These “Church Folks” may have given their life, and put their faith into their denomination, or their church, their pastor or even a Christian lifestyle or even sacraments, but they never came to repentance nor turned their lives over to Jesus for His blood and His Salvation.  Here is my comparsion on these two verses, 1) those that have never believed and therefore have not received salvation – Matt. 7:21-23 vs. 2) those who have salvation – John 10:27:
 
  • Matt. 7:21-23 – And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ 
  • John 10:27 – My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
I know there are “Church Folks” sitting in pews, today.  For example, my own mother was in this category for years, she was the most church going woman I knew growing up.  She had us in church constantly and even made me an altar boy.  It was not until years later while at a Bible study I was giving on this very subject that she repented and received Salvation – at the age of 60.  Later by her own words she stated that she sat in church her whole life and was never offered nor received Salvation. 
 
1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
So if you’re not sure if you’re saved and what I have just written is speaking to you, do not wait another moment.  Get saved and turn to Jesus.
 
If you need salvation or are not sure if you are, please press this link to :  How Do I Receive Eternal Life?
Let us know if you have received salvation or if you are interested in our contact page.

What’s The Difference?

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Romans 10:17; So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
I really do not need to write any more in addition to these three verses of scripture to answer that question, but I will.
 
One of the greatest proofs in your life that you are saved is the fact you can and do hear the voice of God and His Spirit moves in you!  If that is happening; God is with you.  If you are going through the motions of Christianity and doing all the right things and you have never heard or recollect hearing God, STOP ALL YOU’RE DOING AND GET SAVED! 

 Hearing vs Reading the Word of God

I want to point out that it is, every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  It says that the Word that proceeds from the mouth of God not written from the mouth of God!  I am referring to the Bible here!  You might be able to read and teach God’s written Word and still never hear His voice or even be one of His.  I am not saying God’s Word is not important nor am I disrespecting the written Word of God.  The Bible is man’s greatest tool to drawing close to God and understanding His will for your life and this world.  However, it does not replace God’s spoken Word, as we see in the next verse:
Romans 10:17; So then  faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
I will reiterate what I was saying earlier.  Read carefully what this verse is saying; faith comes not by reading scriptures but by hearing God’s word!  Do not get me wrong in this.  I do read the Bible and in those pages, as I read, God begins to speak to me.  God will convict me and He also teaches me though His written word but I am not reading it alone, I am hearing that small voice guiding and speaking to me through those written words.  On the other hand if you are just reading and studying the word like a text book and all you’re getting is doctrinal facts and religious tenets, then you might be going the way of the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus time.  They knew every part of the Old Testament but when they met Jesus, our Lord God, they were clueless to who He was and what He was teaching them.  This again proves my point through scripture; you can know all there is about God, His laws and doctrines but not know Him, even if He walked up to you.
 
I will continue with Part III next week, the nuts and bolts of finding intimacy with God.

Do Not Get Passed-Over: The Benefits Of Being Saved

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passover cross resized_FotorAfter The Passover

Psalm 105 37-41  He also brought them out with silver and gold,   
And there was none feeble among His tribes.     
Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the fear of them had fallen upon them.
He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to give light in the night.
The people asked, and He brought quail,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
He opened the rock, and water gushed out; It ran in the dry places like a river.  

 

As I shared in the last article “Do not get Passed-Over, the Passover is a type and shadow of our Salvation in Jesus.  If you have not read it please read that article before you go on.  

In the final judgement that was about to plague Egypt, we read that God tells Moses to have Israel slay the lambs and wipe their blood on the door posts of their homes.  This is a picture of Jesus’ blood on our hearts in which the judgement of God passes-over us.  Jesus came to break the slavery of Egypt the (world) and then set us free to go first to Mount Sinai and meet with God and then to travel to the Promise Land.

The Promise Land

I want to start out by clearing up an error that so many in the past and present day church have made; Heaven is not the Promise Land.  So many have clung to the idea that when God promised us a promise land, He was talking about Heaven.  He is not.  God told Israel to go to the Promise Land and in that land, they would have to fight and conquer it.  Heaven and eternal life is a free gift given by God.  In heaven there are no wars, no struggles and no giants to conquer.  Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was free but their promises were not!

When we look at our salvation and the things I am going to share, you will see there are many battles in this Christian life.  If you want the blessing of the promises, you will have to muster courage, take hold by faith and battle for the things God promised you in salvation.  The blessings are a part of your salvation but they are not all automatic, there are wars to be fought and won,

1 Timothy 6:12: Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Just as it was with Israel when they received the Passover, which is analogous to our salvation promise. When we read Psalm 105 37-41, we see that God bestowed on them many blessings.  So many today teach all the blessings from God are just for the spirit world or when you get to Heaven.  I want to ask a question; does your spirit need healing?  Have you ever gone to the doctor and heard him or her say, “there is nothing to worry about,  your spirit man has the flu?”  Do you think that when you get to heaven you will need healing, provision or protection?  I do not believe this is true!  In Heaven there is no sickness, no danger and there are no needs.  But we do have them here.  So many Christian today are doing without because they do not believe those scriptures that say; God shall supply all your needs.  I am your healer and deliverer.  I forgave all your sins and heal all your diseases.  The Lord also told us that no weapon formed against us will prosper.

 

The reason God gave these promises, is because they are part of your Salvation benefits, but like I said, although they are yours they do not come automatically.  They are only accessed through faith and faith is required to receive them.  The Lord told Israel that they received the promise land but they were still required to go and take possession.  This requirement is still required for us today.

