Five-Fold Today - Seek First Those Things Which Are Above - Sin Consciousness - Don't Touch Me, Please Love Me
"SEEK FIRST THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE"
Stephen Hanson
33. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matt. 6
1. Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand
of God. 2. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Col. 3
"What is there to be found which can satisfy a person's longing?"
"Is there a longing to have your desires filled?
"It is true that I can satisfy the deepest longings....the deepest longings of the human heart."
(The Lord showed me a cantaloupe which was ready to be eaten. It was very ripe and juicy. There were other forms
of fruits, and also a cup of something which was ready to be drunk. There seemed to be various forms of food which
can satisfy a person's desires or cravings.)
(As I kept watching, I noticed an array of various metals which may have been worn by a military leader of some
kind. There were several of them, and they were "set" on a table of some sort. I said, 'What is this?' and He said,
"Medals and places of honor.")
(I looked again, and saw a cigarette burning in an ashtray. There was a decanter of glass in the background, ready to
fill a wine glass. Most likely, to be filled with wine.)
(Lastly, I saw a bag of gold coins which were many. They completely filled this bag, and poured out onto the floor and
surrounding area. There was an overabundance of these coins, and it was as if there was an unlimited amount of
them.)
Then the Lord said:
"These are just some of the things that the human heart would long for. They will never satisfy your complete
longings. There are longings which only I can fill with my Spirit. Seek those things which are above and are not on
this earth. In my gates are to be found things which far exceed the riches of this world. Peace and lovingkindness
and wisdom and mercy.... I have come to bring life, and that more abundantly. And while it is true that I will bless
my people with the things of this world, there must be a seeking first of my kingdom and my righteousness. For you
do not seek the gold, you do not seek the food, you need not even seek love."
"So, seek first my kingdom and my righteousness, and then all these things will be yours as well. Do you not think
that the Heavenly Father knows how to take care of His children? If you would then ask for a loaf of bread, would I
then give you a serpent? You as earthly mothers and fathers know how to give good things to your children. How
much more then am I able to do this? The cattle on a hundred hills belongs to Me. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. You are but caretakers of my vineyard."
"So seek those things which are at my right hand."
(Lastly, the Lord showed me two crystal-clear glasses which were raised and set in the air. There was a plate such
as would be used during communion, for the bread, and here was set the these wafers. A very fine liquid was being
poured into the glasses to drink from. And in front of this was a very beautiful opal bracelet, which encircled around
the scene of the two glasses and the bread on the plate. )
He said then,
"This represents my eternal food and wine. It will last forever for it has been poured-out for many. And I have made
you as kings and queens to reign with Me. These are the things which will satisfy your deepest longings. "
"Seek those which are above, for they are eternal."
SIN-CONSCIOUSNESS
"Christ... will appear a second time, not carrying any burden of sin, NOR to
DEAL with SIN, but to
bring to FULL SALVATION those who are expecting Him."(Heb.9:28). We know from
our recent
studies on the golden lampstands in Revelation and Zechariah that we are to look
for the appearing or
the REVEALation of Jesus Christ in His Body, the Church, the ecclesia called-out
ones (not necessarily
what the religious system calls Church). "...when Christ Who IS OUR LIFE appears,
then YOU ALSO
will APPEAR with Him in the splendor of His glory."(Col.3:4). Now Heb. 9:28 is
very clear on an issue
that has been largely obscured by modern Christianity... His appearing in us
("...Christ IN US, the hope
of glory...") is NOT to deal with SIN! That can ONLY mean one thing... sin has
ALREADY been dealt
with on the CROSS! The Christian religious system (at least the more 'spiritual'
ones) have for the most
part told us that in order to be humble, we must always be acutely aware of what
sinners we are, how far
short we fall, that we must feel guilty and STRIVE to conquer the sin in our
lives. My friend, this is a
deadly form of PRIDE called false humility... it looks and sounds SO spiritual,
but I will be bold enough
to declare it ANTI(instead-of) CHRIST! I publicly repent for allowing that spirit
to operate in my SOUL
in times past. There was a time period in recent years when I fasted two or three
days every week; I
spent countless hours sobbing before god over sin; I could barely take a compliment
because I was so
aware of how rotten I was; I looked SO broken and humble, I was SO sin-conscious.
In retrospect I can
see that it was so SOUL (mind, will, emotions) oriented, it felt good to feel
so lousy about myself... in
reality, my SOUL was filled with the poison of false humility, that religious
spirit that LOOKS so
spiritual.
Consider the strong words of Col.2:21-23, "Do not handle this, do not taste that,
do not even touch
them... To do this is to follow human precepts and doctrines. Such practices
have indeed the outward
appearance that popularly passes for wisdom, in promoting self-imposed rigor
of devotion and delight in
SELF-HUMILIATION... but they are of NO VALUE in checking the indulgence of the
flesh- the lower
nature. Instead, they do not honor God, but SERVE ONLY TO INDULGE THE FLESH!"
Am I saying
that fasting and discipline are no good?... am I advocating a lifestyle of sin?...
certainly NOT! "Are we
to remain in sin in order that God's grace may multiply and overflow? Certainly
NOT! How can we who
DIED (past tense!) to sin live in it any longer?... we were BURIED therefore
WITH
HIM..."(Rom.6:1-2). My point is that all the fasting, discipline, etc. is useless
against the sin-nature; the
ONLY thing that is effective is REALizing (making it real in my life) that the
sin has ALREADY been
dealt with on the cross... NOTHING I can do will add to this! If any man be
in Christ he is a New
Creation, old things are passed away... for me to say that I must continually
deal with the sin-nature is
anti (instead of) Christ; it profanes the FINISHED work of Christ on the Cross.
Sorry to be so blunt here,
but I am dealing with a religious Babylonian stronghold deeply entrenched in
the Christian religious
system, and it must be rooted up and torn down!
As we read in the first sentence, the appearing of Christ in us now is to bring
us to FULL
SALVATION... this cannot happen if we deny the finished work of His first coming.
Consider
Heb.10:22 "Let us all come forward and draw near with true hearts...having our
hearts sprinkled and
purified from a GUILTY EVIL conscience...". I used to have a guilty evil conscience...
one of my
favorite scriptures was in Isaiah chapter six as he cries out "...woe is me for
I am undone, I am a man of
unclean lips and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips..."; I could
dwell on that emotion, that
self-abasing subtle pride and never get to the next verse as the seraphim proclaims,
"...your iniquity and
guilt are taken away, and your sin is completely atoned for and forgiven!...
whom shall I SEND?..." A
distinguishing characteristic of the Apostolic Reformation is pulling down the
strongholds of false
humility and sin consciousness that have held people bound, in order that they
may be SENT! The
seraphim didn't join in Isaiah's pity party, he proclaimed Isaiah CLEAN and
then SENT him!
Hebrews chapter 10 tells us how the Law could never make the people perfect,
otherwise the sacrifices
would have STOPPED being offered because if "...since the worshippers had once
for all been
cleansed, they would NO LONGER have any guilt or consciousness of sin..."(Heb.10:2).
Did you catch
that? ...if we have once for all been CLEANSED, we will NO LONGER have sin consciousness!
If we
go up to verse 14, it says "For by a single offering He has FOREVER completely
CLEANSED and
perfected those who are consecrated and made holy...", we have been CLEANSED!
Sin-consciousness
is anti-Christ; it is a religious principality that seeks to establish a stronghold
in the mind to render you
ineffective... it must be cast down and destroyed! I had a very Godly and sincere
man whom I love and
respect tell me that the most Godly people he knew were the most conscious of
their sin... that sounds
so spiritual and good, but is simply isn't true ( I know there was no malicious
intent on his part, just an
inaccurate understanding).
Once again, am I advocating some kind of sanctified hedonism where one does whatever
they want,
whenever they want with no active conscience?... certainly NOT!... Gnosticism
and true Christianity
don't mix! Quite the contrary, EVERY activity of life must be measured against
one thing - Does it
manifest Christ?... if not, stay away from it! And IF we should sin (notice
I said IF!), repent and turn
from it, confess it and MOVE ON in the purpose of God!
I realize that some will have a difficult time accepting this (it doesn't seem
to meet that prideful
religious desire in us to do 'penance'), but sin-consciousness will NEVER take
us into the maturity of
being sons of God. Matt.6:23 tells us that if our eye, our focus, is EVIL then
our whole body will be
filled with darkness... if we are focused on sin consciousness we actually EMPOWER
the very sin we
seek to be free of. Consider what James 1:21-25 is telling us... (1) the Engrafted
Word, Christ IN us has
the power to bring our SOUL (mind, will, emotions) to FULL salvation (2) if we
hear Him but do not
allow Him to REVEAL Himself in us and through us (through our obedience), it's
like we walk away
from the mirror and forget what LIKENESS we just saw... I have usually heard
this preached negatively,
like we should always be aware of what sinners we are in the mirror. I don't
believe this is the intention
though, as Paul also speaks of the mirror of the Engrafted Word in 2 Cor 3:18,
"...all of us with unveiled
face, continued to behold in the Word of God as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are constantly being
transfigured into His VERY OWN IMAGE...". Where are we beholding the glory of
the Lord?... in the
MIRROR, Christ IN us the hope of His manifest glory!
What do YOU see when you look in the mirror?... do you see the appearing of Christ
to bring FULL
SALVATION to your soul? Cast down that sin-consciousness that strengthens the
stronghold of sin in
your life. Accept and REALize the finished work of Christ on the cross, that
He may live HIS LIFE
through you, to the glory of the Father!
DON'T TOUCH ME - PLEASE LOVE ME!
A Word through Steve Shultz, THE ELIJAH LIST
This morning, I was talking to my friend, Andy, about the people in
the church, --you and me. Out of my mouth came an expression that I'd
never said before and it felt like God put it there.
It's a picture of many in the church--where we are-- in our hearts, and
where the Lord, in His great compassion, see's us.
Having received wounding in the house of our friends, we have said
"Don't touch me. Keep your hands off!" And at the same time, we
crave the very love that the church was meant to give. So in our
heart, having said, "Don't touch me," we are also saying, "Please love
me."
Here's the good news. The Lord UNDERSTANDS. It makes sense to Him
that you and I often feel this way. He saw how we got there. He saw
how MANY got there.
And now the Lord says this to you,
THE LORD UNDERSTANDS
Zech 13:6 6 If someone asks him [ you ] , 'What are these wounds on
your body?' he will answer, 'The wounds I was given at the house of
my friends.'
No one in the Universe understands more--that the wounds we have
suffered seem to have come most from our brothers. Pastors (having
myself been on a pastoral staff) are just as wounded, if not more so.
Oh, the pain that a pastor feels when all his efforts fail and he and
his wife are accused of evil intent. And the awful pain of the sheep,
doing what he knows to do, and being wounded, seemingly without cause.
And just like us, the scripture foresaw Jesus' own suffering when it
said,
Zech 13:7 7 "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who
is close to me!" declares the LORD Almighty. "Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the
little ones."
The Good Shepherd was struck down without cause and his own "sheep"
were scattered.
Today there is a refining process that is being allowed by the Lord to
bring us into such a deep place, that the day will come, when, like
Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his own brothers, we will declare
in confidence and almost-gratitude,
Gen 50:20 20 "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to
accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
God has brought the refiner's fire to many,
THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN WOUNDED--ARE NOW REFINED or BEING REFINED
Zech 13:9 9 "This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them
like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I
will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say,
'The LORD is our God.'" (NIV)
GRATEFUL FOR OUR TRIALS
We will all learn to be grateful--if not today, then soon, for the
painful trials that have come to us--even through our brothers and
sisters-- for in this, our characters, if we allow them, will be
deepened to the point that we will be more useable as vessels for the
Lord.
INSTEAD OF "DON'T TOUCH ME -- PLEASE LOVE ME!"
Instead of suffering with, "Don't touch me--please love me," we will
have learned to be like Joseph and thank even our brothers who wounded
us--- for our wounds,---because the wounds have changed us. We will
become more like Christ, who prayed a prayer that did not go
unanswered-- because He only prayed what the Father told Him to pray,
"Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing."
April 8, 2000
by Doug Fortune
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