IMPURITIES DULL OUR WITNESS

What is in your heart?

David asked the Lord to examine his heart. Psalm 26:2 says, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart.” Zechariah 13:9 says, “...refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested...” The word refine refers to that melting process to remove impurities from precious metals.

Our faith is refined through fiery trials. Job 23:10 says, “He knows the way that I take, and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” The Amplified says, “...I shall come forth as refined gold (pure and luminous).”

Is your witness dull, tarnished, blocked, or does it express the character of Christ? Psalm 34:5 says that they looked to Him and were radiant. When He looks into the gold of your life, does He see His own reflection? We live in glass houses. Others are watching our lives unfold through our trials to see if what we say is lived. Is your messenger the same as your message?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego had their faith in God tested by fire. Their faith held, and the Lord revealed Himself to them in the midst of the fire. They were brought out of the fiery furnace and examined. Daniel 3:27 says, “...they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.” Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.”

The Wycliff manuscripts were the kindling for John Hus’ burning at the stake in 1415. Nero lit his gardens with human torches. In 1956 five men were killed by the Aucas, yet it opened the door for the salvation of that tribe. In 2014 twenty-one Egyptian Christians were beheaded. What will happen today? We don’t know what the future holds for us, but we do know Who holds our future. It is all about faith.

The early church was persecuted. In Acts 1:8 the words of Jesus are written. It says, “...and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the world.” As Stephen was being stoned to death he said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). Paul fulfilled the Lord’s word to Ananias, “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:16).

Here is a line from the old hymn ‘How Firm A Foundation’, “The flames shall not hurt thee; I only design thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”

God has a high purpose in our trials. Romans 5:3 Amplified says, “Moreover (let us also be full of joy now!) let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.” Our thanksgiving releases His joy gift within.

John 15:11 Amplified says, “I have told you these things that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.” His joy gift remains. Yet, our complaining, bitterness, unforgiveness, refusing to release unresolved issues, etc., suppress that witness of joy.

Isaiah 12:2-3 says, “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for Yah, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation. Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

John 7:38 Amplified says, “He who believes in Me (who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me) as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow (continuously) springs and rivers of living water.” What flows continuously from your inner being?

Matthew 12:34 says that out of the abundance of our heart our mouth speaks. Our thoughts control our brain, and our br(continued)

HIS WORD TRANSFORMS

His word is living. Jesus Christ is alive, seated at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever according to Hebrews 13:8.

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Nothing has changed. He is still the Word. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

We still behold His glory today. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.”

God’s Word is everlasting. Isaiah 55:11 says that His Word will never return to Him void. Jeremiah 1:12 says that He watches over His Word to perform it. Therefore the words we read in the Bible are the same yesterday, today, and forever. They are the truth that never changes from one generation to another.

Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” This was spoken to the children of Israel. The Lord is still working today in our lives through His spoken Word.

Hebrews 4:12 Amplified says, “For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power (making it active, operative, energizing, and effective); it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and (the immortal) spirit, and of joints and marrow (of the deepest parts of our nature), exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” The Word God speaks is living.

As we take His living Word into our hearts, our thought patterns are transformed. The word transformed is illustrated to us in the metamorphosis of the caterpillar to the butterfly. The caterpillar becomes liquid in the cocoon, and from that liquid He forms the butterfly. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Our old, destructive thought patterns are metamorphosed into inner truth that brings the radical change. Ephesians 4:23 Amplified says, “And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude).”

Meditating on God’s Word is His essential best. There is no other way to be free of the destructive strongholds that defy change. His Word, brought into our hearts through meditating in it, is the catalyst for that change.

It has nothing to do with will power, but everything to do with His power. The same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead, is in us to work that transformation. Ephesians 1:19-20 Amplified says, “And (so that you can know and understand) what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His (own) right hand in the heavenly (places).”

Take the area in your life that has stubbornly resisted change. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you verses that will be His demolition ball to destroy that stronghold. Then write or type them out. Every day meditatively read them several times a day. His living Word will penetrate your bone marrow. As each new red blood cell emerges, it will be impregnated with truth to be carried to every cell and tissue in your body.

The health of our bones determines the health of our body. Job 2 is where satan challenges God to destroy Job’s health. Job 2:5 says, “But stret(continued)

WATERMARKS OF LOVE

1 John 4:16 says, “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is LOVE, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” Jesus described this love in John 15:9. It says, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” This verse holds up His standard, and a perfect ruler to check our growth.

Unconditional means: wholehearted, unqualified, unreserved, unlimited, unrestricted, unquestioning; complete, entire, full, absolute, unequivocal. There is no ulterior motive or hidden agenda. 1 Corinthians 13:1 says that if we don’t have His love we will just be an irritating noise to those around us.

Romans 5:5 says that His love was poured out in our hearts at salvation. We have His love in our hearts. John 15:12 says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” There is the qualifier. We are to love AS we have been loved by Him. Impossible in our flesh, but He has equipped us to love through His love!

1 Peter 1:22 says, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.” Sincere means that we are void of pretense; no hypocrisy or speaking one way and acting another. Here are a few verses that show us how to obey His truth that will purify our love.

1 Peter 2:1 says, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.” Colossians 3:12-13 says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”

When we walk as Jesus walked, His love will be evident in our body language, words, and actions. We consciously let go of wrongs done to us, in order to maintain a right relationship.

