Maturity and Responsibility

Are you winning on the inside?

September 15, 2017 by Clint Byars

If you master your inner world, the outer world will have nothing “in” you. Too often our lives are controlled by our circumstances or our emotions. Paradoxically our emotions determine the general course of our lives BUT we can hold God’s word in our heart until our thoughts and emotions change our inner world, which will change our outer world. John 14:30 “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world

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Are you a believer or a disciple? Honesty with self is the beginning point for moving past deception into a fruitful life

August 30, 2017 by Clint Byars

Are you a believer or a disciple? Do you simply agree with God or do you follow him? Do you mentally ascent to the teachings in the Bible or do you actively seek to discipline your life after the teachings of your master, Jesus? Obedience is a fruit of your new creation heart so I’m not talking about law keeping for righteousness or favor from God…I’m talking about taking personal responsibility to let your

Overcoming the Two Kinds of Denial Through Transparency

August 30, 2017 by Clint Byars

Do you plan your funeral when you have a toothache? You think I’m kidding but we run these bizarre patterns in our minds that take us further away from God’s possibilities when we have adverse circumstances in our lives. When we allow the world’s input to dominate our inner world we are sowing death that will eventually produce fruit after it’s own kind. In this message I discuss how I’ve inadvertently reconnected with the

Chris Cornell, Prescription Drugs and the Things that Steal Our Peace

May 25, 2017 by Clint Byars

As a child of the 90’s my friends and I were avid Soundgarden fans. The whole Seattle grunge scene spoke to me. That sort of depressed, disenfranchised with society world view…it kind of defined me. I grew out of the thrift store clothing and cut off my long hair but the music stayed with me. I wasn’t one of the Christians that threw away my CDs when I got saved, those lyrics still spoke to me and

Guilt is Powerful. Discover the superior power of a clear conscience.

May 5, 2017 by Clint Byars

Guilt is powerful, it will chart your course for you. It will cause you to repeat destructive patterns and make excuses for allowing sin in your life. If you have guilt or shame, that area of life is defining you. The way out is to live from a new identity that is not defined by the past. Have you ever been vexed with something? Meaning something has a strong pull within you even though you don’t

James Says God Doesn’t Tempt or Test Us But Paul Says God Tests Our Hearts, Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

September 20, 2016 by Clint Byars

James 1:13 instructs us to never say God tests or tempts us but Paul says God tests our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:4). Does the Bible contradict itself? Maybe there’s something we’re missing about these concepts.

The post James Says God Doesn’t Tempt or Test Us But Paul Says God Tests Our Hearts, Does the Bible Contradict Itself? appeared first on Forward Ministries.

Does God allow trials for hidden purposes?

September 16, 2016 by Clint Byars

What is a test, a trial and a temptation? We must let the revealed Word of God define such terms and put them in proper context of how we should understand the presence of those terms and experiences in our lives.

We see in James 1, 1 Peter and 1 Corinthians 10 that trials/tests are the result of falling into temptations. James says to count it all joy when we fall into temptation and that we should access patience to endure the temptation.

This language makes it sound like God is somehow involved with with the temptation/trial because we are to have patience in it but James later instructs us to not even say that temptations are from God. When you thoroughly study the words; trials, tests and temptations, you find that they are always evil, they are never from God and God will make a way out for you.

Keep in mind that we will have tribulation in the world and suffering/persecution may come for his name sake but the Word of God never associates those things with what we define as tests or trials of our faith. Sure your faith may be tested if you’re persecuted but that is not a trial from God to see if you’ll pass a test to receive what he gives only by his spirit.

In short, a temptation is a test of your faith. All temptation is evil, as we see from the prayer of Jesus in Matthew 6:13.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

James 1:13 says that temptation/trial is not from God and definitively instructs us to not even say they are from God. He goes on to say only good things come from God.

