Wayne's World...(28Oct08)

Gracelife


Hi all.

Some friends of the blog, Craig and Dawn are being prayed for to be released as elders to shepherd a new community that has been birthed. Craig is a regular contributor to the many debates we've been having over the last months on this site.

Craig and Dawn have been meeting some friends on the Durban Bluff for a while now and preaching the glorious Gospel of Gods grace. Bradley Dearlove (from Dubai) and I (Wayne) will be ministering with the community this weekend. If you wanna pop in at any of the meetings, feel free.

1. Friday night 31^st Oct 7 pm St Georges (Brad and Wayne)
2. Saturday 1^st Nov 7 pm St Georges (Brad and Wayne)
3. Sunday 2^nd Nov 5 pm St Georges (The "Ordination" time.)

For directions call Craig 082 870 3888

Grace and peace,

Wayne

Wayne's World...(27Oct08)

How to read your bible 1.

 

Wayne Duncan

 

I believe this series is one of the most significant series I've ever done. Correctly applying the word of God is liberating, freeing, power releasing and life changing. Incorrectly applying the word is bondage, confusion and death. So how do we extract life from the word, and not death? We must understand how to approach the glorious word of God.

 

How many times has it happened to you that a friend wants to show you a scripture where they got a "revelation", but as you read the scripture and listen to the "revelation", you cant help feeling…"I'm sure that's not what it means". By the way, I've been that friend before! Heehee.

 

How often have you read a scripture and thought… "but this contradicts another scripture?".

 

Much confusion and error has crept into our lives over years, by not correctly interpreting the scriptures.

 

So how do we approach the bible? How do we construct biblical truth?

 

1.      It's for you!

 

The first thing to be settled is that the bible is for everyone to read, and understand.

 

You don't need a degree; you don't need to be well learned. Every person, weather saved a minute or a millennium can receive truth from the bible. Were never to new or old to learn every time we read the bible.

 

The second we become born again, a veil is removed from our minds, and we can understand the bible. The Holy Spirit becomes our teacher, and as we read the bible, he brings truth and illumination.

 

1 Corinthins 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

 

The Holy Spirit is our teacher and our guide.

 

Much of what we learn we will not even need the bible for…you say "what!" , that's heresy…is it?

 

Hebrews 10:15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,"

 

And again in Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8For he finds fault with them when he says:(Some manuscripts For finding fault with it he says to them)  "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." 13In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

 

So we see here something extremely central to reading the bible.

 

There was a covenant. God found fault with it, and made it obsolete. He then established a new covenant. In this new covenant, he writes his will, and his ways on our hearts and minds. Not on tablets of stone, but of flesh. He Himself teaches us right from wrong, leading and guiding us in everything.

 

More about the covenants later in the series.

 

We see here that even if we had no bible, we would still have all we need to know right from wrong, and all we have in order to know God. Jesus bought us everything we need for life and godliness.

 

The bible actually has only been around for a few hundred years.

 

The early church had no new testament. About 50% of the world is illiterate. Hundreds of languages do not have a bible in their language.  The good news is that all these "disadvantaged" people can know God. They can still be perfectly righteous, and live a victorious life, and operate in signs and wonders and with great power. They can still be mature Christians, because they can still have access to life in the spirit.

 

I watched a man tell a story...Jesus appeared to Him. Jesus told him the gospel, and told him who he was, and what he did for him. The man got saved, and baptized, spoke in tongues and began to witness on the streets. Until one day he discovered the bible, and read about the Jesus who had appeared to Him…wow  (Faizel Malick)

 

I've also chatted to countless people what have had dreams or visions where the Holy Spirit teaches people theology.

 

Everything from throne room encounters, to spiritual warfare and victory, to the love of God and other biblical truth.

 

You may say, so why have a bible then?

 

It's a wonderful safeguard and container of the heart of God to man. The enemy the deceiver loves to lie and distort and steal. God in his grace gave us the word to help keep us from deception. It's a tool to believe and to believe right.

 

My desire, and I believe it's the desire of the father is that we all love to read the bible and read it often.

 

If we believe anything that is contrary to the bible, that belief is incorrect.

 

So we can measure our revelations through the bible, and we can create truth from the bible. Our visions and prophecies have to be scrutinized by the integrity of the word. If there is a discrepancy, we must make the adjustments.

 

The bible is the inspired, infallible word of God. It contains pure truth and life.

 

Now I applaud people who spread the word over the world with bibles, I used to work for the Gideon's, handing out bibles in townships. We need these efforts, I hope we get a bible to every believer every where in the world. The bible is awesome and powerful.

 

My point here is simply, that for us who can read, and who have the Holy Spirit…regardless of who you are, you can read and understand the bible.

 

Simply say: Lord here I am, here is the bible, as I read teach me. Thank you.