Jesus made it clear in the gospels if you doubt you will do without.  So as we march on to our promises there will be giants and wars to be faced.  So as Israel had to march toward their territory so must we march on in salvation to possess all that Jesus promised us.

Understanding Our Promises is not in our Theology but rather in a Word.

You can see right away that during their deliverance from Egypt, Israel received the same as we do at the moment of our Salvation.  In the article I wrote “Returning to Faith,”  I showed you the Greek words for “salvation” and the word “saved.” Let us look once again at these Greek words for a better understanding.  Please study and memorize these two words.

 

sózó: to save
Short Definition: I save, heal
Definition: I save, heal, preserve, rescue.

sótéria: deliverance, salvation
Short Definition: deliverance, salvation
Definition: welfare,  prosperity, deliverance,  preservation,  salvation,  safety.
When we study these words, I want to remind you that this is not theology here, it is just studying a word and understanding what it meant in the original language in which it was was written.  Yes, I know that we use the English language and in our churches we reduce the words “saved or receiving Salvation to” my sins are forgiven and one day I will go to Heaven.  But when you study the definition of the Greek words you will gain a different understanding from how we have reduced salvation?  So for the rest of the article I want to compare what happened to Israel the day after they received the Passover to what happened to Israel after their deliverance from Egypt.  Then you will see that God is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow and He does not change.

Sozo: I Save: I Rescue

Salvation: Deliverance, Safety

God saved Israel from Egypt and God also saved you from the slavery of sin in this world and delivered you.  As Israel slayed the lamb and marked the door with its blood, Jesus, the Lamb of God, shed His blood and marked you to be passed over from death and its destruction.
God did not only save Israel from destruction, he also invited them to Mount Sinai.  This is where Israel vowed to become the children of God and became the nation of God.  They would be His people and He, Jehovah would be their God.  And just like God did with the Israelites, God offers us the same when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We are adopted into the family of God.
Going back to what I explained earlier we can see that God was referencing the adoption of children into His family by using the Greek words sozo and sótéria.  We just need to take away the religious trappings and not go too deep into theology.  Oftentimes we over analyze and therefore complicate God’s Word.  By doing so we can then get a clearer meaning of what God is doing in salvation.  This is stated in Galatians:
Galatians 4:5  to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
I have adopted by marriage, 5 children.  When I look at these words again, I realize that this is what I have done.  When I took on the responsibility of my new children I took on these following responsibilities. 
  Their:
  • welfare: the health, happiness and fortunes of a person or group.
  • prosperity: the state of being prosperous.
  • deliverance: the action of being rescued or set free
  • preservation: support something: 1.retain 2. maintain or keep alive 3.keep safe
  • salvation: deliverance from mistakes, and errors
  • safety and saved : the condition of being protected and rescued  from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury. 
  • heal: to make  a person to become sound and healthy again.  

Aren’t these the same things we want for our own children?  Jesus asked a question in the Gospels.

Luke: 7;11  If YOU then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Why do we think God wants any less for us?  Do you want your children to be failures, to get sick, be paralyzed or contact some horrible disease?  Do you want them to live a life in poverty?  Of course not!

We need religion to help us believe the opposite is true!!  What I mean by this is, if we would read the Bible for what it says and not filtered to what we are taught in church, theologians and every denominational doctrine, then our belief system would be so much stronger.

Prosperity and Being Prosperous

Psalm 105 37: He also brought them out with silver and gold.

When we become children of God we are promised prosperity if we believe.  As I stated in previous articles; prosperity is not God wanting us all rich as so many love to quote.  I believe prosperity is; whatever God calls you to to be, He will prosper you and you will have success.  Ask yourself a question, did God call me for a certain assignment in life because He wanted me to fail?  Did God call me to be a mother or father only to see our children fail, was this failure His will?  I do not believe so.  Jesus stated He does nothing without the father telling him.  Now, did Jesus ever fail?  No!, and the reason Jesus never failed was because He did nothing without God’s direction.  Even with God’s direction Jesus relied on the power from the Holy Spirit to accomplish the job.

John 8:28  Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 
All through the Bible God says if you listen to my commands you shall prosper in all you do.  You can see this the moment Israel received their deliverance: God blessed them with silver and gold.  These slaves left their slavery rich after they plundered the richest nation of the world.  For 430 years they lived as slaves but they left as a rich nation.

Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

 

holocost fotoHealing 

Psalm 105:37 And there was none feeble among His tribes. 

Psalm 105:37 there were no sick and feeble folk among them than. (Living Translation) 

And there was none feeble  (Lacking physical strength, especially as a result of age or illness)

Now this is a powerful statement; there was none lacking any physical strength, there was none sick!  I shared with you a picture of some holocaust victims on the left.  I wanted you to get a picture of what happened to these men who lived in inhumane conditions for 6 years or less.  These men suffered at the hands of Nazi Germany and were used as human slaves.  Can you imagine what the Children of Israel looked like living this way for 430 years?  This means they lived in this condition from their birth and then grew up in these conditions. Imagine how beaten they were, especially after the past few years of living in the battle between Moses and Pharaoh?  Now we read there was none feeble among them.  After they received the Passover meal, they were all healed, they were all restored to perfect health so they could leave Egypt.

When Jesus went to the cross he bore your sickness and disease.

Matthew 8:17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”
Psalms 105 2-4 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction
It is a shame that in the body of Christ there is such a dispute over healing. We read in the Old Covenant God was healing from the beginning.  It was further established at the Passover with Israel in Egypt, again which is only a type and shadow of the more glorious covenant we have today. (Hebrews 8:6)

Protections

th
Psalm 105:38-39 Egypt was glad when they departed, For the fear of them had fallen upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light in the night.
God not only delivered Israel from Egypt, He adopted them, He prospered them with Egypt’s gold and wealth.  Then after the Passover He healed them.  Now we will see He will protect them from not only their Egyptian masters, but also from the harsh conditions of the desert.