To quickly address the testing of our hearts as mentioned by Peter, God isn’t testing our hearts with trials, he does it inwardly with his Word and his spirit. The very word for test in 1 Peter is a different word meaning prove. God makes our hearts stronger with his spirit and Word, not external trials and difficulty.

This matters because we need to be able to trust God, not be confused by his “mysterious actions” in our lives.

Have you ever been confused by this scripture, “God won’t put more on you than you can bear?”

If you have been confused by that passage, that’s because it’s not in the Bible. Sorry to trick you but it’s shocking how many people misquote that passage, which is actually a promise of deliverance from God.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

There are several points to notice in this passage:

The word temptation is clearly used here but this is the main passage people use to describe the nature of a test/trial from God.
We must remember that James definitively instructs us to never say temptation is from God. Thereby we are to never say the test/trial is from God.
It doesn’t say the trial is from God, it says when it comes God will make a way out. Paul said it another way in another place, “out of them all the Lord delivered me.”
This sounds like God is bringing the temptation and the way out at the same time but by James definitive statement, we know this can’t possibly be true.

This passage also erases the idea that God is allowing tests/trials in our lives for his hidden purposes. How? Again, in light of James 1, God is in no way related to temptation. So even though this passage seems to indicate God is allowing them, James says it’s not from God.

You see, God has to allow everything on this planet because he gave authority over it to mankind. He has to allow all of our choices no matter how much sin and death is produced. The fact the God is allowing trials is not because he has a purpose for it, it’s because he’s sticking to his word. That’s why the promise of a way out is so vital to notice and focus on about this passage, it’s clear God’s involvement in your tests, he wants to rescue you from them!

God is not experimenting on you to develop his spiritual purposes, he does that by his spirit, not external trials. You can trust him. He has good plans for you.

This is a technical issue to dissect in a short article, please take the tie to watch this short video and listen to this full length teaching. My prayer is that it brings you clarity but also equips you to have this conversation with your friends and family. You may be convinced in your heart that God is not making your life difficult but I’m sure you have family and friends that think God’s ways are confusing and he’s doing things to test them…you need to be able to inspire them to trust God by walking them through the passages I address in this teaching.

Notes from “Is God Creating and Allowing Tests and Trials?” #3 from my current series on the sovereignty of God (UNEDITED)

God’s ultimate will for humans is Heaven on earth, he crated it that way and he’ll put it back that way and he gives all in between the opportunity to receive eternal life through faith in the sacrifice of Christ.

Last week we addressed suffering and persecution and whether they are necessary for salvation. Based on the many passages we read, suffering and persecution come for the words sake or for his name sake, not something you endure in your body to gain or attain an aspect of the salvation that is only available by grace through faith in the sacrifice of Christ.

This week let’s talk about tests and trials. What did Jesus say about them? Seems like a good place to start, wouldn’t you agree?

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, G3986 but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: G3986 the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

James 1

v2 My ^G3450 brethren, ^G80 count it ^G2233 all ^G3956 joy ^G5479when ^G3752 ye fall ^G4045 into divers ^G4164 temptations; ^G3986 (an experiment, attempt, trial, proving)

v3 Knowing ^G1097 this, that ^G3754 the trying ^G1383 ( twice – 1 Pet 1:7) of your ^G5216faith ^G4102 worketh ^G2716 patience. ^G5281

v4 But ^G1161 let ^G2192 ^G0 patience ^G5281 have ^G2192 her perfect ^G5046 work, ^G2041 that ^G2443 ye may be ^G5600perfect ^G5046 and ^G2532 entire, ^G3648 wanting ^G3007nothing. ^G1722 ^G3367

What is patience?

A fruit of the spirit

Galatians 5:²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

What God has for us begins in spirit and manifests to us by grace through faith, not endurance through suffering. The larger point or hermeunitic is that we are to stay spiritually minded, affirmed of who we are in Christ, when we face physical trials and difficulties, thereby sharing in the same kinds of sufferings Christ suffered so the focus stays on him and he be glorified…which is different than the process of salvation.

