Passover and Pentecost 2020 were historic events when God brought his Church out of spiritual Egypt and into the Promised Land. Throughout the world the Holy Spirit is building a people called, the Body of Christ. They are Christians who are following the Lord, living the Christian life and being the salt of the earth.
In the last blog I shared how we begin our spiritual life as babes, laying the foundation character found in the “Sermon on the Mount”. From there we go on to maturity. In this blog I will share two truths which are essential so we can grow to maturity.
During lock-down, many Pastors found their Church foundation is weak. One mega Church had only 200 out of 3,000 people come back! During lock-down our home Church grew with 350 salvations, tithes and offerings also increased.
Like our founding Pastor, we are called to live by faith for our finances. We do not receive from the Church tithes, but by prayer and simple faith believe the Lord to provide. During covid-19 the good Lord continues to provide. It is in times of shaking we see the strength of our foundation. Truth is a key part of a solid foundation.
Jesus said, God wants people who will “worship the Father in spirit and truth” John 4:23. Jesus was saying he wants people who are born-again and have right doctrine. Many times Jesus warned the Apostles of the leaven of the Pharisees. He said, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump!” In other words Jesus is saying, a little wrong doctrine can affect our whole life.
Sometimes people say to me, different doctrines are not important to which I reply, “Yeh some Churches believe it is ok for Christians to be gay!” To that they reply, “Well apart from that”. Right doctrine is important and unless our foundation doctrine is correct, we will not grow as Christians. We will miss what God intends for us so be careful of the leaven.
Two foundation truths which are essential for this process are, repentance and faith. I am shocked so little is taught about the first foundation truth, repentance. Africans and Asians have no problem teaching this but I find very few Westerners who mention it. Rick Joyner, Derek Prince, Jennifer LeClaire and Paul Bevere are exceptions and teach repentance correctly. The hyper-grace people unfortunately, completely distort this truth to their destruction. In almost fifty years as Christians we can testify, most of people’s problems can be solved by applying repentance and faith to their problem, Hebrews 6:1.
What is repentance? In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus taught a very simple story, explaining in detail the four steps of repentance. First the prodigal son realised his sin, second confessed his sin to God and his father, third made a decision to change then fourth followed that decision with action and changed his behaviour, leaving the riotous life style and working for his father. The miracle of the new birth is, God gives us the grace to do this, Ephesians 4:20-32.
The second truth related to victory over sin and weaknesses is faith. We cannot overcome sin and weaknesses in our own strength. At the new birth God gave us the grace to put off sin and to put on Christ, i.e. change our behaviour. When we have faith that we can change, even believe we have changed, then the new life of Christ will grow inside us, Romans 6:11. Paul said, reckon or consider our old self dead to sin and our new man alive to God. The word reckon or consider means, “to take an inventory”. It is an accounting term used when the books balance, we can then put away the account books. Therefore we are guaranteed to overcome self and sin which weighs us down.
As we persevere in putting off self and putting on Christ, we will experience a miracle where God changes our heart. He will give us a heart of flesh which naturally does the right and good thing. In this way we are formed into the image of Christ. Many Christians have not been taught this truth so remain bound in their sin and problems. They continually struggle and live a life of failure. Rather than leading a victorious life as over-comers, they live in confusion and condemnation. Deliverance sometimes comes through prayer, worship and God’s sovereign move, but most times it is through putting off sin and putting on Christ.
Faith is also important in other areas in our life. Faith for our family to walk in God’s ways, faith for healing over sickness and faith for our nation to change. Begin by having faith for your own healing and victory over weaknesses, then for your family, your work and Church. As the Holy Spirit leads we can grow in faith until we have faith to change the nation.
So keep balanced, worshiping God in spirit and truth. I strongly recommend Derek Prince’s “Foundation Series”. He is well balanced and the fruit of his teaching is clearly evident in his life. Until next time keep pressing on in God. Keep taking the land of your heart and set your goal of Christ formed in you.
Your Christ followers
Love Tim & Faith
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