 Dear Fellow Believers,
From the time of creation, the Lord God gave mankind the freedom to choose. It is an essential concept of the Kingdom of God that we must understand. It is clear that the Lord God did not want mindless robots as His creation, only be capable of doing His Will with no other choice. He wants us to choose to obey Him, love Him and spend time in His presence. I can understand that! If you love someone, you would also want them to freely love you back. I want my adult children to freely seek me out; to want to spend time with me, not out of obligation. There is no joy in someone being forced to love you! There was Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, living in Heaven on earth, and the Lord God gave them only one “test” to obey or disobey Him. The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” Genesis 2:15-17 You would think that is easy compared to all the choices we must make today. Yet, they make the wrong choice! We often hear “God is in control”, but the truth is that God gave mankind control when He gave us the freedom to choose. We must seek His help and ask for His intervention in a situation. We make a choice and pray about it. “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep His commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in His ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” Deuteronomy 30:15-19 Can you hear the Lord God’s heart for mankind? He wants us to choose Him. He wants us to want to worship Him and obey His commandments. But if we don’t, He clearly lays out the consequences: (Further reading Deuteronomy 28) Don't throw out the Old Testament. Remember that the Old Testament shows us God’s character. It shows us His “heart” toward mankind. When He sent Jesus, the Lord God’s character didn’t change. The Lord God doesn’t “make” you do anything. You have a choice. Satan can’t “make” you do anything either! You have a choice. Make your choices with that in mind. We’ve all heard the saying “the devil made me do it” but we know that is just a joke! If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 Our society today would like you to feel like a victim, rather than seeing the bad choices, errors in judgment, that have placed us in the midst of some bad consequences. Sometimes the only way out of a bad situation is to see our bad choices, repent and change what we are doing! Seed—time—and harvest doesn’t only refer to money or crops. It refers to every choice, every decision, every action we do. Seek out God’s Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in every decision. Jesus replied, “All who love Me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and We will come and make Our home with each of them. Anyone who doesn’t love Me will not obey Me. And remember, My words are not My own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent Me. I am telling you these things now while I am still with You. But when the Father sends the Advocate as My representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. John 14:23-26 It is the Holy Spirit—our Governor—who will lead us to make good choices if we will only listen. Today, I am building a foundation, a solid foundation upon which you can stand. Every time you make a choice that is in line with God’s Constitution, your self-control fruit of the Spirit will grow. You will become stronger in the Kingdom and more able to withstand the attacks of our enemy, Satan. He wants to tempt you to make the wrong choice and separate you from the Lord God. It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, He has turned away and will not listen anymore. Isaiah 59:2 NLT I don’t ever want my Father to turn away from me and not listen to me anymore! Here are more foundational “scripture bricks”: Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:15-23 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. John 10:27-28 NKJV Anyone who does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!” Matthew 12:50 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent His own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to Him at all.) Romans 8:1-9 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 Kingdom citizens are well able, with the power and strength of the Holy Spirit working in them and through them, to make choices that line up with God’s Word. The more you do this, the stronger you will become. In our present world, we need that strength! The Lord is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call on Him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cries for help and rescues them. The Lord protects all those who love Him, but He destroys the wicked. Psalm 145:18-20 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you [setting you on a firm foundation] and will protect and guard you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 AMP A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Ephesians 6:10 Your heavenly Father loves you and gives you the freedom to choose to love and obey Him or reject Him. The choice is yours. Be ready, Deborah Luchie www.deborahluchie.org All scriptures are NLT unless otherwise noted. (Also published on kingdomcitizens.org) This article may only be reproduced, in print or on the internet, if the author's name and website address are included at the end of the article as originally placed. Thank you.
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 Dear Fellow Believers,
How you see the Lord God determines the level at which He will operate in your life. If you see Him as a friend, He will operate in your life as a friend. But if you see Him as the one true God, Creator of all, Healer, Deliverer, Provider, Protector, Father, Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent; you will see His supernatural power operating in your life! Even the Lord Jesus was limited in Nazareth because the people could only see Him as the son of Mary and Joseph, the carpenter. He was “just a guy from the neighborhood”. Jesus left that part of the country and returned with His disciples to Nazareth, His hometown. The next Sabbath He began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were amazed. They asked, “Where did He get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And His sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in Him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” And because of their unbelief, He couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place His hands on a few sick people and heal them. And He was amazed at their unbelief. Mark 6:1-6 “They were deeply offended. . .” I can imagine that they probably also added a “Who does he think he is?”! Because of their unbelief, Jesus did very little in Nazareth. We are in a season where we must have a revelation of the power and glory of the Lord God that is available to us if we will only believe! See with supernatural eyes what is going on in our world. See it for the spiritual battle that it is. This is surely “the time of evil”. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Gospel so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Ephesians 6:11-18 In Psalm 20, it says: Some trust in chariots (made by man) and some in horses (nature, God’s creation), but we will remember and trust in the name of the Lord our God. Where do you place your trust? It goes on to say: They have bowed down and fallen; but we have risen and stand upright. Save, Lord! May the King answer us when we call. Psalm 20:7-9 AMP Yes, they have bowed down and fallen but we have risen and stand upright, because we trust in our Lord God and we know that NOTHING is impossible with Him! Satan has saturated our world with fear, control, manipulation and lies that try to undermine the Lord God’s Kingdom principles and Believers’ faith. We have all seen pastors, ministers and believers, that we thought were strong in the faith, fall away. I have seen them leave their ministry and some have even said they don’t believe in God. It is sad and disheartening to see a “leader of the faith” publicly turn away. But they never truly knew Him. If they did, they would see His power in their lives. They were caught up in “doing ministry” as their career and didn’t actually know the Lord. When you see His power moving in your life, you will never walk away from Him! I have had countless events in my life where I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt “that was my Father God!” Because of that, I boldly say that I will never doubt or walk away. I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God and all of my Father God’s power and authority are available to operate in my life in Jesus’ name! “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it!” John 14:12-14 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:18-19 NKJV Do you believe God’s Word? Then you believe that NOTHING will hurt you. You believe that you have been given ALL power over the enemy—Satan and his demons. When I think of the power and authority of our Father, of His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit which He has given us, I get excited! When you get that revelation, you will not fear the world and all that is in it. Focus your spiritual eyes. See Satan and his demonic angels at work in this world. And the great dragon was thrown down, the age-old serpent who is called the devil and Satan, he who continually deceives and seduces the entire inhabited world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. . . And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death. Revelation 12:9 & 11 AMP Most important of all, see your Father God for who He is. Nothing is impossible or too hard for Him! Never allow your unbelief to limit His supernatural power in your life! You will be victorious over Satan and every weapon he fires at you because of the blood of Jesus on you, the words you speak and your unshakable faith in the Lord God even in the face of death. Satan is a liar and an illusionist. He is already defeated and we are victorious through the Lord Jesus. Satan has absolutely no power in the Kingdom of God. He only prowls around in the world. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion (it’s only an illusion), looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. 1 Peter 5:8-9a I have “scripture bombs” going off in my mind! Every time I write a little bit, the Holy Spirit gives me more! Fill your mind with God’s Word. Get to know Him better through His Word. If you do, you will see His hand on your life. Your prayers will be more fruitful and powerful. Walk in the power and authority of your Father God. Little children (believers, dear ones), you are of God and you belong to Him and have [already] overcome them [the agents of the antichrist]; because He who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world [of sinful mankind]. They [who teach twisted doctrine] are of the world and belong to it; therefore they speak from the [viewpoint of the] world [with its immoral freedom and baseless theories—demanding compliance with their opinions and ridiculing the values of the upright], and the [gullible one of the] world listens closely and pays attention to them. 1 John 4:4-5 AMP Yes! Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or intimidated. The Lord God is with you wherever you go! (Joshua 1:9) So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 Be ready, Deborah Luchie deborahluchie.org All scriptures are NLT unless otherwise noted. kingdomcitizens.org This article may only be reproduced, in print or on the internet, if the author's name and website address are included at the end of the article as originally placed. Thank you. |
Deborah Luchie
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