Behold I Make All Things New

Revelation 21:5
5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

When it says, “he that sat upon the thrown” it is talking about our savior king, our Sheppard, our redeemer, and our Lord, Jesus Christ himself! After he was crucified and gave his life for us, redeemed us with is blood and gave us access to all the blessings and fullness of joy that is in heaven he was resurrected by the power of the God’s Holy Spirit. He came back from the dead and went to heaven in full glory and splendor and sat down on the thrown as King of Kings once and for all. These words were spoken to Saint John the beloved of Christ through a vision he was having. God gave him a vision of the end days and allowed him to see things no one has ever seen. John was able to see everything that was going to happen when Christ returned for us. John was allowed to see secret things and was given a glimpse of things to come.
In this part of the Vision Jesus Christ speaks to John and gives him this ultimate truth, he says something to him that goes against our very human nature. Jesus says, ‘Behold I make all things new!” For our entire lives, and by the way I’m sure it was the same back in his time, in fact in John’s time there were far more philosophers and speakers and basically people that like today thought they had things figured out, they thought they knew how to dissect human nature and our behavior and believed they could explain why we do what we do and act like we act and live how we live. Key word there is “thought.” Then and now the world wants us to think that we are who we are and we simply stay that way. They cram down our throats that if we are born a certain way, well then no matter what, even if we have a propensity to steal or have an over anxious libido (in other words nymphomaniac) or just any tendency that begins to be evident in our growing up and general way of living even if it takes us places we don’t want to go, or makes us do things we don’t want to do we just have to deal with it because that’s who we are.

We are taught that instead of changing the situation (because in the world’s mind people don’t change) we are to adapt to our short coming and figure out ways to “deal with it!” The world gives countless strategies on self help, replacements for our addictions like nicotine gum or hobbies to distract us from what we really want to do, conditioning of the mind which is a way to almost trick yourself into doing something or not doing something unconsciously. We are bombarded with diet plans and surgeries we can have, medications we can take to bring us down if we are to high and bring us up if we are too low. The world spends more effort and money on treating erectile dysfunction then supporting churches or world hunger and things of that nature. Basically the world is in a constant search for ways to deal with our issues and problems and psychological hang ups, expending countless hours of manpower and effort and not to mention millions upon millions of dollars.
The world does all this and Jesus said one phrase, “behold I make all things new!” It is one of the single most important statements Jesus ever made and at the same time it is the single most difficult statement for people to take hold of and believe. My brothers and sisters from the bottom of my heart, I honestly challenge you today to take God’s word and run with, take to the bank and cash it, bet on red (no pun intended) just believe it for you and your life. When Jesus said all things he meant ALL things. He didn’t say I make some things new or I only make what annoys you the most new, he said ALL THINGS! The world tells us we can’t change; Jesus says I make all things new. The world tells you to deal with your problem and Jesus says give it to me I will make it disappear. The world says you are bound to your addictions and you are shackled to the bad habits that keep you down but Jesus says give me all your burdens, let me take all your issues, give me your life and take off your heavy yoke of bondage and take up my yoke for it is light easy. Jesus is God, he created you, and he formed you in your mother’s womb. He is the only on that can fix you or re create you.
This morning God is telling you to allow him control, hand over the wheel of your car, put down the remote of your life and let him take control. He wants to renew you, reconstruct you and redesign you. He wants to make all things new in your life and make you the exceptional person he meant you to be not who the world wants you to be or who society thinks you should be. Remember God’s design is perfect but the situations that we are born in or the environment that we are raised in is something we can’t control. If the people before us, our parents, family and friends made the wrong decisions and chose not to follow Jesus or allow him to come into their lives to change all things, then these things affect us, there actions take their tole on us and we become victims to situations that we never even asked for.