God helped Israel make their triumphant exit.  He made sure that because of the last plague on Egypt, there would be no mob vengeance for Egypt’s loss of their first-born and no riots as they left.  God placed in the heart of the Egyptians a gladness and a fear that they were leaving.  So glad that they gave valuable gifts as they left.  God’s hand was there to help and bless Israel as they left their captivity.  Not one person lifted a hand to stir a riot against them.

However, there was one hard headed fool, Pharaoh.  Pharaoh chose again to harden his heart and attack the leaving Israelites.  He chased them to the Red Sea where God then did another miracle of protection by splitting the Rea Sea giving the Israelites dry ground on which to cross.  Unfortunately for Pharaoh and his army, this was the end of Egypt’s king.  For God lifted His protection and the Red Sea closed over them and they all drowned?  The world’s great superpower was destroyed with no problem.

Psalms 136:15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.
He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light in the night.
After Israel entered the great desert to go meet God at Mount Sinai, they were exposed to the nasty and deadly conditions of a desert.  So God in His protection provided a cloud over them during the day so the scorching sun and heat would not be unbearable and gave them cool shade in the wide open sands.  If you have never been to the desert, you can not imagine how cold a hot place can get when the sun goes down and how dark it is.  So God gave them a pillar of fire for warmth and light so they would not be in total darkness on the moonless nights.

Provision

spit rock at mt horeb_Fotor

Psalm 105 40-41:The people asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and water gushed out;  It ran in the dry places like a river.  

God fed the people of Israel, a nation now living in a desert.  No natural or man-made facilities were there to handle such an exodus.  God made it clear that He took care of anywhere from 600,000 people to 4 million people.  However many were there, it was a problem only Jehovah God could solve.  He fed them with manna and quail.  He let water flow from a rock (the picture is Split Rock at Mount Horeb.)  This is where Moses struck the rock and it supplied the water for millions of people.  The caption in this photo says a man can walk between that crack of the rock and it has been proven the split was caused by water erosion.  A great testament to the Word of God and proof of the Bible.  God says in the New Testament:

Philippians 4:19  And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Unknown copyGod is our father and provider. He promises His children to supply their needs just like He took care of Israel in the desert. If God can feed several million people in the middle of nowhere; do you think your need of one person or family is a  challenge to God?  Just like His family in the desert wilderness, God will supply you no matter where you are.  Even if He has to split something or rain down manna from Heaven to feed you. (I always thought manna was like a communion wafer from heaven but as I studied this I found out it looked like a coriander seed (right) and then ground down for flour.

As we have seen from this article, the same blessings that were supplied to Israel are also available to you.  They are in the New Covenant – supplied by the blood of Jesus at the cross.  Unfortunately, so many in Church through unbelief, bad doctrines or theology have forfeited these blessings.

Matthew 13:58  Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Your unbelief will cost you either though your church teachings or your natural unbelief in the supernatural.  It does not matter what the reason is, if you live in unbelief you will not receive anything from God.  Jesus went to Nazareth, yet because of their unbelief Jesus could not do many great works.  That same principle applies to us all.  Yes Jesus is God and He was the Savior at Nazareth.  However, the Nazarines stopped the flow of of God’s great works through their lack of faith and all their stupid questions.

Matthew 13:55-57:  Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?  And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him.

If God did these blessings for Israel, and you have a better covenant than they had, you just need to study it and know your blessings and your benefits.  After all, as a believer you are a saved child of God.

Hebrews 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.  (Read Psalm 103)   

Why did God allow this to happen to me?

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If you ever been to a funeral or had a talked with someone who has been hurt and blamed God for it. You will get this statement, ” If there was a loving God, why would he allow this to happen”? So in turn, so many believe that God, let their baby die and he needed that baby in heaven. Others have been abused or have had other misfortunes and have come to this question again and again. They end up with a hatred toward God. There are some with the attitude;” if this is a loving God, I do not want anything to do with him”.  If this is you?  This blog is for you!

In the comic strip above, we have a man asking Jesus, why did he allow these thing? Jesus in turn said “I was about to ask you the same thing”. So today we will tackle this as simply as I can.

When God created man back in the Garden.  He gave man dominion (authority) over this planet. (Genesis 1:28). In other words, God is the creator and is the owner of planet Earth. The management of this planet, he gave to man. Secondly he created man with a special gift and also a deadly one, FREE WILL.

What is freewill? It is ability to make ones own decisions and rule ones self as he wishes. Good or bad, a man can go or do as he wishes and God will not force him to obey and live by His rules.

With this free gift of freewill. God made it clear to Adam, if he would break the one law he established, there would be consequences for those actions.  We read in Genesis 2:17, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.  In this verse God tell them, there is consequences for your actions. If you eat from this one tree, you will die! but that decision is up to you!

As it happened, Adam and Eve did what they wanted and they received there consequences for their actions.

