From: "-= Henky =-" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Weakened Warriors
by Rick Joyner
As we continue our study of how the church will cross over and begin to
possess its Promised Land, this week we will look at the first great event
after crossing the Jordan, which we see inJoshua 5:2: "At that time the Lord
said to Joshua, "Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons
of Israel the second time."
Circumcision was a ritual performed that speaks of the removal of the
flesh or carnal nature. As we read in this chapter, this was done because those
born in the wilderness had not been circumcised. This was a basic ritual that
distinguished God's people from all others.
As we discussed previously, one of the ways we know the church is indeed
crossing over to inherit its Promised Land will be the re-emphasis of the cross
or the crucified life. Immediately after this we can expect a re-emphasis of
the removal of the carnal nature or the deeds of the flesh, which is described
in Galatians 5:19-21:
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality,
impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy,
outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness,
carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have
forewarned you thatthose who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God.
The children of Israel could not possess their Promised Land until this
was done just as Paul wrote, "those who practice such things shall not inherit
the kingdom of God." Think about that! We will not inherit the kingdom of God
as long as we practice these things. As the Word of God is also clear, those
who are indeed in the Lord's will behave like it. They are
different. They have the fruit of the Spirit, and they are devoted to living
godly, righteous, holy lives. Again, those who do not walk in this way will not
inherit the kingdom of God.
In our times, righteousness has often been associated with legalism or
even having a religious spirit, but those who have overreacted to this have
usually fallen to another evil that is just as deadly-lawlessness. There is a
ditch on either side of the path of life. If we live as reactionaries, we will
likely end up in one of them or going from one to the other most of our
lives. Let us take a look at spiritual circumcision and how it is accomplished
in our lives, as we read in Romans 2:28-29, 7:18, 8:5-9:
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that
which is outward in the flesh.
But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is
of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men,
but from God.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for
the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the
Spirit.
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit
is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God;
for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do
so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the
Spirit of God dwells in you.
Recent studies have shown that those who claim to be born again,
evangelical Christians are no longer distinguishable in their general behavior
than with non-Christians-including basic issues of morality and integrity. This
is why the heathen continue to refer to Christians as
hypocrites. Certainly a good case could be made that in the church's wilderness
journey there has not been much emphasis on the spiritual circumcision that is
required to inherit our promises. However, we can count on this becoming a
major emphasis in the immediate future. We will not go any further until the
flesh or the carnal nature has been cut away from the lives of those who will
inherit the kingdom.
Like it or not, the works of the flesh are going to be exposed and cut
away from all who want to be numbered with the household of faith. It is
noteworthy that for Israel this was the first thing which was done immediately
after they had entered the land, and it was done right in the sight of the
people on the walls of Jericho. This was not something the Lord had done
secretly in the wilderness, but they were humiliated and made weak, right
within sight of their enemies!
One lesson we can learn from this is that the Lord is not nearly as
concerned about our reputations as we tend to be. In fact, we can count on Him
dealing with that pride very quickly. We think if our problems are waved in
front of the world we will lose our "witness," but the Lord cares very little
about that. In fact, such a witness will not lead anyone to the Lord,
but is what we try to use to lead people to us. The only thing that will truly
lead people to the Lord is the conviction of their sin by the Holy Spirit, and
the comprehension of the atonement that Jesus made for that sin which is the
only remedy for our guilt. It is about Him, not us.
If we are indeed coming to this time, we can expect the carnal problems
of the church to start being exposed very openly. This is going to be done so
that they can be done away with. Of course, this has been going on for sometime
now, but it is obvious that the job has not yet been completed. We can count on
our enemies seeing this and probably gloating over it, but our humility in this
is preparing us to be able to receive the grace of God, which He will only give
to the humble. The victory over our enemies will come in due time, but for now
the best thing we can do is embrace the humility and let the evil ways that we
have clung to be cut
away.
For this reason we will also take the next few weeks to examine these
works of the flesh in a bit more detail. This is going to be painful, but we
can do some things that will greatly lessen the pain. As we are told in I
Corinthians 11:31, "But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be
judged." If we would deal with these things the Lord would not have to do
it. If we will humble ourselves, He will not have to humble us.
As I have shared before, my motto is "No pain, no pain." I do not like
pain, so I want to make this as painless as I can. It is far better for us to
fall on the Rock to be broken than to have to have Him fall on us and crush us
into powder! So if we deal with these things ourselves now, we can in fact
escape the more painful and public humiliation.
