ALL IN

Now I am not a poker player nor do I watch poker (Texas Holdem) on TV, okay maybe as I surf I will stop and hear a player say "I am all in," now this gets my attention. When you are "all in" you are betting all of your chips (money) that you have the best hand and are totally committed. You have nothing left to play with; sink or swim, fish or cut bait, your future in the game all depends on the hand you are betting on. Now the rewards are great usually you double or sometimes triple your chips (money) if you win, but the cost is high. If you lose it means you lose everything. As I look at our walk with the LORD this is where we all need to be, "all in," but that is not what I see or hear today and sadly even in myself at times. I will be the first to tell you my brothers and sisters that I have not made it, I have not forsaken all to follow the LORD, but that is where we must be to receive God's the best for our lives. Brother Peter said to Jesus, "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" Matthew 19:27), if so where did he get the boat to go fishing in John 21:3? It was not about the disciples fishing, but about the disciples going back to a previous revelation (fishing), they were not "all in" as they had said and thought since Jesus died (in their eyes) better go back to what we used to do before we heard of Jesus. My brothers and sisters we must be "all in" now and more important in the future. The LORD has satisfied our spiritual hunger to some extent, however, no one of us should be totally satisfied. Rather we should be holding our spirit before the LORD seeking more. There is so much available to us from the One who is the source of all life and truth. There is yet before us an expansive field of spiritual reality and we are to venture into it with our eyes closed (into darkness) and our heart open as the Holy Spirit leads us into new discoveries. Our present attainment of spiritual life and experience is the place to which we have been brought through Jesus Christ our LORD. As I have been teaching at our Home Group Meeting the process is: training, exercising, and obedience and the more we are trained by exercising in our lives the more we will be obedient to God and yes also to man. Now God has a reason for all of this. All of this is a preliminary training school for the ages yet to come. It is in the here and now that we make certain qualifications and are approved for our placement in the eternal ages. These qualifications will not be given to us spontaneously when we get there oh no rather, we are being qualified for them here during this present time. Then in the eternal ages to come that which has been acquired through discipline and training through the surrender (by going all in) of our old life to the resurrection of the new all of this will be projected upon another (higher) plane of living in the ages that are yet to come. Our present life is a test it is only a time to qualify for our next position in Christ. These are the treasures Jesus was talking about when He said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: (Matthew 6:19-20) Jesus was not talking about money or gems He was talking about the "true" treasures that will enable us to move and function with Him in our next life. Whatever we build up of spiritual value, vigor, and vision during our lifetime this is all that the LORD will take of us into eternity. We who have been touched by eternal truth and are seeking to go further, must have a correct perspective and goal. The LORD is very busy building His Body, of which we are a member, training it and doing a thousand things within and for this to happen we must come to place in God where we are "all in," no matter the cost. The day is coming when we will cast our crowns at His feet, but before then we must count the cost to acquire the crowns. Each of us has a certain degree of spiritual hunger. This hunger rests on certain levels of spiritual obedience and experience, ever seeking to take us further. We do not belong (I must keep telling myself this time and time again) here; we are here for just a few fleeting years of training and discipline and then we will be taken. We are