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Matt. 8:16-17

“When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:”

“ He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses.”

1 Cor. 4:20 says, “For the kingdom of God [is] not in word, but in power.”

We can preach, teach, witness, evangelize, sing, but have no power. I can be  a motivational speaker like Tony Robbins¹ , but not be able to offer salvation, holiness or real power.

In above scripture in Matthew, Jesus did not keep yelling at the demons over and over to come out. They left because they knew who He was and He knew who He was. If we know who we are in Him we can know our authority and power in Him.

Luke 8:47 says, “And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.”

About an hour or so ago, my wife picked up our 40 lb. son and he jerked his body in mid air while she was holding him up and she suddenly felt  and heard a ‘popping’ sound in her lower back. She went immediately to the couch to sit expressing how much it hurt. She could not sit straight and was locked in position in pain. She said it felt like a pinched nerve and could feel it up and down her leg.

I could have easily responded in emotion, but decided to continue finishing washing my first load of laundry. I remembered when the people told Jesus about Lazarus’s death and the Lord waited a two more days, John 11:6. Faith does not hinge on emotion, but on the revelatory truth of the Word. If I believe this then I should live in this reality daily.

So, I put my clothes in the dryer. I then called our two sons over and told them to stand and pray. The gospels talk about standing a praying. So, we three did. We all laid our hands on my wife. Then we prayed. I commanded her muscles, ligaments, tendons, tissue and every cell in her body to be made whole and to obey the word. My sons agreed with me. My elder son said, “In Jesus name. Amen.” I stayed in prayer, but was aware he just moved in faith and waited. Then my wife said, “I feel something like bubbles in my lower back.” I said, “Let’s pray some more. First let me go put up the dog.” The dog was becoming somewhat of a distraction so I put her in her kennel crate. Afterwards, the boys and I prayed again. This time my elder son said, “I see Moma’s back. It’s better.” He said he saw bubbles going down her back. Each time we prayed I asked her to move a little more and she did. She said she was already feeling better. So, I said let’s pray one more time and make sure you are completely healed. So, we prayed again. I said, “I speak wholeness and peace to this body. This body is a temple of the Spirit of God. Thank you Lord.” She then said, “It’s all gone. I’m healed.”

This was a miracle. She seriously injured her back and could have been out of comission for a few days to a week or more. Instead, about 5-10 minutes later she was healed completely. My wife said her whole back felt like it aligned itself back up.

Thank you Lord! I believe the above scripture was instantaneous, but this was a relatively quick healing.

Prov. 14:15 (NKJV), “The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps.”

The root Hebrew definition of “simple” means “hole for a post.” A hole made for inserting something. So, the above verse is saying that someone who believes every word is “a hole made for inserting something.” Huh?

I read this definition this morning and then went to lunch and I felt the Lord tell me, “A hole is something that needs to be filled. Something in lack.” The obvious sounds humorous as I am writing it, but when I heard the words they were quickened in my spirit which is different than reading Webster’s dictionary.

This is what I am reminded of when I heard those words:

Ephesians 1:10, “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; [even] in him:”

Col. 2:9, “For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

Someone whom Proverbs would say is ‘simple’ is someone who is in lack of the knowledge and revelation of the truth. They are someone who does not know the truth that is only in Jesus¹, God’s only Son.

The purpose of our bodies is to be filled and full of God by His Spirit through grace by faith. In Christ, our bodies are the temple of His Spirit.

When I got back to my car, my eyes saw this “lack” or “hole” everywhere. I saw it in the tape cassette and cd player in my car. The car ignition. An electrical power outlet.

These things and the like are not in their purpose until they come in correlation with what they are purposed to be with.

As a believer, my purpose is to be filled by grace, with His Spirit, will, love and truth.

Rom. 3:19-20 says,

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

The law brings guilt only.

Here are some questions that come to mind.

• Who is accusing me if I am aware of my guilt? It is not Christ, Rom. 8:34.
• In Christ, why would I think God has a grudge against me? Love does not hold grudges, 1 Cor. 13:5 (ESV).
• Apart from Christ, in my self, can I really makes things right in my conscience in light of the guilt? Rom. 3:19-20.
• Am I holding a grudge against myself for not being good enough? 1 Cor. 4:3.
• When is my self-performance which is based on the law written in my heart or what I think is right enough?
  • Rom. 3:20, Gal. 2:16, 3:11, 5:4.

