But God
In this morning’s meditation two interesting words came while praying:
But God. These two words appear 44 times in the KJV translation, first in Genesis 20:3, the last 1Thessalonians 4:8.

Then came the verse,
1Jo 5:19 “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.”

My thinking is that Satan has permeated the whole world with his evil desires like what happened to Lot,
2Pe 2:8 “For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.”

We are living in a polluted world and need day by day to renew our mind by meditation on Philippians 4:8 “ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” I was given that verse 57 years ago and it keeps popping up in my mind.

The words But God relate to what men have planned as their agenda for the world. Man’s plans have not put God in the equation.

Men think China will collapse when the American dollar goes down, but it will not. China will shake its head and get on with business.

The key nations to watch are in the middle east, not North America.

We have a hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.” Amplified Bible.

Re John 16:7-11.
Verse 9 says He will convict the world because they do not believe in me.
As I understand it, the sin of the world is unbelief in who God is and His desire for their life.

Back in verse 8 it says. And when he [The Holy Spirit] is come, he will reprove [convict] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

My understanding is, He will convict the world of unbelief, that the Christian is righteous through the blood of Christ and that Satan is already judged.

The sad part is very few believers understand-

1) That the sin of Adam was that he did not believe Father God.

2) That every true believer is washed in the blood of Jesus, hence clean. Father God sees every believer clean because of the blood of Calvary.

3) That because they are washed in the blood of Jesus, every true believer, needs to understand that the only judgment is against Satan and all who choose to follow him.

4) Father God does not judge twice. [Sin and Satan are judged at the cross.] The only judgments left are Satan’s through man. [That is, the judgments that I make.] The judgment seat of Christ is all about the mess I have ended up in because of my judgments because I have listened to Satan’s lies and deception. What happens when I judge is that I am working from my laws, hence in unbelief?

That is how I see it.

I for many years thought the 3 things in verse 8 were all applied to the world, He would convict the world of sin righteousness and of judgment, but after reading the book Destine to Reign it made it all clear.

Those of the flesh get angry when they discover people living in freedom when they are working their butt off to please by performance [self –righteousness].
Example Cain and Able, the prodigal son and his older brother.
Both Cain and the older brother were angry because they judged according to their own performance.
Reference. Genesis 4, Luke 15.

Thoughts to ponder.

Knowledge of good and evil is all about right and wrong. They both come from the same tree. Such knowledge makes man automatically judge.

This knowledge causes man to see and hear what others are doing but does not reveal the truth as to why.

Both good and evil are forbidden to engage in because it turns man from living in relationship to living by law.
Living by relationship is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
The perfect can only come from the tree of LIFE.

The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is judging.
That means man speaking outside of a living relationship with the Godhead, instead of hearing truth from the tree of life and knowing what to do as directed by the Holy Spirit.

Man’s thirst for knowledge is all about power, having information gives man power [control] over others.
Having knowledge inflates pride.
Where there is no knowledge there is no judgment.

Jesus is the fountain of knowledge, wisdom and understanding. This is available in the tree of Life, but requires relationship.

A second issue is having knowledge of good and evil breeds independence.

At every act of rejection whether real or imagined, man needs to go to the tree of life to get direction as to how to deal with it.
This way one remains free.
It is called walking by the Spirit.

Thirdly as to sin, because of Calvary sin does not exist in the realm of Father God because it was all taken away.
It only exists in the realm of man.
The sin of Adam was unbelief in what Father God told him to do. Man’s unbelief lead him to be disobedient.
As a result, my relationships with my fellow man are corrupt.
The disobedience is being selfish.
Hurt is proof of selfishness and trespassing.
It is me, myself and I using others to feed my own ego.

When Satan said, “Did God say?” that was a judgment
on God’s direction.
To disobey the instruction is to judge the instruction as wrong.
In Adam’s case, God’s instruction was judged as wrong.
All judging leads to disobedience.

When a person passed on knowledge from the tree of good and evil he passed on death.
The day you eat of it, that is a now thing ever present.
Even an opinion is based on judgment.

That is why for me, judging is out completely.
The most I can be is a channel of Father God’s judgment if He desires to pass it on through me for some one to hear.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is all about living by law, right and wrong. It is also living by comparison.

If not careful, one could run wild with one’s thinking.

