The Living Goodness of God - David Mitts

⁴Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4 (NKJV))

We are created for a treasure; the treasure is called the goodness of God. 

²¹“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21 (NKJV))

It is this treasure, which makes our lives transform from the lower life into the realms of being truly human and truly alive.  Yeshua spoke of this transformation in terms of losing our lower life in order to receive eternal life.

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²⁵“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25 (NKJV))

Earthly life: outer form, hole inside.versus

God’s goodness:different form and complete.

The power of eternal life, is a treasure given from heaven called the “Goodness” of God.  It is a powerful magnet that draws us to Him.  It is true food and true drink for our eternal spirit.

³¹In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” ³²But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” ³³Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” ³⁴Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. (John 4:31-34 (NKJV))

We are created to eat and drink of His goodness!!  His goodness is the tangible stuff of the Kingdom of Heaven.  It is NOT of this earth and cannot be manufactured in this dimension.  It is the stuff of eternity, the true reality.

It was manifested to the Children of Israel in the desert as manna.  Even though manna was NOT the goodness itself, listen to results it produced:

³“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. ⁴“Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. (Deuteronomy 8:3-4 (NKJV))

Manna which is connected to the Word of God kept Israel from disease and clothing wearing out.  This is a picture of eternal life coming from the goodness of God.  Gods goodness transforms our reality from one bound to this physical realm, with its food sources that bring, at best, limited benefits, to eternal life sources which make our being resonate.

When we learn to receive His Goodness, we bring a reality to our lives that is of His realm , thoughts and feelings that are His realm.

The Scriptures speak of this as the mind of Christ.

[14] But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. [15] But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. [16] For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NASB)

This means we know things and feel things that are spiritually available to us. Like what? Marriage covenant.  Caring for the sanctity of our body.  Emotional purity. Compassion for the lost. Healing for the sick. Faith.

Turn with me now to Psalm 107:

¹ Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever. (Psalms 107:1 (NKJV))

The actual Hebrew says “Give a hand to Yahweh, out of eternity is chesed, loving-kindness. 

Chesed: This word is translated as mercy of loving-kindness.  The Hebrew word is made up of 3 letters, the Chet, the samech, and the dalet.  Dalet means door, Samech is the picture of a circle, signifying eternity and chet is the word picture for a gate, or a hedge around something, like a pen or a shepherd’s protected area.  So, chesed is that which opens the door into eternity providing a shelter or an enclosure of safety.  Now, why is this mercy??  Mercy implies something undeserved. In our word of cause and effect, we feel unworthy of love.  We know that we have been selfish and have acted as we saw fit often without thinking of others.  We are starving for another reality that is NOT of our origin.  This is chesed.  God’s goodness wants to draw us to an eternal source of kindness, of mercy that transforms us in how we think and feel. Let’s continue in Psalm 107:2-7

²Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,

Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

³And gathered out of the lands,

From the east and from the west,

From the north and from the south.

⁴They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way;

They found no city to dwell in.

⁵Hungry and thirsty,

Their soul fainted in them.

⁶Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

And He delivered them out of their distresses.

⁷And He led them forth by the right way,

That they might go to a city for a dwelling place. (Psalms 107:2-7 (NKJV))

The redeemed are those who have said “YES” to His invitation to trust Him.  That is redemption!  He takes us when we feel like lost wanderers hungry to find a sense of home.  He gives us a reason for living, a “right way” and brings us to a destiny.

⁸Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

⁹For He satisfies the longing soul,

And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

¹⁰Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,

Bound in affliction and irons—

¹¹Because they rebelled against the words of God,

And despised the counsel of the Most High,

¹²Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;

They fell down, and there was none to help.

¹³Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

And He saved them out of their distresses.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,

And broke their chains in pieces.

¹⁵Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

¹⁶For He has broken the gates of bronze,

And cut the bars of iron in two.

¹⁷Fools, because of their transgression,

And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

¹⁸Their soul abhorred all manner of food,

And they drew near to the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

And He saved them out of their distresses. (Psalms 107:8-19 (NKJV))

Do you hear the cry of the Psalmist?  If we will cry out in our trouble, He will release from eternity, goodness.  We have only to trust Him!!

The Psalm continues but I want to step out of it for a minute and ask a question:  Have we traded true food and drink for junk food?  What happens when we satisfy our hunger or thirst with junk food?  It takes away our appetite for a little while but then what?? We feel empty because.. you can never get enough of what you don’t really need.

