He is in the CENTER of the Road!!

The Church today is somewhat like drunk men walking down the "right" path. With all the doctrines and interpretations that create division they're no longer walking in the center of the road, but like drunk men end up in the ditch. Still going forward in the right path, they all walk in the same direction but on opposites sides of the road. Neither in the center, neither aware of their location in the ditches, and both stumbling in the dark unaware of the truth. One is calling out to the other across the road to the opposite ditch saying, "my way is the right way". The other, vice versus.

 Take for example the grace teaching compared to the good works teaching. One says it is all about good works, the other says it is all about faith and grace. What if the Holy Spirit was speaking while the others were yelling at the other declaring their ways? What if the Holy Spirit was telling both the individuals that they were both equally wrong but equally right? What if the Holy Spirit was in the center of the road saying "you are suppose to be walking with me, let me lead you"?

What do I mean by this? Well take both doctrines into consideration. Good works is right, because we were created in Christ "for good works" (Ephesians 2:10). And grace is right because we were saved by grace through faith and not by works otherwise you will have a reason to boast and also grace would no longer be grace but instead a debt owed to a worthy worker (Ephesians 2). Both doctrines, if not balanced "Spiritually"(by the Holy Spirit), are in danger. Danger of what? The works of the flesh! Good works could easily, so easily, be more of a campaign of trying to get God's attention through the flesh; "Look at me God, look at everything I've been doing", very much like the faithful brother of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). On the other hand the Grace teaching could be so out of balance that holiness is no longer preserved. A lack of repentance, or lack of fear can easily be obtained and God's statutes easily forgotten. Grace is so important and it the foundation in which we stand in Christ, but it is not a "get out of trouble Scot free" card. The Grace of God teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:12 NIV).

 I am not talking about a compromise of integrity and trying to find a happy medium somewhere in the middle that we can all agree on, I am actually saying there needs to be an adjustment of mindsets, humility (defined) and a "CHANGE" of belief. What is the adjustment? The adjustment is in the middle of the road, He is crying out for you to be led by Him. You see we can do good works all day long but the Holy Spirit is in the center of the road asking you to obey Him, because He has strategically placed the works in the center for you next to His side where you belong. And Grace is needed but it is found in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Grace isn't a teacher yet the letter to Titus says that it teaches us what is right and how to live our lives, so who do you think teaches the truths about Grace? The "One" in the middle of the road, the One that Jesus said will guide (teach) us into all truth.

 So the scripture gives us the answer when it says to be led by the Spirit. It declares that if you are led by God's Spirit you will not fall in anyway, you will not do the works of the flesh at all, you will not gratify the sinful nature within. You are not under the obligations of the law, in which most work based theology is focused. The good works have become an added man-made Christian law within itself. But instead the Holy Spirit will produce the good works (good fruit), the fruit of the Spirit within your lives (Galatians 5), and what will happen is that they will flow freely. Remember Ephesians states that you are "HIS WORKMANSHIP" created to good works, "which he has prepared in advance" (Eph 2:10). Being led by God's Spirit you will see and hear the unction of God as He prompts you to do the "WORK" of the Kingdom. Kingdom fruit is everlasting fruit. When burned it survives untouched and un-ruined; pure. It is important that we don't spend our lives building the house made of hay and stubble but instead build with pure gold and silver and precious stones that are eternal. Build what stands against the storm, build what endures through the fire.

Also it is impossible to be stuck on true Grace and not be led by God's Spirit. It is the Grace of God that empowers you to do good works. It is the Grace of God the empowers you with gifting to be used properly in the Kingdom of God. God's grace is not just the washing over of sins but indeed has many wonderful facets to it. It is manifold (1 Peter 4:10) and is diversified. Even the correct and accurate meaning of "gifts" of the Spirit listed in 1 Cor 12 is defined as "graces". Yes indeed, you are right, it certainly does justify you (Romans 3:24). But...it also teaches you to live righteously (Titus 2:12, Acts 20:32, 2 Timothy 2:1). And to end the good works argument, it is the Grace of God that is fruit producing; in its fruit-producing role: "and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth" (Colossians 1:6). It is time to know the Grace of God in Truth. And to end the argument from the other side of the ditch, the Grace of God is the empowering and working element in a Christians life for laboring in the Kingdom according to Paul at the ending of his career.  "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10). First Paul declared that he labor (good works) more than all the other workers in the field but then he humbled himself before the Corinthians in letter and said that he takes none of the credit but instead it was the Grace of God working in him and through him to produce the good works of the Kingdom. Many other scriptures could I lay out before you showing a more accurate balance of both good works and Grace and how they were never meant to be on opposite sides of the road in a drunken state stumbling in the dark but I will trust that this is enough and it stirs you to know more of the truth. 



