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There is a lot of emphasis on "obedience" and when understood right, it is so very true. But I see a lot of misunderstood and misguided "obedience" too, and it snares people, especially when the "obedience" points to man more than the Holy Spirit.

Just minding your "p's and q's" will not bring the Anointing.  It's a good start, but that is not what qualifies.  The Bible says that what pleases God is faith, and even faith must be understood right. Some people believe in the power of positive confession so much that they miss faith!

I call that "wordcraft." I wrote an article about it one time, too, because it becomes another religion with a lot of rules and regulations.  God will never be reduced to something less than He is. He will never be something that man can control with his works.  Even his words!

One of the very foundational Scriptures on salvation is Romans 10:9-10, "If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

But most of the time people just get the mouth or words part as the emphasis.  There is more to belief than just the words that you speak or the rules that you keep!

Does that mean we throw out Godly living for greasy grace?  Of course not, if you have ears to hear.  A kid can believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, but that doesn't make a false reality real.

Believing in Your Heart

Some focus on sin so much and the needed forgiveness that they try to dominate people with that. Yes, that is a part of it, it's a real thing and it's needed, but some easily go into condemnation with that, failing to read and understand Romans 8:1 that "There is therefore now NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

You qualify for this because you believe in your heart or with your spirit.  If you don't really believe it, you will go back to legalism, thinking how you perform (more than God) makes the difference.

We should all be selfish enough, or self-centered enough, to choose to believe for God's salvation. Jesus died for US so we do need to honor that. But if we fail to see what He wants from all that, what God wants from that gift, then we go into our ideas and not His.

Isaiah 53:11 gives us a wonderful promise:  "He shall see the labor [or travail] of His soul, and be satisfied."  The whole passage there is good and enlightening.

The spirit of anti-Christ says we don't need God.  But if we do need God, then we need to know why (or we are really dizzy, if you know what I mean).  Some people just go along with whatever is around and they don't seem to value their life enough to make a decision for Him.

But many do get that far, but then they don't know how to go forward because they get snared in the legalisms that people come up with, and there are a variety and that are not all the Garden kind. (Okay, that was a funny.)

Having a Spiritual Encounter

God wants us to have Spiritual encounters with Him.  And He defines the fruit and the (gift) manifestations of that, so you can discern it.  And no one understands it all at first!  It is a work in progress, daily!

There is legalism fruit and Holy Spirit fruit - two different things!  Are we humble enough to confess our need to Him? That is encounter.  When we really get real with God, He shows up!  And it touches us.  We will feel it, and it may even bother us a bit at first, but it can be life changing.

Repenting from missing the mark then becomes a joy and not a duty or even a drudgery.  It becomes an inner and an outer work because we are believing with our hearts!  It's tricky at times because we love to DO things to express our hearts. But we have to realize there is a balance of life and the mind and the heart.

Believing really should become a force of good. We can have a hard or bad or grumpy day and still be believing as a force of good.  We just need to understand what His goodness is to get that right.  It's not our idea of goodness, but His!

And His goodness is way better than our ideas of Good, because He has a force with it that manifests.  Real faith will manifest goodness, even to the sinners.

Some people feel guilty if they believe God loves them. Some get so carried away with it, they are off balance and out of order. But there is a good and healthy balance that manifests and reflects the Love of God.

There is an "I am His favorite" doctrine that may help some for a bit, but if it results in arrogance, it's sin.  I think the original concept behind this was good, I want to believe that, because God did love the world (which includes me, and you) that He gave His only Son to the death.

Because He loves us, because He does favor us.  But there should be a humble response to that in our hearts if we are real.  We could not be saved without Him and it is a SPIRITUAL thing, not a mind thing or work of the flesh, even though He came in the flesh.  What Jesus did at the Cross was not an extreme sports event.

If the heart does not connect, the salvation was missed.  There are the legalists that say "do this and do that" and "they" can become your god, if they can get away with it. 

Does that mean that we don't need elders or people who can help guide you and just do it all ourselves?  No!  God set an order for that, but He knows the fruit He is looking for. So don't believe you are "the god" for others to follow just because you might think you have some faith and they seem to be missing it!  See the snare?

It's Personal

Faith is a personal thing but it should manifest goodness and love to others, and it has a good sense about it, an anointed mind!  It's why we NEED the Mind of Christ. We don't have that unless He gives it to us.  His Word will renew it to us day by day.

And knowing humans as I do, including myself, I don't think I will brag on it, except to give Him the glory when it works! Smile...

Can you see why worship is a big deal? The enemy vies for our worship, even if it is false, if you can understand that. He wants the attention.  He wants to hide and steal the truth!

REAL worship will bring the Presence of God - it's a wonderful unity that gives expression to HIS Spirit.   That is why miracles can just manifest when no one is even doing anything (like praying for one). We can enter a Zone of His goodness and good miracles will just manifest!  Because His Spirit has a force of good!

Does that mean that someone who did not get healed missed it? No, not necessarily.  Some things just still need to acquire an order in Him.  Some things in life are way out of order, but He seeks to restore it using us! 

And I can't say I am an expert, I can only go by what I have seen and experienced, and that is some!    We are forever learning God and we forever will. But we can get somewhere in this earth and on this planet - and maybe even beyond!

Am I helping or making sense to anyone here?  I hope so and if so, I hope you run with it all the days of your life!   Because God is AWESOME in His goodness and majesty.

He may send you to a hard place so you can manifest Him there. I know that is a flesh ouchie, but sometimes He does that.  It can be hard but He doesn't send you to where He can't win. We just have to work with Him, and He will be pleased to work with us, because it is the Father's good pleasure to give us His Kingdom.  We just have to be willing, and that is faith.

Pam Clark