 

Simply know: He will teach you.

 

2) Scripture vs Word

 

We need to understand the difference between the scriptures, and the word of God.

 

The scriptures are the entire collection of the writing of the bible.

 

The word, is the specific theme of the bible. The theme of the bible is God loves you, he sent Jesus, and now we are saved by grace if we believe. The word, is Gods message to you now.

 

The word of God is the word of no-condemnation: Romans 8:1

 

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ"

 

Listen to this 5 Min talk by Bertie Brits

 

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=812c186db6797d160f20

 

(up in till 02:10)

 

We don't come to a book, we come to a person.

 

Jesus is perfect theology.

 

Any belief I have that is outside of who Jesus is, must change.

 

Jesus is the exact representation of the father.

 

There is a difference between the word and the scriptures. Let's see how Jesus was perfect theology to this one lady in the bible.

 

John 8:1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" 6This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." 8And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."]]

 

The legalistic approach that the scribes and pharacees took was not in accordance with who Jesus is. Remember His words in John 3:16 For God so loved the world,(Or For this is how God loved the world)  that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned,

 

What did the law say?

 

Well it's interesting to note…the law is very complicated, and exact.

 

Firstly where was the man? The law demanded that both should be brought before judges. Lev 20:10

 

One of the problems with the law, is that the guilty are sometimes freed on technicalities!

 

Secondly the pharacees misrepresented the law; the actual death method was not prescribed by the law, so they were manipulation the law to their own advantage. If the woman was an engaged virgin, then stoning was to be used. Deut 22:22,23

 

This is exactly the strategy of the enemy. He wants to apply the law to you, he wants to condemn you, he wants to release death in your life. He will misapply the law to you. HE is wrong!

 

When you see this strategy at work in your life. Stop and say. The word of Jesus is the word of no condemnation.

 

I John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

 

We have permanent confidence before God, because we are not condemned.

 

God condemned sin in Jesus, so we might become the righteousness of God. When God looks at you he sees you as perfect as Jesus, even when you have just sinned, even while you sin. Why coz he sees you through the blood of Jesus, he sees you in Christ. Nothing can separate us from this love.

 

Surely this girl, burning with lust, betraying her husband. Sneaking around and having sex, during the day, while others were gathered in religious meetings. Surely she was guilty, in fact she was guilty, so where was her punishment, where was her judgment, where was the wrath of God.? Jesus showed the heart of the father. Remember he said "I do nothing without first hearing from my father" and "I only do what the father wills"and remember Jesus is "the exact representation of the father". Jesus was perfectly obedient to the father, so the fathers heart is also one of mercy!!

 

So we must interpret the scriptures through the word of no condemnation.

 

If this is how Jesus interpreted the scripture to a woman, guilty, under the old covenant. How does he deal with us now under the new covenant of grace, and the blood of Jesus when we sin?

 

If you read a scripture, and you feel condemned, you're applying the scripture incorrectly, and not seeing the word. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:1

 

I mean there is either condemnation of there is not…and the bible clearly teaches that there is not, and Jesus clearly showed us His heart, and intention towards us. Jesus way is to love us to wholeness, not guilt us to rightness.

 

How does the story end?

 

Well Jesus loves all over her, her accusers leave one at a time, first with the older ones. The older ones you see were wiser. Maybe the older you get the more you realize you have messed up a lot. They could not throw the first stone.

 

After Jesus turned away her accusers, which is exactly what he does for us. The enemy the Devil accuses us day and night, and Jesus turns away his accusations. After he turned away her accusers, he says "go and sin no more".

 

This is Jesus model for life to us. I love you, I don't condemn you, I came to save you, now go sin no more.

 

This is the Father's model for life to us, represented in Jesus, "What should I do and say Dad, and I'll do it"

 

The Holy Spirit is there to help us to live the life God had given us.

 

With the power of the trinity working inside of us, we are set up for victory!

 

So how to read your Bible…

 

1)      It's for you. You can easily read and understand your bible. Why not  start with John. Acts. Genesis.

 

2)      Don't just read the scriptures. Interpret the scriptures through the word. Jesus is the word. Don't come to a book, but to a person. Jesus is perfect theology.

 

Prayer:

 

Lord help us read our bibles. Help us to find your heart in the scriptures. Bring revalation.

 

Lord, please help me to live without any condemnation, towards myself or others.

 

Lord, help me to go sin no more. To enjoy life in freedom, as you have bought it for me.

 

Fill me more and more with your presence and the HS, thank you Lord.

 

Thank you Jesus.

 

 

 

Wayne's World...(20Oct08)

You will bear fruit

 

John 15v1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants,(Greek bondservants)  for the servant(Greek bondservant; also verse 20 [])  does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

 

We are going to walk through this great passage of scripture, and pull out a few wonderful truths.

