Please Pray – Heavenly Father, thank you for the time we spend together. I humble myself before you again O’ Lord for I know I am a sinner and by the precious blood you spilled for me you grant me forgiveness. Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice; Lord I ask that your message pierce my heart and quickens me to become more obedient to the Holy Spirit; allow me to hear your message and place it firmly in my heart. I submit to your word Lord God and ask that you speak to me through this letter and give me the wisdom to hear you. Burden me to be in accordance to your word and your will, in Christ Jesus’ name, Amen.
As a matter of fact, let’s get to know Dr. Luke, the author of the third gospel and the Book of Acts. Yes, “Doctor” Luke was, among other things, a physician but most notably a scientist and historian. He is the only gentile who wrote any of the books of the bible and is recognized as a great historian, with profound accuracy of the most important era in the history of the world. A devoted Christian and trusted companion to Apostle Paul. He was the first Christian apologist, (someone who defends a belief or cause), vigorously defending the Gospel of Christ. He was the only one of the authors to mention the circumcision of baby Jesus, probably because of his medical background. Paul would call him the “beloved physician” and he was considered in certain circles to be the most accurate historian at that time and his writings were truly believed to be inspired by God. Good stuff!
2John 1:6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
Godly Backslide
Hello to all and thank you for joining me in the quest to learn more of our Lord
God and how to strengthen our commitment to Him. We are getting larger by the week and it’s exciting to know people are still hungry for God’s word. It becomes an anticipation for me when doing my studies for the Holy Spirit to speak to me and make it a profound revelation on the message he wants to convey. For those who don’t know or haven’t realized this before, I’ve been through a battle that can and has taken me down the path to destruction and this has been done to countless believers as well, or at the least, led them astray. It is probably the number one reason most Christians have a hard time staying on the “narrow” path of righteousness (right standing with God). Remember in the previous messages we looked at walking the path being the key to entering the gate.
Matt 7:14.14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Keep this in mind as we move forward into this message. Most believers seem to overlook how God made us and how we function as humans from a spiritual perspective. We can all agree we did not evolve from primates but that God created us.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;
and from dust God created the perfect body. He then awakened that body giving it a soul and finally, from His nostrils, breathed life into him and giving him a spirit. From that moment on we became body, soul and spirit created by God, for God. As God being the trinity – God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so is man, body, soul and spirit. The body – paired with the material world through senses of sight, smell, hearing and touch, the body was created to relate to God’s creation. He gave man authority to rule over all the world.
Genesis 1:26 (cont.) and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
The soul – the mind, emotions and the will was birthed to enjoy His creations.
Genesis 2:9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.
The spirit – holds faith, hope, reverence, prayer and worship created to relate with God.
Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
I remember when the weather turned frigid cold and I’m sure we’ve all experienced a time when the weather was below freezing and the ground had frozen over. My driveway is sloped hard downward towards the street and one morning I went to the car and noticed the driveway was slippery. Standing next to the car I attempted to walk back up the driveway and found very quickly my footing wasn’t secure. Each step was determined cautiously uncertain and ever so slightly I could feel my foot began to slide back on the driveway. Every step became intentional with the feeling of slipping each time I moved. Of course, eventually I made it up the sloped driveway after running in place like a cartoon character. One afternoon, months later, sitting at the table this event was reminded to me while listening to a sermon and how this was an illustration of what could be our walk with God.
A “Godly backslide” simply means although we pray, believe and even attend church, we don’t spend the time necessary to receive His lessons, or praise him the way we did when we first were saved. All of us sometimes slip, I know I have, but not to where I felt condemned but more so to where I became focused, aware of my presence with Him and how I could hear Him but because of accountability I choose to not listen. It’s an impression of backsliding much like walking up a frozen driveway. Your footing is not secure enough to move safely forward and even though we know the consequences for falling we continue to walk on the icy ground with just enough effort to ease the conscience.