WATERMARKS OF GRACE

Psalm 45:2 says, “You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever.” Luke 4:22 says, “So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth...” Gracious words.

Paul instructs us to speak with grace. Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” The Amplified uses the words pleasant and winsome. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

Do your words impart grace, or do they cause the hearer to back up in their spirit and withdraw? We are to walk in grace and in the power of His love.

Ecclesiastes 10:12 says, “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool shall swallow him up.” Proverbs 15:2 says, “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” Notice the contrast between the wise and the fool. Proverbs 25:15 Amplified says, “...soft speech breaks down the most bonelike resistance.”

Without love and grace, we are ineffective messengers. We have nothing of value to offer. Anything we do in the flesh has no profit (John 6:63). Think about the relationships in your life. Are there people you struggle with? Are there some that you avoid because of unresolved issues? Is there someone who constantly puts you down, and is never satisfied with the things that you do? Do you live in a negative environment?

Think of Jesus in His time of ministry. He was constantly set up by the religious rulers. They looke(continued)

WATERMARK: YIELDED TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

“Let us go to the house of the Potter, and see what he does with a lump. How He carefully and skillfully shapes each vessel for His purpose above” (Holy Spirit song). Jeremiah 18:3-4 says, “Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.”

Clay is dry and solid. It has to have water worked into it in order for it to be shaped. So it is with our lives. Strongholds that the enemy has been able to set up in our hearts cause hardness of heart. Hebrews 3:13 says, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

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You can see from the picture that clay needs much water to be pliable in the potter’s hands. It has to be malleable with no resistance. Do you have areas in your life that resist change? Maybe you have tried by the strength of your will to overcome a stronghold, but it stubbornly remains. God’s water of the word is the only way to permeate that hard surface. Ephesians 5:26 says of the church, “That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.”

Let’s take a stronghold of anger and see how working God’s word into this stronghold will bring change. There is a great verse in Proverbs 29:11. The Amplified says, “A (self-confident) fool utters all his anger, but a wise man holds it back and stills it.” When we take other verses about anger and write them down, they become our “working” paper. We speak these words out loud because faith comes by hearing the Word. As we speak them, targeted truth begins to penetrate and weaken the stronghold. Once it is weakened, it can be successfully torn down and destroyed.

Another stronghold may be fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” We must recognize that fear is an enemy tactic. This verse says that it is a spirit. Fear is a fiery dart. It is a convincing suggestion. It only gains ground if we dialogue with it. It has no power over us, unless we give it that power through our thoughts. God is love. 1 John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out fear. When we ingraft the strength words of His promises, fear has no ground to stand on. His promises are backed by His faithfulness. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” Titus 1:2 says that it is impossible for God to lie. As you speak verses that fortify you against the lies of the enemy, the stronghold of fear will weaken, then be defeated.

2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” God gave Jeremiah the sequence. First it must be rooted out, then the ground can be replanted. Jeremiah 1:10 says, “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.” As we are tearing down the enemy’s stronghold, we are building a new stronghold of truth with the same verses. His word is a double-edged sword. His penetrated word renews our mind.

James 1:21 says, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” Here are two key watermarks of an authentic follower of Christ. One is the spirit of meekness. The other is a meditator of God’s word. The two go together. Pride will resist the discipline of the ingrafting. Humility opens the way for the word to penetrate deeply through His grace.

It is all a work of grace. He is able to do far above what we can even ask or think because of His power that is working in us, AS(continued)

Inner Truth~The Effective Messenger

Notes for the message:

1 John 2:6 is our over arching verse for this class. It says, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” To walk as Jesus walked is absolutely impossible in our flesh. Therefore we have to remember John 15:5 which says that without Him we can do nothing.

An effective messenger stands in grace. Romans 5:1-2 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand...” We are saved by grace through faith. Our walk continues to be by grace through faith. Hebrews 11:6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith. Therefore faith, which comes by hearing the word is foundational, as well as grace which is bestowed on the humble.

Jesus did nothing on His own. John 5:19 says, “Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.’”

Anything we do apart from Him is futile. John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” That is our criteria for the words we are to speak. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” All words come from the heart. Matthew 12:34 says that our mouth speaks from the abundance of our heart. What are the thoughts of your heart about yourself?

Galatians 5:14-15 says, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” We cannot love our neighbor until we love ourselves. Ephesians 5:29 says, “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does His church.”

What we think about ourselves affects our health. Do your thoughts nourish you? Do they line up with God’s word about you? Let’s take Isaiah 43:4a which says, “Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you.” Is there a part of you that can’t believe that? Then that “part” has not been renewed through the truth of God’s word. It was ground you gave over to satan in your life. You are still believing the lie of the enemy which then became a stronghold. It is a house of wrong thinking that keeps you in bondage. You have not reinterpreted that experience through truth that abides forever. It is a stronghold that can only be torn down with God’s weapons. 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”

Psalm 19:7 says that God’s word is perfect and able to convert our mind, will, and emotions. Therefore, when we meditate on His word and take it into our heart, it brings transformation. The old thought pattern is made new, or renewed. Verse 10 says, “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

Do you desire His word? Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.” Later he tells how the word affected him on the inside. Jeremiah 20:9 says, “...His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.” Is the word so deeply embedded in your heart that you cannot help but ruminate over it? The word ruminate means: think about, contemplate, consider, meditate on, muse on, mull over, ponder on/over, deliberate about/on, chew(continued)