 

I love this passage, its rich with glorious truth and magnificent theology.

 

First we see that Jesus is the vine, and the father is the vine dresser.

 

Here we see two groups of people, those who bear fruit and those who do not.

 

So who are those who bear fruit?

 

Who are those who do not?

 

Firstly those who do not bear fruit.

 

1)      Are those who bear no fruit.

 

Now please be clear, he said no fruit.

 

There are those who attend church, or who profess to be Christians, who go on  year after year, and there is absolutely no change. Years go by, and there is no fruit. NO change of heart, no growing revelation, no manifestations of the fruit or the spirit, or spiritual gifts. In that case you might need to ask, is this person truly in the vine? God promises those in the vine will be pruned and produce more.

 

I'm not talking about the person who battles with a problem for years, but rather a person who battles but does not even desire change, or see any need for it.

 

You can't have a changed nature, be so radically regenerated by the spirit, and have a dead heart.

 

2)      Those who do not abide in Christ.

 

3)      It is by its-self.(self effort/self righteousness/law). Trying to earn fruit.

 

4)      Not grafted into the vine.

 

5)      They do not have joy.

 

6)      They do not obey His commands, which is to love.

 

7)      Will be thrown away.

 

Who are these people? They are the unsaved.

 

I've heard this parable taught incorrectly before.

 

Some teach this parable saying, you better be careful, if you stop producing fruit you will loose your salvation and be thrown into the fire. I believe this incorrect interpretation, and ill show why later.

 

The other use of this parable is an unhealthy manipulation to try force fruit in Christians.

 

I've heard it say, "go work on your fruit, if your in Him then you must produce more fruit". This can lead to unhealthy striving, and quickly bring us back under striving, works law and condemnation. The entire point of this parable as we will see is that trying to do it our selves, getting caught up in self effort will not produce the fruit required, and its not, the way he wants to work in us.

 

Who are those who do bear fruit?

 

1)      They are those who bear fruit.

 

Even a tiny bit of fruit is fruit!

 

Do you want to do what right? Well that's coz you have become righteous. Who you are is righteous; this produces a willingness to follow wholeheartedly the things of God. You've become a slave to righteousness! Even a desire to want to do good, is fruit.

 

Do you love God? That's fruit!

 

Do you want more of God? Do you want to know Him more, do you want deeper revelation. Do you have thoughts towards Him? That's fruit.

 

Have you been changed at all?

 

Has anything in you changed?

 

That's fruit!

 

If you have fruit, you know you will never be cut off, and thrown into the fire. Never. Only those who have no fruit. Not those, who don't have enough fruit. Not those who's fruit is not big, or tasty enough. No the only ones who will be cut off are those who bear NO fruit. 

 

Fruit is any thought/action born out of love for God.

 

2)      Those who abide in Him. He abides in them.

 

Who are those that abide in Him?

 

1 John4:13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

 

The HS is the promise of the father to All who believe, to be poured out on all flesh.

 

If you believe you abide in Him. You're not " in AND out", your "in OR out". And were in.

 

3)      They are already made clean. Who made them clean? Jesus by the washing of HIs blood, and renewal of the spirit.

 

4)      They are pruned.

 

He will not reject us and cut us off if we bear little fruit. He will work in us to produce more fruit.

 

There may be unhelpful areas in our lives. There may be habits, addictions. Things that are unhelpful. Things that restrict "more fruit". Things like fear and unbelief, the roots of all sin. It's not sin "per se" that restricts fruit, but that stinking thinking that causes the sin in our lives. He comes and fixes that thinking, and that is the pruning. Were transformed by the renewing of our minds.

 

Eg I steal coz I need. Your sin is unbelief. Believing that God will provide your every need because he loves you and promised he would provide for you, will stop you stealing.

 

This is pruning!

 

If you stopped stealing but still did not believe Gods promise and nature, the fear and doubt would manifest in another way, you may become fearful about your future. Can you see how following the command does not guarantee that the root is dealt with. The root is unbelief. 

 

The good news is that we don't have to have work on producing fruit. You are already clean. As we begin to see who we are, and know the freedom we actually have, we can be transformed out of those things, into the freedom Christ has bought. Know this, he wants to, and can prune that area away.

 

Friend God has given you everything you need to live in total victory! He has given us everything for life and godliness.

 

Friend God is powerfully at work within you!

 

5)      They are not by them selves. (gift of righteousness/grace). Naturally produce fruit. Total reliance on God and the realization that you cannot produce fruit yourself.

 

6)      They have great joy.

 

11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

 

His presence also releases joy. Acts 2:28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence

 

7)      There prayer s are powerfully answered.

 

Not coz of how they pray, but because of who they are, and who God is.

 

 ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you

 

8)      They obey the commandments...i.e. to love. When you are filled with the spirit, you can't help loving! "Pursue Him purposefully and you'll fulfill the law accidentally" Michael Eaton.