The results of Godly backsliding is where we are positioned to produce less fruit or having reduced fulfillment or a blurred purpose and/or becoming bored or losing interest and taking our relationship less seriously with Him. Godly backsliding is not just falling or slipping backwards, but it is also failing to go forward spiritually. There are only two ways to go if you are not moving forward in Christ then you are moving backwards. The terrible reality is that, if a believer does not stop backsliding, they could wind up without any faith at all.
Hebrew 6:6 it is impossible, I say, to keep bringing them back to a new repentance, for, to their own undoing, they are repeatedly crucifying the Son of God afresh and exposing Him to open shame.
Not to be melodramatic or to say there was any shattering experience, it just means our hearts are seeking God and He is watching us and quickening our hearts when He sees us starting to slip. Listen and He will tell you when you are starting to lose your footing. When He corrects us, it’s what He is dealing with each of us individually and He doesn’t inflict His judgment of others on us. God is not “nitpicky” – He’s adjusting us for the advancement of our own fruit. It has to do with where we are in the place He’s called us to become as a person and our accountability to what He’s called us to be, being, mature in the word. Not in human importance but where we are now spiritually. We are born with a dead spirit and it comes to life when we receive Jesus as our savior. Possibly you’ve heard this said before, “The soul has to die to itself”, and it does. What does that mean? Let me put it this way, when we become “born again” which the Spirit is brought to life within us, we have to allow the spirit time to grow as a newborn needs nourishment so does our spirit.
1 Corinthian 3:2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
Our soul being older and set in its own way will try to hold onto its place within us. We have to keep feeding our spirit with the word of God like a new born babe. When we stop feeding it or ignore the spirit the growth is stumped and the soul begins to posture itself into leading us, hence the frozen driveway.
Searching through multiple books and connecting with my resources I found a common thread. This common thread will keep us from slipping, falling and dying.
Ezekiel 20:11 I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live.
Leviticus 18:5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.
John 14:21 whoever has my commands and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Proverbs 19:16 whoever keeps commandments keeps their life, but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die.
John 8:51 I tell you the solemn truth, if anyone obeys my teaching, he will never see death.
Do you see the common thread in these verses? The secret to eternal life, total joy and the abundance of blessings are not a secret at all. God is not hiding the way or making our salvation a difficult journey, on the contrary, He loves us beyond measure and has laid it out for us very clearly how to please Him and even set it up where we would be able to reach His throne even as unclean as we will be when we stand before Him, thank you Jesus. The thread is Obedience. This is the key to pleasing our Father and receiving that which He wants to give us.
Deuteronomy 28:1 If you fully obey the Lord, your God, and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord, your God, will set you high above all the nations on earth.
Psalm 1:3 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither– whatever they do prospers.
Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem when He came across 10 lepers crying out to Him for healing.
Luke 17:12 when he saw them, he said, “Go, and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
Jesus told them to get up and tell the priests they have been healed. What is sometimes missed in this scripture is they were not healed until they got up and walked to tell the priest. It was their obedience that healed them, they did as Jesus told them. We just have to be obedient to our Father. Jesus is our friend for sure but He is our Master first and we are His servants. We must not forget our place and remember the shadow of the cross is stretched over us. Worship, praise and apply His word to your life. Set times to be one with Him. Be still and listen for Him. Bow your head in submission and dependency upon the Lord our God. Lift your head to praise and worship Him for He is worthy of our praise. Love Him with all your might and most of all, obey Him. Father, I thank you for this time you have given me to read your message and to send it out to those who will use it to better themselves in your way. I pray God, you will use this message to reach those who needed this word and let it minister to them as it did to me. Thank you Holy Spirit for guiding my hand, my mind and my heart to minister to those who are reading this message. Lord teach us to hear your voice and obey your word. We thank you Lord for blessing us with physical, emotional and spiritual healing. Father allow our spirits to grow in Christ and prepare us for the meat of your word, in Jesus name. Amen and Amen.
God willing, more to come….
