PASTOR DARRYL BAKER

Matthew 6:25
“Therefore I say to you, do not…”

In today’s times where many churches are more interested in tickling itching ears the “do not” messages of the scriptures are not popular, but many don’t realize the power of this statement. Realize that anywhere in the Word of God where the phrase “do not” is used, that means you have a choice. You can choose to not do the things we are told “do not.” You have the power over these decisions. Let’s look at couple examples from the Word of God.

For example in the above verse of Matthew 6:25, Jesus tells us to not worry about our life. Worry is one of the most detrimental things in life. We can choose to cast all our care upon Him for He cares for us. In Romans 12:2 it says do not be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of your mind. It is our choice whether we renew our mind and transform our life or keep living conformed to the world. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits.

Again, this is a choice we make as to who we allow to influence our lives. The word company refers to who we choose to have as close friends, which will impact our life. There are many “do not’s” in the Bible, and what is powerful about these truths is you really are in control over these things, because the Word of God would not say “do not” if you could not. When we make the choice to “do not,” we choose to live a much better life that every believer has the ability to live.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

John 14:15
If you love me, you will obey my commandments.

Obedience clearly has benefits as revealed in many places of scripture, but if the motive for that obedience is the wrong motive, we will lose sight of the gospel and what Christ has done for us. If our motive becomes a way we try to prove “how good we are” when in fact Jesus said there is none good but One, God; we must go back to understanding the truth about the good news. When we do, our motive will shift to an appreciation for what the Lord has done for us.

We are tempted James said with our own desires. If there was no desire for sin, then we could not be tempted. But our old fleshly nature has within it the desire for sin. When we try to overcome sin with a focus on us being good, we will eventually fail and fall prey to sin. The way you overcome sin is by loving someone more than your flesh loves sin, and that someone is Jesus. This is where the gospel comes in. Why should we love Him? Because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

When you truly understand the gospel, you realize Jesus exhibited His love for us by not only going through the death of the cross, but He also took the punishment that our sin deserved. When we fully understand what He went through for us, we get a true picture of the gospel, and that produces a love for Him, which leads to obedience. Our obedience is the result of loving Him more than our flesh loves sin. We are to present our bodies unto God as a living sacrifice, and when our love for Him is the reason we do so, the focus remains where it should always be, on Him not on us.

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Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

If you have ever heard this verse taught it is usually used as a reference to sinners, and Jesus is standing at the door of their heart waiting for them to let Him in. The interesting truth is this statement was written to the church at Laodicea, and they were in Jesus’ words, lukewarm believers. This is significant because we are always to keep scripture in its proper context. You see a lukewarm believer is one who has become indifferent to spiritual things. For them, God and the things of God are no longer a priority in their life.

Jesus warned this church to repent, and then said He was standing at the door waiting for them to open the door to fellowship with Him. Jesus wants us to have an intimate relationship with Him, but a key to doing so is knowing how to open the door. In John 14:6 Jesus said He is the way, the Truth, and the life. John 1:1 and 1:14 tells us Jesus is the Word made manifest. Psalm 119:130 tells us His Word is the doorway that lets light in, and Jesus is that light.

Lukewarm believers do not fellowship with Jesus because they are more interested in other things. Jesus is the Word of God, and He is knocking trying to get us to open the door for the express purpose of getting to know Him (Truth), so that He can come and fellowship with us, and we in doing so will hear His voice. God’s Word is God speaking to us. We open the door by going to His Word each day, and by going to God’s house to hear the Word preached. He is knocking. Open the door.

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Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

In life’s decisions we can go our own way, or we can walk the path God has provided for us. In verse six above the word “direct” is translated smooth or straight. If we choose God’s way in our choices in life, we won’t go the windy rough way of life, we will go the straight way, knowing we are headed the exact direction He has planned for us. This takes a trust from us that requires all our heart. In other words, don’t just trust God in one area, trust Him in every area of your life.

The phrase “acknowledge Him” means to have an intimate relationship with God. The reason many do not trust God is because they don’t know Him. It is difficult to trust someone you do not know. When you take time to acknowledge God, developing and maintaining a close walk with Him, it will not be difficult to go the way He is directing you to go, which in the natural may not make sense to you, but God knows what He is doing.

As you draw close to Him though His Word and prayer, you begin to learn of His ways as revealed in His Word. His Word is His will for us. In getting to know Him and His will as revealed through His Word, we can also follow the leading of His Spirit within us in the decisions we make, listening to our conscience, the voice of our spirit man, which will always lead us in line with the Word. As we do, we can know we are on the path He has for us, headed straight to where He wants to take us in this life.

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Luke 14:33
In the same way, if you want to be My disciple, it will cost you everything. Don’t underestimate that cost!

Before Jesus left, He gave a clear mandate to His disciples to go and make disciples of all people. To be a disciple of Jesus takes more than just a born-again experience. To not become a disciple of Jesus Christ is to come short of what He desires for you to be. Why would we not want to become a true disciple, one who lives like Jesus, after all He has done for us.

As Jesus stated in the above verse it will cost you everything to become what He has planned for your life. The early disciples of Jesus knew this. Think about all they gave up in exchange for following Him. They willing chose to give up things in their life, choosing to walk into an uncertain future with a certain Savior. They did not know what all lay ahead of them, but they knew who they were headed down that road with.

To be a disciple of Jesus takes a complete abandoning of the old self nature to the person and the presence of Jesus Christ that lives in you now once born again. This is accomplished by yielding to the new nature within, no longer being ruled by our old carnal flesh. You now take your focus off of the flesh and focus on the things of the new spirit man. Anything less is not fulfilling what He has planned for our life, which is the greatest life you could live, following in His example.