 

I challange you to be filled with the Holy Spirit and not love!

 

9)      He will work in us to produce more fruit. Pruning produces much fruit.

 

What kind of fruit?

 

Much fruit.

 

Fruit that lasts.

 

Fruit that proves he is in us.

 

 

10)   They glorify God by who they are.

 

8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

 

 

Questions.

 

Who produces the fruit?

 

Who gets the glory?

 

Hebrews 3:3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses - as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)

 

Yes the house in nice, but the glory is for the builder.

 

11)   His work in us will have proof!

 

That you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

 

His powerful work in us through the spirit will produce fruit.

 

This is not a parable commanding us to go work on our fruit.

 

He proves in us that we are His disciples.

 

This tells us that the father is powerfully at work within us. He is the gardener, and attends to the vine. Jesus is the vine and we are that branch. We cannot produce fruit. We have no power to produce fruit. But when he works in us. We bear fruit. Part of that bearing fruit will be obedience to the commands.

 

This is the proof that he is in us. We love God and eachother. It's not something we have to go produce; it's a natural overflow of us in Him and Him in us. We will want to, and he will empower us to.

 

In order to not produce fruit we will have to actively resist him, which is actually harder than yielding to Him. If we do actively resist him, which is contrary to our righteous nature with us, he will prune us to help us not resist Him.

 

Phil 2

13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure ESV

 

13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure KJV

 

13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose NIV

 

We will produce much fruit. We will live in obedience, we will obey commands. We will because he works powerfully in us. He is the gardener, Jesus is the branch. It is impossible to be in Jesus and not bear good fruit.

 

It's impossible to be abiding in the spirit, abiding in Christ, and not produce fruit. If you have any fruit at all, you can expect more. A good tree will produce good fruit. Our roots are in Him, we are watered by the life changing spirit of God often. Good fruit is the only thing we can expect. This parable teaches us that when we are in Him, he is working powerfully in and through us and it is impossible for Him to not produce good fruit in and through us. This is to His glory, this is His glory, we are His glory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wayne's World...(18Oct08)

 

Hey punk..please post this on the blog...really good on eternal salvation (like there is any other kind!)

http://www.arielm.org/dcs/pdf/mbs102m.pdf

The state of the banks in Japan

 

Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in America and the run on Northern Rock in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan. In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches. Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song, while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived. While Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black. Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.

 

Grace for the Heart Newsletter

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. "   These words, spoken by President George Bush on May 1, 2003, marked the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq.   During the past five years, many have mocked the speech given aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.  Some have suggested that it was an error.  Some say it was political propaganda.  Some say it was a lie.

 

The statement was neither an error nor was it false.  "Major combat operations" did end back then and what we see today are simply the continuing battles and skirmishes with insurgents that follow almost any war.  Yet, it is difficult to feel that the war has ended when the battles continue.

 

Aside from the political ramifications of these statements, the idea seems easily and directly related to victory in the Christian life.  Many Christians long for victory in their lives.  They struggle against this or that sin, look for hope and peace, and wait restlessly for the coming of the Lord and the promised victory.  But is the fact of continued struggle evidence of lack of victory?

 

Here are a few things we know:

 

       Jesus Christ is the Victor – John 16:33
       God gives us the victory – 1 Corinthians 15:57
       By faith we receive the victory – 1 John 5:4
       The battles continue – Ephesians 6:10-13
In other words, the war is over and the victory is already ours – no matter what we see or feel around us.  The continuing battles can be difficult, even seriously dangerous, but the war is still over and we are the victors.  We will have enemies while we live in this world, but they have already been defeated.  In some ways those enemies seem to fight even harder against us because they are either desperate or no longer have anything to lose. 

 

Late in the game, after the starters have guaranteed the victory, the second team is sent in and allowed to play.  They play seriously.  Some may get hurt.  Others may try and fail.  But they are still on the winning team.  So why are they trying so hard?  If they know that they are already winners, why try?  Obviously, second-string players play to be noticed by the coach, but could they also play hard because they are winners?  Because they know they are on the winning team, their confidence and willingness to risk are higher.  They play harder because they know they cannot fail.

 

When we struggle against sin in our daily lives, we struggle as winners.  The victory is already ours.  The fact of continuing struggle does not negate the fact of accomplished victory.  Even if we succumb to the battle, sin still has no authority and no power over us.  

 

There is a wonderful story in John 13 where Jesus washes the feet of the disciples.  Peter doesn't think this is quite right and refuses to allow Jesus to wash his feet.  At that point, Jesus teaches the disciples something that we must never forget.  He begins by telling Peter that only those who are washed by Him will have any part of Christ.  From that we learn again the importance of the blood of Christ.  There is no salvation, no reconciliation with God, no relationship with God, except through the washing of the blood of Christ.