So what if... what if the Holy Spirit is in the center of the road crying out for you to be led by Him? What if He is trying to illuminate the path through truth?  What if the Holy Spirit is lighting a path where a stranger, a neighbor, that is badly beaten and and bruised and in need of healing, right there in the center of the road strategically positions by God Himself? What if this man was recently attacked by robbers, clothes stolen, beaten and left half-dead in the center of the road? What if the Holy Spirit is saying to you priestly Good works opinionated man to leave your own agenda of good works, law abiding self, to be in the center helping this man? What if the Holy Spirit was calling out to you, Grace declaring lazy Levite, to get off the dark stumbling path of unrighteousness to help this poor man in need. What if...what if the Holy Spirit is trying to get both your attention to come together and be one NEW MAN, a SAMARITAN who doesn't pass the naked left for dead man, on either side of the road, but instead produces a graceful good work led by the Spirit in the center of the Road. 

Luke 10:29-37

New International Version (NIV)

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

What if in the midst of the theological debate and drunken state of stumbling out of the Truth of God into the ditch, you not only became both the Levite and the Priest, but indeed became this man that sought to justify himself asking Jesus, "And who is my neighbor"? Both doctrines are looking to justify themselves either by Grace, or by good works, trying to prove the other wrong. What if it was really Jesus that you were arguing with? Both claim to be experts, both claim to be correct, but in the end it is Christ the leads us into the truth. This man Jesus was telling this parable too, finally understood. Verse 17 says the "EXPERT" replied to Jesus about who the neighbor truly was, "The one who had MERCY on him". What if we have not only become the two on either side of the road but also the one that seeks to justify his own self as an "EXPERT"? What did Jesus say? He said, "GO and do likewise". If the expert was already doing the good works gracefully by faith, then Jesus would have had no reason to give him the command to "GO". All three are two busy, to arrogant, and not walking soberly in the DAY, but walking in the dark. It is during the DAY that the Children of light have the path illuminated to walk correctly in the middle, to see the broken and naked man. It is those who are awake that no longer find time to debate because they are busy doing the WORKS of God in the Kingdom. Lets build the House of God together. Lets build and not drink of our own opinion in a drunken sleep state. Lets be one NEW MAN, united and stand in the Grace of God doing His work. Lets let the Holy Spirit guide us into the light, into the truth, for He is the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13)

 Colossians 4:5-6  Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

1 Thessalonians 5:5  You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

Ephesians 5:8-21

 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.  Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light.”

Walk in Wisdom

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Written by: Rich Cohrs

www.richcohrs.blogspot.com

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Restoring the Anointing by David Wilkerson and also some great worship

Couple very power teaching on loosing and regaining God's anointing. Also a few of my favorite worship songs as well. 

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Your Destiny is in His River

The only way a true Christian can FIND purpose is by the mercy of God revealing it to him. The only way to WALK in purpose is by the mercy of God allowing you to be completely dead and lifeless in your own purpose and life so the same resurrection power that gave Jesus life on the 3rd day will cause you to walk in completeness of the newness of life in Christ completely surrender and completely a NEW MAN. That is the true purpose of a Christians life and when you reach that purpose all the rest either doesn't matter any more because it just seems to fall in place or is quickly revealed when the need to know arises. When skilled in walking in the Spirit purpose is given but usually in part. Just enough to lead us and everything else is just revealed as we walk in the right directions on a need to know basis. We see in part and know in part with prophecy, so the same could be said of knowing our purpose. That is how God works. He wants us to walk by ultimate FAITH. Destiny was meant to be walked into by the Spirit, not completely revealed. Even in the Book of Revelations we see in part although some high-minded individuals seem to have it all figured out. Beware of those. We don't know the end from the beginning. Jesus does! Get close to the Author and Finisher of your faith (Jesus Christ) and fear of the future will diminish.

Fear spiritual paralyzes us to not walk in the Spirit. Fear will always be there but you have to remember that you are not of the same spirit as fear. You have been delivered from that fear. You have received a new spirit in the new birth that causes you to have the same boldness Jesus had to fulfill his purpose and destiny while on the earth. You have not received the spirit of fear again to bondage. You have received Gods spirit full of power, love, and self-discipline. Godly discipline will always lead us to the same direction. DEATH! TO BE BURRIED in Christ daily so we can walk in the newness of the Spirit who is full of power and love. Our purpose fulfilled has many directions and many turns and curves but one thing is for sure it will always be to love our God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The Golden rule is fulfilled by walking in the Spirit. John the apostle was one of the most powerful of all the apostles and it was said that his message of Love was still preach by his own mouth with simplicity right before his death. He simply preached, "Love is the fulfillment of the Law. Love God and Love your neighbor". So simple but so impossible without the mercy of God to allow us to completely die daily and live as a completely NEW MAN. For we have received Gods Spirit FULL of POWER, L O V E, and a DISIPLINED MIND.

