Proverbs 4: 20 – 23(Amplified Classic) My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. (21) Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. (22) For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. (23) Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.
The promise is that the Word is able to bring Life and Health to all our flesh. We need to do the rest of what is contained in these verses to get the promise to work
The power to walk in Life and Health is contained in God’s Word. The Word that we attend to or the Word that abides will bring forth life and health to all our flesh.
Colossians 1: 13 – 14(Amplified Bible) [The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, (14) In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins.
Ephesians 5: 8(Amplified Bible) For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of Light [lead the lives of those native-born to the Light].
2Corinthians 5: 17 – 18(Amplified Bible) Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] 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! (18) 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 into harmony with Him].
As Born Again Children of the Living God we are no longer darkness (separated from God) but we are light. We are light in a dark world. If we do not understand righteousness we will not be able to function as light to the dark world.
Our mental concept is that we have to earn our righteousness. We think that we have to make it work ourselves. If we are trying to work out our righteousness we will be trying to fix ourselves. We cannot fix ourselves. God is the only one who can fix us. That is why He paid the price for our righteousness, right standing with Him. He is the only one who could do it. I can only position myself by receiving Him as my Lord and Savior.
Before the Cross Righteousness was by the Law, after the Cross Righteousness is by Grace and is a free gift from God. We are living after the Cross. Righteousness is a free gift if we will receive it.
We have been made righteous by God Himself so that we can live a holy life by our choice by walking the love walk. We have been reconciled with God so that we can take the message of reconciliation to a hurting world.
Righteousness and Holiness are not the same thing. Once I receive Jesus as Lord and Savior I have been made right by God Himself. Once I step into righteousness or right standing with God then I can walk a holy life. I live a holy life through the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Living a holy life is to walk in the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of life. Walking the Love Walk is walking a holy life.
God the Father paid for our righteousness (right standing with God) in full by the Blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross. PAID IN FULL!
He did this because of His great Love for us. We owe a debt that we cannot pay. He (Jesus) paid a debt that that He did not owe. Think about that. God’s Word teaches us that Righteousness cannot be earned by anything that we could possibly do. It is a free gift.
In order to understand who we are in Christ Jesus we must understand righteousness. In order to understand righteousness we must understand what took place on the Cross. The Cross is the dividing line. We must understand the difference between righteousness before the Cross and righteousness after the Cross. This affects every area of our lives and our Christian walk.
Because of the Cross and the gift of Righteousness (right standing with God) we can now live a Holy life
Romans 3: 21 – 26 (Amplified Bible) But now the righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the Prophets, (22) Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah). [And it is meant] for all who believe. For there is no distinction,(23) Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives. (24) [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,(25) Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment. (26) It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time (in the now season) that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has [true] faith in Jesus.
Romans 5: 15 – 17 (Amplified Bible) But God’s free gift is not at all to be compared to the trespass [His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man]. For if many died through one man’s falling away (his lapse, his offense), much more profusely did God’s grace and the free gift [that comes] through the undeserved favor of the one Man Jesus Christ abound and overflow to and for [the benefit of] many. (16) Nor is the free gift at all to be compared to the effect of that one [man’s] sin. For the sentence [following the trespass] of one [man] brought condemnation, whereas the free gift [following] many transgressions brings justification (an act of righteousness). (17) For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God’s] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Ephesians 2: 8 (Amplified Bible) For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
Love is THE MASTER KEY TO LIFE. LOVE IS THE MASTER KEY OF MASTER KEYS.
All of the Master Keys To Life have one root, one power source, one point of origin, LOVE.
LOVE IS The Master Key to Marriage, family, all of your relationships, business, health, freedom from fear, worry, depression, and everything that can come against man.
Love is the source and power because GOD IS LOVE and AS HE IS SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD 1st John 4: 15 -17
If we have been Born Again we already have the Keys to Life.
1st Corinthians 13: 7 – 8a (Amplified Bible) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (8a)Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].
Mark 12: 28 – 31(Amplified Bible) …The first and principal one of all commands is: … And you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (with your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength…The second is like it and is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
Matthew 22: 40(Amplified Bible) These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.
The kind of Love being detailed in Mark 12: 28 -31 is God’s kind of Love or Agape
Agape Love is unlimited,
Agape Love can never be overcome,
Agape Love never fails,
Agape Love is Eternal without ceasing,
Agape Love transcends Time and Eternity,
Agape Love is the most powerful force that exist in both Time and Eternity.
