Simple Salvation Church of God
Prayer Request: WHAT IS TRUTH?
Subject:
WHAT IS TRUTH? (Jun 14, 2008)
Prayer Request:
Please visit the website http://hethathasanear.com for this and other articles plus our New Video.  |
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"…let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." Revelation 2:7 |
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 by Harold Smith from Jerusalem, Israel "Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, 'Are You the King of the Jews?' Jesus answered him, 'Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?' Pilate answered, 'Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?' Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.' (Luke 17:20-21) Pilate therefore said to Him, 'Are You a king then?' Jesus answered, 'You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.' Pilate said to Him, 'What is truth?'" (John 18:33-38) From this passage, Y'shua was taken to the cross and put to death for our sin. But the greatest part of this event was in His defeat of that death with His Resurrection that followed. That victory was obtained over 2,000 years ago and, by it, set free all who would embrace His Resurrected Life as their own. It was with this very question that the whole thing began. It was when satan asked of Eve in the Garden, "Did God REALLY say…?" and she entertained that thought to the culmination of disobedience to His Voice, that mankind slipped from the Power of the Presence of the Almighty actively working in their lives. It is no different with us today. If we do not heed His Voice, if we choose to walk contrarily to what we know, what is recorded of Him to be true - we, too, will find ourselves outside the Garden of His Presence. Y'shua came to restore to us what had been given away (not "taken" - given away). If this war has already been won, if Y'shua descended to the depths of hades and took possession of the keys to the kingdom of darkness, if He has spread that same Light that enabled Him to do so abroad in our hearts as we have embraced His Life - then why don't we act accordingly? Why are we not behaving as victors? Why are we not walking, talking and LIVING in the Power of the fulfillment of the victory He has obtained - right now, today? "Has God REALLY been victorious?"  I have got to tell you, folks, I have received more correspondence from the last article I sent on "Weight" than from all of the articles I have been sending over the past years combined (go to http://hethathasanear.com and click on "Weight"). Much of those emails were encouraging me in some form or another to continue with what I had written of in that testimony. Many of those letters of encouragement were from people who wanted to, sincerely, share their success at losing weight through a particular program, form of nutritional diet or some other regimen that they were involved in and I thank you for that. But, that article was not really about physical weight loss. It was more about the condition of our soul and the spiritual "Weight" that torments us, preventing us from walking in the freedom of Spirit that Y'shua has already obtained for us and driving us into an unhealthy natural condition. (3John 1:2-3) Far and away, the vast majority of the emails I received were from those of you within the Body of Christ who are wounded, hurting and in despair to the point of losing all hope (there were so many I am still in the process of answering them). Of these, I was astounded at the number who admitted to being in positions of leadership in some form or another in the Body (pastors, preachers, teachers and the like). There are many among us in bondage to the past and unable to see past that dark cloud that has captured them. (2Peter 2:19) Most of those emails were asking me to pray for God to do something on their behalf or to ask the Lord to help them in some way - as though I have some special access to the Voice and Power of God that they don't have. Please allow me to set the record straight in this regard - I don't. I am just a miserable wreck of humanity whose only redemption is in my Redeemer - if He is not able or unwilling to pull me from the taberah (the fire of His burning - Numbers 11:3) then I am nothing more than a roasted duck. I have not been equipped with anything concerning the Lord that you don't have the same ability to access. The foundational, basic, fundamental aspect of this walk in the Spirit is to hear His Voice and, as He said above, if our hearts are to know Truth, we WILL hear Him speak (go to http://hethathasanear.com and click on "Hearing His Voice" for more on this subject). Because of this truth, if you ask me to pray for you, what you are probably going to find me doing is encouraging you and helping you to seek the Father for yourself. We are being bombarded (and convincingly so), over and over, within the Body of Christ that we must go out and do battle with the enemy - apparently, because the victory has not yet been obtained, that satan still has to be defeated. Now, wait a minute - let's look at this logically. What army in the world, having conquered and defeated its foe, continues to fight? When it is finished, it is finished. Y'shua's last words on the cross were, "It is finished." Is it finished - or isn't it? Has God REALLY obtained the victory?  Y'shua said in the scripture that started this article, He has not commanded His servants (you and me) to fight over the external circumstances (the externalities of life) we find ourselves enmeshed in. There is a battle, but the real battleground is not in the external sphere (Ephesians 6:12) but is against the principalities and powers that occupy the high places of our mind - those exalted thoughts and reasonings which lay in waiting to scheme against and are opposed to the true knowledge of the Life of Power He lived and now lives in us. (2Corinthians 10:4-5) This is not "mind over matter", but a determination to take those thoughts captive (that is, to recognize and "flag" them for what they are). We bring those thoughts into submission by our subsequent actions to what we know of Who He Is in the face of what would seem to be a conflicting reality (to obedience to Truth in this earthly realm). I have said this before (go to http://hethathasanear.com and click on "Authority") - I do not find it recorded anywhere in scripture that Y'shua "fought the devil." He didn't need to. He understood the victory had already been won because He knew Who He was in the Father. Scripture says when He encountered the enemy, He "spoke a word" and they fled. Equipped with that same knowledge and understanding, scripture does say that we also can "resist the enemy and he will flee" from us. Why will he go? Because he knows too well the victory has been had. James said that when you walk in this fullness of the Power of the Holy Spirit, the "demons tremble." To know Him is to BE Him in this earthly realm. (Luke 4:36, James 4:7, James 2:19) Yes, He was equal with God, but what most don't seem to realize is that