2 Cor. 3:6 says, “…The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.”

According to the doctrine I adhere to in my inner man, does it impart constant overwhelming life, confidence, faith and love or condemnation, guilt, uncertainty, doubt and fear? The letter kills. If New Covenant doctrine is mixed with Old Covenant then the New Covenant doctrine is no longer new. The New Covenant doctrine becomes a teaching of works and not grace. The two doctrines cannot be mixed or co-exist as one. Works are works and grace is grace, Rom. 11:6.

Prior to knowing Christ, my conscience was the chief witness of my thoughts of self-accusation or self-approving. My conscience was not sanctified or purged from the guilt or judgment of the law. So, I was under the law and its disapproval and accusation. This law was written on my heart. I received this “written law” in my heart from my parents, culture, family, country and even planet.

In Christ, according to what He has done, my conscience is sanctified, purged and made whole from dead works and the guilt and penalty of the law, Heb. 9:9-14.

My conscience is not capable of, cognizant, or ‘conscious’ of the guilt and penalty of the law!

If I am under the law it will be difficult for me to receive revelation. The Word will likely be diluted and not very effective.

Gal. 3:23 says, “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.”

2 Cor. 3:6 says, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”

If I am under law then death is not far off. The law will enable sin to slay me and kill me, Rom. 7:11. It will judge and condemn me. If I am not saved this is the case. If I am saved then I am not under condemnation ever, Rom. 8:1. The old, judged, guilty man is dead. The penalty of the law was fulfilled when I died with Jesus on the cross, Gal. 2:20, Rom. 6:5, Col. 3:3. In Christ and His death, I am no longer judged by the Mosaic Law or even any self-imposed law in my heart! Rom. 2:14-15

Gal. 3:23 says “shut up”. This means enclosed on all sides. Gal. 3:23 also speaks of revelation unveiled or ‘faith revealed’. How?

Gal. 1:16 talks about God’s Son being revealed inside of us. This unveiling reveals the “Way, Truth, Life, Righteousness, Wisdom, Peace and Power” in us in Christ.

If I walk in another gospel’s doctrine, Gal. 1:6-7, this could also potentially hinder revelation from manifesting itself inside me.

If law, self-imposed law or another gospel’s doctrine other than the Gospel of grace is ministered to me and I receive it as sound doctrine or gospel then I am deceived. In Rom. 7:11 is says, “Sin deceived me using the basis of the commandment (law) as an attack…” In the Aramaic, the word deceived is mentioned as ‘putting a hood over one’s head.’

Under the Old Covenant, the Israelites were not allowed to enter the Holy of Holies where the Lord’s presence would manifest in Shekinah glory. Only the High Priest was able to do so once a year in accordance with Mosaic Law, Lev. 16.

This is my point. Under the Old Covenant, everyone was separated from God. In this separation, we were closed off on all sides from His life and revelation of Him.

Now, by hearing first, then hearing the Word of God, faith is unveiled by grace through the Holy Spirit of Truth. This faith creates the essence, substance and nature of righteousness in me apart from works of law. Under grace, I am righteousness in Christ and I cannot be judged. My new righteousness nature and essence is immutable in Christ and will only continue to grow in Him by grace and faith.

If law is mixed with grace then grace is no longer grace.

Revelation also does not hinge on me. It hinges on grace. I am under grace by grace not because I put myself there. Under this grace, I recieve revelatory truth and word.

Rhema¹ could be looked at as quickened Logos or Word that is spoken or put into action.

Rhema could also be homologeo² in action. Homologeo is the Greek word for ‘confess’. It means lit., “to speak the same thing” (homos, “same,” lego, “to speak”), “to assent, accord, agree with.”

So, manifesting rhema by His faith in us creates internal homologeo. In Acts 5:12 says, “And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.” Homologeo organically initiates personally then communally.

