Scripture: Hosea 4 v 6: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."
John 14 v 6: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
The Lord says in His Word, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." He emphasizes that when we actively reject the words written in the Bible, our Manual for true life, then His response is to reject our prayers and needs. The Lord always responds in the same way that we treat Him. Always!
If we love Him, He pours out love upon us, even our enemies love us. A few years ago Christians in Syria saw this when ISIS militants had destroyed, raped, crucified, tortured, and beheaded their family members. They forgave and showed these fanatics the love of Jesus. They brought them into their homes, fed them and tended their wounds. They gave them the gospel and thousands of these evildoers got saved. No condemnation.
When the enemy comes in like a flood then our God will raise up a Standard! As Jesus said to His disciples, When I am lifted up I will draw all men unto Me. He was first lifted up on a Cross as the Intercessor before the Father for the sins of fallen mankind. He was hung between Heaven and Hell, which is the fire under the Earth that erupts occasionally through volcanoes. He became Sin and gave up His life according to the Word of God.
God forgave Him and because all mankind was spiritually in Jesus when He died, we died with Him. We were also in Him when He went down into Paradise, a compartment of Hell, and conquered Satan and his demons. He took from Satan the Keys of Hell and Death which means the enemy has no power over Christians.
Now we see the victory when we lift up the name of Jesus, and apply His Blood to the sin in the people being saved. God's forgiveness kicks in immediately and the peace fills their hearts, souls and minds.
If we reject the message of salvation, the Holy Spirit will eventually cease to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment. He will leave us to struggle in our own flesh and soulish behaviour. The Lord hopes the lack of progress in our lives will shatter our pride and self-will so that we humbly acknowledge our need of a Saviour.
This very thing propelled me many years ago to search the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to be my teacher. I did not want to ignorantly die. I wanted to let Jesus into my heart to let Him express Himself fully in my life. It took time and effort and will always be a work in progress, but I am no longer ignorant of the plans of God or the schemes of the devil.
We spend our natural lives filling our soul and mind with junk food. When we get saved we repent of all that, which means we change our mind about religion, sin, sexual immorality, holding grudges, swearing, racial hatred and unruly behaviour. We let go of crutches like alcohol, drugs, smoking and love of money, for the true life of Jesus. Love, joy, peace, holiness, humility, and patience.
He has opened a door to allow me to share what I have learned with whoever wants to read about it in these blogs. Everything I share has been through the purging fires of holiness and truth. The desire of my heart is that those who have been misled in any way can come back onto the paths of righteousness. Jesus seeks to save the lost. However the pens the sheep sometimes land up in give insufficient or bad food. Or no real food just a constant diet of skim milk.
Let's start with the moment a thought to sin comes to mind - do not give in to the temptation. Before you touch that bottle of alcohol or reach for that drug or phone that "affair"; even more serious issues like rape; molesting a child; abusing a woman; STOP and ASK Jesus to help you.
When that temptation comes first submit to God. This is the promise - Submit to God, resist the devil, he will flee. So to submit you need to ask God this question "What do you want me to do?" He will tell you to do any or all or something else of the following:-
A) call on the name of Jesus;
B) phone a Christian to pray with you;
C) pray in tongues;
D) rebuke the devil in Jesus' name;
E) do the opposite of what the temptation is eg. Have a glass of water; flush the drugs away; delete the phone number.
Next RESIST the devil. That is say NO I will not give in to your demands. By the power in the Blood of Jesus I reject your control and hold over my life. I will continue to fight against your evil temptations. I belong to Jesus and He protects me.
Next, the devil will flee. Eventually the devil will completely give up on you. He will test you to see if you mean it. Keep following this formula. It is God's word and it truly works. Jesus in your heart will help you fight the good fight. He will help you forgive all those who have hurt you. If you do not forgive these are the consequences:
Mark 11 v 25 - 26: "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
Always bear in mind that Our Father, and Jesus, respond to our obedience and attitude towards them. If we love them we feel and know the love of God for real. If we don't forgive from the heart which means even the memory of what needed forgiving, He withholds that blessing till we do. In Matthew 18 He sends tormentors upon us to speed up the process.
When debts pile up, sickness hits our family, people gossip about you, and other torments confuse us then we need a Saviour. He rejoices when ignorance gets kicked out of the door and He can come in and bless us with His abundance.
Prayer: Heavenly Father You resist the proud and give grace to the humble. Teach us Lord to be humble before You and defeat the spirit of pride in us that deceives us. Teach us to be submitted to You at all times so that we can easily resist the devil and see him flee. Help us to forgive so that there are no barriers blocking answers to our prayers. In Jesus' name. Amen.