Walking in the spirit and walking in the love of God is not always an easy task. We have found in our house that Jesus is our example. In this, I would like for you to hear what I Peter 2:18-25 says: Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. That is good isn't it? Now I understand it takes a while to get to the place where you can handle the buffeting with patience, but if you will continue to hold fast to that gospel you will be able to do this. You have to understand that patience is continuance, and we are to continue in is believing the gospel. Now let's go on to the rest of this passage, because this is really what I want to get to. Verse 21 says: For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not ; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously; Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye are healed. For we were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. There have been many times over the years that we, either individually or as a family, have been accused falsely. I am not going to get into this, because I am here to tell you how to overcome. Jesus is our example, and he committed himself to the righteous judge. These scriptures tell us that Jesus was reviled, but he reviled not, he suffered yet he did not threaten. I purposed years ago if Jesus could do this, then his spirit in me could do it also. Now I understand there are times when God will require you to stand up and speak back to spirits, but I will tell you this has worked in our house for years.
Another thing that the Lord ministered to me years ago is out of I Corinthians 13:4-7 when Paul talks about the love of God. I am not talking about sloppy agape. I am talking about obeying God; the love that rejoices in the truth. When you find yourself in a situation which is not pleasant, you will find out real soon how much love you have in your heart. I remember one night Dad was teaching by the spirit and he said, "Love doesn't consider the evil done unto it." That really went off in my heart, and I have never forgotten that. I realize if I consider what is being done to me, I am in the flesh and not trusting in the spirit that is in me. This has not been an easy thing to come to and still can be a fight, but I thank God that he has brought me this far. Jesus knows that my personality is one that leaves people alone until you push me too far. I have been accused of being too weak, and maybe that is true, but God is my judge. Paul said he did not judge himself, and I have purposed that for myself. Besides that Hebrews 4:14-16 says: Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in time of need. Jesus was tempted with everything at once on the cross and yet without sin. He was falsely accused, he was mocked, he was spit upon, his beard was plucked out, only to name a few of the things that took place in Jesus' life. His spirit lives within you and me, and if we will yield unto that spirit, God will cause us to overcome every time. You will have to give yourself unto much prayer. I understand it takes effort to keep your conscience void of offence toward God and man. Paul said that he exercised himself to do so.(Acts 24:16) He did this by having his hope toward God and the resurrection of the dead. He also states back in verse 13 that they could not prove the things they accused him of. Thank you Jesus, I knew God was putting this together. I had forgotten that verse of scripture. Just to give you a little warning, you are going to run into accusations and resistance for obeying God. The good news is you can overcome it and walk right through it. Thank God!!!
I have repeated numerous times in this writing Jesus is our example. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. How fast we get to the end of that faith in each situation will depend upon how much effort we are willing to put forth to overcome our circumstance. I am not good at self-pity or wallowing, so when I begin to suffer (you suffer when you are tempted not to believe), then I will begin to fight harder. I have always been a scrapper. You can not keep me down for too long of a time. Not that I have not been tempted to give up, but I guess I have too much pride. Whatever it is that God uses to spur me on, I just thank him for that.
One thing that has really ministered to my heart over the years is out of Romans 8 starting in verse 30 thru 39. I won't write all of this on the internet, because it would take a while. It will really help you to read this and believe what it says. If God be for us, who can be against us? Who sall lay anything to the charge of God's elect. My favorite part of this is in verses 35-39. It states this: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN!!! There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Nothing! We have to believe that. This kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and it is worth laying down your life for. You will not find anything in the world that will cause you to overcome everytime. This is a guarantee. When we are led by the spirit we can overcome all things by trusting in, relying on, and adhering to this gospel. After all, Romans 1 tells us that it is the power of God to him that believes.
These are just a few little nuggets that God has taught me over the years. They are very beneficial to a person endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit. I hope they will help you as they have me. It has been very beneficial to my heart to just write them here on the internet today. God bless you, and we will talk again soon.