One could say that law is of Satan. One cannot have pride without judging they are right.
There is not an ounce of grace in Satan. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

When Adam ate of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil he put mankind under law.

At Calvary the curse was atoned for. Man from then on was free to live apart from law. He was free to live by relationship, which was Father God’s desire in the first place.

Satan has seduced many professing Christians back to living by so called Christian laws, what a mess.

It is time for each individual believer to return to living listening to Jesus voice and walking in obedience. This is the pathway of agape love.

To a man controlled by rejection.
First my response is that you are well worth all the time there is to keep up the contact. The reason I do is because the Godhead has put a love in my heart for you and that is unconditional. You are a person I have a deep love for, just as you are, full stop.

Every one is who they are. It is the love of Jesus flowing from one another that lets each other be who they are. Whatever is shared does not change that even if what is shared is something right off the wall.

For whatever reason the spirit of rejection has given them the run around is because it has had a right. It has something to do with not accepting themselves, how they think about the body they live in plus all the idiosyncrasies that go to making an individual who they are.

Jesus died for the sin of the world, hence sin does not exist in the eyes of Father God because of Calvary.
What does exist is what we do with this information. We can either accept the finished of the Cross which is living in belief, or reject it and live in unbelief.

One of the problems is we all live with people that we believe have set a standard [expectations] that we believe we have to meet to gain their approval and acceptance.

All mankind after Calvary have the same choice either to believe or not believe.
Because of Calvary there is nothing to do, all has been done, man is free to obey or disobey, the only thing is, he will reap the results of that choice.

We do not have to carry anything. Jesus did it all and will continue to do so as long as we yield it all to Him.
It is when we think we are the source we get into trouble, become exhausted, all bitter and twisted.
To live is to die, to come to the place where I am nothing and can do nothing.
I can do all things through Christ and unless he is in the driving seat all is vain.

Religious performance is all about doing, the life in Christ is all about resting.

There is no Judgment from Father God. He does not judge twice. He poured all his judgment that was ours on Jesus.
The cup of his wrath is empty.

Here is the rub.
The root of all judgments is either mine, another human.
How do I get round that?
Easy. Set every human free to think of me how they like.

The other thing I know is that I am forgiven by the creator of the universe.
I love this verse,
Ps 118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

A non judgmental loving response goes like this.
I count you as a friend, you are free as to what you do with that.

The choice is simple, either accept it or reject it and like the older brother in the prodigal son story you will be in the place where Jesus leaves it with the older brother out side and the door left wide open for ever for him to step in, the door is never shut as long as we live.

We are being saved at deeper levels. What do I mean by that?
There are things buried deep inside of us because they were put there many years ago, things we have forgotten about, for example hurts from unloving acts.
The Bible called them idols in the heart,
Ezekiel 14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart.
What are they and how do they get there?

John 20:23 says, Whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins you retain, they are retained.
Let me translate that another way.

Whoever sins I forgive I am forgiven. Whoever sins I do not forgive I retain and they become an idol in my heart that I am emotionally and mentally bound to and controlled by.

It is amazing the bondages we get ourselves into because of judging.
I judged having nothing to do when I was a child living on a farm. I am now free of that. I also came to the realization that I hated change. Since I repented of that, there has been immediate change and a sense of freedom in both those areas.

Whatever way one looks at it, it is all to do with one’s response to rejection whether it was real, perceived or imagined.

Rebellion as a response to rejection leads to control, because what a person does as an action of rebellion they become addicted to.
I judged alcohol and although as a professing Christian I did not drink alcohol, every time I was around it I got upset, hence I was controlled by it.
The right response that does not result in control is to not judge rejection or the people it uses.
Because we have not been taught concerning rejection by the time we become an adult are caught one way or another.

Every human is subject to rejection which is a fact of life.
Rejection is a death curse, a cut off of responsibility to protect by not providing mental, emotional physical and spiritual security.
What gives rejection power to control and destroy is the victim judging it. If there is no judgment, there will be no control, no destruction.

From experience I have found that whatever, or whoever I judge and have not forgiven I end up doing the same thing or fighting it.
Why? Because unforgiveness and judging is an act of pride.

It was never the intention of the authority figure to reject. In most cases it was an unconscious act, which the victim perceives as rejection which they then judged, therefore were locked into it.
People who are clothed with rejection cannot help but reject others themselves. It is automatic process until they get free of it.