This is what generational curses are all about. The sins or actions of our fore fathers carry on to us and dictate the lives we live. If we don’t take a stand and allow God to change things, allow him to make all things new then these life styles, burdens, addictions, bad choices, mental issues, will continue in our lives and carry on to our children and their children’s children. We must break these chains of bondage, we must free ourselves from the circumstances we are in because of our own actions and the ones we are in because of other’s actions. The only way is to allow Jesus to make the change and only he can break those change and only he can make you free and “Whom the son sets free, is free indeed!” Remember that what happens in your life not only affects you but also others. People are watching you, looking up to you, expecting things from you and even hating you and whatever happens in your life can either serve as a blessing for others or condemn them. If people see a change in your life then they see that Jesus is real and what he says does happen. We cannot go around representing something that we are not fully a member of. If I say I’m a believe in Christ and my life continues in bondage I am always struggling and never prosper because I don’t allow God to make the change in my life then not only am I lost but others are seeing a bad representation of a member of the body of Christ and can make the wrong decision based on a wrong example. Your bad example can lead people the wrong way.
If you allow yourself to be changed then of course you will be blessed because God will make all things new in your life and allow you to live a life of prosperity and Joy and the understanding that you are saved and redeemed to live a free life and expect and hope for the day you go to heaven but the ultimate blessing is that your life will serve as a testimony and blessing for others who are stuck in places that you used to be.
When God blesses his blessings always overflow on to others and not just the person being blessed. God’s blessings are not self centered they are everyone centered. And the same holds true to the negative, the devil makes sure certain people are watching and waiting to see what happens in your life because he knows if they see the wrong thing in your life they will be lead astray also. I challenge you this morning to take up God word and believe! God is the God of today, today is the day the Lord has made! Today is just as good a day to make the decision to Give Jesus your entire life and full control, today put him to the test, let Jesus prove to you how much he wants you to live of complete and total “SHALOM” witch means peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding. The literal meaning of this is nothing missing, nothing broken, a total completeness of body, mind and spirit. Real prosperity, not just monetary wealth but wealth in all aspects of life, mental health, physical health, material possessions and most importantly the spiritual enlightenment of who Jesus is and what he can do in your life. I didn’t say let him prove to you how much he loves you because he already did when he gave his life on the cross for you! Now he wants to take the life he redeemed and make it all it was meant to be.

Go and Sin No More

John 8:3-11

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

So this woman is caught in adultery I know we all know what that is right. The scribes and Pharisees bring her to Jesus. These scribes and Pharisees although claim to know all the law and the bible and are very religious still bring her to Jesus. On one count they want to test him and see what he does, because they are looking for any excuse to defame him or prove him wrong. Remember Jesus is gaining a following and they want to bring him down whenever they can. They bring her to him and ask him what they should do. First they recite to him the Law that came through Moses.

Now the first thing Jesus does is kneel down and write on the ground. We know that Jesus is God and the only other instance when we see the finger of God writing is with the 10 commandments. God wrote them in stone with his finger. Jesus stoops down and writes on stone. How do you know he writes on stone you ask, well they were in a temple and in those days the temple floor was made of stone. The first time he stoops down it is a picture of Jesus saying “I wrote the law” and when he stands up he says “he that is without sin cast the first stone” It is so wonderful that he stoops down again. In the Hebrew the word stoop means to lower in rank to make one self lower than another. When Jesus said that who ever is without sin through the first stone, he would have had to have thrown the first stone because he was the only one there without sin, but he loved her so much he “stooped” lowered his rank made himself lower then her and stepped down from a perfect God for an instant in order to save her. He wrote on the stone or floor a second time, this is a picture of him re-writing the law under grace. Jesus fulfills the law for us and we no longer are bound to the law but we are saved by his mercy and grace. In Jeremiah God says he will make a new covenant and write it in our hearts. So Jesus wrote the law the first time under the old covenant of the Law and then when he stooped down wrote the law again under the new covenant of Grace.

By the time Jesus finished writing he looked up and there was no one left. They all left. You see they failed to believe in him and failed to accept grace, they chose to still live under the law and were condemned by their law and were convicted of their sins and were forces to leave. The women on the other hand fell under to God’s grace. Jesus looks up at her and asks her where her accusers are? There is no one left and Jesus says these most wonderful words to here; “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” The key here is that he did not say if you go and sin no more then I won’t condemn you. No he gave his grace first and then commanded her. With those few words he let her know that he did not care about what she had done, he let her know that he did not care what she was doing or even what she was going to do. He confirmed the fact that even while she was still a sinner the plan of his death for her life was already in place. It was through this face to face encounter, through this one on one revelation that she was able to finally understand that God, Jesus, did not care about anything she had done or is doing or will do in her life, she realized that he loved her no matter what. She realized that his love for her was unfailing and that there was nothing she could to do make him stop loving her.

It was only when she realized that no matter what she did or what she had done Jesus would never condemn her and always lover, her that she was able to be truly free and truly be liberated from her life and “go and sin no more” in other words live a life without sin. It is impossible to live a life without sin for we sin the moment we wake up, our flesh is sinful so we can’t help it but if we have Jesus in our hearts we die to the flesh and live in the spirit. Our whole life we are on the quest of trying to better ourselves so we can come to Jesus. Or we figure that what we have done or thought or said is too terrible for him to still love you. Jesus says “come as you are” he says “take my burden for it is light” he says “I am the bread of life, eat me and you shall never be hungry” “I am the truth the way and the life!”