You know, Hebrews 12:1-4 says: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. This is really an amazing and powerful passage of scripture if you consider what is being stated to us. Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith. When you consider what the man endured on the cross alone, it is a powerful thing. Not only that he did it, but "for the joy that was set before him". I remember this statement quite often when I am wanting to look at pressure, or sickness, or the checkbook, or any other thing that the devil would use to distract me. You know, so often we get to looking at our circumstances, and we get our hearts off of the one who can deliver us. I thank God that my heart received this years ago. I can not imagine living like I see so many people today. I am talking about people who claim to believe the gospel. Well, we have to be honest with ourselves and say that maybe we don't believe quite like we think we do. If the gospel is not working in my life, it comes right back in my lap. I can't blame anyone but myself. Oh yes, I would like to, but I have to be honest. Jesus said, "We have all been dealt the measure of faith." What we have to do in every situation is mix that faith with the the gospel. (Hebrews 4:2)
I know this is elementary to some of you, but you need to ask yourself, "Am I receiving the victory, or am I looking at the snake bites?" I remember years ago, a group of us were sitting with my Dad at a local cafeteria. It just so happened that he and I were engaged in a conversation about one of our daughters. I made a statement about, "It seems like it is harder sometimes for the kids to try to walk in the spirit in school," or something to that nature. The spirit of God roared out of his mouth at me and said this, "No it is not harder, it is not too hard. Every person has a path ordained of God to walk, and it is not too hard!!!" I have never forgotten that. My heart was corrected that day, and I have never forgotten. So when I want to murmur and complain at the pressure or anything else, God reminds me of these statements. Now, I am not telling you it is not alright to tell God where you are, that is fine, but tell him and get to looking to the author and the finisher of your faith. You know in Psalm 88 when Jesus was in hell he poured out his heart unto God, but he went past his heart in Psalm 89:1 it says: I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. This is where I believe so many of us miss it. We dwell on the hell going on around us instead of setting our hearts to believe this gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto your and my salvation. I know it is not always easy to look past your pressure, your pain, your poverty or what ever distracts you from believing, but you have to set your heart upon the answer, the gospel, and not the problem.
The soul of a man or woman does not want to do the things of the Kingdom of God. There is no question about it, but we do not give into our souls. Jesus said in Luke 21:19: In your patience, possess ye your souls. That word "Patience", is continuance. You possess your soul in prayer continuing to believing the gospel. Sometimes, you might have to say to your soul, "you lazy thing, get up and pray!" That is okay. When I recognize my soul trying to dictate to me, I begin to overcome it by praying and worshipping God. I won't sit here and tell you it is easy, but I get past that, and look at it simply as being God. When a father or mother corrects a child, we do it because it is good for our children. I remember as a child growing up. My Dad expected me to do what he told me to do. God is no different, when he says obey, he means obey. It is that simple. Humble yourself and submit to the will of God. You might say, "Kathy, you have no idea what the Lord has required of me." That is true, but you have no idea what God has required of Terry and me over the past years. Some things have been very shaky, but God has proven himself faithful in every situation he has led us through. He does things to prove himself to us and us to him. We have proven to ourselves that we will obey God. We do our best to abide in this doctrine that we have received in our hearts.
Paul tells us in Romans 5:3 he gloried in tribulations (pressures), and tribulation worketh patience(continuance). I did not necessarily care for this passage of scripture, but it is written in God's Holy Word that we all believe from cover to cover. I began to consider this, and it also says in Romans 12:12 we are to be patient in tribulation. These are only a couple of scriptures that talk to us about the pressure that comes for the Word's sake. I just want to encourage all of you who read this overcoming. It is possible to overcome pressure and everything else by looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. I didn't like pressure anymore than the next person, but I have learned how to endure hardness as a good soldier, and through much prayer and thanksgiving, that grace does abound in my life every time. Just remember this, none of us have endured what Jesus did on the cross, or in hell. I also know that we have not yet resisted unto blood, so there is hope for us. Remember, look past your circumstance and look unto Jesus. People strive for things in the flesh everyday and give it everything they have got. Use that same will, mixed with faith in this gospel and strive for the kingdom of God. This is eternal, and it will never pass away. That is well worth the fight to me. God bless you, and I hope to see you soon.
