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Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus, part of the growing repentance remnant, cleansing as His Bride, getting ready for His soon return as our Bridegroom-----
I believe the man above is filled with joy having just destroyed, with the Helper Holy Spirit, an old lie of the enemy, a stronghold. He then replaced that old lie with the Truth of God's Word, and is now in His Kingdom, having received the indwelling Holy Spirit. The lie had blocked for years the fullness of God's love towards him.
Today, the stronghold to "chew-- to dine on" [Revelation 3:20] with the Holy Spirit, our Teacher, is our disobedience to God's instruction.
Sin strongholds are false beliefs picked up at some point in our minds which, until removed by the Holy Spirit and our free will decision to repent, still govern our responses to circumstances, still mute or cover up God's Truth in His Word. All your thoughts can be traced back to beliefs based on either the truth of Scripture or on satan's lies. If that thought is based on satan's lies, it will lead to fear. Fear will then lead to some form of idolatry. One commentator in the New Spirit Filled Life Bible says: " Idols are established wherever there exists a failure to trust in the provisions of God that are ours through Jesus Christ."
Francis Frangipane has a good word on removing falsehoods and becoming more holy:
Knowing Our Hearts
At the same time, as I draw closer to the heart of God, the very fire of His presence begins a deep purging work within me. In the vastness of His riches, my poverty appears. The psalmist wrote, "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully" (Ps. 24:3-4).
We cannot even find the hill of the Lord, much less ascend it, if there is deceit in our hearts. How does one serve in God's holy place if his soul is unclean? It is only the pure in heart who perceive God.To ascend toward God is to walk into a furnace of truth where falsehood is extracted and removed from our souls. To abide in the holy place we must dwell in honesty, even when a lie might seem to save us. Each ascending step upon the hill of God is a thrusting of our souls into greater transparency, a more perfect view into the motives of our hearts.
It is this upward call of God that we pursue. Yet the soul within us is hidden, crouching in fear and darkness, living in a world of untruths and illusions. This is our inner man, the soul God seeks to save. Have you discovered your true self, the inner person whom truth alone can free? Yes, we seek holiness, but true holiness arises from here; it comes as the Spirit of Truth unveils the hidden places in our hearts. Indeed, it is truthfulness that leads to holiness.
God, grant us a zeal for truth that we may stand in Your holy place!
Men everywhere presume they know the "truth," but they have neither holiness nor power in their lives. Truth must become more than historical doctrine; it must be more than a museum of religious artifacts -- mementos from when God once moved. Truth is knowing God's heart as it was revealed in Christ, and it is knowing our own hearts in the light of God's grace.
As members of the human race, we are shrouded in ignorance. Barely do we know our world around us; even less do we know the nature of our own souls. Without realizing it, as we search for God's heart, we are also searching for our own. For it is only in finding Him that we discover ourselves, for we are "in Him” (Acts 17:28).
Yet throughout that searching process, as I position my heart before the Lord, it is with a sense of trembling that I pray the prayer of King David: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way" (Ps. 139:23-24).
Let us wash the cosmetics from our souls and look at the unadorned condition of our hearts. I know God has created us eternally complete and perfect in Christ. I believe that. But in the first three chapters of John's Revelation, Jesus did not tell the churches they were "perfect in His eyes." No! He revealed to them their true conditions; He told them their sins. Without compromise, He placed on them the demand to be overcomers, each in their own unique and difficult circumstance.
Like them, we must know our need. And like them, the souls we want saved dwell here, in a world system structured by lies, illusions and rampant corruption. Our old natures are like well-worn shoes into which we relax; we can be in the flesh instantly without even realizing it. The enemies that defeat us are hidden and latent within us! Thus the Holy Spirit must expose our foes before we can conquer them!
Concerning man's nature, the prophet Jeremiah wrote, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9). Quoting another of David's prayers, a similar cry is heard: "Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression" (Ps. 19:12-13).
There may be errors inside of us that are actually ruling us without our awareness. Do we realize, for instance, how many of our actions are manipulated purely by vanity and the desire to be seen or accepted by others? Are we aware of the fears and apprehensions that unconsciously influence so many of our decisions? We may have serious flaws inside yet still be either too proud or too insecure to admit we need help.
Concerning ourselves, we think so highly of what we know so little!