God’s goodness is here today.  He wants us to taste and see that He is good.

⁸Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! (Psalms 34:8 (NKJV))

If we open our heart and trust Him, He will release blessing into our lives, the blessing of true goodness that makes all of our life special and alive with love.

Revelation of Abba's Love - Charles D Harris

8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. [1Jo 4:8 NASB]

Is it safe to say that not having a deep down inner confidence that our creator loves us, created us unique, wonderfully,  rejoices over us, etc that it causes us to feel unsettled in our hearts.  “Who am I?” and “Why am I hear?” are 2 simple questions that plague the heart of man from the womb of our mother until our dying day. 

Think for a moment when you felt a sense of “knowing” about yourself concerning anything.  Maybe you discovered you have a gift to teach, an ability to listen, a business mind, a tender love for children.  As you discovered and explored deeper those areas you gained more and more confidence.  Some of you may have pursued careers or dreams with that revelation thus gaining more confidence about Who you think you are. However in those pursuits you probably hit a wall, still not having that deep seated rest of “knowing” who you are? Or why you’re here.

How many would like to be settled in your heart those questions… Know Who I am and Why I’m here in your heart?

There is a longing of the heart to have those questions answer for us to be settled.

The scripture says “the one who does not love does not know God”.  The Hebrew word “know” is yada intimacy, oneness.

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Last week David spoke of the Living free of fear : The Reality of Abba’s Love - David Mitts the revelation of God as Father coming into the earth through

Avram became Avraham. Look with me at Gen 17:3-7:

“Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. (Gen 17:3-7).

What we need to realize is that Abba is establishing something here.  He is making a covenant with a man who is to be a Father.  He is not just a father to his seed, his descendants, but a father to the nations, the gentiles.  This means that Abraham brings the anointing of Fathering.”

Let’s look at Hebrew to get a picture of the father.

Av in Hebrew means Father אָב

Our scripture says “God is Love”, the Hebrew word for love is Ahav אָהַב

The Hey in the middle is “revealing” the heart of the father

Let’s take a moment and “yada” the Hebrew word to know intimately He IS love rather than He DOES love.  Many people are trying to perform to get God to love them not “knowing” HE IS LOVE and in HIS love he gives.

16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.[Jhn 3:16-17 NASB] 

The absence of this revelation brings about a “longing” for the father’s love which the soul and the flesh provides substitute or “other god’s. The Hebrew word Avah אָוָה

As David spoke last week the greatest thing for Jesus to hear was “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased." To hear the voice of the father affirmation…satisfies the longing of the heart.

The greatest commandment according to Yeshua is the Hear the father’s voice

29 Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'[Mar 12:29-30 NASB]

The revelation of his love and acceptance of us cast all fear away.  There is nothing for it to cling to because my heart is at peace.

8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ... 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. [1Jo 4:8, 16-17 NASB]

In Hebrews the author speaks of a rest for the people of God.  That rest I believe is a “knowing”

7 He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS." ... 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. [Heb 4:7, 9-11 NASB]

Once I have revelation of the father and my place with him.  I become “one” with him as Yeshua prayed in John 17, we would be, thus bringing me in “under the shadow of his wings” (covenant term of protection outlined in Psalm 91)

I spoke of “Giants in our land” the last few weeks.  It is the land of our inheritance as part of covenant.  It is where our rest resides.

• Hitite – terror
• Girgashite – flesh, religion 
• Amorite – “free speech” (loose lips)
• Canaanite – dehumanizing , dishonor, Asherah (sexuality) and Molech (child sacrifice) 
• Jebusite – threshing place – lord over, rule through fear and intimidation (heaviness)
• Perrizite - unwalled, unprotected (thieving)
• Hivite - deception 

We can see evidence of these spirits alive and operating all around and in us bringing fear and unsettlement.  We can find ourselves like all of Israel when David went to bring lunch to his brothers during a standoff between Israel and the Philistines.

[1Sa 17:18, 22-26 NASB] 18 "Bring also these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, and look into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back news of them. ... 22 Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them. 24 When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid. 25 The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel." 26 Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?"