Can enduring under temptation teach patience…yes

But let’s keep reading…

12 Blessed ^G3107 is the man ^G435 that ^G3739 endureth ^G5278temptation: ^G3986 for ^G3754 when he is tried, ^G1384 ^G1096 he shall receive ^G2983 the crown ^G4735 of life, ^G2222 which ^G3739the Lord ^G2962 hath promised ^G1861 to them that love ^G25him. ^G846

¹³Let ^G3004 ^G0 no man ^G3367 say ^G3004 when he is tempted, ^G3985 ^G3754 I am tempted ^G3985 of ^G575 God: ^G2316for ^G1063 God ^G2316 cannot be tempted ^G551 ^G2076 with evil, ^G2556 neither ^G1161 tempteth ^G3985 ^G0 he ^G846 ^G3985 any man: ^G3762

¹⁴But ^G1161 every man ^G1538 is tempted, ^G3985 when he is drawn away ^G1828 of ^G5259 his own ^G2398 lust, ^G1939 and ^G2532enticed. ^G1185

¹⁵Then ^G1534 when lust ^G1939 hath conceived, ^G4815 it bringeth forth ^G5088 sin: ^G266 and ^G1161 sin, ^G266 when it is finished, ^G658bringeth forth ^G616 death. ^G2288

¹⁶Do ^G4105 ^G0 not ^G3361 err, ^G4105 my ^G3450 beloved ^G27brethren. ^G80

¹⁷Every ^G3956 good ^G18 gift ^G1394 and ^G2532 every ^G3956perfect ^G5046 gift ^G1434 is ^G2076 from above, ^G509 and cometh down ^G2597 from ^G575 the Father ^G3962 of lights, ^G5457with ^G3844 whom ^G3739 is ^G1762 no ^G3756 variableness, ^G3883neither ^G2228 shadow ^G644 of turning. ^G5157

Don’t accept your problems, God will show you a way out

1 Pet 1

6 Wherein ^G1722 ^G3739 ye greatly rejoice, ^G21 though now ^G737for a season, ^G3641 if ^G1487 need ^G1163 be, ^G2076 ye are in heaviness ^G3076 through ^G1722 manifold ^G4164temptations: ^G3986

7 That ^G2443 the trial ^G1383 of your ^G5216 faith, ^G4102 being much ^G4183 more precious ^G5093 than of gold ^G5553 that perisheth, ^G622 though ^G1223 ^G1161 it be tried ^G1381 with fire, ^G4442 might be found ^G2147 unto ^G1519 praise ^G1868and ^G2532 honour ^G5092 and ^G2532 glory ^G1391 at ^G1722 the appearing ^G602 of Jesus ^G2424 Christ: ^G5547

After applying proper exegesis (fancy word for study) we see trials are always associated with temptation and we have a definitive statement that they’re not from God. (Abraham if we have time)

It’s an opportunity for his strength to be matured in your weakness

Joy in your weaknesses and temptations because it’s an opportunity for you to learn to be strengthened by his grace

Some would say:

“God allows us to experience them, but they are allowed for our benefit, to strengthen our inner man as we overcome them through the power of Christ in us”

But Ephesians 3 tells that we are strengthened in our inner man ultimately by his love shed abroad in our hearts for the purpose of making us whole

It’s is a skewed view of God and his dealings with man that he is allowing hardship for the purpose of making us stronger. That’s a view point rooted in the idea that anything you do in the flesh adds to what God does by his spirit through our hearts. I find that perspective carnal, arrogant and self-righteous.

God would much more prefer that you not be weak and not fall into temptation, rather that walk in peace and confidence of faith in Christ and the power of his spirit within you.

Fools learn by stripes but the wise learn by instruction

repeated over and over in Proverbs

Let’s look at one of the most misquoted passages in the Bible in light of what we have just studied.

God won’t put more on you than you can bear

1 Corinthians 10

The context is instruction from Paul over matters like fornication and idolatry but this applies in a broader perspective of our personal lives, in other words this passage can be universally applied to all believers.

There hath ^G2983 ^G0 no ^G3756 temptation ^G3986 taken ^G2983you ^G5209 but ^G1508 such as is common to man: ^G442 but ^G1161God ^G2316 is faithful, ^G4103 who ^G3739 will ^G1439 ^G0 not ^G3756suffer (allow) ^G1439 you ^G5209 to be tempted ^G3985 above ^G5228that ^G3739 ye are able; ^G1410 but ^G235 will ^G4160 ^G0 with ^G4862the temptation ^G3986

We know it’s not from God, “but when the temptation comes”

also ^G2532 make ^G4160 a way to escape, ^G1545 that ye ^G5209 may be able ^G1410 to bear (endure) ^G5297 it.

endure: abide, remain, last, continue, persevere

This is a clear and perfect example of why it’s improper to translate God allows into God causes. God won’t put more on you than you can bear. God has to allow everything that man chooses.

God tries our hearts

1 Thes 2:4 But ^G235 as ^G2531 we were allowed ^G1381 of ^G5259 God ^G2316 to be put in trust ^G4100 with the gospel, ^G2098 even so ^G3779 we speak; ^G2980 not ^G3756 as ^G5613 pleasing ^G700 men, ^G444but ^G235 God, ^G2316 which trieth ^G1381 our ^G2257 hearts. ^G2588

This says nothing about how God tries or approves our hearts

So we must study out other places where God and our hearts are mentioned

The bottom line conclusion we can draw about how God tries, tests, or proves our hearts is by his spirit, in our inner man, specifically by shedding his light and love in our hearts so we will be strengthened and walk in the power of his grace.

If we take the Bible at its word, we learn that trials are always connected to temptations and temptations are not from God.

Modern Christianity has associated trials with persecution or discipline from God but the Bible doesn’t connect those concepts in such a way. You may need to reconsider what you believe about difficult situations in your life such as sickness, job loss, premature death, injustice, etc…

++++++++++++

A temptation is a test of your faith

All temptation is evil (matthwe verse)

Definition of temptation and trieth

God doesn’t test you with evil or even externals

God proves (tests) the heart (greek word here, different word)

So how and why does God prove our hearts (this may be called discipline or chastisement, those who he is cleaning…a thorough cleaning to become a new creation. All these doctrines have to compliment, not contradict each other. Cleansing under discipline must compliment faith-righteousness apart from the law. The dividing rod of truth is fully revealed and understood in the finished work of Jesus. The works of Jesus, in his body and beyond must be the foundation for every doctrine we parse. We start with Jesus, not end at him.)

How

A thorough study of how God works with our hearts is through questions, teaching from his word, revelation from his spirit with the effectual saving grace which lies within the blood of Jesus

Why

Because he loves us

For his glory

Transformation

How about Abraham?

Did Abraham kill Isaac?

What did Abraham think would happen if he did? Good would raise him

To compare yourself and your temptation to Abraham is contextually improper and self important

God specifically tested the hearts of 2 people, Abraham and Jesus, both of which he established covenants through

You are not Abraham and you are not Jesus

There was more going on that God was doing with them than to read yourself into

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We Need Revival! But What Is It and How Does It Happen?

July 15, 2016 by Clint Byars

Does revival tarry because we’re not praying or fasting enough?
Is God waiting on us to be humble enough?
Is God waiting on us to be more holy before he’ll heal our land?

That’s a big fat no!

Revival is not something God does in response to man, revival happens when we respond to him. God is not waiting on us to get more humble and holy, he’s already given us everything in Christ. In fact God is not waiting on anything…except for us to believe and live in the power of his grace. We hold the key…Christ in me.

