Go in and Possess the Land

The things that happened to natural Israel happened for our lessons of learning, our examples.  We are suppose to look at their adventures or misadventures and learn from them, spiritually speaking.  

All my "religious" life I was taught that to cross the muddy Jordan river and enter the Promise Land was to die and then go to heaven.  That is what the Promise Land meant.  No wonder with that mentality of false doctrine we are willing to stay in the "wilderness of religious worship" all our lives until we drop dead!

Israel was to go in and possess the Promise Land.  To go in and take it by force!  They were to kill all the inhabitants in war, all  men, women, and children.  Does that sound like heaven?  There were walled cities to be conquered.  Does that sound like heaven?  There were giants to be killed.  Does that sound like heaven?  They were to conquer, possess, and utterly destroy the inhabitants by war.  Does that sound like heaven to you?  

Seems to me we missed the whole purpose of the lesson of Israel leaving Egypt and inheriting the Promise Land.  We missed it so much that we have a "do nothing system" of padded pews and stained glass-preacher religion instead of the Spiritual Possession of the Promised Land of the Spirit-Led life.  

The Promise Land is the land within each of us that we are to utterly conquer, every giant, walled city and destruction of all the inhabitants.  (Bring every thought to captivity)   We are to live in the Spirit-Led life without compromise to it's inhabitants.  We are to take the land within ourselves so that our King Yeshua can rule on the throne of our hearts.  

Instead, by our misunderstanding of the Promise Land we have grown rich, increased with goods and in need of nothing.  We have become the Lukewarm Church of the 7th and last Church Age.  

The Word describes it this way.  Ever learning but never arriving to the truth.  We "church" all our lives without the simple understanding the difference between the Moses/Pastor of going to church (Wilderness Christians)  and the Promised Land of the Spirit Led life being the real church.  Sad day! 

What can you do?  Allow the Lord to open the eyes of your understanding to know "churching" is not the be all end all of Christian living!  Sitting on a padded pew and filling up the offering bucket and dancing around the golden calf of our "religious" system, Spiritual Babylon, was not what Jesus had in mind as he hung on the cross.

The Spirit-led life is your responsibility.  Moses/pastor cannot take you in to possess the land.  You must have another leader, Joshua/Jesus to take you in!  Personal responsibility not "churchanity". 

Be blessed, Billy and Jan 

Source of Life

Water is a curious thing.  Without it we could live only 3 or so days.  Our lives are totally and completely centered around water.  Of course we think little about its necessity because we only have to turn on a tap and presto, we have water.  

Imagine with me for a minute if there were no water flowing from the tap.  If it required us hunting and searching for good water.  Or having to take bad water and purify it for drinking so we could live.  How drastically out lives would change.  No water no life.  No water no health.  No water no cleanliness.  No water would completely turn our lives upside down.  Without water we would have a bad day!

The central theme of all life as we know it is water, even spiritual life!  "If you knew who I was, you would ask and I would give, living water".  You see there is water to sustain life, which we drink naturally every day.  But then there is also a water that gives Life.  

There are billions in the world who drink to sustain their lives but who do not have the Living Water that gives true Life.  They have not been made to drink of that One Spirit that gives Life.

There are those that would like to explain all mankind to being saved, and to negate the possibility of anyone any where, Christian or not, of being lost.  But without this Living Water they do not have Everlasting Life.  

I will say it like Paul did without long dissertations:  If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.   Jesus told the woman at the well to ask for water from Him.  If she was saved without drinking of His Water then He sure wasted His breathe.  

Be blessed, Billy and Jan 

Evening and Morning were the 1st day

Have you ever wondered why God starts His day with evening?  Sunset one day till sunset the next is one day.  Wonder why?

Not that I know God's mind in this matter, yet I might bring several things to "light" (pun intended).

It all started in darkness of eternity.  So in the beginning was darkness and then He spoke and there was light.  Darkness #1 gives way to Light #2 and so the progression begins.  You  have to start counting somewhere and the progression is darkness to light. 

We start in the darkness of the womb.  At the time of birth we see light, but the beginning was not light but darkness then light.  

In our spiritual understanding we start in total darkness.  Something is put inside of us to cause us to be self-aware and seeking for a reason for our existence but we are in total spiritual darkness.  Then the Light of salvation shines into our heart.  Then He brings us out  of darkness into His marvelous Light.

We close our eyes in sleep and wake to the morning.  From darkness to light.

Finally we close our eyes in death, the darkness of all darkness and awake to the resurrection of the dead to a day  without end.  

Weeping endures for the night but joy comes in the morning. 

Evening and Morning were the 1st day.

be blessed, Billy and Jan   

Jesus didn't fit the mold

Luke 7:31"To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32"They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.' 33"For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'…

John was the square peg that would not fix into the round hole of the religious.  His edges were too sharp.  He just didn't fix in.  He asked the religious: Who warned you to come?  He told the King you can't have your brother's wife!

We like everything easy.  We are a spoiled generation.  The Word said we are the "Lukewarms".  No sharp edged for us.  Give us a "smooth message", preacher.  Dont disturb my spiritual slumber.  Knock it off with those sharp edges and get with our program.  

I once heard an old saying that has stuck with me for a long time:  Determine which way the crowd is going and go the opposite direction.  I have often used that in life's decisions.  

We are to not be men pleasers.  The Word says we are to be salty.  We have a distinct flavor about us that keeps flesh from rotting.  If we have lost our saltiness we are good for nothing but to be thrown out.

The Word says we are to be lights that cannot be hid.  And the purpose of light is to show men their evil deeds.  Everything that does make manifest is light.  Because men's deeds are evil they hate the light.  We have become a square peg with sharp edges to them.

The Word say beware if all men speak good about you.  See the crowd and go the other way.  This word from Paul pretty much sums up on one sentence what I have been trying to say all morning!

"Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant." 
- Galatians 1:10 NLT

Be blessed, Billy and Jan

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Let's see if I have this right?

Paul rebuked the Church for their divisions, so we have denominations.

Jesus said no lording over the people of God, so we have Popes, Bishops, Pastors.

Jesus said we need not go to Jerusalem nor the mountains in order to worship, so we teach we must go to the church building to worship.

God said He does not live in houses made with hands, so we build it and  call it God's House.

Paul said he that is dead is freed from the Law, so we pay tithes under a hybrid NT Law  (part old part new) .

Jesus said go and sin no more, so we go and sin some more!

Paul said to remember the poor, and we build crystal cathedrals.

Paul said if they only have a "form of godliness"  turn away, so we ordain homosexuals.

Jesus said to buy of Him gold tried, eye salve, and white apparel,  so we buy radio and TV time, Lear Jets, mansions, lands, buildings padded pews, stained glass.

Paul said some think gain is godly, so we call it the "prosperity gospel" of "name it and claim it", pay to get, give to get, etc. 

Jesus said: Will you make My Father's House a market place?, so we sell, books, tapes, CD, DVD, Cassettes and lunches.

Paul said I have worked with my own hands to provide for my own needs and of those that are with me.  We fleece the sheep.

Jesus said, He that believes and baptized shall be saved, so we say he that believes "exactly like we do" shall be saved.

Which of us has it exactly right?  Not one, no not one!  Why then do we insist people believe the exact doctrine/dogma of our denomination to be saved?  In many ways we ourselves are in complete error when compared to the Word of God.  (see above in case you forgot)

Now we have become the blind guides! 

Be blessed, Billy and Jan