See David was settled in who he was in the covenant

As the word of God searches our hearts he is delivering the giants into our hands to destroy through revelation of his love and truth in that area where we can come out of agreement with the lies of the giants and true of his word bringing us into rest.

12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. [Heb 4:12-16 NASB]

As we encounter life’s trials and circumstances we must cry out to the father for that sense of rest again.

 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" [Rom 8:15 NASB]

Yeshua did this as he was facing the cross

36 And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will." [Mar 14:36 NASB]

Your mission: Realize you are a Son!

 6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" [Gal 4:6 NASB]

Restoring Childlikeness - Charles D Harris

For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. Mat 18:11 KJV

Jesus is speaking to his disciples about restoration of an attribute of the people which was necessary for them to be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. So, what was this attribute?   Childlikeness

Many has taken the passage of Matthew 18 as a way to force people into conformity or be ostracized, however Jesus uses the illustration of a child to explain how to function in the kingdom of heaven and how he came to restore that child like faith to His people.  

Luke 15 also deals with lost items.  Lost sheep, lost coin and prodigal son are shared as a parable by Jesus for Pharisees, disciples and others to understand that the Father loves and values all people and His will is that none perish.  

Offence plays a major role in people being lost. Either we get offended and isolate or we are causing offence.  Jesus came to restore us back to childlike trust in the father.  He has provided a means for us to come back to oneness and accountability.  Praise God!

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Living into Our Destiny-II - David Mitts

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue (abide) in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:31-32)

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE." But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. "And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. "But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.' "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

(Luke 10:25-37)

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In order to live as a disciple of the Lord, we have to abide in His Word.  His Word is His truth.  It becomes a house that we live inside of.

Our heart is where the beliefs exist that shape our lives.  What we believe to be true in our hearts is where act out of.

But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Rom 10:8-10).

Our salvation is based on a belief transformation in our hearts.  We are justified before God on the basis of heart-belief.  This is NOT the same as our minds agreeing with the Word.  No, there is a totally different process that occurs in the heart.  We can be convinced in our minds of a truth and still not embrace it in our heart.

"'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; (Mat 15:8).

Repentance is not a mind change but a heart transformation, an actual change of belief. 

1. Shame entered into mankind because of a heart-believed lie.

“Genesis 3:5 - “God knows that in the day you eat of it – eyes opened – be like God”.

· Adam believed lies: God is not good; God can’t be trusted to meet my needs; I must act on my own behalf to establish my own identity!”

“· When Adam sinned – guilt, shame, fear, ‘hiding’ all entered.

· Adam experienced: 1) Loss of identity (mask) 2) Loss of intimacy”

2. God’s Provision for Shame:

a) In the Garden – Skins.

· Genesis 3:21 - “Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them”.

· God demonstrated His kindness and goodness to Adam.

1. Innocent animal slain by God.
2. Skins to cover were provided by God.
3. Adam had to remove his own covering.
4. Adam had to receive and put on God’s covering.”

b) At the Atonement on the execution stake, the cross – Righteousness.

and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

(Php 3:9)

· Matthew 27:50-54 - “God accepted Jesus as the offering for sin”.

And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. And at once the curtain of the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep in death were raised [to life]; And coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those who were with him keeping watch over Jesus observed the earthquake and all that was happening, they were terribly frightened and filled with awe, and said, Truly this was God's Son! (Mat 27:50-54)

Significance:

(1) Veil of the temple rent – All may have access to God. Hebrews 4:16

(2) Earth shook, rocks split - The devil’s power over creation broken.

· Earth = the entire earth, all of the land, entire creation shook in violent response to the shedding of the Savior’s Blood.

· Shook = to agitate, tremble, come in cosmic disturbance, throw into tremor.

· Rocks split = to divide, rend, tear, split apart.

· A power confrontation in the spirit realm – Colossians 2:14-15 - cause of the devil to loose his hold on creation. “having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through The cross. (Col 2:14-15)

(3) Bodies arose from the dead - Jesus offering accepted, consequence of sin overcome.

· Romans 3:21-26:

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Rom 3:21-26)

God’s provision for Shame is to clothe us with righteousness and put His Spirit (His Glory) back within us.