Adam (man) to this point was a immortal creature. Death was not on this earth but God warned man if you rebel,  you will unleash a deadly virus on this earth called “death”. God did not create death, it came from Satan and it was conscience of living a life apart from the source of eternal life (God).  Adam and Eve, on that day made a decision to separate themselves from that life.  From that day on, the virus; sin, sickness and death , was released on this planet. In the New Testament, Romans 6:23, God reminds us of this fact.  For the wages of sin is death.  Sin is choosing to live your life, apart from God and His ways.   The wages (paycheck) for that is death. It was not created again by God, he warned us not to go down this road, because of what will happen. But we did it anyway and now fast forward to 2014…..Today.
The world is a frightening place, rumor of wars and wars are happening. violence, diseases and famines cover our world. People are murdered. Women and children are raped and abused, some sold into slavery.  Alcoholism and drug addiction are everywhere. Children are born with defects and many other crippling diseases.

And man cries out to God, “If you are a loving God, why do you allow these things happen?”

Now that we have the back ground to why these things have happened.  We now can look at the comic strip again. The man asked Jesus, why? and Jesus response was “I was about to ask you the same thing”!

Everything we blame on God, if honestly looked at. Is done through the temptations of Satan and the desires of men.

Famine (starvation in the world).  America alone can produce enough food to feed the world. but why do people go hungry? Governments, politic, greed and I am sure this can go much better.

Sickness and diseases:  Can you image what this world would look like if man used his resources and intellect to research cures instead of military might and conquest. How much money and time goes into building bombs, warships and planes. If all the energy we use to kill one other was used to save others?

Crime and violence:  Who commits crimes? Does God sell drugs? Rape and abuse women and children? Go into stores and rob people. Does God kill innocent people for the lust of money? Does God run drug cartels and gangs?  Was a women ever been raped by God?  The answer is always  NO!!! Who does these action against other human beings? Man does! So if man is always doing this, why does God get blamed for the condition of the world, he put us in charge of?

One reason is a bad doctrine in churches and in peoples mindset.  Most people have this idea; God is so powerful and mighty. He is in control of everything. Nothing happens that He does not allow or control. That is bad doctrine and just plain stupid.  God does not control all. He does not have anything to do with  a man who chooses to kill, or a person who chooses to rape women and children. Nor is it His will for parents to get so drunk and high, they come home and beat and abuse their children.  God has not any part of these things, that is the work of the devil.  He tempts someone to do his evil work and then blames God for the outcome.  Satan love to accuse God and says; “If God loves you, this would not of happened! He does have all control,  He could of stopped this”!

John 10:10 states, The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I (Jesus,God) have come that they may have life, and they may have it more abundantly.  

A very simple theology I live by. If something is stealing, killing or destroying in my life or my very life.  It is SATAN!  If there are things coming into my life that are producing goodness, abundance and health, it is GOD.  So when I see the evil, I can take my God given dominion (authority),  I can resist it, fight against it. Not be neutral and act as a victim, and allow sickness, disease and evil to wreck my life. When I see these thing surface in my actions, thoughts I can take immediate action to straighten my actions and thoughts out, so I do not do harm in my life, marriage, health or finances. Then I can turn to Gods Word for guidance and get instructions, on how to bring life back to these situation caused by the devil, myself or some other human who decide to do harm to me. God does not kill babies and need them in heaven! God did not will your child, mother or father to die because He needed them more in heaven. Nonsense. Since death came into this world by one mans action (Adam) , we are guaranteed one thing when we are born. We will die, no one get out alive. Roman 5:15 says But the free gift is not like the offence. For if by the one mans offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

I do not blame God. God is my solution and my life source. When I turn and get angry and blame God. I turn from the only source that can help me get through or stop these things in my life. Read Genesis 2-3, you will see how Satan got Adam to turn on God, run and hide and then start the blame game. But who came to the garden? God did, not to punish to rescue his children from their mistakes and the lies of the devil.

We see the same in the New Testament for us, for all who sinned. God doing a rescue mission. For God so loved the world the He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  (John 3:16-18)

God is not your problem or cause of your problems. Not one of them. If you are honest you will see it was cause by you or someone else. God wants us to repent, turn away from these harmful things and turn back to him. He will not punish but save you. Would you like to give him your life? You can repent and stop blaming everyone for the problems in your life and turn to the solution. When I got off a alcoholism these are the words God spoke to me.  Stop looking at the problems and look to me, your solution.

I hope this was a small help to a hard question. It is not in-depth but I hope to give you a chance to look at it in a different light then you might have been. God did not do this too you, nor is He punishing you.

If I can help you in any way, write to me Dennis Stauffer at dennisstauffer@dsiministries.com or dinostauffer@yahoo.com

Thank you for reading my article.

Why Did God Allow This To Happen ? Repost

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If you ever been to a funeral or had a talked with someone who has been hurt and blamed God for it. You will get this statement, ” If there was a loving God, why would he allow this to happen”? So in turn, so many believe that God, let their baby die and he needed that baby in heaven. Others have been abused or have had other misfortunes and have come to this question again and again. They end up with a hatred toward God. There are some with the attitude;” if this is a loving God, I do not want anything to do with him”.  If this is you?  This blog is for you!

In the comic strip above, we have a man asking Jesus, why did he allow these thing? Jesus in turn said “I was about to ask you the same thing”. So today we will tackle this as simply as I can.

When God created man back in the Garden.  He gave man dominion (authority) over this planet. (Genesis 1:28). In other words, God is the creator and is the owner of planet Earth. The management of this planet, he gave to man. Secondly he created man with a special gift and also a deadly one, FREE WILL.

What is freewill? It is ability to make ones own decisions and rule ones self as he wishes. Good or bad, a man can go or do as he wishes and God will not force him to obey and live by His rules.

With this free gift of freewill. God made it clear to Adam, if he would break the one law he established, there would be consequences for those actions.  We read in Genesis 2:17, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.  In this verse God tell them, there is consequences for your actions. If you eat from this one tree, you will die! but that decision is up to you!

