When my brother was little he had these little green army men that he played with. Do you remember those? They were plastic, permanently fixed in one position. There infantry, grenadeirs, those with bayonettes, some were crawling on the ground, some were kneeling, and many others. And most of the time those tiny little platforms they were on were not straight so the little toy soldier would be leaning slightly one way or the other. My brother also found they could not stand up on carpet. Hard surfaces, such as linoleum floors, were ideal for the toys to stand on. He had no real knowledge of battle tactics. He was just a young child. He had a very vivid imagination when he was younger, but it didn't really matter how vivid his imagination was. His soldiers were still toys. They were still fixed in one position and no real threat to anyone.
What does that have to do with anything, you may ask. If we continue to be babies in Christ, as we see happening in my post Grow Up, then we will end up with an army of Toy Soldiers, ineffectual for battle, and unable to stand or fight on their own.
Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (21) make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
How do we become complete in every good work? First, we have to understand that all scripture is the inspired word of God.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We do not get to pick and choose what we want to believe. We do get to pick and choose what part of the word we think applies to us. What happens when we do this is we become unbalanced in our spiritual growth, incomplete, and not equipped for every good work.
So, what things are pleasing in His sight?
What does that have to do with anything, you may ask. If we continue to be babies in Christ, as we see happening in my post Grow Up, then we will end up with an army of Toy Soldiers, ineffectual for battle, and unable to stand or fight on their own.
Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (21) make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
How do we become complete in every good work? First, we have to understand that all scripture is the inspired word of God.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We do not get to pick and choose what we want to believe. We do get to pick and choose what part of the word we think applies to us. What happens when we do this is we become unbalanced in our spiritual growth, incomplete, and not equipped for every good work.
So, what things are pleasing in His sight?
1 John 3:16-22 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (17) But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his Heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (18) My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (19) And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. (20) For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. (21) Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. (22) And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
Now, let's break that set of scriptures down:
Now, let's break that set of scriptures down:
- We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
- Withholding our worldly goods from those in need does not allow the love of God abide in us.
- We are to love in deed and in truth. (Actions speak louder than words)
- If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God.
- We keep His commandments.
We are back to a heart condition. Do you see how it all continues to circle around to our hearts? We get placed into a mold through our denominational churches. We are taught some cotton candy concepts....light and fluffy, everyone likes to hear them, and it makes us feel good...but doesn't allow growth within us of the things that are pleasing in His sight. We have to remember, the denominational church system is a man made system. Jesus did not send the disciples to the ends of the earth to create division within His body. Man did that because he could not stomach 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The inspired word of God was given for "reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Man did not want face reproof, correction or instruction, so he began to separate the word of God and conform it to his own ways. Leaving out much of the most important aspects of the Word. For example:
Church teaches, "the truth shall set you free" From John 8:32. But...look at this:
John 8:31-32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. (32) And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Verse 31 is an important verse that cannot be left out. We have to abide in His Word AND THEN we shall know the truth. And how can we forget:
"I am the Way, the Truth, the life." Oh so true! BUT, here it is in context:
John 14:5-7 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" (6) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (7) "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."
Even after Jesus told Thomas that now, seeing Jesus he knows the Father and has seen the Father, Phillip said,
John 14:8-12 (8) Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."
Was Philip having a faith crisis? It is almost like Philip was telling the King of Kings that His word just wasn't good enough. Philip wanted Jesus to show them the Father and then said that seeing the Father would be enough for them...He spoke for the group not just himself. I wonder how the other disciples felt with Philip speaking on their behalf?
Now, look at this:
"to Him who is able to do exceedling, abundantly above all we ask.." This is used often as a prosperity and success message, but is that what this means? Look at it in context:
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, (21) to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
To me, when you read this in context, this is a closing to a letter. This is not saying God will, this is an exaltation to the God who can...and then saying to Him be all the glory! BUT, if you want to use it in prosperity or faith messaging, then you cannot leave out the key phrase in the scripture "according to the power that works in us." Do not expect blessings above , beyond or exceeding if the power that works in you is not the power of the One who Raised Christ from the dead. Do you know which spirit works within you? Pulling scripture out of context so it says what we want it to say so we feel better is a dangerous practice.
Ephesians 4:11-14 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, (13) till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (14) that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
We, the Body of Christ, is to unify in the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God and to the measure of the fullness of Christ. Why? So that we should no longer be children.. Children are tossed to and fro like the wind because they have short attention spans. Christians that choose to remain spoon fed on soft feel good words are the same...they succumb to the trickery of men and the "craftiness of deceitful plotting."
Please let me say this: I do not for one second believe that every pastor that steps behind the pulpit in a denominational church is seeking to trick or deceitfully plot against his congregation. I know there are some that are wolves in sheep's clothing, because the Word of God says there is. But overall and for the most part I do not believe these pastors have the intent of misleading the people placed in their care. I do believe that regardless of the pastors' intent, the people will still succumb to the spirit that is behind the trickery and deceitful message from the gospel they are delivering.
Please be wise as serpents and gentle as doves as you walk through this world of ours. Test the spirits and ensure the one you are listening to is the Holy Spirit of God and no other.
Join the discussion on Facebook.