The word here for ‘one accord’ means one or same mind. This one and same mind is the mind of Christ by revelation through grace. Acts 5:12 occurs after the Day of Pentecost and the early church receives the baptism of and into the Spirit of God. This same Holy Spirit quickens Logos (Word) in us into rhema. This rhema is all powerful. It has the enabling power and ability to create unity like no other among mankind! Rhema is for one  God, Spirit, Body, Mind, Will, Baptism, and Love. It does not lean towards a particular church denomination.

So, another example could be speaking rhema to a dead person or someone with struggles in their life. In the act of speaking rhema, homologeo occurs. There is an acknoledgment of truth in the recipient. The recipient does not even need to have faith. Christ, in the speaker, is the Apostle of our faith. His faith is sufficient in the speaker for both the speaker and the recipient. Truth will then apprehend, align, heal, make whole, deliver, enlighten, set free, join together and fulfill its nature and purpose where it manifests. It will not return void. Homologeo is the manifestation of rhema.

One definition of ethics I found was,

“Personal rules for behavior. Ethics are rules for behavior, based on beliefs about how things should be.“

From the above definition, it seems are ethics are akin to ‘what I think is right or acceptable is ethical to me.’ If you are not ethical like me then something is wrong with you because you are not like me.

So, let’s say I live in the Amazon jungle in a distant, secluded tribe of head hunters. In this tribe, cannibalism is ethical. If I eat someone else’s flesh then I supposedly receive their strength. This is not true of course, but could be an example of ethics.

To me, it seems ethics sometimes reside in the scope of a culture. At its core, ethics are subjective to the individual. In this subjectivity, ethics may not necessarily be true or real. I do not believe ethics are inspired by God, but by the self-imposed law on mans’ heart. If this is true, then ethics are a form of self-righteousness. People can have good, sincere motives in their self-righteousness, but no liberty or power in their life.

Truth aligns all things with itself. Things that are not real or true are not able to align with truth. Truth surpasses any and all realms of existence. Truth is eternal and never changes. Christ is the truth. The truth is in Him. This truth ‘knits’ together His Body, the Church, in love, by revelation of Him through grace unto godliness. This is a contrast to being ethical.

Ethics are limited to the person, culture, nation or even planet, but Truth is universal and omni-dimensional.

Ethics are based on man’s reasoning within himself and not Christ’s faith. Ethics require approval. My righteousness does not not. I am righteous by His faith in me through grace.

In Christ, we are ministers of the New Covenant, 2 Cor. 3:6.

I cannot mix the ‘required approval’ of ethics with the New Covenant otherwise it is no longer the New Covenant, but ‘another gospel’, 2 Cor. 11:4 & Gal. 1:7. The Testator and Mediator of the New Covenant has fulfilled, shelemed, and completed any and all requirements for my righteousness in Him!

In ethics, I am required to change or conform to it. The Gospel according to the New Covenant supernaturally changes me by grace, truth and revelation of Christ in me.

Mark 1:22, “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.”

Why were they astonished? Before He spoke they did not have faith or believe. After He spoke quickened, living word to them they were astonished because their ears heard undeniable truth. To some, this is the affect of truth on the soul, astonishment and wonder.

How could He teach as one who had authority?

He is the Amen. Amen is immovable and eternally permanent. Christ is the Amen, Truth and Life. Amen if faithful to its nature and cannot compromise things contrary to itself. That would be deceitful.

“This Hebrew Amen is derived from the root [aman], which means to be firm or solid in the sense of permanency. Thus by implication, it means to be sure, true or faithful. So whenever we see this word Amen used in scripture, it is affirming truth, or illustrating something is said that is of absolute certainty. “¹

Revelation 3:14
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;”

John 8:51
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”

2 Cor. 1:20
“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

I gave someone technical support over the phone today. At one point in time I worked in technical support for almost three consecutive years. I am not sure where technical support ranks in stressful jobs, but I wonder if it is up there in the top 10 or 20. When I get these phone calls sometimes now from friends and family the memories bubble up again with the emotions attached of technical support. Sometimes there is a tendency towards impatience or frustration.

After talking on the phone, I thought to myself, “This person was frustrated because of what was going on.” This is stating the obvious, but the obvious can be taken for granted. This is something I am growing in. I guess you could call it compassion and or empathy. Well, when this thought came to mind it had Truth attached to it.

