WD: Dear Subscriber: I think of you often as I recall our e-mail conversations about heaven and hell. You have inspired me to read the New Testament chapter by chapter and word for word...I am currently in the Book of Revelation Chapter 22. Because of this study I have a much deeper understanding of our heavenly Father and His will for all of us. I use the word "Overcomer" in the title of this message because the words "Overcame, Overcome, and Overcomes is used in the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation is the last chapter of the book therefore I believe the church "Overcomers" are those that overcame the world through Christ Jesus.
Subscriber: I would really appreciate it if you could please share with me what you have learned. I think it is very timely that you sent me this message. During this time I feel I want to be closer to God. I think I have strayed away from Him.
WD: You have been on my mind quiet often over the last few weeks and was unsure why. I think the Holy Spirit has been placing you in my heart for a reason.
Subscriber: Yes I think so. And I woke up in the middle of the night tonight and couldn't get to sleep. I felt like checking Facebook even though I try to normally stay away from it."
WD: I have discovered some really valuable nuggets of truth in the scriptures that I didn't see before. One of the main things I learned in this study is that some of the more popular scriptures have been quoted, by many preachers and priests, out of context with an incorrect teaching causing confusion in the church. I pray that we can clear us some of the confusion you have mentioned before.
Subscriber: I am glad you have discovered some good findings to share with me.
As I went through the Gospels I wrote down many things He told us to do, and things He told us not to do. And, I think, the two most important things can be summed up in what He calls the The Greatest Commandments. How does one love like that? Many people have the wrong concept of God. They think He is waiting for the chance to judge us and punish us. God loves us so much that He gave His best, His Son, for a world of people that does not deserve His love. He loves us so much He sent His Son, not to condemn us, but rather to give us life and life more abundantly John 10:10.
To live life the way our Heavenly Father desires requires surrender our wills to His will. To change our hearts from self-will of pleasing ourselves to doing everything in His will pleasing Him. We please Him through our selfless life of giving and serving others. Our Heavenly Father is a giver and we are created in His image therefore our job is to be a giver too. We first start with the first thing we do each day; we give praise and worship to the Father. Next we give Him thanks for everything He has ever done for is, is doing right now, and will ever do in the future. When we start out day out like this the Father opens the floodgates of blessings on us. The more we give Him the more He blesses as we can never out give Him.
Subscriber: "Yes, but how do we find out His will?
WD: Our Heavenly Father's word is His will. The reason I decided to study the New Testament was to get to know Him intimately so that I could understand His will. The word Testament is where the word testimony comes from. Our testimony, in a legal sense, is our statement whereas we are testifying as to what we saw or what we believe about something.
In the Biblical sense a Testament is similar to the legal sense in that the Bible is a Will, a contract, or covenant from God in His own words. A legal will is a testament which can state terms and conditions, and what items one wants to will (give) to those left behind one passes away.
The New Testament is God's Will or New Contract (Covenant) or New Agreement that He has made between Himself and all those that will accept the free gift that He gave the world - His Son. This contract (His Words) were written to all that will believe that Jesus took our place on the cross and died with our sins. Jesus never once sinned, but He took our sins, past, present, and future, upon Himself. When this happened we were changed from a dead person to a live person (born again) with no sin. He who knew no sin took my sin and my death (spiritual death) so that I could take His place (a non-sinner) as if I had never sinned and with life everlasting. I am now saved or born again. I am a new creature, a new person in Christ Jesus.
The key is we must believe in or trust in what the Fathers has said and that He will do everything He says He will do. The Believer must live by faith and not by sight.
We will talk about what it means to believe later.
Back on the second commandment - Jesus said that we are to love our neighbor as much, or more, than we love ourselves. How do we do that? We cannot do that with our own self-effort as this is the Holy Spirit's job. As we get to know the Father through understanding His words the Holy Spirit does the work in our hearts that changes us and teaches us how to love others more that we love ourselves. How do I know this? Jesus gives us an example in Matthew 25:31-46
Our job is to believe in Him and if we truly believe in Him then our heart is changed and our spirit man is born from death to life. The old man is selfish and is so self centered all he thinks about is himself. The spirit man is reborn immediately, but the flesh man cannot change so quickly. The flesh man changes in time through life's trials and tribulations. No one likes difficult times, but these are necessary tests that help us grow into spiritual maturity.
The new man is saved but the enemy comes against the new believer with thoughts of guilt and shame while whispering in our ears that we are not good enough, we don't do enough, we don't study, read our Bible enough, and we don't pray enough. Then enemy uses our old selfish nature (flesh) from the old man against us to the point we only can think about ourselves. Some believers has said to me that they do not feel worthy of going to heaven as they do not feel good enough. The sad fact is they will never be good enough. Jesus is the only one that have ever been good enough. We cannot save ourselves by good works.
To believe means to trust, to trust means to completly relax and turn our control (will) over to Him. If we are a true believer we will stop looking ourselves as we cannot change ourselves into anything different than what we are right now. To believe means to let go of our self-will and trust is His Will.
You mentioned that you currently do not feel close to God. Can you elaborate? In our previous conversations I remember you were burdened with whether you had confessed all of your sins daily or not. Is that still bothering you? It is good to confess your sins, but also to admit you cannot remember every sin you committed today. There are those that we unconsciously commit that we cannot remember. This is where trust comes in. If you believe Jesus died in your place and rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of the Father then you do not have to worry about whether you remember to confess every sin every day or not. When the Father looks at His children (believers) He does not see a sinner. He sees a child covered in His Son's blood. He sees Jesus when He looks at you even when you do not feel like you deserve it.
Emotions can cause us to feel up one day and down the next. Emotions can cause of to feel things that are not true, to think things that are not true, and assume things that are not true. To worry about whether we have confessed all our sins or not keeps our focus on ourselves therefore making us an ineffective witness for Jesus. We must live by faith and not by feelings or how things look.
As I finished my study of the Gospels I moved into the Epistles and I discovered that each one of the letters were written as to address problems in the Church. Each one of the Churches had teachers that were teaching false doctrines. These false teachers were leading people into various kinds of bondage. Most were the mixing of the Law with grace. Pastors and priests today are still preaching that mixed message that is leaving so many people confused. You see this mix is causing some believers to focus on themselves, causing them to take their eyes (trust) off of our Heavenly Father to self-consciousness. This is the enemy's trick to make the believer ineffective for Christ. When we are self-conscious we are absorbed with our self and cannot see need of those around us that need us.
There is much more I want to share with you, however, I should stop here and let you think about what I've written to you thus far. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have.