As it happened, Adam and Eve did what they wanted and they received there consequences for their actions.

Adam (man) to this point was a immortal creature. Death was not on this earth but God warned man if you rebel,  you will unleash a deadly virus on this earth called “death”. God did not create death, it came from Satan and it was conscience of living a life apart from the source of eternal life (God).  Adam and Eve, on that day made a decision to separate themselves from that life.  From that day on, the virus; sin, sickness and death , was released on this planet. In the New Testament, Romans 6:23, God reminds us of this fact.  For the wages of sin is death.  Sin is choosing to live your life, apart from God and His ways.   The wages (paycheck) for that is death. It was not created again by God, he warned us not to go down this road, because of what will happen. But we did it anyway and now fast forward to 2014…..Today.
The world is a frightening place, rumor of wars and wars are happening. violence, diseases and famines cover our world. People are murdered. Women and children are raped and abused, some sold into slavery.  Alcoholism and drug addiction are everywhere. Children are born with defects and many other crippling diseases.

And man cries out to God, “If you are a loving God, why do you allow these things happen?”

Now that we have the back ground to why these things have happened.  We now can look at the comic strip again. The man asked Jesus, why? and Jesus response was “I was about to ask you the same thing”!

Everything we blame on God, if honestly looked at. Is done through the temptations of Satan and the desires of men.

Famine (starvation in the world).  America alone can produce enough food to feed the world. but why do people go hungry? Governments, politic, greed and I am sure this can go much better.

Sickness and diseases:  Can you image what this world would look like if man used his resources and intellect to research cures instead of military might and conquest. How much money and time goes into building bombs, warships and planes. If all the energy we use to kill one other was used to save others?

Crime and violence:  Who commits crimes? Does God sell drugs? Rape and abuse women and children? Go into stores and rob people. Does God kill innocent people for the lust of money? Does God run drug cartels and gangs?  Was a women ever been raped by God?  The answer is always  NO!!! Who does these action against other human beings? Man does! So if man is always doing this, why does God get blamed for the condition of the world, he put us in charge of?

One reason is a bad doctrine in churches and in peoples mindset.  Most people have this idea; God is so powerful and mighty. He is in control of everything. Nothing happens that He does not allow or control. That is bad doctrine and just plain stupid.  God does not control all. He does not have anything to do with  a man who chooses to kill, or a person who chooses to rape women and children. Nor is it His will for parents to get so drunk and high, they come home and beat and abuse their children.  God has not any part of these things, that is the work of the devil.  He tempts someone to do his evil work and then blames God for the outcome.  Satan love to accuse God and says; “If God loves you, this would not of happened! He does have all control,  He could of stopped this”!

John 10:10 states, The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I (Jesus,God) have come that they may have life, and they may have it more abundantly.  

A very simple theology I live by. If something is stealing, killing or destroying in my life or my very life.  It is SATAN!  If there are things coming into my life that are producing goodness, abundance and health, it is GOD.  So when I see the evil, I can take my God given dominion (authority),  I can resist it, fight against it. Not be neutral and act as a victim, and allow sickness, disease and evil to wreck my life. When I see these thing surface in my actions, thoughts I can take immediate action to straighten my actions and thoughts out, so I do not do harm in my life, marriage, health or finances. Then I can turn to Gods Word for guidance and get instructions, on how to bring life back to these situation caused by the devil, myself or some other human who decide to do harm to me. God does not kill babies and need them in heaven! God did not will your child, mother or father to die because He needed them more in heaven. Nonsense. Since death came into this world by one mans action (Adam) , we are guaranteed one thing when we are born. We will die, no one get out alive. Roman 5:15 says But the free gift is not like the offence. For if by the one mans offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

I do not blame God. God is my solution and my life source. When I turn and get angry and blame God. I turn from the only source that can help me get through or stop these things in my life. Read Genesis 2-3, you will see how Satan got Adam to turn on God, run and hide and then start the blame game. But who came to the garden? God did, not to punish to rescue his children from their mistakes and the lies of the devil.

We see the same in the New Testament for us, for all who sinned. God doing a rescue mission. For God so loved the world the He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  (John 3:16-18)

God is not your problem or cause of your problems. Not one of them. If you are honest you will see it was cause by you or someone else. God wants us to repent, turn away from these harmful things and turn back to him. He will not punish but save you. Would you like to give him your life? You can repent and stop blaming everyone for the problems in your life and turn to the solution. When I got off a alcoholism these are the words God spoke to me.  Stop looking at the problems and look to me, your solution.

I hope this was a small help to a hard question. It is not in-depth but I hope to give you a chance to look at it in a different light then you might have been. God did not do this too you, nor is He punishing you.

If I can help you in any way, write to me Dennis Stauffer at dennisstauffer@dsiministries.com or dinostauffer@yahoo.com

Thank you for reading my article.

DO NOT GET PASSED-OVER!

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Understanding the Passover

So many times in the Old Testament, God gives us a “type and shadow” of the things to come in the

images (1)future.  He gives us a metaphor and with this metaphor God loves to paint a picture with His Words.  In this article I want to share a little on my favorite type and shadow in the Bible: The Passover  from the book of Exodus.

Exodus 12:21;  Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.24 And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 

God is painting the picture and it an easy one to understand.  When we go through the story and understand what these words mean spiritually, they give us a deeper meaning of our salvation.