2 Chronicles 7:14 is an illegal prayer under God’s New Covenant in Christ:

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

First of all, where is Heaven?

Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

This means that according to 2 Chronicles 7:14, God would be hearing us from within us. He’s in there because Jesus’ blood has cleansed us, which is the process of sanctification, and left us in a set apart state (holy) for the purpose of housing his spirit. God is one with and lives in believers.

Another point…God has already given us everything that pertains unto life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Yes, our world may not be experiencing God’s life and godliness but it is already in each and every believer. The godliness that we long to see is not something that God will send us when we’re humble enough, the nations will experience it when believers live in the righteousness, peace and joy that he’s already given us in Christ. This is only possible through his grace, which is in more abundance than we can exhaust.

The body of Christ is divided in how we think revival happens and God’s role in it. Some folks chalk revival up to a “sovereign” move that he just decides to release at some point in time, usually associated with something that believers do, whether it be praying, fasting or possibly experiencing persecution. Some think that revival will come when believers start doing more miracles and displaying more supernatural power. While that is needed, it’s not the path Jesus gave us. God is certainly still active and moving in the earth today by his spirit, there is nothing else to pour out or release that isn’t already resident within each and every believer.

Jesus said our love for one another will be a testimony that we follow him and our unity will inspire the world to believe.

The last point in 2 Chronicles 7:14 says that God will forgive us once we’ve prayed enough, stopped sinning enough and become humble enough. Under the New Covenant the process of forgiveness changed. God has sovereignly forgiven all sin in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Looks closely, God was not holding THE WORLD’S trespasses (sins) against them, not just believers. God is no longer holding the world’s sins against them. For clarification and for my anti hyper-grace readers, sin still kills, it hardens our hearts, it should be avoided, his grace is the power to live above sin, we still must confess him as Lord and receive the free gift of righteousness to be born again…BUT, God, through Christ, has chosen to not be angry with us, he simply chose to forgive us. He set us free so we could freely choose him. There’s a new system, the currency is the blood of Christ rather than the blood of goats and bulls.

Revival will come when forgiven people live in the power of righteousness, peace and joy…motivated by love, unite together in that love and take the Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ to the world, not when we do something in our flesh that causes God to quit withholding.

Rise up church! Stop letting race divide us, stop letting religion divide us, stop letting tradition divide us, stop letting cultural differences divide us…unite his love toward the world and we will see a revival like never before!

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Message Titles

Faith Begins With Love

Love is the Way of the Kingdom

Who is your Passion

Defy Your Excuses

Jesus tells us there’s only one way to reach the world, LOVE. Love is the only strategy that never fails. His strategy has two steps…

STEP 1: Our love for one another should be a testimony to the world that we follow Jesus. There should be something different in the way we treat each other that sends a message to the world that Jesus followers have a unique relationship with one another that is rooted in love.

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. John 13:34-35

STEP 2: There should be a unity among believers that the world is compelled to believe. The strength of this unity is our love for one another and the purpose of this unity is so the world will believe.

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. John 17:21

When we allow division to dwell within the body of Christ we are working against God’s plans to reach the world. In this series I challenge the church to take Jesus at his word and begin to walk according to his commandments and purposes.

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The post We Need Revival! But What Is It and How Does It Happen? appeared first on Forward Ministries.

Our Freedom in Christ Comes Parallels Our Freedom in the USA

July 7, 2016 by Clint Byars

In the U.S.A. we just celebrated our Independence from tyranny, over taxation and religious control through monarchical rule. I shudder to think what our founding father’s would think of the current state of the nation with the tax rates and separation of Christianity from public life… but that’s another topic.

I’m writing to you today to tell you a story about my trip to Washington D.C. a couple of summer’s ago. Sara and I took our kids to tour the museums and see the monuments. It was a wonderful experience, I highly recommend it. Given that we’re both artists we were overwhelmed by the art. I have to say, the most memorable part of the trip was not the art, it was seeing Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. It’s a beautiful piece of property on the Potomac River.

