Resistance is futile! How to alter your view of sin and Righteousness and get REAL Results
About one month from the day I'm writing this Jesus appeared to me in a dream. His words in that dream were profound. Here I was, a believer and follower of Jesus for almost two decades and He tells me that I am not receiving my breakthroughs in prayer because I "had yet to learn the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven."
I was flabbergasted! What have I been focusing on in my Christian life for the last 19 years that has made me such a newbie with respect to His Kingdom's Ways?
I immediately set to work to study the Kingdom. I found out that no one in the Bible spoke of the Kingdom more than Jesus did. There are 117 mentions of the word Kingdom in the gospels alone and only 34 in the rest of the NT. This was not something the disciples seemed to have elaborated on a lot either. In other words, Jesus was telling me to dig into something that was absolutely essential for us to get a grasp on, something that seems to have been poorly expounded on for 2000 years.
So I started this #Kingdom101 series just to do that. This post is about entering the Kingdom. But Jesus first spoke about, not how to enter the Kingdom, but about how you can guarantee your exclusion from the Kingdom. Oh, but watch and see how this is going to lead to some truly life changing. You're ready for it?
The way to guarantee that you will NOT enter the Kingdom is to fail being Righteous completely, 100% without a single fault.
So you're in or you're out? Who can be in!?
Well, before it gets all doom and gloom, there is no way that this statement is going to fail or be swept under the rug. When God says something, the Scripture can not be broken. Now if you're here reading this blog, it's probably because you are born of the Spirit and are a follower of Jesus. You're in, I tell you... but God doesn't make exceptions to the rule I just mentioned about who can enter.
So how is that any one can enter??? Here's the verse that says this:
But let me ask you, you get that you're Righteous in Christ, you understand He is your Righteousness, but that still doesn't solve something that's really bothering you... you desperately want to live a holy, righteous life. You understand you are totally forgiven, you know all your sins have been covered, you really do, but you don't just want the theological knowledge (oh to know your Righteous identity is really so much more than that... theology, eugh) you want the real manifestation in your life of RIGHTEOUSNESS! OF RIGHT LIVING!
Amen?
If you want that, read on. If you're happy that you still sin a lot and have special areas that you are "struggling with" don't read on. This is not for you. But if you're at the point where you want to start living Righteously and overcoming sin in your life, because you simply love God, you want to walk in His ways always, you want to actually act in a way that is worthy of your calling! No it's not that you want to get rewarded or be forgiven or any of that, you know you already are! You just love your Father and Savior! That's it!
But here's the situation. You get tempted, so you resist the flesh. "You shall not better me O flesh!" You realize sin is crouching at your door, so you fight the enemy "In Jesus' name I reject you, get away from me enemy of my soul!" Sometimes you hang in there a long time and fight the sin and the temptation and the enemy and the flesh and then guess what? You are successful after a long day's battle! Haha! Oh you deserve a medal! A purple heart or some medal of valor! You've got battle scars to show off. But other times you fight and fight but then fail. Many times you fight a little and fail. And maybe sometimes when it gets really bad, you're so much on auto pilot that you don't even resist the sin anymore. How many of us have reached this point where despair and hopelessness about our sins is routine?
Take a look at that last paragraph again. Did you notice any mention of the Lord? Any mention of God, Jesus, the Spirit? Any at all?
This is the fight that the ENEMY loves to lure you into. He doesn't care about your occasional wins. If you can fight this fight, He's got you right where he wants you, you've taken the bait. You're focus is no longer Jesus your Savior. It's the flesh, the temptation, the devil, the sin and the result is condemnation, oh he's just jumping for joy the enemy.
IT'S EASIER TO YIELD TO RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN IT IS TO YIELD TO SIN.(1)
IT'S ALSO EASIER TO YIELD TO RIGHTEOUSNESS... THAN IT IS TO FIGHT AND RESIST SIN.
Have you thought about it this way? The next time you're up against a temptation, be it an ad tempting you online or your kids driving you mad or a facebook post about nice, lovely, beautiful beaches that makes you wonder why you live in uninhabitably cold places...
Just remember... it really is easier to yield to Righteousness than it is to resist and even yield to sin.
Grace and Peace be multiplied to you!
Footnotes:
(1) Check out my review of Mel Bond's books. He's the guy who I read this concept from about it being easier to yield to righteousness than sin. I believe the way he put was anointed or quickened by God's Spirit. I don't know where Mel got it from, if it was from somewhere else or the Lord or whatever, but I just wanted to be totally honest about that.
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I was flabbergasted! What have I been focusing on in my Christian life for the last 19 years that has made me such a newbie with respect to His Kingdom's Ways?
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| Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash |
So I started this #Kingdom101 series just to do that. This post is about entering the Kingdom. But Jesus first spoke about, not how to enter the Kingdom, but about how you can guarantee your exclusion from the Kingdom. Oh, but watch and see how this is going to lead to some truly life changing. You're ready for it?