Now, knowing this in your mind will not probably erase shame because it lives in our heart.  No.  We need a different kind of “knowing” this truth for us to become free of shame.  This kind of knowing is called: “Yada” knowing. This is an intimacy birthed out of transparency.  There is a dropping of our own covering and exposing our heart to the truth, knowing that we will lose something in the process.  As much as we want to be free of shame and its bondages, there is a fear that is generated along with it that makes us hesitate even at the gate of liberty!!  This hesitation factor is the sign that shame has infected our heart.  We are so afraid to fail that we hesitate even at the opportunity for freedom.

David knew this torment of heart.  Most of the Psalms display the conflict between the voice of shame and its lies which perpetuates iniquity from generation to generation, corrupting the image of God, His Glory and the breakthroughs of truth and light that bring us into our true identity.  In the psalms this is laid out.  Like Genesis, Chapter 1 is more than the first chapter.  Psalms 1 is actually the key to the whole revelation. Let’s look at it:

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. (Psalms 1:1-3).

At first this looks like a question of what people we listen to.  But the thing to notice is there are voices, wicked voices who counsel or direct a person.  These are the lies of the enemy and are designed to produce shame and drive us off course in our lives into paths that are of sin.  Sin, or chet means to miss the target.  Sin is a measurement of being off base.  It means that a voice has deceived us into a heart-belief that is causing us to be inauthentic, to be less than ourselves, to wear a fig leaf, a deception to cover our shame.  The seat of scoffers is the authority of satan.  When we sit in his seat, we are driving his vehicle.  We have yielded to his paths and his methods.  This is what Yeshua described when He said:

"But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. "These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." (Mat 15:18-20).

Now, returning to Psalm 1, the solution is to delight ourselves in the Torah of God, or Word of God.  Delighting is a receiving of pleasure from the Word.  The key to this is meditation.  The Hebrew word for meditation is “hagah” which means to ponder, or murmur something over and over, or even to sing it softly.  Included in this an intense focus on the object of meditation.

Meditation begins with receiving a Godly truth into our mind.  Then begins the process of transferring or embedding the truth into our heart.  This is a little trickier and requires some work on our part and the grace of God, which he releases into our humility. 

John 6:63 (NASB)

[63] “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

The pattern is given to us in Deuteronomy 6:4-6

"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. (Deu 6:4-6)

This is meditation explained:

1.    Hear the Word of the Lord as the Words of our God, who alone is God.

2.    Love the Lord, become one with the Word of the Lord.

3.    Then the Words are “on our hearts”.

Now some key truths which when embedded onto our hearts with transform our relationship to shame and thus to God and our fellow man:

“i) God loves me - “I am loved!”

· 1 John 4:7-10

· The major remedy for shame is to know the love of the Father.

· God loves you passionately and desires connection with you.

ii) God has made me righteous in Christ - “I am accepted!”

· Ephesians 1:3-6

· Because of what Christ did I am totally accepted.

· Acceptance becomes reality as I trust and lean on truth.

iii) God is good and can be trusted - “I am a child of God!”

· Exodus 33:6

· Romans 8:15-17

iv) God has made me a unique ambassador - “I am an ambassador of Christ!”

· 2 Corinthians 5:17,20

· Shame causes us to focus on self.

· Now – new focus = God – representing Him, serving people.”

OK Let’s practice the first one, God loves me.  Receive this truth first as a hearing.  Hearing, opening our ears to the truth begins the process of embedding, of faith.  Now, let’s open the eys of our heart to the truth.  Ephesians 1:18  tells us: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,.  The eyes of our heart is our imagination sanctified by opening up to the Lord.  This is the “love” piece.  The object of our imaginations is our love object.   So, now close your eyes and imagine Yeshua looking at you with eyes of love.  feel His Presence and drink of how special you are to Him,  This is living water that flows from Him.  As you open up more and more to His flow you become more and more unashamed, accepted as His Beloved.  Allow His Word, He who is the Word to love your heart.

Practice His Presence this way each day.

 Printable Meditations to Eliminate Shame

This weeks offering teaching: Living in the "Grace of Giving" 

One New Man ministry is committed to causes of healing the sick, setting the captives free, binding up the broken hearted and bringing the good news of the Kingdom of God. Please partner with us.

 

You generous donations are appreciated.

For additional study about abiding in His love in the times we live in, obtain and read the book "Love versus Law, or BOTH!" by David Mitts.

