God's Character

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (all scripture from ESV)

Related verses - 

• 1 John 3:11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

• James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 

There’s no shadow on God, or from Him, because He doesn’t change. Every gift that is good and perfect, every single one, is from Him because of His great love for us. He’s the Father of lights and there can’t be any darkness around Him. He created light to shine through the darkness. God’s character is unchanging. There can’t be shadows because He can’t have darkness around Him. Footnotes from James 1:17 (ESV), “God is unchanging in his character and therefore in his giving of good, unlike the variation of the night changing to day or the shifting shadow caused by the sun or moon.” When something bad happens, it’s not from God!!!! God doesn’t give bad things to His children; He can’t! It’s not part of His character to give something bad. He gives all good gifts and works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). But we so often like to attribute the bad things in life to God, even though He was not the one who gave them to us! God doesn’t give us sickness! God doesn’t take away our finances. How do those things glorify Him?! Yes, you can learn through it, but I believe now that a large part of that learning is how to take the power and authority He’s given you in that situation to OVERCOME! We so often become the victim instead of the conqueror He has made us to be (Rom 8:37)! This is where we need to look back at verse 2, knowing that LIFE is manifested through the Holy Spirit and so the way to overcome these struggles and frustrations is in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit!

Living and Active

Hebrews 4:12 says that is what the word of God is, living and active, sharper than the sharpest double-edged sword. It even cuts through bone and marrow. From what I know, that is some of the thickest stuff out there. His word cuts through it. His word is truth. We say that we believe this. We go to church and hear it and read it and then put it away. Are we allowing it to be active in our lives?! If God's word was active in your life, truly changing the way you thought, how would your life change?

The question is not "what would that look like?" Someone just told me that's something that Christians say. I wasn't aware. I've been saying it for years. Don't get me wrong, there are times when it's good to ask. Like when Mary asked God what having a baby looked like for her since she was a virgin. If she hadn't asked and just assumed it was through Joseph I don't think we'd know Mary. All that to say, this is not a time to ask what it looks like. God's word is active. If we would allow it be active, our lives would be changed. This is why it's SO important to know who you are in Christ. And I mean to really know it in your heart and believe it. Not to know it in your head and have it memorized but to believe it and live it so that when you look in the mirror you see the masterpiece that He calls you, you see the conqueror, you see the son or daughter of the Most High King, you see His righteousness. You don't see a loser, or a failure, or whatever else your emotions are seeing. You see the truth of the word of God because you have allowed it to be living and active in your life, the truth in your life instead of the lies that so easily squeeze in. If you don't know what He has to say about you, how much He loves you, and how He wants the best for you (even more than your earthly Dad), then how are you going to walk in the dreams He's calling you to?!

Know the word friends. Spend time in it. And then believe what it says about you. Satan is the lier and he's subtle. God and His word are the truth. And once you learn that, once you receive that and walk in it and allow it to manifest in all that you are, your life will never be the same.

Satisfaction

So often in my life I have seen people who have this relationship with Christ that wholly satisfies them. You can see it in the way they live. You can see how in love with Jesus they are, the fruit of the relationship emanates from them. I've always wanted to be that person. Not so much because that person looked great, but knowing Christ like they did looked amazing. The relationship with Christ they had is what I really wanted.

So all of my life I've been searching for that.  I've been thirsty for Him and never quite satisfied.  How would I ever be satisfied? There are so many worship songs that talk about coming back to the heart of worship, about being fully satisfied with the Creator. Sometimes I felt like a lier singing these songs because as much as I wanted to be fully satisfied, I wasn't. Something was missing.

Something new happened this fall. A friend of mine started attending Rhema. Right before this happened I had been getting really thirsty again, thirsty for something more, thirsty to know the Holy Spirit more. I had started realizing the the fullness I've always sought must be found in the Holy Spirit. I was raised in a church that knew Jesus and taught the Gospel, but we didn't talk about the Spirit much. I've been blessed with more teaching, but I've always found the Holy Spirit so intriguing. I've always wondered why we don't talk about Him more.

Since then, I feel like a new person. God has blessed me with some wonderful friends who are helping me learn, but more than anything He has blessed me with a thirst that is finally being satisfied  as I get to know Holy and gain understanding about the life we're truly capable of. I am finally satisfied, satisfied in knowing my Creator, satisfied in the most amazing Love relationship I've ever been a part of. Knowing the Holy Spirit has empowered me like never before. Learning more fully about the power He's given each and every believer blows my mind on a regular basis. Knowing that I coud have known this from the beginning is sad, but knowing it now is better than never.