 

Then Peter wants to be completely washed by Jesus.  He wants to share in this amazing relationship.  But Jesus says that those who have been washed do not need to be washed again.  They are still clean from the first washing and nothing will change that.  Only their feet need to be washed occasionally.  There just doesn't seem to be any doubt that Jesus is telling Peter – and us – that the cleansing we receive at the point of our salvation is sufficient.  We belong to Jesus, now and forever, and nothing that happens in this life will change that.  However, the contact with this world will still result in "dirty feet."  I take that to mean that the battles, skirmishes, will continue. 

 

Now, this is important.  In those times when we are attacked by the world and we feel defiled, compromised, or unclean because of something we have done or something that has been done to us, Jesus is still the One who washes our feet.  We still cannot cleanse ourselves.   No amount of Bible memorization, good works, or self-deprivation will accomplish the cleansing we need.  So many teachers insinuate that Jesus did the "big one", washing away the sins of our past, but now we must take care of the "little ones" by somehow erasing the effects of the daily sins that result from our continuing struggle.  This error is the cause of much discouragement among the people of God.  Instead, we need the work of Jesus after salvation just as much as we did before salvation.

 

So let me summarize:  The battle has already been won.  If you belong to Jesus, you are already victorious over sin.  Sin has no authority over you, no real power in your life, and is never counted on your eternal "tally sheet."  And, as you walk through this life, facing and occasionally stumbling before the enemies, Jesus is right there with you to pick you up, wipe you off, and help you begin your walk again.  Eternal victory is yours because of what He has done.  Daily victory is yours because you walk with Him.

 

- David Orrison

Building with Brad...(15Oct08)

 

In Jesus' words

John 6: 27-29 "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.
Then they asked Him, what must we do to do the works God requires? Jesus answered, the work of God is this: to believe in the one He sent"

The people were looking at it from a human effort point of view, they were looking for something that they were meant to do to do the works of God. How many Christians are there that have this understanding and this way of living, always looking for something they need to do in order to do the works ( human effort based performance) God requires. How many leaders drive the people to do the works God requires. When we live trying to do this in our own effort it is never enough, we are never satisfied because God is never satisfied. No mater how much we do He cannot be satisfied. God is not satisfied with the works of the flesh, they are like filthy rags to Him, and it does not require faith and " without faith we cannot please God".

I love the response of Jesus, it is so simple " you want to do the works of God? Believe in the one He sent, Me" He took the focus off mans effort. All that needs to be done is that we must believe in Him, that He is enough, that He did it all. When we live in this revelation the it pleases God because this is faith and this opens the way to the unachievable and impossible without effort.

God bless

Bradley Dearlove

Building with Brad...(13Oct08)

 

Not afraid of law

I have come across two groups of grace believing Christians. The first group are those who are so afraid of law and performance that they constantly walk around aware of everything that might even remotely elude to law or performance. Even encouragement is misunderstood for "telling them to perform". The other group are those who truly understand grace, they live in such revelation of it that there is no way that they are going to go back under law or be placed under performance based living. This is the place in which we need to bring Gods people, that they would "grow in their knowledge of grace" and not live "afraid " of law. 

What happens is that the word "works" is often misunderstood for "performance to please" or "human effort". "works" is not a swearword if we understand grace. The bible speaks of us doing the "works of Christ" and "the Good works that have been set out in advance for us to do". This is not at all motivation under pressure to perform but it is rather a natural reaction of a life lived in grace and most importantly with The Holy Spirit. He is in us and He is manifesting the life of Jesus through us, hence "the works of Christ". There is a natural activation that takes place when we surrender to the Holy Spirit, we can only surrender to the Holy Spirit when we live in a revelation of grace.

Let me just say that there is at times a "sofa-sitting" stage that some believers go through when they first begin to be liberated from performance, human effort and law( not all believers go through this stage but only a small few- that I have seen anyway). This is the stage where they sit around and say "we don't have to do anything because we are under grace", this statement is true because we don't 'have to' do anything, the reality is that they have not yet grown in grace into a place where the 'have to' changes to a 'want to'. The 'want to' stage comes as we mature in grace ( most people I have met, including myself, went straight to this stage). The problem comes when they never get to this stage and they stay critical of everything that is encouragement. Some people even make grace a law and beat each other up with it, you have to always watch what you say around them and as a leader you can never encourage them because you are quickly accused of placing them under law. The only way to get them to mature is to continue to preach true grace to them. I had a guy here under my leadership who was like this, he came out of a very legalistic backround and started to hear us preach on grace and he got set free to some measure ( because he was afraid of law now he wasn't truly free). he would question anything and every encouragement was placing performance on him. I just kept teaching him grace and eventually before long he got it and now he is flying. 