Even so, there is a more righteous motivation that we should have, and
hopefully we will mature into this. We must do this for the Lord's sake-in
order to please Him. However, until the flesh or carnal nature is cut away, it
is hard to have such godly motives. So even if we want to rid ourselves of the
flesh or carnal nature from a selfish motive of wanting to get out of
this pain as easily as possible, this reason is still better than not doing it
at all. But know for sure that it will be done before we can go any further. We
can also know for sure that the pain will result in gain for us.
===========================================
From: "-= Henky =-" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Fighting Heart
by Rick Joyner
February 14, 2005
As we have been covering the last few weeks, the church now stands on the
brink of one of the most important advances in history. It is an advance that
must take place. If the church continues to wander in the wilderness, it will
only wither away. We are called to be sojourners, but not nomads. Sojourners
travel to a destination, while nomads just wander. We are coming to the
destination that the entire church age has been preparing us for and
now we must cross over.
It is true that some of the greatest revivals and spiritual advances in
the history of the church have been taking place over the last two decades. In
some of these cases, whole regions are being transformed and whole nations are
being impacted. Even though these are all a part of a historic beginning, many
of these have been more sporadic than systematic.
They have accomplished much and given great encouragement to the body of
Christ, but are just the forerunners of what is to come. In modern military
terms, they have been like the special forces that have been dropped behind
enemy lines before the main assault is to begin. It is now time for the main
assault.
I wrote in 1987 about a coming spiritual advance which would be so great
that many would consider it the harvest that is the end of the age.
However, it was not the final harvest, but simply the reaping and preparing of
those who would be the laborers for the harvest that truly would be the end of
this age. A great wave has come, but an even greater one will follow. It has
not yet broken upon the world, but the signs point to it being very near.
When Israel crossed the Jordan River, the first thing they faced was
possibly the most powerful, fortified stronghold of all. Jericho seemed
impregnable to the entire known world. How would this band of drifters ever
conquer Jericho? In every way it was impossible for Israel, but everything
since their departure from Egypt had been impossible too. They were now
accustomed to doing the impossible. They knew they were dependent on God for
the victory, that they had to have a miracle, and so do we. What is coming is
far beyond human ingenuity to accomplish.
The conquest of the Promised Land was a combination of the people
fighting and the Lord fighting for them. He wanted them to be involved, and
they had to have Him involved. It was a partnership, which is the case with
every move of God. Those who want God to do everything never accomplish
anything, and those who try to do everything themselves always fail. It
takes knowledge of the Lord's ways, wisdom, and understanding to walk the fine
line of being yoked with the Lord.
Only the wise and mature will walk this narrow way. Just as Israel
drifted from this fine line at times and experienced some defeats, we are
foolish and immature if we think we are so wise as not to do the same
occasionally. However, like Israel we must resolve to learn from every mistake,
keep pressing ahead, and not let the mistakes stop us like they have many
revivals, awakenings, renewals, and advances in the past.
Even with the great multitude that the church has now become, what we are
facing is still bigger, stronger, and more strongly entrenched than what we can
overcome with our numbers or our wisdom. We are facing supernatural strongholds
that have had millenniums to sink their roots deeper and deeper into the hearts
of men. This is a spiritual battle that will take a
remarkable unity and obedience of God's people just as it did when Israel faced
Jericho. It is going to take the supernatural power of God to prevail. It will
therefore take great faith in Him to proceed. That is the point.
The crossing of the Jordan River when it was overflowing all of its banks
was meant to begin unifying the tribes of Israel in a much greater way than
they had ever known before. Their advance began with a great supernatural
demonstration from God. They could not have even entered into the land without
the Lord. However, He required that they step into the
water before He performed the miracle. Our part is, at His directive, to step
forward into impossible circumstances.
Likewise, as we have covered, the Jordan River was another emphasis of
the baptism to which we are called. Our immersion in the coming re-emphasis of
the cross and the crucified life is going to bring an unprecedented unity to
the church and dependency on God. After their crossing, two events were
required that were intended to seal their unity and commitment to obedience.
What were they?
First, Joshua was commanded to have the priests to take twelve stones
from the middle of the Jordan River and build a monument that would continually
remind all of Israel of their crossing of the Jordan, as we read in Joshua
4:19-24:
Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month
and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho.
And those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua
set up at Gilgal.
And he said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their
fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?'
then you shall inform your children, saying, 'Israel crossed this
Jordan on dry ground.'
"For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you
until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which
He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth
may know that the hand of the Lord
is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever."
