THE SPIRIT IS ALWAYS SPEAKING

 By: Barry Bennet
Are you expecting to hear Him?
However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears, He shall speak. And He will announce to you things to come. (John 16:13)

I am often asked for advice and counsel and I always try to be helpful. However, it is alarming that so many look to man for answers and never expect to hear from God. It is as if the subject of hearing God for oneself is not even considered. If you ask someone, “What has the Lord told you?”, you are often met with a blank stare. Most Christians have no idea that they are able to hear God.
The problem begins with the fact that we live our lives much as we did before we were born again. We allow our senses and emotions to rule us and we look to the world for wisdom and acceptance. In a sense we are living by “bread alone.”
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Mt. 4:4)
As spiritual beings, we are created to live by the words of God. That is our “default setting.” When we ignore the words of the Spirit, we are creating an environment in which we will seem just as lost and confused as unbelievers.
While godly counsel is certainly helpful and needed as we grow in wisdom, it does not produce faith. Faith comes by hearing God (Rom. 10:17). As James says, “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray” (James 5:13). Why? Because prayer is the environment for hearing. Prayer takes our eyes off of the need and puts them on the Answer. Prayer sees the unseen. Prayer tunes in to the voice of God. Prayer expects to hear.
Exercise yourself in the area of hearing God. Make sure what you hear is based on God’s Word. The Spirit will lead you to the Truth of the Word. Faith will be activated and your life will enter a new dimension.

JESUS NEEDED TO BE HUMAN AND NOT FROM A MAN'S SPERM.

In genesis, God gives the earth to mankind as a good parent would distribute gifts to his children. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and GOVERN it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Genesis 1:28. NLT. (Emphasis added) If you give gifts to your children, you do not take it but you can advise them to use it well and if they err, you can help them out so they continue enjoying the gift. The virgin birth was prophesied right in the beginning. The savior was to be the seed/offspring of a woman. I will put hostility between you (serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15 (REV) The devil 'bruises' us all the time - causing us pain and suffering. But the seed of the woman - Jesus Christ, will crush his head i.e will destroy Satan. When Man sinned, Satan was not tempting him for nothing. He (Satan) tricked him and became the ruler of this earth. The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. John 12:31 NLT. Because it was man who contracted to give the earth to Satan, man (the descendants if the parents and great grand parents are dead) had to break the contract. When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Rom 5:12 NLT Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. Rom 5:19 It was for that purpose - restoration of all things that Jesus came. He was born a human child in every way except the mans sperm was not involved. He grew in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man (many obedient and wise children do attract many favors even now) And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52 (REV) So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 1Cor.15:21.
Now since the children participate fully in blood and flesh, in a similar way he also himself shared the same so that through death he could make ineffective the one who holds the power of death, that is, the Devil,e and free all those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death. Indeed, it hardly needs to be said that he did not come to help angels, but to give help to the seed of Abraham. This being the case, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect in order to become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, so that he could wipe away the sins of the people. For since he himself was tempted in that which he suffered, he is able to help those who are tempted. Hebrews 2:14-18 (REV)
I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf. Deut.18:18 NLT.

THE SON, A SON. DIFFERENCE?

When I was called a son,

I smiled.

It meant I have a father/(mother).

One from whom I could learn,

To discern,

Between good and evil.

I am called a son, I have a Father.

So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. John 5:19 NLT - all.

Then you will tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son. Exodus 4:22

.

Surely you are still our Father!

Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown us,

LORD, you would still be our Father. Isa 63:16.

 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and I called my son out of Egypt. Hosea 11:1.

 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.... Mathew. 5:44,45a.

 Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,

may your name be kept holy. Mathew 6:9

 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” John 20:17.

Holy Spirit blasphemy is not forgivable

Holy Spirit blasphemy is not forgivable. Is The Holy Spirit even greater than the Father?
One, I must admit that when I read verses on this, I read into it what was not there. Are you guilty as I was? It is like I read; if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit, the Father in heaven will not forgive you. That would make the holy spirit even greater than the Father.
You should also note that Jesus agrees that there is one greater than himself that you cannot blaspheme and go scot-free.
Let us quickly read Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke.12:10. - All from NIV. (please read other versions too) 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,
29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
If the words "you will not be forgiven by my Father in heaven" are there, that would be one of the difficult passages. It would give us the Holy Spirit even greater than the Father. As you can see, those words are not there.
God is Holy and God is Spirit. It is therefore safe to see that Jesus is referring to His Father.
Something more we need to see and something that escapes that attention of ours is that the Holy Spirit - which is another name for YAHWEH, gives holy spirit (God's divine nature) to all who believe. You have an offering? Send to elijahkirima@gmail.com

IT IS GOD, THEY ARE NOT GOD, BUT GOD IN THEM AND THROUGH THEM.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and through the night the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind and turned it into dry land, and the waters were divided (Ex. 14:21).

Who has seen such marvelous things? God’s prophets and deliverers do amazing works. Miracles, wonders and signs give credibility to the words they speak and bring success to their missions. Yet none of these works are done by their own abilities. Moses stretches out his hand over the water, but it is the “breath” (NIV, NLT) of YHWH (the LORD) that blows upon the sea and causes it to separate (Ex. 15:10).[1]
The sea parts at the raising of Moses’ staff (Ex. 14:16). At the direction of the prophet Elisha, Naaman dips seven times in the Jordan River and is cured of leprosy (2 Kings 5:10–14). By Elijah, fire comes from heaven upon the sacrifice of the LORD (1 Kings 18:36–38). Another time, the prophet causes rain to be withheld from the land (1 Kings 17:1). On still another occasion, a woman’s son is brought back to life (1 Kings 17:17–24).
These men and women of God do “YHWH things”: things that we would expect only God to do. The works that they do can even rightly be said to have been done by God. Yet they themselves are not YHWH.
God’s prophets and deliverers do amazing things. However, they do not act on their own. The God who sends them to his people also fully equips them for their missions. He equips them according to whatever deliverance is needed:

Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Zech. 4:6).

It is not by human might or power that Zerubbabel will succeed. Rather, it is by the active presence of God. It is by his spirit that wonderful works will be accomplished.
When the Messiah’s day comes, God greatly equips him. He too does YHWH things. Like Zerubbabel, he does all his great works by the spirit of the LORD (Isa. 61:1, 2; cf. Luke 4:1, 18–21). Like Moses and others, he does miraculous signs ( John 3:2; 11:47). His disciples also do great things (Acts 5:12).
The fact that God’s prophets and deliverers do these amazing works does not mean that they themselves are YHWH. Neither are they God-men, or angel-men or some other kind of super-beings. Rather, they are people who are empowered by his spirit. They do all of their works by the spirit of God. That demonstrates that they are true human beings. If they were otherwise, perhaps they would have innate abilities and not need the working of God’s spirit to do these things. 21C Christian Reformation.