As the guide led us through his home, we stopped in front of a room in which George held personal meetings. The guide told us that he would have met with people like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and the list goes on.

Apparently he met often with Thomas Jefferson. I don’t remember if the guide actually said this or I imagined it but I remember thinking that they would have sat in this very room to discuss the founding of our nation and the principles recorded in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

My imagination and my pastoral instincts began to take over. I could imagine conversations about freedom and personal liberty and how they were basic human values and rights. I could see them discussing how to structure the government of this new nation in such a way that the people were in charge and could vote to preserve their freedom. I could hear them discussing how difficult it would be to inspire a nation to not only value freedom but properly steward it and do what was necessary to protect it.

They had seen the effects of people’s dependencies on a governing body and they wanted to instill absolute independence in each and every American so this nation would live out its days as a free and sovereign nation.

I began to relate to these conversations as a pastor. As ministers we are to set people free from religion, the power of sin, the fear of death and carnal thinking. We are to encourage them to choose life and not be distracted by the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things. We are to inspire people to properly steward the freedom from the law of sin and death we have in Christ so we don’t enter back into the slavery of sin.

This is why I believe the USA was founded on Christian principles, no other god values freedom but the Father of Christ. No other god in all the religions of the planet give people free will.

God the father, maker of Heaven and earth, giver of Christ for the redemption of mankind desires that we live totally free. He created this earth and gave dominion to mankind and said subdue and prosper.

The Declaration of Independence reflects these principles:

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

They recognized the freedom and the authority given to mankind by God over creation and wanted to structure a nation in which we could live out those God given freedoms.

Unfortunately this foundation has been corrupted and God is systematically being removed from the fabric of the governing body and even culture. But we as children of God are still free and no one can take that away.

The whole earth is waiting for the sons of God to manifest their sonship and live in the authority we have through our joint-inheritance in Christ. God’s grace is powerful enough in our hearts to strengthen us to live free from sin, fear, doubt, shame and even death.

I pray our nation finds its way back to Christian principles and once again draws on the wisdom of God to govern and protect the blessings of liberty. I pray you rely on God’s grace and live free from the pitfalls of this world and properly steward your freedom in Christ.

I go into much more detail on these ideas in this message.

Thank you to those of you who support Forward Ministries with your financial gifts. If you value our ministry, please consider partnering with me. Thank You!

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Grace and peace to you,
Clint Byars

The post Our Freedom in Christ Comes Parallels Our Freedom in the USA appeared first on Forward Ministries.

We Are Fed the Glorious Riches of God as Our Hearts Become Rooted in His Love

May 9, 2016 by Clint Byars

Do you understand the doctrine of Grace but have difficulty living under the power of grace at times? You’re not alone.

There is no secret and no mystery you need to learn to be nourished and sustained by God, you just have to have faith in your heart toward Christ in every situation. Faith just means trust or confidence. We can have confidence in Jesus, therefore we can experience the power of grace.

I want to give you an illustration regarding how we can experience the influence of his power in our hearts. As with all word pictures, this is not a perfect example but I believe it will help you understand the direct connection you have with God as a believer.

The Mother’s Womb

The first 9 or 10 months of our lives we’re in our mothers womb. In the womb we are fed and nourished because we are organically, directly connected to our mother. The environment is a perfect balance of nutrients and safety in the amniotic fluid. When we become born again we are hidden in God with Christ. It’s like Christ is our twin in God. As he is, so are we in this world ~ 1 John 4:17. God has chosen us in Christ to receive the same quality of life that Jesus inherited.

When we become born of God we have a direct spiritual connection that sustains us just like we used to have a direct organic connection with out mother. In God, the environment we’re in is the promise of the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus but the active nutrients of that place are his promises. In the womb we receive oxygen, vitamins, minerals through the umbilical cord. In God, we receive righteousness, peace, joy, wisdom, provision and strength through our hearts by his spirit.