God’s Agape Love is the reason for creation of both Time and Eternity, Heaven, Earth, and Hell and all that is or ever will be.
The only limit that God’s Love has where we are concerned is the limit that we Love God.
John 8: 31 – 32(Amplified Bible) So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. (32) And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.
John 17: 17 – 21(Amplified Bible) Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth. (18) Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. (19) And so for their sake and on their behalf I sanctify (dedicate, consecrate) Myself, that they also may be sanctified (dedicated, consecrated, made holy) in the Truth. (20) Neither for these alone do I pray [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching, (20) That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me.
Deuteronomy 30: 11 – 20 (Amplified Bible) For this commandment which I command you this day is not too difficult for you, nor is it far off. (12) It is not [a secret laid up] in heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it to us, that we may hear and do it? (13) Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear and do it? (14) But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your mind and in your heart, so that you can do it. (15) See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil. (16) [If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which] I command you today, to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land into which you go to possess. (17) But if your [mind and] heart turn away and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, (18) I declare to you today that you shall surely perish, and you shall not live long in the land which you pass over the Jordan to enter and possess. (19) I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live (20) And may love the Lord your God, obey His voice, and cling to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In this message we will be discussing the difference between Righteousness before the Cross and after the Cross. How does that difference affect us in our individual and corporate walk today? We the Church must know the difference in order to be the Church that is needed in this dark time and the future that lies ahead. As Scriptures says we the Church are the light of this world.
The only hope that this world has is Jesus. We the Church are His representatives and sent ones in this hour. The only way that we can bring the Gospel to this hurting world is to know who we are in Christ Jesus and our right standing with God. We must walk in the fullness of the free gift of righteousness in order for the world to see Jesus.
Jesus, by His Blood, purchased our Righteousness or Right Standing with God. It is a free gift. Now we walk a Holy life by walking the Love Walk as detailed in 1st Corinthians 13: 4 – 8. The Love Walk is the way that we become one, one with each other and one with God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus prayed in John 17 that they (we) may be one that the world may know. In order for the Church to become one the way Jesus prayed we must understand the difference between Righteous before the Cross and after the Cross. The Cross is the dividing line.
Romans 3: 24 (Amplified Bible) [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,
Romans 5: 17 (Amplified Bible) For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God’s] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
1st Corinthians 13: 4 – 8a (Amplified Bible) Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. (5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. (6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. (7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (8a) Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].
John 17: 17 – 21 (Amplified Bible) Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth. (18) Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. (19) And so for their sake and on their behalf I sanctify (dedicate, consecrate) Myself, that they also may be sanctified (dedicated, consecrated, made holy) in the Truth. (20) Neither for these alone do I pray [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching, (21) That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me.
Romans 3: 24 – 26 (Amplified Bible) [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus, (25) Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment. (26) It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time (in the now season) that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has [true] faith in Jesus.
Romans 5: 17(Amplified Bible) For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God’s] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Galatians 3: 13 – 14 (Amplified Bible) Christ purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation] by [Himself] becoming a curse for us, for it is written [in the Scriptures], Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified); (14) To the end that through [their receiving] Christ Jesus, the blessing [promised] to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might [all] receive [the realization of] the promise of the [Holy] Spirit.
1st Corinthians 6: 11 (Amplified Bible) And such some of you were [once]. But you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified [pronounced righteous, by trusting] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God.
Matthew 6: 33 – 34 (Amplified Bible) But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. (34) So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.
Romans 5: 17 For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God’s] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself]reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Psalms 138: 2 I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!
Revelations 1: 5 – 6 And from Jesus Christ the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead [first to be brought back to life] and the Prince (Ruler) of the kings of the earth. To Him Who ever loves us and has once [for all] loosed and freed us from our sins by His own blood, (6) And formed us into a kingdom (a royal race), priests to His God and Father–to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion throughout the ages and forever and ever. Amen (so be it).
Revelations 5: 9 – 10 And [now] they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to break the seals that are on it, for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased men unto God from every tribe and language and people and nation. (10) And You have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign [as kings] over the earth!
1 John 5: 14 – 15 And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. (15) And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.