There is much to pondering re the subject of rejection because it is the root that opens the door to all the bondages people end up with.
Why is it we find ourselves reacting to rejection in all its different forms?
Why am I able to become mentally and emotionally controlled by where others are at?
It has to be that I am not totally secure.
The ultimate security can only be found in relationship with Jesus.
I profess to be secure, I say he is all I need, but.
I am looking to man for the approval and security that only Father God can give.
What a mess the fall created, yet all was reversed at Calvary.

A person who is feeling rejection, uses it as an excuse not to be accountable for their own decisions blaming every one else.
We make our own law by judging and the laws we make we do not live up to, hence are hypocrites.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

We are being saved at deeper levels.
It is amazing the bondages we get ourselves into because of judging. I judged having nothing to do when I was a child back on the farm. Two weeks ago in praying about the lack of activity in my life the thought came that I had judged that.
Amazing how it is like a light being turned on and now I could understand how that had controlled me all these years.
I hated doing nothing, yet when I had something to do I went at it like a bull at a gate because I had to get it finished so that I would return to doing nothing instead of taking time, going slower and working at a sensible pace.
That is crazy. That is why the Word says judge not.
What we judge we become controlled by.
You who judge practice the same things, Romans 2:1
I repented and having done so have experienced freedom in that area.

Yesterday came to the realization I hated change. Having just received a new computer [the latest model] there are always changes which are natural.
We live in a world where change is a fact of life. For one, from the time we are born till we physically die, our bodies are changing daily.

There has been many changes in the world over my almost 74 years.
I was brought up on a farm where every thing was done by hand with the aid of a horse or two. Today where most westerners have a cell phone, plus the endless list of gadgets that are run by a computer chip, including me.

We can choose to still live like people did 50 or so years ago, or go with the flow experiencing all the things that are there for our convenience.

Whenever I get a thought especially out walking in the morning praying about every thing and nothing I believe it is a revelation from Father God.
As soon as I repented of my judgment against change I remembered many times coming home from school and heading to the bedroom and found Mum had moved us to another bedroom. For the life of me I could not understand why. The house only had 3 bedrooms and at least 7 of us living at home then.
Such things affect people in different ways. For me the change in bedrooms locked me into disliking change. I accepted it with gritted teeth.
I have spent almost 40 years travelling the word with all the daily changes one experiences going from country to country leaving the comforts of home.

I have come to know that any thing we are controlled by in a negative way that causes us to not be at peace is because we have judged it as good or evil, right or wrong.

The reason people are not at peace is because they have judged something.
Philippians 4:6 Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
As they say no worries.

Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:

I was sent an article called,
Earthquakes: God’s Judgement or Not.

The following is my reply,

I have read what you sent. It is along the lines we have been sharing.

If not careful we can get caught up in distractions as you often tell me, including who is or what is causing earthquakes.

The simplicity of it all is the individual either is walking in obedience or disobedience.
Those who live by hearing Jesus voice and those who don’t are living by soul power, called secular humanism.

There is another equation in it all which is that Satan was given all the dominion Adam had because Adam gave it to him by his disobedience.
The individual can walk free of Satan’s dominion as they walk in Christ.

Man not being in tune with the Godhead is not in tune with creation and when creation speaks man gets upset because he thinks he has control over creation believing that he is god.

There is another big issue which is reconciling the God of the OT and the God of the NT. The first is all about living by law, the other no law just relationship.

In the time of the OT the Holy Spirit came upon people, in the NT age the Holy Spirit dwells within.

The only way I can make sense of it all is by living in relationship with Father God, through Jesus, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit and listening to Jesus voice and walking in obedience leaving all the past, present and future to Him. That way I go for the ride and enjoy the view knowing I am in the hollow of Jesus hand that is in the hollow of Father God’s hand.

To sum it all up, it is the difference between living by law or grace. Few know the difference. Out side of relationship man automatically lives by law.

That is the trap church has fallen into. To operate all clubs have to live by laws.

All the knowledge, wisdom and understanding man needs is in the Tree of Life. That is obtained through relationship with the Godhead, hearing Jesus voice and obeying what He says no matter what.

Man living in independence is bound into receiving all knowledge, wisdom and understanding from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. To obtain any of those 3 things carries death.

The Word says choose life, Deut 30:19.

While out walking one morning my meditation went like this.
At 2 years of age my grandmother [Dad’s mum] taught me the song, Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tell me so.