while on earth, He relinquished (willingly gave up) that equality to become a servant. (Philippians 2:5-7) His servitude was that He lived as flesh, just like you and me. He struggled with the same temptations, hurt and betrayal that we struggle with today to show us HOW to reach into that well of Power so that, we too, might be the overcomer that He is. His death and resurrection EMPOWERS US to live in His Victory - today. "The same Power that raised Y'shua from the grave now dwells in you to quicken your mortal bodies." (Romans 8:11) That means today - not sometime over yonder, by and by. We are to BRING (an action) this Kingdom we carry within INTO this earthly realm. (Matthew 6:10) It is interesting to note that it is not recorded anywhere in scripture that Y'shua cast demons out from the disciples, nor did He heal them. He EMPOWERED them to do the same as He did and sent them out in the same manner as He had been living out in front of them. (Luke 9 & 10) In order for them to do that, they had to get beyond themselves. They had to lose their life to find it.  What keeps us from obtaining that victory in our personal lives? When we pursue something other than Truth - other than the heart of God (read carefully the parable of the seed Luke 8:14-15). The cares of this world, the mindset that calls into focus ANYTHING that would have us settling for less than the excellence of Spirit that He embodies within us, PREVENTS us from accessing His Presence. It sets up a barrier that keeps us from it. Light and darkness CANNOT abide in the same space at the same time. Darkness is defined as "an absence of Light." The cares of this world are many - unforgiveness being the chief among them. If we don't forgive others the way He forgave us (completely, clean slate, never to remember anymore, 70 x 7) scripture says He won't, not that He can't - He WON'T - forgive us. The riches of this world, money, is another care we embrace that has consequences. Y'shua said, "You cannot serve God and mammon" (mammon in Hebrew = finances). Already, some of you are scheming and reasoning yourself out of that verse because, let's face it, money is attractive. Look, I didn't write the Book, this is what He said - and He meant what He said. It is important to understand that He didn't qualify it. Either it is truth or it's not - did He REALLY say that? What you do with it is between you and Him, but when we allow these things a presence in our life, we "give place to the enemy" (Ephesians 4:27) and give him the power to choke out the Power of the Father's Presence. The only power he has over us is the power we give him. This is where we must take these thoughts captive unto the obedience of Christ IF (a big little word) we are to walk in the fullness of what He intends for us. (1John 2:16) The authority He has given us is the "power of choice" over what we allow into our lives (again, see "Authority"). This is not about what we can and cannot do. Because we have been set free, we have the freedom to do as we please - but, not all things are conducive to bringing us into His Presence. So, then, do we "choose" to walk in the ways that cause us to become separated from that Presence - or do we "choose" to walk in the example He lived out before us, thereby living in His Presence?  His greatest victory from the grave was that He became the "first among many brethren" (Romans 8:29) and paved the way for any of us to now have complete and total involvement with the Father and all of the Power that lies with Him - JUST AS Y'SHUA DID. However, access to that Power, while free, is surrounded by a single condition. The condition is that you must first lose your life just as Y'shua did. Not just part of your life - all of it. (Luke 17:33) It is in knowing Him in Truth (on His terms) that we come to experience the Power of His Resurrection. This walk is not one of ideologue or theology or an intellectual discourse - it is about KNOWING a Person. If we know the Truth (and He is Truth), intimately, the Truth shall set us free - we won't have to try and conjure it up, it will just happen because the Power is in Him. Faith is not just believing that He is (the devil believes that! James 2:19) - faith is believing that He is AND that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) To know Him in the power of His Resurrection is also to know Him in the fellowship of His suffering (Philippians 3:10) He learned obedience to the Father by the things He suffered. (Hebrews 5:8) If He did, so will we. We can't have it both ways - if we are to know Him as He knew the Father, we must relinquish our life and become a servant to His Life. When we press into knowing Him, willingly giving up those things He reveals that are gripping our spirit (preventing us from accessing His Presence), the same Power that raised Him up will course through our bodies just as it did His. As His Life bore witness to the Truth, so our lives bear witness to the Truth of Who He is within us. He came to literally set us free from the spiritual bondages (in whatever form they may present themselves) that lead us into sin (anything that separates us from His Presence) and when sin has conceived, death - the death of our spirit to dwell in the Power of the Presence of the Almighty God. (James 1:14-15) To him who overcomes (from within), will be given the Crown of Life. (James 1:12) This is His Kingship. This is the Gospel. This is Truth. |
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 This photo is but one of many scenes that filled the streets of Jerusalem recently as Israelis by the thousands gathered in the capital to celebrate 40 years since the city's reunification at the end of the 1967 war. Here, flag bearing crowds dance through the streets enroute to the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem's Old City, where thousands gathered to pray for the city, beloved of Hashem and beloved of Jews throughout the centuries. You'd have loved being part of these celebrations. Come to the Land! Immerse yourself in the richness and flavor of the root of Jesse that is found in the City of David, the Mount of Zion. It is to Jerusalem that the Mashiach will come and in the kingdom to come, it is to Jerusalem that all nations will gather to worship Hashem. (Zechariah 14) |
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| "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love you." (Psalm 122:6) (prosper - from the Hebrew, "shalav", meaning "to be at rest") |
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| Please visit the website http://hethathasanear.com for other articles and our New Video or for information if you feel led to contribute to this ministry. |
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 Shalom Alechem B'Shem Yeshua HaMashiach. (Peace be unto you in the Name of Jesus the Messiah) Harold Smith Jerusalem • Israel http://hethathasanear.com [email protected] |
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Discussion:
WHAT IS TRUTH?
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