Restorative Prayer of Agreement - Charles D. Harris

" Therefore,confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." James 5:16 NASB

As believers we must remember the power we have to bring forth the Kingdom of God into the earth when we come into agreement with what He has already finished.  Our righteousness is credited through faith in God and his Word not our own "self" righteousness through dead works.

Also, when we come together in unity of purpose according to His will nothing shall be impossible.

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Testimony of Prayer of Faith
God I'm not taking any dead boys home testimony

Training the Heart- It’s all about the Glory - David Mitts

So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? (Galatians 3:5)

We are living in the day of miracles!  We however need to learn how to train our heart to experience the miracles.  The above verse teaches us that miracles occur by the “hearing of faith”.  How does our faith hear?

Well we quote back, So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

(Romans 10:17)

The question becomes, how do we hear the Word of Christ or the Word of Messiah?  You see we have made assumptions when we read or hear the Scriptures.  What we rarely do is test our assumptions.

Charles shared last week about the desert of testing.  In the desert, the Lord gets our attention to humble us and teach us how to hear His voice:

"All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers. "You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:1-3)

The Lord will do whatever is necessary to bring about humility and repentance, so we may fulfill our destiny, walking into our inheritance.  In the dessert, He taught Israel through hunger and through heavenly provision in the form of manna to develop an intimacy with His Spirit.  Hunger tunes our spiritual senses to the flavor of provision.  Fasting is about, at least in part an increase of our sensitivity to God and His Presence or Glory.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

(Matthew 5:6)

What are we filled with when we thirst and hunger after righteousness?  With Him who is our righteousness.

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, (1 Corinthians 1:30)

So the hunger and thirst is ALL about Him and His Glory!  Now why is this important?  BECAUSE WITHOUT HIS GLORY, HIS MANIFEST PRESENCE, we will have a form of godliness without the power!  This is the seduction of religion in the last days!

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

We need the reality of His Glory for our faith to be effective.  In order for our “faith” to be effective, we need Him in our faith!  Faith comes by hearing but hearing comes through Him!  This is why Yeshua emphasized that hearing determines everything.  Hearing, sh’ma is everything!  We need to know when He is in the camp, listen and act!

Turn with me to Mark 4:14:

"The sower sows the word. "These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. "In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. "And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." And He was saying to them, "A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? "For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." And He was saying to them, "Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. (Mark 4:14-24)

This is a teaching on relationship, on hearing.  Our hearts need to know His voice by His Presence.  He takes into dessert places in our lives, so we will be hungry and thirsty for His Presence.  We, like Israel are addicted to garlic and leeks.  Our appetite is adjusted to the flavors of the world.  We crave what we have been eating.  Our addictions come from our experiences.  God is bringing us to a place of new hunger and new thirst!  For Him!  He is the true food and the true drink that we need, but as long as we are eating the junk food of the world we will live in the junk food results!  Religion without power.  We need to fast and pray for His taste to become our desire!

God has already built hunger into our being.  There is nothing wring with hunger or thirst or any desire He created us with.  The problem is when we try to fulfill our desire with tastes from this world.  When we draw neat to Him, then His Glory fills our being and we taste of His goodness.  In this place, we come into oneness with Him and His Glory is manifested.

Yeshua was always meeting the desires of people.  He never rebuked their desires.  In fact, He eagerly meet their desires, whether it was food for 5000, healing for the untouchables, or resurrection for Lazarus.  The key was the Glory.  So, His final prayer was for us to receive His Glory!  Look at John 17:22

"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:22-24)

The glory Yeshua is speaking of is His Presence.  He is calling us to receive His Presence, but we only will if we are hungry and thirsty for Him to make our faith real.  Then we will see miracles in our lives.  It isn’t by just knowing the Scriptures that apply but by receiving Him, His Glory into our lives and in that place of unity, oneness with Him, miracles will occur as we speak them forth!

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Entering God's Rest Through the Desert of Testing - Charles D Harris

"Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world.  For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”  And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience,  God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts.”

 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.  There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;  for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:1-16 NIV

How can someone tell what is going on in your heart?  Your actions and words that come out.
"A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

Your heart condition is a key component in entering into His rest.

The Lord wants YOU to know what is in your heart and wants your heart to be trained in His righteousness.  “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." (Deuteronomy 8:1-3 ESV)

Note:  Included in this teaching is testimony of prayer of faith that Honduras would be dedicated back to the Lord.  It just so happened that today July 20 is the prayer of dedication.