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Hebrews 6:12
…imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

I remember when I started to ride bulls, I wanted to get connected with the guys who had proven themselves successful in the arena. It took some time for me to find someone who had done so that would help me, but when I did, I began to succeed, eventually earning my professional card. When I got born again, I took the same approach. I knew that if I could learn from those who had proven their faith, doing the works of Jesus, I could follow in their footsteps.

It saddens me today to see believers who do not understand this simple but powerful principle. I hear people say things against these great fathers of the faith who have proven God’s Word through their life and ministry. As a young bull rider, I never thought I knew more then those who had proven themselves. I was just grateful to have someone to learn from and to follow their example.

If you want to inherit the promises that God has given to us in this New Covenant, including doing the works Jesus did, it takes a willingness and humility to learn from those who through faith and patience have proven that they walk with God. If we are willing to learn from those who have done so, we too can experience the same results as those who have shown us the way.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Habakkuk 2:2
Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.”

The Word “vision” here means revelation, or what has been revealed. God has always emphasized writing things down. The reason we are to do so is shown in the later part of this verse of scripture, so that you may run with it, or simply put, become a doer of what God has revealed to you. How can you be a doer of what you have not retained knowledge of? This verse if followed can make a huge impact on changing your life.

Statistics say that the average person only retains around 5% of what they hear. What is one of the primary purposes of hearing God’s Word proclaimed? It is so that you will become a doer and not a forgetful hearer of the Word as James 1:22 tells us. The doer of the Word James said will be blessed. Why are many believers not doers of the Word? One reason is because they do not take notes on what they hear. When you take notes on key points of what you hear, your retention rate goes up to around 50%. If you review those notes within 24 hours, your retention rate goes up to 70%.

Think of how many hours are wasted by people who hear God’s Word preached or even read the Bible, but because they do not make a note of key things revealed to them, they only retain about 5%. To live a transformed life, you must have your mind renewed to God’s Word so that you can become a doer. Many assume what they hear they are doing. But to retain what you have heard as God has said, you need to write down what He is revealing to you when you hear or read God’s Word. Doing so will help transform your life.

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Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and my ways are not your ways,” declares the LORD.
9 “Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.”

Would you like to live in a “higher” way of life above what average people live? A life free from the worries and fears and stress that so many are affected by? Think about our God. Does He allow what happens here on earth to get Him worried or fearful or stressed out? Of course He doesn’t, but neither do we have to live such a life either. We can live a “higher” life like God.

There are two key areas you will have to change if you want to live a higher and much better life. The first area you have to change is how you think. If you don’t take time to go to God’s Word and learn to think they way He does you will think like the world. Choose to accept God’s Word as the final authority in your life. Whatever His Word says about you as a child of God, believe it and begin to declare it over your life. Cast down every thought contrary to what God has said, refusing to think on those things but instead, thinking as God thinks.

The second area has to do with our way of doing things. When we learn how God does things and then choose to continue to do things our way instead, we are going to live far below the kind of life God has for us. God’s ways work much better, and they will always lead us to live a much higher way of life. Check up on what you have been thinking and doing. Choose to think and act like God, and you can begin to rise up into the life God has for you.

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Philippians 1:9-10
9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

In theses two verses we have one of the most important truths about walking in the God-kind of love that many believers are unaware of, or do not understand. Many Christians think that walking in the love of God means we are to be everyone’s friend, and never say anything that may offend someone or hurt their feelings. Please look carefully at the above verses. We are told here that our love is to abound with knowledge and discernment, so that we may remain pure and blameless when Christ returns.

Many believers do not understand we are to have knowledge of God’s Word about the love of God, what it looks like, and use discernment when walking in God’s love. Many do not have this knowledge, nor do they use discernment when walking in the love of God. For example, Proverbs 12:26 tells us that the righteous (believers) should choose their friends carefully, for those who live sinful lives will lead you astray. If you do not walk in the knowledge of God’s Word and discernment, and you have friends who live sinful lives, they often lead the believer down the same path.

In Galatians 6:1 we are told if someone is overtaken by sin, we are to try and help restore them back to God. To do so you will have to confront the sin. This may offend them at first, but if they repent, you have helped to restore their fellowship with God. This is God’s love in action. We are told to speak the Truth in love. Jesus told more than one person to go and sin no more. Many think to address wrongful behavior is not walking in love, but not doing so is not waking in the knowledge of God’s love. So, learn to walk in knowledge and discernment with the love of God, and you can save yourself and others from the destructive and deceptive ways of our enemy.

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1 Peter 1:18-19
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

Six different times Jesus shed His blood for us and each time a payment was being made to redeem us.

1. The first time blood was shed was in the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was praying about going to the cross. He prayed not His will, but the Fathers will be done, and as He prayed in agony the Bible says He sweat drops of blood. Jesus paid to deliver us from our own human will so that we could live in the Father’s will for us.
2. Then He being arrested was scourged at the whipping post, paying the price for our healing, for by His stripes we are healed.
3. After this the soldiers put a crown of thorns upon His head and blood flowed out paying the price for us to have a renewed mind as scripture teaches us that we have the mind of Christ.
4. Then He was crucified, nails driven through His hands so that we could live free from the dominion of sin, for the Bible says we are to lift up holy hands to the Lord.
5. They drove a nail through His feet, and He provided for us authority over evil, for Luke 10:19 tells us we can trample upon all the powers of darkness.
6. Finally, they pierced His side near the heart and the blood that poured out delivered us from the old spirit man within and purchased for us a new spirit.

The key to walking in all that He has purchased for us is found in Revelation 12:11. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb (faith in what He has done), the word of our testimony (declaring what His Word says), and we love not our lives to the death (no longer living out our will but His). May you walk in the liberty of all Christ has freed you from through His precious blood He shed for you.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas