Such As I Have, Give I Thee ~ Blog
Acts 3:6 NKJV
Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
We recognize this scripture probably because it is so often used by preachers but while I sat with the Lord recently, He brought the words 'such as I have give I thee' to my attention. But such as I have give I thee. We cannot really give someone something that we do not have can we, but I believe the Lord was speaking to me about something completely different here. He was speaking to me about what we have inside. Peter did not have something outward. In fact, he didn't have what the man actually was asking for which was silver or gold for his cup. Peter knew however that what the man wanted and what the man needed were actually two very different things. I believe that this is what God is wanting to tell His Remnant Church even now.
How Did We Get in this Mess?
This is the question, isn't it? How did we get here in the first place to where so many people hate God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit? How did we go from a Christian Country to a country overrun with false religions and worse in the church, Pharisees who are standing on platforms teaching God's people false doctrines? How did we become a people who were actually in bondage and not living in the freedom that Jesus died to give us and how can we change this now that we have fallen into the muck and the mire of what has become of our world today?
First, I believe we must recognize that we as individuals were taught many things incorrectly. Whether you were a part of a denomination or even a non-denominational church there were wolves in sheep's clothing that were planted there on purpose to try to deceive you and keep you blinded to the truth of not only the gospel but of the authority that Jesus gave to us so that we could walk above it all in freedom. We were taught religion rather than relationship and we actually became carriers of a lie that like a virus spread to our families, friends, the people we work with and so on. How, because such as we had we gave to them. We gave people rules and regulations. We judged people wrongly not considering the blood at all and some of us even became religious zealots like Saul who would eventually be the Apostle Paul. The truth is beloved; we turned many away from not only ourselves but from God thinking we were following Jesus but repelling all those who came around us.
Taking Scripture Out of Context...
1 Corinthians 11:1 NKJV
Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
I believe that many took this scripture to mean that once they found a Pastor or Christian that they liked they were to follow them, but this is not what Paul was saying. He says imitate which does mean follow, but he adds 'as I imitate Christ'. This is where we missed it through the years. We found people that we really liked and even respected or put on a pedestal, and we began to model ourselves and our lives after them not really paying attention to the most important part which is 'as I also imitate Christ'. Therefore, we were not meant to be a people who covered up the transgressions of our leaders. Have we forgotten one thing?
Matthew 23:15 NKJV
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
Is this what happened to the church? While it is true love covers a multitude, we weren't to follow our leaders into it. Don't get me wrong here I am not calling for perfection. I am not perfect. Noe of us is but God is exposing, now in our time, the coverup culture that was created by Leadership using a few scriptures to keep us silent so that they wouldn't have to repent and straighten out their lives. This beloved was wrong and cost us big time because those same Leaders who fell then continued standing on their platforms teaching false doctrine and lead even more people astray and hurting those who came after us. I believe taking 1 Corinthians 11:1 out of context has led many astray believing they should follow a man or woman not realizing that Jesus Himself changed this.
You see, in days of old the Pharisees had followers who knew their every move. They knew when they would awake, when they would go to bed, what they taught and how they treated their families (especially their wives). They truly followed in their footsteps, slept in their dwellings and followed them everywhere, but Jesus clearly DID NOT do that. He didn't go to the Pharisees when it was time for Him to step into ministry and ask them to follow Him. No, He went to simple men who could be taught and trained to follow Him and then to follow the Spirit. This is why He spent 3 1/2 years pouring into them, but this is also why He specifically said WAIT!
Acts 1:4 NKJV
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
Notice Jesus didn't say, okay, I'm going now but now you can follow the Pharisees. Notice He didn't say, My time here is done, I've taught you all well so now you can follow Peter. No, He said WAIT! That is how important Holy Spirit was then and still is today. The very reason we are in this mess and Christians live in such a state of hopelessness and confusion is because they never learned to wait on and follow the Holy Spirit. We (me included) accepted what men and women taught us, and we learned religion, but the truth is as New Testament Believers we were always meant to be led by the Spirit. Jesus was filled with the Spirit at the beginning of His own ministry when He met John the Baptist for His baptism.
Should We Play The Blame Game?
No, of course not. That is not where I am going at all. Countless people have told me lately that they were taught this or that and they just didn't know scripture well enough, so they honestly thought they were following Jesus.
Beloved, we must take into account that nothing escapes our Heavenly Father. He knows the end from the beginning and Joseph said it best after living for years in what looked like a mess created by men through anger, hatred and jealousy.
Genesis 50:20 NKJV
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
Joseph learned through it all that God was in control. God could have pulled him out of the pit his brothers put him in. He could have given him favor with Potiphar and been sent straight from Potiphar's house to Pharaoh's house but instead the prison was in between. Not one of His chosen ones (which we are) can truly love Him and be pulled away. You say, but people fall or walk away all the time. Yes, they do but did they really love Him through all the adversity, or did they say they loved Him until adversity came and then play the blame game?
The Apostle Paul started out as the extremely religious Saul thinking in his own mind that he was doing what God wanted him to do. How wrong he was. Paul had to be knocked off his horse, blinded and set aside for a number of years before Jesus could use him like He really wanted to. Have you been set aside? Has God been renewing your mind, removing things from your heart and molding you like clay in the Potters hands? None of it was comfortable for Saul who became Paul, but he was so in love with Jesus that he no longer cared about his own religion, the former teachings that had actually become bondage to him to the point where even his reputation outside of Christ meant nothing.
Check your hearts beloved. Ask yourself this simple question. Who is using me? Is it truly God or is it Satan? Are you willing to give up the former things, teachings and even walk away from your denomination if necessary to become like Jesus or are you still relying on old doctrine that in most cases is against the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit which is rejecting God?
Job 33:4 NKJV
The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
John 6:63 NKJV
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
Let's Get This Straight...
- The Bible is not God, but God is the God of the Bible.
- The word is not the Bible, Jesus is the Word and it is important in this time that we see the difference. Jesus wants us to have a relationship with Him not only with words in a book.
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ...
- The Bible can teach us and lead us to Jesus but was never meant to become our God.
- The Bible is not the Way, Truth and Life. Jesus is.
Jesus ascended and didn't say, ok guys, I'm leaving you, My Bible. No, they didn't even have one back in those days. What they did have was scrolls and books of what the Prophets, teachers and Moses said. What Jesus did say was, 'My Father is sending the Holy Spirit who will teach you all things.' Therefore, the Bible itself was never meant to teach us all things. That too is the job of the Holy Spirit.
Let God Reintroduce You to Holy Spirit...
God truly is doing a new thing beloved and before it springs up, He has been telling us of it. He is reintroducing us to Holy Spirit. We are to be led by the Spirit so now more than ever we must put all things in perspective. Ask the Lord for the infilling of Holy Spirit if you haven't yet. Ask even further for the gift of speaking in tongues. Having your heavenly language bypasses the enemy in prayer and takes you directly to heaven. He cannot understand what you are praying. Paul specifically told us that he wished we would all pray in tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:5 NKJV
I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.
Tell Jesus you want to be so filled with the Spirit that He is who you are giving to those around you. Don't give religion, judgment, bitterness, anger, hatred and the like that sends people away from Christ. Tell the Lord that you want to surrender and be led by Holy Spirit and watch what He will do. Beloved, I believe wholeheartedly that He had me write this today because He wants you to see that your entire life will change and be completely transformed.
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