This was a crucial deed for Israel. First, it would forever remind them
that it was not their wisdom or strength that had enabled them to cross the
Jordan, but that the Lord, by His strength, had enabled them to cross over "on
dry ground" while the river of death was overflowing all of its banks. Such
monuments are important for the generations to come who did not personally
witness the things that their forefathers did.
Many movements have not had the wisdom to build monuments concerning what
the Lord had done for them, and they withered away after a generation or two.
Others came to trouble because they stayed at the monument and began to worship
it. Again, there is a ditch on either side of the path of life that we can fall
into. Even so, the building of a monument for the right reason is not only the
right thing to do, but an important thing to do. It is righteous to always
think of the generations to come and to build bridges for them that will keep
leading them to the Lord.
The second reason this was important because it reminded all of Israel
that there were twelve stones representing twelve tribes. Regardless of which
tribe they were a part, they were all a part of one nation. Just as the high
priest had to wear the stones of all of the tribes on his
breastplate or on his heart, if we are going to walk in the high calling of God
we must keep all of God's people on our heart, not just our tribe.
This is not to negate the fact that there were tribes, all of which were
called to have their own territory and purpose. However, they needed to be
continually reminded that they were all a part of one great nation that has a
common purpose as well. We in the body of Christ also need this constant
reminder. It is great to appreciate our movement or denomination with different
visions and purposes, but we must never lose sight of the fact that we are all
members of one body with an overall vision and purpose to which we must never
lose our devotion.
Before Joshua let the priests leave the Jordan, he made sure that this
monument was built. I have found that unity is not something which just
happens, but we have to work at it, make it an issue, focus on it, and keep
bringing it up. One of the things that we started doing the first year we
planted our church in Charlotte was to close down all meetings and services
for the month of July and encourage our people to visit other churches in the
city. This helped to give them a vision for what God is doing in His whole
body, not just our little part. We also told them if they find a place where
they fit better than with us, be free to stay, letting the Holy Spirit place
them in the body where it pleases Him.
Of course, the first week of August we really do not have any idea who
will be coming back, but to date there have always been far more than there
were at the end of June. Some leave and find a place that they fit better than
with us, and we are happy for this. We will miss them, but we feel this is
helping to build the whole body, and by sending them out this way we can have
fruit that grows in other fields.
We want to walk in the highest purpose of God that we can, and to do this
we must, like the high priest, keep the stones of all of the tribes of God's
people on our hearts. The unity of His people was mainly what the Lord prayed
about the last night He was on this earth as a man. If you knew tonight was
your last night on this earth, do you think your prayers would
be focused on what were truly the deepest matters of your heart? I think this
prayer reveals the heart of God more than any other teaching He gave. If we are
going to be in unity with Him, we will have this same heart for the unity of
His people.
Any part of the body that grows without regard to the rest of the body is
a cancer. We do not want to be a cancer, but a blessing to the whole body. What
we do each July has now become something of a monument. It has been an
astonishing thing to many other pastors, causing some to want to get to know us
better. It has been extremely intimidating and threatening to those who are
overly possessive and controlling with their people, causing
them to make harsh accusations about us. We cannot help that. We are doing what
we do out of obedience, and it is unquestionably good for us and others. We
have been able to help a number of other congregations grow by sending them
some very good people.
We really do believe that we are all one body in Christ, and those who go
to another part where they fit better helps to bring us closer to the whole
body. We have also found that those who stay although they really do not fit
will cause far more problems than if they would have left and found where they
fit better. No church can be all things to all people, and those
who try will inevitably become so shallow that they become weaker with growth,
not stronger.
We do not necessarily recommend to anyone else what we do in July, but it
does work for us. It is remarkable how much zeal for the Lord the people seem
to come back with each August. This obvious new energy always helps to start a
significant spiritual advance for us every autumn. We also know that many of
the new people who join us each fall come because they hear of the liberty, but
even more important than this is that the Holy Spirit is going to be where
there is liberty, as we read in II Corinthians 3:17. "Now the Lord is the
Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
Also, the Lord made a remarkable promise for those who come into unity, as we
read in Matthew 18:19-20:
"Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything
that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am
in their midst."
The Greek word that is translated "agree" here is sumphoneo, which
literally means
"to be harmonious" or "in one accord." It is speaking of unity. The power
of unity is if just two of us have unity we can ask "anything" and the Father
will do it. That is the kind of power that we are going to need for the battles
ahead. That is why it is important for us to take the time to build whatever
monuments will continually remind us of our unity in Him
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Mailing List Jesus-Net Ministry Indonesia - JNM -
Daftar : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Keluar : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Posting: [email protected]
Bantuan Moderator : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jesus-net/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