Even outwardly, though we know our camera pose, do we know how we appear when we are laughing or crying, eating or sleeping, talking or angry? The fact is, most of us are ignorant of how we appear outwardly to others; much less do we know ourselves inwardly before God! Our fallen thinking processes automatically justify our actions and rationalize our thoughts. Without the Holy Spirit, we are nearly defenseless against our own innate tendencies toward self-deception.
Therefore, if we would be holy, we must first renounce falsehood. In the light of God' grace, having been justified by faith and washed in the sacrificial blood of Jesus, we need not pretend to be righteous. We need only to become truthful.
No condemnation awaits our honesty of heart -- no punishment. We have only to repent and confess our sins to have them forgiven and cleansed; if we will love the truth, we will be delivered from sin and self-deception. Indeed, the nectar of truth is in two things and two things only: to know the heart of God in Christ and our own hearts in Christ's light.
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Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, Holiness, Truth and the Presence of God, available at www.arrowbookstore.com.
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This NDR series, going through Passover, God willing, is intended for you and me to remove strongholds as did this man above. The process is: 1) repent, return to God, convert (Acts 3:19) from the world and the flesh, die to that old rebellious spirit into which you and I were born (Ephesians 2:3), die to the old self, stop playing church, truly come into His Kingdom if you're not in already (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15; Acts 3:19); 2) receive the indwelling Holy Spirit; and 3) spend time with that Holy Spirit, the Helper (John 16:7-15), as often as possible, day after day, asking Him if you have even a residue of the sin issue presented that day. The process is private, between you and Him. Again, there's no condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1).
But old sin patterns blocking His Eternal Word have no place in a Holy Spirit-filled believer, now a "temple of the living God." ( 2 Corinthians 6:16). Given all His promises, including that He will be a Father to each of us believers, and we are His sons and daughters, we are called to " cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1; 1 Peter 1:15).
The Risen Christ already sees us as His Bride. He will sanctify and cleanse us by the washing of water by the word (Ephesians 5:26, the sword of the Spirit ). As each lying stronghold is demolished, replace forever the old lie with the word of God. Be washed in HIS Truth. In that repentance and cleansing process, the Lord is presenting us to Himself, "a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:27). He is the soon-coming Bridegroom (Matthew 24:36-51; Matthew 25:1-13; Revelation 19:7-9).
The classic scripture to remove strongholds is in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. Here it is in the amplified version: "For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man. The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ...,"
Strongholds are pulled down, and old mental blocks are broken, as you and I use spiritual weapons the Lord has given us, particularly the sword of the spirit. (Ephesians 6:17).
here is a short teaching on strongholds on one of our Zoom calls:
https://youtu.be/ykQ90uy7evo
Today's issue is "disobedience to God's instruction." Disobedience to God brings His wrath. The third chapter of Colossians is all about avoiding disobedience. Colossians 3:1-7: " If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them."
Being candid with yourself and the Holy Spirit, are you now still disobedient to God's instructions? Are you still playing church as a spectator? Is it a current or an old issue needing to be confessed? And then repented of ? Do you think His Word is only for the disciples 2,000 years ago? Do you have any residue of disobedience as an issue for such a time as this? Was it connected to your upbringing as a child? Was it a family pattern in any way? ?
God bless you as you seek His Holy Spirit Wisdom and Comfort on this issue. May you go forward on His narrow path, "perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2 Corinthians 7:1).
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This is a recent word from our dear brother Joseph Kazembe, head of our NDR supported OUT repentance training that has brought over 6,000 young people into Jesus' Kingdom through repentance and finding one's life purpose: Jesus said in John 15:16 l chose you to bear fruits that will remain and on verse 17 he said l command you to love one another
And the day of Judgement he said on that day he will say l was hungry and you feed me not
We are blessed to be part of this mission making smile to many families where Out graduates comes from
We need more well wishers to help us donate food to these precious people
Joseph
God bless you,
Pastor Jeff Daly
National Day of Repentance
www.repentday.com
www.americankneels.com
www.globalrepent.com
pastorjeff@repentday.com
here is a copy of a recent "Cleansing the Bride" zoom call every Wednesday. Please email for zoom info, and join us ! https://youtu.be/RVpOEvCQ_qU
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The Lord makes it clear: Luke 13:1-5, repent or perish. Here's a NDR video on this key scripture: https://youtu.be/oT15XrDvv9c
and this video on ETERNITY, 7 pounds of dust: https://youtu.be/uzZvbbS7vuI
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