When we live in maturity of grace we can not go back under law and so we do not live afraid. Even if I visit a church and the preacher starts to preach a strong mixture of law and grace, he starts to place heavy guilt driven motivation to give to the poor ( if you love Jesus you should be giving to the poor etc ) and then he takes up an offering for a poor community somewhere, I will happily give because I will myself be giving under grace and would want to give to the poor because I live in a revelation of Gods love, I don't agree with the way it was done by the preacher but it does not have effect on me,I don't have to give but I want to give, I know who I am and I will give out of that place ( I hope everyone understands what I'm trying to get across, I just used giving to the poor as and example). This goes with every area of our lives, while the ultimate need might be correct, the way in which it is presented is based on human effort and striving to perform and earn, but we will not be brought under that kind of living because we are truly free and no person can take that away. We meet the need (eg: pray for the sick, giving to the poor etc ) out of a place of our revelation of who we are in God and not out of motivation from the preacher. We don't throw our hands in the air and say " no, I'm not giving, this guy is trying to place law on me" thats immature thinking, why should we let ourselves be effected by legalistic people. 

If people are walking afraid of law then they are not truly understanding their freedom. We need to keep preaching grace to them so that they can come to a mature understanding of it and not live in fear of going back under law or performance and human effort.

These are just some of the people I have come across that I thought I would share with you. maybe some others have seen this, maybe I am wrong. I believe it is our role, in partnership with the Spirit, as leaders to bring people through into freedom and maturity so that they can fly with the Spirit. 

God Bless

Wayne's World...(8Oct08)

Devotional

THE HOLY SPIRIT

In Greek, the word grace is closely related to the word gift.  Total grace is two gifts:  The gift of righteousness through the finished work of the cross, and the gift of righteousness through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit in every born-again believer.  The Bible says that the Holy Spirit Himself is a gift to you, and that He is what the promise of the father:

                …He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father

                had promised.  (Jesus speaking)

                …and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Peter speaking)                 Acts 1:4&2:38b

 

In Acts 1, Jesus explained that "the promise of the Father" is the Holy Spirit.  Then, in Acts 2:38, Peter explained that the Holy Spirit is a gift.

 

You got "in Adam" by being born.  Now you have come to be "in Christ" by being born again.  Do you see that this new birth in the Spirit is all grace?  Each aspect of God's program is a gift which you could never earn.  But you have received both the gift of justification by faith and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Anyone can receive.  Many of the least worthy people in the world have received. Whosoever will may come home and take the water of life freely.  (Revelation 22:17)

 

You cannot earn the Holy Spirit today, but He is eager to fill you.  You need not convince God that you are finally spiritual enough to be filled, but He is willing to give you His fullness based on the finished work at Calvary.  The Holy Spirit moves gladly in conjunction with, and in response to, the blood of Christ.

Glory And Grace Hong Kong

 

For those who are attending or intending to attend the Glory and Grace Conference in 2009, please bookmark www.gloryandgrace.org in your browser as more details will be released on that website.

Building with Brad...(8Sep08)

Not even a little yeast

 

Gal 5: 2- 3 " Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law"

 

This is a powerful statement by the "champion of grace". The way I understand this to be is that he is telling them that if they allow even a little law in, then it will begin to change their whole way of thinking and eventually they will begin to change even their way of living and before they know it they will be completely back under law. " A little yeast works through the whole lump". Either Christ is not enough and they need to add a little law as well, or He is enough in which case if they do add a little law, Christ will be of no value.
We cannot allow any law, human traditions and principals into our thinking or into the thinking of the people in our care, "Christ is the end of the law", to us it is over, we now live by the Spirit. And in us He produces His fruit, and "against such things there is no law".

 

Rom 12: 2 " Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world ( which is judged under the law, law stirs up sin, the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is law- 1 Corr 15:56) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind".

 

As we renew our minds, which as we have heard from others that this is to transcend to higher level of thinking by seeing ourselves the way God sees us, our lives will be transformed into the image of Jesus. It is pretty simple actually, preaching the gospel of grace ( of course there is no other gospel) will allow the Holy Spirit access into the lives of the people because the message will strip all law, performance and control off people and awaken them to Christ in us. When Holy Spirit is given access to move in our lives, because people are no longer navel-gazing, sin conscious and condemned, He will transform us.

 

Our Job is to love on people and preach the truth of the Gospel, The Holy Spirits role is to transform people, communities and cities and perform signs and miracles through the transformed people as they live their lives in freedom, as true sons and daughters. It is an unfair partnering, He does it all, we enjoy it all. We must not make things complicated, the foolishness of the cross is simple. Man has just complicated it.

 

Lets uncomplicate the gospel and we will see nations changed.