to continually move from one level of spiritual understanding and experience to another. This is determined by the amount of spiritual revelation that we have obtained through our responses to the LORD's presence and His workings within us. Because we are reacting agents, we learn our lessons through these experiences. We were made this way in the structural law of our being so this might be possible. I have discovered that I must carefully order my steps as I walk with the LORD. I must be continually sensitive to His voice and responsive to His presence. Then He will guide my path, as He disciplines and trains me in order to push me up into a higher order of spiritual reality and life. You know we become spiritually hungry on different levels, according to our commitment and dedication toward the LORD. Sometimes people say, “oh I know that as I heard it before tell me something new.” But first we must experience the depths of the word we heard. We must come to realize that there are a thousand facets of truth in this glorious treasure of redemption, which radiate from it continually. All revelation is purely a progressive matter. It is eternally moving and is inexhaustible. Anyone who tries to pull it down and label it into a fixed doctrinal pattern will only hinder and frustrate its full outworking. We must always remember that spiritual truth is a progressive revelation which continually expands and moves upward, as Job said, "as the sparks fly upward." (Job 5:7) The truth I have for us today is, "are we all in" with God? It is wonderful to gather other truths, but commitment and dedication will never be a truth that God overlooks in us nor will they be a truth we will never have to pay for. In my spirit I am troubled by the way Christians (especially in America) handle the things of God, but I know God has a plan and He will bring it to an end no matter what we say and feel. Take heed, hear me Christians of America: look at the world you live in, look at your neighbors dying and going to hell, look at your lesbian and sodomite friends who shake their fist at God in defiance calling lust love, good evil, and evil good. Look at the Supreme Court with each major ruling contradicting God and His word moving America further and further from the truth of God's word and closer to all out debauchery. So now God has given us leaders and rulers after our own heart, vile and reprobate. My friend God is looking to see who is "all in" and who is willing to sell out. The rich young ruler was not. God is looking to see who will stand up for His truth and His word or who will compromise the truth wanting to be politically correct, not wanting to offend. Looking at those Christians who have sold their soul to a political party (the donkey or elephant) saying, "if we just can get our man in the White House" thinking their man will lead them to the land that flows with milk and honey when in reality they have been deceived duped, and taken advantage of for more political gain, fame, and money. Oh Christians please look at what once was and what is now. Look at how far we have fallen in knowing the truth and morality (shamefully setting aside the things of God) in the last 10 years. Has our God lost His power and ability or have we sold God out for other's powers and authority? James 1:8 tells us this type of Christian "is double minded and is unstable in all their ways." When the Bible says "all" it mean all. In all of their ways these Christians are unstable. Oh I warn you my Christian brothers and sisters God is NOT mocked! When I heard the Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage He brought these verses to my attention, "The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. 16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands Higgaion Selah.17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. (Psalms 9:15-17) Scoff and laugh at me all you want. Shake your fist at God all you want, but in the end God gets the final word whether you believe Him or not. Take heed my Christian friends God is watching to see who is "all in." My friend America is a sinking ship spiritually you better be in the life boat. Written by David Stahl