At 14 I went to a Bible class camp and knew I needed something but did not know what.
A leader prayed I would find what I needed.

At 16 I heard a message that said to be a Christian I needed to ask Jesus into my life, the preacher read me John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life and I said yes to Jesus.
Not long after I was baptised.

Seven years later I knew I had no assurance in my inner being that if I died I was going straight to be with Jesus.
Through reading John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: I was totally filled with the love joy and piece of Father God.

At 39 after spending 11 years in Children’s youth ministry I was challenged as to what place I gave in my life to the Holy Spirit and invited Him to take control.
The first thing after that was, I was given a verse out of the Bible,
1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
This brought me to the understanding that to walk in the blessing of the Godhead as a married man I was responsible to make sure my wife was secure.

The first message I preached was “How long is it since the Lord spoke to you?” which got me into a lot of trouble.
Those I fellowshipped with only believed that God had the Bible written and all one needed to do was read and obey.
The second message I preached was about forgiveness and while sharing said this message would go around the world.
That was 35 years ago and in that time I have visited 34 countries been out of NZ well over a 100 times sharing with those who desire to know how to forgive and hear Jesus, voice.
In addition there are 8 DVD messages, a web site called forgiveit.com plus contact people through Email, Skype and Face Book.

The message on forgiveness has gone around the world, first by me taking it, then by video and finally on DVD. There are thousands of copies in many nations including China.

My life to day is one of hearing Jesus voice as Jesus said we could
[John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me].
Whatever He tells me I seek to walk in obedience and have a living relationship with the Godhead and with people.

The 3 most important things are to know how much Father God loves us, deal with unbelief, and deal with all judgments which destroy relationships and be a channel letting the blessing of Father God flow through those who will receive from Him.

Some thoughts to ponder.

ON ANGER.
All who manifest anger is because they are working from law and judging.
Living in disobedience to the Word that says, Put away all anger. Colossians 3:8.
All means all, in my understanding.

GRACE VS LAW.
Here is something to chew.
Grace would say that all are included before they are excluded, because when
Jesus said on the cross it is finished, there was nothing left to do.
John 19:30.

Law would say, that all are excluded before they are included.
You have to do something, you have to measure up, which requires
Performance, which is all about judging. [“you have to meet the “standard”]
To judge one has to live by law.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one
that believeth.

IN OR OUT.
Being included, is because of Calvary.
Being excluded can only be because the individual makes the choice not to believe, which is the sin of the world. John 16:9
In order to not to believe, I must first be told what I should believe as
Adam was told.

IN THE NOW.
“Today is the day the Lord has made, I shall be glad and rejoice in it.”
I like the first word of the Bible, the word: ‘In (the beginning)’.
God said, “IN the beginning”, not ‘At the beginning’.
The word ‘in’ is a NOW word, a word that is on-going and not yet finished or completed.
‘At’ (in this application) is a past tense word, and a word that denotes
completion within that time or place.
If He had said, ‘At the beginning’, then the beginning would have been
finished, and in the past, because ‘at’ denotes ‘a precise time that was’, not ‘a precise time which is still on-going and not yet completed’.

Even ‘the beginning’ is ‘in God’. Nothing exists outside of Him. Awesome, how that even the first word of the Bible can have such incredible meaning.
‘IN’… we exist because of ‘IN’.
If it had been ‘At, (the beginning) then we would not or could not exist.

[We are IN Christ, meaning an ongoing, ever present relationship.]

A young man’s answer to,
“How do you know you are forgiven ?”
“The person would have an absence of guilt and fear and be at total peace on the inside.’’

Knowing forgiveness is an experience, it is tangible.
Like faith it starts with God and it is the outflow from an encounter.

I sent an email telling a man that God’s voice is in our thoughts and we need to think and pray through our thoughts.
His reply was that he had never heard that ever and it made total sense. 2Corinthians 10:5

I replied as follows:
I have heard Jesus voice since 1960 and had not thought about how I hear and convey that to others in a simple way.

It was not till a personal friend in England shared one day the sentence,
“God’s voice is in our thoughts”.
The moment he said that I knew it was a sentence that when shared would give a simple key as to how to hear.

Even when we read the Bible, unless it becomes a revelation thought, what we read is just words.
All dreams, visions or the spoken word through others has to become a revelation thought to create life in me.