Many of us are Christians and we have been born again and even go to church every Sunday but still cannot breakthrough. Many of us want to live with Jesus and want to live a good life but our sin does not let us. The problem is not sin. Some people think that God is this God who sits on his thrown waiting for you to fail or sin or do something wrong just so he can punish you or come down on you, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus doesn’t have to wait for you to commit a sin; he knows what you will do before you do it, and he knows what you did even the things that you didn’t even realize you did. This means that he has the ability to pre judge you for your entire life before you even live it. Jesus does not do that though. He loves you so much he gave you forgiveness before you even make a single change in your life. Before this woman left his presence and continued on with her life he forgave her and gave her grace. He told her she was not condemned. Once she realized that sin was not the problem, once she realized that she was forgiven for everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, she realized that it was herself that was the problem.

We must learn to accept God’s forgiveness, we must learn to believe it and realize it to be true for our lives and not just a teaching in the bible. Until you know in your heart that you are free from guilt and condemnation, you will not be able to live the life God wants you to live. How do I do that you ask. Well in order to know the truth in your heart then you must have the truth in your heart. Who is the truth? Jesus! You also must have the way to follow the truth in your heart, who is the way? Jesus! And you also must have a new life to be free, who is the life? Jesus! The bible says that the mouth speaks from what the heart is filled with. If your heart is filled with Jesus that that’s what you will produce and it will be evident. If your heart is filled with anything else then that’s what you will bare fruit of. You might say well I’m born again or I go to church, or my family is Christian but that’s not what saves you. Jesus Christ must be first and foremost in your life. He must take precedence before anything and anyone else. You have to have a one on one face to face encounter with Jesus and allow him full control of your life and He will do all the hard stuff. I can safely say that no one who has truly had a real encounter with Jesus and come face to face with his love and grace like the adulteress women has ever been the same again.

I once told some people that there are only two directions that we are even going in life. We are either going towards God or away from God. We are never going up or down or to the right or left or anywhere else, it’s only towards him or away from him. That’s why Jesus says you must repent because repent literally means to turn. He wants you to turn around, to change your focus, to leave what you are doing to face him and start moving towards him. The truth is that moving towards God is impossible! WHAT? Yup it’s impossible, by yourself you will never get there, you will always get turned around but with Jesus in your heart and in your life you can go towards the father. In fact when you let Jesus take over he picks you up and carries you there, because the path is humanly impossible only he can take you there. You begin to see just how important Jesus is. It’s not about religion, or churches or temples or life styles or anything, it’s about Jesus. I know it’s hard to leave a life of sin, like I said it’s impossible without Jesus. It’s not about what your friends might think or what your family might say or what religion you have been or anything like that. Remember that we are talking about your eternity here, would you really be willing to give up eternal life with God because of someone’s opinion or because of tradition, or religion? I wouldn’t! If you truly allow him control, authentically put him first and whole heartedly turn and meet him face to face, your life will change in an instant. He will do everything for you and he will make all things new.

Remember that Jesus loves you, he yerns to be with you, he literally is waiting for you to return to him like the father waited for the prodigal son. He is not waiting to punish you for where you have been or what you have done. He is waiting for you to give you his most warm embrace, to kiss you on the cheek and rub your head and say “welcome home my daughter, welcome home my son, I know it’s been hard, I know your hurt and bruised and I know that your heart is broken but you’re here now, I will fix everything I will cloth you and feed you and love you and give you everything in my kingdom. Just put me first and everything else will fall into place.”

New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31-3731Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, 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, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.35Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:36If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.37Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.            

This, my brothers and sisters is the moment when God the father let his people know that he would be sending Jesus to the world.  Like the entire bible; Jesus is in everything that is written.  God speaks about making a new pact with Israel, one not like the covenant of the Law that he made with our fathers through Moses, but a new covenant where instead of never forgetting our sin, now he will never remember our sins.  This is the covenant of Grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ!