TRAINING FOR OBEDIENCE

Note:  Article taken from teaching outline for 23 June 15 Home Group Meeting

 

The Children of Israel was brought to the Wilderness of Sin by God to learn obedience and to learn how to fight in the wilderness and for the promised land, but they failed time and time again. They were brought there to be given weapons for warfare, the right diet, the manual, even tactics of warfare, but they did not learn they were disobedient. Obedience seems to be one of the hardest things for Christians to do. Now do not misunderstand me here I have not made it always being obedient to the LORD, but I have learned the more obedient to God we are the easier being obedient to God becomes. So too is the learning process in our lives: learning, experiencing, and obeying. The more we learn of the LORD the easier learning becomes and the easier learning becomes the more we will experience in greater depth His nature and character which will cause us to willfully obey. The Prophet Samuel said, "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." (I Samuel 15:22) Our training begins on an elementary level, nothing too difficult. As we progress, we are brought to more difficult levels and on to more difficult levels. As we continue in the LORD proving or testing us we will also increase in His rewards as well. The LORD would not prove a babe at the same duration and intensity He would a father in the LORD. He wants to get from us the greatest degree of fulfillment possible. Obedience is an extremely important area very very important. Samuel said, "obedience is better than sacrifice" and God means it. It has such far reaching implications that it defies the imagination. Obedience is certainly necessary in our lives in order to function properly in God. How can we function properly in God's intentions if we cannot and will not obey? We will function as properly as we obey. We cannot function properly in God if we are disobedient. God attempts to bring us to obedience which is immediate and without reservations. Hopefully, it becomes automatic. We do not have to think to breathe, breathing is automatic, so too is God's idea of obedience in our lives, but it is not put into us automatically. Our training and learning is to become so ingrained in us that we just do it without thinking. God is after perfect obedience -- full, complete, immediate obedience without taking the time to think about it. Perfect obedience is far reaching. It is necessary among other reasons for the purpose of functioning properly in the millennium and more. Learning obedience now is a necessity to fulfill God's intentions now and in the ages to come. How do we expect to know how to function in ages to come if we cannot be obedient in the here and now? Here are a few reasons why obedience to God the first time He speaks is so critical in our lives. Obedience works purification into us. Peter gives us a clue about the importance of obedience as it relates to our soul. Brother Peter says, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:" (I Peter 1:22) Learning to obey purifies our soul in honesty, integrity, and righteousness qualities greatly lacking in most Christians today. Most Christians see no importance in being people of their words and actions, thinking God understands their dishonesty and His grace will cover them, but without learning to obey we will never be able to love "one another with a pure heart" in other words we will want to love people with an impure heart trying to get over on them in all we do. Our motives and intentions will be vile, corrupt, selfish, and self-seeking. John tells us, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (I John 1:7) Did you know the word "if" is the most important word in the Bible; it always sets the stage for receiving a reward -- something from God have it be good for us or what we would consider bad for us based on our behavior. The result of that obedience is "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." How can we have fellowship with our brothers and sisters if we are always trying to cheat and defile them? Obeying the truth which we have is quite important. There are believers who do not walk in the light which they have. Some will neglect one area of light which God gave them, in order to fulfill a certain desire or ambition. We cannot do that and still come to the fullness which our Father has in mind for us. We have to obey that which He brings to us; we have to walk in the light which we have; we have to obey the truth which we know and understand. Some folks will worry so much about the truth which they do not know or understand. Walk in the truth, rather than neglect it. We will not get any more truth until we walk in what we have. Obedience to the truth is necessary for the work of God to continue in us. There are two directions we can follow. In obeying the truth, there is a growth in obedience. This means that one grows stronger and is more deeply rooted in God. His obedience becomes more habitual and complete. In disobeying the truth, there is a growth in disobedience. This means that there is a stronger inclination to follow one's own will, ever drifting further and further from living in the truth. Obedience to the will of the Lord will enable us to abide for ever . Again Brother John helps us here, "And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." (I John 2:17) Plainly said, no obedience no abiding forever. Now please notice I am not talking about eternal life that is something totally different. Eternal life is not living forever. John tells us, "Now this is life eternal that we may know God . . . ." (John 17:3) Eternal life is coming to know a holy and loving God now on earth and in the ages to come. Man since time eternal has been chasing his tail when looking for the fountain of youth where they would live forever while all of the time it is found in the Bible and all you have to do to find it is just read the Scriptures. Everyone alive or have ever lived will live forever; eternal life in that sense is for everyone, but the question still stands before everyone who has ever lived where will they spend their eternal life in hell or with a loving and caring God? The choice is not God's nor the devils, but ours. This way he that does the will of God is woven into the eternal purpose of God that He purposed in Christ Jesus. As one does the will of God they remain in God and continue on in the purposes of God. He that is obedient and does the will of God is transformed by that will which is one of God's goals in our lives to be transformed from the earthly to the heavenly in thinking. Transformation and conformity to God's will enables us, "That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;" (Philippians 1:10) We then can make the proper choices not only for today, but also for tomorrow. Thus our ability to choose correctly tomorrow is based upon our choices today. We say God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8), but really there is no yesterday nor is there a tomorrow there is only today. Our choices today dictates our tomorrow (which will be today when we get there) out from our obedience to God today. Just how important is our obedience today? Our future depends on it.