Egypt/World System

First let us look at Egypt.  Egypt is a picture of the “world” in which we are all born into.  We are children of God yes, but after the fall of Adam and Eve, we are no longer born into “Eden” but into this fallen world.  So after the fall of man at the garden, every man and woman born into this world are born spiritually dead.  This is why Jesus said in John 3;3 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”   You might be alive physically but your spirit is dead and can not understand the things of God or enter into His Kingdom.  When we are not born-again, our mind and thoughts are locked into this world view and system.  We simply can not gasp spiritual truths.

Here is an example we all have heard; “I read the Bible but it is nothing but Greek to me!” The reason is: We need the help of the Holy Spirit to teach us the spiritual truths contained in the Word of God.  Without God’s aid the Bible is reduced to a bunch of ancient stories written in an ancient culture.   So we need to be born again (our spirit-man becoming alive) to understand the Biblical truths and principles God set in His Word.

Which lead us to the next point. 

Living in Egypt Produces Slaves

For 430 years the Israelites lived in Egypt and Egypt made them slaves.  Being born into this world produces the same results, sin becomes our slave-master.  When we read of Israel suffering at the hands of slave-masters, this should be a wake-up call to all of us.  This is an excellent example showing us how living in this world will treat us.  Sin is a brutal task master!

Roman 6:17; But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.

Unfortunately, many find pleasure in this world with its many sins.  Because of this desire for pleasure many choose to stay in their sins. God will never force anyone to leave, remember God gives us our choice.  As long as we desire this world with its manifold pleasures, they are ours.  God gives them to us, including all the pains, problems and consequences that come along with sin.

Proverbs 10:2  A fool finds pleasure in wicked schemes.

Good News

God did not intend for us to stay in the world system and be slaves for our entire lives.  As He did for Israel, He does for us in this story.

“Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 

 The Lamb 

Genesis 22:8:  And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”
I wanted to start with this verse, because from the beginning, God had a plan to rescue His children.  I especially like Genesis 22:8 when it is written in the proper sentence structure.  When the translators translated the Bible, they left out a comma.  Let us look at what God was saying.  Let us reread this with the comma in place:
And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide Himself,  the lamb for a burnt offering.”
This is exactly what happened.  God provided Himself as the Lamb for the burnt offering.  Jesus is the “Lamb of God” who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).  So when God needed to rescue us from these bonds of slavery, God became man and became the sacrifice to save us all.
 
Interesting fact: This is why Jesus was born in a stable.  God went so far as to be born in Bethlehem in a stable. These very lambs, born in these stables, were the exact ones used for the “passover” in Jerusalem at the time of the passover feast.  Jesus was born with all the other sacrificial lambs!   These same lambs which were offered for the atonement of Israel’s sins.

Dip the blood 

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Exodus 12:22  dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. 

If you look at the picture of the door, you will see that when the Israelites took the hysop branch, dipped it in the blood, struck the top of the door and then moved this bloody, dripping branch left to right  they were looking at something very puzzling to them: “a picture of a bloody cross.” on their door.  To them this was a mystery because the cross for crucifixion, was not made for thousands of years later by the Roman Empire.  But for us today what a powerful picture this is.

The Results of the Blood

Nevertheless, when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.

This is the great news of the gospel.  Jesus sacrificed Himself for your sins and took all your punishment upon Himself!  This happened so that when it is time for judgement, God will do the same as he did in this picture story.  God’s judgement (the destroyer) will pass over you and you will not die. (eternally)

When your life is marked by the “blood of the lamb,” God’s judgement will never come upon you.  It will pass over you.  When Satan wants to drag your spirit to hell he will see that your spirit is reborn and the outer door of your heart is marked by the blood of Jesus.  He then has to pass over you.  He no longer has any claims on your life.  You have been purchased and delivered from his power by Jesus Christ.  Think about it, Jesus dying in our place is the best news there could ever be!

Remember, the Egyptians and the Israelites are the same, they are both members of this human race.  So what was the different between the children of the world (Egyptians) and the children of God (Israel)?  In reality nothing!  But whoever applied the blood to their doorway was spared.  I believe if an Egyptian heard this and did the same, in faith with the people of Israel, they would have received the same blessing from God.  The judgement would have passed over them too.

I believe this would have gone the other way also.  If an Israelite that night, decided this was foolish and did not apply the blood of the Lamb to the door post, he would have received the same judgement as the Egyptians did that night.

Romans 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
 
God does not have favorites.  God does not pick and choose who gets saved and who doesn’t.  Salvation is for whoever calls on His name.  God will save them from their sin.  No person, no matter what he has done, will ever have God reject them if they repent and give their lives to him.   Repent today and receive the forgiveness he gives at the cross.
 
You too can become like the Israelites after they partook of the Passover meal.  They walked right out of Egypt and became free people going to meet God at Mount Sinai.  In the same manner, you can repent, ask God into your life and walk out as a free and new person.  This is where they became God’s people and God promised them not an Egypt, but a “promise land” dipping with milk and honey.
 
So if you have never asked God to remove your sins, do so today.  It is a free gift and it is for the asking.  God will break the slave masters chains and deliver you to freedom.  At this point you may be asking what shall I do?
  1. Acknowledge you are a sinner, or if you are a religious person you may be trying to earn your way to heaven through traditions and the law.
  2. Repent (this simply means that your going one way and you notice you are going the wrong way! Turn  Around!  Your life is leading you straight to hell.  Turn around and move toward God.
  3. Realize you can not save yourself!  Only Jesus can save you and He already did 2000 years ago on the cross, He became that Lamb and shed his blood for you and I.
  4. Just like Israel, place (spiritually) the blood on the post of your heart.  You do this by accepting this free gift and giving your life to Jesus.  It simply is for the asking and God gives it.
  5. When you do this,  God’s judgement will pass over you because Jesus already received that punishment at the cross.  One final thing, this is not just a “get out of Hell free card”.  Going to Heaven and missing Hell is a great benefit of being passed over from God’s judgement, but there is so, so much more!
  6. John 17:3 (NKJV)  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  So what is eternal life?  We get to spend the rest of this life on earth and then the next in eternity getting to know God and Jesus Christ!  
So my friends do not live your life, Passed over.  Next weeks article is:
“What’s next?”  See what God has in store for those who leave Egypt.
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If you have any questions on salvations or this message. Feel free to write me at Dennis Stauffer@dsiministries.com.  I love to hear from you.