When I thought this thought about this person, my emotions changed, even my heart rate. Not joking. I realized that my understanding based on simple, yet powerful truth gave me energy and I was no longer mentally agitated at all. It was gone. He has revealed Himself in me. In this revelation, He unveils Himself and His will. I acknowledge His love, compassion, mercy, power, and forgiveness towards me. In turn, I reciprocate this in my life including my thinking and motive.

Prov. 16:22 seems to be what may of happened to me. I received life, really His life, by His Spirit in revelation. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. His Spirit gives life! Even overflowing life again and again.

Why did I receive life? I believe I received the truth. The truth and reality of how another person was feeling and where they were at. Eph. 4:21 says, “The truth is in Jesus.” The truth sets me free. I was set free from the unregenerate thinking by truth. In this truth, by faith in me, I received understanding. The spiritual mind is life and peace by understanding through His faith inside me by His grace.

Truth is being imparted into my soul daily. This truth sanctifies my soul. It makes my soul more whole to be eventually like Him because He is in me. Truth is fulfilling its purpose. It is aligning all things with itself through sanctification.

I am reminded of Prov. 19:11 (NIV), “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.”

The KJV says, “The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and [it is] his glory to pass over a transgression.”

Prov. 2:11 (NIV), “Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.”

Prov. 14:29 (NIV), “A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.”

Prov. 16:22 (NIV), “Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools.”

This blog reminds me of another, Self-willed opinion and not revelation.

“Results showed that not having control caused participants to mistakenly see an image in a field of static, to smell conspiracy in other people’s benign behavior, to embrace superstitious beliefs and to perceive nonexistent stock-market trends.¹”

It seems in our fallen nature which is rooted in fear and apart from the knowledge of Christ we intrinsically exercise our faith into things other than Him. The above quote from Scientific American sounds like if one does not possess control in their life then there is a tendency towards thought patterns that aren’t necessarily real. This sounds like fantasy and vain imaginations. They could appear like superstition, religion, family tradition, mind games and so on.

Col. 3:5 says, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:”

I believe these “manifestations of the flesh” are rooted in lack of knowledge of the truth, love and Christ. I believe Paul is exhorting them to ‘put to death’ these areas for their sakes and because we have grace in Christ to be a new creature. As this new creature, these desires are not there because there is knowledge of the truth, love and Christ. This knowledge imparts grace and liberty to every part of our being. These “manifestations of the flesh” also seem like ways to possess control in one’s life through a chaotic approach. None of these areas in Col. 3:5 indicate love of one’s self or another, but on the contrary lack of control. This is ironic to me because it seems like they are ways of attempting to get control like Adam sewing the fig leaf on his shame. These are manifestations of self-strength proving to self and God we can’t do anything apart from Him and His only Son. Paul says this in Romans 3:9-20.

1 Cor. 12:2 Paul says, “Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.”

I believe idols are not just physical statues, but idols can be in unregenerate areas of our mind, soul, and heart that attempt to siphon life from us.

Titus 1:7, “Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless-not overbearing (self-willed), not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.”

2 Pet. 2:10, “This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant (self-willed), these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;”

The Greek word for self-willed means, “self-pleasing” (autos, “self,” hedomai, “to please”), denotes one who, dominated by self-interest, and inconsiderate of others, arrogantly asserts his own will, “self-willed”

The “old self” or “old man” desperately wants control and desires to assert itself. It has a problem though that it is unable to overcome. In Christ, the old man is dead. It no longer has control and can no longer be judged by a law.

The “new man” is not motivated according to fear, but according to the revelation of Christ imparted by the Spirit of Truth. This revelation affects the soul. Love, grace, faith, hope, and truth begins to grow and apprehend the soul in this continuous revelation. Fear is nullified and casted out. Fear cannot reside in love. I have knowledge of love through truth. Truth sets me free and changes me, my will, and everything else possible about me to the image of Christ again. The desire to impose self-will dissipates and the desire to give and love grows.

Lack of control seems in proportion to lack of the knowledge of the truth and of knowledge of how much God loves me by manifesting this love in His Son in me.

My security and assurance is not whether or not if I am in control of my life, but in the faith of Christ in me. In Christ,  I am under His authority, love and grace. His fullness and love fill my lack continually to overflowing.