Romans 5: 16 – 18 (Amplified Bible) Nor is the free gift at all to be compared to the effect of that one [man’s] sin. For the sentence [following the trespass] of one [man] brought condemnation, whereas the free gift [following] many transgressions brings justification (an act of righteousness). (17) For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God’s] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). (18) Well then, as one man’s trespass [one man’s false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men, so one Man’s act of righteousness [leads] to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men
Romans 3: 22 – 26 (Amplified Bible) Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah). [And it is meant] for all who believe. For there is no distinction, (23) Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives. (24) [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus, (25) Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment. (26) It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time (in the now season) that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has [true] faith in Jesus.
Romans 5: 8 – 9 (Amplified Bible) But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. (9) Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ’s blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) through His [resurrection] life.
John 15: 7(Amplified Bible) If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.
Galatians 6: 7 – 9 (Amplified Bible) Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. (8) For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (9) And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.
James 1: 5 – 7 (Amplified Bible) If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. (6) Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. (7) For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord,
Galatians 6: 7 – 9 (Amplified Bible) Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. (8) For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (9)And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint
James 1: 5 – 8 (Amplified Bible) If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. (6) Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. (7) For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord, (8) [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].
Ephesians 6:10 – 11 (Amplified Bible) In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]. (11) Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
Ephesians 6:15 (Amplified Bible) And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.
Romans 8:1 -2 (Amplified Bible) THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. (2) For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.
Matthew 12:36 – 37 (Amplified Bible) But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak. (37) For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced.
Proverbs 4:20 – 27 (Amplified Bible) My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. (21) Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. (22) For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. (23) Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.(24) Put away from you false and dishonest speech, and willful and contrary talk put far from you. (25) Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you. (26) Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright. (27) Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left; remove your foot from evil.
John 8:31 – 32 (Amplified Bible) So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. (32) And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.
John 15:7(Amplified Bible) If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.
1Jn 4:7 – 8 (Amplified Bible) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is (springs) from God; and he who loves [his fellowmen] is begotten (born) of God and is coming [progressively] to know and understand God [to perceive and recognize and get a better and clearer knowledge of Him].(8) He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love.
1Jn 4:17(Amplified Bible) In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 3:1 – 2 (Amplified Bible)SEE WHAT [an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him. (2) Beloved, we are [even here and] now God’s children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall [as God’s children] resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is.
Rom 8:14 – 17(Amplified Bible) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.(15) For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! (16)The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God (17) And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.
1st John 4: 16 – 17(Amplified Bible) And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him. (17) In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.
1st John 4: 6 – 8(Amplified Bible) We are [children] of God. Whoever is learning to know God [progressively to perceive, recognize, and understand God by observation and experience, and to get an ever-clearer knowledge of Him] listens to us; and he who is not of God does not listen or pay attention to us. By this we know (recognize) the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error. (7) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is (springs) from God; and he who loves [his fellowmen] is begotten (born) of God and is coming [progressively] to know and understand God [to perceive and recognize and get a better and clearer knowledge of Him].(8) He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love.
Matthew 7: 16 – 20(Amplified Bible) You will fully recognize them by their fruits. Do people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? (17)Even so, every healthy (sound) tree bears good fruit [worthy of admiration], but the sickly (decaying, worthless) tree bears bad (worthless) fruit. (18) A good (healthy) tree cannot bear bad (worthless) fruit, nor can a bad (diseased) tree bear excellent fruit [worthy of admiration]. (19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. (20) Therefore, you will fully know them by their fruits.
James 3: 14 – 18 (Amplified Bible) But if you have bitter jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry, selfish ambition) in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on it and thus be in defiance of and false to the Truth. (15) This [superficial] wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual (animal), even devilish (demoniacal). (16) For wherever there is jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry and selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion) and all sorts of evil and vile practices. (17) But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled); then it is peace-loving, courteous (considerate, gentle). [It is willing to] yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straightforward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity). (18) And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God’s will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others, that peace which means concord, agreement, and harmony between individuals, with undisturbedness, in a peaceful mind free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts].
Are you in need of a refreshing? Are you weary in your body, mind, and spirit? Are you being beat up by the circumstances of life? Do you need a change? Do you know that God Himself has already prepared the place of rest, refreshing, and revival for us? He has already given us the keys to enter that place. It is God’s desire for us to be in a continuous state of refreshing before and even during the storms of life that come our way.
Act 3:19 (Amplified Bible) – So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, of reviving with fresh air) may come from the presence of the Lord;
Jeremiah 6:16 (Amplified Bible) – Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads and look; and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it!
Ephesians 6:10 (Amplified Bible) – In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
John 14:26 – 27 (Amplified Bible) – But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you. (27) Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]
Restoration Ministries 