Written by Dennis Stauffer

Edited by Gary Green (Omega House)

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RETURNING TO FAITH: A STUDY OF DAVID AND GOLIATH PART V

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Returning to Faith

Have you ever heard the expression “blind faith”?  Well let me clarify,there is no such thing!  Faith is not blind but sees and hears.  Remember, faith is believing what God told you in His Word, His promises and His direction and guidance (both Rhema and Logos).  When we understand this, then we can begin to stand on them, just like Abraham.  God told Abraham he was going to have a son and that was enough and final for Abraham.  He had to wait 25 years, but each day he did not doubt nor question God’s Word.  Rather, to him, with each passing day he was getting closer to God fulfilling His promise.

David had also received a Word from God and he knew who he was before God.  He knew that the people of Israel had a protecting covenant (Logos) with God.  David also knew that this Philistine Giant, was not only an offense to God, but Goliath and his people had no covenant with God.  So David knew from scriptures (Logos) that God was with him, and not Goliath.

What shocked David was how the Army of Israel was so stuck in their boots (afraid) of Goliath and also how they allowed (Goliath) to speak of God in the way he did!  This caused a righteous and a holy anger to arise and burn in David.  David was now highly motivated.  

David had Faith and Experience with God

Learning to walk in faith builds experience and confidence in God, this is one thing I want to touch on here.  Faith is always bigger than you!!  I have heard it said; “If you can achieve it on your own, it is not from God.”  God loves to tell us to do what is far beyond us.  He loves to show us what we could not imagine or dream of.  Things that we could never achieve on our own.  Unfortunately, once again, most in the church will never know what this is or what is it like to go for the impossible.  That is why God makes the “impossible, possible.”   There is one catch, however!  You have to hear God and then move out of “your comfort zone”.  Faith is never comfortable nor is it for the faint at heart.  Remember God tells us to do what is far beyond our own abilities.  In this manner God will rightfully get the glory.  There is one more thing about this however, God will not give you something you can not accomplish.  If God tells you to do it with Him, you will succeed if you do not quit!

When David told Saul not to worry, he would kill the Giant, Saul almost fell over.  David was a young teenage boy, not big or strong, no combat experience to fight a seasoned veteran like the warrior Goliath.  So in the natural, to Saul, this was an impossible and suicidal mission for David.  The reason is because in “the natural” it was a suicide mission.  It was completely impossible for a young teenage boy with no weapons or training to beat a 9 foot tall homicidal monster, but David had a secret in his heart: 

34-37:  But David persisted.  “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said.  “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth.  If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death.  I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God!  The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”

Think about this!  I live in Colorado with mountain lions and bears, there is no way, even with my army training, I would fight a bear or a lion with a stick!  What is impossible for me was also impossible for David, but with his intimate relationship with God, David knew that God was always with him.  God showed him how to kill a lion, and how to kill a bear.  So now this giant was no different to him (preparation time).  In fact, Goliath was even less of a challenge for David than a lion or a bear.  They were only animals and they were not offensive to God, but Goliath, because of his words about the God of Israel, was only going to make this fight even easier in David’s mind.  This Giant declared war on God!

David had intimacy and experience with the most high God.  So for David, the Giant was the one who was in danger, not him.  David had spent enough time with God and had seen enough of God’s power at work in his own life to be totally confident.  Therefore, David had no doubt about the outcome of his fight with Goliath.  His experience with God showed him that and gave him his confidence.

Secondly, David knew above all that He could not die!   He had a God given destiny to be the King of Israel and rule over the land (Rhema Word).   So with the Logos (God’s covenant with Israel) and the Rhema (David would be king of Israel), he was confident in the Lord’s promises, he would win and would not die at the hand of Goliath. 

45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head.  And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

Faith without works is Dead- Book of James

48 As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. 49 Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. 51 Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.

Faith requires action!  Too many believers love to sit around and talk about faith like they would in a cheerleading rally.  They get all excited and fired up, but when the smoke clears they do nothing!  Faith is more then quoting some fine scriptures and acting all pumped up at a church service.  Faith takes work.  

David had faith, and lots of it, but he still had to go face to face with Goliath.  God did not take away the fight for David.  God did not strike Goliath with a lightning bolt as David looked on.  David had to “run quickly and confront his giant.”  Too many Christians sit around asking God to remove the giants or mountains in their lives, but at the same time refuse to do what God has told them to do! 

Just like David we need to understand our Covenant

So many of us today are like King Saul and his army.  They had the same covenant David has as an Israelite, but they did not know it.  This was caused either through ignorance or they were living in a condition of unbelief.  But either way look at the results, they lived 40 days in total fear.  In reality, at any time one of them could have done exactly what David did.  But rather, they lived in a state of unbelief.  Their unbelief not only came from bad teachings, but most of all from the fear generated through believing the devil’s lies.  