The way to guarantee that you will NOT enter the Kingdom is to fail being Righteous completely, 100% without a single fault.
So you're in or you're out? Who can be in!?
Well, before it gets all doom and gloom, there is no way that this statement is going to fail or be swept under the rug. When God says something, the Scripture can not be broken. Now if you're here reading this blog, it's probably because you are born of the Spirit and are a follower of Jesus. You're in, I tell you... but God doesn't make exceptions to the rule I just mentioned about who can enter.
So how is that any one can enter??? Here's the verse that says this:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-19Now, the whole context of this shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of every law and therefore He has become our Righteousness. It's a Righteousness that definitely "surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law" not by inches but infinitely surpasses it. That's why we are now guaranteed entry into the Kingdom!
But let me ask you, you get that you're Righteous in Christ, you understand He is your Righteousness, but that still doesn't solve something that's really bothering you... you desperately want to live a holy, righteous life. You understand you are totally forgiven, you know all your sins have been covered, you really do, but you don't just want the theological knowledge (oh to know your Righteous identity is really so much more than that... theology, eugh) you want the real manifestation in your life of RIGHTEOUSNESS! OF RIGHT LIVING!
Amen?
If you want that, read on. If you're happy that you still sin a lot and have special areas that you are "struggling with" don't read on. This is not for you. But if you're at the point where you want to start living Righteously and overcoming sin in your life, because you simply love God, you want to walk in His ways always, you want to actually act in a way that is worthy of your calling! No it's not that you want to get rewarded or be forgiven or any of that, you know you already are! You just love your Father and Savior! That's it!
But here's the situation. You get tempted, so you resist the flesh. "You shall not better me O flesh!" You realize sin is crouching at your door, so you fight the enemy "In Jesus' name I reject you, get away from me enemy of my soul!" Sometimes you hang in there a long time and fight the sin and the temptation and the enemy and the flesh and then guess what? You are successful after a long day's battle! Haha! Oh you deserve a medal! A purple heart or some medal of valor! You've got battle scars to show off. But other times you fight and fight but then fail. Many times you fight a little and fail. And maybe sometimes when it gets really bad, you're so much on auto pilot that you don't even resist the sin anymore. How many of us have reached this point where despair and hopelessness about our sins is routine?
Take a look at that last paragraph again. Did you notice any mention of the Lord? Any mention of God, Jesus, the Spirit? Any at all?
This is the fight that the ENEMY loves to lure you into. He doesn't care about your occasional wins. If you can fight this fight, He's got you right where he wants you, you've taken the bait. You're focus is no longer Jesus your Savior. It's the flesh, the temptation, the devil, the sin and the result is condemnation, oh he's just jumping for joy the enemy.
There is a better way and here it is!
It's harder to resist sin than it is to yield to righteousness.
It's harder to fight lust than it is to yield to purity.
It's harder to keep greed in check then it is to yield to trusting the Lord.
It's harder to keep your anger tamed than it is to yield to loving peace.
IT'S EASIER TO YIELD TO RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN IT IS TO YIELD TO SIN.(1)
IT'S ALSO EASIER TO YIELD TO RIGHTEOUSNESS... THAN IT IS TO FIGHT AND RESIST SIN.
Have you thought about it this way? The next time you're up against a temptation, be it an ad tempting you online or your kids driving you mad or a facebook post about nice, lovely, beautiful beaches that makes you wonder why you live in uninhabitably cold places...
Just remember... it really is easier to yield to Righteousness than it is to resist and even yield to sin.
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Jam 4:7Which comes first? Yielding to God? Or resisting the devil? Which do we do instinctively when we're tempted? Most likely, we skip yielding to God!
Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Rom 6:13Just remove sin, the devil, the enemy, the flesh and temptation from the equation. Just remove it. Let your focus be first on HIS Righteousness and yielding to His Righteousness. This, my friends, is an anointed thought. I know it will yield fruit in your life if you nurture it.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Mat 11:28-30Jesus always said it!!! And yet somehow, we've totally messed it up. "My yoke is...easy". EASY! It's actually not only easy its so RELAXING. Taking Jesus' yoke brings REST! Wow...! This has got be one of the greatest revelations a child of God can receive. Jesus was talking about experiencing His Righteousness here and He said... Oh, it's EASY, it's LIGHT, FIND REST. It was the impossible-to-attain-righteousness-of-the-law that had the people labor in futility and excessively burdened and heavy laden. I hope you run with this revelation today and start learning how to use it right away.
Grace and Peace be multiplied to you!
Footnotes:
(1) Check out my review of Mel Bond's books. He's the guy who I read this concept from about it being easier to yield to righteousness than sin. I believe the way he put was anointed or quickened by God's Spirit. I don't know where Mel got it from, if it was from somewhere else or the Lord or whatever, but I just wanted to be totally honest about that.
Like this post? Don't miss out by subscribing!
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