IT IS ONLY A TEST

Our life is nothing more than test. Now many Christians would disagree with me on this one and say our life is to glorify God or worship Him and they would be correct, but if we are not obedient to God in what He wants for our lives all of our worship and all of the glory we give Him would not touch one act of obedience to God. Why do bad things happen to good people? God is testing those good people to see their reaction. Why do we suffer if God is all knowing, well our life is a test. Suffering teaches us patience, obedience, mercy, and compassion. Our life is nothing more than is a test and God is watching to see how we react; not to watch us suffer for suffering sake, but watching us to see HOW we react, what we will say, what we will do. In the Book of Exodus we read where God was testing the Children of Israel. Time and time again. God did miracle after miracle for the Children of Israel in the wilderness and their reaction was always the same. In the Book of Numbers we read, "And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5And the people spake against God, and against Moses, "Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread." (Numbers 21:4-5) Time and time again they would say, "Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread." Have you ever been hungry? Time and time again they would rail on Moses (but really railing on God) about the situations and circumstance God has brought them in to. How quickly they forgot about the great miracle of the parting of the Red Sea. How quickly they have forgotten about the taskmasters of Egypt. These situations were not to see them suffer, but God was testing them to see if they have learned anything. In Exodus we read where God came through again and rained bread from heaven. What a great miracle, again God jumps through the hoop for them when they cried. Again God saved them from the circumstance and situation that He brought into their lives. You know God desires not to deliver us, oh no God desires to develop us. Spiritual growth and development requires development and not deliverance. Now if God has to keep delivering us from situations and circumstances in our lives He knows the plan He has purposed for our lives is in jeopardy of being lost (we will walk always from Him) so he picks us up and plants us in another field so we can continue to grow at some lesser level only to replant us in the same field some day. We never get past the present test in God until we pass it. God told Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no." (Exodus 16:4) What a wonderful miracle, "bread from heaven." I cannot remember how many sermons I have heard preached on this verse; how God feeds his people from His own hands, etc., but please notice why God gave the Children of Israel the "Manna" (which means "what is it"), not to fill their bellies or to satisfy their hunger, oh no, but "that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no." God gave them a miracle to test them. Say, our life is a test. God fed them every day (except on the last day of the week they collected two portions) to see if they would be obedient to His words. Who would think God would do such a thing? Anybody who can see the hand of God working in their lives. The bread from heaven was a particular provision and exercise in the people's training. It was their test of obedience. Later on in the Book of Exodus the Children of Israel would swear to God, "And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient." (Exodus 24:7) God knew if they could not be obedient to daily gather bread from heaven to feed their hunger how would they be able to fulfill their words, "All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient." God was testing them with a miracle because God knows obedience does not come from spoken convictions and intentions obedience comes through testings, for everybody even Jesus. In the Book of Hebrews we read of Jesus, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;" (Hebrews 5:8) Again why do we suffer, to learn obedience. Jesus first learned obedience at the hands of Joseph and Mary as a child. Make no mistake my friend Jesus was given a name above all names not because He was God's Son, oh no but because, "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' (Philippians 2:8-11) One of the objects in our training program of life is to train us in obedience. This is the very basic element. If there is no obedience then there will be no victory. Obedience is a must! It is one thing to say, "all that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient." and quite another thing to do it. Words are important, but words are much cheaper than actions. God is not after lip service; He is after a life that will be willing to march to His tune. He is gathering together a people who will serve Him in reality. He wants people who will do His will, rather than those who simply talk about doing His will. There are people who pray about doing His will and that's all they do pray about it. That is not what God desires. He desires a people who will actually do that He says to do; who will, in fact, take upon themselves to obey the word of God. That is what He is after. How does God get this arrangement? People are not born with it. They must be trained to obey. Obedience is not something that is automatic. Remember it is only a test of our obedience! There is the need of learning obedience. We have to LEARN to obey. When one is born again of the Spirit of God, it would be just lovely if God somehow dumped into us that quality of total and unquestioning obedience. But that is not the way it happens. How did Jesus learn? Did God say to Him, "Let's sit down together and I'll tell You how to be always in complete obedience?" Oh, no. "yet learned he obedience by the things which He suffered" is the servant greater than the Master? Learning obedience is a life-long process, but here is the good news, as we learn the easier learning becomes. We see this process moving in our children. the more they learn the easier other things are to learn. We teach them to tie their shoes and when they master this skill they now can now learn some day to tie a surgeon's knot. So too in God. The more we learn obedience in areas in our lives the easier it will become to learn obedience in other areas. God's principle have they be in the physical or spiritual realm are the same they must be learned to achieve the goal God intents. And God is after us being obedient to Him the first time He speaks. Oh He will speak again and again if he must, but we will lose some of the original intention God had for us in His speaking. Yes Jesus needed to learn obedience to such an extent that it became a perfect thing in His life BEFORE he began His public ministry. If we are to have a public ministry we too will need to learn obedience. Jesus went to school He did not sit in a classroom in Jerusalem, but He went to school, His Father's school of the Spirit. And yes Jesus learned through situations and circumstances. The difference between disobedience and obedience may be narrower than a cell split in two, but the results may be worlds apart. At time God needs a perfection in obedience that can split a cell in two. he needed that in Jesus' life and He needs that in our lives. Perfect obedience is not understood by many, let alone knowing the price it will cost through experience. Jesus knew and He learned, he paid the price and is the servant greater than the Master? Keep telling yourself life is only a test, it is only a test and God is looking for obedience in us the first time He speaks. Written By David Stahl