 

God Bless 

 

Bradley Dearlove

 

 

Gal 5: 2- 3 " Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law"

 

This is a powerful statement by the "champion of grace". The way I understand this to be is that he is telling them that if they allow even a little law in, then it will begin to change their whole way of thinking and eventually they will begin to change even their way of living and before they know it they will be completely back under law. " A little yeast works through the whole lump". Either Christ is not enough and they need to add a little law as well, or He is enough in which case if they do add a little law, Christ will be of no value.
We cannot allow any law, human traditions and principals into our thinking or into the thinking of the people in our care, "Christ is the end of the law", to us it is over, we now live by the Spirit. And in us He produces His fruit, and "against such things there is no law".

 

Rom 12: 2 " Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world ( which is judged under the law, law stirs up sin, the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is law- 1 Corr 15:56) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind".

 

As we renew our minds, which as we have heard from others that this is to transcend to higher level of thinking by seeing ourselves the way God sees us, our lives will be transformed into the image of Jesus. It is pretty simple actually, preaching the gospel of grace ( of course there is no other gospel) will allow the Holy Spirit access into the lives of the people because the message will strip all law, performance and control off people and awaken them to Christ in us. When Holy Spirit is given access to move in our lives, because people are no longer navel-gazing, sin conscious and condemned, He will transform us.

 

Our Job is to love on people and preach the truth of the Gospel, The Holy Spirits role is to transform people, communities and cities and perform signs and miracles through the transformed people as they live their lives in freedom, as true sons and daughters. It is an unfair partnering, He does it all, we enjoy it all. We must not make things complicated, the foolishness of the cross is simple. Man has just complicated it.

 

Lets uncomplicate the gospel and we will see nations changed.

 

God Bless 

 

Bradley Dearlove

 

 

Building with Brad...(7Oct08)

Life in the Spirit

 

If we try to stop sinning we go back under law, because in order to stop sinning we have to go back under the law in order to achieve it. And if we go back under the law we will very quickly realize that we cannot obey it and so again we stand condemned and crushed. If we do this then we are in fact saying that Christ was not enough. Gal 5: 4 "You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace" By trying to stop sinning ( trying to be justified) we are actually alienating ourselves from Christ.
Christ was enough and all we need to do is receive the promise given to us, The Holy Spirit. He is the fulfilment of the promise, He is the one who will produce in us the same behaviour and love of Jesus.
Why do we think that rules and our ability to perform under them are more effective about bringing change in our lives than The Holy Spirit. We belittle Him in doing this because He is more capable of regulating our lives and transforming us into the image of Christ.
He is the one that produces the fruit in our lives seen in Galatians 5 and in verse 23 it says that "against such things there is no law"

 

People who have lived chained for so long hear the message of the gospel of grace and they begin to be set free and sometimes they start to see the flesh manifest. This happens because for years they have tried to regulate their behaviour by the law and then suppress the flesh out of fear of the consequences of breaking the law. They are now set free from law and the flesh manifests. We need to introduce them to the Holy Spirit who lives in them and give Him room to move in their lives. When we as believers begin to co-operate with the Holy Spirit then the life of Christ begins to manifest in us.  We co-operate not through striving or performance but through surrender to Him, brought about by revelation of what God has done by His wonderful grace and our eternally secured position in Jesus Christ and the imputed righteousness and holiness given to us for free. WOO HOO.

 

And as we walk by the Spirit and build a more intimate relationship with Him, He begins to open our lives to an unimaginable lifestyle. The love, the life and the power of Jesus begins to appear in us and through us as normality, with out effort. Life becomes a joy and very exciting. We start to hear the Fathers voice more clearly and we begin to see what He sees and get glimpses into the supernatural realm. Impossibilities start to happen as normalities, and we find ourselves no longer living from the temporary realm hoping to one day reach heaven but we rather live from heavenly places bringing change into the temporary realm. Strange things happen by accident, people get healed without prayer, demons manifest when we talking to someone and they are set free, the presence and glory of God fills a room while we are having coffee and talking about the goodness of God. The amazing thing is we are not planning for it to happen, it just is because we are living life in the Spirit and thus Christ is living through us by the Holy Spirit.

 

This is exciting- I am feeling excited as I write this- this is real Christianity, not this superficial intellectual Christianity, but experiential Christianity, the way we were intended to live. To preach the good news and the Holy Spirit demonstrates the good news.
I cant see how God would give us the Holy Spirit, The Spirit Of Christ, and expect nothing to happen. Surly if we have Him living in us and the Kingdom is in Him, then powerful, supernatural activity of a powerful, supernatural God is going to flow as a norm. We have to keep remembering that we must not try to manufacture or earn anything from Him. We cannot earn the Holy Spirit, He is in us, we have received Him. We cannot perform healing and miracles through striving or doing the right things, they just naturally happen as we walk in revelation of our position and with a  supernatural God.