I have shared on many occasions about the fear of man that I had when I first began walking in the things of the Kingdom of God. I did not like to get in front of people and speak, sing or anything else that would bring attention to me. So when the Lord began to say things to me, or others about my life, I had to believe what God had spoken, for it to come to pass. You know the Spirit of God can speak things to us, but it is our responsibility to believe and act on what is spoken to us . I will be the first to admit that I have had some problems with unbelief. I don't blame other people for things not taking place in my life, I look in the mirror and start there. Sometime in the early eighties the Lord revealed to my Dad and my husband that I would preach (shew forth or demonstrate the power of God) this gospel to the four corners of the earth, which I might add, the internet covers the whole earth. I thought, "Okay Lord,", but you will have to perfect some things in my heart. Well, he did just that. He started leading me to do things that would cause me to overcome the fears in my heart. One of the first things he began to do in my life was give me songs in home meetings, and I began to move in the gifts of the Spirit in the area of tongues, interpretations, and prophecy. I knew God was working for me, because this is not something that I would seek to do. One thing that I have learned the Lord will cause you to believe him in areas, that only he can be glorified. In other words, if it is something you can do on your own, you can pretty much know it is not God. He makes you reach out there and believe him, and in doing so you will develop a trust and confidence in Him. Well, the Lord began to cause me to overcome fear of man. I began to believe what he said about my life and things began to work.
One day my Dad asked me to minister in song at one of the services. As I finished singing, I began to shake, and Dad looked at me and said, "RULE YOUR SPIRIT!!!" That has been one of the most valuable things that the Spirit of God has spoken out of Dad's mouth to me. Immediately, I got a hold of myself, and I began ruling that fear. I did not realize what was going on with me, but I heard the Spirit of God out of Dad's mouth correct me. I said, "You won't rule me anymore." Now naturally, I have had to fight things every step that the Lord has led me, but I have learned not to let fear, or unbelief, or anything else rule me. Proverbs 25:28 states He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. I have lived this scripture and I know what it feels like to be on both sides of this. I have learned how to rule my Spirit in faith and not let it rule me. Romans 6 tells us that we have a choice of what we yield our members to. We can be a weapon of unrighteousness unto to sin, or we can yield ourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness unto God. When you want to yell at the kids, or your spouse, yield your members unto God, not unto those unrighteous things. Again, I remind you, we have a choice what we yield to. If you can recognize when you are yielding your members as a weapon unto sin, and repent and believe the gospel you can overcome. When you feel your heart wanting to get out of control, or people around your getting out of control, get a hold of it, and rule your spirit with faith in the gospel. This made a major change in my life, learning that I did not have to give in to fear, or anger, or anything else that opposes faith. It all boils down to unbelief. I have instructed my girls all their lives about yielding their members. I tell them,"God won't put up with anything with me, and I will not put up with you yielding to the devil either." We have a common saying in our house when we recognize one of us wanting to yield our members as a weapon of unrighteousness. Someone will always say by the Spirit of God, "Get a hold of yourself." We all know that means, you are not yielding yourself unto God, so get a hold of it now. I also have instructed them how they can rule their spirits in school or any where else that they are walking in their own lives. When I began overcoming fear of man, and all other types of fear, and I could tell that my heart was wanting to run away with me, I would pray in the Spirit slowly and deliberately, or I would begin to worship God. Worship has been a big help in the area of ruling my Spirit. Also, another scripture God ministered to me by his Spirit was from Second Timothy 1:7: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. I prayed that for myself over and over and over until I believed it. Eventually, I came to a place where my faith can and does rule as I believe God. I hope that you have been encouraged by this testimony. This was a life changer for me. God bless you, and believe this gospel.