DRAW NEAR
Tuesday – March 6, 2018
The featured picture today was taken on our ranch in Texas. The donkeys are looking for a treat and the cows know there is no treat and are ignoring Patti. Welcome back to this faith building Bible study from the Book of Hebrews in the name of Jesus. This is a wonderful Book to help us understand our Covenant and the Blood of Jesus. This is not commonly taught but as a friend recently said this dog will hunt. Let’s dive into our study starting by reading our primary text.
Hebrews 10:22-27 (KJV)
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Yesterday when I finished we were in verse twenty-two. I have talked about this verse for a couple of days. It is one of those verses that is loaded with Truth. There is an idea in Church that Jesus and or the Holy Spirit come and go especially at Church. This is wrong and particularly perverse for it removes all responsibility from the responsible parties (us) to the party who is not responsible (Holy Spirit). The full responsibility for the manifestations of God in our individual lives and in the Church lies totally with us. God had done His part now He is waiting for us to carry out our responsibilities. Our responsibility starts first of all with salvation followed by baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. With the baptism of the Holy Spirit comes the Anointing (Power of the Holy Spirit for anything). The level of Anointing in our lives is related to our faith in God, in His Word, and our love of God.
God works through His people, not independent of His people, and not in spite of His people. When the Anointing that was in and on Jesus came in contact with faith power was released and all forms of the curse were defeated. This is to be our experience as well. It is our responsibility to build our faith and the faith of others as well as be filled with the Holy Spirit. Let us get the cart and the horse in the right sequence. Jesus in His parting instructions to the disciple’s instructed them to await the coming of the Holy Spirit who would endow them with Power. His instructions to us is to ask for the Holy Spirit and Power and He will give Him to us. Those endowed with the Power of God are to preach the Word (the good news). Then God (Power, Holy Spirit and Power) will flow with signs and wonders to confirm the Word. All of this in the name of Jesus. We have been given the name of Jesus at our new birth, we are family, and are to operate just like Jesus. Today, Jesus is not operating independently in our lives or anywhere in the earth. As a man, Jesus got our full authority back and He gave us the right to use His name in the exercise of that authority. That authority (dominion) is backed by all that God is, all the resources of Heaven. The Power of God moves only in response to our faith in the Word according to love which at its core is obedience to the Word, the will of God.
The very same people that are asking the Holy Spirit to come and are begging God for revival will readily agree that God will never leave us or forsake us. Go figure. Most of the time what individuals and the Church are asking for is a repeat of some warm and fuzzy or exciting times in their past. They are not decreeing an outpouring of the goodness (glory) of God as seen in the ministry of Jesus. Many times, people are asking God for “revival” but is revival God’s responsibility or ours? The word “revival” has to do with revitalization, renewal, restoration, recovery, or rehabilitation. Whose responsibility is it to bring any of these things into our individual lives and the corporate Church? It is our responsibility! God is not responsible for our being lukewarm, our worship of other gods (commonly cares of our natural lives), our lack of faith, our lack of love, our traditions, or our acceptance of the doctrine of demons. There is nothing more precious than the Blood of Jesus which confirmed our Covenant and there is nothing more powerful than faith in the Word of God, spoken in love, spoken in the name of Jesus. We must boldly speak our Covenant into this realm in the name of Jesus.
I said all of that to draw our attention once again to the phrase “Let us draw near” which leads off Hebrews 10:22. This is not talking about drawing near in a physical sense or even in a spiritual sense. This is akin to the phrase of having a heart after God which means that we think like God. We draw close to Him with our thoughts, our words (His Words in our mouth), and make His ways our ways. Remember that at salvation the Holy Spirit quickens or makes alive our previously dead man and lives within us. Hard to get much closer than that. It has to do with ideas not proximity. Reflect on the following verses.
James 4:8 (KJV)
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Amos 3:3 (KJV)
3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
When we decide to align with God there is not limit to the manifestations of God in our lives.
Until our next publication, I speak blessing into your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
Numbers 6:24-26 (MSG)
24 GOD bless you and keep you,
25 GOD smile on you and gift you,
26 GOD look you full in the face and make you prosper.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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