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The Key of Joy in Training the Heart - David Mitts

Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. (Zephaniah 3:14)

Our hearts need to be trained in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17 (NASB)

We have a tendency to think of the Kingdom of God as a condition of our behaviors or who we associate with, the church we go to.  The Apostle Paul is making a distinction in this scripture between "eating and drinking" or behavior management versus righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

A little word which is usually overlooked as significant is the word “in”.  “In” in this verse is the Greek word “EN” which is contrasted with other prepositions “eis” or “ek” which mean into or out from.  En means to be in a place.  In this context, it means to be “in” the place of the Holy Spirit.  This is a place of unity with the Spirit that comes from drinking and eating of the Spirit.  This is a place of communion, of oneness.

The principle command of God begins with oneness.  Mark 12:28-

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28-31).

The original Hebrew that is being quoted by Jesus is Deuteronomy 6:4:

(Deuteronomy 6:4)  שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה׀ אֶחָֽד׃

The command begins with Sh’ma.  We translate this word as hear or listen, or if we know a little more Hebrew, we know it implies obedience, a true act of listening.  But the word is even deeper.  It literally means, “to listen with the breath”.  This is an act of matching breathing rhythm.  In NLP, the study of using body language patterns and cues to come into rapport with another, matching breathing rhythms is a way of coming into oneness with another.  So when we look at the scripture in this deeper Hebraic world view, we that it means to be in such an intimacy with God that His breath becomes our breath.  In that place covenant is occurring, oneness. 

God’s Spirit is His breath, His rhythm.  Take a minute, now and tune-in to His breath with your breath.  Open your spirit, release fear and anxiousness and allow yourself to sh’ma, to listen with your breath.

You see oneness is more about opening our heart to Him than about anything else.

In this place, there is righteousness, peace and joy.  Righteousness is first expressed in scripture as the credit that Abraham received when He trusted God’s prophetic declaration, when He sh’ma-ed the Lord.

Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6).

The word believed is from the root “amen”.  This Hebrew word is made up of the three letters ALEPH, Mem, and NUN.  Mem means water or liquid such a blood.  Nun means seed and Aleph means strength of the Father.  So, in this scripture the Father is imparting to Abram, the fatherless one, His strength to be the Father of many.  Look upwards a few verses here in Genesis 15:1-5:

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great." Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir." Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:1-5).

Ok, first of all “who” came to Abram?  The “word” of the Lord.  We know from John 1, that the word of the Lord is Jesus, Yeshua, the Son of God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (John 1:1-3)

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

So, the “word of the Lord” came to Abram in a vision and spoke.  “Do not fear, I am a shield to you, your reward shall be great”.  Abram was near the end of his life and the only reward that mattered to him was a legacy, an inheritance.

The creative “word” of God speaks a Holy seed which will come from Abram’s own body into Sarah’s womb.  The Word takes Abram outside and shows him the stars and states “so shall your inheritance be”.

Then, the verse that is the basis of our sonship is written:

Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

(Genesis 15:6)

The Word of God, the breath of the Father in spoken form, the Son, is received face to face, breath to breath, spirit to spirit, and the strength of the Father, the Amen, is manifested and this produces righteousness.

In other words, we could say that righteousness is really oneness with the breath of God.  When our spirit comes into unity with His Spirit, then the description of that is righteousness.  We are in harmony with Him.  Look at Galatians 3:6-9:

Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU." So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. (Galatians 3:6-9)

You see, Abraham who was a fatherless father, received the strength of the blood-power to become the Father of “Am”, nations or peoples, the seed of sonship, and when we receive the Son, we receive that same seed and so we become sons of Abraham.  There is no people of God apart from the sonship seed, the strength of the Father.  When we become born again, we sh’ma, we listen with our breath, our spirit to the Holy Breath, the Holy Spirit and become ONE with Him.  This is righteousness, unity breath to breath, face to face, heart to heart.

Now, through the sh’ma, we get a glimpse of what it means that faith comes by hearing.  The Amen comes through the sh’ma.  The strength of the Father comes into our lives, His promises, His decrees over us, His destiny for us, comes about when we listen with our breath.  Our spirit matches His Spirit and we are in unity.  The question then becomes, “how do we listen with our breath?”

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