I've written recently about gaining control over my emotions and all of that comes from knowing the power within me through the Holy Spirit to do that. I can do nothing on my own but in Him, I literally can do ALL things. I am not controlled by emotions and feelings, by pain or thoughts, but by the Holy Spirit living inside of me. If we could understand that it's better to have the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus said in John 16:7 (ESV, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.), life would change for us. Jesus walked with the disciples and that was incredible. But the amazing thing is that we, as Christians, have the Holy Spirit living inside of us! He was given to us to help us, to teach us, to guide us, and to empower us to live the life Christ called us to! We can't do it without His help. This is the biggest, and best difference, about Old Testament believers and New Testament believers. We have Holy, and that's the game changer.

Learning

On Christmas Eve, I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 13 . Most people know this as the love chapter of the Bible. It's always a favorite at weddings, reminding the bride and groom of what true love looks like. It's a beautiful chapter. The last paragraph in the chapter is interesting though.

You have to remember that 1 Corinthians 13 is in the middle of 12 and 14, two chapters that focus on the gifts of the Spirit. So verses 8-13 discuss how the gifts will cease, specifically the gift of tongues and of prophecy. This was brought up in discussion and it made me want to search and understand why God would say that these gifts would cease if we're using them today. The timeframe of them ceasing was my main concern. I know there are people who don't believe in these gifts, and people who believe that these gifts have ceased. From personal experience, I would have to disagree. So I wanted to study.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 ESV
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Verse 8 says specifically that these gifts will end. But it says that after stating that Love never ends. I believe that God is Love (1 John 4:16), so it is stating that God never ends and His Love never ends. This is a beautiful promise. This is also the premise of this paragraph - Love.

Verse 10 speaks of the perfect coming. The perfect is Christ and Christ alone. There is no other perfection. Right now we know in part and prophecy in part. We do not have full understanding. We will not have it until the day that Christ returns because He is perfect. Verse 12 talks about seeing in a mirror right now, but then, when the perfect comes, we will see face to face. The only one I want to see face to face, the only perfect one to see face to face with is Christ. So these gifts will pass away when Christ returns. We will no longer need the gift of prophecy and of tongues when Christ returns because we will know fully. These gifts help us right now, just as the Holy Spirit is called our Comforter and Helper, so are His gifts. They will never replace Christ but they help us live the life Christ has called us to while He is not with us.

The greatest part of learning this was when God confirmed it a few days ago through a daily devotional. Only God knew that we had studied it. In reading the following devotional from Andrew Wommack, I felt so loved, like God had written it just for me to remind me of how much He loves me and wants me to continue to seek Him and understand His Word.

Andrew Wommack Daily Devotional, December 31, 2011 -  GOD STILL PERFORMS MIRACLES
(http://www.awmi.net/home)

Mark 16:20 "And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."

The Lord confirmed the preaching of His Word with miracles. If Jesus and the first century Christians needed the Word confirmed with the miraculous (Heb. 2:4), then we do too. There is no scripture that says these miraculous signs have passed away.

Some people have interpreted "that which is perfect" in 1 Corinthians 13:10, as being the complete Bible. This has led them to believe that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased. Although God's Word is perfect (Ps. 19:7), it is not the "perfect thing" that is referred to here. 1 Corinthians 13:8 does say that tongues shall cease, but it will not happen until "that which is perfect is come."

In 1 Corinthians 13:12, Paul says, "when that which is perfect is come, we shall see face to face." This speaks of seeing the Lord face to face, instead of vaguely, as through a dark glass, as it is now. Some might argue that this is speaking in a symbolic sense, instead of literally face to face. But the next comparison in this verse says that then, "when that which is perfect is come," we shall know all things even as we are also known. There is no other way to interpret this, except as a description of when we will stand before the Lord, after this life. Then we will be face to face, and know all things even as also we are known.

Verse eight says that at the time prophecies fail and tongues cease, knowledge will vanish away. This is talking about the next life, or the new heavens and earth, because one of the signs of the end times is that knowledge shall increase (Dan. 12:4).

So the "that which is perfect" that Paul speaks of, cannot be the Bible. It has to be either our glorified body, or Jesus at His second coming. Either way, these verses establish that until "that which is perfect is come," tongues and prophecy will remain. They are still valid gifts, and even today, it is God's will to accompany the preaching of His Word with miracles