Just like a baby in the womb doesn’t have to convince the mother to feed it, we don’t have to try to motivate God to bless and provide for us. It’s a natural aspect of being born of and being made one with his spirit. The way we experience all of those benefits is by grace through faith.

Allowing Christ to Dwell In Your Heart by Faith

Everything God has for us is ours already in Jesus, we just have to let Christ dwell in our hearts to engage the process of being nourished and sustained by God.

God wants us to have and experience his steady stream of life and health but we must keep our hearts aware of him. He doesn’t withhold from us when we’re not in faith or trust toward him, we’re just turning our hearts to a different source of sustenance, which is the world.

But the world doesn’t give life, it actually sucks the life out of us. When we’re not in faith toward God in our hearts, we’re like a tree that pulls up its own roots from fertile ground and plants them in a desert. The world is like a desert to our hearts, it only has death. But if we all the roots of our hearts (our beliefs and expectations) to grow deep into God’s love for us, we can become whole emotionally, mentally and physically. Our physical and soulish being will begin to enjoy the same state of life as our spirit that is safe in God.

Believers are not on a journey to complete our holiness by staying out of sin or enduring suffering, we on a journey of transformation through renewing our minds so we live yielded to God and allow his life to bear fruit within us.

I believe this passage beautifully states these concepts. This passage is an excellent description of the function of grace. Take some time to meditate on the powerful truth that we are strengthened, nourished and provided for by God because he loves us. As we allow him to strengthen us, we become emotionally, physically and mentally whole; whole to the point that this world can no longer affect us with fear, worry and doubt. I pray you find a new way to live in God as you discover the powerful truth of his indwelling spirit that is seeking to bless, nourish and sustain you.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~ Ephesians 3:16-19

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Go Forward, God Will Be with You

January 22, 2016 by Clint Byars

No one knows your failures better than you. I bet there are places where you have disappointed yourself more than anyone else. You know your track record. You know your secrets. You know how you’ve wasted time and given up more than you care to admit. You are your own worst critic.

Everyone faces the enemy in the mirror at times when it comes to where we are in life, but it doesn’t have to be as dismal as I’ve just described. You can change. It’s easier than you think.

I call it the Moses syndrome. It goes like this.

We sincerely want to follow God
We tried and failed
People may have gotten hurt, or worse
We run and hide and find a place of complacency
The flame sparks back up again
We remember the last time
We question our ability to trust God
We question God
We say no

It doesn’t have to stop there. You can go forward, burning of a flame that is not limited to your past, your own strength or even your own energy. God showed Moses a picture of grace in the burning bush. The bush was burning but was not consumed. When God was persuading Moses to follow him, he promised he would be with him, he promised to inspire people to walk with him and he showed him how to do it in a way that wouldn’t burn him out. The bush was not burning of it’s own energy or strength. If it had burned in its own energy, it would have exhausted its stored, potential energy and the fire would have died. God showed Moses what it looks like to yield to grace. Burning with God’s presence rather than his abilities and strength.

Despite their best attempts, no one can teach you how to walk by faith and how to yield to grace from the heart. It’s between you and God. The Holy Spirit is the greatest teacher. But your heart most be willing to move forward before it grows in capacity to perceive and receive the wisdom and grace that God provides as you go.

God Never Withholds

He is not refusing to show you the big picture because you’ll mess it up, you just can’t see it because your mind isn’t renewed and you heart’s capacity hasn’t been influenced to the degree where you can see it. The more steps you take in faith, empowered by grace in God’s leading, the more your heart and mind will think like him and the more you’ll see of his good plans for you.

We get a heart transplant at our new birth but we still have minds that need to develop a new track record. Especially a new track record with ourselves. We’re made new, righteous and holy, hidden in him but we still think like a dead man. We still yield to the emotions of our failures and disappointments because we have not walked into this new life thinking differently.

