Genesis to Revelation.....Getting the Whole Picture

I read an article recently full of declarations derived from God's word. The word is always a great encouragement  and a strengthening to us.

But there was one sentence about which I would speak to you today. It was written in the first person of God speaking to us as sons and daughters. It said, Son/Daughter, don't worry about a thing.  I've got your back and won't allow anything to harm you. 

There is too much confusion in the body of Christ today caused by writings that make promises for God that He is not making. Then when harm comes our way people blame God for not keeping "His Word to them". They stop walking with Him.

The danger comes when we find a scripture that brings comfort to our circumstances. But that one scripture can not be applied to all situations.

Let us be like St. Paul when he said in Acts 20:27
For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. That means the full rhema of God's word. Paul had been learning and studying God's written word since he was about three years old. That is the age when parents began having their children memorize the Torah. Then he studied with the finest teachers of the Word in his day. Finally, He met Jesus on the road to Damascus and was subsequently baptized in the Holy Spirit. Shortly thereafter he spent more than 13 years away from the rest of the church studying and seeking the Holy Spirit about how the word was applied in the New Covenant which had been birthed through the shed blood of Yeshus(Jesus).

He did not just memorize and recite passages to renew his mind. His letter to the Romans Chapter 12 was about the process of living the truth of God's word and so proving what was the will of God for yourself.

"__offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Your mind is renewed by offering your bodies daily to the Lord and living lives that do not conform to the pattern of this world. Memorizing scripture is good but that is just the basic beginning. Understanding what is meant beyond just the surface is why it says in the New Testament, "Study to show yourself approved, .......". It does not say read the Bible. It says study.

We need to get the whole picture from Genesis to Revelation. God is speaking through it all. That is why it is so important to be studying with people who have sound understanding and balanced revelation. We must remember to test the spirits at all times because there are those among us who do not continue to the end walking uprightly and so may begin twisting the word. This is not the only reason for a lack of understanding. Much of the church has been asleep so long that they have just passed on wrong meaning and teaching thinking that it was right understanding.

Remember to be like the Bereans whom St. Paul commended for going home after he would speak to them to test the scriptures to make sure Paul was telling them the truth. THIS IS WHAT WE ALL MUST DO. It is not disrespectful to test the word given us each week. It will help you grow tremendously."---rightly dividing the truth." Also---

1 John 4:1
[ Testing the Spirits ] Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God..."

So now let us return to the prophetic word written as God speaking to us as sons and daughters....." I will not allow anyone to harm you."

Jesus says that if they did it to Him we can expect it will be done to us as well as His disciples.

"He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.  When we say, " I want to be like you, Jesus, this is what we are asking. He learned obedience through what He suffered.

In St. Paul's life as recorded in 2 Corinthians chapter 11:

24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

And then there is the famous Hebrews Chapter 11--called the Faith Chapter; 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

I consider all these things harm. Yet in the sense of eternal truth when met with the right spirit of response, it caused the believer to be refined as gold for the Lord. It allows us to become more like Jesus. God was with them in it all.  This is the normal Christian walk with the Lord while at the same time He may prosper our businesses, answer other prayers, and give us long seasons when no harm is in our personal lives. There is harm that comes from the religious spirits which are everywhere. They recognize us by the Holy Spirit within us and reach right out to harm us.

The word says we are to consider the whole rhema of God's word. I think that while we walk in faith, it is the faith in God and not the faith that God will keep us from harm.

Surely part of Joseph's preparation was harmful. Being roughed up by his brothers to get his robe off of him and then throwing him into a pit must have caused some harm even if no bones were broken. He was harmed to be taken away from his beloved father for all those 15 years.

The reason we write to you is our love for you and all the believers. We don't want them living under expectations of what they think the word means and then when they are harmed, they believe God has not lived up to His word and they leave Him.  We have seen it all too often. THE RAIN FALLS ON THE JUST AND THE UNJUST--at the same time.  Bad things happen to good people too.

We love Psalm 91 and seek to be under His wing of protection,staying close to the Lord and not fearing. We  know that as He sends us out in battle, its a war. Hurts come.  He says He will deliver us from evil and pestilence. Are you prepared to wait 15 years to see that deliverance like Joseph or David?

They suffered many things in those times but they trusted in the Lord and waited for His deliverance while they served nobly the best they could every day.