 In John 1:14-17; And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 

God speaks about how he will put the law in our inward parts and write it on our hearts.  The Hebrew word for inward parts is “Qarab” it is a primitive root that means; to join, to draw near, to present, to make ready, or to produce.  This is wonderful, God is telling us that under the new covenant of Grace, he will do it all and it is no longer up to us.  God says I will draw near to you, I will present myself to you, I will join the law of the new covenant to you, I will make you ready and I will produce the law of the new covenant through you.  God says “I will write it on your hearts,” the only time we see God writing, and I mean God not an angel or anything else but God himself writing is in two places in the bible.  And only in those two places is the word used to mean engraving or etching in, not just simple writing.  One is when he wrote the law on stone or the “Ten Commandments” and the other was in a synagogue when the people were going to stone the prostitute.  Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground, now they were in a temple not outside.  In those days the temple floor was made of stone.  After he bent down he said “he that is without sin cast the first stone!”  Here is the connection; When God writes he engraves, whether it is in stone or in eternity he engraves.  He says he is going to engrave the law of the new covenant of Grace and Truth in our hearts in other words make it part of us, never to be removed.  Jesus demonstrated the changing of the old covenant to the new covenant when he stooped down in that temple.  After he stooped down to write the first time, He was writing the law of the old covenant and kept it by stating “he that is without sin cast the first stone” when he bent down a second time and wrote on the stone, he was showing that He was writing the law (fulfilling)under a new covenant.  When he looked up the accusers where gone.  He said; “Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more (John 8:10-11).  Grace!  “Neither do I condemn thee” or “I will remember your sins no more!”  Amazing Grace!

After that in Jeremiah 31:34 he says that no longer will men have to teach each others about God but we will all know God ourselves.  He will be our God and we will be His people.  In this new covenant God will stop being a far away Judging God but he will be a freely available graceful God.  No longer will people depend on men and prophets alone to hear the voice of God but we will be able to have God live in us and communicate with us in intimacy and worship.  This, this very key is the key to our success.  Understanding this grace that has been freely given to us, knowing that he has already forgiven us all our sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and excepting that he will never again remember the sins we have committed and will commit is monumental.  It is revealed that sin is no longer the problem in our walk with Christ, but our lack of faith.  If we have been forgiven for our sins and they have been erased then they cannot be a problem anymore.  The problem is our lack of faith in believing that we are forgiven or in other words, forgiving ourselves.  How does faith come?  By hearing, and hearing what?  The word of God!

Romans 10:17; “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”The word is the key to your success and to your understanding, accepting and living in the Grace of God.  Not just the written word but the Word that became Flesh; Jesus Christ!  I want you to understand that you are a new being, born again through Jesus Christ.  That you are dead to sin and alive to the spirit through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.  Death, my friends, no longer has dominion over you!  You can walk in victory and walk in Grace with the knowledge of the truth.  What is the truth?  The truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Romans 1:16;” For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

And who is the truth? Jesus declares in John 14:6; “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  There is no way around it; He is the answer to all our questions!  You want freedom from sin; Jesus Christ.  You want healing; Jesus Christ.  You want bondage to be broken; Jesus Christ.  You want financial success; Jesus Christ.  You want a family, health and prosperity? JESUS CHRIST!!!  He is The Lord who heals Jehovah Rophe, He is the Lord our righteousness Jehovah Tsidkenu, He is the Lord our banner Jehovah Nissi, He is the lord is present Jehovah Shammah, He is the Lord will provide Jehovah Jireh, He is the Lord is my sheppard Jehovah Rohi, He is the Lord our peace Jehovah Shalom, He is our SHALOM, which doesn’t just mean peace, it means nothing broken, nothing missing, a total completeness of body mind and soul.

And finally, all of this, this wonderful Mercy and Grace, the sacrifice on the cross, your salvation and eternal life can never be taken away!  Amen Hallelujah!  The is the best feeling, to know that we are redeemed and that no one or no thing can pluck us from his hands.  John 10:28-30; “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.  I and my Father are one.”God exclaims in Jeremiah 31:35-37; “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.  Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.  You tell me who can measure heaven?  Who can measure the foundations of the earth or count the stars in the sky?  Who can make the sun, moon and stars disappear?  No one!  Unless all this is done, God’s new covenant with us is intact and eternal! 

I challenge you to put away condemnation, to drop the clothing of iniquity and sin and take up the robe of righteousness that is a free gift to you from Jesus Christ.  Put your trust in God!  Die completely to the flesh and sin and live in the fullness of the spirit of God within us.  The Word says in Romans 8:1-4; “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”Forget your sins, forgive yourself and put away the worries of the flesh.  Accept God’s love and mercy and grace in your life.  Pray that God strengthen your faith and allow it to grow.  Feed your faith with the word and spend time with the author and lover of your soul; Jesus Christ!  Walk in the spirit and live by the spirit.  Renew your mind to be sensitive to the spirit and to ignore the flesh.  This renewing only comes from glory to glory with Jesus Christ.  In other words, every moment you spend with him alone and give yourself to him 100%, his presence changes you, his touch re-constructs you, his loving kindness renews your mind and makes you into the “REAL” you!  Remember God loves you and wants you to prosper, he wants you to be happy and he delights in giving you the petitions of your heart.  We all read the scriptures that promise blessings and prosperity and all these things but we don’t pay attention to the end of the verse or chapter.  In most the word ends the promise with “to those who seek him, to those who love him, to those who obey him, to those who walk in righteousness, to those who walk in the spirit, to those believe!”  Its one thing to read the promise but it’s another to actually do what needs to be done to obtain the promise.  Put Jesus first, love Him, seek Him, walk with Him, obey Him, but most importantly accept Him into your heart and allow him full and total control.  Everything else will be added unto you!  Remember that your latter days will be greater then your former days. 