So the BIG Question is, "How do we do this?" Great question! Most of it we don't. Most of it God does to us and through us. Philippians 1:6 (New American Standard Bible) 6For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. He, Jesus, is the one who will do it; He is the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our faith. So what do we do in the meantime? Another great question! Like I said before in the first paragraph, "He wants us to walk in ULTIMATE Faith!"  Soooooo, how do we do that? So full of good questions. The answer is different everyday. You must find that out for yourself. I don't know your purpose or your destiny so therefore I can't truly tell you how to walk by faith. So was it pointless for me to write all this for you? NO! If God does everything in and through you and He is faithful to finish the work he started in you, all you have to do is be faithful to obey every time the chance comes up. Every time you feel His leading. Every time you hear His voice. The Ultimate Question now arises. HOW, if I don't feel His leading, and don't hear His voice can I obey? My ultimate point is the answer to this question. TRUST n HIM!!!! He knows what He is doing. Have you ever gone rafting in a river before? It is possible to go upstream for a short while with much perseverance but ultimately you work to hard, sweat to hard, and eventually give up and flow in the same direction as the river flows. God has a river flowing from His thrown. We must trust Him. Quit fighting against Him and flow with Him in the direction of His River. His river flows differently every day we must jump in without a life perseveres, without a paddle, and quit trying to go our own way. Jump in and rest. The River will take you everywhere you need to go. To answer your question your only part in your destiny and purpose starts with absolute surrender to the King of Kings. In a country that is ruled by a King, if a citizen is working against the King he is no longer a citizen but an enemy. Don't work against God but work with Him. He is the King of Kings. The Ruler of the universe and every knee including all earthly kings will bow before Him and his thrown. Why wait till you have to. Do it know.

Take steps to surrender to God today. You have heard it before. Discipline is the key to being a disciple. You have also heard to read your bible daily, pray daily. This is true, but can be religiously done with no results to a true relationship with the Lord. Isaiah 40:31 (New American Standard Bible) says, 31Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. Waiting upon the Lord is a very important discipline in a true Christian's life. When you pray do you only pray for yourself. Is there life in your prayers? Wait for Gods Spirit in prayer to begin to move you. He will lead you. He knows how to pray better and more effective then you. He knows what really needs to be prayed and who needs to be prayed for. When you pray do you just pray for a certain set time and then say bye and that's it or do you WAIT for a response from the Lord. When you read do you only read believing the bible is true but does not relate to your life. Do you believe that it is God speaking to you? When you read know God wants to teach you and speak to you. Those times are times of refreshing, strengthening, and fulfillment. It is like the times in the wilderness during Moses time when every morning supernaturally God supplied bread for food in the morning called Manna. Jesus said, "I am the true bread who has come down from heaven." The truth is many read and pray yet never receive true strength from the Lord. Wait for his Word, it is what feeds you and gives you strength for the day. Those who wait on the Lord will gain NEW strength. Sore with God through the wind. Trust God in his river.  Run and don't get tired. Walk and don't become weary. Notice all this is in God's control except waiting on the Lord. That is all you are required to do. Don't discipline religion in your life. Discipline surrender in your life. Trust him. Give yourself daily to him. Fall in his river and He will push you to the finish line of your destiny in God.

The more and more you spend with God in prayer and not just your self in prayer and the more you allow God to teach you in His Word and speak to you, the easier it will get. For a short while you will probably swim upstream then flow with God down stream and start swimming upstream again. Trust me on this, just be faithful to jump in that river daily, soon you will get tired of swimming upstream and will rest in God downstream in His perfect plan. You may say, " I am to sinful to be with God daily." I would say, "Oh really!" Since when did sin become the problem? Isaiah the prophet whom I quoted earlier was a sinful man, yet he trusted in God to clean him up. He told God he was a man of unclean lips so there was no way he could speak the oracles of God. He was wrong God cleaned him up. He accepted the call to wait on the Lord. God cleaned him up all by Himself and Isaiah became one of the boldest prophets of all times. When you jump in Gods River, His River will cleanse you. Jesus washed the feet of the apostles one day and when He came to Peter's feet, Peter began to swim upstream and said, "Not so Lord, I will not let you clean my feet." Jesus pretty much said you would have no part of me unless you let me do this and that you are already clean by the Words that I speak to you. You see it is Jesus that cleans us. It is His Word that cleanses us. Ephesians says that we are clean by the washing of the water of the Word. Where do you think that water is found? Praise God it is in that river. Faithfully jump in everyday. Even jumping in will begin to clean you, but when you finally get in and stop trying to swim upstream and flow with God in it, the ultimate cleansing happens. Get in, many are already there. Plenty of help from other who are surrendered are all around you. Let them help you trust. But ultimately trust in God. Whether you run, walk, swim, or sore like wings of eagles, you have to trust God and quite fighting against him. WAIT upon Him for strength and do very little in your own strength. Daily surrender by asking God to help you. God gives mercy GRACEFULLY to anyone who asks. God is Good and is worthy of your praise today. Swim with author and finisher of your Faith. Trust in God and He will make you a brand NEW MAN. You will walk in the resurrection power of the Spirit in the newness of the Spirit. You will Sore to your Destiny. God Bless!!

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