Building with Brad...(7Oct08)

 

Brad Dearlove finds himself knee deep in desert sand in Dubai

and totally submersed in Grace.

 

I have been reading some of his writings and am totally blown

away. So with his permission, we are going to have another

addition to the mix at Grace in Flood.

 

Be super blessed

Love
Gregg

Wayne's World...(6Oct08)

 

The One Thing - Daily Devotional From Joseph Prince Ministries

 

Life Under The New Covenant
  
Heb 8:10 ...I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts…
 
What laws was God referring to when He said, "I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts"? He was certainly not referring to the Ten Commandments, known as the laws of the old covenant, since He said that He found fault with that covenant and declared it obsolete. (Hebrews 8:7–9, 13)

 

The laws that God puts in our minds and writes on our hearts refer to the royal law of love (Matthew 22:37–40), the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25) and the law of faith. (Romans 3:27) These are the laws of the new covenant.

 

You live according to the laws of the new covenant when you are conscious of how much God loves you. And the more you are conscious of His love for you, the more your heart is filled with love. When that happens, you will love God and the people around you supernaturally and effortlessly. That is God writing on your heart the royal law of love — that we love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

 

Secondly, when you know that you are perfectly accepted by God because of Jesus' sacrifice, you can have the courage and liberty as a child of God to come boldly into the presence of your heavenly Father. And in His presence, He is able to write on your heart new desires. You will find yourself wanting to do the right thing at the right time. You will live life victoriously from the inside out. This is the perfect law of liberty operating in your life.

 

Thirdly, when you sense what God is writing on your heart and putting in your mind, and as your faith is activated causing you to trust Him and His love for you, He calls it obeying the law of faith. When that happens, whatever you believe, you receive!

 

My friend, God has made it easy — and you will find that it is exciting — to live life under the new covenant!
 
 

Wayne's World...(5Oct08)

The One Thing - Daily Devotional From Joseph Prince Ministries

The Light Of The World Exposes Your Perfection  
 
John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
 
When I was a teenager, I heard preachers saying this: "Jesus is the light of the world. So don't think for one moment that you can do things behind His back. His light will expose all the bad things that you have done!" So I was afraid to come near God, fearing that His glorious light would show up my faults, weaknesses and shame.

 

But is this what "the light of the world" does?

 

The truth is found in the context of the verse. Jesus declared that He was the light of the world right after He had told the woman caught in the act of adultery, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"

 

When she said, "No one, Lord", He said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." Then, the Bible tells us that "Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world…'" (John 8:10–12)

 

How wonderful it is to know that when Jesus said, "I am the light of the world," His light was not to show up the woman's sin because He had just told her that He did not condemn her.

 

This tells us that we don't have to be fearful when we come into God's presence. He is not there waiting to punish us for our mistakes and failures. His light is not for exposing our sins and shame, or for condemning us. No, His glorious light is for showing us how perfectly His Son's blood has washed away our sins! That is why Jesus could tell the woman that He did not condemn her — because He would be condemned for her sin as well as ours at the cross.

 

Beloved, Jesus' light unveils the truth that our sins have been completely removed. It reveals how perfect and spotless we are because of Christ's perfect work at the cross. When you know this, you can go boldly into God's presence, knowing that you have the light of life that gives you grace and hope!
 

A Word of Encouargement from Grace for the Heart

God who Gives

    If you listen to some people you might think that God always has His hand out.  He seems to need money, time, energy, service, devotion and so much more.  You must do this for Him and that for Him, they suggest.  His kingdom requires your money; His pleasure requires your faithfulness; His work requires your service – if you listen to what they say.  But is God a taker or a giver?

    Well, I suppose you could say that He is both, but not in the sense some of these teachers might think.  You see, He takes us out of the darkness and brings us into the light.  He takes us out of shame and brings us into joy.  He takes us out of fear and brings us into peace.  He took you, but He doesn't take from you.

    Instead, He gives to you.  Do a concordance or a computer study sometime of the word "given" in the New Testament.  You will find that the Father has given you to the Son.  You belong to Jesus.  When you came to Him for salvation, He took you and brought you into His kingdom and now you are His.  You will also find that, from the day of your salvation onward through eternity, you will be given good from His hand.

    The forgiveness of your sins was a gift from the love of God.  The life you have has been given to you from Jesus.  The work you are called to do is given by Him, as is the energy and wisdom to do that work.  Your salvation, your sanctification, your glorification – all are gifts from Him.  Everything you have has been given to you. 

    Paul reminded us that we are not to boast because all these things have been given to us.  They are not things we have done for ourselves.  At the same time, we are not to live under condemnation for not "giving God enough."  The point of the grace message is that God has initiated a relationship with us where He gives us all that we need – just because He loves us.  In a sense, He does have His hand out, and it is filled with blessings for His people!

                                                                                                David Orrison