Jesus makes all things new and that means YOU!

Fruitful through Grace

Many people get hung up on how we know if one’s self or others are truly saved or born again.  If I look at an apple tree, what will grow from it?  No not lemons or oranges but apples!  If an egg hatches and a duck comes out of it, where did it come from?  No not a chicken but a duck.  If we are of God we show resemblance to him.  If we are of Jesus we show his fruits.  Galatians 5:22-24 speaks of the fruits of the spirit.  The word says we shall know the tree by it’s fruits.  If you are in the tree of life, which is Jesus Christ then you shall bear it’s fruit.  These are the fruits of the spirit of Christ;

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.   And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

It says against such there is no law.  What does this mean?  It means that there is no law needed to full fill these fruits.  These fruits come from the spirit and are freely given to you through GRACE by God.  These fruits allow us to fulfill the law, the trying to fulfill the law in no way allows you to attain or achieve these fruits.  Thank God for that because without the spirit or GRACE we would never be able to fulfill the law, therefore never be able to receive this fruits.  God designed the hole thing in our favor!  One more thing to add to the fruits of the spirit as evidence of true resurrection in Christ is found in 1st John 2:3-11;

 

 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.  He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.  He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.  Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.  Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.  He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.  He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.  But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

 

And yet another scripture in 1st John 4:22-5:5;

 

 “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?  And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.   Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.  For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

 

Our faith is what allows us to love him.  Our belief in our heats that he is the son of God is the force that allows us to Love him and our faith in his GRACE is what makes following his commandments not burdensome.  We are able to overcome the world through our faith in the power of Jesus the Christ!  It’s a sequential process; it’s not until we believe in him that we can love him and it’s not until we love him that we can accept his GRACE and it’s not until we have fully accepted his GRACE that we can follow his commandments without it being a burden on us!  The commandment is Love!  This unconditional love for Jesus first and then towards others gives us the key to overcome any situation and survive all adversity!

 

“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.  And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.  For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 1 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.  And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.  And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment”

 

Who is the truth?  Jesus is the Truth!  So in order for us to show evidence or prove that we are of him, we must do it in deed and in truth.  Now i’m not talking about works of the flesh or religious rituals that lead us to believe that through these actions we can get closer to God or be righteous in his eyes.  I am talking about deeds of the heart, deeds that stem from the fruits of the spirit, or “works of the spirit.”  God says if your heart condemns you then he is still greater then our hearts and knows all things, but if you can get to the point where your heart no longer condemns you, (Romans 8:1)

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

or the full understanding and acceptance of his AMAZING GRACE then you have confidence toward God or in other words you have fullness of “FAITH!”  This fullness of faith allows you to walk in his commandments under reverence, respect and more importantly Love.  This love for Jesus first and then everyone else allows you to put forth these fruits of the spirit and deeds in truth!  Notice that only after all this does the promise of whatever we ask we will receive from Him come into the picture, but he ends with “BECAUSE” we keep his commandments and do things that are pleasing in His sight.  It is not as simple as getting on your knees and asking.  The commandment here is to Love!  If you love Jesus first and then love everyone else as he loved us, then we can follow any of his commandments, even the 10 commandments with no problem.  When love is your foundation everything else will stand firm!  Love allows you to do things that please God not because of fear of his judgment or for fear of hell but you do these things because you love and respect Him, it would break your heart to break His!  The same with others, if you love them enough it will honestly hurt your more to hurt them then it would actually hurt them.

 

So in closing if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and was raised from the dead then you are BORN AGAIN.  When you are born again you die to the flesh and are RESUURECTED in the spirit (through baptism also, that is a whole other subject) once you walk in the spirit you are able to LOVE HIM and understand his AMAZING GRACE.  This understanding gives you FULLNESS of FAITH and allows you to obey and walk in his commandments for the pure fact that you love him to much to do anything that is not pleasing to his sight.  This love for him then spills over unto others in your life and therefore makes it easy for you to follow all the other commandments God has for you!  This obedience gives you the keys to the flood gates of heaven and anything you ask you will receive because you are following his commandments and doing things that are pleasing in his sight!

 

God Bless you and I hope you have a great day in the love and passion of the Lord Jesus Christ