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

I would like to give you some simple theology, and believe me it is as simple as it can get!  If something is killing you or stealing from you or destroying your life!  It is Satan or your religion.  Sometimes it is not Satan, it your false religion or doctrines that goes against the very word of God.  Jesus called it;  Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 6-9
I have found in the original Greek, an interesting meaning for the word “kill” in this verse, which really fits today’s theology and many of today’s teachings on sickness.  This word denotes the idea of a religious sacrifice.   When you believe that the sickness or problems in your life, is from God or for the “glory of God.”  You are offering your health and life on the “religious alter”, and it will kill you.
 
The following  statement is from Rick Renner’s “Sparkling Gems’ devotional. Rick is a missionary and pastor in Russia and is a great teacher of the original Greek language:
Not only does the thief come to steal, but Jesus said that he also comes “to kill.”  At first glance, it appears that this means to kill, as to take someone’s life.  But the Greek word is thuo, which means to sacrifice. It originally referred to the sacrificial giving of animals on the altar. It could mean to sacrifice; to surrender; or to give up something that is precious and dear.  It was particularly used in a religious connotation to denote the sacrifice of animals, and it had nothing to do with killing in terms of murder.
 
An extreme idea of this is “muslim sucide bombers” who sacrifice their lives to kill others in the name of god.  But we have lesser degrees in Christianity.  However, in these examples we mainly hurt ourselves and our loved ones by sacrificing our health, our finances and security in the idea it is all God’s will, when it is the devil.
 
My point here is that Satan, thru modern day churches, teach or at least have people believing that sickness is from God to teach you something.  They use the erroneous “thorn of flesh” to say Paul was a sickly person, who suffered from a horrible eye disease.  Nowhere in Scripture is it mentioned that Paul had eye problems, that is except when he was blinded by the light from Jesus for three days during his trip to Damascus.  However, a couple of sentences later in the book ofActs, Jesus instructs Ananias to place his hands on Paul so Paul can regain his sight.
Paul was not sick or blind.  His “thorn in his flesh” was persecution that he continually faced everywhere he went.  The word infirmities used in the King James and New King James versions is not sickness!  In most translations it is “weakness”.   If you want to do a more in-depth study on this read about Paul’s infirmities in 2 Corinthians 11:22-33.  In this passage, Paul gives a list of all his infirmities.   Paul is ship wrecked, beaten, persecuted etc., and in this extensive list he never ever mentions being “SICK.   And then at the end of this list he says this:
verse 30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. (weakness)
When these thoughts and ideas are taken from the erroneous teachings of evangelicals and put in context we can then see what is considered to be Paul’s infirmities.  
Knowing my covenant when I say I am Saved or I recieved Salvation

I will finish up with this.  When you say I am saved or I have received salvation, you may not be aware of what you are really saying.  Remember the New Testament portion of the Bible was written in the original Greek language.  For most folks, when they use this terminology, what they are really saying is this; “I have been born-again and Jesus forgave all my sins and one day I will go to heaven” But the Greek gives you more to this: (Remember, I am not using my brand of theology here!  This is what the words “Saved” and “Salvation” means in the original language and what all is encompassed in your New Covenant as believers.)

sózó: to save
Short Definition: I save, heal
Definition: I save, heal, preserve, rescue.

sótéria: deliverance, salvation
Short Definition: deliverance, salvation
Definition: welfare, prosperity, deliverance, preservation, salvation, safety.

So in closing this series of (What Voice Do You Hear), I want to leave you with the Word of God and its original meaning.  Remember, King Saul and his army had the same covenant with God as David had.  However, they refused to believe and act on their covenant because of the erroneous voice they listened to.  It was there but left void because of their lack of faith and disbelief.  Therefore they suffered in fear and anxiety while David came along with the same covenant, acted in faith, used and believed it and killed Goliath. 

Today many are living like Saul and his army because of what some churches and preachers have taught them – that their sickness is from God!  That Jesus was poor and therefore you should be also!  That being broke glorifies God!  If we really sat down and thought about what we are saying, there would be no need for a theological debate. 

Think!  How does a child suffering from cancer glorify God?  A child or loved one dying draws someone closer when they think it was God who killed the loved one?  I don’t think so!

On prosperity, how does being broke and being a failure at all you do glorify God?  How does living in fear and anxiety of the world around you glorify God when God Himself says He is our strong tower, our mighty fortress?

 One of my favorite verses.

Psalm 103 v 3-Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul,
And do not forget any of His benefits;
 
He forgives all your sins,
He heals all your diseases;
He redeems your life from the pit,
He crowns you [lavishly] with lovingkindness and tender mercy;
He satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the [soaring] eagle.

Read this whole Psalm.  The one thing I want to point out in closing is in verse 3.  I believe that most believe Jesus forgave all theirs sins (past, present and future) and I believe that most (born again believers) agree on this, but finish verse 3 “who heals ALL YOUR DISEASES!   This is not charismatic theology this is the WORD OF GOD!

Written by Dennis Stauffer

Edited by Gary Green (Omega House)

If you enjoyed this and other blogs please “SHARE” on Facebook. It is such a great blessing to this ministry when you share our post.  Who knows it might get someone you been praying for saved or have them return to Christ. 

DSI Ministry is also available to speak at your Bible study or at your church.

Please contact us at dinostauffer@yahoo.com 

We are a donor supported.  If you like to make a donation. Go to our “Facebook” Page and see the “GO FUND ME” LIKE ON FACEBOOK  AT  DSI MINISTRIES/HANDS IN ACTION OR MY PERSONAL PAGE AT FACEBOOK@DENNIS STAUFFER.  THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS.