Hepzibah In Training

Restoration

2012-02-14T06:35:00.000-08:00

Restoration

Marsha Deveaux Johnson

www.livingjoyministries.com http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

Galatians Chapter 6

Verse 1 “Brethren if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also. (Amplified)

2 Corinthians 5:17-18

“Therefore if any person is [in-grafted] in Christ (the Messiah)) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether: the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold the fresh and new has come!

But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others in harmony with Him].”

Right Standing

Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior brings man into right standing with God. The acceptance of Jesus Christ guarantees that we belong to Him. It is His debt on the cross that paid for this position of right standing with God for us.

Right Fellowship

Right fellowship is based upon deliberate and willful decision-making to do what is right and pleasing in the sight of God. A breach in practicing righteousness allows the fellowship and communion with God in righteousness to be broken. This is sin. A restoration process needs to begin.

The Restoration Process

Acknowledge Sin/ Transgress/ Fault/ Misconduct

Recognize that something wrong has happened on your part with your relationship with God.

Forgiveness

This happened between you and God even if others were involved. Ask God to forgive your sin in the matter.

Seek Restoration from the Spiritual Body of Christ

Seek out ministers who are walking in right standing and right fellowship with God. Ask God to lead you to those who faithfully execute His will in their lives and can offer counseling and support to the lives of others.

Take Full Responsibility for the Broken Fellowship

Others may have influenced you but God has given you free will. This freedom must be understood and appreciated. Choice always brings consequences. When you make a decision and take action, consequences (good or bad) follow the action.

Words/Deeds

We are brought back into harmony with Father by God’s word, our words, and the deeds we practice after we are restored to right fellowship (2 Corinthians 5:18). Amplified

Healing

Make a decision to receive forgiveness and reject condemnation (Romans 8^th Chapter). Allow God to heal your hurting heart. No one can help you like Father. Walk and allow the wounded place to be a place of victory when the deliverance that God orchestrates takes place.

Setting Boundaries

· Make a quality decision not to go to a place of broken fellowship with Father.

· Draw your line in the sand!

· Set your parameters!

· Choose people, places, and things in your life that cause you to move closer to God.

· Cry out to God!

· Ask for His help!

· Choose no other gods before Him!

· Abandon selfishness!

· Lay your life before Him daily and finally “Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for YOU!” (1^st Peter 5:7)

Take Off The Limits!

2012-01-09T03:44:00.000-08:00

Take Off The Limits!

Marsha Deveaux Johnson

www.livingjoyministries.com

http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

1^st Thessalonians 5:23

“And the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly; and I pray your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” KJV

For the Believer these words recorded in scripture are critical in our understanding of who we are and what God can do in and through us. First of all, we are charged to know that we are spirit (communicator with God), we possess a soul (intellect/mind, will, & emotions), and live in a physical body (flesh, blood, & bones).

When we enter this world through birth, we are sensitized in the area of our soul and body. Our soul dominates our existence and also governs the actions of the physical body. Our spirit, which is really who we are lies dormant until something happens to give it life. This life giving happening for the spirit is recorded in Ephesians 2:1 by Apostle Paul. It is encountering and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Here is what takes place when you receive Jesus. Paul says, “And you hath He quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”KJV

When your spirit receives Christ and comes alive, you have finally activated the part of you that allows the thoughts, intents and purposes, of God to flow. Your spirit can now begin to govern your soul and body. The challenge is that up until this time the soul has been in power and wants to remain in power.

The new message is to live out of your spirit that is now activated by God’s word. The soul must be dethroned. The spirit (human spirit) with the thoughts, intents, and purposes of God should now govern the soul and body. This process takes place over time under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

As you continue to walk with God, daily conforming to the image of Christ, your soul through your intellect hears and processes God’s word. The final resting place in you for this compilation of God’s word is in your spirit (human spirit). Your spirit is as vast as Eternity and it knows, retains, and comprehends God’s word.

Your soul is limited and cannot consciously deliver all that you have learned at any one given time. Your spirit on the contrary can deliver to you the word of God that is needed for your life circumstance instantly.

Your spirit is not limited in its comprehension of the power, purpose, plan, and will of the Father for you. Therefore, the Believer must allow the spirit to govern the soul and the body will follow the soul!

As a Believer I struggled with my desire to please God and walk fully in His presence. I would agonize over circumstances and choices wondering if I made the “right choices” or “discerned clearly”, or “heard God”, or “pleased Him”. God is Father, He knows His children and comes to our rescue even when we are not aware that we need to be rescued. He comes to our soul only in rescue mode (when you are totally exhausted). He desires to communicate with us Spirit (God) to spirit (human spirit).

He rescued me so simply by speaking to me. My paraphrase of what He said is this, “You are trying to wrap your brain around and comprehend Me in your soul and it will never happen. Your soul is limited. Your spirit is not. The mechanism in you for communication with Me is your spirit. Live out of your spirit. I am Spirit, communicate with Me Spirit (God) to spirit (human spirit) (John 4:24).

Anyone who does laundry will understand the illustration that God gave to me. There are washing machines that load from the top of the machine and others that load from the front. His clear word to me was you cannot load a machine that opens on top from the front. There is no opening in the front to load the clothes. Duuuhhh! Your spirit has a purpose and it is to govern the soul and body with the vastness of God, the unlimited power and possibilities of God, the word of God, & the desire for truth. In short, your spirit reveals to you the vastness of Eternity right here on earth. Your soul does not have this capacity.

This “living out of your spirit” allows eternal peace to prevail in your life. It allows eternal joy to prevail in your life regardless of circumstances around you. It always whispers to you that God is not the “great I could be”, He is the “Great I AM”. You will discover that you can have His same peace and joy on both sides of Eternity.

A maturing Believer knows that sooner or later the soul operation is inadequate to deal with the vastness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Growth can only occur as you begin to live out of your spirit. Here are some practical entrances to accomplishing living out of your spirit. The greatest way of course is to listen to the Holy Spirit in you.

· Start by daily confessing before Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that you live out of your spirit.

· Feed your spirit God’s word. Use your intellect and will in this process (2^nd Timothy 2:15).

· Speak God’s word, God’s plan, God’s purpose, God’s will or say nothing at all. You are accountable for your words (Matthew 12:36).

· Do not fight with negative thought patterns. This only gives power and attention to the soul.

· When intruding, negative, godless, self-seeking, thoughts occur in your soul, silence them by deliberately turning to meditate or to say whatever is just, lovely, pure, positive, and of good report (Philippians 4:8). The good things will arise from your spirit if you use your will. Make a deliberate decision to meditate, say, and sing God’s word.

· Make a deliberate turn (use your will) and focus on truth, justice, love, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Start your “gaze” upon these things and the power of the negative in the soul will diminish.

· Cease to reason, mull, and agonize over your decisions and actions. Submit them to Father and out of your spirit will come proper responses in all circumstances that you face. Your intellect was given for you to embrace the knowledge needed in life. However, a successful life is totally dependent upon your Father’s presence, not your intellect.

Take off the limitations of your soul!

Living out of your spirit is the way to experience Eternity right here and

right now!

Too Many Words

2011-12-05T02:48:00.000-08:00

Too Many Words

“We are getting far too many words and too few of them are from the Lord”.

Marsha Deveaux Johnson

Many spiritual leaders are afraid to speak God’s word because of the fear of people. This is not the first time God has had to deal with leaders who feared man. It is common in both the old and new testaments. Leaders in the past and today engage in situational politics and adjust social issue views to accommodate the favored group, party, opinion, etc. This happens sometimes in absolute absentia of God’s word, law, and commandments. It is very clear that most of our politicians and legislators have no word of the Lord in their mouths.

Recently I was concerned about issues that dominate the news media and are holding the minds of people captive. God spoke in my spirit and said, “Don’t look at the lives of people, look at My word.” This Rhema word was settling for me. I hope it will settle you and allow you to focus on what is honest, just, lovely, true, and of good report (Philippians 4:8). If we focus, we will see Eternity. If we view and listen to the “banging of tin cans” (words, words, words) in this world, Eternity will be elusive.

God is a God of justice who loves and rewards righteousness and hates wickedness. He will not be mocked by the creatures He created (Galatians 6:7). He says whatsoever you sow, you will reap. If you sow hatred and discord, it will one day come to live at your house. If you sow God’s word in your own life and the lives of others, you will dwell safely and quietly from fear of evil (Proverbs 1:33).

Many activists beat for justice on a “tin can” (words, words, words), but do not seek, find, and practice the truth of God’s word. How foolish many appear to God crying for justices (with words) while their own hearts are soaked in deceit, greed, and hatred. How He pities us and desires our hearts to be given over to Him.

Many politicians label themselves Christians only to deceive, trap and endanger the lives of true Christians. God knows them that are truly His (2^nd Timothy 2:19)! It is up to each Believer to not be deceived by words. We must listen for the voice of God in everything we hear. If God’s voice does not resound in what we are hearing, bid it accursed (Galatians 1:8)!

Christians should never under any circumstance agree with words of hatred, put down, racism, and classism. None of these things are a part of the Kingdom of God. God loves and cares for all people and will not take sides against any created being. It is His heart that all come to a knowledge and acceptance of Him. The created being is the one who separates himself from God. Jesus died for all men. This is a simple message, yet when negative words are running rampant, everything gets complicated.

Return to the simple words on which hang the law and the prophets. “Thou shall love the Lord God with all thy heart, soul, and mind, and thy neighbor as thyself (Matthew 22:37-39). Remember that God is about all people. God fearing people who love righteousness do not perpetuate words of hatred, greed and power, but of love, salvation, and restoration.

The word of God tells the story of the rich man who gathered riches, fortified his storehouse, and built greater barns (Luke 12:16-21). He sought to make himself richer and richer and to keep all that he had. Nothing was designated for the poor who God said would always exist. God has instructed us to be cognizant of the less fortunate and make provisions to share riches (Deuteronomy 15:11). The rich man forgot that he had a date with destiny to slip into Eternity. It happened suddenly when he was so sure of his wealth and power to live forever. When he slipped into Eternity, nothing went with him. He was no longer in charge of the vast wealth he had accumulated for himself in this world. It was all “left behind”.

I offer this “To Do” list to stay focused in the “Too Many Words” world in which we live.

· When the words get so fast and furious around you, check in your spirit to see if they are really the heart of God for His creatures.

· Sharpen your ears to God’s voice by reading and speaking His word more than the word of people.

· Denounce religion, hatred, greed, racism, and classism. Seek relationship with God. Hunger to be found in His word looking for answers to all situations you face. How will you know His voice if you do not know Him?

· Pray bold and earnest prayers for leaders and politicians to speak the word of the Lord rather than the sentiments of created beings.

· Examine every word you speak in light of its weight for Eternity!

Remember:

If you love God, you will love all people.

If you hurt people, you hurt God.

If you deny God, you will deny people.

Enjoy the Holiday Season and the “Change” that God is bringing.

We are moving closer to the other side of Eternity

Seven Indicators of a Maturing Christian

2011-10-03T05:44:00.000-07:00

Seven Indicators of a Maturing Christian

Marsha Deveaux Johnson, www.livingjoyministries.com, http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Yes, there is hope for me and you! Look at the word of God offered here and receive its investment in your growth as a maturing Christian!

A Quiet Orderly Life

1^st Thessalonians 4:11

“…make it your ambition and definitely endeavor to live quietly and peacefully, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged you.” Amplified

Nothing displays the beauty of a maturing Christian better that one who has a quiet and orderly life. It demonstrates grace. It displays peace. It showcases that the life of Christ is so active in him that it is visible and evident to the world. The “busyness” of this world promotes disorder and chaos in daily activities. Some think they are not “living” if this “busyness” is not a part of their demeanor. They show the world their value by excessive involvement in many things that God has not ordered or sanctioned. Cultivate “quiet”.

A Hatred of the World, Its System, Focus, and Things

1^st John 2:15

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” KJ

Three things demonstrate that a Christian is maturing in the grace to live the life of Christ. There is hatred and shunning of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Any Believer who entangles himself with the world, its systems, its focus, its solutions, and its temporal things ends up being void of doing the will of God. The maturing Believer quickly identifies the futility of the systems and answers that the world offers. If your focus is “my next achievement, my next thrill, my next material thing, my next trip, etc.”, then the world has captured your heart. This will lead you to an emptiness that grows increasingly as the years go by. Greed for the world and its systems and pleasures shuts down maturity in the life of a Believer. Cultivate a hatred for what God hates and a love for what He loves (people).

A Contented Unshakable Life

1^st Timothy 6:6

“…Godliness accompanied with contentment (that contentment which is a sense of inward sufficiency) is great and abundant gain.” Amplified

Maturing Christians realize that the only things that can transition into Eternity are the lives we live for God here on earth. No material thing or relationship for which we strive accompanies us as we exit this earthly life. One day, we awake, look at our earthly possessions and realize that all of these things are indeed temporal. They stay here and do not produce fruit for Eternity. Use possessions to further the gospel and kingdom of God. Cultivate Contentment.

An Abiding Rest in Spirit, Soul, & Body

Hebrews 4^th Chapter

Verse 10, “For he who has once entered God’s rest has ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors, just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His own.” Amplified

Restlessness is an indicator of emptiness, fear, and wrong focus. Jesus is not Lord where restlessness abides. The Believer who is content, resting only in God depends solely upon God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, provide, comfort, and protect. There is no expectation or demands made upon family, friends, associates, governments, etc.

This freedom to be led only by God’s Holy Spirit positions a Believer for the ultimate life of contentment. Doubt and unbelief kept God’s people in times past from entering in to His rest. Do not let this happen to you. The maturing Christian rests in God’s leading and the finished work of the cross by Jesus Christ to accomplish His plan in their lives. Works of the flesh cannot give birth to spiritual fruit that is necessary in the life of a maturing Christian. Cultivate “Rest”.

An Unrelenting Love for God and Others

Matthew 22:37-38

“…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.” Amplified

If love is not present in your heart for God and all human beings, you are not of God (1^st John 4:7-8, 1^st Corinthians 13^th Chapter). This is a place of no compromise. If you hate, do not forgive, and persecute others, you are not a Christian. Every man who “knows” God loves Him and all people. Cultivate Love for God and People.

A Submission to the Death of Self Process

Hebrews 12: 5-11

“My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of Him: For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges, every son who He receives…” KJ

God deals with every Christian in conforming to the image of Christ. This is a process by which self is dethroned and Jesus is made Lord over the life of the Believer. This process takes time. The Holy Spirit is the One who leads & guides us in this transformation. This death of self process is because God desires that we not make a “god” of self. Cultivate “Dying to Self”.

An Increasingly Peculiar Life

Titus 2:14

“Who gave Himself on our behalf that He might redeem us (purchase our freedom) from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people [to be peculiarly His own, people who are] eager and enthusiastic about [living a life that is good and filled with] beneficial deeds.” Amplified

1^st Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” KJ Cultivate the “Peculiar Life” God has for every Believer for Eternity!

What's New?

2011-09-05T02:09:00.000-07:00

What’s New?

Marsha Deveaux Johnson, www.livingjoyministries.com, http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

2 Corinthians 5: 17-19

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation: KJ

It was God (personally present) in Christ reconciling and restoring to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them]and committing to us the ministry of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).” Amplified

Man is created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). Man is spirit, an invisible being that communicates with God the Creator. Man possesses a soul, the intellect [mind], will [choice], and emotions [feelings]. Man lives in a physical body [flesh, blood, bones] (1^st Thessalonians 5:23). Your spirit, soul, and body makes up the complete package that is called a human being. Everyone born is a spirit, possesses a soul, and has a physical body.

God exists in three parts just as He created man to exist in three parts. God is: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and brought a curse of sin on mankind (Genesis Chapter 3). This sin of disobedience broke the initial connection between God in heaven and man on earth. The restoration of the connection between God and man happened when God sent His Son Jesus to do penalty for our sins (John 3:16).

If we are a created spirit, having a soul, and living in a body, what happens to us when we acknowledge and ask Jesus to come and live on the inside of us? Is there any part of us that has changed? Is there any part of us that has not changed? How does this decision to have Jesus inside of us play out in the choices, decisions, actions, and lifestyles, we exhibit after we receive Him?

What happens to us when we acknowledge Christ, repent, and ask Jesus to come and live on the inside of us?

When we confess that we are a sinner and ask Jesus to forgive our sins and live on the inside of us, our sins are forgiven (Romans 3:23, 1^st John 1:9, Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19, Romans 10:9, Isaiah 55:7, John 3:16-18, John 1:12). We are restored back to our right relationship with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We are redeemed from Adam’s sin. We are now sons of God and joint-heirs with Christ Jesus to live out Eternity with God (1^st John 3:2, Romans 8:16-17).

Is there any part of us that has changed? (Human Spirit)

Yes! God has allowed your human spirit that was dead to come alive to His consciousness (Ephesians 2:1-9). God has made alive our human spirit so that we can communicate and respond to Him. It is in the deep recesses of our spirit that He communes and communicates with us. He has forgiven us (our sins) and we are a new creation in Him appropriated by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for our sins and we are no longer guilty. We are new creations in Him. Your spirit is the new you!

Is there any part of us that has not changed? (Soul/Body)

I wish I could say otherwise but unfortunately there are two parts of man (soul and body) that do not change when the “New Birth (Creation)” occurs. However, God has made provision for change for the soul and the body. Let us examine how God has made provision for the change in the human spirit to influence these other two parts to come into alignment with the new creation in Christ Jesus.

First of all the soul (Before receiving Jesus) has gained years of intelligence, habits, emotions, and information that still remain intact after you receive Jesus. Some of the intelligence and information may be truth and some may not be truth. Some of the habits may be good and consistent with God’s word and some may not. Some of the emotions may be healthy and some may not be. God wants us to succeed in allowing Christ Jesus to live His life in us.

So how does God expect the new creation to succeed at being new when some of the intelligence, habits, emotions, and information found in the soul are faulty? Good question! Here is how it takes place. The answer lies in these two words: New and Renew. When you receive Jesus, your spirit is made alive by God. Your spirit is the “New Creation”. When you receive Jesus, your soul is not “New” but has to be “Renewed” (Romans 12:2). How does this “renewal” take place? Jesus Christ (The Living Word) and God’s word in scripture are the agents of renewal. It is the study, knowledge, and application of God’s word that allows your soul to align with your spirit that has become a new creation. As your mind is “Renewed” with the word of God, that same word of God will find its home deep within your spirit.

When your spirit and your soul become one with the word of God, the God-life (Zoe) begins to explode in you and all things truly become new! You begin to conform to the image of Christ. This is a process. John 8:31 says “…If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed”. It takes time. The word of God must begin to work mightily in you. Jesus is your Intercessor as you walk in grace, faltering, repenting, and moving forward in Him. You are covered by Christ’s blood and you grow in His grace.

Here is a piece of good news about your body. Once your spirit and soul are aligned with God’s word, your body follows in obedience. The body is going to do what the mind tells it to do. The body is a slave to the soul. So if your soul aligns with the “New Creation” in your spirit and studies God’s word, makes a decision to do God’s word, the body follows exclusively! What a mighty God we serve with a perfect plan for us to succeed! What’s New? You!

“New You” Entitlements

Entitlement #1: The Forgiveness of Sins (Past, Present, Future)

Isaiah 43:25, “I, even I, am He that blots out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”

Jeremiah 31:34, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord: for I will for forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Hebrews 8:12, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

Entitlement #2: The Grace of God

Earlier I referred to the information, habits, and practices that are in place in the soul and body of all of us prior to receiving Jesus. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and begin to obey his word, grace becomes a key issue in understanding our walk with Jesus Christ. We must understand and accept that it is God’s extension of grace to us that makes us worthy of His love and forgiveness. We cannot earn His love and grace. It is ours when we receive Jesus Christ. It is what He did on the cross in payment for our sins that entitles us to live free from sin. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Romans 6^th Chapter explains the provision of grace in the life of the believer.

“Grace is your covering while you recover.”

Entitlement #3: The Healing Power of Christ in my Spirit, Soul, & Body

· Relationships

· Finances

· Physical/Mental/Emotional Healing

· Restoration

· Freedom to spend Eternity with God

After receiving all these entitlements from our Heavenly Father, what then is our challenge in life? The challenge then becomes to allow Jesus Christ to live out His life in us. What do we do when we disobey God (sin) after receiving Jesus Christ into our hearts? How does God see us when we commit sin? Will God forgive our sin over and over and over? How do we renew our soul and body with God’s word while struggling with habits and desires? Good questions! Let’s examine each one.

How does God see us when we commit sin?

He sees us covered by the blood of our Intercessor Jesus Christ (1^st John 2:2). When we accept Jesus Christ, we are in “right standing” with God. When we sin fellowship with God is broken but not right standing. When we repent, we are in right standing and fellowship with God.

What do we do when we disobey God (sin) after receiving Jesus Christ into our hearts?

1^st John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1^st John 2:2, “My little children I write unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Prior to receiving Jesus Christ into our lives, the remedy for sin is inactive. The penalty of sin which is spiritual death (Romans 6:23) just keeps mounting. Once we receive Jesus, He becomes the remedy for sin. He took and bore our sins in His own body upon the cross (1^st Peter 2:24). We are free because He was punished. When we sin, we confess, repent, and commit to “sin no more”. We resume living the life of Christ. This is possible because of the words Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Our penalty for sin has already been paid! When we receive the “Not guilty” sentence because of Christ, the life of Christ becomes easier to live. Not because we want to continue to sin, but because our relationship with Him causes us to desire to please Him.

Will God forgive our sin over and over and over?

Jesus instructed His disciples to forgive others their trespasses seven times seventy (Matthew 18:21-22). Our God, because of the finished work Jesus accomplished on the cross receives and forgives us because of His Son’s shed blood. Confession and repentance yields forgiveness. God deals with His children because He is Father and knows each one. He does not see as man sees (1^st Samuel 16:7). He sees the repentant heart in the midst of all the turmoil of life circumstances. His provision is made for all of us to abandon sin forever.

How do we renew our soul and body with God’s word while struggling with habits and desires?

Renewal of the soul and body comes by the power of the written word of God, the spoken word of God, and the Living Word made flesh who is Jesus Christ. When we read, hear, and confess God’s word, it enters our soul (mind) and finally lodges deep within our spirit. The constant “marinade” or “soaking” of God’s word in our spirits produces the life that comes from the word of God. The word of God grows powerfully and empties into the soul (mind) when it faces a trial and is needed to dispel lies, wrong emotions, and sudden negative confrontations. The word of God moves from our spirit to our soul and then the body follows orders.

Remember the body follows the soul (mind). This results in releasing habits, wrong thinking, wrong actions, and everything that displeases God (eventually). If you are born of God you have the promise of God to “stop sin” in your life. This promise comes in the form of Jesus Christ, the Living Word. Fully receive His righteousness and struggling to live for Him will cease.

It is only if the word of God has been heard and deposited by meditation in our spirits that it can arise and deliver us. This is God’s awesome and powerful way of escape for us no matter what we face. God’s word will not return void or useless in our lives (Isaiah 55:11).

God made provision for recovering your life in His presence. If you have surrendered to His love through Jesus Christ, you will not continually disobey Him. You will build a relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that dispels the sin in your life. You are entitled to live a life free from sin! You can do it because of the sinless One, Jesus Christ!

Have You Been Inked?

2011-08-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

Have You Been “Inked”?

If you read and study God’s word, the one thing that becomes increasingly clear is its accuracy. The prophetic words given to the prophets in dreams and visions astound historians with the details to which they are fulfilled. Believers who seek growth can find it in the power of the study of God’s word. God opened the eyes of His prophets to details of events that had not yet happened. He illumined their eyes to concepts that had not yet been discovered and practiced.

The magnitude of the vastness of God becomes about as clear as our mortal minds can phantom when we see the accuracy of the written prophetic word. I have recently been studying the prophets and it has increased my capacity to believe God’s word for it is infallible!

Men and women who were called to speak God’s prophetic word suffered greatly in the natural. However, they knew their experiences were being generated by a supernatural Almighty Power (God Himself). He never abandoned them no matter how hard the task, how rebellious the people, or how long it took to deliver the message. God was motivated by love for His people and He had to send the righteous word for them to obey and have favor with Him.

I am in my second full year of studying the prophets beginning with Isaiah. As I read, meditate, and make notations on each chapter, I realize why God has given Eternity to Believers. We will need Eternity to begin to unveil the mounds of revelation contained in each written word of God (Thanks be to God for Eternity to get to “know” Him). God’s word has the power to change us. His word conforms us to the image of Christ.

Ezekiel the ninth chapter outlines an event that parallels a principle that should be understood today. It is fascinating reading. Ezekiel has a vision of six men (with destroying ability and weapons) being called to God’s house. One of these men was clothed in linen and had a “writer’s ink bottle” at his side. God instructed this man to go through the city of Jerusalem and “ink” or set a mark on the ones who loathed the sins the people were committing. God was marking and identifying His true Believers. The other five men were to follow in the streets of Jerusalem and kill everyone who did not have this mark on their foreheads. WOW! Wrong choices will bear wrong consequences. The wages of sin will always be death (Romans 6:23)

We live in a world where sin manifested in greed, lust, hatred, arrogance, and decadent lifestyles are showcased and promoted. The people who are victimized by sin scarcely notice that they are destroying the temples that God gave to them. They proclaim the greed as “Good”. They proclaim the lust as “Having fun”. The hatred and arrogance are just “Looking out for myself”. And the decadent lifestyles they proclaim as, “My right to do so”.

Every person in Jerusalem had the freedom to hate sin or to participate in sin. This is the free will given by God to man. The regrettable part of making the wrong choice (participating in sin) was that they payed for it with their lives. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Sin always ultimately produces death. Death is the natural and progressive by-product of sin. This crime has a fixed sentence. This word is infallible.

The understanding in Ezekiel implicates that God does know the righteous and He spares them as a man spares his own son (Malachi 3:17). His eyes are over the righteous (Psalms 34:15) and He hears their cries to Him. If you are a believer, you are marked with the indelible ink of the “Blood of Jesus Christ”. You will be brought into a place of safety and refuge as you know and understand who you are in Christ.

I have found many Passovers in the Old Testament, but this one spoke to my heart directly. It is because of the times in which we live. All the ancient boundaries of righteousness, morality, honesty, and purity have been removed. It is easy to see that many people have not been “inked” with the blood of Christ. This is so unnecessary because He died for all mankind. God constantly extends Jesus to a death-sentenced world.

There is life after being “inked”. Those of us who have been “inked” experience life at its finest no matter the challenge, hardship, or test. We have “Eternity in our hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). God makes us ready or fits us to live with Him throughout Eternity if we have been INKED.

Is Your Soul Denying Your Body?

2011-07-07T03:11:00.000-07:00

Is Your Soul Denying Your Body?

Marsha Deveaux Johnson, http://www.livingjoyministries.com/, http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

Soul (Mind/Intellect, Will, Emotions)

Body (Flesh, Blood, Bones)

My exercise of choice is swimming. I love the water, the freedom of it, the feel of it, and mostly the benefits of unrestricted body movements. In spite of all this admiration for the water and knowledge of the benefits of it, I often find myself dreading the exercise routine. This daily routine consists of warm-up exercises and a certain number of laps at a certain time in the pool.

Recently it was time to exercise and the dread of it was overwhelming. I thought of all the “godly” things I could be doing at that time. I thought “enough already, skipping a day really isn’t so bad”. I even recalled the time that Jesus slipped away from fellowship with His disciples just to be alone with Father. Maybe Father wanted me to just sit quietly with Him during my exercise time?

Well, after a long and heated conversation with myself (without a word being spoken), I reluctantly suited up and went out to battle (oops, I mean to swim). I got in the water and started the warm-up exercises. I didn’t “want to” but had made a decision. I teach others that all of life is a decision and that when we choose the righteous path, the benefits follow. Do you think Father was testing my words to others on me? Yes! He usually wants us to live the message before we tell and teach others. Father knows best!

After a while, my routine was in full swing (or swim) and I wondered why I’d had such a fight with myself about doing the right thing. Even greater, as I was coming to one end of the pool ready to do a graceful and “fish like” turnabout, God spoke to me. He said, “Your body was ready for this exercise, but your soul could have deprived it of its need.” I was stunned as I realized that a simple decision could have deprived me of the joy I was experiencing. Had I not pushed past my feelings, my body would have been denied one of its greatest needs which is exercise. God always speaks to us so simply and profoundly. It is called revelation.

I began to think, how many times does the Believer’s soul deny his body of its physical and spiritual needs. When we reason away God’s plan, purpose, and will, our bodies are denied the fruitful promises that God gives in His word. Make a decision to make the right decisions. Make choices beyond feelings, reasoning, laziness, and any hindrance to doing the right thing.

Our soul (mind, will, emotions) makes the decisions for the body we inhabit. If we make decisions based on flawed feelings, false information, and unrestricted desires, we create havoc for our physical bodies. If we choose God’s word, plan, and purpose, we always enjoy the physical and spiritual benefits. So the next time you make a choice or decision, make sure that your choice pleases the Father. If it does, the benefits are out of this world! Righteous choices and decisions “Fit us for both sides of Eternity (Eternity here & now and Eternity forever)”.

Jubilee!

2011-06-05T02:53:00.000-07:00

Jubilee!

Definition: (1) A historical celebration of the Jewish people held every fifty years. This occasion was announced and celebrated by the blowing of the ram’s horn (trumpet). (2) A time or occasion of rejoicing.

Recently God imparted to my spirit a powerful single word that set me on a journey of understanding what He does in my life. He whispered the word “Jubilee”. I was at the time exercising and I immediately began to meditate on this word. I already knew that it was a biblical festival established by God for His people once they had entered and divided the promised land. What I did not know was how He would minister, illumine, and manifest this powerful word to show me Who He is in my life and what He does daily for me.

Let me paint a brief picture of the mechanics of the Jubilee festival celebration. I can almost guarantee that as you read them you will begin (in your spirit) just as I did to see personal power in this word. Jubilee refers to the fiftieth (50^th) year. After reaching and conquering Canaan, God’s people divided the promised land among themselves. Fifty years after the division of the land was the time to mark and celebrate the first Jubilee. Jubilee was established by God. It was not a manmade institution. There are three basic actions that were set in place to observe Jubilee (50^th year). They are as follows:

Rest

There was rest for the soil (Leviticus 25:11). Man was freed from the labor of sowing and reaping. That year man entered into a blessed rest to live and enjoy the bounty that God had provided.

Reversion of Property/Restoration

At Jubilee all property in fields and houses situated in villages and unwalled towns, which the owner had to sell because of poverty was to revert without payment to its original owner.

Freedom

Everyone who because of poverty had sold himself into slavery was to receive freedom for himself and his children. He could no longer be “owned” by anyone. His debts were forgiven.

The Jubilee year became one of freedom, grace, redemption, deliverance, a time of refreshing, and cessation of oppression. WOW!

The Holy Spirit began to minister to my spirit about this word “Jubilee”. First of all, its meaning takes on a new light in the lives of those who are alive today and under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Secondly, with our sins forgiven, we have entered the promised land for Eternity. As this journey continues, we are faced with the challenges, tests, trials, happenings, etc. of life here on planet earth. The truth of the matter is that we “need” the Jubilee (Rest, Restoration, and Freedom) that only God can give!

My personal experiences reveal to me that God can bring your life to a place of continual (daily) Jubilee. The historical Jubilee lays the framework for the Jubilee that God can give every day.

Conditions for Daily Jubilee

The first condition for Jubilee on a daily basis is “Rest”. Rest is outlined for us in the fourth (4th) chapter of Hebrews. Believers must be so convinced that God knows exactly what He is doing in their lives that they can totally “rest” in Him. A place of rest in God means that you have settled yourself in His mercy, His love, His promises, and His Eternity for you (John 3:16, 2^nd Corinthians 1:20, Ecclesiastes 3:11). Rest indicates that nothing is happening in your life that is not under God’s tender care and authority. Receive the Jubilee of “Rest” daily. Always be aware in your inner man (spirit) that you have the protection, love, and favor of God. Let the “at risk” feelings die on the vine. Cultivate His presence by meditating on scriptures that tell you what God says about you. (Example: Psalms 17:8, Zechariah 2:8, “I am the apple of Your eye”.)

The second condition for daily Jubilee is “Restoration”. God is not running out of anything that is needed in time or Eternity. He has a definite plan to restore to you all that He has appropriated for your life here on earth. He knows what you need and when you need it. He has simply asked you to ask in faith and patience and see Him work bountifully for you. Jesus came that we may have life and have it more abundant (John 10:10). Abundant, full, and overflowing life was God’s idea for you. It is your promise if you serve and obey Him. He can restore by natural means and by supernatural means. He has no limitations on what He can give to a man who walks upright before Him. Ask in the name of Jesus, and He will do His work in your life (John 14:14).

The last condition for daily Jubilee is “Freedom”. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). Jubilee in your heart sets you free. Your boundaries are God’s word flowing freely in your life. It is a taste of the river of life running freely in your daily challenges, movements, interactions, and work. It is a state in which you completely understand what you have been given in God’s word and are willing to receive and walk in it. In short, it is JUBILEE!

My personal definition of Jubilee is the “Everyday manifest appearance of God in my life”. There are innumerable times in my life that I desire, and God fulfills. I ask and while I am asking, I receive (Isaiah 65:24). I have come to verbally “blow the ram’s horn” out loud and say “Jubilee” when I see God manifest Himself to me in my life’s circumstances. I live in “Rest”. I live in “Restoration”. I live in “Freedom”. All of God’s people should and can. Don’t miss out on your “Jubilee”. Recognize it! Proclaim it! God will bring more of Jubilee to pass as you honor Him for jubilees you see in your life. Let Him minister this word to you and your life. Jubilee is totally “settling” yourself in God and living every aspect of life in His grace. Living in Jubilee (Rest, Restoration, and Freedom) is good and proper training to be fit for Eternity.

P.S.

Can you even imagine what Jubilee must be like throughout Eternity? I am overwhelmed to think about it. I think I’ll need a new body to keep up with the Eternity celebration!

Prophetic Word

2011-05-09T01:16:00.000-07:00

God delivered a prophetic message through me to Believers in attendance at a Spiritual Warfare Seminar on September 17, 1995 in Daytona Beach, FL. The date and year is significant because now I am seeing this prophecy manifest right before my eyes. This is yet further confirmation to Believers that every word written and spoken by God comes to pass. This prophecy is astounding. Fulfillment of God’s prophetic word fits us for the Eternity we will spend with Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

(Prophetic language is inspired of God, given by God, and comes “through” Believers. The language is often repetitive. These utterances are not organized thoughts by a person on a particular theme. When prophecy references future events and occurrences, only God has the ability and power to bring it to pass. (Jeremiah 28:9…When the prophet’s word comes to pass, [only] then will it be known that the Lord has truly sent him).)

Read it, reread it, and allow the Holy Spirit to witness in your spirit these unedited revelations given sixteen (16) years ago.

Marsha Deveaux Johnson

www.livingjoyministries.com

http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

“Those doing that which I have commanded will receive…release the power…the strength and power. Yes, it’s released but only those who will stay where they are planted can receive. It is out of My presence, it is out of My presence, that you receive that strength, that you receive that power. Wait for Me, wait for Me, wait for Me, seek for Me, wait for Me (singing). As a flower blossoms, wait for Me, wait for Me, wait for Me, wait for Me..Alleluia…wait for Me.

Drop your tools and wait for Me…drop your tools. They’re no good. They cannot help you. They cannot get you where you desire so drop them and wait upon Me. Wait for Me, wait for Me.

Earth shaking terror is released upon this earth. There will be such a frenzy and such a searching, and such a looking for an answer as you My children have never seen before. There is arising here and there and everywhere, demonic spirits that are bent on shaking and pulling and destroying those that God Almighty has reached His hand for…and the earth, the earth will respond by wonders that you see and things that go forth that send terror and send trouble to the hearts of men, but be not afraid and be not dismayed for My kingdom, My people are hearing Me as never before.

You know the signs of the times and your heart is hovering under My heart and I say to you today to be not afraid…let not your hearts be troubled when you see what comes upon the earth. For destruction, destruction in places, in places, where there was not destruction. It were as if a ‘lifting’ has happened, but it will cause and create a hunger and a desire for Me, a searching of those who look around and say what is going to happen next. They will search for me and I say, ’My church, those who have been baptized with fire, are the ones who will lead them to the kingdom that I have prepared for them, for yes I have My kingdom and My kingdom will be filled…it will be filled…it will be filled.’

You look around and say ‘why’ but I know why, I know why, and you must trust Me that you are standing where I desire you to stand to be the deliverers that I have called you to be.to be the deliverers that I have called you to be.

Yes, preparation, yes waiting, but Oh, when you see the victory you will say yes, God, I knew that you were delivering people…I did not understand why the waiting, why the agony, but the more I see, I glorify You. Now be not dismayed what will come to your ears. Do not try to understand it. It is not understandable. Oh, I say, listen for My voice. Listen for My voice. Listen for My flood in your spirit and move when I desire you to move. You speak when I tell you to speak. You be silent when I tell you to be silent and you will see My hand move in a miraculous way right before you. I am the God who delivers right in front of your eyes. I change, I rearrange what the distortion of the enemy says. I put back in place for My people. I send it forth unperverted and undistorted. You will see My face and My glory to be upon you as you stand and wait in My presence. My word is ‘WAIT’. Stay there one more minute, one more hour, one more day for when you see the release you will say, ‘God, it was all worth it’.

More disturbances in the atmosphere, and in the weather, and particularly in the earth and beneath the surface. There is such turmoil. Creation is groaning for My coming. It wants to be delivered.

Go ahead and stand. Go ahead and stand. If the tears come, just wipe them away. Just go ahead and stand. I have appointed you to stand. I have equipped you to stand. Don’t mind what goes on around you. Don’t mind it. I have equipped you to stand.

Prepare to have more of My presence released in your prayer time. Seek Me…and wait…do not leave…wait upon Me…wait upon Me. The busyness of the world can wait, YOU WAIT UPON ME. I will show you the victory. I will speak on a day, and on the next day you will see that which I have spoken come to pass, if you wait upon Me…if you wait in My presence, if you do not become weary, if you do not say ‘well I can just go on’. Wait upon Me. I want to prove Myself to My people. I want to fix the broken things in My people’s lives. Oh, yes, My table is full. There is no lack at My table. All the joy you want…all the peace you want…all that I have given is there for you. All the healing..yes, all the healing in spite of what you see, all the healing is on My table..to be released to My people.

Those of you who look to the government, it is not there…it is not there…it is not there…it is not there. It’s in Me…It’s is Me…It’s in Me. I have commanded you to pray for them, and that is your responsibility. But My word will come to pass on the nations. The word that I have spoken over nations will come to pass, so what you see is what has been prophesied and what has been foretold and it will come to pass. But there is no deliverance in government, it is in Me. If you will look aside you will be polluted, but if you will look to Me your fountain will give fresh water, fresh anointing, fresh obedience, daily bowing in My presence, and daily receiving from Me. I want My people to speak and have the world hear their words. I call you to a place of holiness that I can release your word to be My word…in your lips and upon your lips and government will come to you to hear the word of the Lord, to hear the word of the Lord.

I will send a wave of My Spirit with the infilling of the baptism of the Holy Spirit where I will sovereignly, in masses, release the infilling… for I will sovereignly release the anointing of the power that comes upon it, that rides in with it.

And the children, the children, the children will speak. The children, the children, the children that have been so assaulted by the enemy, oh, will rise up. They will rise up and they will have wisdom beyond their years, they will have an anointing to speak My words. It will cause attention to come because they are so young that speak My word, that have and perform My miracles. They will get the attention of the world…they will get the attention of the world. It is for you that I release this.

It is for My people that I release everything in the earth. So stand fast. So hold that that I have given you and use it for My glory and My honor, and I will bless it and you will say ’God, it started as a seed and look now what I have. I have multitudes in my garden.’ And He will say ‘Yes because you planted and you watered and you did not refrain when the weather was not what you desired but you kept hope in Me…hope in Me…hope in Me…‘. Can you wait upon Me? Can you wait upon Me? Can you wait for that precious harvest? You see I have sent it and have allowed many of you to see it and it’s created a hunger but I still ask you to stand and be steadfast. I still ask you to return and give Me everything…give Me everything…give Me everything. Release it.

Pray for cities, pray for cities, pray for cities…pray for them…pray for them…pray for them…pray for them…pray for them. Pray, tear down strongholds over cities. Many are held captive in cities...in the cities. They are held captive. They have nowhere to turn and few of My disciples want to go there…want to go there. But you pray and I will release ministries in cities and pray for cities, choose some and pray for them and I will release laborers to them…I will release laborers to them…I will release laborers to them who will reap the harvest because of your prayers loosing those who are bound there. I will even tell you what cities to pray for. I will place in your heart as only I can, a burden for cities and you pray for them. You speak to the principalities over them and you tell them that the time of Father’s release is come for that city and they can no longer stronghold it. Agree with Me for cities, for cities, for cities. I have many prophets, evangelists, teachers who are locked in cities and must be loosed to bring forth and to participate in what I am doing now. They cannot be released if the body (of Christ) does not pray for them. Glory to God!

Settle yourselves…settle yourselves. That is My command to you to just sit back and settle yourselves and know that My promises and My word is true, it is in the now so you have no need to be unsettled…no need to be unsettled.”

"A Tale of Two Crosses"

2011-04-03T04:50:00.000-07:00

One day as I was

running an errand, a

service truck turned

in front of me as

I was driving.

It had some kind of rig on the back of it that resembled a huge cross. It was also brown in color. I felt deep inside of me that a resurrection message was stirring as Easter was a week away. As I stared at the cross it became crystal clear in my spirit just how long Jesus spent on the cross for us before He surrendered His Spirit to God. His willingness to linger there proved His tremendous love for us. Here is how long I believed He hung there for us.

He stayed there until:

Every Issue

Was Settled,

Every Problem

Was Fixed,

Every Habit

Was Broken,

Every Mystery

Was Solved,

Every Relationship

Was Mended,

Every Broken Heart

Was Healed,

Every Fear Was

Replaced With Faith,

Every Tear

Was Wiped Away,

and most of all until

Every Sin

Was Forgiven!

Marsha Deveaux Johnson, (2009)

http://www.livingjoyministries.com/

May every need in your life be met by the One who stayed on the cross for you until everything was finished!

Blessed Easter!

Lessons

From The Cross

Easter

Marsha D. Johnson

Inasmuch as Jesus Christ suffered on the cross,

Believers must understand that we will also walk

The same paths & experience trials as Jesus did.

Surrender, Prayer, Watching,

Disappointment, Betrayal

(Matthew 26-36-46)

Loneliness, Suffering

1^st Peter 4: 12-16

Rejection

Isaiah 53: 3

Death, John 19:30

Mark 15:37

Resurrection

Matthew 28:1-9

Victory!

1^st Corinthians

15:57

Overcoming

Power!

Luke 10:18-19

Eternal Life!

Mark 10:29-30

May all the

Lessons of the

Cross serve to

Draw you closer

To the Lord

Who loves you

And died to

Make you

One with Him!

Happy Resurrection

Day!

Marsha Deveaux Johnson

http://www.livingjoyministries.com/

Throw Yourself Down!

2011-03-04T00:45:00.000-08:00

Throw Yourself Down !

A Discourse On Trials, Tests, & Temptations

Matthew 4:6, Luke 4:9 There are many lessons to be learned by men and women of God who live in this world. Jesus is our perfect example. At the height of His ministry, He experienced what could be assessed as an unnecessary experience. It was a front and center confrontation with Satan himself. Jesus faced a trial, a test, and a temptation. Part of our training for Eternity is unfolded in trials, tests, and temptations. I call this trio the “Three T’s”. Recorded in scripture is a clear, uncluttered example of how trials, tests, and temptations must be must be viewed and managed by Believers.

First of all, I will discuss how we find ourselves faced with trials, tests, and temptations. In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus was led and guided by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness or place of testing. Even though Satan met Him at this place of testing, Satan was not responsible for Him being brought to this place. God is the One who allows us to walk through places of trials, tests, and temptations. Satan may show up to distress, disorder, and grand-stand, but he has no power over the lives of Believers who do not surrender to him. Therefore, we cannot give blame or credit to Satan for our God-ordained episodes of preparation for Eternity.

Joseph was certainly tested when he arrived in Egypt, but God was responsible for him being there Genesis (45:7-8). Satan tried to distress, disorder, and grand-stand with Joseph’s life, but in the end God raised him to the prominence which He had ordained for him in Egypt. The three T’s (trials, tests, temptations) could not pry victory from the hand of Joseph or Jesus. Victory cannot be taken from Believers by trials, tests, and temptations. We must view them as episodes in preparation for Eternity. Jesus said the three T’s (trials, tests, & temptations) would come but to be of good cheer because He had already overcome them for us. What an absolute promise!

At every point in the temptation that Jesus endured, His relationship (son ship) with the Father was challenged. Satan will also challenge our claim to be sons of God, fit for Eternity. He wants us to believe that our relationship with Father makes us immune to trials, tests, and temptations. We cannot correlate son ship with immunity from the everyday situations we face in life. We are mistaken if we believe that if we serve and walk upright, that we will never face trials, tests, and temptations. Jesus, our perfect example faced them and we will also. The good news is that we have been given authority over the instruments of destruction and nothing will by any means harm us (Luke 10:19).

Jesus shows us how to overcome every trial, test, temptation, and lie that Satan will ever offer for our approval. Satan wanted to insult and drive home the lie that if Jesus were truly the Son of God, He would never find Himself in an adverse situation. He wanted to stress the point that Jesus could take the obvious and easy way out of situations. Satan did not know that he himself was going to be repeatedly cast down and defeated. He was defeated by the written, spoken, and manifest word of God. The living word manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. This word of God is our stronghold today. The word of God applied to every trial, test, and temptation assures us of the God-ordained victory every time. Any elicit alignment with Satan and his works bring death. So he launched his attack on three levels, body, soul, and spirit.

The first attack (Matthew 4:2-4) was the most obvious and it was against the physical body of Jesus. He had been fasting for 40 days and was physically weakened by the lack of food. Jesus could have commanded the stones to become bread, but that was not the issue. The issue was to honor and follow the word of God and to not take orders, hints, or suggestions from Satan. This is our challenge today. Read, observe, and submit to God’s word, resist Satan, and he will flee (James 4:7).

The second attack (Matthew 4:5-7) was launched against the soul of Jesus. Satan was here appealing to the pride of life issue. Jesus was on a high pinnacle and the order from Satan was to throw Himself down because He would not suffer harm because He was the son of God. This was a definite temptation. Jesus understood that obeying this act would have caused Him to tempt God’s protection of His life. The issue here was to not submit to anything that would foolishly engage God’s attention.

This brings us to a point where Believers need to be vigilant in places of success. Many of God’s gifted and anointed ones are taken to perceived “high pinnacles” of success in this world’s system. They achieve in God great things in the work of the ministry. Their challenge from Satan is to “Throw yourself down”. Satan says to them, “You can do foolish and sinful things with your life and God will not let you fall to the ground. You are successful, enjoy it, God will forgive and look the other way”. This is an attack in the area of the soul. The antidote for wrong choices, wrong lifestyles, and wrong thinking is to choose to do what God’s word says. Do not tempt or “play with” God. His grace is not given for willful sinning against Him.

The third and final attack (Matthew 4:8-10) Jesus suffered was in the area of His spirit. Satan offered Him kingdoms, worship of peoples, glory, honor, and splendor. He appealed to the desire of the spirit of man to worship. But man was created to worship God, not Satan, and not himself. Worship God and Him alone. He will have no other God’s before Him. Again the word of God was and is the answer to every trial, test, and temptation.

Satan orchestrated an attack against the spirit, soul, and body of Jesus Christ. He uses this same attack against Believers today. Christ is our perfect example. He defeated Satan by the word of God quoted from scripture and the Living Word which was who He is. The word of God is powerful from the lips of those who have surrendered and made Jesus Lord of their lives. When we speak His word, it is as though He has spoken it. His word brings life, and health, and healing to man (spirit, soul, and body).

The only time Believers should throw themselves down is at the feet of Jesus! Bow to no trial, no test, and no temptation. Let the power of the word of God spoken from your lips bring the manifest promises of God. You will be tested spirit, soul, and body. However, you will overcome by the word of your testimony and the blood of the Jesus Christ! (Revelation 12:11)

God’s Heart For

You

Isaiah 30:18 “And therefore

the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking,

and longing] to be gracious to you and therefore

He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on

you and show loving-kindness to you. For the

Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy,

fortunate, to be envied) are all those who

[earnestly] wait for Him, who expect

and look and long for Him[for

**His victory, His favor,**

His love, His peace,

His joy, and His

matchless, unbroken

companionship.”

YES!

Marsha Deveaux Johnson, www.livingjoyministries.com

True Love

2011-01-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

True Love

There are limited places in life where “true love” between individuals can be found. True love is the love that has at its center the knowledge, acceptance, and obedience of God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. True love is originated with God, explained by the death and sufferings of Jesus, and executed and maintained by the Holy Spirit in the life of a person. If it does not meet this criterion, it is not true love.

True love is not the love that selfishly seeks to have its own needs met. True love is not based on outward appearance or intellectual and emotional, compatibility. True love realizes that it exists so that God might be glorified, and that His purpose might be fulfilled. All of mankind seeks true love. Many never find it. Far too many people are not the recipients of this free gift given by God as a grace into their lives.

God sends His love through people. Those who are committed to Him are supernatural carriers of His great and divine love. Many often reject earthly true love sent by the Father because of the earthly carrier. True love may be rejected because it is not from a family member, or social equivalent, or a person of the same race, or the very idea of who the person should be that offers this true love.

If we are not engaged in self deception, we can readily identify the sources of true love around us. It is because of God’s love that every man eventually ends up with an opportunity to experience His true love through other people. God has on earth men, women, and children who are engaged in truly loving others based on their love for Him.

True love exists where you find it, and you will find it wherever God is and He is everywhere. Are you overlooking the opportunities to receive true love from others because of your rigid expectations? Are you waiting for that certain someone to come into your life to experience true love?

The Father loves you! He has appointed people here on earth through which He can display that love to you. Ask the Father in the name of Jesus to reveal to you those persons who are demonstrating His love toward you. You can receive His true love poured out from a marriage partner, from a friend, from a coworker, or from the stranger who smiles and you see the earthly face of God.

Be open to receive love that is given from a pure heart under God’s authority. Recognize and appreciate a family member or friend that God has given to demonstrate His love toward you. Be willing to be a vessel of love toward others. Forget about yourself and your troubles and allow God to make you an instrument of love. Your own situation will improve one hundred percent if you start being that instrument of love. Give it freely, and don’t be afraid to receive it. You have no need to be suspicious of the motives of others if God whispers His love to you through them.

Love everybody, but be the particular instrument of love toward the ones to whom God has assigned to you. He has a plan to give you the earthly love that you need and desire, so don’t be afraid to give or receive true love.

Post Script

I have deliberately not addressed these four kinds of love simply because this inspired (“Rhema”) word addresses love as a universal gift from God. For your information the four kinds of love are:

Agape (The love of God)

Storge (The love of family)

Phileo (Brotherly love)

Eros (Sexual love)

Jesus Savior, Intercessor, Lord

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Man’s Existence:

Spirit: The eternal part of man that communicates with God

Soul: Mind (intellect), will (decision –making ability), emotions

Body: Flesh, blood, bones

Heart: Receives input from the spirit and soul of man

Jesus as Savior

Jesus was sent to earth by God to die and sacrifice Himself to restore man to God. This knowledge provides the greatest illumination of the relationship between God and man. Man was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). The first man, Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden and given instructions to enjoy everything there except the fruit of a certain tree. Adam disobeyed God, brought sin into the earth, and severed the intimate relationship between God and man.

The coming of Jesus to earth, His death, sufferings, and resurrection offered to man a second chance at intimacy with God. All of these events are recorded in scripture (Isaiah 7:14, Mark 15:37, Luke 24^th chapter). A person must acknowledge their sins, receive forgiveness, and accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for their sins to receive salvation or to be saved. With this event, one receives Jesus as Savior. The human spirit of man is changed at this encounter with receiving Jesus as Savior. It is the only part of man that changes.

Receiving Jesus Christ as Savior positions you for an eternal relationship with God. This relationship begins here on earth and exists throughout Eternity unless you revoke it. Jesus is the Savior of all mankind, however all men do not accept Him. It is recorded in scripture that “every knee shall ultimately bow to Him” (Romans 14:11). Those who accept Jesus during their lifetime are assured of being with Him throughout Eternity.

Jesus as Intercessor

Not only did Jesus die to eradicate our sins, He is also our Intercessor for committed sins after we receive him as Savior (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:24-25). After receiving Jesus, a person begins the joy of living for Him according to His word in scripture. This is a process of conforming the mind, will, emotions, and body to the will of God. This transformation takes place over a period of time as the word of God is received, understood, and lived out by a person. During this process, mistakes are made, sins are committed, and hence, an Intercessor is needed to clear our charges of wrong choices and wrong doing.

The key point during the transformation of the will, emotions, mind, and body is to understand the importance of repentance. Repentance to God for wrong choices and wrong actions, show Him that your heart is not corrupted and desires the sin life. God’s word has to gain ground in your heart so that you will increasingly make right decisions and commit right actions. This is a process that takes place as long as we are here on earth. Patience and forgiveness is extended to you from your Savior who is also your Intercessor. A person must choose to study God’s word, obey God’s word, choose right social relationships, and repent when it is necessary.

Jesus as Lord

As your life progresses and your walk with Jesus as Savior and Intercessor are refined, you will come to know Him as Lord. All of the intimate communication of your spirit to Him brings you to the place of love, trust, and obedience. You do not “desire” to make choices in life that will disturb this powerful relationship you have begun with Him. He becomes more and more real every day.

Get started with Jesus and His Lordship will begin to flow.

Marsha Deveaux Johnson

http://www.livingjoyministries.com/