Dream Big, They Say

Often we have a big dream but it seems unattainable. You may even think that if you believe hard enough it will magically appear and all your problems will be solved. But we live in a paradox. God has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness and all of his promises are yes and amen but we must follow him into the physical establishment of those spiritual truths into our lives. Everything that he wants to establish in our lives happens by grace through faith. Not to qualify or earn, but to bear the fruit.

God has nothing but good plans for us but we still expect the worst because of our past failures. I think it’s because we aren’t taking the little steps and training our minds to feel good about trusting God. We think we’ve stepped out but often it’s in our own effort and not in his grace.

Your problem is not God. Your problem is not the world. Your problem is your lack of confidence in the kind of creature that you have become in Christ and the capacity to live from that reality. Once you know you’re God’s child, and this is the sole reason God created you, you are free to step out without the fear of God’s scrutiny. But take small steps first. Give your mind a chance to catch up by seeing small, attainable goals achieved as you put God first. It’s a process to renew/discipline your mind to think like God and see opportunities like he does. But it happens as you daily embrace your salvation in Christ, affirm God’s promises to you and maturity walk into each moment of grace that God breathes your way.

Living a systematic, disciplined lifestyle is not works if you’re doing it to get your mind in agreement with what’s already true of you spiritually. The connection needs to be made. They connection lies in you overcoming your past disappointments in yourself and being willing to step into each opportunity to change as God’s transformative power arises in your heart.

The next time you face temptation to give up or shy back from your call/dream/opportunity, turn your heart toward him, ask for grace, expect a motivation and energy to rise up, then take the step forward. You will stand on mountains of success if you take those small steps into each moment of grace.

The post Go Forward, God Will Be with You appeared first on Forward Ministries.

Do I Have A Calling?

January 14, 2016 by Clint Byars

Do you know what you are called to do? It can be a complicated question. Most believers are conflicted because we want to enjoy life as God intended originally in the Garden of Eden. But given the world’s state, we want to make an impact with the Gospel. Most believers would say they want to do what God wants them to. Wouldn’t you?

This begins the pursuit to find and fulfill your call. First and foremost, the “high calling” on your life, as referenced in Philippians 3, is to embrace salvation in Christ. The calling that Paul prays you’re counted worthy of in 2 Thessalonians 1:11 is the same, that you embrace salvation. The other times the word “calling” is used is in association with a believer expressing the salvation they have embraced in Jesus.

Your calling is not your job or the reason your were created, it’s how you express Christ. Your calling is fulfilled as you daily embrace the free gift of salvation in your heart and yield to the influence of God’s spirit. Yes, there will be “assignments” that God will have for you as you go about embracing and expressing salvation but saying yes to Jesus is the fulfillment of your calling. Saying yes to Jesus includes responding to his leading daily.

He gave you a new heart that knows how to hear and follow him. You can jump off the religious stationary bike that goes nowhere and stop trying to get your job description from God and start enjoying your freedom in him. Fully walking in this freedom as a mature Christian will produce the fruit of following him. Stop trying to perform your calling and just walk in it by daily embracing this rich salvation that’s alive within you.

The definition of “calling” is: a divine invitation to embrace salvation.

Because of the performance mentality that has permeated Christianity, we have turned our “calling” into a job description rather than daily experiencing the salvation we’ve been given. This salvation produces maturity, it brings healing, it teaches us, it leads us in wisdom, it leads us to love people and take the Gospel to the world. Stop asking God what he wants you to do and fully embrace what he’s done.

To make it practical:

Stop asking “what should I do” and start asking “who should I love?”
Stop asking “what’s my passion” and start asking “who is my passion?”
Stop asking “why am I here” and start thanking God for salvation and open your heart to express it toward people in love.

The post Do I Have A Calling? appeared first on Forward Ministries.